From Thursday 21^st till Monday 25^th April, the Junior, Company & Senior members of the 1^st Kidderminster and 1^st Lye companies returned to the Far Forest Centre (near the Wyre Forest) for the second time, for our annual Easter Camp. As this year is the 125^th anniversary of camping within the Boys' Brigade, those whom attended received a special badge in recognition of this.

The events of the camp

On the Thursday morning an advanced party of Seniors and Officers headed to the Far Forest Centre with the supplies for the weekend; later in the afternoon the minibus picked up Junior and Company section members from 1^st Lye and 1^st Kidderminster and brought them to the centre. This day like the entirety of the camp was blessed with perfect weather; the rest of the day was spent constructing and using the trampoline as well as playing various games in the Orchard opposite the Centre.

The Friday morning saw us make the 6 mile walk to the town of Bewdley at which the Teddy Grays sweet shop as well as the Fish & Chip shop proved ever popular. On return trip some boys headed back in the mini-bus while the rest of us took a slightly different route on our walk home, taking a look at Coopers Mill - where we have normally held Easter and Seniors camps in the past - which appeared to be in the latter stages of a very successful refurbishment, lifting hopes that we may be able to return there as soon as next year. In the afternoon and evening, outside of meals and Devotions (which focused on the crucifiction and resurrection of Jesus, and what this means), time was spent back on the trampoline and playing various games in the Orchard.

A group of Juniors, Company and some Seniors headed to the Wyre Forest Visitors Centre on the Saturday, which interestingly has increased the size of its cafe at the expense of the shop, while maintaing the child's play area.

We were in Uniform on Sunday morning to head for our annual Easter service at Vernon Hall Free Church - also remembered for its Cream Eggs - which has become a friend of the Boys' Brigade over the past years, and was recognised as such with a certificate presentation; during the service - which included communion, a sermon by Jonathan Salter and readings by a number of Brigade members - the members attending this camp were also presented with badges recognising the Boys' Brigade's 125^th anniversary of camping, as mentioned in the introduction to this camp page. The Sunday afternoon saw the traditional football game between the two companies took place in the Orchard, and saw the end of 1^st Lye's multi-year winning streak, with 1^st Kidderminster winning 4-1; at Lye we might blame this on lacking some of our more experienced players in the match, but we hope to prove a more formidable opponent come next year...

It was time to pack up and head back home on the Monday morning, with Lye then Kidderminster being taken back in the minibus; we'd had a great time on camp - the weather had been brilliant for the whole camp and the Far Forest Centre had been great even if the facilities were... more advanced... than those we're accustomed to at past Easter Camps at Coopers Mill - it'll be intersting to see how the refurbished Mill compares.

Another report of the camp, by Graham Knight, can be found here on the 1^st Kidderminster company website.

Photos

Click the play button below to see a slideshow of photos taken by Graham Knight.

You can also manually view the set, by clicking here.

Video

Click the play button below to see a video of the Camp produced by Graham Knight.