Over the past year we have done a number of family walks on the South Downs. The walks tend to be approximately 8-10 kilometres long. We take most of a day to do a walk. We go at a pace suitable for children with lots of stops to look at things, meet animals or have …
6:30am Sunday, second day of the Easter holidays, waiting for the minibus, destination the Lake District. We arrived late afternoon at the medieval stone built bunkhouse. Monday was an early start, (getting ready for our first scramble). We walked up a rocky hill for quite a while following a mountain stream/river. We got to the …
We met at 8.30a.m. in the Onich Hotel, the winter base of Jagged Globe. We were five students (with one apology) and two facilitators; Ed Chard and Tim Blakemore. After introductions were made and aspirations for the weekend voiced, two distinct agendas emerged. Adele and I were keen on teaching climbing stuff and the other …
Scottish Winter Climbing is alive and well (if you know where to look) For the first time in years Craggers has not had its annual fortnight in the winter fastness of the Cairngorms. Which, this year, has actually been a good thing. The weather has been extreme and what snow there has been (not much) …
The hills were covered in cloud, there were moderate winds and there were snow flurries. I wanted to go out for a long walk and test my navigation skills. The others were unable to go out due to Kelly’s neck injury and childcare, so I went alone. My route was to go from the ski …
Late autumn in Wales is always the time and place for waterproofs rather than sun glasses and this year was no exception. Pas y Brenin, the national mountain centre, was the venue for the course and you always know you are going to get quality training there. Students on the course were from all over …
Griff and I joined the Craggers trip to Scotland late this year; we took the Caledonian Sleeper which was one of the best things about the trip for me because I love trains. Not in an anorak way, you understand, I just love train journeys, especially long ones and the ride from Kings Cross to …
Craggers’ North Wales training trip 27th. June to 4th. July 2006 Staggering under the combined weight of two rucksacks, each crammed not only with climbing and camping kit but also a comprehensive wardrobe selected to cope with summer in Snowdonia; namely the full panoply of sub arctic insulation and enough Gore Tex to fend off …
Three of us went on a brief trip for three days or so to Snowdonia in January 2006. We stayed at a campsite outside of Betws-y-Coed at the base of Tryfan. We did hill walking and practiced navigation – reading the land, counting paces, timing stages of a walk and navigating to specific spots around …
In autumn I went to a dry ski slope in Caterham with a group of Craggers kids. We all did some snowboarding for an hour and after that some of us went tobogganing down a slide, which was really fun and the rest of us did some skiing. I would definitely want to do this …
This is one of our most popular trips and where the idea for Craggers was originally formed. Every year we take a group of families on low incomes to a local adventure camp. Approximately 40 people come for a week to take part in a communal camp and adventure activities. Activities include, kayaking, climbing, walking …
All was going well on the journey from Brighton, until the train from Crewe to North Wales was delayed due to it being too hot. Too much rain they can deal with but prolonged periods of sunshine is something no one could have predicted in Llandudno. With bus services grinding to a halt at 6pm …
What a way to spend a birthday. True to the parsimonious – get the most out of our funding – Craggers ethos we decided not to waste money on accommodation for the previous night at the training venue. This meant that we had to get up stupidly early (for a birthday morning anyway) to catch …
Plas Menai is the Welsh national centre for watersports and I was enrolled on a weeks kayaking course to improve my skills to prepare for my 3 star assessment. Gaining this award means you can then train as an instructor to take groups out kayaking. The skills required are those for kayaking on white water, …
In 2005 we helped Craggers kids form. This is a group of Craggers families that is run primarily by the children and parents within Craggers. It has a separate constitution and bank account and does its own fundraising. Craggers support the group with volunteers, training and equipment. The group was formed to better meet the …