Many schools, Cadets, and Guides or Scouts groups across the country offer the scheme, and Comberton Village College is no exception, offering the Bronze Award in Year 9 and Silver in Year 10. Recently, the Silver Duke of Edinburgh participants undertook their practice expedition in the Chilterns, arriving at a campsite on the Friday. They set up camp, cooked their meals on camping stoves, and worked out timings for the routes they would walk the next day. They hiked in small groups across the Chilterns, carrying anything they needed- tents, clothes, stoves, food, sleeping bags and mats- on their backs.
The routes were scenic, with swooping red kites, rolling hills and generally fair weather, apart from the occasional hailstorm. They passed through various towns and villages on the way, such as Tring, but mostly hiked on footpaths and bridleways, some through very muddy March fields. After walking for at least six hours, groups arrived at the second campsite, and set up camp again. On the Sunday, they walked a different route back, finishing in a town near the first campsite where everyone relaxed and gathered together before being picked up by the coach and driven back to Comberton Village College.
Despite it being very physically challenging, the expedition was also enjoyable. One participant, Frederick Hill, commented, “I enjoyed the practice expedition because it gave me the chance to lead and navigate my group through the stunning hills of the North Chilterns, a stark contrast to the typical Cambridge countryside. It also gave me an opportunity to further develop skills I will need for the actual D of E like endurance.”
Each group will complete their official Silver expedition during Activities Week in the Summer, over four days and three nights.