Thursday 7th November 2019
Today we all had a totally brilliant day. The weather has been lovely. Beautiful sunshine for everyone and all of our activities were above ground so we all made the most of it. We are leaving tomorrow at 2 pm so we hope to be back in Marlborough around 4.30 pm. If were are delayed we hope the office will be able to send an email out.
Red Group went climbing
Freddie O said “ Today we went rock climbing. It was quite tough, we had to stretch to reach the hand holds. The best bit was working as a team with Elliot and John . “
Phoebe said “My favourite thing about Pencelli was when John A chose the hardest route and sent us down the smallest spaces in the caves. I also like canoeing because when I was in a boat with Abigail and Sam we couldn’t stop laughing at each other”.
Yellow group went canoeing
Amelie said” We went canoeing today. The best part was lying down flat in the canoe to go under the bridge. It was a very tight fit. Some people jumped in at the end”.
Tom K said “We paddled three miles. I was in a boat with Charlie and Connor for most of the time. We saw loads of ducks and learnt that the canal was 200 years old. It was called the Brecon and Monmothshire Canal. The best bit about the day was jumping in at the end”.
Blue group went climbing
Harriet said “I really didn’t want to come to Pencelli because I was worried about missing my family too much. I’m really glad I came. I’ve enjoyed being with my friends who have really helped me. When I arrived they gave me a really warm welcome. I would say to people who didn’t want to go to Pencelli just go for it, you will have the time of your life”.
Saffie said “Today we went climbing and I was really nervous. I had to trust my partners, who were Harriet and Charlotte and helped me get my confidence. The best bit was that I nearly got to the top”.
Green group went canoeing
Sam M said” Today I went canoeing. I had never canoed before. I really enjoyed going down the canal. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining. The best bit was steering at the back.”
Harvey said “It was our turn to go canoeing. I had never canoed before so I didn’t know what to expect. Then, as soon as we got going, I really enjoyed it. It was definitely my favourite activity.”
Oliver said” Todays canoeing experience was exciting, When we went into our canoes and we pushed off our boat nearly capsized! The best bit was when Mr Ferris fell backwards into the canal. We all laughed and most of our group jumped in to join him.”
James C said “At the beginning of the week I was very nervous and I didn’t really want to come at all. The best bit of my week was the caving but I also really enjoyed the canoeing. Mr Ferris, Mrs Lavis and John, my instructor, have really helped me. I’m really glad I came now”.
Wednesday 6th November 2019
The children are having a fantastic time. Pulling together as a team and helping each other out Today we enjoyed canoeing and caving and this evening we are heading out for the famous Dingle Descent. We can’t wait!
Red group went canoeing
Jack M said “ I had never been canoeing before so I didn’t know what to expect. The best bit was lying down in the canoe and going under a low bride. I found unpacking the canoes hard because they were heavy. But we all worked as a team and got the job done.
Green group went caving
Alanah said “I was really nervous at the beginning but I got there in the end and I felt very proud of myself”
Niamh said “Today I was very nervous but I got through it and I persevered “
Lexi said “I was really worried about because there were very tight spaces but I managed to persevere and get through the challenge”,
Summer C said “I just said to myself if the adults could do it I could do it”
Yellow group went caving
Will P said “We went caving to Porth Yr Ogoff. The water was up to our hips and it felt really cold. The hardest bit was wriggling through tight spaces. The best bit was walking through the really deep water. I was surprised how cramped the cave was at times.”
Blue group went canoeing
Summer G said “Today we went canoeing and it was quite a challenge because if you were at the back you had to steer the boat. When you were paddling it was really tiring. The best bit for me was when we got the end we all jumped into the canal which felt cold but I was really proud of myself for doing it
Tuesday 5th November 2019
The weather has been kind today and all the teams have had a brilliant day. The children are all really throwing themselves into the challenges and working well together.
Red group went caving
Sam PK said “We drove 45 minutes to Porth Yr Ogoff and first of all we had to put our caving kit on. Then Henry our instructor showed us all the different types of rocks that formed the caves and showed us the river and the entrance to the cave. Then we had our lunch and after that the fun began. It started off with us walking into the cave across a river which I found challenging because the water was really fast. Then John Albert chose where we were going to go next. This is when we had to crawl through a very tight tunnel. Next we got posted through the letter box which was hard because we had to keep our heads sideways. The last bit involved getting very wet. We had to walk through water that came out to our waist. Then we had to crawl through the water under a tiny archway and crawl along a tunnel filled with water and climb up a hole to get out.”
Green group went climbing
Freddie and Oliver said “We drove for 40 minutes up to a quarry called Molairs. It took us about 15 minutes to climb up carrying all our climbing kit. First of all we did some bouldering to practice gripping the rocks. Then we had lunch. Then the fun began we started to practice belaying and we all had a turn to climb up the quarry. Freddie got to the top along with Oliver and Ty.”
Blue Group went caving
Tyler said “We went to Porth Yr Ogoff to go caving. I had never been caving before. I thought it was going to be very dark damp and scary. As we entered the cave there was a lot of worried people and other people were trying to give them some confidence. There was very tight space called the letter box so you had to tilt your head sideways and squeeze through. At the beginning I felt quite scared of the unknown. But by the end of day I was surprised by how much fun I had the BEST DAY OF MY LIFE”
Yellow Group went climbing
Margarita said “We went to Molairs Quarry which was muddy, slippery and echoey. First we made sure we were all safe with our climbing then we did bouldering which gave us some confidence and showed us what it would be like to go climbing. Our instructors Jack and Cilla we very supportive when people were afraid of heights and by the time we finished bouldering everyone was confident. Then we had lunch. We started climbing in the actual quarry. We had to support the climber’s weight on the ropes and encourage them to get to the top. It was a very good experience and all of us learnt a lot of new things and we it was a fantastic opportunity
We have arrived safely at Pencelli. Here is an update from Jess, Elspeth and Laura.
Jess said, “we have had a fantastic time, the best bit was sliding down the muddy bank into the freezing cold river”.
Elspeth said, “we had an amazing time, we walked up a cold cascading waterfall and got washed off with a hosepipe because we were so muddy.”
Laura said, ” when we arrived we went up to our bedrooms and we found our bunk beds and it was very challenging putting our duvet covers on.”
