King’s Bruton 45 mile and 35 mile Ten Tors training teams set out over the weekend for their first training sessions on Dartmoor and the Quantocks.

For the 45 mile teams the challenge for the weekend was the South Moor and the weather, neither disappointed the group. They were dropped off just outside Princetown on Saturday evening and had a trek of 90 minutes to the campsite. Tents were just going up as the predicted rain came in and was to stay with the rest of the group for the next 24 hours.

On Sunday morning the alarm call was at 5am; after a bowl of porridge, the camp was packed away and all seven cadets and leader Mr Charlton were ready for the day’s training. The group departed at 6am and navigated through rain, wind and the dark with only head torches for help. Due to such poor visibility, reading the lay of the land was challenging. Nun’s Cross Farm was a welcome sight as this was the first aim; a challenging navigational leg saw the group travel across tough terrain, sodden with heavy rain, shrouded in Dartmoor clag for over an hour before they reached Red Lake China Works for a quick bite to eat. Langcombe Hill was the next navigational target and then a trig point South West of the hill which was found by the cadets - a great testament to their skills of navigation in very difficult conditions. It was then time to start walking homeward bound; the group returned via Higher Hartor Tor and South Hessary Tor.

The group walked over eighteen miles in eight hours in some of the toughest conditions that Dartmoor could throw at them. The rain never stopped, the wind was biting and the clag swirled around making navigation tough. Some of the photos below give a sense of what the day’s conditions were like. The ground was heavy and tiring and yet none of the cadets complained. Their fortitude, skills and group work was exemplary and they have learnt a great deal about themselves as individuals and as a group from this training weekend.

For the 35 mile teams, it was their first real training event - what a day it proved to be! Two teams comprising of twenty-one pupils plus four staff spent Sunday walking across the Quantocks in wild and windy weather. Pupils were pushed to their limits in terms of fitness and mental fatigue as they had to navigate through some tough terrain. True to the King’s spirit they seemed to relish the occasion and came back to the minibuses sodden, tired and singing. They all did remarkably well and were proud of their achievements that day. The next training event is on Dartmoor where the pupils will be camping overnight on the Moor and walking all the next day.

Craig Barrow & Seamus Harkness – Ten Tors Instructors