Congratulations to our Gold Duke of Edinburgh teams who successfully completed the challenge...

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A documentary style video filmed by the pupils.

Following a successful practice on Exmoor in March, on the 25^th May 2023, ten intrepid Lower 6^th Form pupils travelled up in glorious weather to Snowdonia, all in good spirits, despite the 5 hour drive. The first night, before they began, was spent at a lovely and secluded campsite next to a lake, which allowed them some time to gather their thoughts in preparation for the challenge ahead… while fighting off the midges.

On the first day of trekking the groups set off from the village of Trawsfynydd full of vim and vigour. After a little misstep or two they found that the navigation started to come naturally again and they started to make good progress as they trekked around Llyn Trawsfynydd. They took in the strangely juxtaposed view of a Magnox nuclear power station as they turned north towards the mountains and the alpacas! They gratefully arrived at the campsite where they found a stream to bathe and some more midges. It was a hot and successful day and a great start to their adventure.

Day two, another glorious day with baking sun. The groups set off south-east of the Tanygrisiau reservoir and climbed up to the north of the lake via the western edge following the Festiniog Trainline past the hydroelectric power station. After a short stop to refuel they started up to the gap between the two peaks of their first mountain, Moelwyn Mawr, and the Llyn Stwlan reservoir near the top. A testing ascent was rewarded by views across the national park, they descended to a verdant valley and were given a final briefing before their wild camp, the experience gained on this day cannot be overestimated.
 

On the third day they set off early after a successful wild camp. The day was spent navigating through the Beddgelert forest south-west of Snowdon itself. The mountains loomed over them as they enjoyed the shade of the trees on what was the hottest of the days that they were out walking. They arrived at Snowdon base camp, where they celebrated Ollie’s birthday and started to prepare themselves mentally for the last challenge.
 

The final day was the biggest challenge of the lot, a climb up to the peak of the tallest mountain in England and Wales, no mean feat when you are carrying a 70litre rucksack on your back. A super early start in cool weather was the order of the day as they set off to find their route up the mountain. They walked the Snowden ranger path and made great time, the first group getting to the top after just under 3 hours of climbing. The views from the top were astounding, as were the gusts of wind. The satisfaction of completing the greatest of their challenges was self-evident. It was a relatively gentle stroll down the Llanberis path back to the minibus and the final completion of their Gold DofE qualifying expedition. A final debrief from Steve (the DofE assessor) and we were off back to Bruton with ten exhausted but happy, and mostly sleeping, teenagers. Many thanks to Mrs Dixon, Steve and Tilly the Dog for making it such a successful and enjoyable adventure.

Gareth Thompson - DofE Leader