CCF Summer Camp 2023

During the last week of June Longhill CCF cadets enjoyed a week of challenge and excitement while attending an AT (Adventure Training) Camp up at Halton Training Camp in Lancashire which is the headquarters of the Joint Service Mountain Training Wing.

The camp was run and organised by Brighton College who kindly invited us to join them. We thank them for their hospitality and the opportunity for our cadets to experience the wonderful if not, at times, slightly terrifying activities!

After a long but uneventful coach journey up to Lancashire we settled into the camp on Sunday evening.

On our first day we were greeted with some perfect weather for climbing. Dry and slightly cloudy. This gave us the opportunity to climb the limestone cliffs near Ingleton in North Yorkshire. The Cadets all managed to climb a good number of runs that presented them with a good variety of difficulty. A select few even managed to reach the top of each climb.

Day two was somewhat wetter than the first day however this mattered little as the cadets were going to get very wet anyway. Gorge Walking or Canyoning was our treat for the day.  This involved climbing the falls at Ingleton with the added bonus of being able to jump from a number of high points into the pools created by the falls.  

Some of the falls created natural flumes for the cadets to slide down too.  This proved to be the most enjoyable day for all involved. 

Unfortunately, I (Major Pringle) did not get the chance to join in as I was hosting our Inspecting Officer Captain Gus Carnie (RN) who was present to see our and Brighton Colleges cadets for our Biennial Inspection.  This did however give me the opportunity to take some great pictures of everyone enjoying themselves. 

Day three, and probably the most daunting for all, was caving.  The area is famous for its cave systems and was something that none of us had experienced before.

We managed to explore different caves that presented different challenges whether it was the length of the system or how tight they were and how much water was flowing through them!

This was certainly a unique experience and one that would not be forgotten by any of us.

Great Douk Cave was without a doubt the longest, tightest and most impressive of all of them.  Due to the fact that it had previously rained all day and night made it all the more exhilarating!

Our cadets were fantastic throughout and I was extremely proud of them for giving everything a go no matter how worried they were. Their conduct was exemplary for the entire trip.  The College staff and cadets were extremely welcoming and I once again thank them for their hospitality.

Major Ali Pringle.

You can watch a video compilation of the CCF Summer Camp here: https://youtube.com/shorts/bVvDZoAzBd8

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