Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award practice expedition

On Wednesday 29 March a group of Sixth Form students embarked on their Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award practice expedition in the Yorkshire Dales. There were two groups, which both set off from Kettlewell Youth Hostel on a four day expedition covering 80km. The weather was very wet on the first day, and making camp in those conditions was tough; ensuring wet and dry kit stays separate and cooking a hot meal outside whilst keeping warm are hard lessons to learn in the classroom, but become essential skills in order to survive four days in wild country. The second day was also extremely windy but the girls all rose to the challenge and, despite sore feet and shoulders, the situation improved over the following days and the girls completed the expedition, finishing in sunshine at Bolton Abbey. The expedition was a great way to end the Spring Term and the girls are now planning and looking forward to their assessed expedition to Wales in July.