HEAD FOR HILLS

 Hello again.

When I started at secondary school in 1970, ( am I that old), the headmaster was an advocate of encouraging the pupils to enjoy the outdoor life and appreciate the wild places in our small country. We had a lesson called "Outdoor Pursuits" where we learned about the National Parks, their geography, geology and history. We also learned how to read an Ordinance Survey map as part of the lesson. All this was manna from heaven to me and I really excelled at it. So much so that and the end of the year I was placed top of the class in the subject.  The lessons lead up to the annual expedition to a National Park, where we went on the school bus ( a retired 1950s Thames Valley Bus) and stayed in Youth Hostels, whilst going out to practice our map reading and enjoying the countryside and hills.

The kids in the first year ( school years have changed since I was in education) went spring half term break to stay at the Edale Youth Hostel in the Derbyshire Peak District. We got to hike over the Kinder Scout Plateau, and up Mam Tor.

The lonely expanses of the Kinder Scout moors

Mam Tor looms over the Hope Valley

If any one watches Channel 4 they sometimes run a channel identifier with a giant " 4 " figure climbing to the top of a hill then sounding off like a Fog Horn and the village people falling over, well that is Mam Tor.

As we went through the school years the expeditions became a bit harder. We still stayed in Youth Hostels, but the destinations differed each year. The second year went to The Yorkshire Dales, and years three and four alternated between the Lake District and Snowdonia. 

The fifth year didn't have an expedition, as they were studying for CSE and O Level Exams, but what did happen was a summer holiday Exped to Europe. Some years they went to Norway and another year they went to Corsica. I left school in 1976 aged 17 after taking O Levels and my final school activity was to go on the Summer expedition to the French Pyrenees and the Atlantic coast near to La Rochelle.

The Pyrenees Summer Expedition camp site at Argeles Gazost

I also did a bit of hiking when I was a Scout, when we went on our summer camps but it was nothing as challenging as the school expeditions.

Roll on to 1982 and there I was at RAF Portreath and looking to do some more adventurous activity. Not content with the life saving and gliding I was looking to the great outdoors for more enjoyment. The South West Coastal footpath went past the perimeter of the camp, along the cliffs and further afield in Cornwall was Bodmin Moor. So there were opportunities to go walking within the county.

As usual I would scan Station Orders and one day I noticed something about the Strike Command Cambrian Expedition. There was a form available from the Physical Education section ( at St. Mawgan ) in which stations within the Command could enter four person teams to take part in a Four day expedition in the Black Mountains of South Wales. It consisted of teams Canoeing down the River Wye starting near Hay on Wye with camping gear stowed in the canoes, with a overnight stop half way then finishing at Hereford. We took transport back to the starting point for a debrief, then taken to the start point of the second stage of the expedition.

Before I talk about this any further, I must tell you about the training we had to do before going out to the mountains and river. First of all a team had to be chosen. That year there was enough people to warrant two teams going from Portreath so getting to that stage was quite easy. There was also a team going from St. Mawgan, so for some of the training activities we went together. St. Mawgan had a slot booked every week  at Newquay swimming pool for use by aircrew doing survival training, but sometimes the slot wasn't being used, so we all turned up so that we could be trained to exit a canoe correctly should we capsize. We also trained to help someone to safely return to their canoe, by steadying the kayak with paddles and another craft. We were not expected to learn how to do an Eskimo roll that experienced canoeists do. Once we had become proficient at that, the next stage was canoeing in open water. We didn't have many decent rivers or lakes nearby to practice on, but we did have the Atlantic Ocean ! We had at Portreath the RAF C1 Canoe Champion, Cpl John Harvey. He was always disappearing for a few days to take part in competitions either in the UK or further afield in Europe. John was handy to have around to give us useful pointers and tips when it came to canoes.

Sheltered Newquay Habour beach

More exposed Watergate Bay surf beach

We started off paddling around outside of Newquay Harbour and later we went canoeing at Watergate Bay, which had more surf, and more chances of capsizing. Two of the St. Mawgan team were young LACWs in the AATC trade. I came across both of them later in my career. Both had changed their jobs in the RAF. One, Helen, re-mustered as a Loadmaster and she worked with me on 10 Sqn VC10s, and the other, Yvonne received a commission and I met her again while she went through the Air Traffic Controller's course at RAF Shawbury seven years later.

Back to the training. We next had to become skilled at map reading in wild country, so after doing a crash course on maps,  we set off as a team to the Dartmoor National Park, which was not far away over the county border in Devon. 

Dartmoor on a clear day

We were dropped off at a point in the south of the moor and were given a point on the map that we had to navigate to. In this part of the country we had to get used to using natural features as landmarks, so as to determine our location. We became proficient at taking compass bearings and navigating using only the compass and map. Once we reached our destination safely, we were deemed safe to take part in the main event. 

Once we arrived at the main base camp near Hay on Wye we were given more instructions and a chance to meet the other teams and Direction staff. It was here at the base camp I bumped into someone from my Air Cadet days. Peter Welch enlisted straight from school and had undergone technical training, becoming a Sergeant fairly quickly. We had a good chat and catch up over what we had been up to. I next met Peter while I was undergoing my Air Steward training at Brize Norton. He was doing his Tristar ground engineers course, before starting on 216 Sqn. I occasionally bumped into him when we crossed paths at Brize.

Peter Welch who now works for British Airways

Not long before we went on the expedition, I had to go to Plymouth to buy a decent pair of walking boots from Blacks outdoor shop. I found a pair, and spent several weeks breaking them in. Unfortunately there was a bit on the left heal that hadn't broken in enough, and after a while started rubbing my heal enough to create a big blister.

The Black Mountains - part of the Brecon Beacons National Park

Our route took us from the carpark  ( near the top of the picture) and climbed the ridge past by the ruin of Castell Dinas up to the summit of Pen y Manllwyn at 766m ( 2,513 feet). 

Pen y Manllwyn our first summit

We then turned right and followed the faint track towards the next summit of Waun Fach 

(811 m)

The track to the summit of Waun Fach

From the summit the track followed a ridge due south for several miles until it sloped to the valley below and the village of Llanbedr. On this day it was very misty with low cloud so we couldn't see very far. On one side of the ridge was the valley below, and the other side was forested into another valley. Suddenly from out of the mist one of the PTI directing staff appeared. He was checking that everyone was not getting lost. Obviously our map reading training had paid off especially as we were walking in mist so land marks were difficult to find. My blister was agony so I told him about it. He had a look at it and said that it was pretty bad. After applying a large plaster to the blister, he said I should speak to the medic who would be at the halfway camp in Llanbedr. So I struggled on, following the team as we made our way down the track towards the campsite. I felt I was letting the guys down as they had to go at my slow speed. If they had a problem they didn't say anything about it.

Eventually we made the camp site. The first thing we did was pitch our tents and sort our kit out ready for the next day. Whoever planned the expedition had been spot on with the choice of campsite. It was in a small field near the village Pub ! We decided not to bother cooking our own own meal, but went to the pub to eat and have a pint ( or two).

Before we went to the pub I went to see the medic. She looked at my blister and  a proper dressing. She said that I shouldn't wear my boots the next day and keep in training shoes. There was a problem with this. It meant if I didn't complete the task, we couldn't get the trophy at the end. We discussed the problem with the DI staff and a solution was fortunately found. The route we should have taken meant climbing the ridge on the other side of the valley to where we had hiked that day. However there was a narrow road going down the middle of the valley, which then turned into a unpaved track. It gently climbed up to a pass  at Mynydd Llisiau (662m) which then joined the track we would have taken back to the rendezvous point at Pengenffordd.

So once we had broken camp the next day we started off on the lower route which I managed to walk in trainers, although I was still in a some pain. Once we had completed the task we were taken to Base camp where we waited for all the teams to arrive. Before setting off for home the presentation of trophies took place.

My Trophy 

( it is kept in the display cabinet in the living room)

Next time I will talk about another sport I did while at Portreath. ( when did he actually work you ask?) and how it changed my life forever !

See you soon.

Rob