By: Blonde Two

The Two Blondes and some colleagues took a very lovely group of young people out into a secret wooded location somewhere on Dartmoor yesterday.  The day was a team building day for a group of young people who have just got together and are going to be working together for the next year or so.

The outdoorability of this group was very mixed, ranging from our 35 Miles Ten Tors team leader to a (very nice) young lady who got blisters so quickly that I am convinced that her feet were made of fondant icing.  There are some activities however that, no matter who you are and what your experience is, you can’t help but join and enjoy them. Yesterday’s example was shelter building.  Point any human being (of any age) in the direction of a pile of old wood and their primitive brains will tell them either to burn it or build something with it.  We didn’t set fire to Dartmoor but, to a man (and girl), the youngsters (and one of the oldsters) set to their task with enthusiasm and aplomb.

All three groups (plus the adult) made pretty impressive shelters.  All big enough for two people and all using just what was lying around them.  They had to give us a team talk about their new homes before points were awarded and the Two Blondes favourite was the one that used a couple of foxgloves for decoration, describing them as “pretty but dangerous”.IMG_20140624_203839