By: Blonde One

This years Ten Tors experience was very different from previous years. Although I had helped to train the youngsters , I was no longer at the school and wasn’t in any way ‘in charge’. I spent the weekend with my old school supporting the new manager and the teams. Mr Welshman (previously ran Ten Tors at school) and I were there in purely an assisting role, which we both enjoyed immensely. We were afforded certain privileges that previous years had been denied to us.

  1. We were allowed to drive down into Okehampton town to visit Waitrose.
  2. We had all the enjoyment of the weekend without feeling the weight of responsibility.
  3. We didn’t have that feeling of utter dread whenever our mobiles rang.
  4. Most importantly we had a superb couple of hours out on the moors seeing teams enjoying their challenge. It was such a joy to be able to chat briefly to teams, smile at them and congratulate them on a job well done so far.

The atmosphere in camp during the days of Saturday and Sunday is always great, with the managers so full of optimism but we were able to experience this atmosphere in extra measures this time, in our new roles. Despite all of this, I am still very much looking forward to getting back into the saddle!