This years county camping and backwoods competitions included a network patrol (who had a medieval theme) as well as the scout and explorer patrols. So first here are a few words from the Network Commissioner.

"A huge thank you to the "Enigma" Scout Network Unit, from Urmston District, for taking part in this year's County Camping Competition. This was the first time that the Scout Network has taken part in this event and hopefully it will continue, way into the future.

They were a great example to the County and showed teams on site how it can be done. With their medieval-England themed site, they wowed us with their costumes, scenery and even a comedy sketch for the campfire. I believe fun was had by all and hopefully everyone else saw how well the Unit works together: they helped show the true spirit of the "Family of Scouting" and helped with the great atmosphere among participants.

As mentioned by Paul Mullaney, Lilford DC, "It's great to see that these young individuals take another day out of their week, as well as being leaders, to enjoy their own programme and get to use their skills firsthand." It is definitely the intention of the County to encourage this enthusiasm between all young members of the County and enable them to take advantage of the opportunities available to them.

Unfortunately, this time they were not competing as they were the only Unit who could take part. Hopefully, though, in the future there will be more teams to make the most of this weekend and improve on this first team's scores."

Michael Bracewell Network Commissioner

As well as the network team we had 4 explorer teams and 5 scout teams taking part in the Camping and Backwoods competitions. This was held on an initially wet weekend which turned in a scorching Sunday at Giant's Seat campsite. Although it was wet a good standard was achieved by the teams which ended with the following positions.

Scout Backwoods competition- Ellesmere - 1^st, 88^th Salford - 2^nd, 2^nd Davyhulme - 3^rd, 100^th Salford - 4^th, 5^th Tyldsley.

Scout Camping competition - 2^nd Davyhulme -1^st, 88^th Salford - 2^nd, 100^th Salford -3^rd, Ellesmere - 4^th, 5^th Tyldsley - 5^th.

Explorer Backwoods Competition - Lowton - 1^st, Bent and Bongs - 2^nd, 1^st Flixton - 3^rd, 15^th Wigan - 4^th.

Explorer Camping Competition - 1^st Flixton - 1^st, Lowton - 3^rd, Bent and Bongs - 3^rd, 15^th Wigan - 4th.

Well done to them all. From my point of view it was good to see 3 sections integrating so well. It was also good to see how well they performed in front of the Farnworth and Radcliffe and presented themselves at the Scouts own, As usual there was a hectic "capture the flags" game. The judges beat the network team at a game of Bowles. Download from here the full scout detailed results and from here for the explorer and network results.

Womble ACC (Scout)

Here are pictures of the winners, starting with the scout backwoods and camping competitions, then the explorer's backwoods and camping competitions.