Beeston Castle, Cheshire

 You don't have to travel far around these parts to see some great sites or experience fantastic scenery on a good hike.

Beeston Castle is perched on a rocky sandstone crag 350 feet above the Cheshire Plain and boasting spectacular views that on a clear day stretch from the Pennines to the Welsh mountains you can discover the castle's 4,000-year history and explore the 40-acre woodland park.

It's popular with Guides and Scouts apart from school trips which I remember well being close to the Shropshire, Chester border.

At the Castle you can climb to the top of the castle and peer down into the spiraling well below.

One of the deepest castle wells in England, it is steeped in legend as the hiding place of Richard II's lost treasure has been missing for centuries and is thought it was buried in the Castle well in 1399, however, despite many attempts to find it, it remains missing.

Exploring

 

Spring is a time for exploring, ideally in a small group along paths and on to your destination with supplies well packed.

Just remember to have a map, compass, a fully charged mobile phone with all your important contacts entered and your senses fully on. 

Out and about

 

It's a bank holiday Monday here, a bit warmish but what are YOU doing?

I find being indoors especially if it involves staring for long hours at the Chromebooks screen isn't good for either getting to sleep later, my miagraines or general well being so I've been out to the tow path and adjacent countryside.

Apart from fresh air - and the tendency to burn things here results in bad air often - I find it helps to get to notice more gradual changes, the movements of birds, various species of butterfly hovering about apart from enjoying the meadows on what was a former industrial site.

Shooting up

 

Things are very much coming up here and things have been planted in the far edges of the area where moving from the built up to open countryside is abrupt, terracotta brick to greens.

It's a windy, rather warm day sat out enjoying the views and that conbination of what you get in vast conurbation and the access to green spaces, nay countryside makes for a good balence.

Erasmus+ is back!

 

When we left the European Union in 2020 following the 2019 General Election it had consequencies beyond trade and travel and one was the Erasmus program that allows for inter-Europe youth exchange programs to study and broaden depth of understanding between young people across the continent.

It didn't strictly speaking had to - arrangement to pay in could of been made - but politics and postering by interested parties put an end to that.

Fortunately there has been a change of heart and it is being restored.

This is great news for international movements like Scouting supporting international exchanges, joint projects and discussions that explore global issues. This aligns directly with Scouts Association strategy and ambition to be a place to belong, where young people feel connected not just locally, but globally too.

It also supports our commitment to helping young people engage with the world around them, understanding different cultures and their role in creating a better future. 

Moving on be learning to be "Part of the team"

 

What could be more fun than learning to plan, see through and complete a project in the great outdoors discovering new skills like leadership, being engage from the get go in it rather than just letting others set the pace, stepping up to offer to do something?

These kinds of things are very much what we need to do so to do this, outside while having a fun time is just so useful.

People can't help being set less than good examples but we can help change that and change those peoples lives.

St Georges Edition

Yesterday was St. Georges Day which was something that was marked in school when I was younger and is in Girlguiding and Scouts.

We celebrate St George’s Day because Baden-Powell chose St George to be the patron saint of Scouts. He wanted St George’s Day to be a time to reflect on the Scout Promise and what it means to be a Scout.

Many groups run competitions, talk about the life of St George and even march!

Here's one group of cubs out parading from a few years back with our Standard.