The Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award expedition is a four day venture, where participants must be completely self-sufficient, in challenging terrain. So, with this in mind, it was with excitement, apprehension and a really heavy rucksack that two cadets from 739 (Scarborough) Squadron, Air Training Corps set off during August to complete their expedition in the Yorkshire Dales!
The preparation had been going on for several months in advance of the final expedition. Flight Sergeant Nick Howard had been to the Lake District to complete
a practice walk, whereby he walked across High Street. Sergeant Charlotte Liley had also completed her practice walk, which she did on the North York Moors. It was in June 2008 that the real preparation began though.
Everything from the campsites to the food, the equipment to the route and the access rights to deciding who would be in the team needed to be planned!
Finally Saturday 9th August came and it was time to depart for the Yorkshire Dales. For the first two days we stayed at a small centre at Hag Dyke, which is near the village of Kettlewell.
The Air Training Corps run a survival and leadership course at Hag Dyke at the same time as the Gold expedition each year. The first two days were used to perfect our navigation skills, finalise our planning and get used to being wet, very wet!
On Monday 11th August, we set off on the expedition itself. There were two teams following a similar route on that day. The first major hill that we encountered had two routes across the top of it. The other team decided to go for the route which went straight over the top, the Scarborough team took a route which was approximately four kilometres longer, yet we still arrived at the village in the next valley first!
The first day we had mainly fine weather, which made the 25km walk to Horton-in-Ribblesdale quite enjoyable!
On the second morning we woke up to heavy rain. We were not to be deterred though! By 0800 hours both teams were ready to set off. Due to the poor weather conditions, both teams walked together on this day. This allowed everyone to help each other, motivate each other and push each other through the wind and rain, until lunch time when the rain stopped! This was a particular bonus as just after lunch there was a rather large hill to climb! Sergeant Charlotte Liley, who makes no secret of the fact that she does not like
hills, was straight to the front, leading the team up the 400m climb! This showed her determination to do her best with all parts of the expedition. Flight Sergeant Nick Howard walked at the back of the team making sure that all other members of the team did not get left behind, and to help those who were struggling. The second day took us from Horton-in-Ribblesdale to Buckden.
The third morning was bright sunshine, and just as we got out of our tents a Tucano from Royal Air Force Linton-on-Ouse flew right over the top of the campsite, which was a huge morale boost! The third day was a long route, going from Buckdon, to Newbiggin (near Aysgarth), via Semer Water. The team from Scarborough set off with high spirits and made good time. The third day proved to be the hardest. This was due to a combination of the length of the walk, and the fact that by this point the team had already walked the best part of 50km. It was a good feeling to get to the campsite that night, as by that point we knew the hardest part of the expedition was over.
On the final morning it was, once again, raining. We set off walking as one large group, first of all following the valley bottom. We were heading back to Hag Dyke and all that laid in our way was 20 kilometres of wild country and two large hills! By lunch time the weather was getting worse and we had reached the end of the relative shelter of the valley floor. It was time to start the climb up to Buckden Pike. As we climbed towards the cloud, the team were getting more cold and more wet by the minute. We took short breaks regularly, to get our energy back from the steep climb. As we neared the top the rain stopped, the clouds lifted and we were left with a fantastic view back down the valley we had just come from. The team pressed on to the top of Buckden Pike. It was then just a case of the last five kilometres, and climbing Great Whernside. As we got to the top of Great Whernside, the sun came out. We could see for miles right across the Yorkshire Dales. We could see the beauty of the area in which we had spent the last four days fending for ourselves.
Flight Sergeant Nick Howard said, “On arriving back at Hag Dyke there was a large group of staff waiting to welcome us back. They were there to congratulate us and shake our hands. The feeling of achievement was huge. And quite rightly so, we had just walked the best part of 100 kilometres!”
Published 5th July, 2009
