6 day environmental adventure day 4

Today was another jam packed day with kayaking or climbing, wild food foraging and climbing on the menu. Everybody in the climbing group, without exception, got to the top of the climbing wall and did amazingly while those who went kayaking made great progress along the river and showed some excellent teamwork in their double kayaks. 

Marcus, a local wild food expert came along in the afternoon to share with the group all of the unexpected foods which you can find in the hedgerows before cooking up a delicious nettle tortilla in the camp kitchen. 

We were visited in the evening by Nancy the Noctule bat, Timmy the long eared bat and a couple of little pipistrelles - the children got to see them up close and quiz Chris their carer on all things bats before heading off with some bat detectors on a dusk bat walk. 

6 day environmental adventure day 3

This morning we woke up bright and early and began the day with some 'make your own muesli' with fresh berries followed by french toast with bacon and maple syrup. While one group of children wriggled into their wetsuits and headed down the hill to sunny corner where they launched their kayaks and headed out to explore the river, the rest continued with whatever activity they had not experienced the previous day - either stone carving or forging. We all came together for a hearty lunch of homemade tomato soup, fresh bread and sandwiches and then continued with our activities including animal tracking and green woodworking.

This evening the newly forged toasting forks were christened with some marshmallows toasted on the campfire which were made into s'mores and tasted amazing! Everyone all tucked up in bed now and ready for a busy day tomorrow of kayaking, climbing, archery and wild food foraging. Night all!

International environmental adventurers unite!

Yesterday morning an intrepid group of environmental adventurers gathered on platform 1 at Paddington ready to set off for Camp Kernow and an action packed 6 days far from the concrete jungle! Some were reuniting from the previous year's camp while for others it would be their first experience. Meanwhile children from as far afield as Berlin, France and Spain made their way to Truro and we all came together at Malpas from which we made the final ascent up to camp. 

After a tour of camp with Charlie to discover how we live off-grid, the group found out who their tent buddies would be and were challenged with crossing a toxic river using 'stepping stones' in order to decide who would get first choice of the sleeping structures! Lets just say it got quite competitive as the groups battled it out to ensure they got their first choice of tent!

A few more icebreakers to get to know one another and then it was time for dinner for which the first cooking crew made the most delicious homemade burgers. After dinner it was time for team challenges, some deluxe hot chocolates around the fire circle and then bedtime!

This morning we woke up to the most beautiful sunshine and a cooking team got to work in the kitchen while a harvesting crew headed to the garden to pick the day's produce. We harvested the most enormous (and delicious) moonstar watermelon and 5kg of tomatoes which were later made into tomato soup for tomorrow. After breakfast we split into 5 groups and during today have enjoyed forging with a Blacksmith, stone carving, green woodworking, leatherwork and animal tracking. We're headed off to the woods tonight for a Wild Woodland Walk and then an early night in order to be up and out on the river in our kayaks tomorrow morning with the high tide. 

An environmental adventure day 3

Day 3 was our busiest yet with a jam packed schedule of activities. While half of us headed off on a kayak expedition, the rest of the group remained at camp and scaled the dizzy heights of the climbing wall. We learnt how to belay one another in teams and were able to progress our climbing skills with some even managing to tackle the purple route - the hardest on the whole wall!

After lunch we were either stone carving, green woodworking, forging toasting forks or silk screen printing our very own designs inspired by camp onto t-shirts. The cob oven was fired up for dinner and everyone got to make their own pizza with their favourite toppings which were then stone baked in the oven - delicious! We were fortunate enough to have some very special guests join us in the evening- Timmy the brown long eared bat, Nancy the Noctule bat and Peso the Pipistrelle. After the seeing the bats close up and learning lots about them from Chris the bat carer, we headed out on a dusk walk with our bat detectors to see and hear bats feeding along the hedgerows. 

We returned back to the campfire and some delicious homemade crumble and custard for dessert before turning in for the night. 

An environmental adventure begins

The first environmental adventure summer camp of the year began yesterday with the arrival of twenty super excited and raring to go young people from across Cornwall ready for the great outdoors!

After having a tour of camp to discover what it takes to live off grid, a spot of lunch and a chance to settle in to their new homes for the week it was time to get stuck into their first activities. Junk band jamming and pond dipping to discover which creatures lurk beneath the depths! 

A group of eager children were chosen to be the first cooks of camp and prepared us all a delicious dinner of homemade burgers which went down a treat. After dinner we headed off on a wild woodland walk and were lucky enough to bump into the woodsman who has a wealth of wisdom and knowledge about the forest to share with those fortunate enough to encounter him. We returned to a blazing campfire and a singsong before retiring to our tents to get a good night's sleep ready for the following day. 

This morning we fuelled up on make your own muesli & fluffy pancakes before breaking into groups and heading to our first activity of the day. We welcomed Peter an incredible stone carver to camp for the first time to share his skills with the children and teach them how to turn a block of sandstone into something beautiful. We also welcomed Tristan back to instruct children in the ways of Blacksmithing. This afternoon the children will head down to the ancient Woodland where a huge Beech Tree and a technical tree climbing instructor await!

Spring volunteering day

Today we were fortunate to be joined at camp by a team of nine enthusiastic and eager volunteers from FXU - Falmouth and Exeter University's Student Union group which organises opportunities for students to volunteer with local organisations. 

In the run up to children arriving for the first overnight camp of the season mid April there is much to do and the sight of a team of volunteers arriving was a welcome one as was the sun shining!

We split into 3 teams and got stuck in. One team headed to the orchard where our apple and plum trees needed some attention. Winter pruning had already been carried out by our regular gardening volunteer Becky and she had prescribed removal of the grass growing around the trees, a good feed of blood, fish and bone, new stakes and ties and the laying of weed proof membrane around them so they would no longer be competing with the grass for nutrients and water. As long as the deer don't beat us to them, children visiting camp should enjoy some delicious apples fresh from the orchard this Autumn!

Meanwhile Charlie and his team headed to the twelve year old woodland which borders camp to carry out some woodland management. While Ash has been deliberately planted as part of the desired native woodland mix, it is a prolific self seeder and if not kept in check can prevent much needed light reaching slower growing trees. Fortunately, it is also one of the best firewoods - burning green (freshly cut) and brown (seasoned) and is an essential resource at summer camp for campfires, heating water when the sun isn't shining for solar thermal and for firing up the cob oven to cook wood fired pizzas. Using pruning pull saws and lopers they cut, processed and bundled wood ready to restock the timber store. 

The remaining team rolled up their sleeves and got to work planting fruit bushes kindly donated by Trevena Cross Nurseries. In addition to Blueberry and Gooseberry bushes they planted a Japanese Wineberry (similar to Raspberry with small very sweet red fruit), Boysenberry (a hybrid mix of Blackberry, Raspberry and Loganberry which is itself a hybrid of Raspberry and Blackberry!) and Lonicera caerulea - an edible honeysuckle which produces Honeyberries. These look and taste a lot like Blueberries but are longer in shape. We can’t wait for children to try these soft fruits in addition to the bumper crops of strawberries, Blackberries, Raspberries and Tayberries which we enjoy through the summer. We’re also hoping to get our hands on some Chuckleberry Bushes before the season starts - as aside from the novelty of eating something called a Chuckleberry they are rumoured to make great jam, juice and ice-cream!

We’d like to say a huge thank you to today’s volunteers for choosing to spend their Sunday helping Camp Kernow in it’s work and another big thank you to Kristy and Sam at FXU for getting such a great team together.

There will be further volunteer days throughout the year - you can find out more about volunteering at camp here: www.campkernow.org.uk/get-involved/

5 day environmental adventure day 5

For our final breakfast we enjoyed waffles with fresh strawberries and maple syrup and then packed up all our kit before heading deep into the woods to build shelters. Then it was back up to camp for our last lunch together followed by the Camp Kernow Awards which the children had  given nominations for the day before. It was also a chance for parents to join us, have a tour of camp and hear about all we'd experienced over the last 5 days.

5 day environmental adventure day 4

This morning Tristan the Blacksmith arrived bright and early with his pedal power forge and, while he set up, the children went on a wild food walk with Marcus to discover some wild foods hidden among the hedgerows of camp. They then returned with their foraged ingredients to the kitchen where they cooked up a delicious nettle tortilla.

We split into two groups and while some children went over to the forge to begin work on their toasting forks, the others joined Charlie in a green woodworking workshop where they learnt how to use hand tools including bill hooks, saws and draw knifes to work and shape green wood. 

The toasting forks turned out brilliantly with all manner of handles including a horse head, a ram and even a ferret! After a delicious evening meal of spaghetti bolognese we tested out the toasting forks with marshmallows over the campfire to make s’mores. It was then time for the talent show where we were treated to some beautiful singing, magic tricks, gymnastics and comedy sketches with Issy the crazy clown playing the jester in the interludes! 

5 day environmental adventure day 3

This morning we feasted on french toast with streaky bacon and maple syrup and then began our first activity of the day - firelighting and campfire cooking - quite challenging given the weather! They had a go with a bow drill to create fire by friction and explored other creative ways of making heat including a battery and some wire wool before lighting a fire in small groups.

After lunch we had a visit from Jo the travelling tuffeteer who taught the group how to weave sheeps wool on a peg loom to create a tuffet which is a wool cushion - perfect for putting on our tree stump seats around the campfire!

We then began our preparations for our evening meal - wood fired pizzas from the cob oven. First we made up our dough and kneaded it for 5 minutes before setting it aside to rise while we whipped up blackberry and apple crumbles. We then rolled out and topped our pizzas and headed over with them to the food garden where Charlie was ready and waiting to put them in the oven. Each pizza only needed a couple of minutes after which they were devoured in almost the same amount of time! We all agreed they were some of the best pizzas we’d ever eaten!

Chris from Cornwall Bat Care came along this evening to show us some bats which we can find in Cornwall - pipistrelles and a brown long eared bat which is a very clever bat indeed as it’s huge ears enable it to do a very quiet echo location which its prey cannot hear. 

By then the crumbles were ready after which we had time for a few fun games before bedtime. It wasn’t long until silence fell across camp and we were all asleep and dreaming of our next exciting day!

5 day environmental adventure day 2

We woke up to another day of glorious sunshine and, while a group of children worked together in the kitchen to prepare us a delicious breakfast, the rest frantically tidied their tents ahead of the first inspection...dun dun dunnn! 

We enjoyed blueberry and banana pancakes hot off the griddle and then began our first activity of the day - animal tracking and natural navigation with Angie. Emma, a very talented local artist came in the afternoon to introduce children to the Japanese art of Hikaru Dorodango which involved getting very messy with mud!

To cool off after we played some team challenges which culminated in buckets of water being thrown! A team of chefs got to work in the kitchen making homemade burgers, coleslaw and potato salad for dinner which we followed with fresh blackberries picked from the hedgerow with strawberries, cream and meringue.

After dinner is was time for a woodland walk and a chance encounter with the Woodsman of Moresk who introduced the group to all manner of creatures including tickydews, snortlewinks, airy mice and radgels before sharing with them the ancient story of Husdent the moondog of Moresk.