Cranham Scout Group

Today, the Cubs went into the Cranham woods to collect fallen branches, and then constructed a shelter.

The challenge is to build a structure that will keep the wind and rain out, purely with the materials available, and no tools.

We found a sturdy tree, then leant intertwined forked branches against it to establish a solid anchor for one end of a long branch, the other end of which went into the ground, creating the main beam of the shelter. Other long branches were then laid with one end resting on the beam and the other end on the ground uphill, then less sturdy branches laid crosswise on top, interlocking with the stronger ones, to produce the roof. Weaving the branches amongst each other locks them together, creating a stronger structure.

Alas, there were not many fallen branches with leaves on, so we had to roof it with the plentiful stickweed that was spreading around the area. A dense mat of leaves on top encourages the rain to run off rather than soaking through; the tiny leaves of the stickyweed were not ideal for this, but the way it all stuck together would probably be a lot better than nothing.

Thankfully, it did not rain, so we did not have to find out.

The Scouts were down to be doing camp cooking today, but they were excited by the sound of the Cub’s shelter building, so we took them to the same spot in the woods. One group cooked outside the Cub’s shelter, while the other group used the spare wood left over by the Cubs to start work on a second shelter. It fell slightly afoul of the second system effect; they wanted to make a bigger one than the Cubs made, but with a smaller team (most were cooking) it wasn’t quite finished by the time we had to head back; the structure was all in place, but the stickyweed roofing was only partially done. The pasta dish the others cooked on our Trangia stoves, however, was delicious.