Wensleydale 2nd July

Winmarleigh: The Year 6 Residential

On Wednesday 19^th June the year 6s went on their Residential to Winmarleigh in Lancashire. They stayed in Winmarleigh Hall which is owned by PGL who do school trips and Adventure holidays. PGL stands for Peter Gordon Lawrence who is the founder, however it can also stand for ‘Parents get lost’ and the staff who work there joked that it stood for ‘Perfectly good looking staff’.

Our journey started at RTS where we then travelled on our coach for two hours to Winmarleigh. We got there safely and thankfully no one was sick and we didn’t have to stop for anyone to use the toilet!

When we arrived at PGL we were greeted by our school leader, Scott. He came onto the coach and told us about Winmarleigh Hall, what we would be doing and then he showed us around. When we got to the stable block we were shown our rooms and we unpacked. We were then split into our activity groups – we had three different groups and we were told what two activities we were doing in the afternoon. We ate our packed lunches outside and then started our activities.

Here are a list of all the activities we did whilst at Winmarleigh:

Climbing

We had to climb up a huge climbing wall and abseil down. Up to two people could climb up the wall at once. Whilst people were climbing two people would belay for them which is where you pull on the climbers rope to keep it tight so that they stay safe.

Raft building

We all got a bit wet! As a team we had to build a raft. The instructor taught us to tie D knots and figure of eight knots. We tied all six of the barrels together and added four wooden planks to the side. Then once we put on our helmets and life jackets we got it in the water. There was a bit of pushing and shoving to get each other off, it was quite funny. Someone even sabotaged group threes raft by pulling the knots out. We all ended up wet but it was great fun.

Problem solving

We were split in two and had to solve lots of problems. For example, walking on two planks as a team and getting everyone to the other side with only three planks and a few tree stumps to balance them, whilst keeping people in a certain order.

Zip wire

This was amazing!!! We went to the top of the climbing wall tower and zoomed down the wire. Since it was so high we had to lower ourselves down, by dropping a rope to the people below. Then put our hands on our heads to release a slip knot. After that we took two special carabiners, called flip flops, off. Finally we pulled a lever and descended down the rope. Some people got to go backwards!

Canoeing

Most people managed to stay dry! We learnt how to paddle them and got our partners. We then put on our equipment and took them into the water. We played lots of games and raced each other while avoiding ducklings. It was hard work paddling because it was quite windy when we were doing it.

Low ropes

For this we didn’t have any safety equipment, so we relied on our friends. The ropes weren’t so high that you could get a serious injury, but for safety you had to have two people spotting you. Before we started we did trust exercises. To be honest we trusted each other more before we did them! The best rope was two going off each other in a pizza slice shape. You had to get two people to walk along the rope and since there was nothing to hold on to you had to lean on each other.

The Challenge Course

As its name says, there were lots of challenging obstacles. We all had to do it as a team with one hand on a rope and only two people could go on an obstacle at a time. We also had to get everyone over a wall made of wood. The people who could climb it without any assistance went last so they could help get people up. People couldn’t go back round to help people over and only two people could be on the platform to pull people up.

Archery

We learnt the names of all the parts of a bow and arrow then had six arrows to use. Some people even got a bulls eye. It was good fun but really made your arms ache.

Evening activities

We played Wacky Races, which is racing each other doing weird things like being a dog or spinning round with a pole on your forehead. Our school leader Scott wore a tutu and a feather boa for Wacky Races some people wore wigs too. The other game was ambush. Which is a giant game of hide and seek. One group has to hide and the other seeks. You have to place cones around and hide in line with them. If the cone is picked up and it is the one the hiders are behind, they shout ambush but if the seekers see the group they shout it and win.

Eating arrangements

We ate in a dining hall. We queued up to collect our food, we put hand sanitiser on and then went to where the food was served and told the kitchen staff what we would like to eat. There were meat and vegetarian choices and lots of different salads. There was a pudding and fruit and we could choose juice or water. The food was really nice and we were hungry after doing so many activities.

Free time

You could go in the games room or play with your friends in your room. The games room had a table football and ping pong table and also giant jenga. We also had a court yard in the middle of where we were sleeping as we had the old stable block.

Shop

There was a shop that sold souvenirs that we got to go to once. There was also a vending machine which we could go to, we only ate the sweets after tea in free time.

Summary

We completely recommend it and wouldn’t think twice about going again, it was brilliant! Make sure you take lots of changes of clothes because you will get wet and muddy!!