HOW do you end a heatwave or drought? Plan to take 15 Brownies for a weekend away!

As this year’s holiday was booked well before the hot weather had started, the Tregadillett Brownies had to go with whatever the weather was at the time. They were all extremely grateful that the very hot weather had gone and that the plants were now being watered.

This year, Tregadillett Brownies were joined by girls from Jacobstow Brownies for the first time. Everyone met at Tregadillett early on the Friday morning to travel to Crantock together in the minibus. One of the dads kindly drove the van that had all the luggage and equipment in for them too. They were lucky enough to unload everything at the hall in the dry after they had driven through some very heavy rain on the way down.

The group was very organised and had taken some coffee, tea, milk and squash with them to have refreshments when they got there while waiting for the Tesco delivery to arrive.

Later that day, once they had unpacked and got the hall in order, the weather cleared up and they decided to walk to the beach to explore. The girls spent some time playing on the sand before some very dark, threatening clouds started to appear, and so they decided it would be best to make their way back to the hall.

Again, they were fortunate and managed to stay dry. The girls were also able to have some time to make use of the play area just outside the hall before the rain returned.

The next day, they went for a day out to Dairyland. It was a shame that the weather wasn’t quite what they had hoped for, but in the end it didn’t dampen the fun they had. They got to pet the small animals and see the rotary milking parlour in action, but they missed out on the nature walks this time.

Of course, the indoor soft play was a great place to spend much of a wet day and the Brownies gave that some good use! The screams of the Brownies who braved the drop slide must have been heard from miles away.

Sadly, this year they were unable to go to their favourite beach café at Crantock, but instead went for a meal at the local Table Table. The girls were extremely well-behaved and even the waiters that served them commented on that and how everything had been cleared from the plates they collected.

This year, the theme was Paddington Bear and the activities in the hall reflected this. The packed lunch for the day included marmalade sandwiches, as well as other fillings. They made the pack holiday diaries in the shape of Paddington’s suitcase and decorated them with travel stickers.

Everyone also made a mini Paddington Bear from the cardboard inner from a kitchen roll. They also decorated some pebbles too, including the names Tregadillett or Jacobstow Brownies. Some were hidden around Crantock itself, but most were taken home and hidden in and around local villages for others to find.

The final day involved finishing off the various things they had made and packing up and returning any lost socks to their correct owners before the parents came to collect the Brownies after lunch.

Tregadillett Brownies would like to thank the Rotary Club of Launceston for their kind donation that allowed them to buy new sets of crockery and cutlery for use on their pack holidays.

Brown Owl would like to thank Beth Martin, Emma Boucher, Becky Frame and Becky Shute for giving up their time to help with the holiday.

If anyone is interested in joining, either as a girl or an adult volunteer, register your interest at www.girlguiding.org.uk/joinus