Duke of Edinburgh Silver Practice

On Friday 24th April, eleven Thornton students set off for the edge of Dalby Forest, with their bikes, ready to complete their practice silver expedition.  The first night was spent relaxing and enjoying the luxurious campsite; there was even time for a quick game of duck, duck, goose!  Then, early on Saturday morning the teachers were woken up to sound of Sam and Harry merrily cooking themselves bacon for breakfast in preparation for their journey ahead.  By 7:30am all of the students were on their way to Goathland, unaware of the steep hills which were lying in wait for them.  They all conquered these and still managed to have huge smiles on their faces!  Unfortunately the temperature plummeted at the end of the second day and that, coupled with the heavy rain, meant that we all set out for Whitby in search of chips and somewhere warm to shelter.  By bedtime the smiles had returned though and the students had an early night ready for day 2. 
Day 2 was far more eventful and eventually led to all of the students realising that the moors around Whitby are not suited to an expedition on bikes!  Chains were broken, gears and brakes failed, and there were more punctures than the cyclists would care to count.  However, still this did not dampen their determination and spirit, and all of them seem raring to go for the real expedition which will take place in June.  Well done Thornton