My Expedition Challenge

By Freya – 4th Stafford Scout Troop

Freya undertook her expedition challenge with her household in line with national coronavirus restrictions at the time.

The expedition badge is one of the nine challenge badges to complete for the chief scout gold award. To get this badge you must: plan routes for two days, work out how far the route is and how long it should take you do go round it all, make a menu and cook and eat the meals chosen, navigate your way around the routes planned, stay overnight at a campsite or hostel. Sadly, we were unable to do this due to the restrictions at the time and I would have done it with other scouts so instead, I had to do it with my family.

On the first day of the expedition, we walked along the Isabel trail and up to Stafford castle, then we were going to go along the river, but it was flooded at the time, so we had to cut a bit off.

On the second day we went further out of town and through lots of felids. We went past the battlefield where the battle of Hopton took place in 1643. Then we went back round, and down the Isabel trail to go back to our starting point.

For my task for my expedition, we also went to some historical places on the first day we went to Stafford castle and the second the battle of Hopton Heath. These both link to each other as they were fought in the civil war of 1643 between the Parliamentarians and Royalists. At the time of the Norman Conquest and it was the seat of the powerful Anglo-Norman Stafford family later by Earls of Stafford and Dukes of Buckingham. The 14th-century stone keep was demolished in 1643, during the Civil War, having been held by the Royalists and Parliamentarians. The Battle of Hopton Heath, in Staffordshire, was a battle of the First English Civil War, fought on Sunday 19 March 1643 between Parliamentarian forces and a Royalist force.