Exped

During Basic Engineering Training at HMS Daedalus, Lee on the Solent, Hampshire (Nov 1981) we were required to go on 'Exped' to Bathesda in North Wales. It was all part of the team building/endurance and character building hoops we had to jump through. Had I known about this earlier I could have postponed joining up so that MY 'exped' fell in one of the warmer months of the year. However, November was possibly better than January so hey ho.

Our class went off along with a class of 'Tiffs' on a rickety Pussers Bus. We didn't know any of the 'Tiffs' (Artificers) so had plenty of time to get the usual banter going and make new friends. There were just two of us Wrens, my best fried Pam and I and we suffered the sexist jokes in good humour, insisting that no way would we be doing all the cooking and cleaning!

Our home for the week was a 'cosy' little stone cottage. By 'cosy' I mean it had a roof, four walls and a fireplace. Downstairs there was a sitting area full of regulation chairs and a couple of large tables. There was a kitchen with a stove, fridge and sink. Upstairs were two rooms, one with about 8 bunks and the other with three. I think there was some kind of bathroom, but cant remember anything about it, so I presume it was so cold and basic that I blanked it out of my memory! Each room had one bare lightbulb and apart from the fire there were no heating whatsoever. If you hadn't actually slept in your clothes you got dressed inside your sleeping bag. It goes without saying that by the end of the week some of us were a little wiffy unless you had been canoeing and had a dip in the river!

The staff who escorted us had their own luxury living area and after barking a few instructions about making a fire and getting 'scran' on the go asap left us to our own devices. The fire was wonderful once it got going and soon cheered us up. 'Scran' as usual was pot mess with bread and butter. Anyone could make it and no-one expected anything but a dish of corned beef/ beans/carrots/potatoes and onion smothered with ketchup. Breakfast was a traditional bacon/sausage/egg fry up with plastic mugs of sweet tea and sufficient to last until tea time supplemented by a bag of crisps and whatever chocolate/sweets you had stuffed in your rucksack.

Being a Wren in a group of sailors often had its advantages. Men have a natural desire to look after women and in this kind of situation they did just that. Even though we were more than happy to muck in with chopping wood and other heavy work, they never let us - although cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen were something we volunteered to do for the sake of hygiene.

During the day we were taken out in groups to do various activities like canoeing, abseiling or orienteering. One day we were dropped off at a car park and pointed in the direction of a bloody big hill. (Although it looked like a mountain, apparently it wasn't!) "By tea time you will have climbed up to the top of that hill and be back here ready to go back to the cottage" our guide said. "Er, I don't think so I muttered to myself". You know what? He was right.

Another day we were taken to Snowdonia to climb Mt. Snowdon - a real mountain this time! There were two routes to the summit - an easy one and a hard one. No prizes for guessing which one we had to take. Rucksacks on our backs we set off upwards. The view was beautiful as we went higher, lots of jokes, laughs and encouragement from the group made it one of those tough but memorable experiences. Unfortunately when we finally arrived at the top, the mist had set in and you could barely see your hand in front of your face. The photo is of me and Vern at the summit.

To end the week we were allowed to go out for a few drinks at a local pub in Bethesda. If you have ever known a member of the air engineering branch serving around that time you may have noticed their dislike of Welsh people. This stems solely from their 'exped' in Bathesda.

Taking us to this 'friendly local' was akin to sending a rabbit to a greyhound race. As we walked through the door, the locals turned and looked at us, and blatantly started talking in Welsh. At the bar, if a local came up while you were waiting to be served they would be served first. Any suggestion of disgruntlement was likely to result in a face off. I hasten to add that one drink was all we needed to realise that we would have more fun playing snap back at the freezing cottage.

Fortunately one of our senior rates knew about a bonfire night event at another pub and asked if we would like to go there instead. Our last night in Wales was spent drinking and merrymaking around a bonfire followed by a smoky disco in the function room. I'm not sure if we actually gatecrashed or were invited but we had a great time anyway. My last memory of that night was being bundled into the back of a Navy truck, laughing uncontrollably and unable to sit up properly as we bounced back to the cottage.

That week was one of the hardest weeks of my life physically. It taught me a lot about what I am capable of doing when I put my mind to it. The hills and mountains improved my fitness threefold and I realised from abseiling that being a wuss only resulted in you getting just one 'go' at it rather than several once you realised how much of a buzz it gave you.

Little did I know that a few years later I would experience a week much harder while doing Leadership Course at HMS Raleigh. That is a whole post in itself so will save it for another day.