BARTON CAMP WEEKEND, 21 – 22 SEPTEMBER 2002 

After the disappointment of no camp in 2001, because of the foot and mouth restrictions, everyone was looking forward to September 2002.  Planning began early in the year and it was decided to hold the camp again at the excellent facilities at Barton Le Clay, Bedfordshire. 

Barton-le-Clay. The name makes it sound like an old brick works surrounded by gravel pits, but in fact it’s a lovely small county town surrounded by fairly high downs. 

Six riders were to take part in the camp – 3 from the Elisabeth Curtis Centre and 3 from the Chiltern Group.   

It’s to this location that we went for a summer weekend away for some of the children with whom we work. The children were staying for the weekend with some of the parents and some volunteers, sleeping in the village community hall just behind the rectory of the 13^th century St. Nicholas church, with the kind permission of Rev Peter Whittaker.  

On Friday, we moved four of the horses (Pedro, Jason, Rowan and Sunny) from Bromham, and apart from Sunny deciding that the trailer was not his favourite place to be and fidgeting during the journey, all were settled into their temporary accommodation.  On Saturday morning two more ponies, Ben and Poppy, who had been generously loaned for the weekend, joined them. 

Saturday was a bright sunny day, which was ideal for the activities planned for the day. Whilst it was warm, it wasn’t so hot that it was uncomfortable. The ponies were groomed and tacked up with the aid of the children that would be riding each one, to familiarise them with their pony.  Then it was time to hack out in the Autumn sunshine. 

Once we got the children mounted, we were off for a trek up to the top of the nearby hills. The trail we went along, is a ramblers path, with trees on either side from the base of the hill, until you get almost to the top where it opens out to open farmed fields on the left on the way up.  

The bridleway leads directly from the field up into the hills behind the town and the stiff climb soon left some of the helpers out of breath!  The ponies had no trouble and enjoyed the change of scene, but one of our riders became too tired to continue and was taken back by four wheeled transport, whilst a volunteer rode the pony back to base. 

 The view from the top of these hills is incredible, as you can see for several miles, and the air was so clear that day that we got the children to try to recognise some of the distant landmarks as an unscheduled part of the activity. 

We returned home, untacked the ponies and left them to enjoy their lunch and the afternoon off. 

In the afternoon, everyone visited Waterhall Farm in Hertfordshire, where we saw lots of visitor-friendly animals.  There was also a shed full of farm machinery for the mechanically minded.  After a quick cup of tea and a visit to the farm shop, it was time to head back to Barton, arriving about 5pm. 

Before supper there was a Treasure Hunt – various items of pony related equipment were hidden in the next-door vicarage and the clever ‘Hunters’ found everything in much less than the time allowed.  After a fish and chip supper, it was time for bed – everyone was weary and the boys fell asleep quickly, but the excitement of the day kept the girls chattering for a while. 

The following day, the weather was a different story. It was a bit blustery, but fortunately the rain held off until we were indoors for lunch, when it only drizzled for a short while. 

 In the morning, the riders were taken for a gentler trek along the base of Barton hills. When we stopped for a break, the children were put through their paces with some riding and horse control exercises, before we headed back for lunch. 

Once we were back our riders dismounted and left the ponies to rest, whilst we had a scavenger hunt, before lunch. The ‘most unusual’ prize went to the rider who found a hedgehog skull in the churchyard. 

In the afternoon we had the gymkhana, the main horsy event in which the horses and riders displayed their skill and aptitude in a variety of races and contests. There wasn’t any rider who outshone all others, as all the contestants each won more than one event. (Some cheating may have gone on?)  So everyone enjoyed themselves enormously and won lots of rosettes.  

Ponies were then untacked and allowed to rest, while we had tea, cakes and a raffle and thanked everyone who had made the weekend such a success.  Then it was time for our riders to pack and say goodbye. 

We loaded the ponies into their trailers, took down the electric fencing, put the equipment into cars and headed back to Bromham. 

We know that both the ponies and riders love the change of scenery of the ‘Barton Camp’.  For some of them it was their first experience of being away from home and parents and it would not be possible without volunteers like Stu (helper) and Charlotte (organiser) from whose reports this article was written. 

Many thanks also to all those who contributed to the success of this weekend camp. 

We hope to have some of the photographs that were taken, on the site, soon. 

January 2002