Page 70 - Old Ratcliffian Magazine 2017

70 RATCLIFFE’S PAST

WHAT IS THE CCF LIKE TODAY?

The CCF have had a very busy year, yet again! We enjoyed the Army
section exercise at Beckingham and Swynnerton, supported by
the Royal Anglian recruiting team. The young soldiers interacted
extremely well with our cadets, teaching them some advanced
tactics, and the sergeant in charge was very impressed with our
senior cadets. We had our Biennial Inspection this year, and Col I
Sakree complimented us on the range of activities that we offer
our cadets, including archery, air rifle shooting, leadership tasks,
adventure training, camping and mountain biking.

The 2016 summer camps were extremely well attended, with the
Army section organising their own camp at Beckingham, and the
RAF travelling to RAF Valley. That week, all cadets took part in
some very challenging single-track mountain biking at Grizedale
Forest. Most cadets carried out outdoor rock climbing at Hutton
Roof, providing a variety of challenges for all abilities. There was
also hillwalking in the glorious sunshine, showing off the best
of the Lake District. On the last day, everybody travelled up to
Keswick and made use of the Kong Adventure facilities: indoor
climbing, indoor caving and indoor ice climbing. The ice climbing
was probably the highlight of the day, climbing up a sheer wall
of ice with crampons and an ice axe! All of the cadets took the
challenge in their stride and did exceptionally well for beginners.

Small groups of RAF cadets have had the opportunity, with Plt Off
H Grant, to attend air experience days at RAF Cranwell. Recently,
two RAF cadets gained their Part One Leadership Award by
attending a weekend course. Since then, two RAF cadets have
gone on to achieve their Part Two Leadership Award.

Finally, we said farewell to WO1 A McIntyre, who had been our
SSI for the past six years, also assisting with our training and
managing the stores, and at the end of the Summer Term, we
said farewell to Miss Papadopoulou. Our thanks go to both of
them for the help and support that they have given to the CCF.

Mark Balmbra
CCF Lt Colonel

Register online for our new website: www.ratcliffianassociation.co.uk

The Old Ratcliffian 2017.indd 70 07/12/2017 11:19