“Twas the night before Danbury when all through the house, students were packing…

There was definitely a case of pre-Christmas excitement in the West Hall where everyone from Turkeys to Sprouts were donning their team t-shirts in preparation for the Festivities ahead.

We arrived at Danbury thanks to two brand new sleighs and enjoyed a packed lunch while moving into tents shared with friends and not a minute was wasted before pre Christmas fun began with our Danbury own “Elves” - the Instructors.

Baubles took to the skies on Zip Wire and cycled off like reindeer on Mountain Bikes with Candy Canes, Christmas Trees and Rudolphs Kayaking their way to Christmas for the afternoon. Snowballs melted in the Caving area, then dried off on the Zip Wire with Sprouts and Fairies tackling the Climbing Wall in the hope of finding a chimney. Then, both teams built Bushcraft homes for somewhere to drop off presents. Elves worked tirelessly on the Zip Wire and Mountain Bikes and still had time to enjoy a hearty Christmas dinner of pasta bolognese, salad and chocolate cake.

The evenings entertainment was a rip roaring Fashion Show where all of Santa’s Helpers took part and congratulated each other on a great 1st day’s work!

Onwards and upwards to Christmas Day two!

Mrs Newland

Overnight wind and rain would have been an issue for Rudolph and Santa on our 1st night at camp, but we awoke to a brighter start and reports of ever-increasing weather at Danbury for the rest of the week.

A breakfast full of cereals, yoghurt, fruit, toast, sausages, bacon and hash browns sets the Grinches (staff) and teams up for a busy day of both Danbury and CCA-led activities as well as the promise of “Christmas” sunshine.

Baubles, Snowballs, Turkeys and very busy Elves all enjoyed Christmas on the lake kayaking or canoeing whilst Fairies and Rudolphs used pedal power to travel around the forest. Before Rudolphs built bushcraft houses, and Fairies honed their archery skills before lunch with the previously vertically challenged Sprouts. Candy Canes zip-wired and biked their way through the morning with the Crackers. It was left to the Christmas Trees to problem solve with their instructor, zip wiring their way back to camp in time for a pizza, salad and wedges lunch.

There was barely time to wrap a Christmas present before our festive teams were whisked away again on a new round of activities with Grinch staff, including ‘Think outside the Box’, ‘CCA Marquee design with Art displays’, ‘Christmas Slip and Slide Rounders’, ‘Scavenger Hunt and Denbuilding.’

Roast chicken dinner with special ice cream, hot chocolate and ‘Festive Bingo’ rounded off Day two and our exhausted campers retired to their bell tents one night nearer to Christmas!

J Newland

Wednesday dawned with perfect weather for a Danbury Summer rather than a Clacton Christmas, and our campers feasted on a sausage baguette breakfast with all the trimmings (cereal, toast, fruit, yoghurt and jam)

Baubles saw the “highs and lows” of the festive season during the morning sessions by taking on the Climbing Wall, then Caving, and Candy Canes hit the target with Archery alongside Rudolphs before parting company to conquer Bush Craft with the Crackers and Zip Wire. Christmas Trees’ Bushcraft houses stood the test of time, and Fairies and Sprouts joined festive forces to Go Canoeing / Kayaking for the morning. Snowballs rode mountain bikes to the Climbing Wall and used all their energy to master the ascent, whilst Elves and Turkeys made light work of the Obstacle Course with time to spare up the Climbing Wall.

A buffet of jacket potatoes, fillings and salads followed for lunch in readiness for some well-deserved seasonal time off and a chance to cool off for Christmas out of the heat. Games, Art for the marquee, more positive affirmations added to the 2025 Danbury positive Christmas Tree and a slip and slide session (where even the Danbury instructors came to join us) were enjoyed by all. A naughty elf water fight ended free time, and a wonderful dinner of chicken, rice, spring rolls, bhajis and sweet and sour or korma sauce (plus profiteroles) left all our Christmas audience full and hoping for an after-dinner nap.

 There was no rest, I’m afrai,d as Manhunt was the order of the day after dinner with students gaining points for “capturing” 6th Formers,Yr 10s, and later Yr 8s as well as the sun set beautifully over another festive Danbury day.

J Newland