The first delivery and training for a Jurte in the year is always a, how can I put it?, cold moment, but this one was different; it was cold and wet. And muddy. And I had a sick Giraffe in tow who refused to get out of the car and get her hooves dirty let alone expose her poorly neck. 
We were on the Yorkshire Moors at a lovely little place called Birch Hall in Langdale End (which is all near Scarborough) meeting up with the 15th Middlesborough Scouts to deliver the last pieces of their 8m Jurte and do the training. It was cold and damp underfoot but luckily the sun also shone down and took the edge from the day. We arrived just after 10 and I will admit to being quite impressed that the free sat nav app on my phone got me there without any problems (apart from the wonderful ‘Make a U-turn and then a U-turn’ as we drove up the M11 – huh?). The scouts welcomed me in the time honoured way with a cup of tea which was gratefully received. We emptied everything on to the flatish ground, pulled our boots out of the mire – don’t stand still too long – and soon had the tent flying up. This was, I have to admit, an easy training session as the scout leaders gathered already knew their knots and lashings. Luckily, almost like I had a cunning plan, we managed to make a mess up of a few things so the centre had to be dropped and relashed and sorted out before it was up properly (a training session with no problems is no fun!). The small matter of 4 missing guy ropes didn’t help but that was entirely my fault.
Once the roof was up they were introduced to the joys of buttoning
which proved to be no match for the 15th Middlesborough and soon it was sitting proudly in the weak sunshine wanting for nothing except maybe a nice fire to dry out the ground and warm the tent up. Luckily they’d also bought a lovely 60cm fire dish and had the foresight to bring along lots of dry wood. After a couple of attempts (it was one of the leaders first try at lighting a fire using proper techniques) there was soon a fire crackling away, sending sparks shooting upwards – don’t worry, they were too cold to do anything by the time they got to the roof – and sending out lots of lovely heat. And that’s where I left the, enjoying their new tent, sat around a nice warm fire, planning and plotting the year ahead.
Gina and I had to get back down to (almost) London so we said our goodbyes and set off. Via Scarborough of course as Gina wanted to see the sea and didn’t think sand would be as bad for her as mud.
Scarborough is, I would say, almost a typical traditional seaside resort – especially in the winter! A bit if sun, a nice sandy beach and everyone wrapped up against the cold but enjoying themselves. We had a quick stop for photo’s and then my phone fell apart in such a way that I couldn’t be heard talking to anyone. 2 months old and kaput! ARGGGGHHH!!!! Luckily a friend suggested a reboot as modern phones are all software and he was right, it helped. And here I am, a product of God knows how many years of IT support and I didn’t do the one thing we always tell people – “Have you tried rebooting?” Duh!
So, a few photo’s later we did the long trek back down the A1 with Gina still poorly – she’s got a very bad neck in case you’re wondering and I’ve now sent her off to the Giraffe hospital (they have extra long beds and pillows, just for Giraffes) to be made better. She’s already informed me that she expects me to make or buy her an exotic scarf to protect her neck in the future and it’s never wise to ignore the demands of sick Giraffes. Hopefully she’ll be better for the next trip away and more inclined to be sociable.
Well, now he’s finished ‘complaining’ I shall give you my side of the story and trip! I’ve hurt my neck! and he STILL made me go on a trip around the UK despite being ILL!! Git! So when I saw the mud at the site (which is a lovely place btw and a great base for Scout groups) and the size of the mole hills – about 50 times bigger than normal which means moles 50 times bigger and moles like to eat Giraffes! – there was no way I was getting out of the car. Plus the wind was freezing! I expected snow any minute and Giraffes don’t do snow. Ever. I was, as you can tell, not in a very good mood, and maybe I was a bit stroppy but I am a girl Giraffe and I am (still) ill with a very bad neck – if you think humans get bad neckache, try being a Giraffe! Hopefully I’ll be sorted out soon and back on my feet ready for the next trip where I will be more friendly. Promise. Gina xxx
for the 
With the sides added the tent showed what a fantastic space it is for pretty much any activity. It sat extremely well in the formal surroundings of the park and should make a great focal point whenever and wherever it is used. Cup of tea over and slightly drier we decided to attach a couple of sides. This turned into a full attach sides and take more photo’s which allowed the guys to see and experience the full impact of being inside an 
In West Coker. Which is near Yeovil and only a short drive from Marks’ home ground of Blandford in Dorset. Quite why they decided to do a delivery and training in the winter I do not know – and I’m not impressed. We Giraffe’s don’t really like cold, damp weather. We made it to the scout hut vaguely on time (google maps let us down a bit or maybe it was Mark’s driving…I’m starting to think that a Sat Nav might be a good investment. Hint Hint) to be greeted by a nice turnout of scouts and leaders. It’s always a good sign when lots of people turn up to learn how to erect a Jurte. We met West Coker at the Gilwell Scout Reunion earlier in the year and they’re lovely people. The normal way the training goes is to show a few people but that’s because quite often there’s only a few people. Inga took charge of the scouts (she likes bossing teenagers about!) and soon had them hard at work learning how to erect the tent. The scout leaders took this opportunity to have a cup of tea and offer words of encouragement from the sidelines which seemed to involve quite a bit of laughing. With so many scouts at hand the roof could be set up and pulled out in all directions at once which was a novelty to see. One moment it was on the floor, the next it was in the air and being pegged down. Fantastic
The next bit was to lash the centre poles and, as you can see, that was no challenge to these scouts! Good to see scouts who know how to lash poles together properly and don’t need teaching. With the lashing done Mark explained how to finish the roof while Inga had her tea. Within a few minutes the cap was on, and the legs were pushed in – and then back out again. The lashing was too high! A quick re-lash and the roof was up and sitting pretty (not as pretty as me, obviously, but not bad for a tent). The sides went on which turned out to be the worst bit of the tent for the scouts but they’ll no doubt learn and get better with practice. The finished tent got the seal of approval from everyone which meant it then had to come down and get packed away neatly. Folding practice! the side panels are easy (remember that the buttons always go on the inside when you fold the panel) and the scouts quickly grasped folding the roof so it slipped back into its bag. And then it all went into the store to wait for its first proper outing!
time we’re heading for 
A third Kohte was put up by Laura, one of the scout leaders, and she did really well considering it was her first time and then Andrew threw up the fourth just to prove to us that he could and to give himself somewhere to sleep that night. Kohtes erected we turned our attention to the 
This led to the sides not being stretched out far enough. This was actually quite a good thing as the scouts learnt quite alot about how not to erect a Jurte from this exercise and will hopefully not make the same mistake again – the lesson was learnt – get the roof right!
After a quick detour to the castle (and crashing a wedding reception in progress) we headed back up to the campsite and cooked dinner. A Mediterranean stew of trout,tomatoes and garlic with olives and spaghetti went down well, as did the trout and vegetable parcels cooked in foil over the embers but it has to be said that our attempt to smoke some strips of trout was a complete failure. They smoked fine but tasted disgusting! That will be one recipe we don’t try over an open fire again! We ended the night in true scout fashion by sitting around the open fire and enjoying the views across the bay as the sun set.