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Description

Session Overview

Cubs will take part in a 90 minute guided hike around the Bennachie Colony Trail. The session includes nature spotting, basic navigation, exploring the hill, and a discovering some of the secrets of the hill.

Cubs will walk in Sixes with a dedicated leader, learning safe walking behaviour and discovering local history and wildlife along the way.

Resources

Print out maps for cubs and leaders:
Colony Trail Map - Cubs
Colony Trail Map - Leaders

Instructions

Split the group into sixes, with a leader taking each six or the two matching colour of sixes together with a leader from each pack.

Before setting off remind Cubs of good communication, the country code and behaviour whilst out hiking.

Cubs to be issued with a sketch map for navigating and the Trail Map Leaders for the leaders to monitor the walk and getting Cubs to check where they are. During the walk talk about 10 secrets and fact about bennachie, see below.

Cubs to navigate to each point of interest on the route:

1) The small pond
2) Cairn Couttie - a family lived here in 1851. 5 people lived here, a mother and two children and another couple.
3) The turning point - Offers views of the Mither Tap.
4) Burnside - another area where colonists lived at as early as the mid 1830's
5) The Gowk Stane - the colonists believed that a Cuckoo would return to Bennachie in the spring and perch here.

10 Secrets and facts about Bennachie
1) The hill with two names. There are two main summits on the hill. Oxen Craig is the highest at 528m and Mither Tap second at 518m.
2) Local folklore says that the hill was made by a giant called Jock o Bennachie who fought against another giant from Tap o Noth.
3) There is (was) a secret waterfall near Pittodrie house hotel in what used to be dense forest called the Foghouse, there are no trees surrounding it now.
4) There are 3 wells on the hill, the easiest to find is on the Maidens Causeway on the way to the top from the Rowantree car park. Martin has drank water here on numerous occasions over the years.
5) There was a world war two plane crash on the hill on the flat ground near Oxen Craig. They crashed whilst flying in bad weather. You can still find parts there now.
6) The Mither Tap is an ancient hillfort and is over 2000 years old and was built by the Picts.
7) The path we are on now follows the history of the Colonists and their village that was spread out over the slopes of the hill.
8) Bennachie has its own weather system. Because of the size of the hill area air is forced up the hill making cap clouds, fog and quick changes in the local weather. The old saying is "if Bennachie is wearing a hat, rains on the way."
9) The hill is made of some of the hardest granite in Scotland. The rock that the hill is made from is over 400 million years old and is incredibly tough. Thats why it hasnt eroded like the lad around it.
10) How many visitors a year. In your six try and guess how many visitors the hills see's each year.

It is estimated to be more than 150,000 visitors a year that visit.

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