Sun shines for west youth residential at Spiceland
in early May, a group of young Quakers from Bristol and Bath, set out for Spiceland Meeting house in Devon for their first camp out under the stars of 2024. It was organised by Zephyr Blofeld, west youth development worker in grateful collaboration with Spiceland Quakers in mid Devon.
Here's Zephyr's account:
"What an unforgettable weekend we had!
The stars aligned for us, and after what felt like months of rain, we were greeted with the best day of the year so far. Relieved at the prospect of not having to put our tents up in the rain, we caught the train to Devon, where local Friends met us and kindly delivered all of us (and our heavy bags) to the meeting.
After pitching our tents, we set off on a leisurely stroll through nearby fields and along the river Culm, soaking up the sunshine, the views and avoiding the cow pats. After returning to camp, we faced our first minor setback just as we were getting hungry… we had the wrong gas connector for our camping stove... but we found a nearby microwave and were pleasantly surprised about how well it turned out. Either that, or we were extremely hungry!
Despite the chilly night, we emerged from our tents on Sunday morning refreshed and well slept. After packing up, we joined all the local Friends in the meeting house for worship. The meeting had kindly agreed to bring their all-age meeting a week forward to welcome us too, and we felt overwhelmed by the hospitality and generosity extended to us.
Our weekend concluded with slightly less lovely walk along the river (it was bit of a rainy Sunday) and catching a bus to the train station. Returning home, we felt rejuvenated, with grateful hearts and a newfound appreciation for the simple joys of community and nature. Indeed, there were a few complaints that we only had the one night...
We would like to extend a huge thanks to Spiceland Meeting for their warm hospitality and for hosting us. We will certainly be back again."