On a warm afternoon, the last day in May, a group of intrepid adventurers met in the wilds of Heaton Park, along with some members of the YPC committee who were quaking in their boots. The purpose was to take to the air (or at least the treetops) and to test themselves against a number of obstacles and zip wires all suspended several thousand feet in the air, well it felt that high to me when I was dangling off a thin piece of wire! Three members of the committee were required to go on the course, of the four of us there Karen instantly volunteered and Roger (our chairman) bravely agreed to stay on the ground to look after the bags and take photographs. After the safety briefing, which included being shown how to get into our harnesses, we walked up the ramp leading to the start of the course being led, of course, by several of our young people. What followed was (I thought) a gruelling series of obstacles such as wobbly logs, see-saw planks and wire bridges interspersed with zip wires which ran from tree to tree. All the young people I saw completed these with grace and skill, I on the other hand perfected the technique of stopping myself at the end of the zip wire run by slamming my back against the (inadequate) padding on the trees and falling off the obstacles.
After completing the course, which most of us enjoyed including, I must confess, me, we retired to the Woodthorpe for an excellent meal served in our own private dining room. We all went home filled with a sense of accomplishment and good food.
As usual our thanks go to Karen for bringing the event together and special thanks to Richard Riley for organising the booking of the Treetop Challenge.
