Chase Walk Report by Ben Walker

In the chase walk you walk with a group of four to seven people for 13 miles through Cannock Chase. It helps improve your teamwork and leadership skills as you are independent from your leaders. It is a largely recognised event and many scouts from across the surrounding area participate. It can take from just a few hours to the entire day depending on how fast you walk and if you get lost.

The walk starts early in the morning but as it can be take a long time immediately after we got our bags checked to make sure we have all the required kit we set off into the forest with only maps and compasses to help us find our way (we had phones for emergencies). We set of at a moderate pace passing other groups as we went. As you walk you really get to know the others on the walk well as you have to stick together and work together to navigate your way through Cannock Chase passing through several checkpoints to make sure we are on the right path for the duration of the walk. Several hours later, when we arrived at the finish we received a certificate and badge to prove we did it, the feeling of achievement when you have finished the walk is just amazing, and it is an experience everyone should be able to enjoy.