Moonlit Walk 16th February 2022
Bus ride away from prep
At 6.15 pm, the Biology students led by Mr Brown gathered at Main Hall in excitement before boarding the minibus for our moonlit hike up the Long Mynd. Our caring teachers ensured that each of us were equipped with a beanie and a pair of gloves to ensure that we were armed to brave the strong wind. The weather hadn’t been nice recently, so we didn’t want to take any chances.
Overjoyed to flee the tedium of prep time, we boarded the bus and departed. On our way up the steep mountain, we saw wild sheep and horses grazing the grass. It was easy to spot them as they were HUGE! (Even bigger than the ones at Pigott). Many of us were witnessing this for the first time so we were amazed. Even though we were so close to them, we unfortunately couldn’t interact with them as they were wild creatures, so we had to leave them alone.
After roughly 25 minutes, we arrived at our deserted destination, which was pitch black, with our only light source being our torchlights and a full moon. The moment we alighted the bus, strong winds and cold air bombarded us. Mustering our courage and motivation, our group began this arduous trek, hand in hand.
The walk
Along the way, whiny complaints about the mud and cold blended with the whooshing sounds of winds. Some of us started to incessantly question our decision to participate in the trek, hoping to return to the warmth of the bus soon. Nevertheless, we encouraged each other and played songs by various artists including Taylor Swift and BTS to motivate ourselves.
After what seemed like forever, we stopped under a tree for a break with Mr Brown’s generous offer of hot Ribena and vanilla custard-filled doughnuts. If that wasn’t enough reason to give Mr Brown the ‘Best Teacher Award’, he gave each and every one of us a lighted balloon. This obviously called for us to take pictures for our social media pages and brag to our friends back home. Some of us were celebrating birthdays as well, so it was very thoughtful of Mr Brown to hand out balloons with the words “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” to the birthday teens.
As we walked to higher altitudes, the wind blew fiercer and stronger. Most of the balloons escaped our numb hands and flew away into the unknown. Trudging through sticky mud and frigid puddles, we reached the peak of the mountain where we were mesmerised by sights of Wales which was flooded with lights from various settlements. From the mountain peak, Mr Brown pointed in various directions to give us an estimate of where Concord, Shrewsbury and Telford were.
As we boarded the minibus back to campus, we blasted music and recounted the happy memories we have made these past 2 months as new January students. Over these past two months we have been through both happy and sad times that have made us more bonded as a group. This Moonlit walk will definitely go down as one of those happy memories that we will never forget!
Irisa & Beatrice – 6.1
