Adventurous students have been recognised for their achievements after taking on a gruelling challenge.

 

Teams from Budmouth College have been awarded medals for completing the Ten Tors challenge after six months of training.

 

The college entered two teams on a 35-mile route, one on a 45-mile route and one on a 55- mile route. Students developed a range of skills in preparation for the challenge, gaining first aid qualifications and training and assessment for the Bronze National Navigation Award.

 

They spent three weekends on Dartmoor, home of the Ten Tors challenge, camping overnight and developing skills in navigation while braving challenging weather, with a lot of rain and wind.

 

A final team selection was made prior to the challenge and students set off to camp at Okehampton Camp in Devon.

 

The challenge was not easy, and pupils were woken at 5am to get started on safety briefings, scrutineering, planning their routes - which had been allocated by the army - and working out timings for each Tor.

 

The commander land forces made an encouraging speech and The Royal Artillery fired 105mm guns to mark the start as teams left.

 

There were 400 teams consisting of 2400 young people setting off across the moor. The navy, having provided safety cover for Ten Tors for many years, flew past in its Merlin helicopter.

 

Teams had trackers so their progress over the moor could be tracked by the Army over the weekend. All teams set a good pace, using their navigational skills to follow the routes they had earlier planned.

 

Teams 35B and 55 managed to get to their seventh tor on by the first evening and camped there overnight.

 

The weather had been sunny and clear on Saturday afternoon but turned misty start by Sunday morning. Challenging navigation was needed .

 

Team 35B stormed back to Okehampton Camp by 9.59am, the quickest time of any previous Budmouth Team. Team 35A came next at 10.48am followed by 55 at 3.03pm.

 

The 45 team appeared to slow down but managed to pick up as they neared the finish, arriving back at 4.39pm.

 

Samantha Temple, Budmouth College Ten Tors team manager, said it was an “exceptional year” for Budmouth, with all teams back before the 5pm deadline.