Witan 2024
Witan 2024 Committee
Sunday 8th of September 2024
SSAGO went to Burg Rieneck Scout and Guide Castle in Germany for a week of adventure and friendship with our pals from PfAU, a recently formed German Student scouting group.
Our voyage to the castle was a long one! On August 31st, our two coaches began their journey in Birmingham before travelling down to Dover ferry port, collecting more participants from Slough and Maidstone on the way. This is SSAGO so of course there were a few issues: the ferry was delayed into the very early hours of the morning and one participant had to race the coaches from London to Dover, but nevertheless we successfully disembarked for mainland Europe - tired but excited!
On the first full day most of the time was spent travelling across to Germany, with an unplanned drive through central Antwerp due to road closures, but we arrived at Burg Rieneck at around 1pm. After lunch, the afternoon was spent settling into our new rooms for the week, getting to know each other and collecting Witan merchandise. After dinner, we officially opened Witan 2024 around the campfire, and finished the day by sharing the much loved Colin the Caterpillar cake with our new German friends.
On the second day we could finally get the activities underway! Half of the group spent the day on a picturesque canoeing trip down the Franconian Saale river, and the other half staying within Rieneck castle for a Knights themed day. The weather was lovely with sunny skies and high temperatures - a blessing for the first week of September. Activities included building wooden swords, carving soapstone pendants, abseiling down the castle’s ‘thick tower’ wall, building catapults, and competing in a knights tournament. The evening was spent hiking, dancing in the disco, or having a spooky tour of the castle's thick tower.
For our first big excursion day we started bright and early for our trip to the lovely city of Wurzburg. Participants had free choice of what they wanted to do, with some choosing to see the Marienburg Fortress, Wurzburg Cathedral, Marktplatz, or the Rontgen Memorial Site, amongst others. We then joined together to have a private tour of the Wurzburg residence. After arriving back at the castle, and having dinner, evening activities included a quiz and games night.
It had been a busy week by day 3, so we needed a lie in! We started slightly later with a chill morning of games, and exploring the local town of Reineck. After lunch, we travelled to the financial capital of Germany: Frankfurt. Participants had free choice of how they spent the day, including visiting the cathedral, museums, cider taverns and of course some shopping. The evening was spent taking in the sunset views of the city from Frankfurt Main tower.
Thursday was a repeat of Monday, but with the groups switching over between the canoeing trip and the Knights day at the castle. This was the hottest day of the week - with temperatures of 30 degrees plus! When all participants had made it back to the castle, a group walked down to Cafe Klein & Fein in Rieneck town for a knitting and crochet club with delicious homemade cake and hot drinks. Others went on a night hike, or stayed at the castle for a disco and more spooooky tours of the tower.
Our final full day in Germany saw participants split across raft building and a trip to the medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Activities in Rothenburg included candy making, ghost tours, town tours, and various museums in the town e.g, dungeon, medieval crime, and Christmas. Whilst we were in Rothenburg, the annual Imperial City Festival was being set up. Participants were given the chance to stay late into the evening to explore the medieval market, re-enactments, and a torch lit procession through the town. The raft building group enjoyed a hike to the lake with team building challenges along the way. Once at the lake, they built rafts from all sorts of different materials, then tested whether they would float!
Our last day at the castle was spent packing up and tidying, before saying our final goodbyes to our German friends over a BBQ lunch in the castle’s courtyard. Our week was over and before we knew it, it was time to get on the coaches for the long journey back to the UK. We all made it home safely, with the final group arriving in Birmingham at around 1pm on the 8th September.
We hope all that attended had a great time and it was a pleasure organising this event for you!
Photo thanks go to: Nick, Aaron, Oli, Cesca, Jude, Daisy, Lottie, Joseph, Jude, Kristina, Stephen, Nem, Elizabeth.