So, last week we moved to The Comb, home of the Kielder Challenge and site of the successful team-building enterprise Reivers Developments, situated in the wilds of rural Northumberland, in order to get away from it all, enjoy the countryside, and hope that some of the team-building spirit would rub off on us. Our experiences so far have encouraged me to write a blog for the Kielder Challenge website to give 2011 competitors a peek behind the scenes of The Challenge and the secret life of The Comb on the other 362 days of the year when we aren’t descended upon by hundreds of spirited, competitive, enthusiastic Challenge attendees.
Here goes……..
Our first week was… interesting, to say the least. Severe storms cut off the power to the whole valley and we discovered, to our joy, that the water here runs off an electric pump. So when the power goes out we have to live by candlelight, collecting water from streams and cooking on a camping stove! Far from being the massive inconvenience it should have been, the power cuts were actually quite fun (!) giving us the chance to live off our wits a bit and really, really appreciate electricity when it finally came back on. Everyone at The Comb and in the nearby villages banded together admirably, checking on neighbours and stocking up larders for people. Not to mention hefting an enormous generator to Greenhaugh (the nearest village) in order to get the place back up and running once the power had been out for nearly 48 hours. Just a shame it didn’t work!
We’ve had a big group of people staying at The Comb this week and they’ve had a great time; clay pigeon shooting, bike rides, problem solving and walks along the Reiver trails with a very knowledgeable local guide. Encouraged by their adventuring we set out to explore The Comb and the surrounding area, where we quickly stumbled upon what must surely be the mascot for the Kielder Challenge…
I kind of like him, he has a certain je ne sais quoi, don’t you think?!