W Company

SSI Becky Matthewson and SI Damien Tinlin of Broomhill Detachment have just returned from a weekend of fresh air and stunning scenery, cycling the highways and byways of Upper Weardale.

But far from touring the local hostelries, they were there for the serious business of learning how to lead cadets cycling through the rural wilderness.

Their new leisure cycling qualification will enable them to take groups of up to ten cadets on mountain bike rides.

During the course they learnt how to maintain the bikes and deal with incidents that arose en-route. They'll have to opportunity to put their new skills into practice very shortly, with mountain biking (er, I mean "leisure cycling") featuring in the Annual Camp programme.

Whoever said riding a bike was as easy as riding a bike were obviously mistaken!

The OC W Company, Major Mark Ewart, made a guest appearance at a recent Broomhill Detachment presentation evening.

Top of the bill was Cpl Dale Thomson, who has successfully completed his Duke of Edinburgh's Silver Award. That's no mean feat to achieve, with most cadets lucky to get  their Bronze.

Cdts Jordan Harnett and Josh Truman were presented with their Team Northumbria badges, after skillfully representing the County at the Brigade Skill at Arms Meeting at Strensall a fortnight ago.

The OC also had the pleasure of promoting Cdt Brandon Mayes to LCpl. LCpl Mayes, who has been with Broomhill since early 2008, will take on greater responsibility in the training and admin of the Detachment.

Congratulations to Broomhill Detachment for their achievements.