WEST Devon youngsters enjoyed a fun-packed few days on Dartmoor during the last Bank Holiday weekend, taking part in a variety of outdoor pursuits from the Dartmoor Training Centre base near Princetown.

The weekend was organised jointly by Tavistock and District Youth Network, the Outdoor Education Forum and Devon Youth Service.

Director of youth education John Collacott said: ?We had a very good turnout ? there were about 36 young people in total, some of whom were youth council members who had recently taken their foundation food hygiene certificates.

?They helped with the refreshments, which included a roast chicken dinner on the Saturday evening and a cooked breakfast and lunch on the Sunday. They catered for about 50 people with all the staff and did marvellously well.?

He said a tuck shop run by Clayton Mitchelmore, a Horrabridge Youth Club member, was also, not surprisingly, ?very popular?!

The youngsters enjoyed a variety of activities, including kayaking, river crossing, climbing, abseiling, caving, night walking and new for this year, mountain biking.

John said all the activities were well received and the canoeing at Roadford Lake was particularly successful.

Responses on evaluation sheets collected in at the end of the weekend ranged from ?fun and amazing? to ?fantastic? and ?brilliant?.

John said: ?All in all, there was a particularly good response to the weekend ? it was extremely positive from all the young people.?