Kayaking
On the river with a qualified instructor. You'll get wet. That's the point.
For Scouts thinking about coming up
Thinking about Explorers? Read this first.
If you're 13½+ and Scouts is starting to feel a bit small for you, here's the honest pitch. You don't have to drop Scouts. Explorers is free during your transition from Scouts. And you decide what we actually do.
Mondays, not Fridays
Free while you transition
Same hut
The three things that matter
If you read anything on this page, read these
01
You don't drop Scouts
Your Scout night is Friday. We're Monday. Same hut. Zero clash. Plenty of our members did both for ages before deciding. Nobody's asking you to walk away from your mates or the badges you've earned.
02
Free during the transition
Stay in Scouts on Friday and come to Explorers on Monday and you pay nothing for Explorers during your transition from Scouts. No subs, no forms, no pressure. We only start charging once you decide to leave Scouts and become Explorers-only.
03
You decide what we do
Every term we ask the Explorers what they want and we build the programme around it. Want to go go-karting? We'll sort it. Want a gaming night, a survival weekend, a curry night, a climbing trip? Tell us. It's literally your programme.
Heard a few things about us?
Possibly. Honest answer: we're a loud bunch.
We're up for stuff. The hut is still standing. We're not a quiet group sat in a circle. If you're someone who wants a bit more energy and a bit more freedom, you'll fit in fine.
Easiest way to test the rumours? Come once. You'll know in twenty minutes.
Neither did most of us at first. We're a big enough unit that there are already a few different friendship groups, so you'll find your people. We've also got members from different schools and villages, so it's not one clique.
Briefly, yeah. So was everyone above you, once. Within a couple of weeks you'll be just “one of the Explorers” and a year later you'll be the one welcoming the next lot.
Then you don't come back. You haven't signed anything, you haven't paid anything, and you've still got Scouts on Friday. No awkward conversation needed.
Keep going if you're enjoying it. Loads of people are Scouts and Explorers at the same time, helping run the younger sections on Friday, doing their own stuff with us on Monday. It's not either/or.
What we actually do
Don't take our word for it
Have a look at the live programme to see exactly what's on this term. Some recent and upcoming flavour:
Climbing
Real rock, not a leisure-centre wall. Helmets on, chalk up, send it.
Camps & Fires
Real camping, cook your own food, sleep under the stars (or a tarp, it's Shropshire).
Big Days Out
Paintballing, go-karting, the Monopoly Run in London. We pile in the bigger stuff alongside Mondays.
Wide Games & Hut Nights
Outdoor games in the woods after dark, gaming on the projector at the hut, cooking challenges, daft stuff that ends up being the best bits.
DofE £33.50
Skills That Stick
First aid, navigation, leadership. Stuff that's useful in real life and looks good on a CV.
You drive the programme
You're not being put through someone else's programme. You're shaping it.
At the start of every term we ask everyone what they want to do: activities, trips, challenges, daft ideas, all of it. If we can sort it, we sort it. If it needs an instructor or a venue or some planning, we'll make it happen.
If there's something you want to try and we've not done it yet, that's a feature not a bug.
For parents
The short version, if your young person has handed you their phone
- Where
- Ludlow Scout Hut, SY8 2PQ
- When
- Mondays, 7–9pm
- Cost
- Free during transition from Scouts
- After that
- £15 / month, Explorers-only
- Stays in Scouts
- Yes — many do both
The reassuring bit
- Both leaders are DBS-checked, safeguarding-trained, and follow Scout Association policies.
- Sam and James have nearly 60 years of Scouting between them.
- We're a licensed DofE centre. Bronze and Silver are £33.50, Gold is £40.
- Members come from Ludlow plus Bucknell, Craven Arms, Cleobury Mortimer, Knighton, Bishop's Castle, Clun, Leintwardine and Wigmore.
DBS-checked
Safeguarding trained
Any questions before they come, just ask
How to come try it
Drop us an email and we'll sort you a Monday. That way we know to expect you, and we can tell you whether we're at the hut that night or somewhere else, and what to wear. Then it's 7pm, normal clothes, and you see what you think.
Got a mate who isn't in Scouts and might be into this? Send them here →