Go Ape

A tribe of Parkour freerunners will be going ape this Saturday, March 13, in Cardiff city centre. 

Disguised as gorillas, the free runners will be performing street stunts and urban acrobatics to promote Go Ape’s two new Welsh treetop adventure courses, which will be opening in Pembrey Country Park and Coed-y-Brenin Forest in Dolgellau on Saturday March 27.

The tribe will be free running every 30 minutes from 11am until 5pm on Queen Street, directly in front of the entrance to Queen’s Arcade.

Using vaults and swing bars, the gorillas will be surprising Cardiff shoppers with their extraordinary routines.  Members of the Go Ape team will also be on hand with information and special discount offers for the Go Ape tree top adventure courses.

We’ll be updating our facebook, twitter, youtube channel and flickr profiles throughout the day so if you can’t make it to the real thing you can still follow the action!

The Tribe have reported some celeb visits – the first of the year – at our courses last week. Atlas from Gladiators was seen swinging through the trees at Moors Valley and Ralph Ineson, who plays Finchy in the Office, popped over to Alice Holt.

Hone your pancake-making skills with the Cool Camping guide to creating your perfect alfresco pancake feast.

You will need:

A cup (the ONLY thing you’ll need for measuring ingredients, which is great when it comes to the washing up too!), a bowl , 1 cup of plain flour, a pinch of salt, 2 eggs, 2 cups of milk (or half milk, half water), a knob of butter and a pan (or skillet).

Method:

1. Combine the flour and salt in a bowl, and make a well in the middle
2. Break the eggs into the well and whisk, using a fork, incorporating the flour bit by bit
3. Add the milk/water slowly and continue to whisk, until the batter is smooth
4. Melt the butter in the pan and turn the heat up to get the pan really hot
5. Put a small ladleful in the pan and swirl to cover the base
6. When bubbles appear and the pancake becomes golden on the bottom, flip over to brown the other side
7. Load up your filling(s) and serve

Fillings:

Savoury contenders: Anything goes! Cheese is a good staple, but chuck on some chopped ham, tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, courgettes or anything else that’s lying around.

Sweet contenders: Blueberries, maple syrup, lemon and sugar, chocolate and marshmallows, Nutella, honey and bananas.

Top tip Take a Frisbee with you. It’ll help you work up an appetite, then give it a quick rinse and it’ll become the perfect dish for your tasty pancake. Flippin’ brilliant.

Katie Melua has confirmed she will be performing at Thetford Forest on 10th July as part of the Forestry Commission Live Music Series.
She’s one of several acts lined up to entertain us this summer. Have a look at the full listing here.
Tickets to see Katie Melua cost £33.00 (subject to booking fee) and are on sale from 9.00am on Friday 12^th February from the Forestry Commission box office. To book call 01842 814612 or buy online.

Here’s a little sample of what us monkeys have been getting up to in the snow…don’t try this at home!

Go Ape enjoy the snow!

The Moors Valley Tribe are celebrating this morning after a great night at the Bournemouth Tourism Awards.

Heidi, Chris and two instructors, Gary & George, were invited along to the ceremony where they won Tourism Attraction of the Year!

Last year Moors Valley Go Ape won the ‘Customer Service of the Year’ award. You’re on a roll.

Well done everyone!

A sports charity set up in memory of a former Malvern schoolgirl has been given £1,000 – bringing the total it has raised to £45,000 in 12 months.

Richard Brown, the founder of The Joanna Brown Trust, was presented with the cheque on a high wire among treetops by staff from Go Ape, a high wire adventure company.

Read the full article here.

Check out our Chief Gorilla taking one for the Tribe when he was the first to test our new 13m Powerfan and tree climbing at Thetford Forest last Thursday.

Did you have a go? How was it for you? Share your stories with us…

Our Cannock Tribe dressed up in their best Gorilla couture last Thursday for the Heart of England Tourism Awards. The tribe had a great evening and celebrated being Highly Commended for the ‘Best Tourism Experience’ category.

The Whinlatter tribe combined Ghouling around with raising money for charity last week when they dressed up and helped out with a ‘scare night in the forest’. There was a treasure hunt for kids and adults walking around in the dark. As part of the evening the Whinlatter tribe shot down zip lines and dived out from behind trees to enhance the atmosphere. The evening was a great success with lots of money raised.

Ghouling around at Whinlatter Forest