{"id":42,"date":"2026-09-29T16:53:06","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T16:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northayrshire.boys-brigade.org.uk\/?page_id=42"},"modified":"2026-09-29T20:21:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T20:21:20","slug":"news","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/northayrshire.boys-brigade.org.uk\/?page_id=42","title":{"rendered":"News"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

North Ayrshire Battalion Boys\u2019 Brigade Take on Alton Towers in 24 Hours of Madness!<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

North Ayrshire Battalion Boys\u2019 Brigade Take on Alton Towers in 24 Hours of Madness! North Ayrshire Battalion Boys\u2019 Brigade enjoyed an action-packed 24 hours as boys, officers and staff travelled from across North Ayrshire to Alton Towers for a day filled with thrills, laughter and plenty of memories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The adventure officially began at midnight on Saturday, 19 September 2026, with the first coach leaving Kilwinning before making stops in Stevenston and finally Largs to collect members from the Largs and Millport Companies. The second coach made its only North Ayrshire pick-up in Irvine at 00:30. With two full coaches loaded and ready, the long journey south to Alton Towers began. The early hours were surprisingly quiet, with most of the boys taking the opportunity to catch up on some sleep. The first stop came at Southwaite Services on the M6 at around 04:00, where the coffee shop staff were faced with the daunting task of serving a coach-load of Boys\u2019 Brigade members looking for coffees, hot chocolates and teas. The sheer number of drinks being ordered certainly provided an early-morning challenge! Back on the coaches, the journey continued to Knutsford Services at around 06:30.\u00a0 By this point, the atmosphere was considerably livelier as the boys realised that there was only around an hour and a half left until they reached Alton Towers.As the coaches left the motorway and began winding their way through the narrow lanes towards Alton, there were plenty of laughs as the twists and turns had some of the boys and staff joking that the rollercoasters had already started! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On arrival at Alton Towers, the group was slightly early and had a short wait before entering the park. Thankfully, the park opened its gates around 30 minutes earlier than scheduled, meaning the group could get on with what they had travelled all that way for. And what a day it was! The short wait was certainly worth it as the boys and staff enjoyed the many rides, attractions and experiences Alton Towers had to offer. The weather was also kind to the group. There was a small shower during the first 20 minutes, but after that it remained dry for the rest of the day. The only real weather-related problem came from the wind, which caused some of the taller thrill rides to be temporarily affected. With so much excitement packed into the day, the hours seemed to disappear. Before anyone knew it, it was time to make their way back to the meeting point. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Everyone arrived on time, and after a few group photographs to capture the memories, it was back onto the coaches for the long journey home to Scotland. It didn’t take long for the excitement to turn into sleep! 1 Before the coaches had even reached the motorway, both were remarkably quiet, with many of theboys fast asleep after a full day of thrills. The next major stop was back at Southwaite Services, where a very different kind of challenge was waiting. Thankfully, the drivers from Coast to Coast Travel had called ahead earlier in the day and warned both KFC and Burger King that almost 100 hungry young people and staff would be arriving at around 20:30. The staff at both restaurants were ready for the challenge, and their preparation paid off. Within approximately 45\u201350 minutes, everyone had been fed, watered and was back on the coaches ready for the final leg of the journey. And, unsurprisingly, it wasn’t long before the coaches were quiet again as everyone settled down for another sleep! <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Eventually, the coaches arrived back in North Ayrshire, where everyone was dropped off safely. For the Largs and Millport members, the adventure wasn’t quite over. One company stayed overnight in the church hall in Largs before catching the 08:15 ferry on Sunday morning. The trip may have been only 24 hours, but it was certainly 24 hours packed with adventure, laughter and memories that will last a long time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The North Ayrshire Battalion Boys\u2019 Brigade would like to place on record its sincere thanks to Coast to Coast Travel for the professionalism, care and patience shown by both coach drivers throughout the entire journey.The Battalion would also like to thank the local businesses who generously donated towards the trip and helped reduce the cost for everyone who took part:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aukera Energy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adam Tait Haulage<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bourtreehill Supermarket<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bank Street Premier<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alan\u2019s Barbers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their generous support helped make it possible for the boys to enjoy such a fantastic experience. From the early-morning coffee run, winding roads that felt like their own rollercoaster, a full day of thrills at Alton Towers, almost 100 hungry travellers descending on two fast-food restaurants, and two very quiet coaches on the journey home \u2014 the North Ayrshire Battalion’s Alton Towers trip was certainly one that won’t be forgotten anytime soon! A huge thank you to everyone who helped make the trip possible \u2014 and to all the boys, leaders and staff who made it such a memorable 24 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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North Ayrshire Battalion Boys\u2019 Brigade Take on Alton Towers in 24 Hours of Madness! North Ayrshire Battalion Boys\u2019 Brigade Take on Alton Towers in 24 Hours of Madness! North Ayrshire Battalion Boys\u2019 Brigade enjoyed an action-packed 24 hours as boys, officers and staff travelled from across North Ayrshire to Alton Towers for a day filled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-42","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northayrshire.boys-brigade.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/42","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northayrshire.boys-brigade.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northayrshire.boys-brigade.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northayrshire.boys-brigade.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northayrshire.boys-brigade.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/northayrshire.boys-brigade.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/42\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110,"href":"https:\/\/northayrshire.boys-brigade.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/42\/revisions\/110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northayrshire.boys-brigade.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}