Growing up in the countryside paid dividends for these hardy Scouts and Guides.

They proved more than a match for their city rivals by claiming major prizes in the annual Cyril Gardner hike.

When it came to stepping out, the teams from Kingston Bagpuize Scouts and Southmoor Guides left the others standing.

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The 35-mile walk organised by Headington Scouts took competitors in April 1985 from Oxford to Horspath, Brill, Beckley and back to the city.

Peter Gower, 15, Adrian Sell, 13, and Andrew Forrest, 12, completed the route in a record time of seven hours one minute.

Not to be outdone by the Kingston Bagpuize boys, the Southmoor Guides came first in their section.

Team leader Cindy McChlery, 15, Jane Carter and Sarah Butler, both 14, took nine hours 12 minutes to complete the course, successfully defending their victory the previous year.

And to make it a Southmoor hat-trick, Simon Christensen and Samuel Forrest, both 14, and team-mate Andrew Charlton, 12, took third place in the Scouts’ section.

The Cyril Gardner Memorial Hike was named after a former treasurer of Headington District Scout Council.

Kingston Bagpuize and Southmoor are two neighbouring villages near Abingdon.

The parish of Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor extends north of the villages to the River Thames and south to the River Ock. The parish was formed on April 1 1971 by merging the two parishes of Kingston Bagpuize and Draycot Moor.

From 1971 to 1974 the parish was in Berkshire, but in 1974 it was transferred to Oxfordshire.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

You can also read his weekly Traffic and Transport newsletter.