Six Wiltshire Army cadets have just taken part in one of the hardest challenges of their life in the Ten Tors Challenge on Dartmoor.

Corporal Nick Collins, Lance Corporal Chris Beckett, Lance Corporal Mark Webber, and Cadets Neil Palfrey, Ellis Capon and Nick Horton were among 2,400 young people who faced up to high winds, rain, mist, bogs and subsequently, blazing sunshine carrying loads of 20kgs across some of the most difficult terrain in England.

The cadets were members of the six strong Wiltshire Army Cadet Force 35 mile team, which has been training since January to prepare themselves for the event.

Team trainer, 2nd Lt Mark Calaz outlined the tough training that he had put the cadets through. "We started in January, really a bit late for Ten Tors," said Mark. "We had two Sundays on the Plain, the first one a 10 mile walk carrying kit and the second for navigation training and from that I selected 25 who could carry the weight and navigate."

"Then we had two weekends in the Brecon Beacons, the second had such bad weather conditions that we had to come off the mountain, we followed this by two weekends on Dartmoor."

"Training the teams has been difficult, the junior team have been in the middle of SATs and the seniors had work commitments, but we have managed to produce two teams for this year.

"This gets the cadets away from the Play Station and I hope will broaden their horizons and I then encourage them to do more. They have trained and worked hard for the opportunity to take part."

Chris Beckett, 15, who lives in Chippenham and is a member of Chippenham Platoon, was appointed Team Navigator "I love walking and enjoy a challenge," he said. "So when I heard about it I thought that it would be good fun."

"The training has been good and prepared us well. The Brecon weekend was really tough, but we all gave it our best shot."

Neil Palfrey, 15, also from Chippenham was made the Team Leader. "When I was asked if I wanted to do it," explained Neil, "I agreed because I thought that it would look good on my CV. And it beats just sitting around at the weekend. I enjoy hiking and other sports such as rugby and athletics. I joined the Army Cadets because some of my friends were in it, and they said it was great. It is. You get to learn new things and I will definitely keep at it."

The jubilant team completed the event, crossing the finishing line at 4pm on Sunday, having begun at 8am on Saturday morning.

The Challenge involves trekking to ten Tors on Dartmoor, a straight line distance of 35 miles which will actually be nearer 40 when they plan their route to avoid rivers, bogs and high points. They camped out on the Saturday night, cooking their own food and completed the trek on Sunday.

The Ten Tours Challenge, now in its 48th year, is organised by the Army for young people and youth organisations across the country. The entry is restricted to 400 teams of six to reduce the environmental effect on the Dartmoor National Park.

In parallel they also run the Jubilee Challenge, a one day event for young people with special physical or educational needs.