THE sergeant from Malvern's Army Cadet unit has just come back from a six-week field trip in the wilds of Canada.

Edward Vernalls was selected from Cadet officers throughout the UK to act as an escort to a team of 12 British Cadets, who were taking part in the camp near Banff in Alberta.

Cadets from Germany, Canada and the USA took part in a wide variety of activities including canoeing and kayaking, hiking on glaciers and taking part in a search and rescue exercise.

They endured weather conditions that swung from 35 degrees C to minus 2 degrees C, then back up to 20 degrees C, just in one day, and lived in areas known to be home to brown bears, grizzly bears and cougars.

Sgt Vernalls said: "One day, a grizzly and her cub came into the camp. We had to have the Cadets locked up in their barracks until the grizzly found there was no food around and left."

Sgt Vernalls, who joined the Cadets in 1991 after serving in the Grenadier Guards, is a full-time student at University College Worcester. He hopes to go into teaching after finishing his degree in history.

Sgt Vernalls is now looking for more adults and teenagers to join the Army Cadets.

The county Cadets are holding a recruiting drive at Tiddesley Wood, near Pershore, on Sunday, September 1, from 10am to 2pm, for people to see what it's all about.

The Cadets are a youth movement sponsored by the Army, which gives youngsters a chance to take part in a wide range of

outdoor act-ivities.

The Malvern unit meets every Monday and Thursday evenings at its base in Claren- ce Road, next to the Cavalry Inn.

Members have the chance to take part in activities such as annual camps, and a forthcoming skiing trip to Norway.

The Cadets are also on the lookout for adult instructors, aged 18 to 35. They do not need to have Army experience, and a wide variety of training courses are available.

For more information, call Sgt Vernalls on 07789 828391.