Duchess mucks in around campfire

The Duchess of Cambridge stayed true to the Scout motto of "Be Prepared" as she mucked in around the campfire at an activity centre for youngsters in the snow-bound Lake District.

Wrapped up against the biting cold, Kate arrived wearing a fleece, green parka-style jacket, dark blue jeans and wellies with a Scout's red, white and blue neckerchief, tied in a friendship knot.

As snowflakes were blown around the fells above Lake Windermere at the Great Tower activity centre near Newby Bridge, the temperature was estimated to have plummeted to minus five with the wind chill factor.

Kate, five months pregnant, spent about an hour outside with adult scout volunteers and youngsters.

Sporting a jaunty, Chelsea-style, green woollen hat, the Duchess was undeterred by the conditions, plunging her hands into a doughy mixture of flour, water and sugar as she learned how to make "dampers" or "twists" - a campfire treat for children.

Kate, said to be "passionate" about volunteering, helps out occasionally at a Scout group close to her home in North Wales and she joined 24 other adults on a training day to learn scouting skills to pass on to children at their own groups.

The royal sat around an unlit campfire with the other volunteers listening to tips on how to create fire using a flint and cotton wool. There were cheers and claps as the instructor, despite the wind and snow, managed to create a flame.

Lesson over, the volunteers split into groups of five, with Kate learning how to make "twisters" or "dampers". In the freezing temperatures the Duchess plunged her hands, still wearing her sparkling wedding and engagement rings, into a squidgy mixture of flour, water, oil and sugar.

She kneaded the dough in a bowl for several minutes before they made elongated twists out of the pastry by rubbing blobs of the mixture between their hands. After washing the dough mix off her hands Kate wrapped a twist of the messy mixture around a twig stripped of bark which was placed over the open fire ready to toast.

The volunteers' efforts had mixed results, with the Duchess laughing and giggling with the others as some of the twisters dropped into the flames. "I'm not sure if these are going to look particularly edible," Kate laughed.