For 227 Brownies, it was 100th birthday celebration they will never forget.

The excitement about taking part in a city-centre sleep-over to mark the centenary of the national Brownies movement had been building for weeks among girls in the four districts that make up the Wensum division of girls' organisation.

The much-anticipated night finally arrived on Friday, when the girls from an area including Spixworth, Hellesdon, Taverham, Costessey and Bowthrope gathered at the Open youth venue in Norwich.

Overseen by 50 volunteers, the girls took part in orienteering, card making, a dance studio, a disco and singing traditional camp fire songs, but with the camp fire replaced with battery-operated candles.

For a group of 19 girls from Spixworth, the sight of their Brown Owl climbing to the top of a climbing wall was a definite, if unexpected, highlight.

Gracie Watson, nine, from Spixworth, said: 'It was really fun but I got a bit scared at first because I did not realise how high it was when I looked down. Then we played a little game called Twister, and I was the first one to fall.'

Her friend, Chloe Wones, also nine, said she was amazed at how many girls came to the event, and predicted they would be talking the whole night.

The event took one year to plan.

Vicky Wardrope, Brown Owl of Spixworth Brownies, said: 'I think they have all loved it. My group won the climbing wall prize. They absolutely loved it, and everything. They have been very excited about it.'