Scouting and Me Review 2021

The year started off with a reverse namely the imposition of restrictions that we had thought toward the end of twenty twenty just as people like me were hoping to get some serious exploring done and Scouts were trying to get more face to face meetings open so online meetings continued and I was restricted to places not needing an overnight stay anywhere.

We were fortunate to have a pretty decent spring so I was able to go out exploring within daytime travelling distance where I took this brilliant cherry blossom picture, visit small holdings and the nursery and even see Llama's!

I missed one trip out but as we moved into late spring it became more likely overnight travel involving people who were from different households being able to share a guesthouse or lodge would be possible although we'd still need to be cautious.

Thus were were able to get away for four days in the Lake District exploring, playing games and generally recovering from the psychological impact of covid restrictions going back to March of last year.

It may well of been wet which you can see in this picture and the camera needed a proper drying off upon return but we made the most of it

That relaxation brought more people out visiting places leading almost pre-covid activity levels on the local canals as many of us took "staycations" given foreign trips were fraught with difficulties and even cancellations at short notice.

I enjoyed the summer and early autumn exploring the canals, meeting and talking with people as well as the ducks although I had to run at speed from a hornet!

Autumn was most colourful and this leaf was a great find on a stroll in the local park.

Scouts launched Squirrels for the four to six year olds to help them grow and provide a basis for movement within the Scouts family.

In conclusion the year had enabled some exploring to took place even though the first five months were limiting helping to recover from the impact of the unprecedented lockdown in society we had faced.

While things remain touch and go, I expect a continuation in trips away and local exploring to continue this next year.

In the thick of it

Hiking in the snow places it's own demands not least having a good map and mobile phone on you for keeping in touch but I honestly don't think short trousers and just above the ankle socks are a good idea in very snowy conditions somehow.

Christmas 2021 Part II

Christmas itself is almost over with presents being opened, visitors been and gone and we start that period as move out the old year and into the new.

I have always loved comics so apart from reading this years Beano Christmas special I had the Dandy Annual, a staple from childhood and a compilation of past cartoons from the Beano and Dandy around the subject of artist endeavour which I love as let's be honest you cannot in most circumstances keep ten years never mind whole decades worth of comics.

These compilations tend to give you the best moments, well served and printed on much better paper.

In the days of yore, we had in Cubs to learn to use the telephone box to send messages but in the last ten years or so many have either been taken out completely as many use mobile phones or made into booklending libraries or defibrillator holders.

That puts a premium on you having a very good working mobile phone as an essential tool while exploring and mine had been getting on for ten years with the battery life starting to trail off and the 2G network it used going by twenty twenty five at the latest.

Given my dexterity issues modern smartphones are hard to use reliably so I wanted something more modern running on the 4G network but still fairly simple so I had this CAT B40 rugged drop proof phone with a camera function that is just an updated regular one rather than a micro computer that makes calls.

That well help me stay safe while out exploring.

Christmas 2021

It is usual on this blog to take a break over Christmas where no doubt many of us are busy doing things to make Christmas happen or to help people who might struggle during this period.

One thing some scout groups have been doing is Scout Post, discounted Christmas card deliveries within a geographic area with all proceeds going to the local Scout group even if in a few areas it was cancelled due to the new Covid variant.

Here apart from last Sunday's Santa we're having a Community sing along by the tree on Saturday

The last thing to do on this blog is to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and all the best for Twenty Twenty-two.

Scouts at Christmas

This week we are counting down Christmas so for post before the Christmas pause here we are looking at few classic scout magazine front covers from the past.

Many has been the scout troop who had a Santa but I don't know if any had such spirited helpers in making him such a great one filling him out and sorting out the beard.

Baubles on your Christmas tree complete with tinsel and lights are by no means uncommon but have you ever had a bauble reflect an image of a scout? 

Having put up the family tree and set everything up were this scouts parents expecting a bugle call as part of the service?

I find vintage scout related art fascinating to look at. 

Learning about knots

Original Source: Uniform Research.

One of the most important things you will learn as a Cub in Scouting is how to tie a variety of knots and what is the most appropriate knot for each usage and as we can see boys look on paying attention because such things do in fact hold their attention..

Given the era this was set in they are Wolf Cubs and each boy and their leader look very smart in such a uniform.

Xmas Scavenger Hunt

Christmas fun activities can include a Scavenger Hunt apart from parties with games and quizzes.

I always loved those sorts of activities although it may not be easiest thing for the fun taking part which when there's several of you is infectious.

Cubs is at it best when it remembers it's for children and caters for their innate juvenile state rather than trying be a cut down older child or adult activity and occupation.

Resting at base

Accommodation away can vary, many of us hold to the whole idea of sleeping under the stars in our tent we had to learn to erect properly with say just a shop and shower blocks on a site while for others it may include a hostel with either a dormitory or just shared with another in bunk beds.

I normally prefer a dormitory for the social side with great yarns told at night which was pretty similar to how life was at school being used to sharing spaces and keeping to rules.

These two I imagine are just taking a bit of a nap before evenings activity.

The Winter view

After yesterday's collecting in which I saw him with a red outfit and white beard today where I was jumping up an down waving and handed a donation over we're back taking a winter view across the canal where it is obvious the land has sunk dramatically thanks to subsidence which is endemic here looking across to next parished area.

It was a very storm day where ideally I could of used a tripod but it would of needed to be sturdy model as even I was being blown about  although there were a number of people about walking  at the time.

A few entries back I mentioned The Squirrel's, no not those crazy nut eating rodents but the newly formed unit for four to six year old scouts across the UK.

This is a key stage in their social and emotional development, when vital connections are being made in the brain. 

Since launch over 300 Squirrel Dreys have been set up in local communities and this year there is a Acorn Appeal to help set more units up with the priority being those in the more disadvantaged areas so no one gets left behind.

Please consider giving a donation to this appeal:

Scout Association Acorn Appeal 2021

Ho Ho Ho!

 

Poster source: Rode Heath (97th S-O-T) Scouts, Potteries North district, Staffordshire.

We are moving ever more into the Christmas season and apart from getting a community tree by public fundraising with lights on the Green on Sunday scouts in that district will be escorting  one Santa Claus on his visit around all the houses and raising funds.

Unlike last year where that couldn't happen so a JustGiving funding raiser was used instead for local fund raising this year they'll be back normal with buckets and real money.

Revisits

Today I'll be a bit busy but I thought given it is raining hard with the probity of snow later on to revisit those crisp golden leaves from a few days back.

One might as well take a pause before having a hot drink today!

That was the Scout of the early 1960's in his uniform and as then carrying his trusty penknife on him.

Sadly today we'd attract attraction for that.

Visits out

Rover Scouts on an official visit  posing for a photograph at Horse Guards Parade.

Horse Guards Parade is the ceremonial parade ground in St James's Park and is the scene of Trooping the Colour on the Queen's official birthday in June. Horse Guards is the building with a clock tower over an archway, and remains the official entrance to St James's and Buckingham Palace.

Horseguards wasn't somewhere I visited around that age but we did go to the Police Horse section in Liverpool, North-western England where you saw the stables, met the risers and stable staff which was very interesting so I can imagine how these scouts feel.

Apart from seeing the horses they'll learn about his history of horses in the ceremonial and military roles. 

Needless to say they look really smart in their uniform.

Support on the trek

This Scout shows a novel way of staying upright with a fair sized backpack and sleeping upon his back which I'm sure he can feel and the legs on it are fully adjustable on the tubular section so it can set for the exact height for him.

With the exception of his footwear and socks I do like how he has his uniform on.

Winter announces itself

The weekend was one of very low temperatures and considerable snowfall so much so that for the first time in ages I needed to wear my thick track pants and thickest gloves that is usually awkward for using the camera with not least the need to semi press the shutter release to engage the auto focussing.

I went out into the woods although getting about with my walking abilities was not easy due to the ice rather than the powdery snow which was fine.

Here the fallen branches got light coating even if everything else in wood has well covered.

Winter outdoors

The start of the Winter outdoor season will be soon upon us as the temperatures drop and one thing I look forward to ever year is snowball fights and making snow sculptures, a never ending boyhood ritual.

I tossed snowballs, got hit by them, had snow put in my tops and would do the same to any boy that did instinctively as every boy knew I had 'the bottle' to give as good as I got nay even thriving on it.

Winter isn't an excuse to stay in!

The Winter skyline

It's still cool as I type this and more to the point by later today and Saturday we are expecting snow to land here if the forecasters have got this right so we'll how getting out goes then I guess.

Technically it is Winter but as you can see some of the trees haven't lost their foliage looking magnificent in the low level sun, most crisp. 

Even where coverage is more spare those that are out look great as they turn to a golden colour.

Walking back yesterday I saw the birds gathering in the wood arguing about whose was having which tree quite loudly which was fun to observe for several minutes.

A Winter's Day

Following on from the comment on Monday, indeed it did turn rather cold as I was out on that day with temperatures around minus one or two with my thick socks on apart from a marginally longer pair of short trousers and a coat that covered more of my body outside of thick gloves and a hat!

Although the ground was a bit soft under foot in recent days the bails had been put out with fairly regular spacing.

I thought this tree framed the scene rather well.

A broader view from a different point shows the ridges in the background with frost with the brilliance of the deciduous trees illuminated by the warm glow of the sun.   

Strangely enough it did feel warmer in the field while taking these pictures than it did than it did within yards of leaving the path for the roadside.

Ready for Winter

We are going through a period of variable weather from relatively warm to the expectations after a week or so for sub zero temperatures and snow so we'll see how things go.

Grass and pavements are covered especially near the wood leaves and indeed I saw a number just falling,  fluttering in the sky as they fell as the smaller birds were flying from tree to tree.

Looking across to the smallholdings low sun is making an appearance although I have noticed a number of mole holes on my travels lately.

 

A walk in the wood

Today I was out walking near our woods admiring the colour carpet of fallen leaves and the more hardier greenery that was still around, listening in the still air to the birdsong.

It was just magical to be out being at one with nature.

The sunlight as I type this is glistening.

A relaxing time

Monday morning was really quite foggy first thing while I was out after a rough few days where I needed to rest where I did spy some grey squirrels while watching the birds.

Much of the leaf canopy is depleted at present with the floor in the woods and even the pavements nearby covered in yellow leaves I am mind of in case of slippage when we've had a shower or so. 

Remembrance Sunday 2021

This Sunday was Remembrance Sunday where would parade to the cenotaph in our area and the wreath would be placed by the person chosen to represent your local unit in order with all the other official wreathes such as those by the Royal British Legion and the local authority normally by the mayor.

We pay our respects not just in honour of those who died for our freedom but also in recognition of scouts contributions as some saw active service and many more helped the war effort by passing on messages, identifying enemy aircraft, helping with casualties at home, assembling air raid shelters and so on 

There are badges available such as the one below, a special neckerchief and other things for scouts connected with this important act.

For the Fallen by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), published in The Times newspaper on 21 September 1914.

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,

England mourns for her dead across the sea.

Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,

Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal

Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.

There is music in the midst of desolation

And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;

They sit no more at familiar tables of home;

They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;

They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,

Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,

To the innermost heart of their own land they are known

As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,

Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,

As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,

To the end, to the end, they remain.

Armistice Day

Today is the nearest day to Armistice Day when on the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month a peace agreement was signed and WW1 stopped.

Thursday saw Armistice Day, the day WW1 was brought to an end after just over four years of bloody battle in Europe, not least the trenches of France and Belgium where tens of thousands lost their lives and many towns and villages were badly damaged physically.

Many people were damaged psychologically from that conflict too as they fought for freedom as Belgium and France were occupied in acts that had little to do with the initial cause of  that war and saw the horrors of poison gas and flying bombs emerge.

We remember because during the World Wars, tens of thousands of Scouts served in various ways – watching the coasts, delivering messages, administering first aid and sometimes, even fighting at the frontline.

They made a difference to the outcome so today and on Remembrance Sunday we will be paying our respects.

Taking a reading

 

I can remember the first time I owned a electrical multi-meter, it would of been around the age of eight and it was an analogue display model rather like this one except mine was made Tandy/Radio Shack at the time.

It's good you can learn to use use in Scouts as you can check if a battery is "dead" or not, trace continuity in wiring in case a broken connection is causing issues and use it as tool in fault finding using a schematic/circuit diagram with information such as Voltages at points shown to find where the fault is.

It is a most useful skill.

Introducing The Squirrels!

Most of us are broadly familiar with the structure of the Scouting Association programs and corresponding groups even if some titles and uniforms have changed over the decades and at present we have Beavers 6 to 8, Cubs 8 1/2 to 10 1/2 and Scouts 10 1/2 to 14  and so on.

@Pix credit Scout Association

We now have starting a new group and program which in its own way is a big as starting Beavers was and they are the Squirrels. That's investiture with the uniform.

The Squirrels really fills the gap being for 4 and 5 year olds (in scouting some leeway is allowed for developmental reasons so ages aren't an absolute) in a typically one hour a week session covering from fun things outdoors to do to learning about cooking, exploring, building, safety and creativity with a similar awards system to Beavers

It looks rather like this:

12 Activity Badges

This includes the Explore Outdoors Activity Badge, Feel Good Activity Badge and All Together Challenge Award that looks at teamwork and co-operation

Four Challenge Awards

a Top Award

a Membership Award

a Joining In Award

a Moving On Award

It was  also decided that Squirrels would be able to earn Staged Activity Badges.

The Uniform main colour is red having a clear link to squirrels, very visible a good idea with young children and popular with all, girls as well as boys of all ethnicities and so the Jersey is red to which as we should know the badges are sown onto.

Part the aim is to get people who for whatever reason never previously connected with scouting involved from an early age so inclusion by gender, disability, faith (or none) and ethnicity are at the core from day one.

It is early days as this is being set up but it's a major and I feel welcome additional offering to our youngest.

Religion in scouting

Original source: roverscoutandy

Scouts taking part in a service might be a child's blessing at the point of Communion in Catholic worship.
Some scouts are affiliated to specific churches, chapels or other places that used for worship by non Christians such as Jews, Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs.

Halloween weekend

 Things were going on during the weekend because it was Halloween so I was out enjoying it.

Like a number of people I do enjoy taking part in lantern making cutting and scooping out a pumpkin before inserting a lit tea light and watching it in the dark evening sky.

I was with friends so we had a bonfire and many fireworks going off such as catherine wheels with bright colourful geometric shapes.

I was just so enjoyable to make things, play games and have fun together.

A Cubby Alphabet

 

A WOLF CUB is

A - for ALERT

B - for BRAVE

C - for CAREFUL

D - for DETERMINED

E - for ENERGETIC

F - for FRIENDLY

G - for GENEROUS

H - for HAPPY

I - for INGENIOUS

J - for JOLLY

K - for KIND

L - for LIVELY

M - for MANLY

N - for NEAT

O - for OBEDIENT

P - for POLITE

Q - for QUESTING

R - for READY

S - for SENSIBLE

T - for TRUTHFULL

U - for USEFUL

V - for VALUABLE

W - for WILLING

X - for worth TEN of an ordinary boy

Y - YOUNG

Z - ZEALOUS - and that means KEEN.

Typed with great care from the 1957 Wolf Cub annual

More home cooking!

You are never too old to learn how cook in the open and scouts do learn this not least at camp.

It is quite probable I may well be assisting with cooking while away tomorrow for a halloween get together.

Here we have one I suspect a German Scout doing just that with a portable oven and his improvised saucepan 

A spot of cooking

A spot of simple home cooking for these Scouts out of doors done with wood from branches lit by tindering in a clearing.

It may be something like sausages or beef burgers given one boy is moving and testing they are well cooked inside as well as outside with his fork and is using an oven glove to avoid burning his hand .

I just love cooked food outdoors.

The 1978 BSA uniform redux

Today I'm looking at uniform but from across the Atlantic when tasked in 1978 with giving the Boy Scouts’ uniform its biggest overhaul in nearly 60 years, Oscar de la Renta designed its iconic olive-and-tan look.

There can be little denying a uniform makes a group stand out, it is one point of having one, but practicality in the field matters too so things such as easy to access pockets are a must as is being hard wearing.

It is interesting to note the historical resistance to short trousers as part of the uniform and how it was in 1947 that for cubs even a more "Western" influenced design with long trousers had become the norm.

Making the most of it Friday

When I was typing this I was rather more wishing you could look up a few places and maybe go on an adventure but it won't be this week as the weather really has been pretty bad for it with gusting winds and lots of rain.

It's been more of a week for reading things such as my comics such as the Beano which I read when I was first young, things like the Animal Planet magazine for nature and natural sciences and an adventure story magazine all of which I subscribe to.

Something I have been reading a fair bit of are a few old Cub and Wolf Cub annuals, I don't collect them in the way most grown ups do with every single copy sealed up in shelves with more of an eye to investment but more because I find as their original boy owners did adventure and inspiration from the facts and stories around what it means to be a cub.

That's the kind of thing I love to read as much as I still laugh out loud to Rodger the Dodger and Dennis and Gnasher's schemes that go awry in the Beano.

They will always be opportunities to act on inspiration later on.

On being out all year

 Monday was a pretty gloomy dark day here which isn't my idea of fun but sometimes the bigger thing isn't fair-weather exploration but that dogged seeing it to the end with your waterproof jacket and gloves sense of persistence and resilience.

Sometimes at this time of year we can have two or more different types of weather while you are out so while it may start of rather "meh" then the sun came come out as it starts to dry up so you start to feel more glad you made the effort, seeing it through.

I love the autumn sun a lot, as you may of noticed the bare legs soon feel the warmth as with me at least it doesn't take much time for my circulation to get going and so I'm seldom cold out, just with head and sometimes hands covered so I don't lose head at the extremities.

This life is the one I love.

 

More Cubbing 2021 style

 On what has been sadly a weekend of much reflection across the country, nonetheless I felt it appropriate to continue with last weeks exploring and posts.

The preferred way to hold a camera, providing it has a viewfinder for the most stability and hence sharpish images involves cradling it against your face, using a camera reliant totally on the screen means tucking your elbows well in while holding it straight while hoping for the best!

I was out exploring the woods which is more challenging with the light but with the colours of the Fall around well worth it using a spot of fill in flash as needed.

The majesty of trees in the fall against brilliant sunshine is a great sight to behold as as here a few leaves have utterly fallen.

Meanwhile near the woods that golden autumnal sun illuminates these leaves well as you feel invigorated for your exploration.