Visits

Scouting can and I would say should include some visits to places not just for passing on first hand knowledge of past events but also for showing how old skills shaped our world and also for the opportunities to practise scouting skills.

Scouting around the World

The adoption of scouting across the world can be seen in this photograph from South East Asia, crossing cultural and religious differences united in common belief.

Founders Day

Today is Founder's Day, the day we mark the Birthday of Robert Baden-Powell who was born on February 22nd  1857 and who founded Scouting in the United Kingdom on January 24th 1908 with the publication of the first instalment of Scouting For Boys, the seminal text.

Here is a picture of B-P in Leicester, part of the East Midlands which I feel shows how he inspired and continues to inspire boys and girls to be their best selves, helping raise communities through informal practical learning while having fun.

I feel you can tell a Scout a mile off as he or she is the one does things without having to be asked and is prepared to give things a go even if it's something they're not familiar with.

You might do things like swimming, water sports, cycling, hiking and famously camping but you do so with friends, having fun together, playing games, learning to work as a team and taking on new challenges and for many a scout having weekly meetings, hanging out together.

For all he gave us, we give our thanks this day.

Ludlow

 This is the last of the looking back features of this series.

In some ways the precursor to what I did last February was to be found back in 2019 when I was in Shropshire half expecting to be doing things more like board games when realizing that the area we were in was a area of special scientific interest the idea got mooted of going out and on one day we walked from a car park along the ridges to the historic town of Ludlow which was further than I'd gone before going up and down step hills.

The majesty of those views along the way absorbed as we stopped and took it all in triggered something in me that health challenges over the years had lead me to believe I could no longer do, exploring nature in the way we did as boys.

It was how I felt after that that saw me being more proactive in getting out myself and pushing more for this kind of activity from friends who had shown clearly they were up to something like this. 

Snowdonia

 This week I'm looking a bit at the origins of elements of this lifestyle while the weather has improved during the week I'd of been away.

One of the places I liked to visit during the first decade of the New Century was Snowdonia in North Wales while I didn't get the opportunity walk for miles going through a rough patch in my health I did walk a little to appreciate the views.

I did get to the top of Mount Snowdon travelling in a steam engine as I wasn't up to climbing that far up although it was always hit and miss when came to the weather as it was often misty at the summit although when it was good you could look towards Ireland.

The National Park was established in 1951 and covers some 823 square miles.

It was here I realized I enjoyed being out in open countryside and that I belonged in it.

Arnside

 

Around this time last year I was away exploring  in and around the Lake District, North-west England which was demanding physically both actually getting about and in terms of keeping to the same pace as those I was with.

Among the views I saw for the first time were these mud banks with their ripples caused through the actions of the sea at the small town of Arnside, Westmoreland along the coast where there is a promenade looking across Morecambe bay.

You do need to be mindful of the tides, a fact which is prominently displayed to avoid being trapped.

Rising to the challenge Winter

Not withstanding the severe weather here over this week and how that does impact my ability to walk around, nontheless I have been out all week.

That's because when I made my commitment to this way of life, I meant it even if I had to change attitudes and learn to work more with what can be done rather than avoiding it because it may be difficult.

Apart from seeing a few robins about yesterday in and around the many nests in the woods here, I did spot this hedge in its glistening colour while the sun was out.

I have matured more since starting this than in all the years before.

The march of Ivy

It's been a pretty cold week so far with the temperature when this was typed at minus two degrees Celsius and it's expected to drop to around minus four to five today so with wind chill I've really had wrap up.

It's been said this is the coldest for at least ten years reminding me of the Winter of Nineteen Seventy-Eight/Nine. 

Needless to say I have been out in it taking pictures and todays topic is Ivy for no better a reason that it's fascinated me taking over any convenient structure which in this district includes electricity poles.

It gets everywhere!

What intrigued me was the shape of the branches which were only just above ground level at their longest.

The amount of wildlife in this area is quite considerable even being in a highly developed area.

Cooking

 

The old style cooking routine involving gas burners being lit while a container is placed beneath containing the food to be cooked is demonstrated here out in the open where a warm drink and say soup would no doubt be appreciated at this time of year

Jack Frost arrives

The week was rather chilly which is something that needed be taken into account while I was exploring this week.

Some indication of just how chilly can be seen by the ground frost in this picture I took one morning.

An indication of how close for all that we are to the start of Spring can be seen by these Snow Drops growing naturally and a famous building near here do usually run snow drop walks towards the middle of February which are most popular.

Catkins!

We're now into February and while rain is expected today unlike northern England which is scheduled to have snow

Some indication of the topsy-turvy weather we've been having are these catkins I spotted while I was out a few days ago, something that year after year heralded the impending arrival of spring.  

Also we've had the Robin's, Hedge Sparrows and Finches out both in the woods and also around residential properties.

Scouting in the Czech Republic

While I can't be sure of  the exact date of this photograph of Czech Scouts it seems reasonable to presume it is at least after 1989 and the fall of the Warsaw Pact and Communist dictatorship in that country.

That's simply because they would never of permitted a youth movement that wasn't tied into and under the control of the Communist Party and ultimately the Soviet Union's influences so in way it's interesting to see the by British standards traditional scouting uniform being established as no doubt things before W.W.2 would of been.

It appears they have some kind of portable cooking range to which pans have been hung rather than cooking on or over a fire which is more 'normal' here.