Author Archives: DJF

District Father & Son Camp – Space 2001

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The 34th annual Father and Son camp took place from Friday 14 until Sunday 16 September. It was held at Earleywood Camp Site in South Ascot. The theme this year was ’2001 A Space Oddesey’. Thanks to Michelle Dye we are now able to publish pictures of the event.

This year 2nd Bracknell was by far the biggest group at the camp. We had over 80 campers. However, with the tents spread out under the treesF&S - tents1 it didn’t look that many. It looks lovely with the sun shining through the trees F&S - tents2 but it was quite chilly at night.

Catering for 80 people when you have no refrigeration facilities or running water and your cooking is limited to 4 gas burners is no mean feat. Unlike other groups which made the parents cater for themselves we decided to call in our Summer Camp caterers – the SMICCTSO team. Although they didn’t stay overnight they were there in time to cook the bacon rolls for breakfast.F&S - breakfast Once the rush had died down even Akela couldn’t manage another bacon roll.F&S - after breakfast He was helping out the SMICCTSO team – note his ‘trainee’ badge on his very smart SMICCTSO T-shirt.

One of the tasks put onto the caterers was the preparation of a theme meal which is judged as part of the ongoing competition. June and Lesley from the SMICCTSO team had done their homework here and had watched the appropriate section of the Space 2001 film to see what they ate. The result was quite a work of art,F&S - theme meal although some of the 12 lucky peopleF&S - parents eating who had to eat it didn’t seem quite so sure.F&S - meal not sure

Of course there was more to the camp than just food. One of the keenly fought competitions was go-karting. Although the Cubs seemed to fit into the go-karts nicelyF&S - go karting Cub it was a bit different when the parents had a goF&S - go karting parent and almost disaster whenone took the corner too fast.F&S - go karting crash

Another event involved flying saucers.F&S - flying saucers There was also an ongoing task to make various space themed objects from everyday materials although insparation seemed to have left some of the people gathered around the craft table.F&S - craft

At the end of the camp it was Baloo who collected our awards from the judges.F&S - awards

Scout Summer Camp – August 2001

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In 2001 the Summer Camp was held at the Scout Campsite at Phasels Wood in Hertfordshire. Pictures used on this page have been provided by David Ferrington.
Hopefully some of your memories will be captured in the photos.

One of the activities undertaken was climbing. Simon was at the bottom of the wall holding onto the ropes.Phasels - DF - climbing1

Sometimes there is nowhere to put your feet as David found out.Phasels - DF - DM on wall 1

The climbing wall may be man-made but there are still narrow gaps to squeeze through. Phasels - DF - DM on wall 2 We told him not to look downPhasels - DF - DM on wall 3 but, as ever, he did his own thing. Still, coming down is the easy bit. When the climbing is over you can just hang around.Phasels - DF - DM hang around

On the brick surface the handholds are clear to see. However, the more natural looking rocky wall is a different kettle of fish. DavidPhasels - DF - DM on wall 4 and NathanielPhasels - DF - NF climbing try different methods of ascending.

After all that climbing it was time to cool off. In this very well timed photo we catch David as he starts his Eskimo Roll.Phasels - DF - DM canoe The camera’s weren’t there for Nathaniel who looks rather dampPhasels - DF - NF canoe in this picture.

Nathaniel and David are part of the Berkshire Contingent for Jamboree 2003 in Thailand

Cub Summer Camp – July 2001

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Summer Camp traditionally takes place in the first week of the school Summer Holidays. This year we returned to the delightful Gloucestershire village of Cranham. The theme was Star Trek. Hopefully some of your memories will be captured in the photos.

The village is in a valley – camp site on one side, houses on the other and we had wonderful weather for most of the week: You don’t need a forecaster when there is a red sky at night

During the week we completed several activity badges including Cooks, Campers & Map Readers. We shared the site with Cubs from Cardiff. Their packs changed over mid-week and to celebrate the end of their camp they set up a waterslide on the hill. After they had finished our Cubs had a go although some found it a bit wetter than they had expected

We were fortunate to have a good collection of Venture Scouts and helpers. One of their favourite tasks was running our nightly campfire. The campfire circle was just behind our site so it was very convenient. Some of the songs required the group to be split to see who was the loudest. As you can imagine, it was a very close competition

Being at camp can rather take it out of you. The leaders were generally up around 6am so that everything was ready when the Cubs got up. Sometimes the  early morning walk to the showers was a bit tricky. However, there is nothing like a  nice cup of tea  to get you going in the morning. Of course, when it gets a bit quiet in the afternoon because the Cubs are off doing other things there is generally the chance to  catch up on lost sleep. The Venture Scouts decided that they would sleep outside in the nice weather. However, they hard bargained without the  effect of sleeping on a slope which meant that they didn’t all manage to stay on the groundsheet during the night.

There were no serious injuries during the camp but at one stage surgery was required when Robert Morgan discovered that his teddy has lost an arm. Luckily Baloo and Raksha were able to assist.

One of the main themed events of the week was the Banquet. Just the mention of it is enough to send shudders down the spine of generations of 2nd Bracknell campers. The idea is that each group has a limited budget (£10) with which to buy and prepare a 3 course meal. The competition judges look for presentation, quality of entertainment and teamwork as well as the food itself. This year the competition was judged by Baloo and a visiting dignitary – Rikki’s mother who didn’t seem to be put off by the rain. The overall winners were the Vulcan team.

One of the tasks that the Cubs found hardest was that they had to do their own washing up after each meal. Maybe they need to get a bit more practice at home!

Our closing ceremony on the last day marked the end of a great week. If you are wondering what happened to our St George’s flag you will have to ask our neighbouring campers from Cardiff. During the night they switched it for the Welsh flag instead!

The rain stayed away on the last day so that we could get the tents down in the dry (always a big relief). The closing ceremony was also dry but we knew we had pushed our luck when the rain started as the  group photos were being taken.