8th Mag - Issue 10

Celebratory Alumni Camp • Senior Bunk Station

2015 X

8th Darlington Scout Group /8thDarlingtonScouts

/8thDarlingtonScouts

Page 2 Editor’s Column

PAPE”R”MAIL

Alumni Camp On the last weekend in August, over 40 Seniors, Rovers, leaders, committee members, ex-Scouts, exleaders, and their families converged on Kings Meaburn to continue the celebration of the 8th’s centenary.

The so-called ‘Alumni camp’ had been in the works for over a year and leaders were happy to find that a healthy amount of ex-members were willing to attend.

Most arrived to the campsite on Saturday afternoon. The tents of current members were pitched along the east side of the field closest to the road and the tents of ex-members and their families stretched along the west side of the field running parallel with the river Lyvennet. In the centre of the field was a kitchen packed full of the Rover’s gadgets, which had been saved from Summer Camp, and the flagpole.

It wasn’t long until everyone was reminiscing about camps-gone-by and started feeling a bit nostalgic.

Before the flag was taken down at 6PM by James, the Seniors and Rovers started the colossal job of barbequing 180 beef burgers and 240 sausages.

Just before sunset, everyone circled the campfire and partook in a hybrid campfire/x-fire with a nursery rhyme or two in there as well. Alec led The Wild Rover, Maverick led Music Man, Mike took

everyone on an underwater octopus hunt, and Russ led Never Going to Heaven.

Campers were allowed to wake up in their own time on Sunday morning while bacon sandwiches were prepared for them on the open fires. It’s safe to say that the event was very popular and many are hoping that the 8th hosts an alumni camp again.

If you were at the alumni camp and enjoyed your camping experience, why not become a leader? Contact us via Facebook or email: scouts8thdarlington@outlook.com

8th in 80

words

Huh?

In order to pack more stories into ‘8th Mag’, we’re proud to introduce this new section. 8th in 80 is a page devoted to telling stories which aren’t big enough for a full write up about them but still need sharing.

Paragraphs in black are serious, paragraphs in cyan are 8th related ones, and paragraphs in green are a bit of fun. One problem the writers of this section will face is the strict word limit which is a load of

Can’t whinge Never too old

There’s now no excuse to be cold in the Scout HQ because, over summer, the windows in the main hall have been replaced and now they’re double glazed. The double doors leading outside have also been replaced but please only use the left one; if you try and push the right one open without lifting a latch either your wrists or the door will break.

Empowering EVERY girl The girl Scouts of Western Washington in America rejected a $100,000 donation earlier this year as the anonymous donor requested that the money not go towards supporting any transgender girls in the troop. According to the group "Girl Scouts empowers every girl, regardless of her gender identity to make the world a better place.” The money which would have allowed 500 underprivileged girls to participate in Scouting activities had to be raised via online crowd funding instead.

Corruption Allegations Corruption allegations have surfaced regarding the organisation of sports day at Summer Camp 2015 at Kings Meaburn. Sources close to leaders of the sports day, Maddie Blatter and Poppy Warner, revealed that the iconic event was supposed to take place at the southern end of the field but the event was suspiciously hosted at the north end of the field following talks with an unnamed leader. The CIA (Camping Intelligence Agency) will continue their investigation into the allegations.

“Friends” Scouts from the 8th have been attempting to make friends with other Scouts recently at a joint BBQ hosted at the HQ in Cockerton. Sea Scouts from the 7th were invited to the event because (as the fourth Scout law says) a Scout is a brother to all other Scouts. The evening was spent playing table football, darts, pool, bowling, cross bow shooting, and attempting to knock cans off the shelf in the coconut shy.

Big “Friends” At the end of October, the Senior troop (including their three new members) held a mingling event with Seniors from Newton Aycliffe. The two groups had previously met earlier in the year at Planet Leisure when they were running around, shooting each other with laser guns. This time though, the encounter was much more sophisticated as the lasers were replaced with darts and both troops indulged themselves in some crossbow target practise and a BBQ.

Midget man Maverick proved that there are just some things that you are never too old for recently on a Beaver trip to Walworth Castle. Pictured below, he can be seen eyeing up a climbing frame before leaping onto the monkey bars. He was soon joined in the park by the 8th’s resident pong, Maddie, who is also pictured playing on the climbing frame.

BunkStation

ON A RAINY Friday at the end of November, the Seniors – with the two new additions of Jenel and Holly – set off for their exclusive annual weekend away in Barrasford near Hexham.

They were staying at the same Scout Centre they stayed at in 2014 which is a converted railway station. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the weekend was abysmal.

On arrival, the group of 12 unpacked their personal kit into the four bedrooms before heading out to the legendary ‘Fred’s Shed’ (a rectangular standalone games room). The exterior had been repainted blue, however the inside made the Seniors feel blue. The tips of pool cues were battered – making James and Maverick’s attempt at the game worse than usual, the two wonky darts which could be found were taped together in the middle, and the chess sets were scattered all over the floor.

It wasn’t long before everyone congregated in the main common room for some pies, pastries and Trivial Pursuit.

The four teams got off to a pretty equal start however it was Holly, Tom, and

Mark who edged a small lead before the night was out despite Holly and Maddie failing to acknowledge that they were playing for slices of cheese rather than pieces of pie.

Everyone rose at around 8:30am on Saturday morning and were treated to burnt bacon sandwiches courtesy of Maddie and Liam. This is also when an

“Potato” anti-bullying theme was established for the weekend prompted by a Scout Association anti-bullying leaflet found on a windowsill. After carefully studying the leaflet, the Seniors took on-board the recommendations and set up a ‘safe word’ which they should discreetly slip into conversation if they are being harassed to inform a leader that they are in distress. The Seniors decided this word was to be ‘Potato’ – a word used

by Maddie repetitively when allegations of her radiator licking habits surfaced. The group also learned that they should call BBC Radio 1 with any troubles that they might have.

Above: Fred’s shed The whole group then threw on their waterproofs, packed their lunch, and set off along the pathway Easterly where the Border Counties line once ran many decades ago.

The 9 mile trek took the Scouts to various sections of Hadrian’s Wall which were dotted around the countryside. At around midday, they took shelter from the bitterly cold wind in a section of the wall and stopped to have lunch. The sandwiches and biscuits seemed to give the Seniors a new lease of life for the second half of the walk despite the drizzle. Poppy even tried to make some Take That puns however they weren’t very good because she had set the Barlow.

Later that afternoon, the exhausted and aching group returned to the Bunk Station very wet and very muddy but having beaten the tough figure-of-eight route. To celebrate, they smothered doughnuts with whipped cream and marshmallows. Reflecting on the walk, Holly admitted that it was “Very good, but very tiring”.

For dinner, a pan full of bolognaise almost the size of Jenel was prepared with spaghetti. Maverick and Jenel came dressed for dinner with not only the same dress code, but practically exactly the same clothes.

The 2014 comedy spy-film ‘Kingsman’ was screened in the dining room once the washing up has been finished. Everyone was blown away by the film.

John said it has “one of the best fight sequences” he had ever seen.

Take That puns (…) weren’t very good because she had set the Barlow.

Everyone then returned to the common room to finish the game of Trivial Pursuit started the night before. However, due to the integrity, wisdom, and blatant luck of Mark, Tom, and Holly’s team, the game didn’t last as long as everyone else hoped for. The deliciously meaty and spicy pizza for supper made it easier for everyone to forgive them though.

Everyone was abruptly awoken on Sunday morning by Neil who was parading around the corridors bashing a utensil against a pan. Poppy and Holly then assisted head-chef, John, in whipping together a full English breakfast including bacon, sausages, scrambled egg, black pudding, mushrooms, beans, and – of course – smiley faces.

The rest of the morning was then spent hoovering up the mass of crumbs which suspiciously surrounded where Maverick sat, discussing birthday present ideas, and packing kit into bags.

Plans to go into Hexham for the craft fayre were proposed but were quickly dismissed after a glance outside revealed ferocious weather. So instead, everyone played Fluxx – a simple card game where the basic objective is to possess the required cards which the ‘Goal’ card specifies. Neil worded it best: “As soon as you win, you’ve won.”

At around 1pm everyone hopped back into the cars they came in and set off home, having thoroughly enjoyed their weekend away despite the weather.

Above Descending: a foot selfie at the end of the hike, a pan of bolognaise almost as big as Jenel, nobody really knows

Scouts compete in Carl Milner cooking competition

During November, the four Scout patrols competed in the annual Carl Milner Cooking trophy. Curries and chocolate tarts were on the menu however the leaders had forgotten to buy passata! To worsen the crisis even further, after a quick trip to both co-ops in the village and even Heron Food, they realised that they were in the midst of the great passata outage of 2015. Thankfully, Erika’s quick thinking meant that the Scouts could still make their curries – substituting the passata for chopped tomatoes.

All four patrols were worried about not making their curries too spicy however they weren’t aware that Tom Milner (one half of the judging duo) likes his curries hot. It was the Owls in the end who risked making the spiciest curry however that decision paid off as it impressed the judges.

PLs prided themselves on creating beautiful chocolate tarts. They used sweets, melted white chocolate, marshmallows, and whatever else they could get their hands on to decorate the desserts as best they could.

After consuming both meals, Joyce and Tom unanimously agreed that it was the Owls (led by Holly Barrigan) who had cooked the best meal. However they said “Everyone kept the standards we saw in last year’s competition”.

Above: Patrol leader of the Owls, Holly, with food-eater Tom Milner

Man with long snake slithers into Cub pack meetings Since returning from the summer holidays, Darlington’s equivalent to Steve Backshall (a.k.a Jay the animal man), has visited both the Squirrel and the Panther Cub packs. Assisted by his crew of hedgehogs, snakes, scorpions and more, Jay educated Cubs about the wildlife before letting them stoke and even hold some of the animals.

Cubs learned the difference between frogs and toads, poisonous and venomous, and Lucy even learned the difference between chameleons and comedians. One of the most interesting facts that the Cubs learnt was that tomato juice is the best thing for getting rid of the smell of skunk. But the highlight of the evening for most was getting to cuddle Merlin the meerkat and letting scorpions crawl up their arms.

A slithery creature you wouldn’t want to find in your tent and a reptile

Cub Halloween Party Cubs looked scarier than usual this Halloween when it was the joint Squirrel and Panther party. Vampires, butchers, werewolves, bloody surgeons, witches, and more gathered for the annual evening of spooky fun and games. There was mummy making, apple-bobbing and relay races as well as the competition for best costume and best pumpkin.

That’s Magic!

Still more comfortable than my roll mat!

During November, the Panther pack were visited by illusionists Dr Iain Jay and Michael. They showed the Cubs card tricks, escapology, mindreading, and more before giving the Cubs a chance to lie on the bed of nails. At the end of the night, they unravelled a scroll which was written before the show which correctly predicted everything that happened. After the show, Dr Iain Jay said “My young assistant and I had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves as it's so much fun when you have an interested, well behaved audience who all want to take part.”

Above: Neil on a bed of nails. Left: Escapology.

EIGHTH MEMES

From the Archive “A sudden shower?” No. Patrol leader Brian Deighton at work with the “cooling system” invented at a weekend camp.

The bridge built in 1948 is still in good order through vandals have twice wrecked it during the weekdays and we have patched it up.

To celebrate the centenary of the 8th, we are looking back over past reports from the original ‘8th Mag’ and log books to reflect upon some interesting moments from the group’s vast history.

This issue’s extract is from the 1960-61 Log Book (illustration by Skip Beadle)

“I can resist everything except temptation.” ~ John Newton’s t -shirt

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