And we are back... Tonight, Troll Sticks

Well it's like we have never been away, perhaps not but you see what I mean.  We have some new Scouts, which is always brilliant and camp is confirmed for the 27th - 29th September at Rough Close.

So, week 1, Troll Sticks, an introduction to whittling.

Warning, some of the following photos contain images of knifes, but don't worry.  No Scouts knifes were harmed in the making of the troll sticks.  Actually no Scouts were harmed either.  Not a single plaster was required.

Some of our final trolls.

 And then some games to finish off.

Autumn Term - First meeting 12th September

Hello there, we hope you had a great summer and are all rested and ready for a new school year and, more importantly, Scouts.

We have tried to come up with a varied program with a few favorites and a few new ideas.  Details in the previous post.

We will be emailing out, or dropping letters in, to each of you with a few bits of information etc.

As we confirm details for any of the plans we will let you know with as much notice as possible.

Probably the most important thing to note now is that we are hoping (booking just needs to be confirmed) to be camping 27th - 29th September at Rough Close.  Book the date on you family calendar before anyone else does!

So, just to reiterate, although (most) schools start the week before, the first Scouts is on Thursday September 12th.  We hope to see you all there.

Autumn Programme 2013

This is the plan for the main activities for the 2013 autumn term.  Although things might change the current programme looks like this...

12th Sept 2013	Troll Sticks and whittling.
19th Sept 2013	Foraging for Cooking Meet at Millisons Wood, forage for the ingredients, walk to the scout hut and cook a crumble.
26th Sept 2013	Camp Prep - Pitch tents, camp layout etc.
27th - 29th Sept 2013	Camp!  Hopefully at Rough Close.
3rd Oct 2013	Make and Do.
10th Oct 2013	Fire lighting and Camp Fire Sketches.
17th Oct 2013	Climbing Wall - Details to follow.
24th Oct 2013	Trafalgar Night .
31st Oct 2013	Half Term - No Scouts.
5th Nov 2013	Bonfire with the other sections - NB this is a Tuesday.
7th Nov 2013	No Meeting - Moved to the 5th for Bonfire Night.
10th Nov 2013	Sunday - Remembrance Day Parade.
14th Nov 2013	Sounds a bit fishy.
21st Nov 2013	Bases - Knotting, first aid, mapping.
28th Nov 2013	Cardboard Box Ovens.
5th Dec 2013	Night Hike (Can we suggest no school shoes and no white socks this time?)
12th Dec 2013	Make and spoon - more whittling.
19th Dec 2013	Christmas Party.

Unless specifically stated we meet at 7pm on a Thursday at the scout hut in Meriden.
For more information about when and where we meet please click here.

Wet games on a sunny evening

Well, it was the last meeting before the summer holidays.  The sun was shinning and it was hot.  How hot?  Very hot!  The patrol points were even so it was winner takes all.

On a hot night we thought we would warm them up with a wind the tent in game.  The cord is attached to a broom handle which must be wound up slowly dragging the tent closer.

After that it was mostly water games.  Fill the cup, over and under the poles, first team to fill the jug at the other end of the course is the winner.  "But the cups have got holes in!"  Well spotted.  Off you go.

Then the same with the water carried in sponges, even wetter Scouts, moving on to playing catch with either eggs or water filled balloons.  Finally, for the wet games, how much water can you get from one end of the line to another by pouring it from your cup into the next persons cup, almost forgot, the cup is on your head.

Dried off with a bit of French cricket and a nice calm game of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John so the parents didn't get 150% hyped up kids back home.

Top evening, much water was used, a spectacular egg catch with explosion all over chin and top, but sadly no photo, and Wolves topped the scores to win the summer term patrol points competition.  Congratulations.

Have a great summer everyone, see you in September.  Keep checking back because, once we get organised, the next terms program will be listed here.

Lets Make Burgers!

As it's American Independence day we thought we would make burgers.  Pork, onion, apple, herbs, chillies and cheese. They were yummy!  Even better as the weather was just lovely.

You know who you are!

Malvern Challenge

We took a team to the Malvern Challenge.  There was rain on the Friday evening and some low cloud on the Saturday morning but that burnt off very quickly and what a fantastic weekend it turned out to be.

On the Saturday there is an 8 mile hike for the Scouts in teams with challenges roughly each mile.  There were mapping, abseiling, rifle shooting, animal skills to name just a few.

The leaders help out on the bases on the Saturday.  Mine was the knotting challenge.  10 mins to do 10 knots.  My biggest challenge was undoing all the knots for the following teams to redo.  Roughly 600 teams came though but, as you can see below the location and the weather did make it a lovely place to be.  That and the guy who kept the coffee flowing.

My table and fellow knotters.  

The site was like a mini Glastonbury, about 4000 Scouts and leaders combined.

Food was provided, this was chicken curry on Saturday night.  The biggest queues of the weekend were for the cafe where you could buy chips.  All Scouts need chips it seems.

Entertainment in the Barn was a combination of A Scouts Talent Show and some professional acts.  All good shows.

Sunday morning was the presentation of the awards for best score on each base and the overall winners.

Then there was various entertainment.

Adams Axemen were incredible.

Just over 9 seconds to cut a 15 inch trunk!

Then there were loads of activities that could enjoyed.  

There were crafts and fairground rides

And Titan the robot 

It was a brilliant weekend, a little more sleep may have been desirable, but I believe we all, leaders and Scouts, had a great time.  There is another next year and I suspect we will all be going again, with a few more as well.