Best Senior Scout/Venture Scout Expedition – Jubilee Shield
In November 1958 the District was offered a ‘Jubilee Trophy’ by Alderman A.T. Pike, the Mayor of Finchley, if a suitable competitive event could be suggested.
The offer was duly accepted and it was subsequently agreed that it would be awarded for the best adventure undertaken each year by Senior Scouts and judged on Logs submitted by the 31st March the following year. It was also agreed that, for the current year only, Groups that had not produced logs could submit a report.
It should perhaps be made clear that this was a personal gift from Ald. Pike and given to commemorate Finchley’s Silver Jubilee as a Borough.
Although officially called the ‘Jubilee Shield’ over the following years it was often referred to as the ‘Jubilee Trophy’ and the ‘Pike Trophy’.
It is not known how many Groups entered the first competition but the 14th Finchley were announced as the winners during the reception that followed the St George’s Day Parade in April 1959. Their expedition, in 1958, involved a 90 mile canoe trip down the Thames from Lechlade to Marlow, followed by a hike to Arundel. The participants were Michael Hanham, Michael Erlebach, Duncan Forbes and Tony Trick, along with the leaders Tom Harrison and Gordon Cochran.
Ald. Pike was on hand to personally present the shield and upon doing this praised the manner in which the Log had fortunately been produced as ‘quite ingenious’.
The best expedition and Log for 1959 was deemed to be that of the 12th Finchley comprising John Horner, Ken Shelley, David Telford, Richard Edwards and Tommy Watson for their Easter journey. The Shield was presented to them by the mayor, Cr. Major K.M. Cave, after the 1960 St George’s Day Parade.
No award was made the following year as there was only one entry, which was not considered to be good enough.
According to the District’s 1962 AGM report there were several interesting summer expeditions undertaken by the Senior Scouts but it was the 15th Finchley that won the Jubilee Shield for their 1961 journey in the Peak District.
During 1962 the District Senior Scouts again embarked upon a number of different expeditions which included canoeing down the Thames, sailing on the Norfolk Broads, exploring the South Downs and a trip by Dormobile to Liechtenstein. However, from those that entered the competition, the 15th Finchley won the Shield for their Hiking expedition in the Black Forest, thus retaining the Shield for a second year. Bits from both the 1961 and 1962 the Logs can be found in the Gallery, but more detail will be found in the separate article about the 15th Finchley.
It should be mentioned though that a certificate of merit was awarded to the 6th Finchley for their expedition in the Sussex Downs and their ‘most readable and attractive Log’.
It was three years in a row for the 15th Finchley when they won the Shield for their 1963 expedition. On this occasion it was for, what was described in the AGM report, as ‘their most interesting Log of their Youth Hostelling trip to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs’. Unfortunately we have no further information about this, although there is a photograph of the 12 Senior Scouts that took part.
The following year a new name – the 6th Finchley – appeared on the Shield. We have no details of their 1964 expedition, but from a paragraph in the Group’s monthly newsletter, it is known that they went to Austria:
The 1965, 1966 and 1967 competition was won by the 6th Friern Barnet.
In 1965 they went to Switzerland, where they stayed in the International Scout Chalet at Kandersteg and from where they mixed Scouting activities with sightseeing trips.
In 1966 they went to Norway. They travelled by boat from Newcastle to Bergen and then by train and coach north to the mountains near Fortun. We have not seen their Log but we have copies of some postcards that were sent home, giving a few details of their adventure.
Details of the expedition that resulted in the third win are not currently known.
In July 1968 it was announced that the format of the competition would change. Instead of submitting a Log, a presentation in any format would be made at a special meeting in the December, with the judges announcing the winner immediately.
Despite this change only the 5th Finchley, 6th Finchley and the 15th Finchley, who were declared the winners for their trip to Germany, entered the competition. They had gone to Hamburg and camped at a national German Scout Camp at Eckernförde on the Baltic Sea, under the leadership of Charlie Roberts, with assistance from Eric & Doris Bennet, Alan Lake and Ann Pike. The competition was covered by the local press with details of the event also being provided in the next District Bulletin.
In 1969 only two Units entered the competition: the 15th Finchley for their journey across Dartmoor and the Avenue House Service Team for their trip to Switzerland. The judges thought that both presentations were of a very high standard and for the first time ever the Shield was awarded jointly to both Units.
It is not known how many Units entered the 1970 competition but in the District Bulletin for February 1971 three were specifically mentioned. They were the 19th Finchley, who started their Unit high up in the mountains of Norway, the Whetstone VSU who tackled the dangers of the Grand Union Canal and the 10th Finchley who won the Trophy, having climbed Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis (together known as the “Three Peaks”).
We have not seen any of the material relating to the Three Peaks Challenge but it is known that they filmed the expedition and travelled more than 1,000 miles using the Group’s minibus.
The 10th Finchley won the Shield again the following year (1971). Their summer expedition was a week (6th – 14th August) camping at Wast Water in the Lake District with activities that included hill walking, rock climbing, boating and pony trekking. Despite the very poor weather the camp was deemed to be a success. Some snippets from their presentation and photos are included in the Gallery, but more about their week will be found in the 10th Finchley article.
For the third year in a row the 10th Venture Scouts won the Jubilee Shield for the presentation of their 1972 summer expedition to Glencoe. On Friday 28th August 7 members of the Unit along with three members of the Group’s Service Crew set off on a week-long trip. Over the seven days they visited Cruachan hydro-electric power station and the Oban Games, but the major part of the time was devoted to climbing and hill walking. In addition four of the Venture Scouts undertook a two day hike for their Venture Award. A selection of photos from the expedition will be found in the Gallery.
The Shield was won in 1973 and 1975 by the 1st Finchley. At present there is no information available about their expeditions.
Sandwiched between the 1st Finchley wins the 15th Finchley won the Shield, thanks to an expedition led by Julian Rigotti. The expedition was in fact Julian’s Queen’s Scout hike along the Lyke Wake Walk in The North York Moors. He was accompanied by Peter Johnson who had already gained the Award in 1972 as well as Eden Lenga and Mark Borutan. The hike was an obvious success as not only did it result in winning the Jubilee Shield but later in the year Julian was presented with his Queen’s Scout Award.
The 15th Finchley expedition in 1976 on the Llangollen Union Canal resulted in them being awarded the Jubilee Shield for that year. According to the 1977 District AGM report it was a very well deserved win:
In 1976, a year after Frank Phillip became the VSL of the 15th Finchley, he went up Ben Nevis with a friend and thought it would be a good challenge for his Unit to do it as well – pulling a trek cart. In 1977, as part of their summer expedition, they gave it a go but couldn’t quite get to the top. After that ‘stunt’ they spent the rest of the week in the Cairngorms before stopping off in Edinburgh to nip up Arthur’s Seat and then returning to Finchley overnight. The presentation of that adventure enabled them to hold on to the Jubilee Shield for another year.
The 22nd Finchley and the 15th Finchley Venture Scout Units were two of the entries in 1978. The 22nd, who had spent a week walking Offa’s Dyke (all 168 miles) from Chepstow to Prestatyn, gave a presentation that included a slideshow and audio commentary as well as a Plasticine relief map of the whole Offa’s Dyke route showing where all the campsites were. Despite this the 15th won the Shield for the presentation of their canoeing and cycling trip in Eastern France.
In 1979 four members of the 22nd Finchley gave a presentation of their four day cycling tour of the New Forest. They had toured the area carrying all their equipment in panniers and camping at three different locations. It was deemed to be the best and they duly won the Jubilee Shield for the first time. A photo of the four is in the Gallery and more detail will be found in the 22nd Finchley article.
It was another cycling trip that won the competition in 1980 with the 15th Finchley visiting four countries (France, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands) during their expedition. Full details are not known but there is a photo in the Gallery of the six Venture Scouts.
It is not known how many Units entered the competition in 1981 but it was the presentation of another cycling expedition that won. The 15th Finchley won in respect of their trip to the Isle of Wight while the 22nd finished second in respect of their journey in Europe between Cologne and Brussels via Trier, and Luxembourg City.
From the engravings on the Shield, as detailed in the summary below, it appears that the last time the competition was held was in 1986 when the 15th Finchley won the event for the seventh time in a row. Unfortunately we do not currently have details of the expeditions that took place.
Note: The Shield is currently in the possession of the 15th Finchley.
Gallery
To view press cuttings and associated photographs click here.
