3rd Friern Barnet

 

Memories

I joined the Cubs as soon as I was old enough.  I do not remember much about the time in Cubs except Melita Archer who was the Akela (Lady Cubmaster in those days) and she was still there when I left the Group 13 years later as her Assistant Cub Scout Leader.   Each year the Cubs always went on a summer outing by public transport to London Zoo, I still enjoy visiting this zoo.

I can also remember going to Scout Park, our District camp site, near Bounds Green underground station.  I am pleased to see it still exists and is in the care of the North London Scout District.  I remember going there whilst still in the Cubs to Sixers Camp but returned quite often until our Group moved to the Finchley & Friern Barnet District.  I can remember us pulling the Group trek cart all the way to Scout Park for the annual District Camping Competition; it was a condition of entry.

I progressed to Scouts and I think my first Troop camp was over a Whitsun Weekend at Tolmers Scout Camp near Cuffley.  I went on to camp there a good number of times usually Patrol Camps and I think I took my own Patrol there when I was a Patrol Leader.  I also remember Patrol Camps at Phasels Wood Scout Camp, Ivor Newman and I camped there on our own one summer for a few nights.

The old Scout hut was of wooden construction with a pitched roof, however the ceiling lining was asbestos panels.  But this was before the dangers of asbestos were generally known.  The heating was from an old coke boiler and the hut started to get warm when the iron casing of the boiler started to glow red.  

When I was in the Scouts we often built bridges the length of the hut fixing the bridge transoms to the roof timbers.  The pioneering poles were stored under the hut floor along with our wooden tent poles.

We were lucky as behind the hut there was a field which we had the use of and up until just before I left in 1969 there were two long tunnels across part of the field, these had been used as air aid shelters.  The area between the two shelters was often used for fire lighting, cooking and learning axemanship.  The remainder of the field was used for games, tent pitching and sometimes we camped there.  

I can remember two summer camps.  The first was Aberbeeg in South Wales the site was just a sloping field at the top of a hill from the village. I think by then I was an Assistant Patrol Leader and my Patrol Leader was Nigel Crease.  Each Patrol cooked all their own food, this included a roast dinner cooked using a metal biscuit tin as an oven.  Another meal we cooked was steak and kidney pudding, Nigel insisted he knew what he was doing but he let the billy boil dry and we then had a billy with a big hole in it.

The second summer camp was to Buckfast in Devon, I had spent the week before with Mum and Dad in a caravan with Dad’s brother Stan and his family in a nearby chalet, we had the use of a mini bus which Stan drove.  Stan drove me to meet the rest of the Troop so I could spend the second week with them.

Whilst in the Cubs and Scouts I always did Bob a Job with my good friend Alan Palmer.

Before I left Scouts I was unofficially helping with Cubs and soon after I joined the Senior Scouts (1963 I became an official Cub Instructor.  I took out a warrant in 1965 and gained my Wood badge in 1967. I left the Group after I was married and moved to Kent.

One thing I always remember about my Scouting at the 199th was the full support I had from my parents.  They helped at fund raising events like Jumble Sales which were huge events in the old hut.  My Dad became Chairman of the Group Committee/Council and took the job very seriously always attending Scout events including church parades.

Dad also was a leading light in getting the new HQ built in the planning and legal negotiations and practically.  Mum was part of a team of ladies who were always at the forefront of the fund-raising which I was actively involved in.

Dad, with his brother, Stan were active members of the BP Guild who also provided the group with much support.

Both Mum (Olive) and Dad (William known as Bill) were awarded “Thanks Badges” which I now have and treasure.

Peter Hagger – 3rd Friern Barnet (199th North London)

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I remember the cooking competition – we had to cook boiled potatoes, Corned Beef hash and a vegetable for main course, and something with custard for desert.  All over a wood fire!  I’m sure that we were not the worst but came pretty close!

 I was also one of the Senior Scouts that went camping in Austria in 1964.  I recall that we carried everything needed in rucksacks and went by train, ferry and train to Saltzburg.  I am unable to remember how long we stayed but we camped in a small enclosed grassy area within the grounds of Saltzburg castle overlooking the city.  On one side there was a solid rock wall with a sheer drop of several hundred metres (yards in those days!) down the mountainside. On the other was the main pathway that tourists walked when visiting the castle building.

Marshall Lamb – 3rd Friern Barnet (199th North London)

HM King Charles III has been confirmed as our new Patron, a great honour for UK Scouts.

The King continues a long tradition of the monarch giving their Patronage, dating back to 1912. This was when Scouts was granted its Royal Charter and HM George V became our first Patron.

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King Charles III

Our Patron, HM King Charles III