To view an account of summer camp from Glip's log click here
To view an account of summer camp from the Troop Log log click here
Reports of summer camp are in separate pdf files accessible from the links above
Summary of Summer Camp at Templars Park 1982
ATTENDANCE
Scouters
SL Kenny Paton, ASL Graham L Patrick (Glip), GSL/ACSL Peter Bennett (long weekend), CSL Anne Watker (Akela) (long weekend), ASL David Bolster (evening).
Venture Scouts
Robbie Mochrie, Tommy Boag (30th July - 6th August), Guy Grant (long weekend)
Curlew Patrol
PL Glen Grant, APL David McEwing, Graeme Simpson, Stuart MacDonald, Aubrey Avis, Kenneth Blair.
Eagle Patrol
PL Graham Bolster, APL David Gordon, Alan Fletcher, Olivier, Craig Adams, Andrew McKelvie.
Falcon Patrol
PL Kevin Byng, APL Kenny MacCrae, Callum Gillespie, Paul Edgar
Fox/Stag Patrol
PL Graeme Wright, APL Andrew Davies, Roderick McCrorie, Alex Holland.
Kingfisher Patrol
PL Andrew Wilson, APL David Whiteford, Ian Morrison, Nicky Clark, James Gatherer.
Seagull Patrol
PL Colin Roach, APL Andrew Firth, John McEwing, Colin Spiers, Andrew McEwing, Ross Gillespie.
Tiger Patrol
PL Robert Lawrie, APL Mark Edgar, Ewan Blair, Kenneth Burns, Richard Barclay.
Cub Scouts (30th July-2nd August)
Craig Goodlet, Alastair Blair, Douglas McCrorie?, plus at least one other.
There were seven patrols in camp, one of which was an amalgamation of the Stag and Fox Patrols. Seven of the Troop’s eight APLs were present as well as seven of the Troop’s eight PLs. In total, there were 36 Scouts in total at the camp, representing at least 80% of the Scouts in the troop, possibly more. With the arrival of the Cubs between 30th-July and 2ndAugust, the attendance of Scouters, Venture Scouts, Scouts and Cubs peaked at 48 during that weekend.
Overview
The 1982 summer camp at Templars Park, Aberdeen, was the first summer camp with Kenny Paton as Scout Leader, having taken over from Alastair the year before. For that reason, it was decided to avoid a ‘wild campsite’ and to camp at Templars Park - an official Scout Campsite serving Aberdeen and neighbouring areas. The attendance at Aberdeen Summer Camp (36 Scouts) was comparable with Coldstream (38 Scouts) and proved just as successful.
As with Coldstream, the weather for the majority of the camp was excellent with sunny, warm days. In fact, the only rain during camp was on the first day and the last day. The standards of camping and behaviour were excellent and comparable with Coldstream. The Patrol Leaders never put a foot wrong and Kenny rated them very highly indeed. Glip’s unofficial star ratings of all the Scouts attending were also impressive. The average ‘star quality’ was slightly higher than the impressive 73% achieved at Coldstream. Only one Scout was judged to have underperformed, and everyone else was rated as ‘good (10 Scouts)’, ‘very good (17 Scouts)’ or ‘impressive’ (8 Scouts).
The campsite itself was ideal for a 70th Summer Camp, with flat areas for patrol tents and games, rolling hills for camp golf, woods suitable for wide games and kitchen shelters, a river close at hand for water activities (the River Dee), and reasonably easy access to a town (Peterculter) for supplies. In addition, as Templar’s Park was an official Scout campsite, there were permanent toilets and showers on hand, as well as water taps (although the outside ones were not functioning – possibly due to the extended dry weather). One disadvantage with the campsite was the relatively small area that was allocated to the troop, and so the patrol sites were not as well separated as one might have hoped. However, the situation was alleviated slightly when the warden gave permission for two patrols (Seagulls and Tigers) to set up their kitchen shelters in a wooded hilly area that was just outwith the set limits. Another disadvantage was the lack of firewood, and this had to be purchased from a local farmer (along with a 25-foot pole to serve as the traditional summer camp flagpole).
As far as games and activities were concerned, these included badminton, archery, camp golf, croquet, cricket, non-stop cricket, football, and softball. There was also an evening wide game on the 28th July. The River Dee was accessible for swimming and lilo races, but there was no fishing, canoeing or rafting this year. Three sporting competitions were held throughout the camp covering camp golf, singles croquet, and doubles croquet. The croquet competitions were completed on time with Colin Roach winning the singles Croquet title, but the camp golf only got as far as the semi-finals.
Training and testing sessions were held regularly throughout the camp, covering the various tests associated with the Scout Standard and Advanced Scout Standard. According to the troop log, Ross Gillespie gained his Scout Standard, while Graham Bolster, Ewan Blair and Andrew Firth gained their Advanced Scout Standards. Ewan Blair also gained the Observer’s Proficiency Badge, while Kenneth Blair gained the Camper’s Proficiency Badge. Unlike the previous year’s camp, there is no record of any Scout Standard, Advanced Scout Standard or Chief Scouts Award hikes taking place. However, nine Scouts, one Venture Scout and one Scouter spent a day travelling to Lochnagar and successfully scaled all the tops over 1100 meters.
There were several day trips during the camp. On the 29th July, the whole camp travelled by car, van, and service bus to Banchory, where the day was spent in shops and cafes, and on Banchory’s 18-hole putting green. Some Scouts even played tennis on the adjoining tennis courts. On the 31st July, it was the turn of Aberdeen to be invaded, this time by Cub Scouts, Scouts, Venture Scouts and Scouters. On the 3rd August, a group of ‘ASS Scouts’ visited Crathes Castle. Unfortunately, very few details on this were recorded and it is not known who took part or whether this was part of a test. On the 4th August, the PLs had their traditional ‘night out’ (to Aberdeen), during which it is believed that they visited the cinema to view ‘Firefox’ – a recently released film starring Clint Eastwood. There was yet another visit to Aberdeen on the afternoon of 5th August, so that Scouts could do last minute present-buying.
The 70th were not the only Scouts to be camping at Templars Park that year. However, the hilly terrain meant that other Scout Troops were generally out of sight and there was not much in the way of intermingling. The exception was a group of Norwegian Scouts who were camping in neatly lined hike tents fairly close to where the 70th were camping. An international Scotland versus Norway football match was played on Sunday 1st August, which was a bruising encounter by all accounts. For the rest of that afternoon, small groups of Scottish and Norwegian Scouts visited each other’s campsites to swap neckerchiefs, so international relationships seemed to remain cordial despite the football match. Curiously, it appears that the Norwegians may have been wearing tartan neckerchiefs based on the neckerchiefs that several 70th Scouts were wearing by the end of camp. On the other hand, Glip has a faint memory of a camp where the 70th Scouts were dissatisfied with the rather ‘tatty’ neckerchiefs that they had received after swapping and spent the rest of the camp swapping the ‘tatty’ neckerchiefs with other Scouts camping in the area. If Templars Park was that occasion, then the tartan neckerchiefs would have belonged to other Scottish Scouts rather than the Norwegians.
Other highlights during the camp included a Camp Olympics on the 30th July which involved a tug-o-war, ‘javelin’ throw, mallet throwing and a rugby ball relay race. This resulted in a tie between the Eagle and the Seagull. A tennis ball catching contest was then held to decide the winner. The Eagle Patrol won, despite a dramatic fight back by the Seagull. On the 1st August, there was a successful patrol competition that involved composing a ‘Softies’ song/poem, making evenly browned toast, cooking popcorn, pitching a tent blindfold, ‘burning’ a camp sign using pyrography, creating a painted plaster cast of the Scout Badge, and building a useless gadget. The Fox/Stag Patrol led by Graeme Wright won on this occasion.
The Softies song/poem needs some explaining. At Coldstream, the camp theme was very much focused on Percy (Glip’s Morris mini). However, Percy was unable to attend Templars camp and so a Softies theme developed during the early days of the camp where there were intense discussions as to which Scouts were Softies and which were not, accompanied by equally intense arguments as to what kind of behaviour or attributes were required to be labelled a Softy. These included feeling sorry for rabbits, making daisy chains, wearing pyjamas at night, wearing a necklace, using cutlery with teddy bears embossed on it, etc etc etc. On the 29th July, the Scouters instigated a Golden Rose Award, which consisted of an artificial, orange-coloured rose that was presented each morning to the winning patrol from the previous day. In addition, the wining Patrol was awarded a melon as a further inducement.
The Duty to God aspect of the Scout Promise was duly observed with the Scouts attending Kelman Memorial Church in Peterculter on two Sunday mornings. On the first Sunday (25th July), the PLs and Leaders involved in the advance party attended, then on the second Sunday (1st August), 48 Cub Scouts, Scouts, Venture Scouts and Scouters paraded to the church behind the colours carried by SPL Andrew Wilson and PL Robert Lawrie.
At the end of the camp, various awards were made. Andrew McEwing (Racing Driver) won the Novice of the Year, David Gordon won the Camper of the Year, while Kenny Blair won the Scout of the Year. The PLs were unanimous in choosing Roderick McCrorie for the Camp Twit Award (the third Scout to receive this honour), while David McEwing (Mus) was chosen as Camp Softy and received the Golden Rose to keep for perpetuity. As a result, Mus made history as he has been the only 70th Scout to have ever gained this Award.
Not everything went smoothly, though. Wasps were an issue and Glip was badly stung, necessitating a visit to hospital. Following that incident, the PLs successfully obliterated the wasps’ nests with the aid of a ‘flamethrower’ that had been bequeathed to the Tiger patrol by Kenny Kerr. However, that resulted in a subsequent problem as the ground continued to smoulder for some days afterwards. This suggested that peat in the ground had ignited and so it was now necessary to extinguish it. This led to a constant flow of Scouts carrying water from the toilet block to solve the issue. Apparently, the camp staff were starting to wonder whether the 70th were building their own swimming pool. There were also health issues towards the end of camp. Although these were not as prevalent as in Coldstream the year before, several Scouts (including Graham Bolster and Glen Grant) came down with some form of viral infection that caused either chest pains or flu-like symptoms and necessitated a visit to the doctor. The final day also did not go according to plan. For a start, it rained, which meant that most of the tents and kitchen shelters were damp when they were struck. However, that was capped by the coach not arriving to take everyone home. Apparently, it had broken down and it took 4.5 hours before a replacement coach arrived. As a result, the coach arrived back in Greenock just before midnight instead of the scheduled 7.30 pm. Needless to say, the coach was unloaded and unpacked in ten minutes flat, before the Scouts vanished to all points of the compass.