It was late spring the weather was cold but not to bad, ideal for walking, and the nine Scouts who turned up were in good spirits and looking forward to the hike, when I say hike it was a seven mile walk really but we all have to start somewhere. There’s one thing about walking, you get to know more about a person than just sitting and talking. especially young people, it’s a good method to finding the right people for a competition, or Patrol, its easier to pick out their strengths, and weakness. By watching their attitude and reactions to the things around them,  judging character becomes easier,  they put themselves into groups and within these groups a leader will emerge, these are natural Patrols.

Things were going well and the only problem was looking out for boy racers on the roads leading up to the fell, but this was solved by having lookouts at the front, and back, warning vehicles of our presence with torches, giving us time to keep clear of the road when possible, now of course we would wear illumines tops etc. At the top of the fell we stopped for something to eat, and drink, after which some of the Scouts had a wide game,

The return journey was better, part of it ran through a pine wood with no landmarks just total darkness, looking through the trees with their the Scouts imagined they had seen everything from red dear, to big foot. When we finally returned to the camp, and after a hot drink the decision had to be made, bivouac or tents, most got into the tents, some stayed outside but soon gave in to the tents. Showing my lack of experience with Scouts and tents I thought after the walk and everything else they would go to sleep, but as every Leader will tell you the first night at camp they seldom go to sleep before 3am, so after some tossing, and turning, came the famous words shut up now or you'll all go home, and surprisingly they all went to sleep, or at least kept quiet. The next morning one of the first things they said, was the warden came to the tent in the night and told them all to be quiet,  I never did tell them it was me. Unknown to them I had brought six pounds of sausages, and two loafs, for something to eat before we went home, after collecting wood a fire was built in one of the braziers provided by the site, and we all cooked the sausages on green sticks, some of us made toast or just wrapped them in the bread, water was boiled and we had a cup of tea, if they learnt nothing else it was that I like a cup of tea first thing in the morning, and I learnt that if Scouts will eat nothing else they will eat sausages, and now we never go camping without them, so woe betide me if I forget them.

The Camp, On our first camp we decided to camp over the bank holiday Friday night to Monday, this would give the Troop ample opportunity to try out our new tents. The group had received some money from the local Council, and the Scouts had spent their part on nylon four-man hike tents, to compliment the existing Patrol tents with the idea of hiking and camping. I learnt some four years later, that a number of Leaders in the District thought the tents were a waste of money, and would not last long, but it seems they were wrong, as we have used them regularly for many years, and some of the Scouts prefer them to the patrol tents, (Look what Scouts camp in now) which they only used for camping competitions, yes Scouting still moves with the times. Here it comes “when I was a Scout” all the cooking was done on an open fire, and our first camp was the same, we took two small gas rings as a precaution, but all the cooking was done on a fire, and some of the Scouts gained their Camp cook.