Regional Backwoods Cooking competition
The backwoods cooking was held on the 29th of October at Rattlingate Scout camp in Carlisle this year.
Backwoods cooking is cooking without utensils on an open fire, there were twelve teams representing the whole of the north west of England two teams from each county.
We were given a box of food containing three trout two coconuts, a pineapple, oranges, a variety of vegetables, fruit and some chocolate. All we were given to cook these in was a bit of foil and some newspaper.
The counties
in the competition were Merseyside, East Lancashire, Cumbria,
Greater Manchester, North, East and west, the Isle of Man and West
Lancashire. The competition was 3 1/2 hours long and in this time we
had to put up a shelter, collect our own wood, light a fire, prepare
and cook a two-course meal and make a hot drink. This we did by
having Darren (APL) starting and keeping the fire going, the
wood collector, Andrew, then went of to collect dry, dead
sticks of wood, food preparation was then underway with Daniel
and Joe peeling and slicing as if their life depended on it, Paul was set out to be handyman for the day and
started
creating helpful gadgets to help us and of course our very
enthusiastic patrol leader helping out in many services. By the end
we had done a variety of things with the food, the fish was
brilliant all that practising had finally paid of, we had truly
tried to win, and put all our effort into the meals. But winning
with 61 points out of 65 beating Stalybridge 2nd by 7
points was unbelievable when you think last year we came second
loosing by just one point, Well-done Great Eccleston! By Brett, Dan
and Paul.
Laser Quest!!
As we had won both North West regional competitions, the District Scout Council paid for us to go to Mc Donald’s and the Laser Quest at Morecambe. We left the scout hut on a Friday night at 7:30 and arrived there at 8:15.
Ron, Deputy D.C. and Alan, the Scout Leader had arranged for all the Scouts from the winning Regional teams to battle it out with the lasers at Morecambe.
We all had a fantastic time scouts against Leaders, with the Scouts winning, twice ‘surprisingly’ against Alan, the demon sniper, defending the Red teams base roving Ron and there secret weapon Liz McDermott D.C. from Lonsdale ‘oh’ and to the victors, the spoils a Berger feast at McDonald’s, on the way home, and the End to a perfect day thank you all who made it possible. By Joe.
North West Stars of Scout Competitions, TV Screen and now Radio
Last year the Scouts, Cubs and Beavers had a great year. They won most of the competitions they entered and represented themselves and this area extremely. So how did they follow that ? - By doing even better !
This year, for the first time, 1st Great Eccleston Scouts (Fox Patrol) won nearly every District, and County competition with BOTH Regional Competitions. That is to say that in competition, they were better than every other Scout Group in the North West.
To put this into perspective - as far as Scouting is concerned - the North West covers a huge geographical area and includes Cumbria, Lancashire, (East and west) Liverpool, Manchester, and the Isle of Man.
On the 21st of June the Scouts appeared on TV's Granada Tonight following their success in the Lord Derby Scouting Skills competition (the first of the Regional comps.)
They followed this up on Monday the 11th of December by appearing on Radio Lancashire. Daniel Hartley was the star of the programme. He talked about the Scout Group and discussed their recent win in the Backwoods Cooking Competition, the other Regional comp. which they won on a wet and windy day in Cumbria.
None of this would have been possible without the skills, dedication and hard work of Alan Cornforth, Scout Leader.
Peter Welch Chairman
Scout Group Recent Events
The Scout Group has been busy organising some fun and fundraising events recently.
The first was running the Charity shop in Poulton for a week. With many thanks to the parents who ran the shop, all those who donated items and other helpers, we managed to raise £350. Running the Charity Shop is an annual event for the group and although the amount raised was good it was less than last year, so we'll need to have a real push next time to make the most of this opportunity.
We then held two Christmas Youth Discos on the same night at Great Eccleston WI Hall. The earlier (younger) Disco was the most popular. Overall we made £27 profit, but these Discos have always been run more to allow local children the chance to have fun and get together, rather than as a fundraiser. The second (older) Disco didn't attract very many people so next time we will probably run one longer Disco for a broader age range instead - watch out for posters!
We also held an adults' Christmas party the next day at the Cricket Club. Sue Ball organised the food for the night, with the help of Gill Monaghan. The people at the Cricket Club were very welcoming and they, along with Disco Dave K, helped to make the evening a great success for everyone who came along. If you didn't go, you missed a very good night. On the night the Christmas Raffle was also drawn. 1st Prize - a 14" Colour Remote control TV - was won by Mrs. Kenny of Elswick. 2nd Prize - a Video Cassette Recorder - was won by Miss Kernohan of Elswick and 3rd Prize - a Bicycle - was won by Mr Rowley. The raffle this year raised about £300, down from £400 last year.
Many thanks must go to our Secretary, Linda, for all the hard work she put into organising and helping to run all of the above events.
Peter Chairman
The Scout group needs
more HELP! On their executive committee or the new Scout Headquarters and fund
raising Sub committees CAN YOU HELP!
On September the 29th while Great Britton where waiting to see if they had won two more gold medals at the Olympic Games, Great Eccleston Scouts, where also going for gold with all the Scouts in the Troop competing in the two West Lancashire County Scout competitions being held at Waddecar camp Site, that week end.
The two Patrols of six Scouts where hoping to better last years result against the best Scouts in the County, and Win both the Backwoods Cooking Competition, and the Camping Competition. Something that has never been done before, but to try and do this with two members in each team having been Scouts for just two weeks?
The Camping Competition starts on the Friday evening at 7pm and finishes on Sunday at 4pm during this time the Scouts are Judged on program presentation, Menu, Camp Layout, Cooking on fires, Stores, Teamwork, Tidiness, Gadgets, Hygiene, etc, with points awarded in 40 different classis totalling some 540 and including a Judges Special Project.
The Backwoods cooking Competition is held on the Sunday starting at 10am to 1.30pm, the Scouts have to build a fire, and make a two course meal including a hot drink, without utensils, from ingredients given them on the day. The Scouts do not know before what they will be cooking as each competition is different, this year they were given a trout and a variety of fresh vegetables, 2 eggs and flower
Judging is on each course and the drink plus the Fire, Hygiene, Gadgets, Ingenuity, Teamwork, and site clearance a total of 65 points Great Eccleston gained 64. Coming first by 8 points and dropping just one.
The Camping team gained 465 point Winning by 26 and making Great Eccleston Scouts the first Group to win both Competitions at the same time.
The pictures
Top left, the winning Patrol at camping, bottom left their campsite and gadgets. Top right the winning Patrol at Backwoods cooking with their Leader. Bottom right their site including the Judges marking them.
The 1st Great Eccleston Venture Scouts went on a camp in October to practice Scout skills and to basically organise themselves; this is what they had to say.
We covered a wide range of activities throughout the weekend such as pioneering, orienteering, and backwoods cooking. All of us had a brilliant time and we would recommend any other Scout/Venture Scout group to do this activity. Above is a picture of one of the two towers we built on camp, these were used as a base and lookout for a wide game we had one night, on the tower is two of the members of team one James, and Darren, the other members of the camp were Kevin, Alan, Brett, and David.
On a more serious note the Venture Unit would like to welcome along anybody who is interested in joining, male, or female, we get to complete many different activities and awards such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award, and basically have a laugh.
If you are interested you have to be over 15 and under 20 years of age, be able to attend fortnightly on a Wednesday between 7-30 and 9-30 and make your own way to the Scout hut off Hall lane in Great Eccleston oh! Yes you also have to be prepared to enjoy yourself, travel the world, do exciting things, meet interesting people, camp out, go sailing, canoeing, walking, climbing, swimming,
1st Great Eccleston Scouts1971
At the Group Council meeting October the 7th 1971 the possibility of a site to erect a wooden hut 60feet by 20 feet from R.A.F. camp Weeton at £15 (when available) was discussed.
It was suggested by Mr John Cowgill that land owned by Mr Norman Kellet at the back of the Cricket ground might provide a more permanent site for the Scout Headquarters it was agreed to sound out the possibilities. Mr Jolly very kindly offered to transport the hut when available free of all charge. There were 12 present at the meeting it was at this time the Scouts started using the Methodist Church (West End) on Tuesday and Wednesday
The Scout Headquarters 2000
The 1st Great Eccleston Scout Hut is no longer sufficient in size to accommodate, the needs and demands of the ever growing community in Great Eccleston.
To address the above issues, the trustees have decided to replace the Hut with a more permanent and cost effective facility depending on help from parents etc. This will require significant fundraising, the appropriation of grants from various sources and the wholehearted support of parents, leaders and the trustees themselves over a period of up to two to three years.
THE NEXT STEPS
· Proposed layouts.
· Outline building plans to be drawn up based on the Outline planning permissions to be obtained.
· Preparation and publication of a "Project / Business Plan", to include - who will use the Hut, the uses it will be put to, make up and establishment of appropriate sub-committees to enable the project to progress to completion, estimated costs based on the outline plans, methods to be used to raise funds, publicity for the project, expected timescales for commencement and completion of the work, potential revenue generating activities which should take place at the premises once opened, anticipated level of fees required, etc., etc.
· Grant applications to be made / fund raising to commence.
· Building trades to be appointed to carry out the work / parents and other supporters to assist.
· Opening ceremony
· This is to big a job for the small numbers on the present committee (to do alone,) but something needs to be done, if the Scout Group is to continue to meet at the present headquarters. Can you give the same support as the people gave in 1971 if you can no matter how small please contact Peter the Chairman.