Swift troop went searching for chips on Friday.
On a beautiful May evening, 35 of us went for a stroll across the fields and woods to the West of Sevenoaks with the promise of deep fried potatoes as a prize. Groups started from different locations and converged on Tom Bells Chip shop in Station Parade.
Most of the scouts took a turn navigating, and all arrived with enough time to queue up for their prize. A couple of the groups were so quick they even added on a bonus loop!
Scouts from the 4th (St John’s), 9th (Seal) and 15th (Otford) went on a night-hike on Friday.
45 Scouts in seven separate groups spent the evening walking the footpaths of Otford and Shoreham on a night-time navigation exercise. Despite the weather trying its best to discourage everyone, they all set early on Friday evening.
Scout teams walked one of two courses, and each course could be clockwise or anti-clockwise, and with or without a leader. We also had a secondary start point at Shoreham Station to give us some more capacity
The main course included Otford, Romney Street, Shoreham. The other one was a little flatter that missed out Romney Street but went further towards Farningham.
All of the navigation was done by the scouts, although the groups with leaders did have someone on hand to make sure decisions were actually being taken an scouts weren’t ‘just following the path’.
The scouts did really well. All the groups finished, although we did have a couple mid-course retirements and one of our (unaccompanied) groups showed itself to be ‘navigationally challenged’ (compare to the actual routes at the top of the post). In the end they walked further than anyone else!
Some of our scouts had a mid-hike sing-song
The night finished with a hot-dog (or two), a mug of hot chocolate and a cookie before bed. 🌭☕🍪🛌💤
We entered the Monopoly Run for the 5th time this year, this time managing to enter seven teams (with help from Seal Scouts).
The Monopoly Run brings the board game to life as teams of scouts race around the streets of London, trying to be the first in their game to reach a specific location for each square of the Monopoly board. For example, the Jail square corresponds to The Clink prison museum on the South Bank and the location for Regent Street was Hamleys toy shop.
The seven teams were:
By the end of the day we had 42 exhausted scouts and 14 very weary adults. Everyone enjoyed most of the day and everyone left having ideas for what they would do next time!
The scout leaders were extremely please that, above all else, everyone got there and back safely!
The Talent Pool managed to get 5th overall more by luck than anything else.
Both Swift and Chapman troop tested their night-time navigation skills with a treasure hunt in Oldbury Hill Woods this week.
The scouts were given some written instructions on which way to go including a list of bearings. They had to locate all the control-points and stamp their card at each.
The Swift leaders were pleased that all scouts successfully made it back to the final control point in time for a quick game.
Chapman tried their hand at it the following Tuesday, and, apart from one team who took their own path, they all made it round. The Chapman leaders also had the presence of mind to take some photos!
Chapman and Swift Troops both went hiking for chips this week.
They started from Old Soar Manor, close to Plaxtol Spout and hiked north, roughly following the River Bourne
The walk on Tuesday was difficult, early delays in leaving together with fog and rain turned it into a bit of a slog, however on Friday the weather was fantastic, with clear sky, full moon and slightly frosty underfoot. Scouts walked in small groups doing their own navigation with everyone getting to the chip shop on time and some even (deliberately) choosing more adventurous routes!
Thank you to all the leaders, helpers and parents that were involved in the hikes. and to Four Wents Fish Bar in Borough GreenÂ
Today we welcome the Squirrels section to our Scouting family.
We are very proud to announce that we have one of 9 Squirrel Dreys in Kent and 200 in the UK starting on the 15th September.
We need more volunteers across our District to be able to offer this section in other groups as well as offer more places to all young people that want to Scout.
We have many roles to fill, many tasks that are vital for Scouting to taking place from taking notes at meetings to cutting the grass at one of our sites as well as helping at meetings.
Interested in joining in the fun, get in touch!
We are holding our firework display again this year on Friday 8th November.
Tickets can be ordered from TicketSource
Scouting can fit into every life, get in touch to help work out the best fit for you. scouts.org.uk/join
Every adult taking part helps bring Scouting to more young people
Here is a slower version of the gif
