Camps

The information below covers camps in general.  If you’d like to reminisce about your own camp, please look at the photo gallery by clicking here.  We’re continually updating our galleries, so please keep visiting!

Now on to the camp information:

Preparing for any Scout camp, be it a local one, further afield in the UK, international, or exchange camps is an enormous task, taking it from:

• the initial idea to booking the location
• advertising it to the Troop
• obtaining numbers
• planning and organising the food
• organising cooking and camping equipment (ensuring all canvas is in good order – before going to camp!)
• arranging the programme
• emergency contact details for all attendees

and so the list goes on.

Then there’s the added work for international camps where:

• flights and tickets are organised
• passports and tickets well controlled
• baggage allowances adhered to and, in the case of recent camps, all baggage and goods are shipped to the event so that the Troop travels with the minimum luggage.

Shipping has worked well except for the Haarlem Camp in 2019.  Ask any of the Scouts about that shipping – it was quite an event!  Colin Hogg, Rachel Shaw and Andy MacFarlane were the leaders in charge, so they’ll tell you what didn’t happen, with no thanks to the shipping company.

Exchange camps carry an extra layer of work due to additional planning in terms of:

• communication with our visitors regarding camp and hospitality arrangements
• ensuring there are enough Scottish hosts for the hospitality so that every visitor can be accommodated
• consideration given to our visitors who were female in that suitable hosts were available
• arranging that we could help visitors to bring the minimum of amount of kit (even to the extent of visiting the Danish Food Shop in Glasgow to let our visitors know that the shop will be happy to help when they arrive)
• sending the visitors information about where they will be camping so that they know a bit about the area, and
• for the Danish visit to Scotland in 1986, fulfilling a request to send them the words of “The Highland Goat” and “The Rattlin’ Bog”, which turned out to be a couple of favourites of theirs. How many of us remember the words of these songs today?

Fortunately our archives held a full suite of communication and preparation documents for visits to Denmark in 1984 and 1989, and also for our Danish friends visiting Scotland in 1986.  We thought the following food list froom 1986 should be included here as it gives everyone a great understanding as to the quantities which had to be purchased and organising involved.

Food Quantities – 1986

We had a few song books on display at our memorabilia events and they certainly brought back memories – we heard a few songs being hummed!

Haarlem – Socialising – 1997 with the Guide Unit who camped next to us

The lists for camp preparations go on and on, but our well organised GSL and assistants always ensured that the international exchange camps were a huge success and thoroughly enjoyed by all.  Many friendships were struck up at these camps, and we’re delighted these friendships continue to this day.

Hospitality for exchange camps is now a thing of the past due to child protection legislation, but friendships are still forged at Jamborees and other camps.

Communication for today’s camps is certainly easier due to e-mails and online forums, but fortunately our archives have information and paperwork which give us a great insight into the level of work and detail which has gone in to past camps.  We compiled all the camp communication, then split it in by year, then created folders for each year so that visitors to our displays could reminisce about their camp(s).  We can’t include it all here, but if any former members wish to see the folders, please let us know.

Obviously in the past everything was done by post, then we moved on to faxes and now we have electronic communication which is extremely helpful for ensuring all details are stored and easily retrievable without having to travel with a huge pile of papers.

Going back in time it wasn’t so simple, but the basic communication of camp arrangements was still key.  The earliest camp communication we’ve found is a letter dated 1948 from Douglas Killin (a former GSL) regarding a camp to Innerleithen.  We had the original in one of the camp preparation books at our displays, so here’s a copy:

For those who are in the post-decimal era, the cost was 41/- (which is 41 shillings) for boys aged 16 and under, and a little more for boys who were older.  A shilling is 5p in today’s money, so not taking account of inflation, the fortnight’s camp would have cost £2.05 today.

The kit taken to camp is also important, as if it’s in Scotland we have the usual variety of weather to take account of.  There’s also the formal side of wearing the uniform, particularly for travel abroad and the less formal side for activities.

In years gone by there were some unusual items which had to be included in the kit list, but as time wore on, the kit became much easier to work with as you’ll see here.

In addition to camp preparation and organisation, one of the other important aspects was the appearance and behaviour of the Troop.

We mention this, as in our archives we discovered a press cutting about Scottish Scouts (in this case us) which refers to our camp at Haderslev, Denmark, in 1967.  We think the article may be from The Renfrew Press, but as you’ll see on it, it refers to an item which was published in the Jutland Times.  Here’s the article from The Renfrew Press:

Renfrew Press 1967 – Good Behaviour at Haderslev

There’s so much we could write about preparing for camps that we could write a lot more but decided ‘less is more’ so at our memorabilia displays we had folders which contained the preparation for various camps.  Many of our visitors were surprised at the amount of work which preceded a camp.  A number of them said they took part in camps, not realising the huge volume of background work which went in to the camps.

Preparation is over, and we’re now at camp …

Once the camp was underway it was time for the fun.  There’s too much fun to list here and everyone will have their own great stories, all of which were rekindled when visitors saw the photographs on display at our events.  We hope many of you reading this will reminisce about your time at camps, those you met, the antics and fun which took place (all of which if you were a Trinity Scout or not), however perhaps not every reader will have the experience of our famous “Camp Courts”, which continue to this day.  Thanks to modern technology many parents now watch a live stream of the Court and it’s not unknown for them to text the ‘Judge’ to ask for an extended sentence for their accused child!

For the uninitiated, Camp Court is undertaken at the end of the camp.  It’s entirely a fun event, never taken seriously, treated with lots of good humour and a great excuse for a carry on by all, including the leaders.  The ‘Judge’ usually hands out ‘sentences’ for misdemeanours such as ‘camp lazy bones’, ‘camp sleepyhead’, ‘camp never washed a dish’ and so on.  We’re sure there will be lots of fabulous camp court stories exchanged over our centenary year.

Camps would, of course, never take place without our trusted and important ‘blue boxes’, the current ones having been built by Norrie Hillcoat (a former member).  Their predecessors were built by Brian Cowie a former member and Leader.  The boxes were originally black or dark green, but Alex Harvie (former GSL) changed them to blue so they matched the Troop colours.  As Group members know, our boxes are an institution as they contain all the small equipment we need and accompany us to almost every camp.  How many miles have these boxes travelled…?

In addition to being a good repository, one of the previous suites of boxes doubled as furniture, and not just used as they looked.  How?  Well, the boxes had an extra lid and two slats, so when they arrived at their location, they were placed on their side and had the slats fitted in to give an extension allowing the box to be used as a table.  How’s that for ingenuity, space saving (in not taking lots of tables), and general usefulness?

Finally, although we organise many camps, there are some which are organised for us, as in the Jamborees we now take part in.

Jamborees have been around for a long time and in the past, being selected for a Jamboree was a fiercely competitive event, so it wasn’t a case of everyone who wanted to go being able to attend.

David Harvie told us that being selected as a Scout to attend a Jamboree in Lillehammer, Norway in 1975, meant that he and Donnie McKillop had to compete against other Scouts to show that their skills were worthy of them being selected, and the selection process wasn’t small – it was done over a full weekend of tests.  Our boys’ skills were well up to scratch and they were selected as two of the Scottish Scouts to attend the Jamboree.  David very kindly wrote us a paper with his reminiscences on the Lillehammer Jamboree – you can read it here.

Before we finish this section, we think we should let everyone know about ‘Q’.  Just like James Bond, we have our own ‘Q’ (Quartermaster).  He has a similar role to James Bond’s, in that he’s responsible for our equipment, organising it for us by looking out what’s required and, like Bond’s ‘Q’, always asks that everything is looked after, returned, and not only that, returned in good condition.  Does he get everything back in good condition?  We’re not entirely sure, but he hasn’t complained too bitterly yet!

Moving on to camps at our Centenary displays in November 2021 and April 2022, we wish to record that a couple of our leaders worked hard organising the camp display at these events so that it was laid out sensibly.  We had Scandinavia on its own (we camped there a lot), alongside that a display on European camps, along with the Rover Scouts’ pennants hung to full advantage (there’s more on the pennants in the Flags section) – here’s the camp display with some of the pennants:

Part of the Scandinavian Camp display

Part of European Camp Display (there was a lot more to the right)

One other person due a shout out is Andy, one of our former Explorer leaders.  He worked extremely hard cutting and building a frame for a Stormhaven tent so that we could display it at our events.  Cleverly by Andy, as we were restricted by space, he built a frame to display half a Stormhaven.  We also had a number of stoves and other camping utensils on display.  We thought this was important as many of our visitors were from different eras, so would identify with different equipment.  The altar fire at the front of the display was the topic of much discussion “it’s right”, “it’s wrong”, “not like that in my day”.  We’re sure that debate will rage for some time to come!

Here’s a picture of the tent, stoves and other equipment (do you have a thought on the altar fire?):

Tent & Camping Equipment

As you’ll appreciate, we have so much information on camps we can’t cover it all here.

However, there is one place which means a lot to many of us – it’s Lapwing Lodge.  As you’ll have realised we’ve camped in many a place, but one of the most frequent places to camp, attend fun days, evening events and all manner of things in between is Lapwing Lodge, which is our local Scout Campsite in the Paisley Braes.  Lapwing (or Pesweep to former members of particular generations!) is a great resource on our doorstep.  Accommodation is in dormitories or camping in the field, but to encourage a different slant on outdoor living, Hobbit Huts were installed on the site.  As you’ll see by clicking here, they’re a great addition.  There’s more general information on Lapwing in the ‘Helping Others‘ section.

We’re working hard to create a full archive of documentation so if you have any camp related queries, please let us know.  However, we ask you to be patient with us, as due to the volume of what we have it will take us a bit of time to get everything archived, but as we’ll be doing it in stages, we’ll hopefully be able to answer at least some of your queries.

To give everyone another smile about our camping exploits we decided to finish this section with some amusing camp tales from Jim Pearson, who was a member of Stag Patrol in 1946:

• In 1949 we went to Norway, taking pipes and drums with us, but unfortunately losing my drumsticks on the way.  It resulted in a bit of early woodwork, making new ones on the voyage to Bergen.   Another two things which stick in the memory – the very high drop into the dry toilets perched on the side of the hill at the youth hostel!  And visiting the Fria Chocolate factory where we were all let loose in the room where they stored the misshapen bars prior to re moulding.  The old scout hats really came into their own then!

• It was a bit similar on the later trip to Denmark.  After we had arrived at the campsite, the pipe band was parading up and down to impress all the local dignitaries.  A young lady camera operator from Danish Television thought she could get a good shot by lying down and having the band march over her.  Well that’s exactly what happened.  When you are the big drummer, you cannot see directly in front of you, but are guided by the pipers.  I suddenly felt myself marching over something very lumpy. (I do hope she was not trying to film up our kilts!)

• We also paid a visit to the Carlsberg brewery, where we were let loose in the lemonade store.  We had a wee parade through the brewery with our pipes and drums, and when turning a corner, came face to face with a horse drawn wagon which Carlsberg used to parade the streets advertising their beer.   The horses took violent objection to our wonderful music and promptly stampeded into the distance.  We left shortly afterwards!