Scouting

SENIOR SCOUT TROOP

Towards the end of term J. M. Lennox became a Queen's Scout and joined R. Baldwin, G. Parkin, and Steel as an Acting A.S.M. As noted below, the last three have been appointed to assist with the Scout Troop, while Lennox remains with the Seniors. All four should receive their Warrants at the beginning of the Summer Term before they attend the Chief Scout's reception at Gilwell to receive their Queen's Scout Certificates. During the Easter holidays all four are attending the Public Schoolboys' Course at Gilwell with the object of fitting themselves for further service to the Scout movement. In addition, A. D. Best and J. M. Smith are representing the Group at the St. George's Service and Parade in Windsor on Sunday, 27th April.

The promotions to A.S.M. have given the opportunity to Best, Bygate, Coulson, and Smith to serve as Senior Patrol Leaders and have created vacancies in the Senior Scout Troop to be filled from the Scout Troop at the beginning of next term.

Training and test-passing made good progress during the term and we enjoyed some very successful inter-Patrol competitions and night wide games, in the latter making use of a very generous ration of fog and snow. An innovation was shooting, an activity which appears popular with most of the Troop. The main object is to enter a team for the Duke of Connaught's Shield Shooting Competition. This is a national Scout contest, and to Lennox has fallen the task of selecting and training a team of four, while, at the same time, training younger Seniors with an eye to future years when we shall be without his invaluable skill and experience. During the term we entered a team of two Seniors and three Scouts for an Ambulance Competition in York. Though we came only eighth out of twelve teams the experience gained was valuable. At the very least, we have learned that there is a wide gulf between theory and practice in first aid and that we must endeavour to make our training more realistic in future.

We hope that our summer camp this year will be in Strathtay, Perthshire, close to, but separate from the Scout Troop. Though this will be basically a standing camp, all Seniors will have an opportunity of taking part in a short trek camp, if for no other reason than that they should suffer, as others have done before, from hauling the Group's notorious trike carts over trackless country. The camp will begin on Tuesday, 29th July, and end on Wednesday, 6th August.