Scouts

THE SCOUT GROUP

This was our first term as a separate Group and we started strongly with 61 boys, which means that Scouting appeals to about one in every six boys in the School, a proportion which we feel is just about right. The main Group activity was a Christmas Camp Fire, at which we were very pleased to welcome the District Commissioner, the Scouters of the Chilman Group and parents and friends of many of the Scouts. A collection in aid of the building fund for B.-P. House realised the sum of just over £7 and we are very grateful to our guests for giving so generously.

An appreciative visitor writes : "It was a very happy idea that parents and friends should be invited to join the camp fire. No fire at camp could have been more realistic than that constructed by the back-room boys (or should they be back-woodsmen?) in the Scout Hut : and it was extinguishable at will whenever a sketch was presented on the stage ! A.S. Brining, Harrison, Beckett and White must have worked hard to prepare it all.

The evening's entertainment was admirably varied. Some of the items had familiar scouting associations, such as Coulson's sketch of Baden-Powell disguised as an entomologist, spotting enemy gun positions; the Shadow Operation carried out by Best and Ormiston, Bradshaw and Daniel; the Mime to the Anthem of the Ancient Britons, so well timed by R. A. B. Wood and Williams, with interventions in the best I.T.V. manner; or the welcome appearance of Happy Harry (surely not B.H.H. ?) and his Henchmen singing in suitably lugubrious style.

The Skiffle Group made one wonder how much skiffie owes to its music, how much to the dress and accoutrements of its exponents. The Bytheway brothers, Clegg, Anfield, M. W. Foster and Hardman, feverishly plucking at the string of his all-too-string-bass, gave a colourful and spirited performance, which was enthusiastically encored.

Perhaps the highlight of the sketches was a hilarious incident on the banks of Loch Ness, concocted by Hill and put across with immense brio by Brisby and the author, abetted by a thoroughly Scotsman-like team consisting of Normington, French, Baldwin and Hirst. The macabre was represented by a cautionary tale for all Old Peterites devised by Harrison and played by Burton.

After an interval for refreshment we were given a complete contrast in the showing of Mr. Craine's film of last summer's camp and transparencies taken by Smith and Parkin.

As befits a camp fire, all these items were arranged within a framework of rounds and songs. These were conducted by Mr. Coulthard 31

with a verve worthy of Sir Thomas Beecham. To him and all those who helped him the District Commissioner expressed the warm feelings of appreciation felt by all the visitors."

SENIOR SCOUT TROOP

D. E. Coulson and J. M. Smith became acting A.S.M.s of this Section this term and much of the progress made in a large Senior Troop has been the result of their enthusiasm and hard work. The highlight of this progress was the gaining of the Queen's Scout Badge by D. Marsden. We hope that he will be able to receive his Royal Certificate from the Chief Scout when he visits York in May.

The increase in the size of the Troop (to 28) necessitated the creation of a fifth patrol, Grenfell, under P/L.(S.) French. The other P/L.s(S.) are W. R. Bytheway, Hewitt, Hill and Marsden. The five Senior Patrols, Grenfell, Livingstone, Mallory, Scott and Wingate, are all named after men who were pioneers in their particular fields and who had to face up to the challenge of the elements, often under extremely difficult conditions.

Training followed the traditional pattern and a number of night games, usually in poor weather conditions, proved popular. A good deal of hard work was put into the levelling of the training ground and we hope to finish fencing it off next term. The Troop elected to spend the Field Day working on this job and also completing the painting of the Senior Scout Room. We hope soon to curtain off and furnish this room.

A small body of Seniors, directed by Hill, continued to assist with an understaffed local group, while many of the Seniors attended one or two of the monthly meetings arranged for Seniors on a district basis. These meetings take place in our Scout Room and endeavour to give a mixture of theoretical and practical training in all aspects of Scouting.

SCOUT TROOP

This term Mr. Craine, who will shortly receive his Warrant as an Assistant Scoutmaster, filled the vacancy left by Mr. Montgomery. We are particularly grateful to him for his invaluable help with the Tenderfeet and for his administrative efficiency in connection with our training schemes. Fortunately the cheerful services of G. D. Parkin as a Scouter were again available this year, together with two very welcome additions, J. A. Bygate and A. D. Best. All the Scouters have been extremely co-operative and enterprising throughout the term, and it has been a pleasure to work with them.

We started the year again with a greater demand for places than we could comfortably manage; but of the original thirty-two boys, four of last year's Troop moved up rapidly into the Senior Scouts on becoming First Class. Owing to the record number of First Class badges obtained in the Troop last year, only nine of the remaining 32