Farewell to Chigwell Scouts

BY DAVID BALLANCE (FORMER STAFF) AND CHRIS LORD (OC AND FORMER TEACHER)

FAREWELL TO CHIGWELL SCOUTS: REFLECTIONS ON THE LIFE & DEATH OF 29 E.F.

Old members will be sorry to hear that the 29th Epping Forest Scout Group has now been closed, in its 96th Year. This is not the place for a full history. Most was related in 2001 in DKB's 29 E.F.: A Celebration, of which many readers will have copies. We are here attempting only a brief summary of development, accompanied by a list of the main camps, and some figures on membership and the achievement of awards.

The Troop was founded in June 1927, at the instigation of Stuart Walde, the Headmaster, and under the leadership of two masters: Alan Thurston ('Bill' to boys, 'Theta' to colleagues), who was to hold a Warrant until 1965, and Kenneth Crofts. The original intention was to provide outdoor activities for boys who were too young to join the Officers' Training Corps (later, the CCF); members were in fact expected to join the OTC when they were 14, but it was hoped that they would also provide leadership for Scouting in their later school years, and perhaps afterwards. The Troop was popular and grew to 27 by 1935, when a young mathematician, Robert Bennett (RLSB), arrived from Cambridge to lend a strong hand, especially at camps. In the early years, these were unambitious affairs, mainly in the South East, but, as the list shows, there were activities much further afield.

We here reproduce only two images, both taken from the book. First, in a smart group of 1936, Theta is flanked by Bennett, and by the bespectacled Henry Martin, who was one of the first two winners of the King's Scout Award. Strangely and ominously, the two pennant holders, George Salmon (left) and Eric Cuthbert (right) were both fated to die as Indian Army subalterns in 1943/44, and the boy standing high at the top, Thomas Barker, was shot down as a fighter pilot in 1943. Everybody else in the photo survived the War.

Almost all Scouts were boarders, since most activities took place after school, and it was felt that day­boys could always join local Troops. By 1939, RLSB was in constant charge of operations, both at school and at camps, and was dealing with programmes, records, and equipment. He was not called up until the summer of 1940. After he left, the Troop was largely run by senior boys, and especially by four of the five Leng brothers, who all held appointments as Troop Leader or ASM from 1940 to 1956, and even ran distant camps on the Cotswolds in 1940 and 1941; later in the War, summer camps returned to the Home Counties. Thus Chigwell Scouting not only survived, but was in a flourishing state when RLSB returned from the Navy to run summer camp in 1946. However, a good maths teacher was bound to be headhunted, as he now was, by Dr James at St Paul's, who had known him at Chigwell in 1939-40.

Our second picture shows John Garner, who had just turned seventeen, on a First-Class Overnight Hike, and it is evocative. The finger-post fixes the site: just in Essex, at TL492248, about a mile NW of Stansted Mountfichet, where the bridle-path crosses the road between Stansted and Manuden – a shadier corner, twenty years before the elms were blighted, and a quieter one, forty years before the airport expanded. The photo illustrated the log that he and his partner would have produced; it was taken by James Harpur-Smith, who was two years younger, and in later life a Canon of Leicester. John has no hat; Scout hats were vanishing, but berets were yet to replace them. He carries a Bergen rucksack, where the load is thrown back onto the waist-line; in the 1960s, this would be succeeded by a high-loader. Its main content would have been a couple of light blankets, since sleeping bags were unlikely to be owned except by real explorers. Presumably his companion had the hike tent; that, too, would have been heavier than now, without an integral groundsheet and probably with wooden poles and even pegs. There would have been no plastic in plates or as rain-protector to spare clothing (incidentally, the enamel bowls in a camp photo of 1930 were still in use in the HQ kitchen of 1990!). These details are important, because the pair are facing the same challenge as would be met thirty years later by boys aiming for their Advanced Scout Standard: an overnight hike on their own in unfamiliar farmland, often without a pre-arranged camping site, and with no mobile phone to report themselves lost, unfed, or unhappy. However, they would in recent years have been IV-formers or Removes (that is, thirteen- or fourteen-year-olds). True, they might on average be taller than their forerunners, but the main reason for this development was the advance in lightweight equipment. The most important innovation was perhaps the almost weightless campermat, which, carefully wrapped in plastic, ensures a night's rest. Incidentally, John emigrated to Timaru, a small port on the east coast of New Zealand; DKB was there in 2004, but John's little house seemed unoccupied.

The ten years after 1946 were complicated. No successor to RLSB appeared, but there was much activity, both at school and in camping. Problems were caused by the national introduction of Senior Scouts in 1946. Before that, patrols at camp covered the whole age-range from eleven to seventeen; after that, a sixth­ former could be appointed as Troop Leader, or could take out a Warrant as ASM. This enabled many patrol activities to take place without the supervision of an adult, as had happened during the War. After 1946, PLs would be at most fourteen or fifteen, and would move up into Senior Scouts at sixteen, and follow the training suited to their age. But this involved extra staffing. In practice, in 29 EF, those who wished to continue beyond the LVs formed a Service Team at camps and might also lead some separate activities, such as caving, rock climbing, or peak-bagging. Some masters helped at camps, as in more recent years, and Theta did all that he could, but he was a housemaster with a family, and Head of Science. There were problems with the timings and sites of meetings, and competition with other out-of-school activities, which multiplied in these early years of Thompson's headmastership. They could only be solved by a member of the staff in full and constant control of the Troop-or 'Group', as we should now call it, since not only a Senior Troop but also a Cub Pack existed. In fact, this was to be, for two years, the only component that kept the Group alive, for after summer camp 1958 there was a sudden collapse of interest and organization, and Scouting above Cubs was in abeyance.

The third period extended from October 1959 to July 1996. For this, readers of the OC Mitre will have their own Scouting memories and there are too many people involved to mention many individuals. Here, DKB's survey is presented in the first person.

I was in effect Group Scout Leader from 1965, though I held Warrants as SM from 1960 to 1967, and then as VSL for the rest of the time. I was not appointed with any obligation to revive a moribund Scout Group. I did have some Senior Scout training from school (partly as an evasion from serving my full time in the CCF!), and also relevant experience in my National Service as a subaltern in a remote corner of our crumbling Empire; for example, I knew about mosquito nets and the counting of tent pegs. I was approached by the CCF, but I sensed that a compulsory 'Corps' would be in decline, since National Service had finished in 1957. I was really looking for something like my own school Scouting that might keep me from winter soccer pitches; expeditions, perhaps, but not jolly camp-fires. I had hoped for some support from the Old Guard of pre-1958, but I found little. Yet there was good surviving tentage and cooking gear, and I could recruit enough members to form the nucleus of a Senior Patrol, who held an Easter Camp in a my Exmoor homeland in 1960. I still often drive past the point where I met the ten campers off the bus, at New Bridge, near Porlock.

Some general remarks on school Scout Groups are needed. A zoologist might say that they belong to the same genus as 'local' ones, but that they are different enough to be classified as a separate species, and recently as a seriously endangered one. I suspect that few exist outside prep. schools and northern grammar schools. The three key factors are Slots, Staffing and Seniors. That is: some room in the timetable for regular meetings; several teachers for whom Scouting is a principal interest; and a regular supply of instructors and supervisors at sixth-form level (as in CCFs). Ultimately, only a succession of supportive Head Teachers will guarantee their survival, but this might be given If they provide 'added value' to the experience offered by the school to parents.

Resuscitation of 29 EF was slowly achieved. In 1962, Michael Brandon arrived with Scouting experience, and he stayed for 33 years. A double Scout Troop evolved: a small Junior Troop, which met as an alternative to games on Mondays, and a Middle Troop, largely of Removes and Lower Fifths, which met after school on Fridays; and a small Senior Troop. In 1962, there was an exceptionally keen set of junior recruits, and in their third year I asked that they should be allowed to stay in the Scouts rather than join the CCF (which recruited at 14, in the summer term). This was revolution, but Donald Thompson allowed it. We made one vital condition, which prevailed right through to the 1990s: members up to the LV must attend Summer Camp. Without this, they could not satisfactorily complete a training programme. In 1968, the age-ranges and titles of sections were altered by the Chief Scout's Advance Party, and many changes were made to the programme: there were now Cub Scouts (though ours had disappeared), Scouts, and Venture Scouts, in a 'Unit' (or in the local patois, a Voonit). We made slight modifications to align the new system with School years. So by 1969 we had everybody in new uniforms. Most Scouting happened in school time on Mondays, though the traditional after-school meetings were continued until 1972.

A regular pattern of camping re-appeared: an Easter Camp, in hilly country in the Pennines, the Lakes or Wales, which was soon confined to the Venture Unit; and a longer Summer Camp, always in the North or West, but in slightly tamer ground. Four important developments came between 1962 and 1974. The first two were were Michael Brandon's arrival and the choice between the Scouts and the CCF. Then, In 1967, after a decline in boarders, we were allowed to admit dayboys in IIIA, the pioneers being Guy Singer and Richard Lamb; by 1969, half the Junior Troop were dayboys. Lastly, Easter Camp moved to indoor quarters for 1967 and 1968, when we used two adjacent huts at Ashness, near Keswick, and followed an intensive programme of hikes and climbs.

However, we needed wilder country to enable Venture Scouts to qualify for Venture and Queen Scout's Awards, which demanded three- or four-night expeditions. By chance, in summer 1968, we learnt of a Victorian school recently converted to an outdoor activities centre. This was at Elphin, in West Sutherland, in the district of Assynt, a spectacular landscape which I had visited ten years earlier. We were allowed to rent this base for Easter Camp in 1969 and we were so attracted that we went there in 19 of the next 24 springs. It was 619 road miles from Chigwell, or 656 by overnight train and local post-bus. In that period, about 160 Venture Scouts visited it, most of them in two or three years, and a few came back to help us as OCs. It had a big schoolroom, easily warmed, and incorporating a kitchen and drying room; bunk beds in four small rooms; modern plumbing; and, essentially in those days, a pay-phone. It commanded an enormous view, including four of the most striking peaks in the north-west, two big connected lochs, and the distant sea. Assynt has a much lower rainfall than Fort William or Argyll; its spectacular peaks are not very high, and can be climbed from roads without long

approach walks; and with a minibus we could extend our activities north to Durness or south to Portree. In March and April, roads are seldom closed by snowdrifts, and we had only one year (1979), when little could be climbed above 1,000 feet and the hike programme had to be modified. Most importantly, we discovered there was a pattern of usable bothies among the glens, linked by a network of stalking paths. Access was not normally a problem, as we were well outside the stalking and shooting season, but routes that cross rivers could present difficulties. We did no rock- or ice-climbing, but we normally carried ice-axes and learnt how to use them. Training always included an overnight winter Survival Hike in the south-east, which occasionally met with more severe weather than we found in Assynt.

Over the years, Elphin became a strong factor in Chigwell Scouting. Middle Troop boys knew that they could go there in the Upper Fifth and stayed on to do so. Slides were shown at the regular annual Parents' Evening. There were a few alarms, almost all due to a failure of communications. I always started training with a one-sentence warning: "This is not Essex: you are going to places where if you leave the matches behind, you will die."

In autumn 1971, Brian Wilson (an ex-Scout Leader) took over as Head. He was always supportive of Scouting, but he lacked enthusiasm for the CCF, which ran out of leaders in 1974. That left a gaping hole in Monday afternoon, which was filled with an Activities Scheme, of which Scouting was a part, and continued as such when it moved to Thursdays. I had been assured that boys only joined the Scouts to avoid the CCF, and a few had certainly done so, but the camping requirement soon showed them that this was not a soft option. In 1975, we inherited the big CCF Kit Store (which stood on the site of the present Theatre) and soon took over part of the old Hainault stables, which gave us a room just large enough to start a Junior Troop meeting, and this area, including the rough grassland adjacent, became a hub for Scouting activities. The Venture Scouts were regularly employed in kit maintenance every Wednesday…

For the record, a word on finance. All members paid a termly subscription; uniform, personal equipment and camps had to be added. Until the 1980s, occasional events were staged by parents to pay for additional· kit; and there was a small income from Scout Job Week, which we abandoned. The School, of course, provided buildings, and from 1970 a minibus; from 1990 it also contributed £300 per year, which paid for one major tent replacement.

The next twenty years saw very little change. We normally maintained four patrols in each Troop. There were occasional weaker year-groups, but they were counter-balanced by strong ones. There is no space here to single out individuals, but some years held exceptional groups of friends, loyal to each other and to the Group, among whom the eleven-year-old entries of 1970, 1972, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1989 and 1994 were outstanding. Latterly, there was some growth: in 1990, there were 59 in camp at Llangattock (include 15 staff/Vu' in HQ); in 1996, at Horner, there were 78 (including 18 in HQ). In 1992, the total membership actually rose . briefly to 100, inducing staff.

In an expanding school, we were fortunate with staff; some brought Scouting experience with them, and others were prepared to acquire it with us. As far as I know, nobody was paid for it, except insofar as afternoons were school-time. So I want to name and thank two classes of my colleagues.

First come those who held Warrants or performed equivalent services: the late Michael Brandon, whose

ashes were scattered by a small group of friends and OCs on Cnoc Breac at Elphin in 2001; David Winward

(1969-72); Rodney Thomas (1972-75); Peter Draper (1973-81); Gordon James (1977-85); Andrew Halls (1981- 84); Ewan Craig (1984-87); John Walker (1985-90); Peter Blanchard (1994-2000); the late Andrew McKenzie (1989-1997); Kevin Fear (1990-93); and Andrew Stubbs (1993-97).

Then come those who helped at Camp or performed other services: Donald Thompson; Roger Lineker; David Horton (a constant helper at both camps, 1974-96); John Pollock (1961) and Richard Bailey (1962); Hugh Clifton (1974); Peter Rand; Peter Applebey (1977-79); Tony Barrett and David Goodwin (who both did much lorry driving to and from summer camps!); and, of course, Chris Lord, who now takes up the tale.

By chance, Tim Egan has just sent me a photo of both of us at a camp in the late 1970s. For many of us, our time in 29EF provided life experiences at least as formative, if not more so, as anything else that a Chigwell education could provide. This was recently confirmed to me by, amongst others, Ben Glassman, Michael Olympics and Raheel Bhatti.

The sole reason for the success, strength and longevity of Scouting at Chigwell can be summed up in three letters: DKB. But, counter-intuitively, this was a problem for me in 1996, when I took over. For me, brought up as a boy in the system, and trained as an adult leader within it, it was hard to imagine Scouts being run in any other way than the DKB way. I was often torn between keeping things going that way and making changes, partly as necessary responses to changing circumstances, and partly because I was, well, not DKB.

My role as an adult in Scouting was initially reluctant. I didn't volunteer: at my appointment, Tony Little gently hinted that DKB had expressed an interest in my helping with the Group -- so that was that. And when David retired, Tony put it to me at a lunch that as there was nobody else willing to take it on we could just roll the whole thing with honour and end it there ... or I could take it on. Despite this rather unenthusiastic beginning, however, I took to it, and running 29EF did become a major part of what I did, and of what I was, at Chigwell.

So I continued in the DKB mould, but was soon faced with the ending of Saturday school in 1998, and the consequent loss of the Thursday afternoon slot. Having to come to Scouts out of school hours drove many away, but the idea gradually became embedded, and numbers returned. Camps continued. Morvich was reg­ ularly used at Easter up to 2001 (with some assistance from DKB), and occasionally later, and a variety of summer sites was maintained, with a particular penchant for islands. I think my proudest moment was getting everyone from Chigwell Station to Galway, on public transport, in a single day. But the biggest innovation lay in our visits to the International Scout Centre at Kandersteg in Switzerland, which became a regular slot every three years-so most Scouts could go twice in their careers. In my era, this was probably the biggest factor in 29EF's success.

We had some great leaders in those years. To those already mentioned I would add: Vikki Lloyd-Meier and Freddie Meier, Jacquie Osborn, Pam Rex, Jason Porter, Karen Robb-Hoffman, Caroline James, Matthew Slocombe, Henry Wilkins, Richard Parry, Gary Cordell, Avani Hurribunce, Nicola Tibbett-Jermyn. Helen Russell, Simon Wilson, the late Valerie Richardson, Emma Moore-Rea, Ajay Varia, Jay Adriaanse, and many others who helped at camps.

I realized that I needed help to keep things going. One source was the wider Scout movement, particu­ larly the District. The DC, Neil Taylor OC, was a great support, and had the Mountain Leadership qualification we now needed to run DKB-style Easter Camps in Kintail and Knoydart. We took part in Night Hikes, hosted a Football Tournament, and cajoled a few stalwarts to take part in the annual St George's Day parade. And I set up, in the manner of non-school Groups, a Group Executive of Scout parents and staff, in particular the won­ derful Brenda Farrow and Chris Clemens as Treasurers, and the indefatigable David Gower as Group Chair. The support they gave was indispensable, but it was very hard work, and when there were leaders who would take it on I bowed out, in 2012, after sixteen years at the helm.

APPENDIX A: NUMBERS & ACHIEVEMENTS

Since membership records are accessible up to 2000, it seems worthwhile to present a summary.

*This figure applies to those who entered VU, gained the VA, but did not progress to QS; this was often because they had left the School at the end of the UV year. Holders of QS were all holders of VA. A further 80 members were invested from 1996 to 2000. We do not at present have access to detailed records from 2001 to the close.

APPENDIX B: PLACES WHERE WE CAMPED

Summer

1928 Auberies, Sudbury, Suffolk

1929 Arrowe Park, Birkenhead, Cheshire

1930/31 Nacton, Suffolk

1932 Yalding, Rochester, Kent

1933 Raddery, Blackheath, Surrey & party to Jamboree in Hungary

1934 Home Farm, Creeksea, Essex

1935 Icard Point, Guernsey, Cl

1936 Boskenna, St Buryan, Cornwall

1937 Little Hallingbury, Essex ( juniors) Jamboree at Vogelensang in Holland

1938 Glen Moar, Isle of Man (older boys) Great Hallingbury, Essex (juniors)

1939 Glen Moar, Isle of Man (older boys) Great Hallingbury, Essex (juniors)

1940/41 Snowshill, Broadway, Gloucs.

1942 Much Hadham, Herts.

1943 High Cross, Ware, Herts.

1944 Great Hallingbury, Essex

1945 Naphill, High Wycombe, Bucks

1946 Acton Pigott, Shropshire

1947 Halvose Farm, Manaccan, Cornwall

1948 Great Hallingbury, Essex

1949 Henham Hall, Wangford, Suffolk

1950 Great Hallingbury, Essex

1951 Halvose Farm, Manaccan, Cornwall

1952 Cerne Abbas, Dorset

1953 Acton Pigott, Shropshire

1954 Newton St Loe, Bath

IN CONCLUSION FROM DKB

So, after 97 years, what was it all about? Scouting touched the lives of more than a thousand Chigwellians. In my book, I quoted Theta's comment at Shrove Tuesday, 1934, which I think is as true today as it was in the year of my birth: "The aim has been to lead boys away from the softer places of life and make them face the difficulties in a self-reliant manner". Let it rest there.

The Troop in 1936

John Garner 1946

Hike Trio, 1981: Ashley Morris, Richard Weetch, Richard George

Andrew Bone on Ben More Assynt 1971

Ben More Coigach 1979, looking to Elphin: Malcolm Peet, Richard Scrivener, Clive Collins

Ben Hee 1993: Tom Hollinghurst, Stephen Goodfellow. Kevin Packford, Stewart Dobbie

Horner 1996: Final Fire

Elphin from Cnoc Breac, 1971

Site on steppe 1992; flag  break

Hay-on-Wye 1985: Vic Gray's sucking pig

Elphin 1981: Hike Rations

Summer Camp, 1983: Pullabrook Farm, Bovey Tracey