ianwilkins

Can I just check...you seem to be saying that where a country has gone co-ed they no longer provide "proper" scouting?

Cor blimey Guv'nor! 'ees a lucky fella ain't 'e? We have lots of different accents, as do you. I know the French do to. I guess everywhere does. And possibly, everything...Moo! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5277090.stm

That happened in the UK. Not every time, not everywhere, but leaders who were already fed up of HQ directives and rules, and permits, and restrictions, or were just thought that there should be a space just for boys on their own, or fear of being labelled a peado. It was a straw that broke a few backs. So the leaders resigned, and either the pack or troop shut, or new leaders were found. Statistically impossible to work out what percentage, as it happened over such a time frame before it was made mandatory.

Just for interest...in the UK we have a bunch of staged activity badges that can be earnt by any section (except the 18+ Network)... There's a 5 stage first aid badge, with stage 1 being "how to summon help or help someone who is unconscious or bleeding, to stage 5 which is a full 6-8 hour course. And many others on the same lines, with each stage getting progressively harder. There's a nights away badge (and time on the water, and hikes) which are just a count of what you've done, which in theory are endless, but I believe the highest actually produced is 200. Oh, and before I ca

Even in Blighty we've managed it with a magnifying glass. During about 3 days in high summer, at midday. I've taken the gas pipe off a camp double burner and with the other end still attached to the gas cylinder, turned the gas on and lit it, sticking it in the fire. That does the job, but if you're not careful the melted end of the pipe is a dead giveaway and Skip gets very very angry indeed. See also most any aerosol. All fun and games until someone loses a hand. I.e. DON'T try this kids! Ian was a silly boy and got away with it.

I've sometimes wondered if I should collect mine, as we don't tumble dry our clothes so I don't get lint that way. Decided it would be too weird, even for me. Plus the mixed in belly hair would stink when it burnt. Short lengths of bicycle inner tube. The bark of the sequoia, giant redwood. At least the one at our local campsite seems to slough off chunks of very fibrous bark.

Is that a political rally? UK HQ actually organise officially sanctioned participant groups at the UK pride events. All seems very jolly fun and colourful.

Just to say, that quote was from page two of this very thread. How very circular.

It was sunny the next day, and as I walked up to them the sun shone right through the pendulous low hanging hood. "Look! Come here! Look at the sun shining through the water! That's cool, you can see how much has collected!" - they seemed slightly less enamoured. Totally desensitised. Blame Bill and Ted* and Wayne's World, at least for my desensitising. Well, I might not use "bummer" with cubs or younger, and I'd suspect it would sound old fashioned to young years, but no, I'm not blushing. * I do use "Be Excellent to each other" sometimes when signing off.

And then one time they took ponchos that doubled up as tarps, and they managed to pitch it so the head hole wasn't at a low point, to start with, but the rain ran into the hood and weighted it down as it filled up, right over the hammock, then overflowed. I tried to be sympathetic, honest I did.

GPS, strictly speaking, should work anywhere, the satellites are not geostationary. Now, needing to download maps and so on, that's a different matter. But pure GPS should still work wherever. And yes, a decent map that you've been paying attention to, and a compass, are more likely to be your friends than a smartphone that has a finite battery.

Setting up hammocks... Me: I think you really ought to have the tarp a bit more over the end of the hammock Explorer Scout: Naaa Ian, it'll be fine M: Okay, if you say so. [after a rainy night] ES: Ian, my sleeping bag is wet M: why's that then? ES: because it rained M: nothing to do with the position of your tarp then? ES: erm, well, errr.... My lot love to hammock, and they quite often pack the hammocks as close to each other as possible, and double deck them, so there will be three or four hammocks coming off a tree in different directions, making tarping them a little more

I got copied into an email yesterday, last we had two teams of five Explorers and Network (they were aged 16-21) go on a 4 day 3 night self sufficient lightweight walking expedition in Wales. We'd paid an external company to provide some kit, ensure training was ok, transport and remote supervision, as we don't have the time or specific mountain walking training required. It was organised by one of the Network (with help from dad). Back to the email... Hi ******* Hope you have recovered from last week’s expedition, very impressed with everybody and the progression made through the ex

Newcastle...city in the north east of England, went on a stag weekend there once, was pleasantly surprised. I mean, the soccer stadium looks like it's landed at the top of the hill on the main street, but there's some lovely Georgian and Victorian architecture, and while the Tyne Bridge isn't exactly Sydney Harbour bridge, the whole riverside bit has been gentrified. There are undoubtedly some rough bits in the 'burbs, a friend lived there in the 80s and had bars on all the downstairs windows, but still had plenty of break ins, and at least two cars stolen. Generally I found the locals were fr

This. 90% of the time. "I'd love to help but..."

No. We are to follow the "yellow card", a safeguarding card that all UK leaders should be given, and discussed at training. It says, amongst other things... "Do plan activities that involve more than one other person being present, or at least within sight and hearing of others. Do follow the recommended adult-to-young people ratios for meetings and activities." From: http://members.scouts.org.uk/supportresources/3099/young-people-first-code-of-good-practice-for-adults-yellow-card So it's ok for you to be talking to two scouts, on your own, and outwith hearing/sight of other sco

Bitterness and regret are emotions no? [just saying, I'm still happy in my marriage, just to be *absolutely clear*] Do you still call her "hot lips"? Or is it more "hot flush" these days? In the debauched and degenerate UK scouting, adults can share tents with whomever they like. It's caused the odd divorce, as well as, *ahem* cemented a few relationships, I'm sure. I shared a bunk room with a female leader and a heterosexual couple once. Worst bit was the bloke getting up for a night time wee and his girlfriend waking us all up with directions for the door. Apparently he had

Well aren't you a ray of sunshine!

Just seen this linked from the BBC... http://www.macleans.ca/news/world/what-its-like-to-be-a-girl-scout-in-syria/ Scouting in Syria looks like fun, I mean, apart from lessons in how to shelter from missiles. Looks fairly familiar too. Good to see a little light in the dark.

That's a yes then. And die hard chevy owners will sneer at the inferior ford chevvies. At least, that's what happened when BMW brought out the new "Mini" in Europe.

I Will do my very best to encourage as many of mine to apply. Though we only have very limited spaces. They only get one shot at going to a Jamboree as a young person, so in a way it's irrelevant where it is.

They didn't. They were a British citizen. They had no reason to suspect they were in one of the categories in the travel ban, as I understand it. Okay, read on... If it says he's British, I'd have assumed he has a British passport, if he was an Iraqi, that's moved to Wales to teach, I'd have expected it to say he was an Iraqi citizen. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-39032062 "The council confirmed Mr Miah has a British passport and does not have dual nationality. His family's ethnic background is Bangladeshi." I can't see any hiding of information or id

British passport holder with valid visa refused entry to the USA https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-news/british-muslim-teacher-denied-entry-us-school-trip I mean, he is Welsh, but no need to hold that against him. Mind you, that story is now a month old, and that seems an awful long time in politics currently. It's really the last thing you want on an international trip, one of the leaders getting turned back. One of the kids getting turned back isn't great either. You just want everything to run smooth as silk.

In the UK we have the Baden Powell Scout Association. They split from the main branch of scouting and went their own way in the late 60s, or they would say, they carried on traditional proper scouting that the main branch abandoned. They have some traction where there are enthusiastic leaders. I see pictures and it's all lemon squeezer hats and staffs and shorts and socks with garters. To me, from the outside, it looks like a re-enactment society, though they get quite vexed if you state this. They would maintain they are just following the true path of scouting. Not my cup of tea, but I wish

Life's too short. Do what you enjoy. If that's staying at cubs, why not?