Wood Badge Beads

[Eamonn 61]

I really don't know where to start.

I have ordered items from Gilwell and paid with a credit card. It has never been a problem. As for our "Funny Money" Our funny money has been around a lot longer then most.

The English Wood Badge Regalia is the same as all Wood Badge Regalia all over the world.

You can order a wool or cotton neckerchief. Both are made to fit an adult. The American ones seem a little small.

Scouting in the UK has undergone a lot of changes over the years.

As we all know Baden Powell started it in England.

At first he didn't think of it as a "Stand Alone" program. In fact he tried to get the Boys Brigade and William Smith to adopt the program. But that wasn't what the boys had in mind. From its' start Scouting in England remained much the same until 1969.

Something called the Advanced Party Report came along and changed everything.

12 Scout Laws became 7.

The Wording of the Promise Changed.

The Uniform changed,

Age groups changed and Senior Scouts and Rover Scouts were no longer.

Advancement Changed.

In fact the name changed. Where we were Boy Scouts (Nothing else - Just like our funny stamps - No country.) We became the Scout Association.

I don't remember much of the pre 1969 stuff. I was a Wolf Cub (They became Cub Scouts) and a Tenderfoot (That went and was never renamed??)

Some of the things that remained were that we were still Patrols, we still were an outdoor camping organization with values at our core.

I have been away from it for 20 years.

A few years back they allowed groups to permit girls to join.

Kind of a strange set up.

In England there are no Chartered Partners. While a group might meet in a church hall it is not part of the church. The Scout Group is made up of : The Pack, The Troop, and The Venture Unit. The Venture Unit has always been allowed to be coed.

When they said that Girls were allowed, both the pack and the troop had to say ok or it wasn't to be.

The one thing that I had a hard time with in the USA was the idea of professional Scouters.

While there was always a National Staff in the UK they never had professionals at any other level.

Last year Scouting in the UK underwent another big change. I have read about it and talked to friends about it. Some think that it is great others are not so happy.

I went to lunch with John Fogg, who is in charge of communications for Scouts UK. He seems to think that the changes were needed.

Time will tell.

Please feel free to pm me if I can be of more help.

Eamonn

[Fat Old Guy 11]

Hey, didn't you guys change your money back in the 60's? Got rid of farthings and shillings and other incomprehensible things and just went with pounds and pence?

 

Why did the Scout Association get rid of the traditional ranks?

 

What was the big change last year?