Summary
For the third year in a row, the 70th chose Blairmore as the venue for Easter Camp. On this occasion, there were 11 Scouts camping in two patrols as follows;
Rhinocerus Patrol: P.L. Ian Fraser, Acting Second Billy Phillips, Michael Nisbet, and Donald Hamilton.
Bear Patrol: T.L. Jim Blair, P.L. Tommy Dow (left on the 10th), Second Ronald Lind, Michael Hodge (HOJI), Alan Conway and John Moore.
The Leader team consisted of Acting SM Robert K. Miller (Bob, Eccles or Skipper), ASM Ian McFarlane (until the 10th; returned on 13th), VJASM Kenneth W. Johnston (QM) and VJASM John H. Nisbet (Nis). Hamish Rankin (Tweet) also attended the camp until the 10th and camped with the Rhino Patrol. Hamish had recently resigned as a PL in order to join a new Senior Scout Patrol with its own programme. Note that VJASM and JASM were terms used for older Scouts who had joined the leader team, but were still of Scout age. Thus, they were not sufficiently old to gain a warrant as a full ASM.
Camp Report
On the first day, the Scouts gathered at Gourock Pier and collected the camping gear from the Left Luggage Office (LLO) (indicating that it might have been transported there the day before). There was a bit of a mix up over this and the LLO Custodian got into a fluster when he saw the equipment being taken to the steamer. Believing that the equipment was being stolen, he ‘puffed up the pier’ to apprehend the villains, shouting “Rem fings is stole!’ However, everything was smoothed over when Bob Millar handed over the requisite LLO tickets from his sporran. The Scouts then sailed over to Blairmore Pier on the M.V. Maid of Ashton, where they disembarked and both the equipment and the Scouts were transported to the campsite by the piermaster's lorry (as in previous years). The rest of the day was spent pitching camp, erecting kitchen shelters, collecting firewood, making gadgets and other associated tasks. Bob’s traditional camp dumpling was devoured that evening, and it appears that the campsite was being shared with Scouts from the 7th Renfrewshire.
On the second day, the camp flagpole was erected and the latrines were dug before the camp programme began in earnest. This year, the Scouts undertook a major pioneering project which involved building a bridge over one of the streams, along with approach roads. This took two days to complete and there was an official opening ceremony that involved cutting a piece of string across one end of the bridge. There was also a visit to the lead mine, with the TL and SM venturing deep inside to collect rock samples. Following that, everyone descended to Gairletter Point to go beach combing, but during the descent there was a wrestling match between the Troop Leader and the Scout Master that saw both of them ending up in a bog. It was not recorded whether the combatants went for a swim in the loch, but it is certainly known that Bob Millar and Ian McFarlane braved the weather conditions to go swimming on another occasion. Other activities included a night ascent of Kilmun Hill that was followed by a descent into Strone and a walk back to the campsite, a visit to a haunted house by Bob Millar and Jim Blair, and an evening hike to Ardentinny to visit the shop. At Ardentinny, the Scouts met members of the Senior Scout Patrol (Ken Conway, Stuart Scott and R. Muir), who were on a backpacking hike.
Various camp games were played including baseball and ‘Pickapoo’, the latter consisting of ‘ice hockey’ with 2 pucks tied together (the idea was that each player was only allowed to hit their own puck). Campfires were also held in the evening.
The weather was reasonable over the first few days, but it then poured on the 12th and it was decided that the Scouts should return home a day early. This was a wise decision as the rain continued unabated for 36 hours into the 13th. Only the Scouters (Bob Miller, John Nisbet and Ken Johnston) remained overnight to strike camp on the 13th. The weather helped in this task by blowing down the Scouters kitchen shelter overnight. Ian McFarlane reappeared on the 13th to help out.
A number of people dropped in on the camp to visit. For example, Mr. and Mrs. Conway visited along with youngest son George. Alastair Cram and Albert Runcie also visited on their way home after completing a hike that counted towards their Hiker’s Badge.
Report
Click here for the report on the camp from the Troop Log
​