Summary of Easter Camp held at Invereck campsite on 10th-18th April 1954
Scouts and Leaders present
FALCON/CURLEW PATROL
P.L. Douglas Brown, P.L. Bob Millar, Sec. Graham White, Sec. Neville Mort, Ian McKenzie and Hamish Rankin
FOX/SEAGULL PATROL
P.L. Ian McFarlane, P.L. Sandy Whiteford, Sec. Neill Cook, Robert McKinnon, Stephen Pearce and Milton Runcie.
SCOUTERS
Brian Hodgson (Scout Master) and Andy Whiteford (Troop Leader & Quartermaster)
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The Easter Camp held at Invereck during April 1954 was particularly ground breaking as it was the first substantial Easter camp recorded in the 70th's history. It was also the first substantial camp of any kind since the rebirth of the troop in 1947, and the first time that the Troop had camped at a different site from Everton since the 1930s. A weekend camp was actually held at Invereck about a month before Easter Camp, partly to find out where the campsite was and partly as a recce. The campsite was a field between the River Echaig and the Invereck Eventide Old Folk's home run by the Church of Scotland, and the residents clearly got a lot of entertainment watching what was going on from their windows. On one of the days, some of the female residents even ventured down to cheer on the teams playing football for the camp's football 'trophy' - possibly a bucket.
In 1954, private transport was very limited and troops relied on public transport such as trains and ferries to reach potential campsites. At this camp, the Scouts took the ferry from Gourock to Dunoon. Some of the Scouts then took the bus to Invereck, while the others pushed the troop's trek cart laden with all the camping equipment the four miles or so to the campsite. During this operation, one of the wheels got buckled.
During the camp itself, each day started with breakfast, flagbreak, inspection and a Scout's Own where one of the Scouts read a passage from the Bible. On the Sunday, the troop paraded to Sandbank Church for the morning service and a few Scouts attempted to attend an evening service at Kilmun Church - only to find that it wasn't on. The log reports also talk of 'Scout work'. This is not elaborated on, but probably involved training and testing on various aspects of the Second Class and First Class Badges.
As far as camp activities were concerned, the Falcon Patrol attempted to build a 'bridge' over the River Echaig, which probably consisted of a rope stretched between trees on either bank. The accompanying cartoon in the Seal Patrol Log suggests that this was less than successful. The Fox patrol attempted to build a raft, but it is not known whether this succeeded or not. Campfires were held in the evening and one of these was a joint campfire with the Kirn Scouts, who might also have been camping on the site. As far as games were concerned, these included football, rounders, cricket and non-stop cricket. There were also plate races in the 'burn'. On bad weather days, when the Scouts were confined to their tents, Football Whist was played. On good weather days, time was well spent swimming and diving into the River Echaig.
A couple of hikes were undertaken on Monday evening 12th April - an 8-mile hike for the younger Scouts led by Ian McFarlane into Glen Lean, and a longer 16-mile hike for the older Scouts up into Glen Masson. This resulted in rather a late night before getting to pit. On the following day (13th April), there was a visit into Dunoon to visit the cinema, which was promptly labelled the 'Icebox' as it was so chilly. There were a further two visits into Dunoon during the week to visit cafes and the cinema. On the 14th-15th April, Neville Mort and Robert McKinnon left camp to carry out their First Class hike. However, their route was not identified.
An unusual event during camp was an encounter with a shepherd who allowed Brian Hodgson to hold one of the newly born lambs. Another unusual event was a feast on the afternoon of the 17th April to celebrate Douglas Brown's sixteenth birthday. Prior to this, Brian Hodgson had disappeared into Dunoon on a bicycle that had been brought to camp. This jouney may well have been to purchase the birthday card, cake and gift (a knife) that were presented to Douglas during the feast. The cake went down a treat, and no sooner had it been consumed than Douglas's parents arrived with another cake. This, too, was rapidly consumed.
On the final day, everyone rose at 6.00 am to make breakfast and strike camp. The troop attended morning service at Kilmun Church and were then shown various important grave stones in the cemetary. The Sea Scouts from Renfrew were also present. It was then a case of returning home, once again pushing all the gear along the roads on the trek cart.
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