Inveraray 1955

Log book entry from Troop Log

Unfortunately, the troop log for 1955 has not been found as yet and so there is no written account of the camp. Photographs were provided by Hamish Rankin and Douglas Brown. The following is an account of what Douglas Brown remembers about the camp.

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The Troop summer camp held at Inveraray was Ian Blake's first Summer Camp as Scout Leader and he did a remarkably good job considering that he had not been in Scouting since the age of 14. This camp probably set the style of summer camps for the years to come and owed a lot to the invaluable experience of Douglas Brown, Sandy Whiteford and Bob Miller. Bob Miller had also been to the Blair Atholl Jamborette and had acquired a number of camping tips and skills from several of the European Scouts attending. 

The number of Scouts attending was quite small. Two factors were probably responsible for this. Firstly, the Troop did not have a tradition of holding summer camps and it was more usual to have a substantial Easter Camp. Secondly, there is evidence to suggest that the departure of Brian Hodgson in September 1954 resulted in most of the PLs and older Scouts resigning about the same time, to be replaced by a large cohort of Cubs from the 70th's two Wolf Cub Packs. Based on the photographic evidence, the attendance at camp was as follows.

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Scout Master: I.R. Blake (Ian)

Assistant Scout Masters: Bob Miller and Douglas Brown

Patrol Leader: Sandy Whiteford

Scouts: Trevor Jones, Ken Conway, Ian MacKenzie, Hamish Rankin

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The Scouts sailed from Gourock to Inveraray on the steamer 'Duchess of Montrose', possibly accompanied by Bob Miller or Douglas Brown. Meanwhile, Ian Blake drove his car to Inveraray with the camping equipment, possibly accompanied by Bob or Douglas. Ian's car was actually a converted post office van - a not uncommon thing in the years following the Second World War when new cars were scarce. The campsite was in the Inveraray Caste estate about half a mile NE of the Castle itself at Grid ref. 101097, at the foot of the hill with the prominent tower on it (Dun na Cuaiche).

The weather during the camp was superb with dry sunny weather throughout. The following are some of the things that happened during the camp.

Probably the biggest project undertaken during the camp was to build a road and fence to the small circular house occupied by the O'Donnell family. At the time, there was only a track up to the house and so supplies, provisions and Calor Gas had to be carried manually rom the end of the road up to the house. Building the road was no easy task and at one point, a sizeable boulder had to be removed. This was too big to move manually, so Sandy Whiteford poured water over it then lit a fire so that the combination of water and heat cracked the boulder into smaller pieces. The road and fence were successfully built over the period of the camp and there was  a grand opening ceremony that invoved cutting a piece of tape stretched across the road  (see the photo with Ian Blake's car -GUL 222). The circular house ended up as a ruin in years to come and it is not known whether the remains are still visible.

A second pioneering project was the erection of possibly the tallest flagpole ever at a 70th summer camp (see photos). This may well have been the work of Sandy Whiteford who was very practically orientated and a bit of a character. Another of Sandy's enterprises during camp was to shoot rabbits. Unfortunately, one of his bullets went through the Bell Tent - an incident that was recorded in the Court of Honour Minutes in later months. Sandy also constucted a metal trident spear which must have been quite a vicious weapon. At low tide, the Scouts went down to the foreshore at Inveraray and paddled about, taking turns at trying to spear flounders for tea. It's not known whether they were successful or not. On that same tack, it is not known what the camp menu was, but photographs show that melons were a particular delicacy.

Another activity was a hike up to the tower on Dun na Cuaiche from where photographs were taken looking south over Inveraray Castle. The Scouts wore full scout uniform for this activity. They also wore full Scout Uniform for a visit to Dundarave Castle. This had been organised by Ian who transported the Scouts in his car (it is not known for certain whether this was done in one trip or two trips). Dundarave Castle is privately owned and Ian had contacted the owner in advance to see whether a visit was possible. When permission was granted, full Scout uniform was worn andthe Scouts were on their best behaviour. Unfortunately, the 'tour' was a  damp squid as they were only shown into one room and there was nothing much to see.

The Scouts presumably visited Inveraray several times and it is probably during one of those visits that Hamish Rankin met a girl called Yvonne who was on holiday in the area. Apparently, they hit it off and there is a photo of a rather small Hamish standing beside his girl friend dressed up to the nines, presumably in camp.

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