Camp Report
As far as is known, this is the first and only time that the 70th camped at Portavadie. A report of the camp was provided in the Curlew Patrol's log. There was no description of the camp in the Troop log, but some photographs were included. Based on the information from both sources, it is known that the Scouters present from the 20th-22nd April were S.M. Bob Miller, Ken Johnston, John Nisbet and Ian McFarlane, and that Ken Johnston and John Nisbet returned to Gourock on the 22nd of April. Bob Miller and Ian McFarlane may well have departed home on the 23rd April, on the same day that Alastair Cram (Al) and Albert Runcie (Oz) arrived. Al and Oz then stayed till the end of the camp on the 25th April.
​
Two Patrols of Scouts were present as follows;
Curlew Patrol
PL Michael Nisbet (Niz), Second Alan Jeyes, George Conway
Duck-Billed Platypus Patrol
PL Ian Fraser, Ian Paterson (Kipper), Bobby McCallum
A photograph of Ronald Russell and Alan Jeyes was originally thought to be taken at Portavadie, but this now seems unlikely and that the photograph is from a different camp still to be identified.
​
The exact location of the campsite was not identified in the Patrol Log, but the contents of that log and the associated photographs suggest that the Scouts were camping next to the old Boys Brigade hut and campsite north of Portavadie (approx. Grid ref. 929700). At the time, this was quite a remote spot and there was no pier or ferry service. It is believed that the Scouts were camping in the woods just to the north of the BB campsite, and that they played games of football, baseball and ringstick in the camping ground itself (identified as the 'field' in the log book).
​The log book reveals that on the 20th April, the Scouts and Scouters concerned took the M.V. Lochfyne from Gourock to Tighnabruaich via Dunoon, Innellan and Rothesay, and were then transported by lorry to Portavadie. In the evening, the Scouts hiked up a hill behind the camspite. On the Saturday (21st April) , there was a hike to Standing Stones, a 'haunted house' and a 'fort'. It is likely that this involved hiking what is now called the Stillaig trail to the south of Portavadie. During the evening, the Boys Brigade invited the Scouts to their hut for cocoa, cake and buns. On the Sunday (22nd April), a Scouts Own was held and the Duck Billed Platypus constructed a camp bath plus shower that was tried out by most of the campers. In the evening there was a hike to the north of the campsite to find an abandoned village, another haunted house and a vitrified fort. On the Monday (23rd April), some of the Scouts went on a large hike, but no details of what was involved were recorded. On the Tuesday (24th April), there was swimming, signalling practice in the 'field', plaster casts and a treasure hunt. On the Wednesday (25th April), the site was dismantled and cleared up, before returning to Tighnabruaich to cath the MV Lochfyne back to Gourock.
​
In the 1970s, Portavadie was chosen as the site for the construction of an oil rig. The BB hut and campsite were bought over by the oil company and funds were supplied to the BB to build a new hut at Argog Bay to the south of Portavadie. In the end, the oil rig project fell through and a marina has now been built at Portavadie. The area of the old campsite has not been built on and appears to be a picnic area on modern maps.