1st Swindon Village Scouts St Lawrence

1SV Groundsheet Crickley Hill evening No. 95 June 2013 Making use of the lighter summer evenings, the Cubs and Scouts had a Monday evening up at Malvern Hike Crickley Hill Country Park. The Cubs were On the second weekend in June, Hugh led a party exploring the area as part of their Naturalist of 11 Scouts on a wonderful days hiking as we Badge while the Scouts met in Shurdington and walked the ridge of the . We parked hiked up the hill to join the Cubs. Once all the minibus at the northern end of Malvern and together, the evening was rounded off with a climbed up to the top of North Hill. From there we barbeque where around 100 burgers and hot followed the ridge path to Beacon; dogs were consumed in about five minutes flat ! at 425 meters, the highest peak on the Malvern Hills. The weather was gorgeous with clear blue Awards skies and a gentle breeze (not so gentle on the Our District Commissioner Pat Hopes and District top!) and the views were absolutely stunning all Explorer Scout Commissioner Paddy Langham day long. We continued south and enjoyed a joined us recently to make some special picnic lunch on Jubilee Hill followed by an ice presentations to some of our Cubs and Scouts. cream at Beacon. Several more First of all there were three Chief Scout Silver peaks were climbed including Hangman’s Hill Awards for Sam Burge, DJ Lea & Josh Perks. before we finished at Hollybush and returned This is the top award that you can gain as a Cub. home in the minibus having walked a total of 10 These were followed by three Chief Scout Gold miles and climbed several thousand feet in the Awards for Joe Grey, Tom Harcourt and Ryan process. A really terrific days walking ! Lewis. The Chief Scout Gold Award is the highest award you can achieve as a Scout. A huge District Swimming Gala amount of time, effort and commitment is required The Cheltenham District Swimming Gala was held to gain these awards and it is a real achievement at the Lido on a Friday evening earlier this month. to complete all the challenges required. Sadly for Swindon Village were there in force and we had 12 us – this signals the end of their time in the Scout Beavers, 7 Cubs and 4 Scouts swimming in the section for Joe, Tom & Ryan and we wish them all various events competing against other groups well as they move on to Explorer Scouts. from around Cheltenham. The weather just about st managed to stay dry and I think the parents were Monday 1 July – Scouts outside again ! colder watching from the poolside than the On Monday 1st July the Scouts will be outside youngsters in the water ! The emphasis was on around the village for the evening. Meet at the having fun rather than serious competition and Village Hall in smart uniform (shirt & taking part and representing our group was what neckerchief) at 7:15pm and remember to bring counted on the night. As well as the gala, the waterproofs if it looks like rain. We should be Explorer Scouts were also using the pool to finished by 8:30pm. practice their capsize drill in canoes. Around 30 Explorers were put through their paces and briefly Leader Contact Details had their world turned upside down ! It was lovely You can contact Sos & Rachel by E-mail: to practise capsize drill in warm and clean water [email protected] and our website is: rather than a cold and dirty lake ! A big well done http://www.1stswindonvillagescouts.btck.co.uk/ to all the youngsters that took part and thank-you to everyone who came along and supported us. Dates for Your Diary We hope you enjoyed the evening. 28th – 30th June Malvern Challenge on Cleeve Hill Mon 1st July Scouts outside again Thorpe Park Fri 5th July Beavers Ten Pin Bowling evening The following day – a party of 16 Scouts made a 5th – 7th July Sun Run Weekend on Cleeve Hill return visit to Thorpe Park in Surrey to make use Mon 8th July Joint Cub & Scout Hike to Prestbury of the complementary tickets we received from our 20th – 21st July Cranham Hike & Bivi Camp freezing trip back in March. The park was much 27th Jul – 3rd Aug Poacher International Camp - Lincolnshire warmer this time – and much busier too. But 13th – 15th Sept Scout Air Weekend - at Croft Farm Airfield despite the odd shower and some longer queue 11th - 13th Oct Operation Bald Eagle - Bredon Hill times – a thoroughly good time was had by all ! Sos