Shrewsbury 1992

Friday 24th July - Scouts for 7pm, start getting the gear out. The scouts mess around a lot, I don't feel like going. We rush up to the Windmill, get talking to Sue and Ruth. Back to Sue’s house on Pall Mall for coffee and wine. Play Hotel California back to back, loads of times, stay till 3am.

Saturday 25th - Flod oversleeps. Get the Van from Gunthorpe, back in Breadsall for 10:30. Flod goes home to pack. Mr Beavis and Mr Cooper help me pack the van. See Edna just before we depart, she tells me that Anthony Fry has died. We set off at 11:30am. Go the traditional way, we stop for chips in Stone. Arrive at 2:30pm, put up the tents, a little rain, burgers and beans. We are camping in the grounds of Acton Reynald Hall. Oscar comes round for a chat.

Sunday 26th - Inspection at 9am, Beavis is very keen, Robert McGuckin (RMc) less so. We put up basketball net and volleyball court, I make a table. Corn Beef Hash for tea. We fly the flag at half mast for Anthony Fry, also two minutes silence.

Monday 27th - Inspection at 9am, RMc slightly better. Rain in the morning. I make a brilliant omelette. Drive to the Cardingmill valley. I forget the map, so buy a new one. Hot day. Walk up over the Long Mynd and down to Bridges. Stop for lunch by the closed pub by the river. Matt climbs a tree. Walk over the Northern end, gold course. Drive back over the top, very steep. Have the usual stew. Late night around the fire.

Tuesday 28th - Gypsy toast, very good. Go swimming, drive round Shrewsbury at least three times to find it. Good pool, slide and diving boards. An attendant called Emma lends us some googles. Rob Cooper and Matt Smith both lose their keys in the pool. It transpires that someone found the keys and took all the gear, about £100 worth. Take them to McDonalds and then let them lose around town. The DC comes round, have a very nice chat and show them Beavis’s tent. Have soup and bread later. Put a string trail deep into the woods and they have to follow it in the pitch black.

Wednesday 29th - Waffles and beans to start. I get up at 8am so that we can be ready by 9am. Make sandwiches and then go out in the van. Drop the two patrols in the middles of nowhere, about eight miles away. Get into Shrewsbury, buy some stuff, wait for them to return. I get a little concerned, then they all come running across the field at 6:25pm. They were dropped off at 12:15. They complain about poor footpaths and high corn fields. Spag Bol with Dolmio sauce for tea. Talk late around Beav’s fire.

Thursday 30th - Red Hot day from the start, sausage and egg for breakfast. Tell then to make Bivis, they saw down two small trees before I see them. Me and Flod go to Shrewsbury to buy fishing gear. Get back and start making fishing rods, etc. Large air show at Shawbury, Spitfire, Lancaster, Hurricane, Red Arrows. Flod and some of the scouts are very keen on fishing. Chicken and Bacon for tea. Take everyone into Shawbury to phone home. Everyone disrupts the others calls.

Friday 31st - Get breakfast over very quick, ready to go by 10:30am, look forward to the roadshow, Steve Wright and the Posse, Monsieur and Easy Life. Drive them into town, swimming baths. I look after all the pool keys. Talk with "Em" again, she lets us stay in for two hours. Me and Flod do a spectacular double dive off the 5m top board. "Em" challenges us to touch all four drains, 12.5 feet down. Give them £2 for lunch, see most of them in McD’s. We go to a Bass pub, "The Loggerheads", some people seem to have been there all day. Buy Cod steaks, JP does not like them.

Saturday 1st August - Bacon and Beans to start, A little rain. Scout Olympics, throw the mallet, basketball sprint, and relay up to the Girls school and back. RMc team wins. After lunch they all start taking camp down. Flod and I drive to Wem and buy some huge Pork chops. Have a chat about camp and then give to prize to Beav’s team. Talk round the camp fire till late.

Sunday 2nd - Wake up at 6am, get then up at 8am. They all get on with it well. Leave by 10:30am. Get stuck in traffic through Derby. Take the van back, then back from Gunthorpe in the Capri, Windmill for 2:30pm for a couple of pints. Home for a bath and a Chinese.

Breadsall Scouts at full alert status.