|
Click on any picture with your mouse
pointer to view a full size image. All images are copyright and
may not be copied or used without permission of the copyright owner |
|
|
|
The day of the Venture Wake at Broadstone Warren dawned
bright. The previous evening had been distinctly draughty, but we
needn't have worried. One or two souls had arrived during the
Friday and camped overnight. |
|
Rodney the pig had been laid out in the kitchen under his
shroud on Friday evening, and the spit roasting machine assembled.
The marquees and bouncy castle were waiting to be erected, and the
coffin needed decoration. |
|
|
Some ingenious handicrafts with coloured paper resulted in
a number of arrowheads with which the coffin was decorated, then laid
out in its marquee. |
|
|
|
By 9 a.m. everything was ready. The booking in
system was established, coloured cable ties indicating those that had
paid and would be given up at each of the meals, and people began
signing in. |
|
|
Broadstone Warren activities were available during the
morning, and some took advantage of the Archery Range and of the pool
where canoeing was available. |
|
|
|
Everyone was asked to record their memories of their Units and of
Venture Scouting and place them in the Coffin, as thanks for the Venture
Scouting they had enjoyed. The bottles of beer placed in the
coffin were an accurate reflection of some people's time no doubt! |
|
|
After lunch (a quality ploughman's) some silly Venture
games were on hand. a Pushball tournament resulted in somebody
winning, although this lot seem to have had trouble staying on their
feet! |
|
|
|
After the Pushball it was time for ice hockey! (Well
Fairy-Liquid Hockey would be more accurate). A wet and silly time
was had by all. I'm not sure if anybody won, but the First-Aid
Team were on site and on hand in case bully-offs like this one turned
into scrums. |
|
|
|
After the games it was time for High tea on the lawn. Several
spirited entries were made, a large contingent of Ghostbusters all armed
with pump action slime guns made a spectacular entrance, and contrasted
with the much more refined Japanese tea ceremony. |
|
|
 |
Other smaller entries were made, but the huge effort by everybody from
Hastings, Rye and District in re-creating the Mad Hatter's tea party
bore them just rewards, and despite having 'no room' they won the
competition judged by David Williamson, the headquarters Commissioner
for Network who joined us for the main part of the day. |
|
|
After tea had been cleared away, the time for the
Pig
Roast drew near, and was served to a hungry queue. Seconds was a
popular call too. Crackling was devoured by a ravenous horde (most
of it never made it to the table), and a final offering of barbecued
spare ribs wasn't short of takers either. Our sincere thanks to
both the Lunchtime and Evening catering teams for their splendid
efforts. |
|
|
After the Pig Roast some people practised their resting
skills. |
|
|
And so into the evening. Del Smith (ACC VS until
now, CSNC hereafter) called everyone to order and a few words were
spoken to herald the end of Venture Scouting and the birth of Explorer
and Network Scouting in East Sussex. |
|
|
With much ceremony the coffin, bearing the grateful
thoughts of all present, was borned by its pallbearers twice round the
George Herbert field and away to the Camp Fire Circle. |
|
|
Peter Leyland-Jones led a typical Broadstone Warren
campfire, with all of the actions! |
|
|
And the Disco went on to midnight! |
| The County Scout Network Team, to whom it fell to organise
the Wake, would like to sincerely thank all of those who worked to make
the event a success, and all those who turned up with the intention of
making it an event to remember. We also extend our thanks to the
County for their support, and to the Warden and Staff of Broadstone
Warren for their considerable input to the day. To you all, thank
you, and may your Scouting move from strength to strength as we enter
another new phase in the continuous development of Scouting in East
Sussex. |
