Chatlines - Issue 02
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8/8/2019 Chatlines - Issue 02
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May 2008
EDITORIALEDITORIALEDITORIALEDITORIAL
Pondering and head-scratching are the order of the day! Whet her to .or whether not too? T he
subject being pondered is the issuance of your resurrected Chatline. As we are a bit short on deci -
sion (not really, keep making one and then changing it)), thought wed do it the demo cratic wayand put the question to the vote. Sodo you want to see YOUR publication monthly, bi -monthly
or quarterly? If the vote-count is for bi-monthly, the next issue after this will be the Jun/Jul issue, if
quarterly Aug/Sep/Oct, if nobody votes I suppose I may as well turn off the computer and go findmyself another job.
So come on all you Scouters, were doing our best to give you (hopefully) some extra support and
means of communication, we just need to know how you want it, when you want it and ifyou
want it!
ST. GEORGES DAY
Werent we lucky with the weather? A bit on
the parky side but only a few drops of rain
and weve had a lot worse other years. Wehad a good turn-out a gain and the District
Commissioner was very appreciative of all
Scouts, Leaders and Parents or helpers who
gave up their Sunday and took part.
In the last year or so, more and more shops
have taken to opening on Sundays. The re-
sult is that our parade from the Town Hall to
the Parish Church has a much wider audi-
ence than in the pre-Sunday- trading yearswhen we marched through almost empty
streets. Therefore, it is now a big PR boost for
Scouting in our town, as long as we set a
good impression before the townspeoplewatching us.
Unfortunately, I and some others, overheard
several remarks from Johnny Public which
were not complimentary about the behav-iour and bearing of a few groups on parade.
Years ago the RSM at Bruche Police Training
College used to give us all a re hearsal on the
Saturday morning and lick us all into shapebefore the parade. Bruche doesnt exist any
more and while I have no wish to see military
precision marching, a general look of smart-
ness and suitable behaviour wouldnt come
amiss. Perhaps groups could organise theirown rehearsals next year in the run up to the
parade so the scouts know what is expected
of them and ca n improve our image.
At the same time perhaps it would be possi-
ble to emphasise that standing at the alert
without talking during the rendering of our
national anthem is a s ign of respect to our
flag.
DISTRICT YOMP
A beautiful day, a reasonably good turn-out
and some groups were highly delighted with
the fund-rais ing injection they have earnedwhilst enjoying a delightful stroll round the
nature reserve. I dont have any figures to
hand at the moment but it was evident that
some groups were going to benefit exceed-
ingly well.
Congratulations to all our youngest members
(beavers and cubs) who valiantly dragged
parents, aunties, grannies, and dogs around
with them. Well done t o all who took partand thereby showed a commitment to their
group/unit and a willingness to put a little
back in recognition of what the y gain from
Scouting and their leaders.
Thanks are due to the catering staff (couldnt
have managed without them and the
cuppas they provided the staff), also to the
tent and course putter-uppers and taker-downers, the rest of the backroom lads and
lass es, and to the Nature Reserve for their
permiss ion to run the eve nt.
If you werent there you missed a great dayoutmake it a must for next year. See ya
there!!!
Dates for May/Jun/Jul
Troop SC 5
GSL/Dist Team 7
Pack SC 8
Back to Basics 9-11
Beaver Outing 10
Fellowship 12
Beaver SC 14
District AGM 15
Explorer SC 19
Exec Comm 20
Dist Camp General 4
Dist Camp Comm 5
Dist Camp Site Visit 7
County Parade 8
Fellowship 9
County AGM 10
Distr ict Team Meet 11
Cheshire Show 17-18
Distri ct Camp 26-29
Explorer SC 7
Beaver SC 9
Troop SC / Pack SC 10
Scout Cyclo Cross 13
Fellowship 14
Diary Meeting 16
Camp Site mgmt 17
County Cub Fun Day TBA
Exec comm 22
How about somephotographs of
the parade andthe yomp that wecould publish inour next issue?
from HQs PL Training
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FIRE AWARENESS
When was the last time you had a fire
drill at your Hq and, just as important,a fire drill in a camp situation?
SIGNALLING
If your Scouts learn at least one of themethods of signaling it can form the
basis of quite a few good wide games
and may one day be useful in other
PA G E 2
situations. If they know the morse
code they could build their own littlegenerator to practice signaling, See
diagram.
They could also learn how to make
and use a heliograph, Morse knowl-
edge will advantage any scout wish-ing to take up Amateur Radio .(Jamboree-on-the-Air)
Semaphore can be the basis of a lot of
games , and has been proved useful inthe hills .
Both systems can be useful survival
tools.
rules the better, but these tend to get
complicated by lives, identity cards,passwords or secret agents cunningly
disguised as parents. Wide games are
far better in open country where you
can play steal-a-flag or douse-a-candle
without waking the neighbourhood.
Or if you really cant be bothered, try
walking along a woodland path
slightly ahead of the Troop: you blowa whistle, they have to hide, whe n you
have walked another ten paces, turn
round and the first scout you see takes
the whistle . Simple and old-fashione d,
but funand no excuse for not having
a programme in the first place!
Wide Games are possible even in city
centres, but the y do need a proper
degree of pre-planning and
preparation.
Please allow the cashier at the Odeonand the Duty Sergeant at the nick to
get on with their jobs instead of being
asked for their signatures by a
procession of scruffy scouts becauseyou couldnt think of anything else for
them to collect !
Make sure your PLs understand their
responsibility to the rest of their patrolwhile they are out on the wide game,
particularly any new scouts who may
be scared if left alone in the dark.
Finally, ha ve fun but never run the
game too long, particularly if its anight game and/or cold weather. Call
a halt while they are still enjoying it
and theyll be keen for the next one.
Scavenger Hunt
Requires nothing but the wits to writea list of assorted and unlikely articles.
Variations include large plastic bags
and an anglers spring balance (orbathroom scale) to collect the greatest
weight of waste paper in a given time.
Helps clean up the neighbourhood at
the same time.
Try a wide game that demands some
intelligence: li ke list the make and
colour of every car parked within a
specified distance your Hq whosenumber plate adds up to more than
20if you ca n trust them to act ually goout and look!
A wide game where no-one knowsthe rules is pointless, and the fewer
T H E C H AT L I N E
WIDE GAMES
Sp ring Activ ities and getting ready for Summer
Want to share some of your
favourite wide game ideas
with us? Send them in and
well publish the best withacknowledgements.
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Special Announcement
The Warrington West Scout District AGM
will be held at Bold Street Methodist
Church on Thu, 15 May 2008, 7 p.m. A
special presentation will be given by Scouts
who attended the World Centenary
Jamboree following the business meeting
and presentation of A wards.
PA G E 3T H E C H AT L I N E
NETWORK
Go for your brand new
Eat in Colour Healthy
Eating Badge. Detailsare available on line
and how to take part in
the special competi-
tion!
Beavers are looking
forward to their trip to
the Zoo this month and
the County Challengein June
KIDS OUTDOORS
This programme is well
up and ru nning and a
lot of Scout support has
already been reported
here in the North-westby networks, camp staff ,
leaders and units. Please
tell Chatline what you
have done to promote
the Kids Outdoorsprogramme. Details can
be found on line.
National Networkgathering will be held
this year at Great Towersin Cumbria.
New Network flag wasdedicated during the St.
Georges Day service.
6 out of 9 members on
the next Explorer Belt toKandersteg, Switzerland
are from Warrington
Explorers born before
Xmas 1990 are invited tothe 20 June Network
Meet. Email name toHannah@networkrocks.
co.uk
Special competition for
Explorers:. All you have
to do is write the lastthree lines of the follow-
ing limerick:
Explorer Scout DaveExplorer Scout DaveExplorer Scout DaveExplorer Scout Davefrom Pwllhelifrom Pwllhelifrom Pwllhelifrom Pwllheli
One night was satOne night was satOne night was satOne night was sat
watching the telewatching the telewatching the telewatching the tele
Send your best effort to
the Ed. on a postcard
along with your name
and unit.
oooOOOooo
D of E weekend was
held success fully.
on 20 Jun is t he all you
can eat buffet followed
by the Starlight Walk,
and on 20 July we areholding Challenge Ex-
plorer. Summer Camp
already has 45 partici-
pants signed up and
looking forward to Gil-well, and 13 September
is Mingle at our Grap-
penhall Campsite..
Go Go Go Explore !!!
PLs: Organise a special
meeting of your Patrol
somewhere different
and organise a Patrol
activity to link with
Cubs ,
oooOOOooo
The Orienteering com-
petition will take place
on Sunday, 13 J uly
oooOOOooo
The date of the Blakfoot
Hike has been changedfrom 17/19 Oct to
24/26 Oct due to
school holidays.
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To all recipients of Chatline:
This free newsletter service is delivered to you in the sincere
hope that you will see it is further disseminated by you to others
within your Group, Troop, Unit, whatever; and to any parents,
friends of Scouting or people you think would like to read it.
GSLs should, please, als o ensure it is posted on the Group Hqs
noticeboard, Section Leaders should please pass copies on to
assistant leaders, helpers, lodge leaders, sixers and PLs, as appro-
priate.. There are items and competitions for you all.
Anyway, with no people there cant be any chat ca n there?
If you have read/seen/discovered Chatli ne and are not on our
mailing list but would like to be, please contact us with youremail address.
B.Ed
PA G E 4
being reissued. Some numbers have been held by several
Groups over the years.
The 1935 census listed 30 active Groups of which three we
would still recognize.
How has the history of your Group de veloped? Why nottrace it.!
Good Scouting......George Carman
The 10th Warrington, Sanke ySt. Marys was registered in
1927. Pictures of their first
Scout Hut (corner of Meeting
Lane & St. Marys Rd) and on parade! (insert from...B. Ed)
Since Warrington Scouting is 100 years old this year I thought
that you may be interested in hearing how the District tookshape in those early days.
Records confirm that the first Scout Troops were formed in the
Latchford (St. Hildas Mission) and the Winwick Road (Dannet
St.) areas closely followed by the formation of troops in How-ley, Fairfield, Whitecross and Padgate areas.
In the early days Troops were identified by location and not
numbers, I am not sure when the use of numbers was f irst
used but by 1916 a system of numbers had been established.
The composition of the District has changed over the years as
some Groups have become defunct and new Groups have
been formed resulting in the numbers from defunct Groups
T H E C H AT L I N E
A Royal Occasion - Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth unveils bronze at
home of London Scouting
Presi dents Patch
Le tter from the Editor L ETTERS TO THE EDIT OR
(Submissions for print in next issue require d by 28 May 08)
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SURVIVAL
Here are a few suggestions which
might prove useful at summer or
weekend camps: produce fire bymeans of a burning glass or with natu-
ral flint and a steel; experiment with asolar still; dig for water above t he high
water mark on a beach; improvise and
use fish hooks; improvise a heliograph;
make and use a hammock in camp.
PA G E 5
SCOUTER s SWAP SHOP:
T H E C H AT L I N E
I nside Story Headline
Got an idea worth passing on? Lets have it!
FUN WITH PLASTER
Mix the plaster a little thinner than
usual and pour it into a bottle. Place
an inflated balloon over the neck ofthe bottle and pour the plas ter into
the balloon. This can then bemoulded by hand into virtually any
shape , or by draping it over ot her
objects or suspending it from string.
When nearly dry, cut away the bal-
loon a nd allow the cast to hardencompletely; then decorate with poster
paints and take home to Mum!
FIRESHIPS
Stretch a string across a pond ,with
the middle four feet marked off by
pieces of wool. Working fr om any-where on the bank, each Patrol/team
must make a small raft, light a f ire onit, and manoeuvre it to burn through
the string between the wool markers.
Time limit 30 minutes, or first to finish
wins.
Detailed reports from Scouters, Explorers and PLs following experiments would be
appreciated - after all this column is called Scouters SWAP Shop
NAUGHTY KNOTTING NITENAUGHTY KNOTTING NITENAUGHTY KNOTTING NITENAUGHTY KNOTTING NITE
We have been offered a superb venue forWe have been offered a superb venue forWe have been offered a superb venue forWe have been offered a superb venue for
this event but, up to now, only two peo-this event but, up to now, only two peo-this event but, up to now, only two peo-this event but, up to now, only two peo-
ple have evinced any interest. It s goodple have evinced any interest. It s goodple have evinced any interest. It s goodple have evinced any interest. It s good
fun and a good laugh and you mightfun and a good laugh and you mightfun and a good laugh and you mightfun and a good laugh and you mighteven remember a bit of what you learnt.even remember a bit of what you learnt.even remember a bit of what you learnt.even remember a bit of what you learnt.
Need the numbers or we will have to can-Need the numbers or we will have to can-Need the numbers or we will have to can-Need the numbers or we will have to can-
cel. Call 01925 493753 .cel. Call 01925 493753 .cel. Call 01925 493753 .cel. Call 01925 493753 .
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Emailor hand deliveror snail mail
Your replies to arrive with the editor
Not later than 4 June 2008
Winners pr ize to be presented at District Camp
COMPETITIONCOMPETITIONCOMPETITIONCOMPETITION --- - To find the Scoutiest Scout Group in Warrington West. Is itTo find the Scoutiest Scout Group in Warrington West. Is itTo find the Scoutiest Scout Group in Warrington West. Is itTo find the Scoutiest Scout Group in Warrington West. Is ityoursyoursyoursyours????
The Adventures
of Scout Leader
Fred and the 1st
Much-Binding-
in-the-MarshScout Troop
Question 1 For GSL: Where am I?
Question 2: For SL: What is the tartan badge on the Gilwell Scarf and why is it there?
Question 3: For CSL: What conservation project have your Cubs accomplished t his year? Details!
Question 4: For BSL: Who was Dinizulu?
Question 5: For PL: Devise a humorous commercial to sellyour Scout Leader to t he highest bidder. Poster or
tape or video or s lide show are acceptable.
Question 6: For Sixer: What year did Scouting start and when a nd where was the first scout camp?
Question 7: For Lodge L Who is the Warrington West District Commissioner?
Question 8: For Scout: Learn a Filipino lashing and teach it t o the rest of your patrol.
Question 9: For Cub: Why do we shake hands using t he left hand?
Question 10: For Beaver: How many gnawing teeth does a beaver have?
Question 11: For Chairman How many beads are there on the necklace of a trained Leader?
Question 12: For Treasurer From 27 Feb 07 what accounts should Groups prepare with gross income over 10K but
under 25K a nd who should sign off as a minimum requirement?
Question 13: For Secretary Who is the Chief Scout of the World?
Question 14: For anybody A photo of someone in your Group enjoying a Scout activity