Blair Atholl Jamborette 2008 Ayrshire Training Camps

The first Training week-end took place over the week-end of 16th - 18th November.

What a difference from 2005 when we held the first training week-end at the same time and the temperatures were well below zero. This year whilst it was not particularly warm, it was a grand night and one could see the lights of Whiting Bay, Lamlash and Brodick across the water.

Due to an initial mix up of dates we had only 13 of the 14 participants for the Friday night and Saturday due to other commitments that the missing member had.

We must emphasise the importance of the attending of the two remaining week-ends by All participants - There will be a lot of transfer of information, but more importantly the two 'patrols' require to bond and work as a team in preparation for the Camp in July.

The youngsters were split into 2 patrols and set to work pitching tents for the night. On Saturday morning they were shown the style of camp table that they will be expected to build on their arrival at Blair in July - and then set about building.

As well as having a chat about Blair Atholl next year, the group spent part of Saturday afternoon planting some hedging plants around the boundary of the site. This was part of the Scouting Centenary, in conjunction with the Woodlands Trust who donated the 850 plants.

The pictures will be held in Galleries this year, one for each camp. By clicking on the thumbnail, you can view a larger image.

Training Camp One - 16th-18th November

The second training week-end was something else!

Friday night was not to bad, and the sleeping tents were soon pitched, but the weather forecast was not good for the following day.

Saturday morning was wet, well that is one way of putting it. The first two pictures are of breakfast and the third pictures shows the water feature which we had to build through the marquee. After the late breakfast, the camp tables were built and as a counter measure to the weather a large tarpaulin was erected between trees to give some protection from the rain.

The rain did ease up in the afternoon and the group posed for Tree Planting project which had been carried out at Culzean over the past few months - the Blair Atholl squad had taken part in this during the first week-end.

Evening meal was soup, mince and tatties and rice, fruit and custard and this was followed by a chat about Blair Atholl and the various aspects of the two week-camp including a discussion about Unit 'T' shirts for the camp.

Sorry about the lack of photographs this time round, the weather was not helpful on this front, and I had another engagement on the Sunday, hence the lack of pictures from that day.

Training Camp Two - 7th - 9th March

And the third week-end was yet again something else - at last a decent week-end - but....

... the midges drove you round the twist as can be seen in some of the early photographs - and trying to get the group picture with the group all standing still was rather difficult.

Apart from the midges it was a great evening and the tents were pitched.

After breakfast on Saturday morning the patrols set about building their camp tables and a new experience was gained by all the youngsters, whilst the older generation relived the experience, of back splicing the new hemp rope that would be going to Blair for use on the camp table. Once the crown knot was mastered, and with a few problems in doing the back splice, the twenty eight lashings were soon completed and ready for packing for Blair.

After lunch, it was into Uniform and a walk down to Culzean for some leisure time.

After dinner we had a discussion of the Blair Camp and the possibility of pairing off with a group of eight Scouts from Berlin and various other aspects of the camp including the importance of working together as a team in each patrol and meeting the schedules each day to ensure they were ready for inspection each morning and for activities which start immediately after inspection.

It will be a great time - but hard work as well.

Sunday morning, a trial run at getting up on time, cooking breakfast, tidying up ready for inspection in full uniform and a failure - 30 minutes late - never mind by the time they have been through the routine a few times at Blair, THEY WILL BE ON TIME each morning :-)

After Inspection, time to strike camp and get the tents packed away - dry of once - checking the Patrol Boxes and dismantle the tables and we were all ready for home having had a greta week-end in the sun.

Training Camp Three - 13th - 15th June

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