Explorers East Region

Rosyth District AGM

2009-06-11T17:23:00.000+01:00

On Wednesday 10th June.
It was Rosyth District's Agm.
It was the time for the old District commissioner(Alan Bull) Who after 10 years service was stepping down and for the new district commissioner (Barrie Wilson) to be invested.

This all took place after the business side of the night.
Barrie was invested by the regional commissioner (Derek Colley)and proceeded to inform the floor who was going to be appointed on the District Executive.

Then it came to the best part of the night.
2 Explorers from the 48th were awarded the Chief Scout Diamond
Callum Robertson did the following.
Working with Special needs.
Working as a Young Leader with the beaver section
Doing Scuba Diving

Shaun Ward did the following
Working with Special needs.
Working as a Young Leader with the Scout section
Playing Squash

They both have just completed the west Highland way for the Expedition side of the award.

Following on from this by several leaders being presented with long service awards.

Alan Bull also awarded Melanie Williams her wood badge.
To round of the presentations the district presented Alan and Eileen with a thank you gift for all the work they had done over the past 10years.

Derek Colley did a presentation on Scouting past and present.

The evening was rounded of with a buffet

Edinburgh Marathon

2009-06-01T07:47:00.001+01:00

The sun was out, Not a cloud in the sky.
It was a perfect day to go out for a small run.
Well 12,000 people took this too far.
They took part in the Edinburgh Marathon on the 31st May.
Even before the race started at 9am the temperature was in the teens
Explorers from the region were there to help with the baggage trucks again.
After loading on thousands of bags we left Princes Street before the race began and headed down to the finish line at Musselburgh race course.

The explorers had time to do what they do best,(Go on the lookout for food and juice)
Once stocked up with Lucozade we chiled out in the summer sun and wait for the runners to return.

The times were good and by 4pm(7 hrs into the race there were only 9 bags left to be collected.)

BYO Camp

2009-05-20T07:41:00.002+01:00

14 members from Rosyth District faced the terrible weather to meet at Fordell Firs National Activity Centre on the 15th May for the first BYO(Bring your own camp).
This camp was run by Terry O'Neill from the 13th Explorer Scouts.

The idea of the camp is to come along and camp (tent, bivouac or hammock) as you please; chat, chill or listen to music with other Explorer Scouts; no organised programme; no need to book; sit round a fire, sizzle a sausage or two; wake and leave when you like!
The selling points for this idea is!!!!

• Got work? Arrive late or leave early – no problem!
• Only one that wants to go? Other Explorers there – no problem!
• Vegetarian or dietary requirement – You plan what you eat – no problem!

All they had to bring was the following!!!

Bring Your Own:
Transport (or Feet!)
Tent (or Shelter!)
Food (or Takeaway Menu!)
Crockery & Cutlery (or Fingers!)
Heath Form
Camping Fee.

The next one is planned for the 26th June.

Sports Day

2009-05-10T09:52:00.003+01:00

Sports Day... We Participated!
It was Rosyth's annual district athletics competition at Pitreavie on Saturday 9th May 2009 but unfortunately the weather was not on our side.

Four Explorer Scout teams entered this year from 13th, 48th, 66th and 68th and even though the rain did not stop everyone got on with the events.

The 13th finished fourth; a result that was hard to take after so many years of holding the trophy... we have only failed to take the trophy home once (now twice!) since the Explorer Scout competition started in 2003.

However it wasn`t all doom and gloom!
We had some star performances.
Tom form the 13th won the lon jump by jumping 4mtr 19 to win the event.
The final results were:

1st: 48th (Dalgety Bay) & 66th (Aberdour)
3rd: 68th (Inverkeithing)
4th: 13th (Rosyth)

Well done to everybody who participated from all of the units; expecially considering the very poor weather and many congratulations to the winners!

Hall Paint

2009-04-19T14:13:00.003+01:00

On Sunday 19th April.
6 Explorers and 3 parents met up with other members form the 48th Scout Group to give the hall a spot of Spring Cleaning.

The outside was giving a few coats of paint to protect it and also to make it look good again.
Also the doors got a rub down and a coat of Varnish.
This will hopefully see the hall survive another year of the British weather.

Canal Cycle

2009-04-03T16:46:00.001+01:00

Several members of the 13th Explorer Scout Unit joined in a 110km sponsored cycle along the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals to raise funds for their participation in WINGS in August.

Starting at Bowling on the River Clyde in the West of Scotland, 29 Scouts and Explorer Scouts from 13th Fife Scout Group and members of Fife Air Cadet Conservation Group started the first day of cycling following the route of the Forth & Clyde Canal.

Passing Glasgow and Kilsyth and at The Falkirk Wheel, transferring to the Union Canal for the last 10-miles of the day, the group discovered the many uses of the canals from industry to leisure.
Overnight accommodation was at Woodcockdale Stables courtesy of 1st West Lothian Sea Scout Group, which is situated on the edge of the canal just West of Linlithgow.

On day two, the cyclists set off to complete the rest of the journey and at half the distance of day one, it should have been easier; however the Union Canal is also known as the `contour canal` due to it snaking around the hills rather than up and over them and this often means cycling against the wind direction!

This didn`t deter the determined cyclists and after a lunch break at Ratho Canal Centre, they entered Edinburgh and completed the journey to Edinburgh Quay.

An excellent effort by everyone and no doubt everyone who completed with journey will be very proud of themselves at having cycled from one side of Scotland to the other!

Fairway Fife Bowling

2009-03-26T07:13:00.002Z

On Wednesday 25th March.
7 Explorers from the 48th Dalgety Bay Explorer unit who are working towards either their Chief Scout Award or the DOE, Met up with Fairway Fife to help with a night of bowling.
The night is for the Explorers to gain knowledge of working with Young Adults with learning difficulties and for the young adults to mix with the community.
Tonight they all met at the bowlplex for a game of ten pin bowling.
There were 30 in total spread over 5 lanes.
While the Staff were watching from a distance it look like everyone was getting along and enjoying themselves(youth doing normal things).

While this was going on the staff sorted out the coming years activities.

Want to know more then go to either

www.fairfife.blogspot.com

or

www.fairwayfife.com

Curling 19th March 09

2009-03-22T19:34:00.004Z

On Thursday 19th March
Over 40 Explorers from Glenrothes and levenmouth/Kirkcaldy and Rosyth got together to try their hand at Curling.
They came with the thought that it was going to be easy.
When they got their shoes all cleaned up it was on to the ice
(Very carefully)not that they needed to be as it was safe to walk on the ice.

They learnt how to sweep the ice and stones.
They also learnt how to deliver the stones.
after the learning side it was down to the battle of a game.

After all this they got a time doing some Ice Skating.

Craggan Outdoor Centre: Conservation

2009-03-18T18:35:00.002Z

Following an invitation from the new owners of Craggan Outdoor Centre - www.cragganoutdoors.co.uk - near Grantown-on-Spey to spend a weekend - Friday 27th February to Sunday 1st March 2009 - with them to install a new nature trail around their fishing ponds, the 13th Explorer scouts headed North with a group of 21 volunteers.

They arrived quite late on the Friday night but found Themselves in a recently renovated and very comfortable bunkhouse owned by the Activity Centre, which was to be their accommodation for the weekend.

After settling in and having a bit of supper, everyone was briefed on the projects that lay ahead.

On Saturday morning after breakfast, They headed down to the Activity Centre which is about 2-miles from the bunkhouse and a very pleasant drive through the Glenbeg Estate.

Half of the group were taken for a session on the high ropes course comprising a jacob`s ladder, leap of faith and crate climbing whilst the rest of the group got stuck into the nature trail.

The first task was to open up the wooded areas so they brashed back the trees to head height. This improved visibility and is good for the tree.

Whilst this was going on, a bridge was being assembled and installed over an inlet to one of the ponds. The bridge was built using only reclaimed timber, which is one of FACCG`s key strategies under `Project Treecycle`.

Other projects included the placement of nature trail signposts and various animal habitat boxes, the contruction of a habitat bench, building a willow screen around an oil tank and a rope railing up a hill to a bird hide.

These projects took all of Saturday and most of Sunday; however the other half of the group did managed to undertake the challenge of the high ropes course.

Craggan Outdoor Activity Centre is a wonderful facility surrounded by some of Scotland`s finest scenery and hopefully their efforts over the weekend have enhanced this a little bit further!

Module A 17th March 09

2009-03-18T07:24:00.004Z

On Tuesday 17th March.

Explorers from the Region

(34 in total from Perth and Kinross, Dunfermline,Kirkcaldy and Rosyth)

Met at the Scout hall in Dalgety Bay to start the young leaders training.

They spent the evening learning

What the role of a YL is.

The principles of Scouting.

The Yellow Card.

Hazzards and Risks

Finally they learnt what happens next.

The next part of the training is a weekend at Badaguish Centre just outside Aviemore Over a weekend in September

gapp 2

2009-03-10T07:31:00.005Z

Over the weekend 6th - 8th March 15 members of the region met up with other 16 Explorers Explorers from Scotland to do the second of three Gapp weekends at Douglas Wood just outside Dundee.

They arrived on the Friday night not knowing what the weekend had in store for them.
After a relaxing Friday night and a good hearty breakfast inside them it was down to the reason they were there for.

They had sessions
On the cocoa market and how it effects everyone in the world.
The poverty challenge was how to crow crops to survive.
Last on the Saturday they had a session on Coffee and how it effects the world.
On the Sunday they were learning how people in India made a living in paper bags.

Lastly the had a game which involved chocolate and how much people make from selling goods(From the Farmer right down to the shop keeper).

Everyone left happy and hopefully with a little bit of Knowledge to pass on to either the Explorers or to the Junior sections.

Hopefully the next one in November will be as rewarding.

Karting

2009-03-05T17:17:00.006Z

On Thursday 26th February.
44 Explorer from the Region made their way through to Racing Karts in Livingston to see who would be the fastest on the track.
We had a warm up session of 15 laps where the explorers tried to get to grip with the machines.
After that it was the time trial to see who would get in the final.
From the heats we had 6 that made it through to the next stage.
With the hearts pumping and the crowds roaring they set of on a 10 lap sprint to the finish.

As per every race we had to have winners and losers.

The victory steps were filled this year by.

3rd - Callum Reid
2nd - Jamie Reid
1st - Jordan Harkins

This was Jordan's second year at the top of the tree proving that he was a whizz round the track.
Once again it was a very successful night which will be run again.

YL Weekend

2009-02-23T09:25:00.008Z

Over the weekend 20th - 22nd February.
30 Explorers headed up to Badaguish activity centre which is on the outskirts of Aviemore to either start or finish the Young Leaders Training.
The Friday night was taken up with everyone arriving and getting know each other.

On the Saturday morning we did our first 2 modules of the weekend.

Barrie did a module called "Game On"
This was for the explorers to get to see how to make games up with things that lie around the hall all the time.

Andy followed this up with a module called "Taking the lead"
This was based round the explorers doing bases in groups where one of them was the leader and taking charge of the situation.

After Lunch Jenny and Ross did modules called "Programme Planning and Programme Planning Plus".
This was where the Explorers learnt how to plan section nights for a three month period and what resources where available for them to use.

Callum then did a First aid masterclass.

After Dinner it was chill out time until Bed.
Things on offer were 2 films or just getting to know the other groups on site.

Sunday brought new ideas and things to do.
We started of with a Scouts own since it was Founders Day.

This was followed by the Explorers finishing off the Game On Module by running games themselves.

We then went for a walk to the Cairngorms mountains to pass some time before lunch.

After lunch it was clear up, Presentations and then everyone headed back down the road home.

YL Presentation.

2009-02-23T09:19:00.005Z

On Wednesday 18th February.
I went up to the 10th Cupar Scout group to do a presentaion to one of their Explorer Scouts.
Charles Jack has been helping out with the groups cub pack for some time now.
During this time he has completed all the modules in YL Training.
Over and above this he has completed the 4 missions that are set out for the explorers to plan and run sectional activities.

Charles got Missions 3 and 4 presented on the night.

Also since he has now completed all the training he had a YL belt buckle presented.

Hopefully he will continue helping with the cubs and take out an adult warrent when he turns 18.

crazy Golf

2009-02-01T16:10:00.003Z

The 48th Dalgety Bay Explorers were meant to meet up with Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy districts to do the Crazy Golf up at Dolich Park.
But at the last minute they called off so it was just the 8 of us that headed of for a night which would see who was the Tiger out of us.

There were 36 holes to drive us crazy.
Two courses – Pirate’s Cove and Treasure Island
The total scores for both rounds were as follows.

Liam C 90
Stuart 102
Declan 92
Kyle 97
Teaghen 120
Harry 127
Liam W 105
Scott 119
Barrie 103
Top scorer was Liam Chalmers.

We even had a whole in 1 at the final whole by Liam W who gained himself an extra round at a later date.

Module A

2009-02-01T13:27:00.002Z

On Monday 26th January.
Explorers from the Region
(mostly from Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline)
Met at the Scout hall in Kirkcaldy to start the young leaders training.
They spent the evening learning
What the role of a YL is.
The principles of Scouting.
The Yellow Card.
Hazzards and Risks
Finally they learnt what happens next.
The next part of the training is attending two weekends to complete the rest of the modules.

London Adventure

2008-12-17T07:53:00.003Z

Over the weekend 12th - 14th Dec.
While everyone was tucked up in front of the telly with the mince pies.
22 members of the Region were hot footing it down to London for the weekend.
The adventure started with the bus being late to leave.
While we tried to settle down for the night (which was hard to do). The Bus made its way down the country.(Stopping at Edinburgh,Newcastle and Sheffield)

Finally we arrived in London at 7.30am on the Saturday and after a good breakfast it was out and about exploring the sights of London.
The weather was not good (It never stopped raining).
After a few hours the Explorers were pretty wet and wanted to dry out a bit, So where can you go (Yes to Harrods).
The idea was for us all to have a wander round(But the Guards had other ideas(Throwing us out at every opportunity)).
We even had the mishap of one of our Explorers being Sick on one of the floors(In which the Staff were really Good in looking after him).

After all this we headed of to do a tour of the London Dungeons.

The time was tight so it was a quick hop skip and jump back across London to the Eye.
In which 5 of the Explorers got Invested at the top of.

Once this was finished it was wind down time, So we headed off to China town for some dinner which went down a treat.

With the evening still young and the tummy's full it was of to every child's favorite toy shop (Hamleys).
We then went shopping for the rest of the evening before heading back to the bus depot for the bus back home.
By all expressions everyone was looking forward to a well earned rest.

GAPP Weekend

2008-12-01T09:38:00.003Z

Over the weekend 28th - 30th November members of the region met up with other Explorers from Scotland to do the first of three Gapp weekends at Lapwing Lodge just outside Paisley.

They arrived on the Friday night not knowing what the weekend had in store for them.
After a relaxing Friday night and a good hearty breakfast inside them it was down to the reason they were there for.

They had sessions
On the cocoa market and how it effects everyone in the world.
The poverty challenge was how to crow crops to survive.
Last on the Saturday they were learning how people in India made a living in paper bags.

On the Sunday they had a session on Coffee and how it effects the world.
Lastly the had a game called the Shoe Suffle game.
It was making shoes to sell to the market so that they could survive.

Everyone left happy and hopefully with a little bit of Knowledge to pass on to either the Explorers or to the Junior sections.

Hopefully the next one in February will be as rewarding.

Five a Side

2008-11-26T17:31:00.002Z

On Saturday 22nd November, It was Rosyth District 5 a side football competition.
4 Units from the district turned up to make the teams.
After the first round of matches in the 46th beat the 68th and the 13th drew with the 48th.
The 48th scored with only seconds to go to make it 3-3.
We knew the evening was going to be close.
So close that the final standings were only sorted out by Goal Difference.
In the end the 13th won with the 48th a very close second.

Awards Presented

2008-11-21T08:06:00.001Z

Congratulations to Alistair Aitken, Ewan Dyer and Grace Lamond who were presented with their Chief Scout Diamond, Platinum and Platinum Awards at the 13th Fife's recent group AGM on Tuesday 18th November 2008.

In order to achieve these awards, these Explorer Scouts have demonstrated commitment and improvement in football, athletics, music, conservation, young leadership, expeditions and international opportunities.

At the AGM, we also presented Performing Arts to Amy Lane and Rhys Turner for their parts in a dance spectacular at Lochgelly Centre and Oliver the Musical at Carnegie Hall respectively, Athlete to Ewan Dyer and Recreation (Waterpolo) to Stuart Hamilton.

Congratulations to all!

Disco Skating

2008-11-20T11:11:00.005Z

On Wednesday 19th Nov.
Explorers from the Region went to Dundee Ice Arena to go to the Ice Disco Night.
All in total there were 30 From Rosyth/Kirkcaldy and Leven/ Kirkcaldy and Carnoustie.
Once we were all geared up with boots it was time to hit ice to show how to strutt their stuff to the groovy sounds.
Well some were better than others.

Awards for all

2008-11-18T20:53:00.001Z

Glad rags at the ready
As we all know, Mums and Dads always like to know what you're up to.
Even after you've left home, bought your first car and married the love of your life, they still want to know you're looking after yourself, eating well and don't have an overdraft.
We also get very maternal / paternal when it comes to Explorer Scouting and one of us got an award, on Friday Ross Hugh who is the DESC for Kirkcaldy District was awarded his medal of merit for 10 year of out standing Service.

2008-11-18T20:45:00.004Z

When it’s raining outside, there’s nothing on the telly and the shop is out of Battenburg, what better way to spend a Wednesday Evening than a spot of Cooking.
Explorers from Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy got together to clash swords in a ready steady cook evening.
It was going to be a bit like that television programme with the Red peppers and Green tomatoes just with out all the television bits.
They made up the teams and then headed out to asda with the £5.00 in the pocket to come up with a delicious 2 course meal.
The proof was in the eating(That's all i am going to say)

life cycle of a tree

2008-11-18T20:39:00.003Z

We all like being at one with nature, and that isn't just when we become a naturist on the weekends. At school we fondly recall doing charcoal rubbings of tree trunks, making pretty pictures out of leaves, and how sore your knuckles were after a good game of conkers.

On Saturday 8th November, Explorer Scouts from the region joined Dallas Seawright (Fife Coast and Countryside Ranger Service) to learn more about the lifecycle of the tree as part of FACCG`s 18-month long `Project Treecycle`.

We started with a very informative talk on coppicing before making our way out to the woods to collect acorns from the meadow`s 500-year old Oak trees.

These acorns will be planted in the tree nursery; however before that can be done, we had to prepare the nursery.

New raised beds were built and a lot of weeding was done on the existing beds; tree saplings were replanted and fences were built around the nursery.

As it was starting to get dark, we headed back inside for dinner before going back out into the woods for a latern guided walk.

Europe Trip

2008-11-01T08:36:00.000Z

During the school October holidays a party of 16 from Cairneyhill travelled through Europe by minibus visiting Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Krakow and Prague. We visited a theme Park in Belgium, the largest indoor water park in the world in Germany, as well as taking city sightseeing tours of Amsterdam by boat and Berlin by bus. We visited Anne Frank's House in Amsterdam; Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland; and Colditz Castle in Germany. In addition we visited the world-famous salt mines near Krakow. Photos from this expedition alongwith previous ones such as our summer expedition to Austria can be seen on our website.

http://www.83rdscouts.org.uk/Explorers_eurotour_2008.htm

Plans are well in hand for our annual ski trips to Sweden over New Year; at February mid-term and at Easter. The Explorers are all working hard fundraising to reduce the £250 total cost of these week's skiing. We have also booked up to attend Dalacamp in Sweden in July.

Our current term programme covering the period from now until Christmas is available to download from our website.

Conservation - Alva Woods

2008-10-27T16:46:00.002Z

Sunday 26th October 2008 was Make A Difference Day (MADD).

Nineteen Explorer Scouts, Scouts and Leaders worked with FACCG and Clackmannanshire Ranger Service to help with access improvements to Alva Woodland, which has become over-run with Rhododendron.

This particular species of Rhododendron is very invasive and threatens the existence of other trees, flora and fauna.

The project was to cut back as much of the invasive bush as we could and to have a massive bonfire.

We cleared approx. half a hectare leaving much more space for other trees and plants to grow and it will be great to return next spring to see the fruits of our labour.

As it was Make A Difference Day, everybody received a certificate from Scottish Natural Heritage not to mention hours towards their respective Chief Scout, Queen Scout and/ or John Muir Awards.

Lake District

2008-10-24T07:10:00.004+01:00

Members from the Region joined forces with the Fife Air Cadets Conservation Group to godown to the lake district for a week.
Here is their story.

We headed South to spend another fantastic week with FACCG and The National Trust at their volunteer centre at High Wray in the Lake District between Saturday 11th and Sunday 19th October 2008.

On the Sunday, we had a short hike to get the ferry to Bowness-on-Windemere where we had the opportunity to explore some of the shops and the town... when we say short, it was 4-hours walking there and back!

The Monday saw the first day of conservation with the group splitting into two; one group going to Monk Coniston and the other to Ash Landing.

The project at Monk Coniston was to install a woodland footpath through the `tree collection`, a selection of trees bought and planted many years ago by the Victorian owners of the property. To keep it as natural as possible, the path edges were logs, which had to be moved by hand!

The other project at Ash Landing was the start of a restoration of a wildlife reserve, which had become very overgrown over the years. Whilst a large number of selected trees were felled, these had to be moved and burned.

Both projects took three and a half days to complete with the end result giving everyone something to smile at and The National Trust once again in awe of what the group are capable of!

In total we did four days of conservation with the remaining afternoon being spent at Wray Castle where we installed another footpath as part of the restoration of the garden.

On the Wednesday, we visited South Lakes Wildlife Park where we had the opportunity to feed and get up real close to the giraffes and other animals; baboons that use hippos for taxis, lemurs that can open and close gates and tigers that see dinner on top of a totem pole as no object at all!!

Outside of these days, the group had the opportunity to complete some high level hill walks, experience mountain biking and test themselves at archery.

Service Project

2008-10-18T17:20:00.005+01:00

Over the weekend 17th - 18th October members from the region went to Fordell Firs to do JOTA.

During that weekend the 48th Explorers were also at Fordell but for a different reason.
They were there to do some work for the site.

On the Friday night they slept in the Bothy on site.
Saturday Morning was spent moving the tyres that laid out the Quad Bike course.
This was getting taken away since the site no longer does Quad bikes.

There were over 700 tyres and now 1/2 have been moved into the car park until Bob decides what to do with them

GNAS Archery Leader

2008-10-09T10:59:00.000+01:00

On Saturday 27th September 2008, following intensive traning and assessment, Explorer Scout Leader Terry O`Neill(13th Rosyth) was awarded the GNAS Archery Leader Certificate.

Following the course at Craggan Outdoor Centre near Granton-on-Spey between 24th and 27th September 2008 he is now able to operate an archery range and teach the sport to anyone looking to try the sport for the first time or have regular participation to improve their performance; perhaps as part of the Chief Scout or Queen Scout Award.

Platinum Presentation

2008-10-09T10:36:00.004+01:00

On Wednesday 8Th Oct.
It was the 48Th Dalgety Bay Scout Groups agm.
After the formalities of the agm business was taking care of
It was time for the sections to do their presentations.
The explorer scouts showed a DVD on how they are working with Fairway Fife.
www.fairfife@blogspot.com

After this 4 Explorers got presented with their Chief Scout Platinum Award.
Also during the night Barrie Wilson was presented with his 20 year service certificate by the District Commissioner

Young Leaders Weekend

2008-09-22T12:52:00.005+01:00

Over the Weekend 19th - 21st September over 40 Explorers attended the next stage of the young leaders training.
The weekend was being held at the Jock Neish Centre which is 6 miles north of Forfar.
They all arrived around about 7pm on the Friday night and was split into 2 groups for the first set of modules.
1/2 went and did the Module A which is the first module you have to do.
The other 1/2 got stuck into module E (Game on)
After 2 hours of having fun it was time for Supper then bed soon followed.

On the Saturday it was an early start with Breakfast over and the first module starting at 9am.
The module was Module I(What did they say).
It was based round the art of communication.

This was followed by Module c(That's the way to do it).
This is all based round teaching skills.

After Lunch we moved onto Module d(Kids Behaving Badly)
The title explains what the module is about.
just to say that Ross and Barrie did a good acting session.

After some free time it was on to the last Module for the day.
This is Module F(Special People)
This module is based round youngsters with disabilities.

After Dinner everyone had free time with a DVD put on to entertain everyone.

Sunday modules were to finish of the Module E(Game on).
Module J(Awards and Badges)
and the missions.

After all was cleared up the explorers who had completed all the modules were presented with the Young leaders certificate.

Swimming

2008-09-18T07:39:00.004+01:00

On Wednesday 17th September over 40 explorer scouts from Rosyth, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes & Leven and North East Fife headed up to Perth to do a swimming session.
I dont know if the people on the payment desk at the pool were surprised or shocked at the amount that turned up.
Once we had the payment sorted the Explorers had an hour to enjoy the pool.
They had plunge pools/Flumes/Rapids or if they wanted just to have a gently swim.
While this was going on some of the leaders also took part in a less active activity as they went and had a sauna.

Tramps Camp

2008-09-15T16:44:00.005+01:00

Over the weekend 12th - 13th Sept.
21 Explorers from the the region made thier way up to Nine Acres Campsite just outside Crook of Devon.
The plan was for them to live for 24 hours like tramps.
All the had was either a cardboard box, a piece of tarpoline or a hammock.
Once they decided what they wanted it was up to them to make a shelter for the night.
Before this the first incident of the weekend happened.
The mini bus got stuck up to it's wheel in mud and had to be towed out by a local.

It was nice weather until about midnight and then the heavens open and it tested the homes that had been built.

In the morning after breakfast they did 3 activities.
1. Tramps belts
2. Paper bricks
3. Tie Dye T-Shirts.

Everyone left in the afternoon happy to be heading home but also they learnt how hard it was to sleep outdoors every night.

Conservation Night 3rd Sept 08

2008-09-04T07:34:00.006+01:00

On Wednesday 3rd Sept Explorers from Rosyth/Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes headed up to Sugar Acre in Falkland to do some work on the Garden.

The group from Rosyth who have been up at the site before got stuck into the work.
They firstly had a stack of Straw Bales to move and stack so they would not hurt anyone.
These are going to be used for the Archery course in a future date.
After this they planted some wild Flowers for the new pond that had been built just before the summer.
Lastly they picked the last of the potatoes that they planted in the spring.

The other two groups who had not been up before got a guided tour of the site from Cazz and then headed up to the other site at Chancefield to do some work.

Car Course 19th/23rd /24th Aug

2008-08-25T20:41:00.004+01:00

Over 3 days in August the Explorers learnt about the thing that most of us take for granted.
The Motor Car.

On the 19th August 6 met at the 48th Dalgety Bay hall to learn about the theory of cars.
They learnt how cars are used and how the safety of cars can have an influence on the public.

On Saturday 23rd Aug they met in Kirkcaldy to learn how to strip and check a car, This was from changing a tyre to checking the spark plugs.

On the Sunday it was finally the chance for them to get behind the wheel.
They were taken out on the road in Glenrothes with instructors.

The response was well received and the explorers cant wait until they are 17.

The course was run by Youth First.

7th Europarc International Junior Ranger Camp

2008-08-08T21:04:00.002+01:00

Explorer Scout, Stuart Hamilton of 13th Fife Explorer Scout Unit was part of the Scottish Contingent at the 7th Europarc International Junior Ranger Camp held at Glen Tanner between 26th July and 3rd August 2008.

In a country where our national news tells us of little other than knife crime and drunken violence on the streets, a group of 50 young people from various European countries spending a week on a greenfield campsite doing their bit to help the environment seems an unlikely event but that was exactly what happened.

Stuart kept a diary...

"On the 26th July, young people from across Europe arrived at the Glen Tannar campsite in various states of fatigue, not helped by the daunting task of pitching their tents.

After camp had been set up it was time for a short introduction to the area and the camp from the camp organiser, Alan Smith.

The participants were then piped into the dining marquee where the introductions were then continued over the table as participants were treated to delights from all of the participating countries. The Saturday evening was then rounded off by a “Welcome to Scotland” from Carol Ritchie (Director of the Europarc federation) and Eric Baird (Vice Convener of the Cairngorms National Park Authority).

On Sunday it was time to get down to the activities of the week, for the purposes of which participants were split into three groups. Each group would take part in all four of the activities throughout the week - each aimed at helping people to gain an understanding of the John Muir Award and exactly what the award is all about.

Our group headed off for a walk around Glen Tannar estate, guided by a local ranger, who gave a fantastic talk on the areas bio-diversity and wildlife populations. Everyone learned a great deal from the trip - the highlight of the day being the opportunity to try Capercaillie food!

In the evening it was time for a rather large meal and some icebreakers around a roaring campfire.

By Monday, some were already starting to feel the effects of a non-stop camp, so the “traditional” Scottish weather - braking sunshine and no wind - did little to help these tired souls. Once again our group would spend the day exploring Glen Tannar - only this time on mountain bike. Led by outdoor education officers from Aberdeenshire Council, the day was divided into a morning of skill training and an afternoon of trail following - both hard work in their individual ways!

Monday was an early evening for most as people once more struggled to find the energy to go on!

To start Tuesday our group were treated to a stunning drive across the picturesque Cairngorms National Park to the RSPB reserve near Abernethy. Here the participants learned of how the RSPB were actively managing the habitat to make the area more suitable to birds native to the area. One such method of management was to blow the tops of trees off using dynamite! As strange as this idea may sound; many birds prefer to nest in dead wood rather than live trees and dynamite has proven an incredibly useful tool in creating such habitats. The educational talk was followed up with some practical conservation work.

The afternoon was spent on Cairngorm Mountain learning about the work of the mountains ranger service and also the work of the areas volunteer mountain rescue team. This talk was carried out by a low level walk around the base of Cairngorm and entailed a discussion about the perks of the Ski industry verses the negative impact of its infrastructure on the image of the landscape.

Day 5, time to go up, up and away! Well, not quite, but today was our groups turn to summit the most Easterly Munro in Scotland - Mount Keen. At a modest height of 939m, the mountain came as rather a shock to the Dutch representatives and the Estonian contingent - both used to virtually flat countries!

Following an hours climbing all agreed that the walk to the cloudy summit had been more than worth it, maybe a few more Munro hunters were born! The walk back down and short drive back to the campsite gave us a long evening to get to know a little more about the people in our group - even a chance to memorise each others names!

This evening came the last of the presentations from each of the participant countries, who had been delivering superb presentations on their respective national parks - tonight was the turn of the Cairngorms contingent. This was a presentation like none other - people hugging, laughing and smiling throughout - a great effort from everyone involved.

On Thursday the group were to have a day like none that most of them could have ever imagined! International Ranger day began like most other conservation days on the Balmoral estate - some rhoddi brashing and a new bridge being built - nothing too unusual. Following this morning`s conservation work where multi lingual communication proved to be key, the group were taken on a walk around the Queens personal Loch ably guided by head ranger Glynn.

As the work had been completed much quicker than expected the group were taken to Balmoral castle to have the chance to see how the other half live. But, on route, the group met two large 4x4’s - one carrying an older lady and a large number of dogs - “Oh my god, it’s the Queen”, reported one shocked bus driver!

This chance meeting was on the tip of everyone’s tongues as we took in the delights of Balmoral castle.

In the evening the group made its way to see the puppet state theatres adaptation of the story “The Man Who Planted Trees”... a play that left the group talking for days.

The final day of activities was on Friday where the group completed the activity in which it had not yet participated - canoeing on the Dee. Once again being led by Outdoor education officers, the day taught everyone many new skills in both a canoe and in communication - featuring many exercises where team work was the only way to win. On arriving back at the campsite everyone was rather more tired than usual and was glad we were set for a quiet evening of film watching. The group were treated to the longer version of the Thin Green Line. This film was made by an Australian ranger following losing a friend in a drowning accident - its aim - simply to showcase the outstanding work and dedications of countryside rangers who put everything on the line, including their own lives!

Saturday was time to show all of our new international friends all of Scotland’s traditions at the Aboyne Highland Games. In a day that left many asking “What’s a caber?”; everyone had a fantastic time and revelled in the carnival atmosphere - even though our good weather had finally gone and the skies had opened!

The group then enjoyed its final dinner and took the opportunity to say thank you to the superb catering team of Tosh and Joan who, over the week, had more than made sure that no one went hungry!

Saturday evening’s entertainment came in the shape and form of a traditional Scottish ceilidh, lots of dancing and partying later, and everyone was now ready for bed. Everyone had a fantastic week and was now sad that the end was nearing.

Sunday morning was a subdued affair with everyone sad to be going home. Packing up done and everyone went their separate ways, already hoping their countries would be taking a contingent to Spain in 2009

Disneyland Paris

2008-07-11T07:10:00.005+01:00

Sixteen Scouts, Explorer Scouts and leaders from our group went to Disneyland Paris between Sunday 6th and Thursday 10th July 2008.

We travelled on National Express East Coast mainline between Edinburgh and London and spend the first night in a hotel in London. This allowed us to get the early and direct Eurostar to Marne Le Vallee outside Paris and right in the middle of the Disneyland Resort.

Our first job was to book into our hotel and that was aptly named `Explorers Hotel`. Our rooms had all the mod cons; televisions, playstations, hairdryers; en-suite bathrooms... everything that an Explorer Scout on camp is used to!!!

Once we were settled, we visited Disneyland Park and headed straight for a fast pass for `Space Mountain` and then into Fantasyland where we did `Small World`, `Alice in Wonderland`, `Carousel Horses` and shopped as well as having our photos taken with numerous Disney characters. We then went back to Discoveryland and did `Star Tours` and used our `Space Mountain` fast passes; a rollercoaster upon which Andrew Cretch was invested (see "Scream if you want to be invested!").

After getting washed and changed, we had dinner at Planet Hollywood and visited the various shops in Disney Village before returning to our hotel where the Scouts and Explorer Scouts had the opportunity to swim and ride the flumes before retiring to bed.

The next day saw us return to Disneyland Park where we visited Frontierland and Adventureland and did `Phantom Manor`, `Big Thunder Mountain` (where Rhys Turner got invested), `Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril` before having another go at `Space Mountain`!

Dinner that night was a Wild West Dinner Show called Buffalo Bills. Equiped with a cowboy hat, a hearty meal and some noisy Scouts, we roared on our team for the night, which was `Red River`. Once the show had finished, we went back to the park for the third and last time to see the fantillusion parade and the fireworks display.

After breakfast and checking out of our hotel rooms, it was time to visit Walt Disney Studios where we went straight for `Aerosmith`s Rock `n Rollercoaster` for Amy Lane`s investiture followed by the `Tram Tour`, `Twilight Zone Tower of Terror` for Ewan Dyer`s investiture and a car stunt show, which revealed secrets of the trade! We finished off with `Armageddon` before leaving the park for dinner at Rainforest Cafe, some final shopping and the Eurostar back to London.

Our journey was completed by National Express bus back to Edinburgh overnight. Having had such a great and busy time, it was no surprise that everybody slept for the journey home.

Alternative Extreme Challenge

2008-06-23T16:30:00.002+01:00

Despite the Extreme Challenge II event being cancelled, we still held an alternative camp between Friday 20th and Sunday 22nd June 2008, which turned out to be a little more extreme than our Explorers had bargained for!

We arrived at Fordell Firs on the Friday evening where our Explorer Scouts were provided with pioneering poles, ropes and canvas and instructed to build themselves a lean-to style shelter, which would be their sleeping accommodation for the weekend.

By the time the shelters were built, a fire had been lit and supper was served; it was getting late and it was time to test the shelter. Everyone except Andrew managed to stay inside for the whole night... he and his sleeping bag wriggled out during the night so just aswell it was dry!

The following morning after breakfast we travelled through to Braehead Xscape, where we had the opportunity to try three different activities; rock climbing, sky park and fan drop.

Braehead Xscape houses one of the largest freestanding climbing walls in the UK! With 24 auto belays and over sixty 10 metre high climbs of varying difficulty, everyone found climbs to challenge them.

With sore arms and smiles on our faces, we moved to Skypark, which is a state of the art aerial adventure course 60m long, 15m above the ground, including a zip slide, traverse wall, hanging logs, jigsaw, swinging rungs, swinging platforms, cargo net, Burma bridge and rope ladders to name but a few!

Then the grand finish, the Fan Drop, where you are attached to ropes, told to count to three and step off the 15m high platform in a leap of faith free falling most of the way before the twin fan descenders - the first of their kind in the world - slows you to a gentle landing... or not so gentle if you land on your bum! There was plenty adrenaline on this activity, especially after most of our Explorers did the drop up to 6 times!!!

Then it was back to Dunfermline for the `Toon Safari`. Set off in three teams, the Explorers had to collect items, have their photos taken in various places and answer a number of questions.

The winning team got to relax while the rest made dinner and washed the dishes!

After dinner, we intended to use the Sumo Suits but the weather put paid to that plan so we resorted to `indoor` sports... hockey, tennis and catch; all under a 4x4m canvas sheet. If you weren`t playing, you were supporting and we even had a few mexican waves!!!

We followed this with a sing song, some supper and an early night mainly due to the extreme weather. Given the option of sleeping elsewhere, our Explorers decided the camp wasn`t called `Extreme` for nothing and decided to brave their shelter... a good call after waking up drier that some of the campsite who were sleeping in tents!!!

With the rain still falling heavy, there was no rush to get up so after a lazy start, we struck the campsite, had a bite of brunch and headed off home.

Young Leaders Module A

2008-06-16T17:00:00.000+01:00

On Thursday 12th June.

Explorers from the Region

(3 From St Andrews , 2 from Rosyth and 9 from Perth and Kinross)

Met at the Scout hall in Milnathort to start the young leaders training.

They spent the evening learning

What the role of a YL is.

The principles of Scouting.

The Yellow Card.

Hazzards and Risks

Finally they learnt what happens next.

The next part of the training is a weekend at the Jock Neish Centre just outside Dundee Over the weekend 19th - 21st September

Edinburgh Marathon

2008-05-26T20:10:00.000+01:00

On Sunday 25th May there were
10,000 runners
100's of Volunteers
1,000's and 1,000's Supporters.
26.2 miles round the streets of Edinburgh.
Yes it had to be the Edinburgh Marathon.
Over 40 Explorers from Fife went along to Waterloo place at 7am to help collect the bags from the runners.
After they had all been collected the convoy of lorries and mini buses worked their way through Edinburgh to the Finish line at Musselburgh Race course where we had to sort out all the bags for collection after the race.
Just as we got them sorted the winner came to collect his (2 Hr 25 mins)
The Explorers had the chance to explore the event and relax during the day.
When we left at 4pm (7hrs after the start)

There were only 30 bags left so it was not to bad.

Trossachs Expedition

2008-05-13T17:15:00.000+01:00

The younger members of the 13th Explorers did their Chief Scout Platinum Expedition.

Here is their Story

On Saturday 10th May 2008

we set off on an expedition through Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park and Queen Elizabeth Forest.
We set off from the West end of Loch Achray following the Three Lochs Forest Drive before cutting off towards Loch Drunkie and Invertrossachs Estate.

The walk was mainly soil and gravel underfoot and mostly flat with the exception of one reasonable hill taking us up to Loch Drunkie.

This got everyone`s heart beating fast if it hadn`t been already.

The forest has suffered from a lot of wind blow over the Winter and a number of trees had fallen, blocking the paths and forcing us to divert off of the road every now and again, which added to the excitment of the journey.

What goes up must come down as the saying goes and this was true.

After lunch at the shore of Loch Drunkie, we began our decent towards Invertrossachs Scout Centre, which was to be our accommodation for the night.

Warm turning damp weather made heaven for the Scottish Midge and they were out in force but we got our tents up, lit a fire and the smoke had them running (flying) scared!

After dinner, it was time for bed as an early morning ensued; however that didn`t stop the Explorers from talking until the early hours... something they would come to regret when they had to get up at 6am and when they would be faced with a much bigger hill that on the Saturday!

On Sunday morning, we had breakfast and took down the campsite before setting off at 8am for day two of the expedition, up and through the Menteith Hills right of way to Aberfoyle.

The terrain was a mixture of woodland, hills and fields starting with one almighty climb but despite the tiredness of the Explorers, they got to the top and kept going.

More navigation was required on this day as we weren`t on roads that only went one way so the Explorers had to consider where single track met double track and where woodland met open fields to be able to determine where they were.

They took to this task very well and only made one real mistake; continuing straight on instead of turning left.

The bad news was that they got to the bottom of a big hill before realising their mistake!

It is amazing how having to climb back up the hill teaches you not to make the same mistake again and that it wasn`t.

From there on in, we made it to our destination and ahead of schedule too.
This lot have 'style'.

Our destination was David Marshall Lodge near Aberfoyle and the home of `Go Ape`, a high wire assault course full of tarzan swings, rope bridges and zip lines including the two longest lines in Great Britain.

We were booked in at 1430 so we had a couple of hours to enjoy the sun, check out the Osprey viewing platform and generally relax after the expedition.

Go Ape started with training on how to use the safety system and how to handle the course.

We then set off on the course, which took approximately three hours to complete.

It was lots of fun and highly recommended.

West Highland Way Expedition

2008-05-13T16:58:00.000+01:00

The 13th Explorers did an Expedition
Here is their Story

A small group of four Explorer Scouts completed an expedition along part of the West Highland Way between Saturday 29th March and Wednesday 2nd April 2008.

"Saturday 29th...

It was an early start for a Saturday to say the least - starting at 07:00 at Dunfermline Bus Station.

After an hour on a bus to Glasgow, we were on the train to Milngavie...

The start of the West Highland Way.

Whilst at Queen Street we met our first fellow West Highland Way (WHW) walker; an American called John and being Explorer Scouts, we decided this would be perfect opportunity to begin our challenges!

We were challenged to interview people we met on route...

Why did you chose the West Highland Way? It’s the easiest way to get from Glasgow to Fort William!

What’s your name and where are you from? John – New York state in America

What make of boots do you use? Vasque

How far are you walking? 400miles

Have you ever tried haggis? Yes – he kind of liked it too!

Do you like pigeons? Hates them!!!

Following our 15minute train journey, it was time to begin the actually walking - 10 easy and fairly flat miles.

This day went exactly as planned - we even managed to finish an hour early which is what we call good going!
2 miles to Beinglas

Sunday 30th...

With the start of a new day came exactly the thing we wanted least... rain!

It seemed to dampen spirits and no-one seemed quite as keen to get walking as they had the previous day.

Luckily we were treated to a fairly long stretch of downhill for the start of day 2.

By lunch time we’d reached the banks of Loch Lomond and were finally able to bask in beautiful sunlight as well as enjoying some of the very best views that Scotland has to offer!

By one o’clock we thought this was the best expedition in history as it seemed to have totally avoided all major hills... how wrong this theory soon turned out to be!!!

Most of the afternoon was spent climbing on a path that seemed to do nothing but go round in circles, eventually coming to a wooded drizzly summit.

Following a well deserved break we then took another hour to complete our days walk - again finishing slightly ahead of schedule!

Here it was time to interview person number two:

Why did you chose the West Highland Way? I’ve done it before and it was something I enjoyed so fancied doing again

What’s your name and where are you from? I’m John from the West end of Glasgow

What make of boots do you us? Berghaus- all my equipment is berghaus

How far are you walking? The whole way- all 97miles

Have you ever tried haggis? yes- but I hate the stuff!

Do you like pigeons? *John laughs* Not when they make a mess of my car I don’t!!!

Rowardenannan lodge provided a fantastic night`s rest - even a room with a view!

Monday 31st March...

New day, same objective - get to the next evening`s accommodation.

By now the strain of carrying half our own weight on our back for 6 hours each day was clearly starting to show, it didn’t help that our “flat” path suddenly seemed to have turned into what seemed like a gruelling climb!

However, today we had one major advantage - the weather was really on our side but its a shame that the path wasn’t!

We soon found the sign we’d been waiting for all day... “Beinglas Wigwams - 2 miles”.

I’m sure those were possibly the longest two miles of our life but not to worry, another night sleep and the knowledge that there were only 6 miles of walking left made it all the more bearable!

Here we bumped into some other Scouters... of a sort anyway! It just so happened that we and the Lochgoilhead Centre staff team had picked the same week to walk along the same route.
What a view!

Tuesday 1st April...

When we awoke and read the weather forecast for this day we were hoping it was some kind of April fools joke... if only!

As a matter of fact, conditions that day felt ten times worse in reality than they had looked on paper!

The day began with what seemed like the steepest hill in the world, continually made worse by the driving winds and rain.

By the time we reached the top of this hill, we had all begun to wonder if we truly weren’t making the biggest mistake of our lives; especially when the path carried through rivers with apparently no way of avoiding them.

Whoever said “things can only get better” obviously hadn’t walked these 6 miles - the path turned into a cow field as we neared Crianlarich.

It was hard to imagine that this pile of mud and dung had at any point ever actually been a path... `we were knee deep` is the best expression to describe how the conditions were!

By the time we came within sight of Crianlarich, we all began dreaming of a hot shower and hostel drying room - luckily for us we were soon using both of them - making ourselves smell just a little bit better in the process!

Here we met the final weary walker that we decided to interview - well our final 2 walkers:

Why did you chose the West Highland Way? We’ve been planning to do it for a while, so we’re finally getting round to it

What’s your name(s) and where are you from? Jax and Even from Livingston

What make of boots do you us? Riachel and Baisher

How far are you walking? The full 97miles

Have you ever tried haggis? Of course - who hasn’t?

Do you like pigeons? No!

Wednesday 2nd April...

Time for a nice lazy day.

After a couple of bacon rolls for breakfast and a few games of cards, we made our way down through the small village to the bus stop and headed for home.

The bus journey seemed to fly in and `Expedition West Highland Way` was soon destined to be another great memory!

During our expedition it turned out that John was the only foreign tourist we met...

Everyone else was from within the UK - each and every one with their own story to tell and their own place to go.

We did manage to find out that John had been attracted to Scotland for its beauty and amazing outdoor opportunities.

Along the way we also bumped into a few of the people that make thousands of people`s walks each year possible including...

Mark - Station ticket office at Glasgow Queen Street

Eaine - Barmaid at the West Highland Way rest stop by Drymen

Gavin - Wigwam manager

Girda - Hostel Worker (Rowerdennan)

iona - Crianlarich Hostel manager.

During the 5 days that we were away we saw every kind of weather that Scotland has to offer - from pouring rain to blazing sunshine - and that was just in day 1!

Once all the sore feet had passed and the bruises from the heavy rucksacks had gone, we are all able to reflect on what was another great expedition with lots of memories and a lot of new knowledge - both about long distance walking and about ourselves!!!"

Rosyth St George's Weekend Camp 25th -27th April 08

2008-04-28T19:35:00.000+01:00

Ever thought what it would be like to have all the main holidays of the year in one weekend.
Well we did just that.
Over the weekend Rosyth District held the usual St Georges Day weekend camp.

16 members from the District met at Fordell Firs to celebrate St George (patron Saint of Scouting)

On the Friday night after the site was set up it was time to start our themed weekend.

First of was Shrove Tuesday – We had a pancake Party but it was soon clear to see that cooking was not what the explorers were good at.
Most of the pancakes looked like Scrambled eggs.
Lucky for us their stomachs were not left empty as we had made the provision of bringing Hot Dogs for Supper.

Saturday started of with Easter – we started off with Painting and rolling eggs down the hill, even our DC took part.
After this the explorers went and did an Easter egg hunt round the site.
We finished the season with making Easter candles.

Next celebration was Summer Holidays – It was a chill session with a BBQ and Games (Mostly we got the kites and Parachute out to have some fun!)

We quickly moved on to Halloween - The Explorers got dressed up and went Trick and Treating round the rest of the district. (They even managed to get some treats into the bargain.)
They also did the traditional Dunking for apples.

It was an early Dinner as we were off the Stock Car Racing at Cowdenbeath.

When we got back it was on to Bonfire night – We had a camp fire which even had a Guy to put on to it.

Sunday Morning Came and it was Christmas Day – We exchanged presents, had a good Breakfast and even went up to Flag break dressed as Santa’s.
We also had 5 New Explorers who got invested (Yes you guessed it in Santa Suits)
As all good thing have to come to an end so did our year.

We were joined by the beavers to celebrate New Year. They were told a New Year story and we saw in the bells with Shortbread and Irn Bru.

Once the site was cleared we joined the rest of the District to have our St Georges Day Church Service in which we renewed our Promise.

After this we all went home – very tired but very happy after such a great weekend.

Potato Day

2008-04-15T16:17:00.000+01:00

Every thought about the humble potato.
Where did it come from?
How many different types are there?
Well on the 13th April Rosyth District found out these answers and also many more.
We went up to Falkland to meet up with the conservation group to spend a day dealing with the Tattie.
In the morning we had a talk about the potato and got the answers for the above questions and many more.
After this we split into 3 groups and did 3 bases.
1 - Making Macaroon Bars from Potato.
2 - Potato Quiz.
3- Toppings for the potato. After lunch(Yes it was Potato+Cheese pie with a Tattie Scone)
We headed up to the Garden to spend the afternoon preparing the site and then planting seed potato's.
Types planted included Swift and Rocket.
It will be intrested to see them grow in a few months time.

Cumbrian Challenge Residential

2008-04-08T20:59:00.000+01:00

Members of the 13th Rosyth Explorer Scout Unit are just back from a residential week

Here is their story
We spent just over a week working with the National Trust in the Lake District between 29th March and 6th April 2008.

Based at the National Trust Base Camp in High Wray near Ambleside, we spent a number of days working on National Trust sites but also found time to discover and explore the beautiful Lake District.

On the Sunday, we went for a walk and short boat trip to Bowness-on-Windemere where we had the opportunity to look around the village and shops before taking a longer walking route back to Base Camp.

This was quite a relaxed day, which was quite welcome as the following day, we were to be working on a steep hillside cutting back and burning a large Rhododendron, which had become very invasive.

On the Tuesday, the high winds meant that it wasn`t safe to return to the Rhododendron so we carried out a number of maintenance tasks at Base Camp including laying two new footpaths, digging ditches and edging some of the existing roads and pathways.

On both Monday and Tuesday, two small groups spent the day exploring the local area by Mountain Bike with plenty hills and technical sections to be navigated.
Wednesday saw everyone aboard the minibuses and heading to visit Sellafield Nuclear Power Station Visitor Centre and Muncaster Castle where we learned more about Nuclear, Fossil and Renewable Energies and Owl Conservation respectively.

The evenings were busy too with plenty opportunity to engage in craft work and on the Wednesday night, a team quiz.Thursday and Friday were back to work with National Trust working in the walled garden of Monk Coniston House.

The garden is being recreated in its original form.

This was quite an honour as it is important to do the job correctly and obviously a statement of faith in our conservation group`s abilities.

We were tasked with laying the slate edging around the garden`s footpaths, which had to be in perfectly straight lines, both width and height.

The job took two days to complete but was very satisfying to see the end result.

On Thursday night, the group were split into teams to produce a news and entertainment evening, which was filmed live and played back to the group.

The content was varied and the teams had a bot of creative licence; however it had to feature international news, local news, an energy report and a weather report.
On Saturday, the group were split in two and taken to Grizedale Forest, where half went mountain biking on the infamous North Face trail whilst the other half did some short walks and a spot of orienteering.

In the afternoon, we all went shopping to Ambleside where there were bargains galore and from where many a carrier bag was taken back to Base Camp.

The whole week was a great experience and hopeful one that we will repeat very soon.

Easter Camp

2008-04-02T17:33:00.000+01:00

Explorer Scouts from across Fife got together between

Friday 21st and Sunday 23rd March 2008 for an Easter camp.
They stayed at Fordell Firs

However the majority of the activities were off-site.

After pitching tents on the Friday evening, we went to Lochore Meadows Country Park to complete a number of team buiding challenges to start earning time that would be spent in the `Easter Egg Chamber` on the Sunday.

On the Saturday, They were transported to Edinburgh City Centre where we had to complete a large treasure hunt following clues, answering questions and taking photographs of certain places.

They walked from the Botanical Gardens to Grassmarket to St Andrews Square and The Royal Mile.
On the Saturday evening, they had a "night out".

After getting dressed up, they went for 3-course dinner, karaoke, dancing and a night at the races before returning to the campsite to have a campfire and a few songs but it wasn`t long before everyone was off to bed.

In the morning, the points from the various activities were converted to times that would be spent in the Easter Egg Chamber.

The chamber was a children`s soft play area full of red, green and blue tokens.

The Explorer Scouts were blindfolded and sent in for their earned amount of time to collect as many tokens as possible.

Red tokens = 1 point

Green tokens = -1 point off

Blue tokens = 10 points

The points were counted and the winning team was determined

However the Explorer Scouts were left in anticipation for a while longer!
They were sent on an Easter Egg hunt.

200 mini Cream Eggs were hidden in the woods and they got to keep what they found...

some people will have very sore stomachs!!!

After this and striking camp, the results were announced and prizes given out to everybody; winners and non-winners.

A great weekend!

Hello

2008-04-02T16:40:00.000+01:00

Hi,

My name is Barrie Wilson

I have just taken over the position as ARC Explorers

(East Region).

I have been involved in Explorers since they launched many years ago.

I am also the DESC for Roysth District.

I will be posting to let you know what has been going on and also what is happening in the region to do with Explorer Scouts