The youth in me..........

Hello again dear reader.

As you have read so far my school days were a mixture of fun and aggro. Through all the years though, I managed to keep a smile upon my face. The next part of my story will be a series of snapshots dealing with my life out of school. The game really kicks off when I leave school and begin employment but that is for much later. We have my extra curricular activities to investigate first.

I have never been one to shy away from a new venture. In fact looking at my life I have been lucky in the manner in which I easily attain a level of competence that others may struggle with. My biggest problem is that I quickly lose interest when I feel that a current hobby is demanding more and more of an effort from me to progress to the next level. There is always something new to grab my attention and boy did I like to grab.

I joined the boy scouts. It was the next obvious step from cubs. Dib DOB dib DOB. I never understood the meaning of the odd language we used during ceremonies. Sitting round a campfire singing “Ging gang goolie……” and thinking it made sense. Very strange now I think about it.

Looking back it was a good time to be a boy scout as most of the people I knew were in the same troop and it was accepted that all good upstanding boys wanted to run around in shorts and play with their toggles. I have a few memories that I can share. The Arkala was a very large (rotund) man with more chins than I could wave a stick at. In his day job he was something in the city. What that something was I am unsure but it must have involved dressing up and cavorting with same gendered friends. He had a passion for the scouts and when I say passion I mean PASSION. At school we were taught basic sex education and out of school we learned that in the real adult world there was more than just heterosexuality to contend with. Ahh! The joys of innocence and its short lifespan.

I was never approached in any sexual manner by the leaders but as with any group of adolescent males some amongst us had a tendency to hang around with the elders more than I was comfortable with. It was during this period that I had my first ever break away from home without the family. Summer camp was fantastic for me. We went to a place called Buckmore Park. I now know that this park is just along the A2/M2 corridor though at the time it felt like I was off to Scotland or even France. There we all were in the coach singing scouty songs and comparing badges. This was going to be a big event. I think there were about 15 troops from all over London going on the Jamboree. Things I remember to this day are as follows and they are very vivid memories that even have a smell about them, if you can grasp that concept.

Large bell tents made from real old canvas, a central campfire area and the cooking area under cover. The first night in the sleeping bag and you find that you are not alone …….in the bag. There are things in there with you that were not present when you set out your sleep area. Creepy crawlies had been placed inside by some of your troop. Usually the ones that been on these ventures before. It took us hours to get to sleep and we were chastised for all the noise. Waking up very early and feeling like shit. Your eyes all gritty and lots of dead bugs at the bottom of your sleeping bag that had to be emptied out. The very cold water we washed in, the smell of the breakfast being cooked. The billowing smoke from all the campfires and the realisation that even in summer the early mornings can be damp and cold when your wearing shorts and someone has stolen your woggle.

The muster and details of the first day’s activities. We were going on a jaunt through the woods following a trail that had been made earlier. Bits of red cloth had been tied to trees and branches. We were split into groups and a timed race was on. The winners would get some chocolate. All good fun until one of the troops decides to remove some of the red markers. Lucky for us though it was our troop leader who had laid out the trail so we were not fooled. The games people play.
Evening around the campfire with a guitar being strummed and songs sung. Sticks with bread on them being toasted in the flames. Looking around and seeing all your mates smiling and laughing in the red glow. Being bitten by all the bugs that didn’t live in the city and scared witless by the sounds from the woods. The second night under the stars was the best. Very few bugs in my sleeping bag and we all crashed out because we so bloody knackered.

Next day was a sports day all I remember was one tall bloke from another troop landed heavily in the grass. He caught his knee on an old animal bone. He was screaming right near me and when I looked at his leg I could see the flap of bloodless skin that he was trying to push back into place. It made me feel sick. He went to hospital then got sent home. That evening a group of girl guides joined in. They were camped not far from us. So we had an even better sing song. Some of the girls were a lot older than me and cheeky with it. I was pulled into one of their tents by about 4 of them and all I can recollect was being straddled by one girl who was twice my size whilst things were shoved up my shorts. I was rescued by a few of the other lads who released the tension on the tent so it sagged and was in danger of collapse.

There was much of the same for the next few days. We did some field craft and learned a little about orienteering and how to read maps. We were shown how to make an oven from an old biscuit tin and mud. I bought my mother a small ornament made from cork. It was a scene of some deer standing near some pine trees on a small copse. My father still has it in a display cabinet. When I got home I remember my younger brother’s beaming smile and waved spoon as he was sitting in the high chair in the kitchen eating his dinner. What was on his spoon and around his mouth reminded me of something I had left at the Jamboree........in a pit!!

As I said this was my first trip away and it was the middle 60's. How times change. When I took my family to Florida and Disney world my daughter was 4 and my son aged 2.

Well it is late and I have an 18 year old out at a party and any time now I will be called upon to go and collect her and a few of her merry friends. Dad’s taxi service never rests. Neither does the job of collecting.

Next installment soon and I promise not such a long gap as the last.

Time to play catch up.

I must apologise, dear reader, for not having posted in a very long time. Life has a tendency to meander and tangle like the roots of a great tree and the course of a stream.

I have been busy of late with living, work and family affairs. Now it is my intention to continue our journey from the age of 12. You have read of the schooldays with interest I hope. So get ready to read about the events that coloured my life during weekends and evenings. I need to precis many things or this will soon become a chore to read. I can be over descriptive and I would not want to take your imagination for granted. I think it is fun to simplify some events and allow you, the reader, to add your own imagery.

I will hasten away now to Microsoft Word and prepare the next chapter in the life of a Collector. It will posted here soon. Though I do have a very busy July ahead. I am training some new skills, attending some seminars, visiting a military show and having a well deserved holiday. A new vehicle is on the cards, a new employee and a new responsibility.

Time for tiffin.