WEEKEND CAMPS - AN OVERVIEW
1. INTRODUCTION
There is no doubt that there were a large number of weekend camps throughout the history of the 70th Scouts. Indeed, they were as integral a part of Scouting as the weekly troop meetings on Friday nights, as they allowed Scouts to master the various outdoor Scouting skills that were needed to proceed through the Tenderfoot, 2nd Class, 1st Class, Venturer and Queen's Scout Badges. Weekends camps were also important in gaining the various Proficiency Badges that focused on Camping and Outdoor skills. However, although the surviving log books provide a wealth of detail on Friday night meetings, they provide very little information on weekend camps. Unlike the longer Summer and Easter Camps, the vast majority of weekend camps were rarely recorded, either in print or in photographs. Therefore, the following descriptions of weekend camps offer only a snapshot of what actually occurred.
There were a large variety of weekend camps. There were troop camps open to any Scouts who wished to attend, as well as Patrol camps that were organised purely for the Scouts in a specific Patrol. There were also training camps that targetted specific Scouts in the Troop. For example, in the mid 1950s, Ian Blake ran a number of weekend camps at Everton that provided targeted training for the Seconds and the PLs, as well as training camps aimed specifically at novices and first-time campers. Other training camps were run specifically for teams that were entered for District Competitions, such as the Shannon Cup and Pioneering trophy. For example, in 1960, a training weekend was held at Rosneath for the 70th Patrol entered for the Shannonb Cup that year. Some weekend camps were organised by the District as training for a specific badge. For example, it is believed that weekend camps may have been organised for Scouts wishing to gain their Cooking Proficiency Badge. However, the majority of weekend camps were probably organised with no specific goal in mind other than to go camping, have fun and perhaps pass a few tests.
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2.1 Organisation within the Pack
The boys in a Wolf Cub Pack were split into different sixes, with each boy wearing a coloured triangle on his left arm to identify his six.
For example, the Wolf Cub in figure 1.1 belongs to the white six. The colours of the sixes represented different wolves and were usually white, grey, black, brown, red and tawny. Each six typically had six boys. Usually, the oldest boy was the Sixer in charge of the six, and wore two yellow bands round his left arm (Fig. 1.1). The second in command (the Seconder) wore one yellow band. In the years following the Second World War, a Senior Sixer was chosen who wore three yellow stripes (Fig. 1.2). However, it is not clear whether this was an 'official' rank or not.
Figure 1 Christopher Wilson as Sixer of the White Six (1960s)
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Figure 2 Douglas Brown as Senior Sixer (1949)
The leaders in the Pack were named after characters in the Jungle Book. The overall leader was the Akela, while other leaders could choose their own names (e.g. Bagheera, Kaa, Baloo etc). However, the official term for the leader of the Wolf Cub Pack was Cub Master or Cub Mistress.
2.3 The Wolf Cub Laws and Promise
Each Wolf Cub had to know the Wolf Cub Laws and Promise off by heart, and to know their meaning. There were two Wolf Cub laws which were known as the Laws of the Pack;
‘The Cub gives in to the Old Wolf.’
‘The Cub does not give in to himself.’
The Wolf Cub promise was the following:
‘I promise to do my best.
To do my duty to God, and to the King/Queen
To keep the Law of the Wolf Cub Pack,
and to do a good turn to somebody every day.’
The Wolf Cub motto was 'Do Your Best'.
2.4 The Training Scheme for Wolf Cubs
To be admitted into the Wolf Cub Pack, a boy had to learn the Wolf Cub Laws and Promise, the salute and the Grand Howl (see later). Once accepted, he could wear the uniform and was called a Tenderpad.
Wolf Cubs worked towards two metal badges called the First Star and the Second Star. Tests for the First Star included a knowledge of the Union Flag, patron saints and the National Anthem, an ability to tie knots, balance a book on one's head, do a somersault, leapfrog over another Cub, and catch a ball (see also Appendix 1). Tests for the Second Star included swimming or skipping, lighting a fire, making a cup of tea, using a compass, knotting, simple first aid and carrying a message (see also appendix 1). The two stars represented the wolf’s eyes and were pinned onto the Cub cap (Fig. 1.1). Therefore, a fully trained Wolf Cub was said to have both eyes open and be capable of looking after himself.
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Figure 3 Examples of Wolf Cub Proficency Badges
(Collector, Swimmer, Cyclist, House Orderly, Gardener and Athlete
Wolf Cubs could also earn triangular proficiency badges (Fig. 1.3) which were worn on the right arm. In 1949, there were 12 proficiency badges with different coloured backgrounds depending on the following classifications;
Character (Blue): Collector, Observer, Gardener.
Handcraft (Yellow): Artist, Homecraft, Toymaker.
Service for Others (Red): First Aider, Guide, House Orderly.
Physical Health (Green): Athlete, Swimmer, Team Player.
These colours were particularly vibrant and are remembered by many ex-Wolf Cubs to this day. Curiously, all the proficiency badges bore the heading 'Boy Scouts' rather then 'Wolf Cubs'. This was because all members of a Scout Group belonged to the 'Boy Scout Association'.
A Wolf Cub who was about to go up to the Boy Scouts worked towards his Leaping Wolf badge (Fig. 1.4) representing the 'leap' from the Pack into the Scout Troop. In 1949,this required gaining the Second Star plus two proficiency badges. The Leaping Wolf was the only badge earned in the Pack that could be worn on Boy Scout uniform. The was replaced by the unimaginatively named Link badge in 1968.
Figure 4 The Leaping Wolf Badge.