Monthly Archive for November, 1999
THE CLOSING ceremony of the 1999 Noah’s Ark Rally was held by Loughborough Students’ Scout & Guide Club at Oaks-in-Charnwood.
The rallies take place three times a year at different district Scout sites around the country.
More than 130 members from all around England attended, some coming from as far north as Newcastle and as far south as Bristol.
The weekend comprised outdoor pursuits, team building exercises and an introduction to what Loughborough has to offer, ranging from climbing to a visit to the bell foundry.
They also held a gala meal to celebrate this, the last rally before the millennium, which was followed by a fancy dress barn dance at the university. The theme for the rally was Noah’s Ark, and most of the activities highlighted this.
The overall aim of the event was to bring together national societies for a weekend of fun.
Loughborough Scouts and Guides would like to thank all the local and national companies who offered their support to the event, 3M of Loughborough, Transmitton of Ashby de la Zouch, Garendon Insurance Consultants of Loughborough, KP of Ashby de la Zouch, Charterhouse Holdings plc in Shepshed, Wallis Hulse & Company in Shepshed, Outside (outdoor shops) of Sheffield, Mutches Coaches and Residential Services at Loughborough University
See the newspaper article from the Loughborough Echo here
Friday
It was Friday afternoon. I had finished my lectures for the week and I had already packed to leave, ready for my first rally ever. I picked up my dinner, which was Prawn Sandwiches (not the best, but it was still food). Then, I made the long trip down to the union waiting for everyone else to turn up.
Typical!! I was the first one there, 10 minutes early, and the sky was getting darker by the second. We weren’t the only ones going away this weekend. I had so many people asking “Was I with the hiking club?” or “Is the caving club meeting here?” I got asked so many times that I knew exactly where each club were meeting, but there was no sign of Scogui.
At last, people started to arrive. I had no idea what was going on. We had two minibuses, which we tried to fit on radios but didn’t actually work. Our kit was pilled into one, and everyone else into the other. We set off to our campsite.
We arrived at the campsite quite quickly. Unfortunately, it was in the middle of no where with no lights anywhere to be seen. Only the birds rustling in the trees going to sleep, who were disturbed by this rabble that had just arrived. We unloaded the kit into the hall. We now had the lovely task of putting up the tents.
It was dark, and the wind was picking up. We decided to choose the most steepest, muddiest patch to pitch our tents up ever. We also found out that one of our tents had a great big massive hole in it. After getting covered in mud, I volunteered to do Car Park Duty.
I wrapped up warm and set of to the campsite’s entrance which was miles away. I had a radio in hand to keep me with contact with the people back at campsite. I sat there for hours opening and closing the gate for people coming and going. I sat there and laughed at the people who turned down the wrong path as the sign pointed down it. It was cold and it started to rain, someone kindly brought me a cup of hot chocolate. But, by the time it came to me, it was cold.
Anyway, my time on the gate had come to end. I was sent into the hall to warm up and have some hot soup and meet people. I sat down, and talked to these new faces I have never seen before in my life. It was amazing. People were talking to each other. They didn’t care who they were and where they had come from, although the topic of conversation was “Where did you come from?” and “How long did it take?”
Since it was the 5th November, we had some fireworks. They were not very good, but they were still fireworks. It was then time for the campfire.
This was quite interesting. I have never seen so many people fighting to get close to the flame to stay warm. Songs started flowing around the campfire. Songs that I have never heard before. Songs I will not teach my cubs! I tried my best to join in the chorus as they were pretty basic.
Anyway, it was getting late, I was very tired from the 6 hours of lectures I had that day. I hit the hay.
Saturday
It was cold that night. I didn’t sleep well at all. I can not sleep with cold feet. We were woken up very early. We had to, we were helping.
Breakfast was being cooked while I got ready. It was a very nice cooked breakfast too. Sausages, Bacon, Bread etc. Very nice. I was impressed. So many mouths to feed as well.
Next thing we had to do was to man the bases for the hike. I had to closest one to the camp, so I walked there. I didn’t know where I was going, I was just told it was in that direction there. I did manage to find it.
I sat there for ages, waiting for teams to pass through. I had lots of joggers covered in mud up to their head pass through to keep me company. At one, I decided to head back to the campsite. In total, I had three teams pass through. Unfortunately one team passed through twice. I then found out why I had so little teams pass through my checkpoint. Geoff, the person organising this camp, didn’t include the rule that people were not allowed to use their cars.
Anyway, after a lovely lunch, a Coach picked us up and took us to our activities. I was going to the Bell Foundry. It was a very interesting tour, worth a visit in my books.
After the tour had finished, we had to take a walk back to the EHB bar to have a few drinks before dinner. This was quite amusing . I had to take loads of people back to the EHB from the middle of Loughborough. I had only been there in the university for 4 weeks and I didn’t know my way around the centre of town. With a little bit of help from Rowan, after disappearing into a pub, I managed to get back onto campus and get them to the EHB.
After a lovely dinner at the EHB (lasagne followed by a chocolate gateau) we had a barn dance. This was a new experience for me as I haven’t been to a barn dance for a long time, although I did enjoy myself. Half way through this barn dance we had a fancy dress contest. I just like to add as well that our new chair and his brother won with their wonderful idea of a Giraffe, and by looking at the pictures, you can see why.
After a long evening we retreated back to the campsite and again had our fire and loads of singing, although I had a soar throat from the barn dance.
Sunday
I found myself waking up early on Sunday morning yet again. The funny thing I ever saw was Geoff trying to wake up a tent full of kit. He wondered why he wasn’t getting any response from the tent.
Anyway, after waking up and having a wonderful breakfast, we had a Scouts and Guides Own, which didn’t really go to plan but it was still good.
Silly Games followed afterwards. I was put in charge of the base. I was told to look after the game where people were blindfolded and then two people had to guide their team into a sheep pen. I forgot to mention that everyone was tied to someone else so they only had three legs. This was quite amusing watching people trying to walk three legged blindfolded. Also, I wasn’t told that we got bribes for the best team. I got a verity of cakes, biscuits and sweets.
After the games had finished, anyone who was in charged of silly games that involved water seemed to be soaking wet. I thought that the whole idea of people being tied with three legs is so that you can get away a lot quicker without getting wet!! Not the case obviously.
Dinner came afterwards and after that people started to pack up to go home. We had a closing ceremony. Again, I learnt something new here too. Each club has a mascot. We have Scogui Bear. Most have teddy bears etc. If your mascot get nicked, then you have to do a forfeit to get it back. I think Bristol had to take a spoonful of some food that someone mixed up. It looked liked George’s Marvellous Medicine.
Everyone broke camp and I got back to university about 5:30. I enjoyed the weekend very much and I can not wait for the next rally, were we will not be helping but taking part.
Written by Simon Parr
