STUART KEEN

33 Years old and my other half still thinks I am in the scouts!  So many great experiences from Cubs through to Venture Scouts and the granny knot proves very useful in DIY exploits around the house!

Shin splintering games of stave hockey in the institute, night wide games in Newbottle and the legendary summer camps where there were so many highlights – canoeing, caving, mountain biking and of course the nightly ghost stories!

I remember canoeing for a whole weekend in an inter-scout competition. As far as I know no other scout troop entered and we found ourselves competing against army cadets instead. Suffice to say we struggled and ended up needing a pick up half-way through the course as it was clear we weren’t going to finish. Only plus was that we won a trophy (even though we were the only scout group to compete). 

Wandering around the Cropredy festival with a blanket collecting money for the troop during Fairport Convention’s set was a little surreal. Hippies can be very generous, although I remember some unusual smells as we crept through the crowd. 

My wally of the week award at scout camp still remains one of my proudest achievements (if you google my name this is the first, and only, entry you’ll get – class!!!!)

JAMES TITCOMBE