16th Reigate Scout Group

Number 199

January 2006

We have had the usual snippets of news from Christmas cards, some e-mails, and an increasing number of family news-letters, - again, many thanks. Just for a change, in alphabetical order this time.

Neil Butcher sent "a quick up-date on the household. I am still working for Arup in Solihull, trying to help Nanjing Auto make a go of re-starting car production at Longbridge. Working with the Chinese is proving to be most interesting, - it takes a long time to gain their trust. The daily canteen menu of pork (mainly fat and bones), greasy cabbage, and as much rice as you can eat, is beginning to get a bit repetitive. Jill has given up nursing to become a year manager at a large inner city secondary school in Coventry. The work is demanding, especially because of her total lack of educational experience (since leaving school!). Son Paul has just started at Leeds University, reading Pharmacology. Annabel is working hard in her GCSE year. Mum and Dad are still enjoying life in Budleigh Salterton. Dad is not as healthy as he once was, but passed his 80th birthday in September."

Tim Carter is another one saying "It is now 14 months since I retired 'full time' and 12 years since I retired from the Police, and I do not really know where the time has gone. I have filled the past year with all and sundry, and never once have felt at a loose end or bored. Apart from holidays, I have been back to college to do a CLAIT computer course, and also a 'Fun with Digital Cameras' course. I have done some invigilating at our local Runshaw College. My main hobby remains golf, which I continue to play fairly poorly two or three times a week (handicap 20), but since April I have spent an awful lot of time on my new allotment. I have had a marvellous year growing . . . [ and there follows an alphabetical list of 25 different vegetables ] . . not to mention various herbs and a number of different fruits."

Keith Chappell has moved to near Bury St Edmunds, but he has not yet given us permission to publish his new address on the web-site. Email is unchanged.

John Cunnington remarks: "Thanks for the News-Sheet. Though none of those with news is my contemporary, it is still interesting to read about the wide range of activities that 16th Reigate Scouts get up to, and the places they visit. Very useful anecdotal evidence for part of the course I teach at the OU on Globalization."

Richard English has now moved to 'Dormers', Church Road, Partridge Green, West Sussex, RH13 8JS. E-mail unchanged.

David Goldson says we may publish his e-mail address:
Goldsondiss@aol.com . "Since retiring from the Royal Thames (Yacht Club) in May, I have been catching up on a long list of house and garden chores, as well as managing a few days in glorious Tresco, and, more recently, a cruise to the Western Med. The complexities of modern life seem to mean that the paperwork of personal admin take as much time as a full-time job !"

Phil Griffin has moved house, to 5 Carlton Road, Redhill, RH1 2BY. Nothing to report apart from my just changing jobs, - now with Friends Provident in Dorking, in the IT department. I have my doubts if anyone will find that of much interest." Of course someone will.

John Hamlin's e-mail and Christmas letter, told us of their usual numerous foreign holidays, this year in Crete, the Auvergne, and Bulgaria. They also had a geological holiday on the Isle of Arran, (where our Group camped in 1960). They were pleased to read in the October News-Sheet news of more recent Old Scouts, whom they remembered. Perhaps others of them will write in.

Colin Harriden's news came in the form of a poem with eleven verses and five photos of the family ! It seems that Matthew and Thomas were up to the usual teen-age mischief, but also coped manfully with cooking, etc., while Margaret was in hospital. Matthew is now applying for a university place.
"Colin's new office, just over the hill, ( the office, not Colin !)
Is a ten-minute drive, his work to fulfil.
Collecting the data, presenting the plan;
Joining a team as the 'solitary' man !"

Ashlin Harrington now fully retired says "Free at last ! or at least more free to do some of the things I have been wanting to do for a long time, like more walking and painting. I did walk the Hadrian's Wall Path in May, with three friends with whom I shared a cottage for a year when at University in Dundee. It was a great week, with wonderful scenery, especially in the middle more rugged section, and we were extremely lucky with the weather. We really felt that we had achieved something when we had finished. We walked the whole length of the Path (84 miles) from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway, and with diversions to B&Bs, we reckon we covered over 90 miles in six days.
This autumn I have been going to a life drawing class in Bath, so that I could put some people into my paintings."
I know the feeling; my landscapes and seascapes often look incomplete without people, but when I try to include them, they ruin the picture ! -- R.

Michael Jackson e-mailed : "Thank you for keeping us in the picture with news of Old Scouts. I have been enjoying my retirement, and have found that the past five years seem to have rushed by extraordinarily quickly. Earlier this year, we bought a house in south-west France, about mid-way between Bordeaux and Toulouse. This has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and it has been good fun entertaining all the friends and family who have visited. Inevitably the first few months were spent furnishing and equipping the house; and we are expecting now to spend rather more time exploring the area by car and bike."

John Jeff is the father who found us our often used Whitsun camp-site on the River Arun. He tells us his son Simon has been promoted to Assistant Director of Immigration Services in Croydon. His wife, Rona, is Press Officer for England Netball, which allows the possibility of holidays in the US and Australia for World and Commonwealth Championships.
Alistair has been in the motor industry, and is now Group Business Development Manager of a firm which supplies computer software solutions to the industry.

Frank Kroger has sent more details of his longshoreman career in California. It is much more sophisticated than just being a dock worker :
"In the summer I worked the cruise ships on the weekends, and took supervisor jobs during the week. I may soon be offered training to work the control boards, to move grain through the terminal. Grain, mostly soy beans and corn, but also some bird-seed, arrives by train, gets stored and cleaned in the elevator, and then loaded on ships for the Far East. It takes about ten trains to fill one ship. A ship is loaded in about three days, with conveyor belts feeding two spouts. We can only load in dry weather; the Captain decides when it is dry. If the grain gets wet, it expands, and can make it difficult to get out of the holds at best, and can crack the hull of the ship at worst.
I am concerned about the world oil situation. We seem to have built a way of life that is totally dependent on 'cheap' oil. World oil production is peaking and going into decline just as China and India are developing an increasing appetite for it. I doubt that alternatives such as solar, wind, and tidal power will replace oil. We need to develop a more sustainable life style, but it is getting a little late for that."
In a later e-mail. Frank continued this theme : "After the hurricanes, even Bush now tells us we must drive less, but he is clueless, and has not instituted programs. During the Carter regime, we had a national 55 mph speed limit. Less is being spent on alternative fuel programs than in the past. I now drive a Honda Insight hybrid. I now seem to get about 56 mpg (US) driving around town. I have been walking more. I only take half a tank of gas at a time, to reduce weight."
- The opinions of just one thinking American.

Steve Lanzon says: "Just to keep you up-dated, I now live in Marksbury near Bath. I still work for Wessex Water as a Project Manager, and recently became a Chartered Civil Engineer. Hoping to start a family in the near future."

James Leeson sent some brief news : "Since Oliver was born 13 months ago, I wonder what I used to do with my time, - he is keeping us very busy. I am presently (Dec) experiencing negotiations in China which have a very different format from Europe. Not only is it through a translator, but people are constantly walking in and out, having long discussions between themselves. I am not sure time-management is a concept in China."

Ross Letten < rossletten@hotmail.com > gladly gives consent to his e-mail address being published. He writes :
"I recently (late October) arrived in Durban, South Africa, after sailing from Australia with a friend in his 43-foot catamaran. Not having done an ocean passage before, I wasn't sure whether I was going to enjoy it. Certainly the idea of sailing off into the sunset across the Indian Ocean, and visiting the remote coral atoll of Cocos Keeling, the Mauritian island of Rodriguez, and Reunion seemed very romantic. But would it become boring after a bit ?
Well it certainly wasn't boring, - we were generally kept too busy working on the boat and sorting out problems for that. Half way across the Gulf of Carpentaria we suffered a fuel starvation, caused by dirty fuel that prevented us charging our house batteries, and forcing us to divert. And 200 miles out from Cocos Keeling we frightened ourselves with an electrical fire in the port engine room. And the autopilot and steering system connecting our twin rudders failed 800 miles out from Rodriguez.
Did I enjoy it ? Yes I did, but the enjoyment came more from the satisfaction of achieving a goal and overcoming the various problems rather than from the sailing itself. Although we had favourable south-easterly trade winds at between 15 and 30 knots virtually all the way across, the Indian Ocean is notorious for its confused waves and swell. These generally made life on board our light displacement catamaran a bit uncomfortable. Perhaps the best parts were arriving at the next stop-off, and celebrating with our fellow cruising yotties !
We are presently waiting for a suitable weather window to allow us to hop down the coast to Cape Town. From there we are entered for the South Atlantic race, which starts on 4th January, and goes to Salvador in Brazil."
Scouring two web-sites shows 'Blithe Spirit' as the only Australian entry. On 19th January she had done 2612 miles and had 800 to go, was lying 2nd in her handicap class, the winner having already finished in record time. At noon on 23rd she had only 22 miles to go, likely to finish 2nd in her class and 4th over all out of more than forty entries.

Pete Manfield e-mailed briefly "I've just got from Pakistan where I've been helping with the relief effort in Kashmir. Very difficult to get to people who are cut off by mountains
and blocked roads."

David Mundy wrote: "Our family news is that Sue and I now have eight grandchildren (to our three daughters) aged from 10 years down to 5 months, - almost one per year ! Interestingly, it was four girls followed by four boys. They certainly keep us busy. Today I met Tom Lockett, who also lives in Send, and he saw me coming. He mentioned that it was already two years since the Reunion, and how time flies these days. Thanks for all the editing work you do for these News-Sheets."

Chris Pook says "We have now moved to Tokyo, and are somewhat lost in translation at the moment; but I can give you a reasonably reliable contact: pook.chris@gmail.com .
We are currently living in a house right in the heart of Tokyo, ten minutes walk from one of the big shopping districts, and four stops on the subway to work. My job as Counsellor (Science and Innovation) at the Embassy, is similar to the post I had in Washington, but with a bigger team. I would be more than happy to hear from any Old Scouts who might remember me, and who happen to be passing through Tokyo."

Jeremy Pritchard now likes to be known as Jim. He sent us this in October: "I just received an e-mail from Duncan Wesley with your e-mail attached. The past 40 years, (since my last meeting attendance), have taken me along a strange and unpredictable road. But to sum up, the positives have been very good and outweigh the negatives. I live in Cowes, keep my yacht in a barn, and spend most of my leisure time gliding from Lasham. I have four grown kids and one wife more than I had planned. Please visit www.jimpritchard.co.uk " I believe this will reveal he is a boat surveyor. He gave no news of his brother John; perhaps he will soon.

Mike Pupius was planning to spend Christmas at a ski resort in the US, and then in San Francisco, where his son Dan has been head-hunted by Google. Earlier Mike had celebrated his sixtieth in Antigua, the highlight of the holiday being a helicopter flight over the still active volcano on Monserrat.

Bev Ransom has now replied to our enquiries, and is still living on his 70 ft narrow boat named 'Tiercel', which is still based in the same place: The Wharf, Norbury Junction, ST20 0PN. However, he says that is own name is now Ralph, but he does not tell us whether it is the common phonetic pronunciation, or the aristocratic 'Rafe'. ( Several Old Scouts have now decided to adopt other names, but usually one of the alternatives on their birth certificates. This does not seem to be the case with Ralph; he just wants to avoid invasion of his new privacy. So his address is not on the website version of this News-Sheet.) He writes :
"Since retiring, I have popped off to University, to study for a degree in Systems Analysis, set up my own computing company, disposed of that, and now work part time to help my youngest of three children through University, where she is studying Law. My years with the 16th laid a solid foundation for life, though I am still an awkward old B… I now only become involved in problems concerning my latest passion as a Tenpin Bowling Coach. - Managed to breed a daughter who became a British Junior Open Champion in 2001, - more likely to have been the result of marrying an intelligent woman. Incidentally, my daughter was at Stafford Grammar School, where one of her teachers was Dr Crane, sometime mentor of DofE students at Reigate. What a small world.
Ralph also tells us that his brother Neill has moved to 58 High St, Syston, Leics, LE7 1GQ,
neill@chelstokeinternational.com , but we are not yet allowed to put this in the website edition. Perhaps Neill will soon get in touch himself.

Graham Richardson sent a brief up-date:
"My brother Gordon seems to be doing well out in Houston, and survived the hurricane season unscathed. I've spent some time working in Kalamazoo, though I did manage to get away at the weekends to do a bit of canoeing in some of the untouched waterways. I am now living with my wife Ellen Sophie in North London, and am happy to have my address published : 15 Bramber Road, Finchley, N12 9ND. 020 8343 8406.

Pete Roulston ( Taff ) is now fully qualified as a doctor, though still in the army. " Arrived safely in Cyprus, - Episkopi for those who know the geography. Looking forward to a busy couple of years. The road signs look like A-level Maths questions, with Greek letters all over them."

Peter Wheatley has sent a lot of news from Dauntsey's School, especially of his very successful U16 Hockey team.
"Scouts have also kept me busy. Things keep changing, and I am struggling to keep up. The Troop that I run [ not in the school ] is still one of the largest in the County, and we are very active indeed. However, there is only myself and one assistant leader doing it all, so it is hard work at times. We went off on our usual five camps, spread throughout the year. Our summer camp was down in Pembrokeshire, on a remote but very beautiful farmer's field site. It was ideal for canoeing, and also for exploring the superb coastline of the area, - and we did plenty of both. The weather treated us quite kindly, and we only had a couple of wet days to contend with. I shall be taking the Scouts to Dartmoor over the New Year week-end.
The Scout Association has decided that all Scout Troops (with no option at all) have to go mixed by 2007. At the moment we are a boys only Troop, and as there is a local Guide company, our boys feel quite strongly they want to stay that way. They don't want our robust programme diluted down. I have no strong opinions either way, but I have no intention of altering the way that I run things to fit girls in. We cannot possibly take girls in without a female leader, and despite our best efforts to attract one, we have had no takers so far. It seems strange that Scouts are being forced to become mixed, while Guides remain firmly for girls only. Positive discrimination !"

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Many thanks to all those who have sent us their news, and to the others who sent Christmas greetings. It would be good to have a lot more for our 200th issue. How about some more memories of camp adventures ?

The web-site version of this News-Sheet can be read by anyone throughout the world, which is why we do not publish personal addresses without the owner's permission. So please tell us if you are happy that we do so. We can give the information in private letters or e-mails, - so ask.

Robin H. Bligh: 39 Monks Walk, Reigate, Sy. RH2 0SS.
01737 - 248135 robin@reigategrammar.org.