At the beginning of our section of this web-site is a list of Old Scouts with whom we have lost contact. This list has been updated, with a few subtractions, but more additions. Please look at it, and tell us if you know of any recent postal or email addresses.
Drew Hoggatt wrote just before the Reunion, but somehow his letter was overlooked for the last NewsSheet : “It’s marvellous to hear from you. My time with the 16th Reigate had such a big influence on my life. From cooking to leadership, I learnt valuable lessons in the Scouts, although I note that the stove I currently use seems to operate without soaking a leather washer in paraffin. I enjoyed Scouting enormously, – it was the principle source of fun as I grew up. I am now married to Amanda, and for the last eighteen years have been indulging my various enthusiasms at work, namely electronics, foreign languages, and working with and helping my colleagues. It sometimes feels like a sort of expanded Kestrels at Paxton Access. That makes me count my blessings frequently.”
At various times in the past four years, we have told of Ross Letten’s ocean voyages. In July, his wife, Shez, emailed : “Brill news . . . On arrival Thursday Island 13.15 Wed 8th June 2009, Ross has completed his dream . . . He has circumnavigated the globe by sea.” Ross’s third report : “Shortly after our arrival at Lizard Island, Paul and I elected to do the two-hour climb to Cook’s Lookout. From the Coral Coast Cruising Guide : ‘Lizard Island was named by Captain Cook in 1770, when he used the island as a vantage point from which to seek escape for Endeavour when he became convinced that further passage north might risk embayment.’ Moonlight Shadow then set off on a three-day non-stop passage from Lizard to Torres Strait. We were blessed with near full moonlight, which was vastly reassuring when we opted to thread our way through short-cut passages between shoals, reefs and islands in the more cluttered parts of this beautiful area. Even with our GPS chartplotter, which makes accurate navigation a doddle, this was pretty exciting.
‘Raaaaaiii’ This is the best rendition I can give you on paper of my silly muppet cheer when we dropped anchor at 10°36’S by 142°15’E, intercepting the track taken by Neville Stanford and me when we departed westwards on 28th June 2005 aboard his 43-foot catamaran Blithe Spirit. This completed my 23,300 nautical mile circumnavigation, albeit a cruisy trade winds / Panama Canal one. Of this, 14,200 miles were with Neville aboard Blithe Spirit as far as Panama, 8,500 miles with Paul aboard Blackbeard across the Pacific to Townsville, and the final 600 miles with Gary aboard Moonlight Shadow from Townsville to Thursday Island. Many thanks to these three good friends for the opportunity, and to my other crewmates for sharing it. But I’d really like to give my greatest thanks to Shez for being such a brick, and giving me the pink ticket and moral support to be away from home for such extended periods. And now we are about to launch the dinghy and head for the hotel on Horn Island to celebrate.”
I replied :
“Hi Shez and Ross. Thanks for your email re circumnavigation, and many congratulations ! I must confess I sometimes raise eyebrows when someone claims to have gone round the world without going as far north as he did south. (Eg, the American who flew round non-stop without ever going nearer the Equator than about 35°North.) However, 23,300 miles is good enough for me, – probably more than the equatorial circumference. Well done ! I imagine the GPS navigation would not have been possible without some of Captain Cook’s surveys. I have looked at the Google map attachment, but must now get out an atlas to find other places you mention.”
Ross explained :
“You raise an interesting question about what constitutes a true circumnavigation. In the sailing world, it’s generally reckoned that you need to cross all meridians of longitude and must cross the Equator twice. On that basis my route was OK. However, a more rigorous definition stipulates that a circumnavigation must :
begin and end at the same place;
travel in one general direction;
cross the Equator at a minimum of two points;
touch at least one pair of antipodes;
travel a distance at least equal to the length of the Equator.
On this basis I might fall foul of the fourth requirement. The nearest pair I can find we recorded were Aruba in the Caribbean and a point along our track from Darwin to Cocos Keeling Island in the Indian Ocean. (I leave readers to check latitudes and longitudes. – R.) These are 21 nautical miles shy of being true antipodes, but our actual track may have been better or worse, depending which side of the rhumb line we happened to wander. We often departed from the rhumb line, particularly in lighter winds, because multihulls actually sail faster if they head up and sail on a reach, and then gybe over, rather than sailing directly downwind. My conscience can live with an unintended 21-mile gap !”
Back in the early summer, I e-mailed Mike Pupius and David Tayler, both of whom live in Sheffield, saying: “On Saturday 4th July I shall be driving up to Whitby for a week’s painting holiday. I shall be passing up the M1 about lunchtime, and wonder whether we can have a private 16th Reigate Reunion.” I also contacted Peter Tayler, who lives in Wylam, wondering whether I might see him after the holiday.
Mike replied: “Unfortunately I am unable to join you on 4th July. The reason is really ironic. I retired last December, and have volunteered to be a part-time ranger with the Peak District National Park. That weekend I shall be on a two-day residential course where the topics will include, would you believe, navigation and countryside safety. So I shall be putting into practice all those map-reading skills I learnt from you as a Scout !”
I replied: “Pity about the clash; another time, perhaps. Hope you enjoy being a ranger. Are you instructing ? or learning map-reading ? I hope GPS is not putting these valuable skills out-of-date !”
Mike further explained : “Just back from the Black Mountains, Wye Valley, and the Gower, where Jenny and I did quite a lot of walking, including along Offa’s Dyke. Brings back memories of the Wye Valley canoeing camp. I am a trainee volunteer ranger with the PDNP. This is the second weekend of a training programme that lasts around eleven months. I started by shadowing rangers on their patrols in January. Patrols start from the twelve or so briefing centres scattered around the Park and are between 7 and 12 miles. The aim is to be the ‘eyes and ears’ of the Park authority. Other roles include conservation, stile maintenance, sign-posting, etc. A part-time ranger commits to twenty days (Saturdays or Sundays) a year. It’s unpaid, although expenses are paid if you join a regular shift. There are four more training days to go, with a final assessment in November. It’s just like being back at college ! I’ve got GPS which has the large 1:25,000 map of the Park loaded in on an SD card. Other maps can be added. It records the trip, and this can be downloaded into Memory Map. But the PDNP insists on a high standard of map-reading and compass work since we could be on Kinder in the mist and find the batteries are flat. We patrol on our own, so have to be self-sufficient and able to survive in the worst conditions the Park might have. They do give us a radio, just in case.”
I was able to have lunch with David Tayler and his wife and youngest son enjoying a home-made pizza, as well as admiring his neat garden.
After the painting holiday at Whitby, I drove north via Hartlepool. Here I visited the Lifeboat Station because our donation to the RNLI eight years ago was to provide a GPS system for their inshore boat. As we requested, they had installed a plaque acknowledging our contribution, but recorded us as the ‘RGS Sea Cadets’ ! ! The earlier Hartlepool life-boat, called ‘The Scout’, was replaced about twelve years ago, and is now seeing service in Argentina.
I drove on to Wylam, just west of Newcastle, where I was able to spend the night at Peter Tayler’s home. Peter is now retired, but is well involved with village activities. We took an afternoon stroll in the countryside, and went to an evening barbecue party. I had wondered whether I could also meet Davie Nicholson but it seems he may have moved from Wylam. The following afternoon, I drove on to Penrith, where I had a delightful meal and chat with John and Marion Hamlin.
Other bits of news :
Pete Manfield and his wife Pia have recently had a baby son, Theo, in Johannesburg.
Simon Jeff with his wife Rona, have moved from Croydon to Cheam. He is now Deputy Director of National Operations in the Home Office’s National Asylum Support Service, and seems to be enjoying it.
If you have not yet looked at the list of ‘Lost Scouts’, at the top of our web-site, please do so now, and send us any information you have. There may be some you would like to get in touch with again.
There will probably be no further NewsSheet before January, so have a
Joyful Christmas and a Peaceful New Year
Robin H. Bligh, robin@reigategrammar.org
39, Monks Walk, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 0SS. 01737 - 248135.