The Peacock beavers were amazed when given the chance to watch volcano erupting at the scout hall, and after learning about how the ‘eruption’ happens, they are now all on their way to earning their Experiment badge!
Author Archives: George
2017-03-24 – Peacock Christchurch Visit
2017-02-25 – Peacock Sikh Temple Visit
Working towards their Faith Activity Badge, Peacock Beavers visited the Sikh Temple (Gurdwara) in Dartford for a tour and to learn about Sikhism. After the short walk from the Scout hall we were very warmly welcomed to the Gurdwara. We then covered our heads as a sign of respect and were given an introduction to the Sikh religion. After this, we went into the main hall where we watched some videos about what happens on a daily basis in the Gurdwara and had some of our questions answered. All of the beavers thoroughly enjoyed themselves and learned a lot, so a very big thank you to everybody who made us feel so welcome.
2017-02-11 – ASDA Community Winners
Peacock Beavers recently won the ASDA Greenhithe Community Life Award as a result of shoppers voting us as the most worthy cause by placing their little green tokens from the checkouts in our collection bucket.
This morning two members of Peacock Beavers visited the store and were presented with a very generous cheque for £200 to be spent on future activities for the colony.
A big thank you to everyone who voted for us!
2017-02-03 – Peacock Police Visit
Following on from the success of the Collins Pack visit to Bexleyheath Police Station, it was the turn of the Peacock Beavers. After some discussion about how to stay safe and what to do in an emergency, the beavers had their fingerprints taken before being locked in the cells! Following this they got a chance to climb inside a Police van and try out riot shields. The visit ended with the Beavers being presented their safety badges by a police officer.
2017-01-27 – Peacock Teamwork
Peacock Beavers have recently been working towards achieving their Teamwork Challenge badges. After learning about the importance of working as a team through some parachute games, teams of 4 were formed… The challenge – to build the tallest tower possible using only spaghetti and a bag of marshmallows. Both teams did very well, building two very different towers (as the photos show!), with plenty of marshmallows left at the end for eating… 😉
2014-11-17 – Explorers Segways
On 17th November, Johnston Explorers were joined by Steve, who’s father was a 5th leader in the past, and Tony from Leisure King for an exciting evening riding on Segways. With a course laid out around the hall, we donned helmets and were shown how to use the Segways before setting off around the course. Following this was a slalom relay race to test our skills. Continue reading
2014-07-26 – Summer Camp 2014
44 Scouts, Explorers and leaders attended this year’s summer camp at Butchers Coppice Scout Campsite in Bournemouth. The camp site was very good with a large flat camping field with good facilities and excellent activities. The scouts were divided in to three patrols which they names themselves (CTC, Somalia, Should of Gone to Spec Savers) and the Explorers worked as a team, dividing themselves in to groups for the cooking rota and activities.
The traveling to and from camp was problematic with Bournemouth being such a popular holiday destination leading to heavy traffic in all directions, resulting in 5:30 hours there and 5 hours back, even when diverting of the motorways and taking the TomTom diversion.
The first full day, Sunday, we hit the ground running by visiting Christchurch beach and then in the afternoon running Ready Steady Cook. On Monday, the older Scouts and Explorers prepared for the overnight expedition with the younger scouts taking part in on site games and sports challenges. With the equipment checked, food provided and route set, the minibuses dropped the expedition teams at Corfe Castle, with the Explorers setting off first whilst the Scouts stocked up on refreshments, before heading off on the ridgeway to Tyneham and meeting up again at Steeple Leaze Farm to pitch camp enjoy a hearty meal of bean-feast around an open fire under the stars.
Tuesday saw the adventurers return at lunch time just in time to enjoy an afternoon at Spashdown Water Park with all the fun of the flumes.
Wednesday saw all members take on the challenge of the camp sites high rope challenges and actively taking part in the sites camp fire (My hands are high, my feet are low, how do you like to bungalow!).
Thursday was a full day of sailing and kayaking at Hengistbury Head water activity centre with a sausage and chip supper and then drove out to Burly, where light pollution is minimal to meet with the local Astronomy Association and enjoyed an educational evening star gazing, observing the Moon’s craters, the rings of Saturn, Mars rising and the closest galaxy system Andromeda to mention a few.
Friday, the last full day on camp, saw us utilise the climbing, abseiling, power-fan and zip-wire activities & I’m very impressed with the Explorers video, which can be found below. With the clouds slowly rolling in, we enjoyed an evening BBQ.
Saturday was a wet start and a wetter pack down, with even more rain on the road home, resulting in all the tents being aired back at the hall.
Many thanks to all the leaders giving their time knowledge and experience to make this summer camp so successful, without them it would not be possible to organise and provide such an excellent experience for our Scouts and Explorers to enjoy and learn from: Maggie & Jim Lilleycrop, Del & Ashley Hurd, Dave & Felicity Monteith, Jason & Kay O’Brien, Darren Watts, Matt Parry.
Orienteering Challenge:
CTC – 16:40 mins, Somalia – 14:00, SoGtSS – 10:40.
Over Night Expedition:
Scouts: Nathan, Nathaniel, Ben, Chris, Henry, Joe, Matt & Angus.
Explorers: Dom, James, George, Cian, Shea, Jessica, Abi, Jake & Adam.
Paul Boreham
Group Scout Leader
2014-05-02 – Edinburgh Chase
This year’s Edinburgh Chase was just as popular as previous years and had a number of teams consisting of 5th Dartford Explorers and Leaders taking part, ranging from the Junior to Veteran categories.
This year was one of the more challenging routes that this event has offered, but this didn’t stop all of our teams from completing in very respectable times.
A special mention to 5th Dartford Leaders team 72, who completed the course in 6hrs 18mins and also passed through both of the surprise checkpoints. This meant that they were awarded 1st place in the veteran category.
Thanks to the organisers for making such an enjoyable event possible and also to the 5th Leaders who did not take part in the hike, but instead gave up their time to provide hot dogs to teams after completion. I hear that there are already people in training for next year’s event…
Full results from this year’s event can be found here.
2014-04-18 – Easter Camp @ Thriftwood
Another well attended Easter Camp, which this year was blessed with warmer weather owing to the later holiday weekend. Many new faces attending their first Scout Camp, learning new skills as they start their new adventure. Activities included Kayaking, Climbing, Archery, Fishing, Backwoods cookery, Campfire, Wide Games, Axe & Saw, Whittling & Survival Bracelets.