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Written by George Hyland
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Sunday, 06 August 2006 |
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Page 1 of 4
Pioneering in the scout movement never sounded a very romantic branch of the game, but it always made an appeal to me. The pioneer really comes into his own when the troops are operating away from base. He must choose, lay-out, maintain, and eventually clear-up any camp-site. This in no way diminished the responsibility of any troop member for camp cleanliness, but it did eventually pin responsibility down to one body, which is always an advantage where discipline must be maintained.
The pioneers' duties are by no means simple. Take the siting of a camp. One could try standing on a slope of the COTSWOLDS and saying "That's a nice view -- I think we'll choose this". A good site needs more than a view. After installation, someone would soon enquire "Why do we have to go so far for wood?" or "Couldn't we have got nearer to water?" No, there are many small matters to consider and decide; but although it did not lack its practical day-to-day content, the job always had a certain amount of romance for me. Anyway, they gave me plenty of pioneer work to do in the 7th, maybe because, being a teacher, I had a little more time to spare, and pioneering demanded it.
For one thing, it involved transportation, the moving of the camp gear, tents, kits, not to mention a considerable amount of stores, necessary for the initial feeding of the troop. This, of course, later became relatively simple; but in the early days, finding some means of transport that could be spared at that time of year to do our relatively unimportant jobs was by no means easy, particularly as we had to run everything on a shoestring.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 August 2006 )
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