John Wright (John)
One of those scouts who sat around No.1’s kitchen table with Alan Hughes, Peter Jones, Stuart Rae, David Knight and Dale Rogers. ASL/SL (1965 to 1998) (GSL (1998 to 2008) District Chair (2010 to 2019). Currently (2024) Assistant Beaver Leader and Archivist. Joined as a Wolf Cub c1956 with Pov. Along with Alan Hughes, David Knight were awarded the Queen’s Scout in 1965. DofE Gold a year later. Has two wood-badges for Scouts (1965) and Beavers. 2004, also awarded the Silver Acorn.
None of the above would have happened without the encouragement and support of ’Monty’ Evans. Adventures at Poulton-Lancelyn on the Wirral and Overchurch Scout Campsite by Morton. Overchurch was the official campsite for Bebbington, had a Log Cabin, swimming pool and a Warden where those camping were inspected each day. Fun and games took a second place to survival, we ate only what we could take with us and had three meals a day all cooked on open fires, typically breakfast: cereal, egg and bacon, lunch; sandwiches and fruit, evening meal meat, potatoes and vegetables and supper hot chocolate and cake. Nothing was ever left and there was no choice. We travelled on a Crossville No 41 bus to Woodside, Birkenhead and then the No 77 to Moreton. Taking all our gear on the top deck and seating ourselves at the back where there was a small storage area – we thought nothing of it. As a Senior Scout attended many weekend and annual camps of particular note, travelling in the back of an old borrowed Bedford van to the International Scout Centre Kandersteg in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland in 1963.
Uniforms have changed a lot over the years, back then it was green beret, ‘Gold’ neckerchief, lanyard. Scout belt, khaki shirt, shorts and Scout knife. We also cut our own scout staff from beach trees.
Senior Scouts helped with internal construction and painting of the old HQ, supervised by Chippy. The walls by the Den and Kitchen are proof of our construction skills as they took much pounding over the years and stood as solid as ever. Games were very rough, they included the now-band game of ‘British Bulldogs’.
At 18 years it was an unwritten expectation that you take out a warrant as a Leader and after some initial training by the County I was given my first warrant as ‘Scouter’ on 1 July 1965 on parchment signed by Charles Maclean. The ‘home grown’ leader is still in operation in 2024 as Peter (Addy) Adamson, Chris Reddy and Chris Marchant all run sections in the group. Of course, there are many other leaders in the group who do fantastic work whether they were in the movement before or joined out of a desire to work with the young people from our area. As Scout Leader I was not able to attend annual camp until I changed jobs that gave me more than two weeks a year holiday and my first was in 1976 at Llansantffraid at Owens Farm and then every year after. As part of the organising team I was camp chief for two District Indian Summer camps at Sandiway and ‘Pawnee’ Sub-Camp chief at APACHE in 1987. My last camp as Leader was to Ruetlingen (1998) our twin town and hosted by Verband Christlicher Pfadfinderinnen und Pfadfinder (VCP for short). We hosted the VCP at Chamboree and at the Scouting Centre by Lyn Crafnant in the Conwy valley. Times and ideas move on and so I left the Troop in the safe hands of Mat. Bather and then Chris Marchant who does a fantastic job. I became District Chair serving three District Commissioners. Keeping in touch with Scouting through the St George’s Day ceremony and as camp chief for the district skills day at Forest Camp Sandiway. In essence being a member of the Scout movement has had a great impact on my life for the better, it helped me to develop confidence, self-reliance and a whole host of life skills all of which are transferable to the world of work and life in general. Leaders reading this should be in no doubt about the positive impact you will have on the young people you come into contact with, whether you volunteer for a year or decades. Finally my motivation for undertaking the research for the archives is in honour of everyone who has been associated with the Group in whatever capacity for any length of time for without them you would not be reading this now. Those that are no longer with us should never ever be forgotten.
