25th Ealing Water Activity Weekend: 19th/21st Sept 08
Ahoy there!!! Following last years resounding success afloat, from Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd Sept. upwards of 65 Scouts, Cubs Beavers, friends and families from 25th Ealing got Wet and Wild….. AGAIN!! At vast expense we booked the Dockland Scout Project Headquarters Training Ship, "Lord Amory" moored by the only working Lock in the West India and Millwall Dock Complex, for a Water Activities Weekend. The “Lord Amory", a 150 foot /47 metre, ex Dutch Pilot Cutter was built in the late 1930’s and has formed the heart of Dockland Scout Project since 1981 and is literally moored in the shadow of the Canary Wharf Docklands office complex.
Accommodation
We had the free run of the ship over four levels with overnight accommodation on board for up to 40 “guests” in two, four and six berth cabins.
The Scouts and Cubs quarters were in the “bilges” with some parents and Leaders quarters on the upper deck and purely by chance I managed to bag the Captains cabin, complete with 2 portholes!! See www.lordamory.org for more information.
The Course Programme started at 2000hrs on the Friday evening and finished at approximately 1700hrs on Sunday, so we had 2 very noisy nights on board.
Water Activities
2 whole days of Water activities were undertaken using kayaks, Canadian canoes, rowing boats, sailing dinghies and pulling boats from a fleet of over 100 boats, within the safe waters of the West India Docks. The young Instructors from the Dockland Sailing project looked after us expertly and catered very well with our wide range of skills from complete landlubber to old seadog. All activities were supervised and full personal safety equipment and rescue boats were provided.
On Sunday, the last session before lunch was the infamous Docklands regatta which involving everyone getting as wet as possible during a game of volleyball in boats!! (sometimes they even stayed upright). This started off with all of the team walking the plank off the side of the ship into the freezing waters of the dock.
Age Limits
As the Lord Amory is a real ex-Naval ship, its not very user friendly for “little people” who would struggle getting up and down the steep companionways, through the water tight doors and into the bunks, so anyone sleeping-over was limited to Cubs, Scouts and adults. On the Saturday we invited our Beavers and parents down to get as Wet and Wild as everybody else, finishing off with a family BBQ on the dockside in the glorious sunset.
A great time was had by all and I am sure that we will be repeating the event in future
Dave Folkerd,
Group Scout Leader 25th Ealing
Wembley Stadium Tour: 4th October
As it’s unlikely that our 5-a-Side football team will get the opportunity to move their matches from Hanwell Community Centre to Wembley Stadium, 30+ Beavers, Cubs, Scouts Leaders, friends and family had a chance of a lifetime opportunity to experience the “Wembley dream”.
On Saturday 4th October we arranged an exclusive tour of Wembley Stadium. We wandered into the dressing rooms like superstars, limbered up in the world's most exclusive warm-up zone, strode through the tunnel towards the hallowed turf and as match winners we climbed all 107 steps, to stand triumphantly in front of the Royal Box to the roar of the crowd. After having our photos taken with our sticky fingers on the FA cup, we went into the press conference room to be grilled on our magnificent performance by the worlds press.
Well… we can all dream, but the visit was a great couple of hours for only £8 for the youngsters and £15 for adults.
Check out the Wembley stadium Web site on http://www.thestadiumtour.com/VisitorInformation.aspx
Dave Folkerd, Group Scout Leader 25th Ealing
