Dib dib dib

The last post was my 50th, so as I reflect on a milestone reached, it is time to pay tribute to another which is headlining this week.

Today is the start of the Scout Jamboree in deepest Essex, which commemorates the centenary of the Boy Scout movement. Scouting is now a merger of traditional Boys Scout and Girl Guide packs, so the organisers of the event are hoping for an excess of 50,000 participants this week.

From an initial gathering in 1907 on Brownsea Island the event has grown and grown, and the target figure for this week could rival the record of 1929, when over 45,000 scouts assembled in Arrowe Park, near Birkenhead to celebrate the 21st anniversary. That event was nicknamed the 'Jamboree of Mud' and all the rain of recent weeks has had organisers worried that not only would the attendance record be broken, but that the levels of mud would far out do the traditional swamp which is the Glastonbury Festival. I am sure, though that a bit of mud will not dampen the enthusiasm of those attending.

Lemar and Liberty X headlined the opening concert last night, and Prince William is due to put in an appearance during the week. Peter Duncan, of Blue Peter fame, is the current chief scout and he welcomed everybody to the jamboree, a word which derives from the Swahili , Jambo, meaning 'Hello'.

Two of the S-club are helping out this week in the Splash section, when they plan to put 4,000 scouts on the water each day for four days......raft building, kayaking and sailing are some of the activities involved. The helpers were briefed earlier in the week to expect a certain number of deaths, and that the number of free condoms they give away will still not be sufficient to eradicate totally any of the unwanted pregnancies this event has traditionally produced......I wonder what badge you get for that then?

Oh, and the site of the jamboree in Arrowe Park is now a golf course and is just down the road from where we live. I have hacked round there many a time....