Were any of you ever in the Beaver, Cubs or Scouts?

I did Air Cadets and would genuinely recommend it to this day.

Getting to learn and fly planes and gliders (and do aerobatics if you were brave enough), week camps abroad and in the Uk, shooting training and competitions and all the other usual stuff like sports etc at either the MOD's expense or at least very very subsidised.

Some of my best experiences and really helped me when going through a pretty difficult time.
 
Did all three. Moved Scout troops as the one I was in was way too serious. Found the new one to be the same; uniform inspections, having to stand correctly, address people formally, rehearse for parades, etc. I just wanted to learn stuff, go camping, etc. and had no interest in the pseudo-military nonsense. So I left at 14 or 15 I think.

IIRC, the final straw was a Duke of Edinburgh award expedition where the weather was just absolutely horrendous. Non-stop torrential rain. Everything was soaked through; the gear we were wearing, the gear in our packs, the tents, etc. We stuck through the first night, but then decided to give up. We called for the leader to come and collect us. And he refused.
 
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skipped cubs/scouts ended up straight with the air cadets, as mentioned above it's good fun with plenty of interesting opportunities.

the flying is fun, upside down at 3000ft next to the most stereotypical handlebar-mustached retired raf officer you've ever met (seriously dude was straight out of a biggles comic) is a hell of a way to see blackpool.
 
aaron said:
I did Air Cadets and would genuinely recommend it to this day.

Getting to learn and fly planes and gliders (and do aerobatics if you were brave enough), week camps abroad and in the Uk, shooting training and competitions and all the other usual stuff like sports etc at either the MOD's expense or at least very very subsidised.

Some of my best experiences and really helped me when going through a pretty difficult time.
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Same here, best thing I ever did for social development and generally getting to do some interesting stuff.

I was absolutely gutted when I got my first job and it was no longer viable to keep attending at the level I needed to.
 
Beavers - all I remember is a huge hall and running underneath a parachute.

Sea cadets - was fun, lots of opportunity to do water sports (eg kayaking, power boating and rowing once a week).
 
Haha, there was (is?) only a Sea Cadets unit in my hometown so that was my option unless I wanted to travel. Regardless, I'd have gone for it over the others anyway because I wanted to learn to sail, kayak etc.
 
McPhee said:
Did all three. Moved Scout troops as the one I was in was way too serious. Found the new one to be the same; uniform inspections, having to stand correctly, address people formally, rehearse for parades, etc. I just wanted to learn stuff, go camping, etc. and had no interest in the pseudo-military nonsense. So I left at 14 or 15 I think.
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This sounds a lot more like Cadets than Scouts?

I also did air cadets in my early teens and enjoyed the shooting, flying and "army games" part of it, but as above there was far too much of the parade/perfect uniform/being shouted at because one of your laces was 2mm longer than the other etc., so I left.

The scout group I'm part of now is far more laid back - yeah we encourage the kids to take pride in their appearance and try to instil at least some semblance of discipline in them, but the focus is mainly on teaching them to be helpful and respectful to each other and the wider community, along with teaching them various life skills but having fun at the same time.
 
Haggisman said:
far too much of the parade/perfect uniform/being shouted at because one of your laces was 2mm longer than the other etc., so I left.
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to this day i am incapable of doing anything other than a proper windsor knot when i'm wearing a tie.

which i suppose was probably the intended outcome of all that polish.

what's worse is when you'd spent the weekend polishing your shoes to perfection and some [redacted] stamps on the toe......
 
adolf hamster said:
to this day i am incapable of doing anything other than a proper windsor knot when i'm wearing a tie.

which i suppose was probably the intended outcome of all that polish.

what's worse is when you'd spent the weekend polishing your shoes to perfection and some [redacted] stamps on the toe......
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Amen to both points, still wear a proper Windsor to this day.

And like you say, absolutely nothing worse than when you spent hours on your gleaming polished shoes and someone would stand on them.
 
GreatAuk said:
Although at the time I was very indignant that girls could join beavers and cubs but boys couldn't join brownies and rainbows (not that I wanted to of course, it's the principle that counts! [/Life of Brian guy sat in the amphitheatre]).
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That's the first time I've heard of Rainbows. Wasn't it Girl Guides though? I remember a primary-aged girl would be in Brownies, then around secondary age they'd become a Girl Guide. The same progression from Cubs to Scouts for boys.

I did do Cubs, although I didn't find it that accessible having low vision and hearing. The Akela would set the task for the evening and we just got on with it although I often felt left out, especially if we were outdoors in the night time. In the end, I think I did most of the Cub years but didn't progress to Scouts.

A few years later, the Sun newspaper printed a story where my Akela from my village and the Akela from the neighbouring village both ran away from their wives to live a new gay life together :p
 
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