Cubs Harry Potter - Xmas Trip (DECEMBER 2012)

By Isabelle Marin-Curtoud

Sixer Green Watch

On Sunday the 9^th of December, a windy day, the 4^th Streatham Cubs met at Streatham common station at 2:00 pm. We were all ready to go and we were all excited. First we all got on a train and went two stops to Clapham Junction. Then we all got on another train to Watford Junction .  When we got off we all went outside to get on the Harry Potter bus which took us there. Then we got off the bus and went into the glorious Harry Potter experience. 

We picked up our tickets and queued up in line to enter and on the way to the entrance we saw Harry’s famous cupboard under the stairs.  When you entered first you went into a massive room and it had eight different screens showing the posters for the movies in different languages . The we went into the cinema, and they showed us a Video of Harry, Ron and Hermione welcoming us, before the Cinema wall went up to reveal the door way to Hogwart's. Finn got to push the door open as it was also his birthday and then we entered the extremely famous Great hall. Then the adventure began. We entered a room with lots of different props in it like

• The floating candles,
• The door to the chamber of the secrets,
• The magical stirring spoons in the classroom of professor Snape,
• The gates of Hogwarts,
• The wigs of the famous evil Lucius Malfoy
• and the … GRIFFINDOR DORMANTRY.

 Then you went into an outside bit were you could eat and get refreshments. We had a bit of our pack lunches. There was the night bus and the flying car and the annoying Dursleys house. Then we entered the creature apartment and saw the creepy Aragog then we entered the amazing  DIOGONALLY and we saw Olivander’s wand shop and Madam Malcums robe shop . 

Then we entered the drawing bit and we saw wooden models of some of the buildings. THEN… we entered a big black room then in front of our eyes is a model of… HOGWARTS. Then we entered a room with all of the people who made the Harry Potter. Then we entered the shop and had a few minutes to look to see if we wanted to buy anything. 

Then we left the experience and got back on the Harry Potter bus. We had to wait about 45 mins for a train from Watford Junction to Clapham Junction and then we had to wait another 25 mins to get another train from Clapham Junction to Streatham Common . We all arrived home safely at 11:24pm. It was a magical day that we will not forget. 

Tramp Camp & Mess Dinner (DECEMBER 2012)

By Matthew Howard

Eagles Patrol.

We arrived at the scout hut at 8.15pm on Friday 7 December 2012 we waited for everyone to arrive than we played games including table tennis. Before we went to bed we made our camps out of cardboard, tables and rope we then laid out sleeping bags out in our camps and then we tried to get to sleep but everyone was chattering and in the middle of the night one of the camps collapsed and they had to make it again.

The next day we took our camps down and had breakfast then a couple of us went to Iceland the shop and got the food for the mess dinner. Then we took the minibus and headed to the boat house. At the boat house we got dressed in our gear and life jackets and then took the boats out of the boat house and pulled them to the river bank. We then rowed the boats to a different part of the river bank. There were lots of different boats and I rowed in 2 of them. After lunch we then towed the boats and put them in the boat house.

Later we got changed in to our full uniform and had the mess dinner which consisted of Turkey and all the trimmings and it was delicious! Later there were speeches and toasts from all of older scouts and Leaders.  Later we changed into our ‘disco clothes’ and danced the night away until our parents came and picked us up. It was epic!

Cubs Secret Nuclear Bunker Camp (NOVEMBER 2012)

By Dom Walker (aged 10)
Grey Watch

When we arrived on Saturday afternoon we went into the bunker through a tunnel made from corrugated metal like a bomb shelter. We went on a tour of the bunker, outside it was like a farm or a common and it was in the dark so I kept tripping over and got covered in mud. We walked over a bridge into the night. It was weird because I had never been anywhere like this.

When we had our meal I helped to clear up. I really liked trying on uniforms including the hats of an ARP warden and a firefighter. We learnt that if a nuclear bomb is dropped the radiation would not travel more than 10 miles, and the toilets in the bunker are called heads like on a ship.

Our dormitory had dummies (mannequins) and the next room had a dummy with a bleeding knee which freaked most people out. It was like an episode of Dr Who where the dummies come alive. Some younger kids cried so we tried to make them laugh. When we were told that we could sleep in the Mess instead we all shouted ‘yes’ I was happy not to sleep with the dummies but some of the Scout leaders and older Scouts stayed in the dorm. 

After the tour of the bunker, we split into 3 groups, and went to different sections of the bunker to play some indoor wide games. The first one was having to get across the room just using bits of paper as stepping stones. The next was a radio challenge were we had to send and receive information over the radios to reproduce an shape that one half of our team could see. This was really fun. The last one was a rover game, where we had to be blind folded and lay on a skate board and go up the long secret passage way to collect items at the other end, while be directed by other members of our team. 

We went to bed at about 11pm sleeping on the floor with blankets and sleeping bags and some people were livelier than others.

Breakfast was cereal and beans or spaghetti hoops on toast – nice toast. Then we went outside to an assault course climbing on a high wooden beam, it was fun. Some people didn’t like the height but I really wanted to climb right up to the spider web. Then we went pioneering, crawling through pipes which was gross, it was wet and dark and there might have been rats.

I will always remember this trip, with relief and fondness. It is a good trip for Cubs but probably not for younger children and it would be even better without the dummies! 

Chilly Camp (NOVEMBER 2012)

Someone need to write this article please... 

Survival Camp (OCTOBER 2012)

Eleanor Pettem

A.P.L of Eagles

We arrived at the scout hall at 9:00 am on Saturday 13^th October. We left about an hour later, to go to Frylands Wood. When we got there, we put up tents straight away, ate lunch, and then did some bivouac building. I was with Harry and Ava when we did our bivouac, so Harry had to instruct us as he had a broken arm. Pretty soon, it started to pour with rain, and our bivouac fell down (the small part of it that we had made fell down). I think the other groups bivouacs were a success, and I could tell Ewan’s was, as his was right next to ours.

After the bivouacs, Estelle, Ava, Matthew and I started to cook dinner, working towards our cooking badges. We made potato and meat stuff. While we were cooking dinner, some of the P.L.’s had a go at gutting and cooking a fish. After dinner (and fish), we set some traps, and then headed towards the crater in one of the fields to play some games.

We played German Spotlights, and also a new version of man hunt. This was where a few people had to go and hide, and everyone else had to search the whole field to find them. It took quite a while to find Subs, and a few people walked right past him! When we had finished playing games, we headed back to the campfire to sing some songs, and a leader from another troop joined us.

Next morning, we ate breakfast (cooked by the same people). During the night it was very cold, later on we took down the tent, it had rained overnight, so we lay them out on a sunnier campsite so they could dry out. Then we loaded the van, packed up the tents, then headed back to Streatham. Over all lots of fun was had by all.

Great River Race (SEPTEMBER 2012)

Lewis Cox

(A.P.L of Kestrels)

On the 25^th of September the forth Streatham Sea Scouts set off on a race across London known as the Great River Race, it defiantly lives up to its name. The Scouts include: Myself, Ben, Ewan, Harry, Josh J, Johnny, Eleanor, Jake R and Mowgli as the cox. 

The Explorers (Freddie, Nathan, Mitch, Liam, Xander with Sub and Trick coxing) also took part in another one of our gigs (Thames Scout).

Friday 14th September

We arrived at the scout hall the day before and drove to the boat house, where we were briefed on the tide and safety in the boat. We went to bed early to get ready for the race (the excitement of the race kept us up a bit longer though).

Saturday 15th September

An early start, woken up with a daunting day ahead of us. This was my first GRR so I was excited to see just how the event ran. We were faced with a tire that after many hard years of tugging boats, popped into a useless layer of rubber. So with even harder determination to get this boat in the water we pulled our hardest and got the boat in and we were afloat by 07:00 hours. We had a tow by the Whaley across most of London and saw some amazing sites but in only a couple of hours we would be rowing our hardest the other way.

We arrived at the starting line. We got out the boat and looked around. They were offering free face paints so we all ended up with 4^th Streatham logo and iLTG on our faces (a lot of games were lost that day). After this the tide was rising quickly so we got back in the boat just as the last centimetres of shore were left.

The Race...

With might and determination we powered our way across the starting line and gave it all we could. It was an astonishing sight- more than 300 boats all in a small section on the Thames. Because of the fact that we were an under 14 crew up against fully grown men, women and Vikings. So we had a good head start and got to Tower Bridge before the sudden mass of boats starting flowing across the Thames for the hundreds of people on bridges to gaze down on us in awe. It was hard work. The water was all over the place and water was making our boat tip and turn. No wonder that 5 boats sunk before the race had even really begun. However in our gig we were safe.

We were making good time we were only a few minutes behind our set target. Though we were being taken over by boats left right and centre everyone had high spirits after the fist couple hours. I was surprised to see so many people in boats, one time I had to shout out to another boat as they were about to ram into our stern carelessly.

People started to get tired when we reached Putney. We were alone at this time, there were no other boats near us. We kept a steady row for a while more. We reached Richmond and we were attacked by vicious PIRATES! (Two men in a canoe and some water guns). We’d been slowly approaching this Viking boat for a while when we decided to put in some strength and overtake them. So not last but very close to last.

The tide changed on us, literally. So we had to row really hard to make any way. When we got to the last hundred metres and rowed with what little strength we had left and crossed the line. There was a massive crowd of people on the bank and it was really amazing to cross the line. It was defiantly better than I imagined. We completed the Great River Race in 5hrs 30mins and 45secs. Meaning we came third in the under 14’s class!!

The Disco

So after we got the boats docked up on the side. We went to the big marquee and had fun at the Disco. Lots of crews were in fancy dress. We danced for a couple hours, before everyone was so tired and we all went to sleep in our tents. 

Sunday 16th September

We rowed back and got the boats away at the boat house. We then headed home for a well deserved rest after a long weekend.

Thanks to the leaders for making this happen!

The Video...

Below is a video that we took of our epic journey during the race.

Cubs visit Pets at Home (SEPTEMBER 2012)

All the Cubs!

On Friday 14 September, the cubs went to Pets at Home. They were shown around the store, and where told about all the different animals in the store, and what they eat, how to look after them, and what types of cages or tanks they should live in.

One of their favourite facts was that Syrian Hammers could run at 200 mile per hour! And the Chinchilla can stead all their fur if they feel threatened. The following week at our meeting they did some drawings of the animals they saw.