Cubs & Scouts

A Cub scout troop was started in c1958 by John Munday of Byways, Goodacres Lane, Lacey Green (click John & Jill Munday)

Report in Hallmark 1980 by John Munday, Cub Leader. click 1980The Cubs 'egg tombola' for a full explanation,

The 'Egg Tombola' on behalf of the Jimmy Saville Stoke Mandeville Hospital appeal raised £40 and thanks are due to all who braved the bitter weather. Apologies to the residents who were disappointed not to be dragged from their homes to play egg-tombola in the road on a Sunday morning.

Hallmark 1980 by Stuart Stansfield click 1980 Cubs & Scouts by Stuart Stansfield for the full article

The Cubs' Hut at Kingswood Farm

I became involved with Scouting in Lacey Green in 1980. There was a thriving cub group in the village, under the leadership of John Munday, who was assisted by Brian Biggs and Arthur Watters. click Brian & Betty Biggs or Arthur & Valerie Watters for more about Brian and Arthur.

At age 11 the boys needed to move onto Scouts and there was no group for them, so with sons aged 11 yrs and 9 yrs respectively I felt I ought to perhaps do something about it and Arthur Watters agreed to share the responsibility with me.

We began the troop with about a dozen boys, mostly from the cubs, but with a few more from outside the village. Initially we met in the school hall, but we really needed a place of our own and John West kindly offered a site on his land at Kingswood Farm. We had been offered a redundant building from a firm in Marlow, which we could have at no cost, if we were prepared to break it down and reassemble it in situ at Kingswood. Over a few months this duly happened and it remained the headquarters for a couple of years until Lacey Green and Speen Scouts amalgamated. We then met in the established Scout hut at Speen, which had its own surrounding woodland, which lent itself to all Scouting activities. We were able to do some adventurous pioneering and enjoyed cooking over wood fires etc.

Hallmark 1983 Lacey Green & Loosley Row Scout Group reporting John Munday.

Our organisation continues to remain popular with boys from the village. There are now 21 scouts and 24 cub scouts meeting on Tuesday and Friday evenings.

During Easter week 24 of the boys will be taking part in the Scout Association Venture Week held at Butlins Holiday Camp in Minehead. Over 30 different activities are available each day from Abseiling to Volleyball as well as hikes across Exmoor and visits to local places of interest.

On returning all the boys will be taking part in the National Job Week (formerly Bob-a-Job). Please try and find a small job for them, remember inflation has hit the Scout Association hard, but they must earn their money.

Sunday, April 24th is the West Chiltern Scout District George's Day parade and service. This year it is being held at the Princes Risborough Church and hopefully some 400 boys attending.

Lacey Green & Loosley Row Scout Group By John Munday

A party of scouts spent the week before Easter on a trip to the Lake District with their leader Stuart Stansfield. They were able to climb several of the peaks and spend time exploring the area. Accommodation was a wooden hut at the Great Tower National Scout Camp Site, but the more hardy members slept.under canvas.

On 28th April the second annual Barn Dance was held in the Village Hall. This proved a tremendous success with over 100 people dancing to "Tre Pitchforks" a young Folk band from Wellesbourne School. The evening ended with a party of Hambye villagers arriving unexpectedly to join in the fun. The French do not normally engage in the peculiar British pastime of Barn Dancing, but I suspect that a dancing revolution has just been started somewhere in Normandy.

On 4th May both Cubs and Scouts undertook alitter collection throughout the village. From Grimsdyke to "The Whip" and all side roads were covered, together with the triangle around Loosley Hill. A total of 15 sacks of rubbish were filled during the cleanup and it is hoped that this will boost our chances in the Best Kept Village Competition. This was done purely as an act of community service to the village, and not as a fund raising event.

The next day a party of Cubs joined 4 coach loads of other Cubs in a district visit to Wickstead Park in Northampton. This is a pleasure park and a good time was had by all.

I am sorry to report the resignation of Brian Biggs and John Tory from active service in our group. Brian has helped for the last 5 years in the Cubs and feels that he has "done his bit". We are now desperate for adult leaders again, and I appeal to anyone between 18 and 65 male or female to help these young lads in their formative years.