3rd Brampton Scout Group

Well, there’s many reasons, but it all started back in 1896, when the founder of scouting, Lord Baden-Powell, while off at war was working with an American born scout, called Frederick Russell Burnham, who gave him the idea of the scarf.

Frederick Russell Burnham

A sketch of Frederick Russell Burnham by Baden Powell

Where did it come from and why do we have it? Well, when scouting started, it was just a bit of cloth, the scarf or the Necker, with a loose knot. It wasn’t actually anything. And over time, as we know now, the Necker got really creased and it looked ugly with just some random scarf.

Again, BP went back to America and he got the inspiration for using a bit of bone. So William Hillcourt (August 6, 1900 – November 9, 1992), known within the Scouting movement as “Green Bar Bill” took the idea of the American’s bone ring, but wanted something a bit better. So what he did, he went back to his shed and rustled up some ideas and he went to his sewing machine and he took some leather and he invented this thing as we know, called the Turk’s Head.

The inspiration comes from America and the Americans call it the Boon Doggle, Bill wanted to take the inspiration of America, but didn’t like the word boon doggle. He thought about it and he copied the idea and he came up with woggle because it rhymes with doggle. The Boon Doggle turned into the English woggle. After a few attempts, he made up this Turk’s Head using thin sewing machine leather. And then he presented it to the camp chief and also rumour has it, he gave it to the Chief Scout, and they gave it the all okay.

On the 9th of June 1923 in a scouting magazine, the woggle was born, There was an article in a magazine giving some ideas about having this woggle and it became very popular and very fashionable in scouting. And the scouts loved this idea of having a woggle rather than an ugly knot. They took it on board and it went crazy. But as we know, the Turk’s Head is only actually allowed to be worn by a leader who has done their wood badge. And that Turk’s Head wobble is known as the first Gilwell Woggle.

Baden-Powell references the woggle in the 14th edition The Scouts magazine in 1929. said, “It, the scarf, may be fastened at the throat by a knot or woggle, which is some form of ring made of cord, metal or bone or anything you like”. Previous editions only refer to it as a ring. The design of the Gilwell Woggle, formally the Turk’s Head knot, as I say, is only really allowed to be worn by members of the first Gilwell Park who have done their wood beads and completed their training. But now it’s fashionable for anyone to do it.

There’s lots of different designs of the Turk’s Head, lots of Scouts actually do it, part of their camp craft and make them out of para cord, some amazing stuff and also some stuff that the Turk’s Head made out of LED lights. And there are hundreds of designs of woggles antler, bone, leather, plastic, many ones that we all do as scouts and make it ourselves to make a bit more personalized.

It’s a scout woggle woggle, is what we call it. Yeah, but there we are. The history of why scouts wear these, the woggle, or is it the boondoggle? I’ll leave it to you.

Adapted from big man in the woods

Hello everyone, I hope you are all staying safe and well.

There are a few things that you need to be aware of for returning to face to face meetings.

According to scout rules from Head Quarters, we are now allowed to meet face to face inside or outside (outside preferably, however with dark nights upon us, this will prove difficult in the coming months).

We can meet with a maximum number of 15 young people and 5 leaders. (Carers are in addition to this and not counted in the numbers).

We have been trialling the scout section for the past couple of weeks. Therefore we now have a process in place to be able to start the beaver and cub sections.

The new systems

When dropping off your young person, you (adults) should remain in your car.
The young person should go to the “meet and greet” leader who will be outside the building to register attendance and sanitise their hands.
They will then be directed to their designated meeting area.
When collecting young people, we ask you to wait outside the building and the leaders will be bring out the young people in their designated group.
It is a requirement that scouts wear a face covering and whilst it is not a requirement for beavers and cubs to wear a mask, they may do so if they wish.
Hand sanitising stations will be set up and young people will be encouraged to use them at regular intervals. Scouts are being asked to ring their own mini bottle of sanitiser with them.
In the process of planning, we will do our best to have none contact activities.
All young people must have up to date emergency contact numbers. Please ensure we have this information.

Returning dates:

CUBS

Hipper Cubs and Rother cubs will be returning on the week commencing 12^th October, So Monday evenings will meet on the 12^th and the Friday evenings will meet on the 16^th. Due to the large numbers in the cub sections we cannot meet with all young people, therefore we will be splitting the section and young people will be meeting on a fortnightly basis.

Leaders will be in touch to let you know which group your child will be in, in the near future. Group 1 will meet on the 12^th or 16^th and group 2 will be issued with an activity to undertake at home, then the following week group 2 will meet up and group one will be working on an activity at home and visa versa, until further notice is given from HQ regarding number changes.

BEAVERS

Both Hipper and Rother beavers will be starting week commencing 2^nd November, so Monday section will meet on the 2^nd and Friday section will meet on the 6^th November.

SUBS

Payment of subs will re-commence from the 1^st November. Unfortunately, there will be an increase to £15 per month, please amend your standing orders accordingly from that date. This is due to the lack of subs being paid during the pandemic, with insurance still having to be paid in February for each young person and leaders. The Exec team feel that this is reasonably the way forward, having not had an increase for many years, and will still offer excellent value for your young person.

PARENT ROTA

Of course we still need your help to run our sessions, so please speak to your leader to offer a night to help out.

4 WEEK CHALLENGE

We are short of leaders, is this something you have been thinking about but not yet sure? The four week challenge is a gradual introduction over four weeks that shows new volunteers how much they can get out of volunteering at the Scouts – new skills, new friendships, new experiences, and a sense of making a difference to the lives of young people in their community. Is this for you? It’s like a try before you buy scenario. Talk to a leader if you are interested, or email sharon@alwaysout.co.uk to discuss in more detail.

Or if you think you don’t have the time to dedicate fully, or don’t fancy the uniform and training, why not think about becoming a section assistant. Again talk with a leader or Sharon for more information.

What’s the point in a woggle?

Return to face to face meetings