International Jamborees: 1981 Report UK
1981– County Jamboree - Tawd Vale, Liverpool, U.K.
July - August / Participants 700 / Countries 13 / South Africans 12
The British Scout Association invited Natal to send twelve Scouts to England to participate in an International Scout camp, a down-scaled Jamboree.
Greg Camp and Robert Goudie were the Hillcrest representatives at this Jamboree. These are Greg Camp's recollections of this trip, written in 2008.
Several senior Scouts throughout Natal were invited to be interviewed by a Senior Selection Board at Scout Head Quarters in Old Fort Rd, Durban. Being a Springbok Scout helped, but sought-after qualities in leadership, independence and good manners were high on the requirements. I was really excited by being selected to go on this wonderful tour and of course, representing South Africa. My parents then set out to finance my trip and my Mom knitted many, many jerseys to sell at the local morning-markets. These were the days when travelling overseas was not all that common and expectations and excitement were at a premium.
The twelve of us (two of whom were from disadvantaged Troops) attended a camp at Burman Bush and were put through our paces in many of the Scouting skills and instructed on the do's and don'ts of the tour. We were all young, made good friends and could not wait to board the aircraft
We left on 5th of July 1981 and flew to Zurich. Wow! Life in Europe was so different to South Africa. I suppose throughout the entire trip, we were all amazed at the unique and colourful dress-codes, liberal media, wonderful and historical architecture and the sheer size and pace of the cities we popped into.
We spent two days in Zurich and then moved onto Kandersteg, a permanent and beautiful Scout camp in the Alps. Here we all had fun sleeping in a hut above the tree-line, swimming in an ice-cold glacier lake and encountering snow. On the 10th we flew to Parts and stayed in a dodgy part of this beautiful city. In the four days there, we tramped around visiting and taking in many of the regular sights and several that were off the beaten track. On the 13th we flew on to Amsterdam. What an incredible place. On one of the days we cycled out into the countryside where the scenery was stunning. On a canal tour we were shocked to see the narrowest house in the world - one metre.
In England, each Scout stayed with a local family in the Southampton area. This allowed us to find out all about this part of southern England and catch up with the laundry. We then spent five days in London before moving onto Tawd Vale Scout Campsite in Merseyside being a thickly wooded forest in which our mini Jamboree was held.
There were 700 Scouts attending from 13 different countries. The week flew by and it was crammed with true Scouting spirit, friendship and challenges. We managed to win the rugby tournament. A good time was had but we were starting to look forward to home.
In the early hours of the 5th of August, the skyline of Johannesburg appeared as we buckled-up for the landing. It was great to be home and I am sure that we all spoke for many days to family and friends of all the experiences. This was an eye-opening trip and I thank the Scout Association and my parents. It gave me the key to many more wonderful adventures in faraway lands.
S A Scout Heritage