Guiding Memories

Some Guiding  Memoirs By Joy Laycock

My Girl  Guide life was one which might never have begun because my parents belonged to a church where uniformed organisations were frowned on,  and still are. My get out in 1934/35 was a school company – 45th Plymouth (Plymouth High School) where our Captain and Lieutenants, very formally dressed, were our school mistresses – which made it more interesting.

There were four or five ‘bird’ patrols and I was a Swallow with Jeanne Humphrey Davey as Patrol Leader. (Her great grandfather invented the miners lamp!)

Every meeting began with inspection when our uniform and equipment was checked.

Fortunately a visit to the local fire station produced a Fireman’s badge and a school cookery course  (run by Miss Hulbert, a Guider who at camp used my regular nickname of “Fatty”) gave me a Cooks badge ….. relatively easy.

It was such an honour to carry the colours, gauntlet gloves ‘n’all, as you may see in an ancient photo. When I go to stay in Plymouth with my daughter, Kathie, I frequently recall the special occaision when I carried the King’s Colour for Thinking Day service – brass trefoil polished very particularly by my ex-Royal Navy Dad – St Andrew’s Church was filled with girls singing “Land of our birth we pledge to thee our glorious hopes in years to be”.

The church was bombed in 1941 and rebuilt in 1957 and sadly a recent Church Parade produced 1 Guide and 2 Brownies, though no doubt things are more active elsewhere in the City.

Camping at Thurlestone was great fun but hard work – starting with the ride there perched on tent rolls and all sorts of luggage on an open topped lorry – seat belts hadn’t been invented – nor was “Health and Safety” a reason for not doing anything interesting.

We arrived at an open field where the farmer had dug a long deep trench for lats (Latrines or lavatories), cubicles later constructed, by us, using rolls of sacking, poles and lots of banging in of pegs to hold the guy ropes! Another shallow trench was for the open fire where our food was cooked, and a deep round ‘grease pit’ – later covered with ferns to collect the ‘bits’.

Tent pitching was an art that had to be learnt, followed by gadget making – I made a superb saucepan rack one year and had a go at wash stands.  Do Guides still do square lashing and knots? Those talents were very useful when it came to anchoring upside-down coat hangers on the tent pole so best uniform could be safely hung, un-creased, ready for Sunday morning Church Parade in the village church. Camp dresses, hats and wellies were day to day wear. Patrols were cook, health, wood and water – you soon found out how best to walk carrying 3 buckets of water, over a couple of fields, between two people. Wellies full of water aren’t good!

Most food we took with us and I remember lettuces being planted in the wood to keep fresh, and a meat safe covered with muslin hanging in a tree. I expect we bought meat and bacon from the local butcher, and milk was fetched from the farm. I once got imprisoned in a pig sty by an irate sow who thought I was about to steal her piglets – that was when I was waiting for the milk to be separated! I don’t remember anyone being ill without the now essential refrigeration.

I’ve forgotten to mention palliasses (friendly donkeys) which were strong cotton bags filled with straw provided by the farmer, Mr. stilson. It was a hard learned lesson to get the right amount of straw to make it fairly comfortable to lie on ……. Sleeping bags hadn’t been invented then but we had to provide an ordinary bedsheet folded in half and stitched across the bottom and 3/4 of the way up the side. Two camp blankets completed the thing and, carefully made and anchored with blanket pins, it provided a reasonable bed! Ground sheets – of course!

Every morning after breakfast beds were rolled and stacked round the tent pole ready for inspection after prayers and the raising of the Com[pany Colours on the flagpole in the middle of the camp!

One year my folk were quite put out because, having hired a car at great expense (10shillings i.e. about 50p now!) to come for visitors day, i greeted them with “I’m going swimming” What it was to be young, not appreciating what sacrifice and effort was required by my family to give me treats. it was probably the same yeatr that Captain caught me and my tent mates eating cream doughnuts after lights out, and we were severely reprimanded and told about Guides Honour. The next morning the whole company was told that in future all gifts brought must be given to QM (Quartermaster) to be shared …. 6 doughnuts between 45? I doubt it but I haven’t been able to look a cream doughnut in the face since!!

My active guiding came to an abrupt end when I left school in 1940. I had hoped to continue in leadership but heavy air raids on Plymouth stopped that.

I have been glad that having encouraged Myra to join Brownies and Guides in Portsmouth, she has continued her loyalty to the movement and I have enjoyed supporting her and Hatfield District ever since.

It’s such a privilage to be known as “GRANNY OWL” or “MRS.D”