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ISSUE 1

NOVEMBER 2009

EXPLORER NOLAN

ACHIEVES BELT Venture Scout Kevin Nolan, 18, tells us of his 10-day adventure through Denmark &

Sweden with a budget of only 60 Danish Kroner (€8) a day and an eagerness to

achieve what not many venture scouts before him have. Here Kevin tells us of the

way in which he achieved it and the ups and downs he experienced along the way.

BY KEVIN NOLAN

The Explorer Belt is an award in Scouting Ireland, in which a pair of ventures is dropped off at

undisclosed locations and has to find their way to base camp. With the minimum of 200km walked

over 10days. This year myself (Kevin Nolan ) & Ben Harte (8th

Waterford Scout Group) did the belt in

Denmark/Sweden. I remember going to the airport on the 11th

July thinking what have I put myself in

for? But when we all met up everyone kind of forgot about the whole expedition ahead. That was

until we landed in Denmark and we were told we would start walking today. Everyone started to get

nervous. We all said our goodbye’s and spilt into different groups and we headed for a train. I

remember the first thing we said to each other when we got dropped off ‘oh no. What now”. We

noticed that we were in Sweden and had to get back to Denmark. So we sat down and looked at our

budget we got for the 10days we looked at the projected books and started making a plan because it

was just going to be myself and Ben.

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On day 1 we walked 17km just thinking about everything still

nervous, But after day 2 we were flying. I think our best day

was day 3 when we met a scout leader who was so kind. He

told us to go to his house at around 5-6. So we headed to the

beach then up to Magnus’ house. His family were so nice we

got dinner and they let us stay in their scout den. Best of all

they told their friends and they sorted out the 3 night for us

to stay. When we got into the big cities we got lost. We had

to find a little scout den in Helsingborg. We found it in the

end and stayed and headed for the ferry. When we crossed

we got one of the best ice-creams ever in Helsingor. We

then took a sea walk along the coast.

On our 1st

night in Denmark we got beds from a lovely

couple. It was great. Then we got loads of rain it was

gorgeous in Sweden but Denmark was horrible. We slept in a

lovely spot on a lake were there were ants that were the

same size of beetles. On day 8 we couldn’t get anywhere to

stay but found a couple who gave us their garden and

bought us pizza. Then day 9 we knew we were nearly finished and we were singing and dancing up

the roads knowing that we have done so much.

Last day we only had 15km to walk but we took a longer way just to make sure we got the 200km and

we hit 200km we went to the nearest shop and got cakes. In total over the 10 days we walked a total

of 216km.

Over the course of the belt we had to do projects about Denmark & Sweden. There were 8 in total we

had 16 to choose from. And we also had to do personal challenges in order to change or improve

something about ourselves.

All in all in was an amazing experience and I really enjoyed it. I met a lot of new people and learnt a

lot of new things about Denmark/Sweden and myself. I would highly recommend it for cubs and

scouts who will eventually become venturers or for anyone that likes adventure. It’s a thing that I

loved and enjoyed.

FACTS ABOUT THE BELT:

- Pairs of Venture Scouts are dropped off at an

undisclosed location and are required to find

their way back to the base camp, which a

minimum of 200 km away and have the option

of completing an extra 100km by public

transport. This distance (200km minimum)

must be walked in 10 days.

- The teams must complete a minimum of 12

projects and their log books to a certain

standard while living on a limited budget. The

projects cover sections such as skills and

culture, and are aimed at giving the

participants an awareness of the countries

history, culture and local skills.

- The Ventures must also carry all the

equipment needed to complete the journey

and rucksacks can often weigh anywhere from

12 to 22 pounds. This includes a tent, cloths,

cooking equipment, clothes, first aid

equipment, stationary, fuel, water, and

whatever food you have bought on your

budget, etc.

- On reaching the base camp, the candidates

are given a break to recover during which the

examiners read through the expedition

logbooks and projects. They also make sure

the minimum of 200km has been completed.

Venture Scouts deemed to have met the

conditions of the award are presented with

the Explorer Belt at a ceremony held at the

end of the expedition.

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12 DAYS OF

CHRISTMAS DRAW

Yes folks it’s that time of the year

again. All youth members should be

selling away at this point in time. All

adult members should be buying☺.

Tickets cost €2.00.

Prizes include a trip worth €6,500 to

Disneyworld, Florida

All tickets must be sold by the

deadline date of December 1st

. So

come on guys sell out!!

IMPORTANT

UPCOMING DATES

The following are important upcoming

dates in the group:

NOVEMBER

25th

Deceased Members Mass

DECEMBER

18th

Scouts Cabin Weekend

25th

Christmas Day

SCOUTS TO HEAD

ACROSS THE POND

The scouts have announced that they

will be travelling to Birmingham,

England for next year’s annual camp.

The troop will be heading to Blackwell

Court in Bromsgrove, Birmingham next

summer for a week of fun and

adventure.

Activities at the centre include raft

building, indoor climbing and archery.

We wish them all the best for their

trip.

BRONZE ARROW CUBS GET

GREEN FINGERS

Bronze Arrow cubs have been out

planting their daffodil bulbs as part of

their gardener/bronze arrow badge.

The plants are currently situated out

the back of the scout den on top of

the store.

The bronze arrow cubs hope to have

the daffodils ready for St. Patrick’s

Day.

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“Venture section at

the moment is

closed but we shall

hope to open it in

the near future”

THE SPOTLIGHT Under the spotlight this quarter is Group Leader – Gary Oxberry. Gary at 21 years of age is one of

the youngest Group Leaders in the country. I ask him how he found his first year as GL and where

he seems himself and the group in the future.

BY PAUL CARROLL

The Aughrim Angle: Gary welcome to The Aughrim Angle. How does it feel to be the first person

under “The Spotlight”?

Gary: Yeah, Grand! Not too bad!!

TAA: Supposedly you are one of the youngest Group Leaders in the country. May I ask you how has

your first year as Group Leader been?

GO: Fine, there were no major troubles. A lot of it was renovation work and bills and stuff but apart

from that we should be happy it all went smooth.

TAA: During the year you have also taken on the role of Venture Leader. What has happened to the

Ventures?

GO: Ah well Ventures is an ongoing thing. For the past 10 years since I’ve been in the group it has

been opening and closing and at the moment we’re kind of at a rough stage. We had a recruitment

drive which Kiernan (Gildea) and Joe (Marken) so kindly done. We went to the local schools but didn’t

seem to get any interest out of it. So the venture section at the moment is closed but we shall hope to

open it in the near future

TAA: Rumours have been spreading about a Beaver Section starting up. Can you confirm or deny

this?

GO: Ah well rumours are rumours ya know.

I can neither confirm nor deny but we will

be looking into the new ages and the new

age ranges when the new programme

comes out in March and we can say that

everything is a possibility

TAA: What are the new age ranges going

to be?

GO: The age ranges are going to be 1

dovetail programme starting at 6

continuing right throught to 21 broke into

5 sections. The 5 sections are known as beavers, cubs, scouts, venturers and rovers and the age

ranges will be as far as I’m aware – 6,7 & 8 is beavers, 9,10,11 is cubs, 12,13,14,15 is Scouts, 15,16,17

is ventures and then 18,19,20,21 is rovers.

TAA: Gary, Where do you see the group in 5 years time?

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GO: I hope the group will still be alive in 5 years time and flourishing with possibly all 5 sections open

to coincide with the new age ranges. I would also like to see the group possibly spreading further than

where we’ve been. Like we have the den in Ben Edair Rd. and the cabin in Glencree. I would like to

see maybe another acquisition.

TAA: What kind of position is the Group in at the moment?

GO: I would say the group is in a healthy position in comparison to other groups in the county. We

have a flourishing cub section, scout section although ventures are closed but we might get it re-

opened, we’ve financed the group very well for the last year. We’re still surviving. The den is running.

It has heat, 2 new kitchens. In comparison to other groups to the county groups we would probably

be the strongest after winning 4 county shields in a row. We’ve also represented the group in the

phoenix on 3 of the last 4 occasions.

TAA: Do you think we have enough numbers in at the moment?

GO: Numbers! I don’t think so. We have enough leaders to possibly have 5 sections as it is but at the

moment I think we are under 50 youth members and with the resources we have we really should be

flourishing but again I think the area that we are in we are suffering with the amount of other youth

clubs and sports groups around.

TAA: It’s almost a year since Annual Subs were introduced. Can you see Group Council going down

that road again this coming year?

GO: Ah well that’s for Group Council to decide. I have my opinions but we will wait until Group

Council and talk about it there. I don’t want to influence the group in any way. I will go with whatever

the group decides is the best decision.

TAA: If I may ask you a few personal questions. What are you currently up to outside of Scouting at

the moment?

GO: At the moment I’m currently studying in college. I’m doing my level 6 course on sport coaching.

I’ve only finished a level 5 course in Sports & Leisure Management. Other than that I’m mainly in the

den doing work or at home doing projects for college.

TAA: Can you see your personal/professional life ever getting in the way of your commitment to

Scouting?

GO: Well so far so good it hasn’t restricted me at all at the moment although maybe when I start

working I won’t be able to put as much work into the den or into cleaning up the den or the cabin at

weekends – stuff like that. But I shouldn’t see it stopping me from being in the active role I’m in at the

moment.

TAA: What can the group hope to achieve in 2010?

GO: I would hope the group to achieve another county shield. The scouts to go away somewhere

foreign. The sections to utilise the cabin more by bringing sixes and patrols up, even the whole group

to go up for one day maybe. I would hope to get a full group on the annual whit camp not like the low

numbers we have had in the past. An hopefully get more preparation work done towards our 75th

anniversary.

TAA: Is there any aspects of the scout group that you are unhappy with at the moment?

GO: Not really unhappy with anything. I feel that the leadership team we have in the Scout Group at

the moment is a very young leadership team but I feel that they could do with some more experience.

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They themselves might say that but I think by the way they are going by asking for help is a good start

experiencing themselves by using older leaders to show them how to do certain skills and I think they

are going to flourish within the next 2-3 years and be a very strong section.

TAA: What steps forward do you think the group has taken in the last year?

GO: Well we had our think in, in December so we haven’t had something like that in the last few years

so that’s one step and from that we done not much but a little on roles and responsibilities and stuff

like that. Creating roles we’ve never had over the years and we’ve also really grown into technology.

It is the first time we have had computers in the den that are worth using and I think we should look

at our Towards 75 plan more going forward.

F: Finally Gary, What is your favourite colour, food, song, sport and tv programme?

GO: Red, Curry, I Gotta Feelin’ – Black Eyed Peas, Soccer & The Simpsons

CABIN WEEKEND

SPECIAL SCOUTS REPORT

By Milo Smith

The scouts set off for a survival weekend up in Glendale Lodge. Bivvying,

gutting fish, open fire cooking and chopping fire wood… it was all ahead of

them. Below Milo Smith tells us of his experience on the first annual

Glendale Lodge Survival Weekend

Personally I think that the survival weekend up at Glendale lodge was great fun. It

was easy to get there and a nice fire was set up for us when we arrived. Only five

scouts went three girls and two boys. The two teams would be competing against

each other for the weekend. Once the tents were up we got our cups and had a cup

of tea before we hit the sack.

The next morning we started off the day by collecting firewood in the forest. When

we had got enough we were taught how to start a fire. I have to admit the boys did

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not do very well but after many failed attempts we got our fire going and made some

french toast. The boys were losing by fifty one points. We were taken on a tour of the

forest and were told where we were and

weren't allowed to go. After collecting

some more firewood we had a little

competition to see who could chop the

most wood. The boys won. Then we got

to work on our bivys that we would be

sleeping in that night. That was great

fun. We got back just as the weather

turned bad. Huddled up on the veranda

of the cabin we waited for the girls to

return from making their bivy. Then we

started preparing the dinner, we had great fun gutting the fish, well I did anyway.

Once everything was prepared the leaders helped us get one big fire going. The

dinner was lovely and afterwards we had a bit of free time before we played capture

the flag using our bivys as bases. I am going to have

to make an apology to all the boy scouts that we let

down because I am ashamed to say that the boys

lost the game of capture the flag. After a few more

games it was time for the campfire. It was a good

campfire with the cubs and the leaders. When it was

over we had some hot chocolate and then the

leaders took us down to our bivvys. Annraoi and I

slept like babies.

When I woke up I looked at my watch and saw that it was 8.15am. We gathered our

things together and walked back to the cabin but no one was up. I then remembered

that the clocks had gone back. We

had lost an hour's sleep!! We set out

to get some firewood and then had a

great breakfast of rashers and bread.

It was then time to pack up. We took

down the bivys and the tents and

cleaned up.

It was then time to hear the results.

The boys won by four points so it was

pretty evenly matched. Although our

team won the girls got to go first in

the car that was taking them down to

Enniskerry and we had to walk down a bit before the car returned. Despite the

weather I would give the weekend a ten out of ten. It was fun and educational.

Milo

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P.S If there is any spelling mistakes please send any complaints to?????@?????.com

Its OK Milo spell checker got them all ☺☺☺☺

Congratulations to the Scouts who earned the GLENDALE LODGE SURVIVAL WEEKEND CERTIFICATE:

MILO SMITH, ANNRAOI CAMPBELL, KIRSTY KEANE, KERRI SHERIDAN

IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS OR CLASSMATES YOU THINK MIGHT BE

INTERESTED IN JOINING AUGHRIM STREET SCOUTS BRING THEM

ALONG TO THE MEETING WITH THEIR PARENTS.

Feedback and suggestions:

If you have any suggestions on how we can improve the Aughrim

Angle or any feedback on this issue email paul.carroll@dit.ie

Next Issue: The next issue of the Aughrim Angle will be out

on February 25th

, 2009 – watch this space.

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SCOUTING PORTAL The scouting portal takes you back in the scout group’s life through exerts from

old log books. The following is an exert from a Hike Log written in 1986. The Hike

took place in June at Glendale Lodge. We join the patrol on the Saturday Morning

– the morning after they arrived. The following is word for word as it appears in

the log.

Patrol Leader: Ian ‘Nutsy’ Moran

Assistant Patrol Leader: Brian ‘Gilly’ Guilfoyle

Other Patrol Members: Joseph ‘Joey’ Ellis

Anthony ‘Anto’ Kinsella

George ‘Rambo’ Buggy

Ciarán ‘Stoner’ Stone

Mark ‘Smudge’ Smullen

Alan ‘Fogo’ Fogarty

Saturday, June 28th

1986

Weather: Damp & Humid

8.00am We woke amid sighs and yawns and scratches. Because of the midgets, no one

had slept well. Gilly, Fogo and Joe tidied up the tent and got it ready to be taken down. Stoner and

Nutsy looked after the breakfast of tea & cereal. After the tent was taken down we got ready for the

personal and patrol kit inspection which was taking place.

Weather: Low Cloud Cover

10.15am We were the first patrol to be ready for the kit inspection which was held

to see if the patrol was properly equipped for the hike. Then we did map and compass with David

Cusack (the organiser of the hike) to see if we could travel safely across the mountains. We passed

both tests and were briefed on the best way to get up to the top of Prince Williams Seat. Kiernan

Gildea gave Nutsy a S.T.A (Spare Time Activities) sheet. The tasks were

No.1. A log of the weekend.

No.2. A prayer for the “scouts own” on Sunday.

No.3 A soap carving or a peg carving.

No.4 A mousetrap of natural material.

No.5 A woggle of material found free in nature.

Weather: Dry

11.15pm We left the cabin and set up on our hike. We reached the 3rd

Class road which

links Glencree and Enniskerry. On turning right the patrol walked roughly one mile where we left the

road at a bend in the road. We went up through a forest via the Wicklow Way. However half way up

the mountain we left the Wicklow Way and turned left at a track which left us at the side of the

forest. We went up along the side of the forest and headed over towards Prince Williams Seat which

proved to be the toughest part of the hike. “Rambo” Buggy had a minor asthma attack and had

difficulty in breathing from then on.

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Weather: Foggy

2.35pm Finally after what seemed like an eternity, we reached the summit (1825ft) we

took a breather and were talking to Aidan McKiernan (a leader in Dominick St Scouts) about our

ascent. Ian gave him the bearing for Knocknagun (290°) our next mountain and we set off again.

Weather: Low Humidity

3.00pm Our next ascent proved to be quite easy as all we had to do was follow a track. The

walk took us twenty five minutes and when we reached the top (1820ft) Eamonn Moran (A leader in

the 9th

Aughrim St) and Edward Little (A leader in Navan Road Scouts) were enjoying the lovely

weather. George Buggy was exhausted and needed quite a long break. When we were ready to go

we tried to bribe the leaders for some water but they had none. We followed our bearing of 320°

which would lead us to a mountain beside Glendoo Mt.

Weather: Hot, Cool Breeze

3.45pm We set off rearing to go. After a very long walk in which George Buggy collapsed

twice and some troops caught up on us we reached the mountain beside Glendoo (1929ft). Seamas

O’Cleirigh of the 10th

troop Aughrim was waiting with a fire lit. We weren’t too tired so we headed

off for Pine Forest as soon as we were given our compass bearing for Tibradden car park. It turned

out to be due north.

Weather: Light Rainfall, Very low cloud cover

6.20pm We reached Pine Forest and followed white posts. These led to a road which in

turn led to Tibradden car park.

Weather: Warm

6.40pm After reaching our destination we took a short break. Then the patrol were to do

two bases – 1. Axemanship and nature. 2. Observation and estimation. Mark Farrell did the first

base and Niall Duggan (both Niall and Mark are leaders in the 9th

troop). We had to indicate the

different parts of an axe, show how to use an axe and do a nature board for Mark Farrell, while we

had to estimate the width of a river, the height of a tree and the weight of a stone for Niall. Also we

looked at 20 different objects for 1 min and then had 45 secs to write down every one.

Weather: Thunder & Lightning Appearing

7.25pm We then went back up to our gear and got everything out for dinner and for the

bivvywhack. Rambo, Ghandi, Fogo and Stoner looked after the meal and fuel for it while Nutsy, Gilly,

Joey and Smudge did the shelter after two hours hard slog our bivvy was up and we quickly ate our

dinner of

1st

Course: Soup

2nd

Course: Potatoes, Peas & Chops

3rd

Course: Strawberries & cream

4th

Course: Tea & Cake

Weather: Thundering & Lightning

11.00pm We tidied up and got all of our gear up to our shelter.

11.30pm A campfire was due to be held, but due to the incessant rain it was cancelled.

However we had our own campfire (singsong) and had great crack. At this time the weather was

terrible. The MET office said that the thundering and lightning between 12.30am and 1.30am was

the worst since 1976.

1.00am Asleep at long last.

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OUT WITH THE OLDOLDOLDOLD AND IN WITH THE NEWNEWNEWNEW OLD

Ciarán Dawdry The Aughrim Street Grapevine would like to say its

very own goodbye to Ciarán (right) who has left

Dublin to live in Sligo. Ciarán was a scout and venture

scout in the group before becoming a scouter. Ciarán

left the group earlier this year and we wish him well

on his future. Here is Ciarán (right) being presented

with a framed neckerchief in recognition of his

commitments to Aughrim Street Scouting.

NEW

Siobhán Howe Corkonian Siobhán has joined the 9

th&10

th. Siobhán originally was a venture leader

but has now moved to the cub section. We wish her all the best in her new section.

David O’Mara David has become a scouter in the scout section after many years of being both a

scout and a venturer. David has replaced Ciarán in the section and so far the

transition has been seamless. The Aughrim Street Scouter team is very happy to

have David on board.

NATIONAL SCOUTING NEWS

GONE HOME

The Aughrim Angle would like to pass on our sympathies and the sympathies of the

Aughrim Street Scout Group to the family and friends of Anne Fitzsimons who

tragically lost her life in an accident in Fairview last week. Anne was actively

involved in 1st

Dublin, Fairview Scout Group for over 20 years and will be sorely

missed by both the local community and the scouting community.

The Aughrim Angle and the Aughrim Street Scout Group would also like to take this

opportunity in the month of November to remember all of our deceased members

and the deceased relatives and friends of members.

May they rest in peace.

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PUZZLE PAGE

Scouting

U G B R T F O O I T S V R P N A V I E O R A M C P

V E N R O R E O N P C L K E S F E F V E E V H S N

A E S I G E E T T S L F L E R T R E P S L R T E I

E O E B T F I N U C C G M E E N H E A R T T V R S

T E R R E R A N E N G T C E E T D I G G E P U H H

E E E C O N I S M O R S G N E B U F G N T V M E C

S N N I M F E E W C K A I E T B R A G P H A A O E

M V E T O F G E L S T V P S C S B E E M E C T E H

H G R R V T A N R I E E H E N M F A T I L E R A B

E E M V N P H E K P E M S E N T G O D E N R R O T

U E W C A E S G A E F H E S U A R O N G G T E E T

F N T N A M U A I B O T T R A E I R I I E O E A M

R T M E U B P R F L F N E E U P T N I P A A U U R

R S A G R R I C U E T F A E M T M A A D S E E U A

E S A E H U E N I I E O R V R K I O O F C E T C V

R E M P N E T H E N M N P O E T A T C F F A L G P

A H U T T H C N A R R T S S T E S U S O E A T T O

F E S E P R T E E S T U S I U T S M T E A G R I O

H P R S E I R A N V U C G U P A T U I E V L A T R

G C A K H I F S R T O H T P D P O E P R T N F R S

E P C M F C N G T U A H H P F A L O H U H U I O R

R E R P O E G B T O I E O H H N M L A I E G E K F

N T M O S I U R C N C S T M E N O S S I A G U R T

R A T E C C T R W S I N I B L F I N R T E E G A R

C W G S D U O C F R S I X M A A A U O T T E E E F

map compass scout cub

venture beaver six spotlight

aughrimstreet teepee tent torch

campfire cabin straffan neckerchief

woggle badge uniform investiture

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Please send your caption to paul.carroll@dit.ie and the best one will

win a prize. Competition closes 1st

January 2010. Editors Decision is final. T&C’s apply ☺☺☺☺

TUCKERS WORD, TUCKERS WORD – HERE WE GO AGAIN WITH TUCKERS WORD!!

What’s your word of this quarter Tucker?

GENUINEGENUINEGENUINEGENUINE

TUCKERS WORD, TUCKERS WORD – THAT RIGHT THERE WAS TUCKERS WORD!!

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COMICOMICOMICOMICAL CORNERCAL CORNERCAL CORNERCAL CORNER

Q. Why did the man put his money in the freezer?

A. He wanted cold hard cash!

Rob: I got this great new hearing aid the other day.

Mary: Are you wearing it now? Rob: Yup. Cost me four thousand euro, but its top of the line.

Mary: Wow! What kind is it?

Rob: Twelve-thirty.

What do you call a sheep with no legs?

A cloud.

Doctor, Doctor When I press with my finger here... it hurts, and here... it hurts, and here... and

here...

What do you think is wrong with me?

You have a broken finger!

PPPP UNNY FFFF ICTURE TIME

“Elephants. Now even larger than the moon”

Aww Stop!!

Comical Corner is

chuckleworthy

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WEB WATCH By Paul Carroll

OK so here are some cool websites I’ve found in the last while….

We’ll start off with:

www.wikimapia.org

Wikimapia gives you a Google earth like view of the world but with a difference. When you run your

mouse over an area e.g.( Phoenix Park) as seen in my picture of Dublin it will show up the whole

area so you can find out what different buildings are on the satellite view.

This was very handy for me when trying to find out where various scout dens were located for

leaders training. You can also add and edit outlines of places.

www.sporcle.com

Sporcle is an excellent site with plenty of different puzzles eg: name all the countries in Europe and

name all the beatles songs

It is quite a good educational site as well…. Definitely worth a shot

And finally: http://www.shibumi.org/eoti.htm

Well Done! You have arrived