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So you've seen the mad-cap, crazy antics we get up to, but just where do these events take place? And how do we find out about them? And how easy is it to join in? Well, the answer is simple, jump on our tea trolley and let us guide you, via the links below.
The Best Places to Camp it Up
Thriftwood - The unit's local campsite that the district part owns. Hosts of the National Pedal Go-Kart Olympics every January. A large, wooded site - ideal cover for escaping POWs...
Gilwell Park - The International HQ of Scouting and home to Gilwell 24, Winter Camp and Grim.
Crow Camp - No website for this smaller, lesser known site, but that doesn't detract from it's loveliness. Located in Noak Hill it is ideal for Patrol or small scale Back to Basics camps. See the County's Campsite Database for contact details.
Skreens Park - The base for the Hornchurch District Hiking Marathon. We highly recommend the Garden Tea Rooms, located in the Writtle College Garden Centre...delectable!
Kingston Ridge - An up and coming site in Langdon Hills with the biggest and most painful cargo net in the world! The venue for our 24 Hour Assault Course Challenge, phew!
Hargreaves - A local site with Earth Ball as an activity! Yet to be graced with our presence other than when perusing the Scout Shop.
Tolmers - A popular site in Hertfordshire that is home to many activities and organised events such as the Sedan Chair Rally every October.
Downe - A large, leafy site in Kent that is one of the Scout Association's Activity Centres. Very hilly - ideal for mountain boarding!
Ferny Crofts - A fantastic site nestling in the heart of the New Forest. If you go, pay a visit to the local organic farm and buy some of their fabulous mince!
Broadstone Warren - A large wooded site located in the middle of the beautiful Ashdown Forest - inspiration for the authors of Winnie the Pooh!
King Edward VIII Scout Park "Riffhams" - A little gem of a campsite with the cheapest camping fees in the northern hemishpere! Brilliant for backwoods camping and surrounded by untouched woodland.
Nine Ashes - The county campsite for Cornwall consisting of a large open field with a lovely wooded backdrop. Funky camp ovens are thrown in for free as is the company of Rod, the site Quatermaster, who has fantastic local climbing knowledge.
Frylands Wood - Bivouacks ho!!! As you stroll through this vast, forested site keep your eyes peeled for remnants of survival shelters, lovingly crafted from evergreen trees and inhabited by our explorers in the middle of January! Well worth a visit.
Out for a Stroll
The Southern 50 Challenge - A real toughy, not for the faint hearted. Events ranging from 30km to 50 miles in a non-stop, hikathon between checkpoints over the Chiltern Hills in bitter February conditions.
Operation Dragnet - Do you like wide games and run-outs but never want the action to stop? Well, you'll love this; that's just what this is - 36 hours of it set in the magnificent Lake District during July. Possibly the best combination of hiking, stealth and heart racing adrenaline enducing action that you could wish for! Do it!
Boil in a Bag Instant Entertainment Events
The Sedan Chair Rally - We've mentioned it a couple of times already - this October event held at Tolmers is a stonker! In previous years our chairs have combusted in spectacular style and been transformed from shopping trolleys to wicker chairs in the blink of an eye. We're yet to walk away with the coveted "Wobbly Man" trophy, but have managed to produce Welly Wanging and Volleyball champions - just some of the events that are on offer in addition to the Rally itself.
The Kilmuir Trophy - A Scavenger Hunt set in and around London over the course of a weekend in September. This event involves deciphering clues, answering questions, taking photos, collecting artefacts and dressing up. As the current holders of the trophy and three time winners we're seeking new challengers! Details should be available on the County Website nearer the time.
Monopoly Run - A bi-annual event held at Gilwell in January. Resurrected from the deep by Chingford Network in 2006, teams of five must visit every location on the Monopoly Board within 14 hours. A popular event which last year attracted 175 teams from across the land.
Gilwell 24 - In our unit, going to Gilwell 24 basically means you've whoosed out of Dragnet, but nevertheless it is a good event. Activities such as archery, climbing, quad biking, crate stacking, quasar and much more run for a solid 24 hour period. Sleeping is not strictly forbidden, merely frowned upon!
Chums of Centurion
We like having friends. It makes us feel special and loved. Equally, we like to feel that our friendships go further than just a polite nod in the street, and are more of a heartwarming embrace with beaming smiles. Here are some of our friends.
Our Feeder Groups - 1st South Hornchurch, 1st Elm Park and 2nd Elm Park. Providing us with some of the finest scouting talent in today's market at low, low prices - they also let us borrow their stuff and meet in their hall, which is a really friendly thing to do - thanks chums!
Our Bosses - Hornchurch District and Greater London North East Scout County. Well, its always hard to be a boss and a friend, but these guys somehow manage it! Maybe it's all the great events they put on for us!
Our Country Bumpkins - Phoenix Archer ESU. We met this gang of crazy loons in Serbia, and have been trying to get rid of them ever since (that's the kind of thing you can say about good friends). We have since travelled the globe with them - competing side-by-side at the Sedan Chair Rally and uniting in Luxembourgouisey with the mighty Bisons. The legends that are Terry and Kev lead this merry bunch, who, until recently, were all in the witness protection pogramme and, as such, had not produced their own website. However a loophole in Scouting by-laws has now made it possible for them to produce this website, the functionailty of which is restricted by local government agents.
Our Party Planners - Bisons Futés. More Serbski Sub-Camp 5 buddies. These Luxembourgouisey revellers certainly know how to throw a good party, as we experienced in the Land of Lux this Easter during the Rainbow Project. If these guys had to be summed up in one word it'd have to be superfabulousmagnificentbrilliantfunlovingpartypeople. Tom and Lea are at at the helm ably assisted by Claude and Miche, under the watchful eye of Group Scout Leader (and fabulous caterer) Danielle. A more wonderful bunch you could not wish to meet.
Our Affluent Associates - Kraken ESSU. As we waved Mike off into the sunset and wished him godspeed on his journey, these chaps welcomed him, and all his oddities, with open arms. After meeting on Dragnet in 2007, we've seen the unit blossom into something beautiful. Kraken are now most definately firm friends from the Shire and regular attendees at big Centurion camps and competitions / events alike.
Our Badgemakers - Tolley Badges - Purveyors of the finest quality woven badges in the land, this company are responsible for producing the highly sort after, much acclaimed, super fantastic Centurion ESU badge. The mighty Hog now proudly adorns our member's uniforms and enhances the badge collection of many more besides!
Our Hosts - Kevin Williamson of The Byte Shed. A huge thank you must go to this district scouter for all of the technical, backroom domain name and hosting capabilities that make this site possible.
The Smallprint
A few links to help us leaders out...
Horncurch District Training Page
Hornchurch District Online NAN Form