Full TimeLine
1 Sep 1960 1st Meopham Company started Ron Dickinson, a Lieutenant in the 58th
1st Meopham BB London, moved to the area in 1960 and
Ron Dickinson very soon started the 1st Meopham. He
planned on using the DofE scheme to
enhance BB badge work.
8 Dec 1960 First record books issued These were the first DofE record books
Ron Dickinson issued in the Battalion. Issued by Ron
1st Meopham BB Dickinson to 1st Meopham Boys as part
of Company scheme.
1 Apr 1961 First ever Training Weekend This weekend was held in Ron
Ron Dickinson Dickinson's back garden at The
1961 MAR NDOWNS Group BA Stonewall. It covered all aspects of
1961 MAR NDOWNS Group BB map reading and campcraft, much as
still occurs today.
1 Apr 1961 Bronze Training 1-2 Apr 61 Held in Ron Dickenson's garden, with
Place The Stonewall, Trottescliffe him the onlt instructor. Topics
Leader Ron Dickinson included map & compas, camp craft and
cooking, and the weekend included a
night training expedition.
27 May 1961 Actual, Tonbridge 27-28 May 61 These two Bronze groups from the 1st
Place Tonbridge area Meopham BB were the first Bronze
Leader Ron Dickinson expeditions for the Battalion.
27 May 1961 First ever Bronze expeditions The two Bronze groups followed the same
Actual, Tonbridge 27-28 May 61 route but in opposite directions in the
1961 EASTER NDOWNS Group BA Tonbridge area. Equipment was extremely
1961 EASTER NDOWNS Group BB limited, but both groups were
successful.
1 Mar 1962 Silver Training 1-2 Mar 62 This weekend was held in Ron's garden
Place The Stonewall, Trottescliffe for the one Silver group of Meopham
Leader Ron Dickinson Boys.
Mar 1962 First Silver Training Weekend This weekend was held in Ron's back
Ron Dickinson garden for the one Silver group of
Silver Training 1-2 Mar 62 Meopham Boys.
1962 MAR NDOWNS Group SA
21 Apr 1962 Actual Sal. Plain 20-22 Apr 62 This Silver group of 1st Meopham Boys
was the first Silver expedition in the
Leader Ron Dickinson Battalion.
21 Apr 1962 First ever Silver Expedition
Actual Sal. Plain 20-22 Apr 62
1962 EASTER SPLAIN Group SA
16 Mar 1963 First Battalion Training w/e This weekend was held in the barns at
B/S/G Training 16-17 Mar 1963 South Street Farm, Meopham.
Ron Dickinson It proved to be much more popular than
expected, straining both accomodation
and the teaching, but is remembered
fondly by all who attended.
16 Mar 1963 B/S/G Training 16-17 Mar 1963 Held in barns in the farmyard at South
Place South St Farm, Meopham St Farm Meopham (Ridley Turning), with
Leader Ron Dickinson camping in the small adjacent field on
the corner of Heron Hill Lane.
The event was highly over-subscribed,
and conditions were very crowded but
good-natured.
12 Apr 1963 Actual Snowdonia 11-14 Apr 63 The original 1st Meopham Gold group did
Place DolGam camp site, Snowdonia their expedition in Snowdonia. They
Leader Ron Dickinson were assesed by Brian Roberts of the
Birkenhead Battalion. Ron was there
for support and transport home.
12 Apr 1963 First Gold expedition The group made their own way to Wales.
Ron Dickinson Their weather was wet, white and wild,
Brian Roberts but they completed successfully.
Actual Snowdonia 11-14 Apr 63 All members of this group were from 1st
Meopham.
23 May 1963 Actual Sal.Plain 23-25 May 63 This group of direct Silver Battalion
Place Salisbury Plain entrants took their expedition on
Leader Ron Dickinson Salisbury Plain.
A route problem meant their first
attempt had to be aborted, but was
successfully completed soon after.
23 May 1963 First battalion Silver Exped. The first attempt had to be aborted
Ron Dickinson when it was found their route went
Actual Sal.Plain 23-25 May 63 across an artillery range.
1963 WHIT SPLAIN Group SA It was repeated, this time
successfully, a month or so later.
1 Jun 1963 Bronze exped. Kent Summer 63 Bronze expeditions held piecemeal over
Place North Downs area the summer of 1963 in the North Downs
Leader Ron Dickinson area. Assessed by Ron, Doug, Maurice
and Roger.
Jun 1963 First Battalion Bronze Expeds. Many Bronze expeditions were held over
Ron Dickinson Summer 63, but no records exist of any
Doug Bush of them.
Maurice Beeby One group is known to have walked from
Otford to camp at Trottescliffe then
continued to Meopham.
Nov 1963 First Golds presented These were among the first ever Golds
Maurice Beeby to be presented to candidates from Kent.
Richard Mucklestone Maurice and Roger then continued as
Roger Povey Instructors and Assessors in the
Battalion expedition group.
14 Mar 1964 First non-BB candidate George Dunkley and Alan Martin from
George Dunkley Maidstone Grammar School joined the
Alan Martin weekend as their school was not able to
1964 MAR NDOWNS Group SA offer progress up to Gold level.
14 Mar 1964 B/S/G Training 14-15 Mar 1964 Only the program for this weekend
Place South St Farm, Meopham remains. It is believed to have been
Leader Ron Dickinson at South St Farm, but no-one is sure.
No staff or candidate lists remain.
27 Mar 1964 Actual Snowdonia 26-29 Mar 64 Base camp equipment provided by Army
Place DolGam camp site, Snowdonia Youth Team. This included some army
Leader Ron Dickinson emergency rations, and a pair of
(heavy) walkie-talkies.
There were 2 Silver but no Gold groups
this year, even though one group had
been at training weekend.
Jul 1964 Paul Durling gets his Gold Paul took longer than the others in the
Paul Durling first cohort to complete his athletics,
so was later completing his Gold.
27 Mar 1965 B/S/G Training 27-28 Mar 1965 This weekend was supported by the Army
Place Wouldham Army Camp Youth Team. Night taining expeditions
Leader Ron Dickinson were held in the local quarry,
enlivened by smoke cannisters and
thunder flashes.
16 Apr 1965 Actual Snowdonia 15-18 Apr 65
Place DolGam camp site, Snowdonia
Leader Ron Dickinson
May 1965 1st "through ranks" Assessors These were the first Battalion Gold
1965 EASTER SNOWDN Group GA candidates to be invited to become
1965 EASTER SNOWDN Group GB Assessors at future training events.
Actual Snowdonia 15-18 Apr 65
Jul 1965 Richard Mucklestone dies Richard (1st Gold group) died in a
Richard Mucklestone fishing accident in the Thames. He
1963 EASTER SNOWDN Group GA left a son and a widow.
1 Sep 1965 Formation of North Kent Battn. Prior to this, Companies had formed the
North Kent Group. As many new Companies
were being formed in the area, they
became the North Kent Battalion on 1
Sep 65.
25 Sep 1965 Relay run for new Battalion On 25 Sep 65 a relay run between all
the churches in the Battalion
celebrated its formation.
Many of the runners were candidates on
recent training weekends.
23 Oct 1965 First October Training Weekend For the first time, a separate weekend
B/S/G Training 23/24 Oct 1965 was held for map-reading training, to
allow more teaching time.
This was also the first weeknd with
sufficient staff to allow training in
groups.
23 Oct 1965 B/S/G Training 23/24 Oct 1965 This was the first October Training
Place The Stonewall, Trottescliffe weekend to be held. It covered just
Leader Ron Dickinson map-reading and compass-work.
No record was kept of Groups, so these
lists are all based on Mar/Easter
records, and may well be seriously
wrong.
5 Mar 1966 B/S/G Training 4-6 Mar 1966 A basic Group List sheet is filed for
Place The Stonewall, Trottescliffe this weekend, so group membership
Leader Ron Dickinson should be fairly accurate. However,
there is a suspicion that one sheet is
missing, and that there might be one or
two more Bronze groups.
8 Apr 1966 Actual Snowdonia 7-10 Apr 66 Note that the membership of most groups
Place DolGam camp site, Snowdonia is not totally certain, as records are
Leader Ron Dickinson very limited. See the notes on each
group.
No list of Assessors/staff is filed, so
the list here is only a best-guess.
22 Oct 1966 B/S/G Training 21-23 Oct 1966
Place The Stonewall, Trottescliffe
Leader Ron Dickinson
3 Mar 1967 First Weekend at Mount Mead Numbers were by now too high to
B/S/G Training 3-5 Mar 1967 continue in Ron's garden.
The move was made to the Paddock and
barn at Mount Mead, the other side of
Trottescliffe.
4 Mar 1967 Dave Hollands appointed Admin. As numbers were rapidly growing, it
B/S/G Training 3-5 Mar 1967 became necessary for someone to
Ron Dickinson administer the training and the
Dave Hollands finances.
Dave Hollands agreed to take on that
role. Records began to be filed.
4 Mar 1967 B/S/G Training 3-5 Mar 1967
Place Mount Mead Paddock, Trottes.
Leader Ron Dickinson
24 Mar 1967 Actual Snowdonia 23-27 Mar 67
Place DolGam camp site, Snowdonia
Leader Ron Dickinson
21 Oct 1967 B/S/G Training 20-22 Oct 1967
Place Mount Mead Paddock, Trottes.
Leader Ron Dickinson
2 Mar 1968 B/S/G Training 1-3 Mar 1968
Place Mount Mead Paddock, Trottes.
Leader Ron Dickinson
Apr 1968 Clive Beal & Mick Barnes die Clive and Michael (1st West malling)
Michael Barnes died in a motor scooter accident
Clive Beal shortly after Easter 1968.
1st West Malling BB Mick was an Assessor, and Clive had
just completed his Silver expedition.
12 Apr 1968 Actual Snowdonia 11-15 Apr 68
Place DolGam camp site, Snowdonia
Leader Ron Dickinson
2 Nov 1968 B/S/G Training 1-3 Nov 1968 The group lists for this weekend are
Place Mount Mead Paddock, Trottes. set from the annotated Group List in
Leader Maurice Beeby the records. It includes all changes
made on the actual weekend due to
absences etc.
Nov 1968 Maurice Beeby becomes Leader Ron wished to spend more time on his
Maurice Beeby business and asked Maurice Beeby to
Ron Dickinson take over as leader, which he did from
B/S/G Training 1-3 Nov 1968 Oct 68.
Ron assisted Dave Hollands with the
Admin.
1 Mar 1969 B/S/G Training 28Feb-2Mar 1969
Place Mount Mead Paddock, Trottes.
Leader Maurice Beeby
4 Apr 1969 Actual Snowdonia 3-7 Apr 69 Gold candidates charged 5.00
Place DolGam camp site, Snowdonia All others charged 4.00
Leader Maurice Beeby
17 Oct 1969 Colin Marshall stand-in Leader A business commitment meant Maurice was
Maurice Beeby unable at last minute to attend the
Colin Marshall Training weekend.
B/S/G Training 17-19 Oct 1969 On the Friday evening he asked Colin to
stand in for him, which he did.
18 Oct 1969 B/S/G Training 17-19 Oct 1969 At the last minute Maurice found he was
Place Mount Mead Paddock, Trottes. unable to attend this weekend. On the
Leader Maurice Beeby Friday evening he had to ask Colin
Marshall to act for him for the
weekend.
Jan 1970 New Leader = Colin Marshall Maurice had to resign leadership as his
Maurice Beeby job took him away from the area. Colin
Colin Marshall was appointed by the Battalion to take
over.
21 Feb 1970 B/S/G Training 20-22 Feb 1970
Place Mount Mead Paddock, Trottes.
Leader Colin Marshall
27 Mar 1970 Actual Snowdonia 26-30 Mar 70
Place DolGam camp site, Snowdonia
Leader Colin Marshall
17 Oct 1970 First Girls at a Training w/e Two girls from the 5th Milton
B/S/G Training 16-18 Oct 1970 (Gravesend) Guides joined group Bronze
1970 OCT NDOWNS Group BE E for Silver training, on the
understanding that more girls would
join them before they did their
expedition.
17 Oct 1970 B/S/G Training 16-18 Oct 1970 This was the first ever Training
Place RAF West Malling Sick Quarters Weekend to include any girls. They
Leader Colin Marshall were trained in a Bronze group under
Ray Colechin although they were
actually Silver level.
6 Mar 1971 First girls group at Weekend Three girls from Dartford Ranger Guides
B/S/G Training 5-7 Mar 1971 joined the original two from 5th Milton
1971 MAR NDOWNS Group SA Guides to form a full Silver group.
6 Mar 1971 B/S/G Training 5-7 Mar 1971
Place RAF West Malling Sick Quarters
Leader Colin Marshall
8 Apr 1971 Actual Snowdonia 8-12 Apr 71
Place DolGam camp site, Snowdonia
Leader Colin Marshall
23 Oct 1971 B/S/G Training 22-24 Oct 1971
Place RAF West Malling Sick Quarters
Leader Colin Marshall
Jan 1972 Teaching Notes introduced A set of notes had been written guiding
what needed teaching and how for each
level of each topic on our Map and Camp
Craft weekends.
It is believed they were issued to all
current assessors.
4 Mar 1972 B/S/G Training 3-5 Mar 1972
Place Hamlet Wood
Leader Colin Marshall
30 Mar 1972 Trial of Willies Farm A small group of assessors stayed in
the bunkhouse at Willies farm for
Easter rather than camping at Dol Gam.
This was a trial for a possible full
move to Willies.
31 Mar 1972 Actual Snowdonia 30Mar-3Apr 72
Place DolGam camp site, Snowdonia
Leader Colin Marshall
Sep 1972 Robert Hardy takes on Admin. Dave wanted to spend more time on 1st
Robert Hardy West Malling and his DEA Convenor role,
Dave Hollands so passed on Admin role to Robert Hardy.
Train Map BSG 20-22 Oct 72 Robert had shadowed Dave for March and
Easter 72, and fully took on role for
Oct 72.
21 Oct 1972 Train Map BSG 20-22 Oct 72
Place Metal Box Warehouse Addington
Leader Colin Marshall
3 Mar 1973 Train Camp B/S/G 2-4 Mar 73
Place Place not yet known
Leader Colin Marshall
9 Apr 1973 Discuss future lady assessors At the pre-Easter meeting, the first
Pre Easter meeting 1973 mention was made of possible lady
Actual Snowdonia 19-23 Apr 73 assessors for next season. 5 girls were
1973 EASTER SNOWDN Group GC taking Gold at Easter 73.
19 Apr 1973 Base camp moved to Willies Whilst not perfect, Willies did offer
Gwern Gof Isaf (Willies Farm) barn and bunkhouse accommodation, and
in particular, much better facilities
for the cooks.
20 Apr 1973 Actual Snowdonia 19-23 Apr 73
Place Gwern Gof Isaf (Willies Farm)
Leader Colin Marshall
May 1973 Start of "Team Management" Colin would miss the 1974 season as he
Colin Marshall would be on VSO in Nigeria. Dave
Train Map Bronze 6-7 Oct 73 Hollands to be Leader for the season.
Train Map S&G 20-21 Oct 73 Dave Thilthorpe took on Routes and Paul
Cheney QM. These split tasks continue
to this day.
Sep 1973 Split Training into B & S/G Ever increasing numbers made it
Train Map Bronze 6-7 Oct 73 necessary to split the Training
Train Map S&G 20-21 Oct 73 Weekends. Bronze would henceforth be
run separately from Silver/Gold.
6 Oct 1973 Train Map Bronze 6-7 Oct 73
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Dave Hollands
Oct 1973 Move to Snodland Youth Club The use of Snodland Youth Club was
Train Map Bronze 6-7 Oct 73 secured for this season's Training
Train Map S&G 20-21 Oct 73 Weekends, and it was hoped to be able
to continue there.
20 Oct 1973 Train Map S&G 20-21 Oct 73
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Dave Hollands
2 Mar 1974 Train Camp S&G 2-3 Mar 74
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Dave Hollands
16 Mar 1974 Train Camp Bronze 16-17 Mar 74
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Dave Hollands
9 Apr 1974 Hertfordshire accident (Wales) A group of Hertfordshire Scouts became
Actual Snowdonia 11-14 Apr 74 lost and overdue in bad weather on the
Carnedds. Required Mountain Rescue and
made national news. Some parents
thought it was Kent Boys. Caused our
routes to require altering for 1975.
12 Apr 1974 Actual Snowdonia 11-14 Apr 74
Place Gwern Gof Isaf (Willies Farm)
Leader Dave Hollands
12 Apr 1974 First Radio Medway phone-in Martin Harris phoned in from Wales on
Actual Snowdonia 11-14 Apr 74 Friday and Saturday to be interviewed
Dave Hollands on a normal Radio Medway show.
Memo re Radio Medway 1974 The interviewer was unfamiliar with our
methods so many questions difficult to
answer, leaving parent listeners
confused at times.
5 Oct 1974 Train Map Bronze 5-6 Oct 74
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Colin Marshall
19 Oct 1974 Train Map S&G 19-20 Oct 74
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Colin Marshall
29 Jan 1975 Nye Price meets Dennis Hoare Nye first met Dennis Hoare (Birkenhead)
Nye Price whilst in Llandudno with another group.
Dennis Hoare They swapped notes in their Expedition
setups and agreed to keep in touch.
Dennis promised to visit us at Easter.
8 Feb 1975 Train Camp Bronze 8-9 Feb 75
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Colin Marshall
1 Mar 1975 Train Camp S&G 1-2 Mar 75
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Colin Marshall
28 Mar 1975 Actual Snowdonia 27-30 Mar 75
Place Gwern Gof Isaf (Willies Farm)
Leader Colin Marshall
29 Mar 1975 Dennis Hoare visits Willies Dennis kept his January promise and
Dennis Hoare visited us at Easter, meeting more of
Actual Snowdonia 27-30 Mar 75 our staff. He asked that the Gold
groups leave a red wool marker at Foel
Grach.
4 Oct 1975 Train Map Bronze 4-5 Oct 75
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Colin Marshall
Oct 1975 Sold 5 copies Teaching Notes Records show that 50 copies of the 1972
Train Map Bronze 4-5 Oct 75 Teaching Notes were sold on the October
Train Map S&G 18-19 Oct 75 weekends for 2 pounds each.
It is not recorded who bought them.
18 Oct 1975 Train Map S&G 18-19 Oct 75
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Colin Marshall
6 Mar 1976 Train Camp Bronze 6-7 Mar 76
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Colin Marshall
20 Mar 1976 Train Camp S&G 20-21 Mar 76
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Colin Marshall
16 Apr 1976 Actual Snowdonia 15-18 Apr 76
Place Gwern Gof Isaf (Willies Farm)
Leader Colin Marshall
16 Oct 1976 Train Map Bronze 16-17 Oct 76
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Colin Marshall
6 Nov 1976 Train Map S&G 6-7 Nov 76
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Colin Marshall
26 Feb 1977 Train Camp Bronze 26-27 Feb 77
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Colin Marshall
12 Mar 1977 Train Camp S&G 12-13 Mar 77
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Colin Marshall
8 Apr 1977 Actual Snowdonia 7-10 Apr 77
Place Gwern Gof Isaf (Willies Farm)
Leader Colin Marshall
May 1977 Pete Underhill Leader designat Colin needed to step back because of
Colin Marshall personal problems. Pete Underhill to
Peter Underhill take over. Season 1978 to be a
training and hand-over year. Colin and
Pete to work together, with Pete
running Bronze and Colin Silver/Gold.
Oct 1977 New Assessors Oct 1977 These assessors were invited in Aug
1977 to become assessors.
22 Oct 1977 Train Map Bronze 22-23 Oct 77
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Peter Underhill
5 Nov 1977 Train Map S&G 5-6 Nov 77
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Colin Marshall
Jan 1978 Assessor Training day A full day of lectures, exercises and
role play was held at Milton Rd
Methodist church.
Many assessors attended, and great help
with role play provided by 2nd
Gravesend Boys.
11 Feb 1978 Train Camp S&G 11-12 Feb 78
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Colin Marshall
25 Feb 1978 Train Camp Bronze 25-26 Feb 78
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Peter Underhill
24 Mar 1978 Actual Snowdonia 23-26 Mar 78
Place Gwern Gof Isaf (Willies Farm)
Leader Colin Marshall
Aug 1978 New Assessors 1978 These assessors were invited in Aug
1978 to become new Assessors.
21 Oct 1978 New Assessors formally trained 6 new assessors were trained on the
Train Map Bronze 21-22 Oct 78 Bronze weekend. Some training and
Colin Marshall exercises was in a special group, and
some was working with the Instructors
whilst they were teaching Bronze groups.
21 Oct 1978 Train Map Bronze 21-22 Oct 78
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Peter Underhill
4 Nov 1978 Train Map S&G 4-5 Nov 78
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Peter Underhill
4 Feb 1979 First mention of South Downs 90 candidates & 38 staff scheduled for
Actual Snowdonia 12-15 Apr 79 Easter 79. In view of transport
Committee minutes Mar 79 problems it was decided to investigate
possibility of taking Bronze to South
Downs.
In the event, dropouts meant this was
unnecessary.
17 Feb 1979 Train Camp S&G 17-18 Feb 79 The records for this weekend do not
Place Snodland Youth Club show anyone as not attending. It is
Leader Peter Underhill unclear if this is because the
programme was not annotated or everyone
actually did attend.
3 Mar 1979 Train Camp Bronze 3- 4 Mar 79 Bronze Group A was trained in the S&G
Place Snodland Youth Club weekend, possibly to help even out
Leader Peter Underhill numbers.
13 Apr 1979 Actual Snowdonia 12-15 Apr 79
Place Gwern Gof Isaf (Willies Farm)
Leader Peter Underhill
Aug 1979 new Assessors Aug 1979 These assessors were invited to join
the team in Aug 1979.
Sep 1979 Move to Trottescliffe Vil.Hall Because vandals had badly damaged
Train Map Bronze 1-2 Dec 79 Snodland Youth Club, it could not be
Train Map S&G 3-4 Nov 79 used.
Company Letter Oct 79 All training moved to Trottescliffe
Village Hall for the 1979/80 season.
3 Nov 1979 Train Map S&G 3-4 Nov 79
Place Trottescliffe Village Hall
Leader Peter Underhill
1 Dec 1979 Train Map Bronze 1-2 Dec 79
Place Trottescliffe Village Hall
Leader Peter Underhill
9 Feb 1980 Train Camp S&G 9-10 Feb 80
Place Trottescliffe Village Hall
Leader Peter Underhill
1 Mar 1980 Train Camp Bronze 1-2 Mar 80
Place Trottescliffe Village Hall
Leader Peter Underhill
2 Apr 1980 First mixed Gold group Carol and Penny (Independent entrants)
Actual Snowdonia 3-6 Apr 80 had asked for help doing their Gold
1980 EASTER SNOWDN Group GC expedition.
They were put with four Metal Box boys
to form the first-ever mixed group.
MUCH discussion took place first!
3 Apr 1980 Actual Snowdonia 3-6 Apr 80 As well as the coach, four minibuses
Place Bryn Ddu Llanberis were taken by Dave Hollands, Nye Price,
Leader Peter Underhill Tim Stone and Alan Fishwick.
Apr 1980 Move from Willies to Bryn Ddu Bryn Ddu at Llanberis was proper bunk
Minutes pre-Easter 80 meeting house accommodation, and a great
improvement on Willies despite the
longer travelling times required.
May 1980 Pete Underhill retires Pete Underhill can no longer continue
Peter Underhill as Leader as his job will be taking him
Robert Carter away from the area.
Ray Colchin is appointed to take on the
role from September 1980.
Aug 1980 New Assessors Aug 1980 These were invited in Aug 1980 to
become Assessors.
5 Oct 1980 Agreed Bronze go to S.Downs At the Oct 1980 Committe meeting it was
agreed that because of high numbers
this year, Bronze expeditions would be
held in the South Downs, not Wales.
Oct 1980 Nye Price replaces Ray Ray Colechin is unable to start his
Mins Committee meeting Oct 80 role as Leader because of uncertainty
Ray Colechin over his job position.
Nye Price Nye Price agreed to take on the role
instead.
18 Oct 1980 Train Map Bronze 18-19 Oct 80 Bronze Group L was taught on the
Place Snodland Youth Club Silver/Gold weekend.
Leader Nye Price
1 Nov 1980 Train Map S&G 1-2 Nov 80
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Nye Price
28 Feb 1981 Train Camp S&G 28Feb-1Mar81
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Nye Price
Mar 1981 Petrol surcharge for Easter 81 Due to a significant rise in the price
Committee minutes Easter 1981 of petrol since the Easter costing were
Actual Snowdonia 16-19 Apr 81 done, a surcharge of 80p had to be made
on all Silver & Gold candidates and
assessors, and 50p for Bronze.
14 Mar 1981 Train Camp Bronze 14-15 Mar 81
Place Snodland Youth Club
Leader Nye Price
17 Apr 1981 Actual Snowdonia 16-19 Apr 81
Place Bryn Ddu Llanberis
Leader Nye Price
2 May 1981 Actual South Downs 2-3 May 81
Place Plumpton Race Course (camp)
Leader Nye Price
Aug 1981 New Assessors Aug 1981 Invitations to join the assessing team
were sent to these Gold candidates in
Aug 1981.
12 Sep 1981 New Assessor Conf. 12 Sep 1981 A conference for all new assessors was
Colin Marshall held at the Knightrider St Baptist
church on 12 Sep 1981, lewd by Colin
Marshall.
Further training will be held on the
October Silver/Gold Weekend.
12 Sep 1981 New Assessor Training Day All new assessors were expected to
New Assessor invite Aug 1981 attend this training day before being
New Assessors for 1981-2 allowed to teach at a Weekend.
Oct 1981 Move Training to Seekers Trust Not only had Snodland Youth Club become
Seekers Trust, Addington too smal for the ever-increasing
numbers, but it was also unavailable
for the 81-82 season.
Future Training weekends were moved to
the Seekers Trust at Addington Green.
10 Oct 1981 Train Map Bronze 10-11 Oct 81 Note that Bronze Group S was trained on
Place Seekers Trust, Addington the Silver/Gold weekend.
Leader Nye Price
31 Oct 1981 New Assessor Training Oct 81 Training for new assessors was provided
Colin Marshall on the Oct. Silver/Gold Training
Train map S&G 31Oct-1Nov81 weekend. It was led by Colin Marshall.
31 Oct 1981 Train map S&G 31Oct-1Nov81
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
20 Feb 1982 Train Camp S&G 20-21 Feb 82
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
13 Mar 1982 Train Camp Bronze 13-14 Mar 82
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
9 Apr 1982 Actual Snowdonia 8-11 Apr 82
Place Bryn Ddu Llanberis
Leader Nye Price
1 May 1982 Actual South Downs 1-2 May 82
Place Plumpton Race Course (camp)
Leader Nye Price
14 Sep 1982 New Assessor meeting/training All potential new Assessors were
New Assessor invitation 1982 invited to ameeting on 14 Sep 83 to
discuss whether or not they wished to
be trained prior to joing the Assessing
Team.
9 Oct 1982 Train Map Bronze 9-10 Oct 82
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
6 Nov 1982 Train Map S&G 6-7 Nov 82
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
Feb 1983 Surcharge for non-BB candidate It was agreed that a surcharge of one
Train camp Bronze 12-13 Mar 83 pound per candidate would be made on
Train Camp S&G 19-20 Feb 83 all non-BB participants at Training
weekends.
19 Feb 1983 New Assessor Training Mar 1983
Train Camp S&G 19-20 Feb 83
Prog Train Camp 19-20 Feb 1983
19 Feb 1983 Train Camp S&G 19-20 Feb 83
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
12 Mar 1983 Train camp Bronze 12-13 Mar 83
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
21 Mar 1983 Change to Assessing method From Easter 1983 Assessors should
contact Groups only at camp sites.
Make visual contact at check points and
collect orange cards.
1 Apr 1983 Actual Snowdonia 31Mar-3Apr 83
Place Bryn Ddu Llanberis
Leader Nye Price
30 Apr 1983 Actual S. Downs 30Apr-1May 83
Place Plumpton Race Course (camp)
Leader Nye Price
6 Sep 1983 New Assessor invite meeting Successful Gold candidates from Easter
1983 were invited to an informal
meeting at Nye Price's house to discuss
what was involved in Assessing.
All 6 chose to put themselves forward
for training during the coming season.
1 Oct 1983 New Assessor training Oct 1983 New Assessor training was provided as
Train Map Bronze 1-2 Oct 83 part of the Oct Bronze training weekend.
1 Oct 1983 Train Map Bronze 1-2 Oct 83
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
5 Nov 1983 Train Map S&G 5-6 Nov 83
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
Feb 1984 Acorn Atom used to track Group An Acorn Atom with just 8k of memory
Train Camp Bronze 17-18 Mar 84 for both program and data was first
Train Camp S&G 18-19 Feb 84 used on the Mar 84 S&G weekend.
Actual Snowdonia 19-22 Apr 84 With a few minor fixes, it was then
used for the Bronze weekend and the
Easter expeditions.
Its time predictions could at times be
frightening!
18 Feb 1984 Train Camp S&G 18-19 Feb 84
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
17 Mar 1984 New Assessor training Mar 1984 Further new Assessor training was
Train Camp Bronze 17-18 Mar 84 provided as part of the March 84 Bronze
weekend.
17 Mar 1984 Train Camp Bronze 17-18 Mar 84
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
20 Apr 1984 Actual Snowdonia 19-22 Apr 84
Place Bryn Ddu Llanberis
Leader Nye Price
22 Apr 1984 Bryn Ddu juke box damaged 1984 During our easter stay at Bryn Ddu, the
Actual Snowdonia 19-22 Apr 84 juke was was broken and used without
Letter re Bryn Ddu damage 1984 payment.
The owners claimed repair cost and loss
of earnings from us.
22 Apr 1984 Last ever Easter radio PhoneIn Radio Medway had now become radio Kent.
Actual Snowdonia 19-22 Apr 84 Only one phone-in, on Sunday morning,
was arranged for this year.
Radio Kent showed no interest in
continuing such broadcasts in future
years.
5 May 1984 Actual South Downs 5-6 May 84
Place Plumpton Race Course (camp)
Leader Nye Price
13 Oct 1984 Train Map Bronze 13-14 Oct 84 No records for this weekend remain.
Place Seekers Trust, Addington Group lists are based on those for the
Leader Nye Price Mar weekend, with best guesses for
which group to use for those names
recorded as applying for this weekend,
but not attending the Mar one.
Such names are noted on Group records
3 Nov 1984 Train Map S&G 3-4 Nov 84
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
Feb 1985 Computer upgraded to BBC The Atom system from last year was
Train Camp Bronze 9-10 Mar 85 upgraded to a BBC computer, and used
Train Camp S&G 16-17 Feb 85 for most weekends and Easters until the
Actual Snowdonia 4-7 Apr 85 end of the 1980s.
Its time prediction routine was tamed
in the upgrade, no longer predicting a
finish next week.
16 Feb 1985 Train Camp S&G 16-17 Feb 85
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
9 Mar 1985 Train Camp Bronze 9-10 Mar 85
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
4 Apr 1985 Actual Snowdonia 4-7 Apr 85
Place Bryn Ddu Llanberis
Leader Nye Price
4 May 1985 Actual South Downs 4-5 May 85
Place Plumpton Race Course (camp)
Leader Nye Price
12 Oct 1985 Train Map Bronze 12-13 Oct 85
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
2 Nov 1985 Train Map S&G 2-3 Nov 85
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
15 Feb 1986 Train Camp S&G 15-16 Feb 86
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
8 Mar 1986 Train Camp Bronze 8-9 Mar 86
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
18 Mar 1986 Actual Snowdonia 17-30 Mar 86
Place Bryn Ddu Llanberis
Leader Nye Price
3 May 1986 Actual South Downs 3-4 May 86
Place Plumpton Race Course (camp)
Leader Nye Price
11 Oct 1986 Train Map Bronze 11-12 Oct 86
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
1 Nov 1986 Train Map S&G 1-2 Nov 86 There is no record of who instructed
Place Seekers Trust, Addington the Trainee Assessors on this weekend.
Leader Nye Price
14 Feb 1987 Train Camp S&G 14-15 Feb 87
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
7 Mar 1987 Train Camp Bronze 7-8 Mar 87
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
16 Mar 1987 Actual Snowdonia 16-19 Mar 87
Place Jesse James Bunkhouse
Leader Nye Price
6 Apr 1987 Move to Jesse James Bunkhouse
Jesse James Bunkhouse
Actual Snowdonia 16-19 Mar 87
Assessor meeting re Easter 87
2 May 1987 Actual South Downs 2-3 May 87
Place Plumpton Race Course (camp)
Leader Nye Price
10 Oct 1987 Train Map Bronze 10-11 Oct 87
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
31 Oct 1987 Train Map S&G 31 Oct-1 Nov 87 Gold C is a mixed BB/GB group as there
Place Seekers Trust, Addington were insufficient GB for a separate
Leader Nye Price group.
20 Feb 1988 Train Camp S&G 20-21 Feb 88 Gold Group C is a mixed BB/GB group, as
Place Seekers Trust, Addington there were not enough females to create
Leader Nye Price a single-sex group.
12 Mar 1988 Train Camp Bronze 12-13 Mar 88 Only some of the trainees are recorded
Place Seekers Trust, Addington as working with groups.
Leader Nye Price It is not known what training was given
to the others.
31 Mar 1988 Actual Snowdonia 31Mar-3Apr 88
Place Jesse James Bunkhouse
Leader Nye Price
31 Mar 1988 First mixed BB/GB Group There were only two females doing Gold
1988 EASTER SNOWDN Group GC this year, so a mixed group was needed
Actual Snowdonia 31Mar-3Apr 88 to allow them to proceed.
This was the first mixed BB/GB group.
The one earlier mixed group was Metal
Box/Independent.
30 Apr 1988 Actual SouthDowns 30Apr-1May88
Place Plumpton Race Course (camp)
Leader Nye Price
8 Aug 1988 Meeting re Assessor Training Nye wanted all Assessors to be
Nye Price accomplished hill walkers, not just in
Assessor trip to Becon Beacons Snowdonia.
A trip to the Becon Beacons in November
was provisionally arranged.
8 Oct 1988 Train Map Bronze 8-9 Oct 88
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
5 Nov 1988 Train Map S&G 5-6 Nov 88
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
18 Nov 1988 Assessor trip to Becon Beacons Nye Price and Mick Sayer took a group
Nye Price of Assessords to the Brecon Beacons for
Meeting re Assessor Training teh weekend 18-20 Nov 88.
The aim was part social and part to
improve general hill walking skills.
18 Feb 1989 Train Camp S&G 18-19 Feb 89
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
11 Mar 1989 Train Camp Bronze 11-12 Mar 89
Place Seekers Trust, Addington
Leader Nye Price
21 Mar 1989 Easter starts a day early BB HQ had commented that Gold
Actual Snowdonia 22-26 Mar 89 expeditions should be 4 full days, so
it was agreed that the Gold coach would
travel up on the Wednesday to allow
this.
22 Mar 1989 Actual Snowdonia 22-26 Mar 89 Two coaches used. The GOLD one went on
Place Jesse James Bunkhouse the Wed. to give more time for the
Leader Nye Price expedition.
Summer Time started on the Sunday,
creating a risk of confusion.
29 Apr 1989 Actual SouthDowns 29-30 Apr 89
Place Plumpton Race Course (camp)
Leader Nye Price
1 Aug 1989 Martin Baker becomes Leader Martin Baker takes over Leadership from
Nye Price for the start of the 1989-90
season.
7 Oct 1989 Training moves to Snodland Because of increasing numbers, Training
weekends are moved to the Youth Wing of
Snodland School, adjacent to the
Snodland Youth Club used through much
of the 1970s.
7 Oct 1989 Train Map Bronze 7-8 Oct 89
Place Snodland School Youth Wing
Leader Martin Baker
4 Nov 1989 Train Map S&G 4-5 Nov 89
Place Snodland School Youth Wing
Leader Martin Baker
7 Jan 1990 First computer printed doc. The Jan 1990 letters to Assessors and
Assessor letter re Mar 1990 Captains appear to be the first
Company letter re Mar 1990 examples of computer printed DEA
documents.
They were printed on an early dot
matrix printer.
17 Feb 1990 Train Camp S&G 17-18 Feb 90
Place Snodland School Youth Wing
Leader Martin Baker
10 Mar 1990 Train Camp Bronze 10-11 Mar 90
Place Snodland School Youth Wing
Leader Martin Baker
11 Apr 1990 Actual Snowdonia 11-15 Apr 90 Jesse James bunkhouse was double-booked
Place Jesse James + H&J Whatton this year, so part of the staff had to
Leader Martin Baker stay at the nearby bunkhouse of H&J
Watton.
5 May 1990 Actual South Downs 5-6 May 90
Place Plumpton Race Course (camp)
Leader Martin Baker
10 Jul 1990 Meeting re new Training Regs BB assessing regulations are to be
New BB Assessor Training Regs. changed from 1 Sep 91. All groups will
require as many staff as possible to
hold the new Outdoor Leadership
Certificate.
This meeting was called to discuss how
these new requirements should be
handled.
13 Oct 1990 Train Map Bronze 13-14 Oct 90
Place Snodland School Youth Wing
Leader Martin Baker
3 Nov 1990 Train Map S&G 3-4 Nov 90
Place Snodland School Youth Wing
Leader Martin Baker
2 Feb 1991 Train Camp S&G 2-3 Feb 91
Place Snodland School Youth Wing
Leader Martin Baker
9 Mar 1991 Train Camp Bronze 9-10 Mar 91
Place Snodland School Youth Wing
Leader Martin Baker
27 Mar 1991 Actual Snowdonia 27-31 Mar 91 Because of high staff numbers, both
Place Jesse James + H&J Whatton Jesse James and H&J Watton bunkhouses
Leader Martin Baker were used.
Jesse Jame was used as the admin centre
(phone), and food was prepared and
eaten at H&J Watton.
4 May 1991 Actual South Downs 4-5 May 91
Place Plumpton Race Course (camp)
Leader Martin Baker
Sep 1991 First issue of DEA News TThis first issue was mainly a request
for future contributions, together with
details of the forthcoming Assessor
Training Day in November.
5 Oct 1991 Train Map Bronze 5-6 Oct 91
Place Snodland School Youth Wing
Leader Martin Baker
19 Oct 1991 Train Map S&G 19-20 Oct 91
Place Snodland School Youth Wing
Leader Martin Baker
2 Nov 1991 Assessor Training Day 2 Nov 91 This Assessors Training Day included
sessions on Mountaincraft and
equipment, First Aid and Instructional
Techniques.
There was also discussion on achieving
the new BB Outdoor Leadership
certificates, and on the new minibus
regulations.
2 Feb 1992 Train Camp S&G 1-2 Feb 92
Place Snodland School Youth Wing
Leader Martin Baker
14 Mar 1992 Train Camp Bronze 14-15 Mar 92
Place Snodland School Youth Wing
Leader Martin Baker
16 Apr 1992 Actual Snowdonia 15-19 Apr 92
Place Dolawen Outdoor Centre
Leader Martin Baker
2 May 1992 Actual South Downs 2-3 May 92
Place Plumpton Race Course (camp)
Leader Martin Baker