TimeLine - Excluding Weekends & Expeditions
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.
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
6 Apr 1987 Move to Jesse James Bunkhouse
Jesse James Bunkhouse
Actual Snowdonia 16-19 Mar 87
Assessor meeting re Easter 87
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.