Первый скаутский лагерь на острове Браунси

Даты: 
01/08/1907
Тип: 
Лагерь
Уровень: 
местный (событие города, отряда, дружины, круга, стаи)
Расположение (адрес): 
Великобритания, остров Браунси (Brown Sea)
Место на карте, определённое по адресу: 
Место на карте, указанное вручную: 

"On 1st August 1907 the official programme of the camp commenced and the succeeding gloriously sunny days were packed with new and hitherto un-experienced fun and thrills. But the high spot of each day, according to those who were present, was the evening camp fire led by the boys' hero, B-P who had opened up for them an entirely new world. The final day of the camp - sports day - came all too quickly."

The History of the Brownsea Island Camp

Before his Brownsea experimental camp, Robert Baden-Powell was already a famous man. He was named "Hero of Mafeking" after holding out against 9,000 Boers with only 1,000 British troops during the siege at Mafeking. At that time, Baden-Powell employed a number of boys to act as "scouts" to carry messages. These were the first seeds of inspiration that lead Baden-Powell to start "Scouting for Boys".

With the invitation of the island's owner, Charles van Raalte, Baden-Powell chose Brownsea for his first Scout camp. Baden-Powell had for some time been formulating his unique scheme of youth training which eventually led to the birth of the Scout Movement. He was anxious to give his Boy Scout plan a thorough testing before drawing up the final details and since the main characteristics of his scheme were against the background of the open air he decided on a camp setting.

For the experiment, Baden-Powell chose members of the Boys Brigade of Poole and Bournemouth and sons of his own friends. And so it was that on 29th July, 1907 B-P and his chosen ''guinea pigs'' boarded the motor boat Hyacinth at Poole for the crossing to Seymour's Pier on Brownsea. They set up their tents on the south coast of the island.

The camp photographed in 1907, the cottage pictured is now lost in the harbour. It is worth comparing this picture with the pictures on the "Camping on the official Camp Site" page. (courtesy of Delpool and the Scout Association)

The day began at dawn with the blast of an African kudu horn. After a glass of milk and a biscuit, followed by 30 minutes' physical training and prayers, the boys broke up into separate patrols - the Wolves, Bulls, Curlews and Ravens - for stalking and tracking, building shelters, putting up tents and mock whale-hunts in boats. In the evening there were brief talks on Scouting techniques, and then Baden-Powell told yarns of life on the African veld round the camp-fire. The success of this first camp encouraged Baden-Powell to publish his Scouting for Boys the following year, and from this modest beginning the international Scouting movement grew rapidly.

On 1st August the official programme of the camp commenced and the succeeding gloriously sunny days were packed with new and hitherto un-experienced fun and thrills, but the high spot of each day, according to those who were present, was the evening camp fire led by the boys' hero, B-P who had opened up for them an entirely new world. The final day of the camp - sports day - came all too quickly. Before an appreciative audience of visitors the boys gave demonstrations of many of the new skills they had acquired during the preceding days. A bumper tea put on by the Van Raaltes in the splendid dining hall of the Castle to the music of Poole's Brass Band rounded off they happy afternoon. Then the last night under canvas following the last yarn by B-P round the last memorable camp fire. The last? But this was only the beginning. Little did those twenty youthful pioneers realize that the flames which rose into the night sky above their tiny camp on the shores of Brownsea were to kindle countless millions of camp fires throughout the world . . . . on and on into the future.

The late Terry Bonfield, one of the last two survivors of Lord Baden-Powell's famous experimental camp on Brownsea Island, told his story for the Heritage column of the Bournemouth Evening Echo in 1989, when he was 96.

"I was one of seven boys picked from the Winton Boys Brigade. There were also three from the Poole Brigade and 10 boys who were the sons of Baden-Powell's friends. The Bournemouth boys were taken to Sandbanks on a lorry by Henry Robson, who had a big grocery business at The Triangle. We went to the island on a boat belonging to Harvey's which I think was called the Hyacinth. The other boys went in a bigger boat from Poole Quay. The boys were deliberately chosen from different backgrounds because Baden-Powell wanted to see how they would mix. We didn't know where we were going or what it was all about. It was all very secret because Baden-Powell didn't know whether it would be a success. His idea was to bring youngsters of different nationalities together so that they would learn one another's customs and ways and then there would be no wars. Unfortunately, it hasn't gone that far. Equipment at the first camp - which went on for more than a week - included six bell tents, a marquee and the flag - which had flown over Mafeking. Activities included first aid, life-saving, knot-tying, tracking, and observation skills. In the evening, Baden-Powell told the boys Boer War stories around the camp fire."