SCOUTING - The Icknield Way
July 1997
Scout HQ Reopened by HRH Duke of Kent
 It was 8:00am on Thursday 5th
June 1997. There were three semi-awake Scouts (myself, Sarah and David) being
bundled into the back of a car. What was going on? Whatever it was, we had all
been very kindly given the day off school for it. (The fools! It was all part of our
evil master plan - Ha! Ha! Ha!) (Ed's note: Oi Adam, get on with it).
Baden-Powell House in London is Scouting's HQ. For the last few months it has
been closed for refurbishment, and the time has com for it to be reopened. We had
been asked to come and help with something that they were doing there. After quite a
long drive (the traffic was awful) we arrived. I had my first surprise of the day,
as when I had been told that B-P House was also a hostel, I had imagined it would look
like a small rundown hut that had just been repainted. But I was wrong. The
place was huge.
On entering the building, I got three more surprises
- not everyone who works there is a member of the Scout Movement
- we were to be taking part in a demonstration of the Scout Internet website (ScoutBase)
- (most importantly) Scout HQ has a Coke machine
We were lead up to the computer room on the second floor, where we exchanged nervous
glances with each other, as we found out that David was the only one of us who could
operate a computer with some success. We were given a short five minute crash course
in using the equipment and were told what was available on the site.
Things were now going quite well and we had settled in. Someone came in and
announced that the Duke had just arrived and signed the visitors book, although he was not
due to come to us until 12:05. A picture that had just been taken of the Duke's
arrival (on a special camera) was fed into one of the computers, ready to be sent out
across the Internet once the Duke had left. Then, through the windows of our room,
we saw a small crowd of people gathering, and I heard a Leader say "Oh, he's
early". And with that the door swang open and in came the Duke of Kent.
He sat down at one of the computers and watched a short demonstration, whilst the
having the system explained to him by a couple of Leaders. At this point he came
over to our computer and David left his seat so that the Duke could sit down. This
left me sitting next to him with absolutely zero knowledge of computers.
Fortunately, I coped with it, and when I was asked to find something about which countries
were accessible through ScoutBase, I let David take over (because I didn't have a clue!)
The disaster struck - something went wrong with the computer (Ed's comment: you do
surprise me!). The Duke went off to look at one which was working, and a group of
Leaders gathered around our equipment to get it back on the road again. The Duke
returned, but history repeated itself. By that time the Duke had to leave, as he had
already spent longer than he was supposed to looking at computers.
At around the same time, the Deputy Mayor of London arrived. When she came in, I
mistook her for the Queen (no seriously, she did look like her at first sight!)
The Duke unveiled a plaque by the entrance before being thanked by the Chief Scout,
George Purdy.
Following lunch there was a guided tour of the HQ, and before leaving, we were told
that pictures of us with the Duke of Kent were on the Internet. Later that day, I
heard that David's father, Steve Cupit (ADC Scouts, who is in America at the moment)
accessed ScoutBase, and saw a picture of us with the Duke. I bet he had a bit of a
surprise!
The day was highly enjoyable and probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I am
glad that I was there.
Adam Williams (Sell's Seventh Scouts)
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