As I write this introduction, I am sat in an open air chapel on a makeshift pew with a dedication that reads:
In Memory
Alan Jones
A.D.C. Beverley Hornsea Venture Scouts
Died July 29 1969
Aged 28 years
I would be surprised if anyone knows where that pew is. It’s a faded and worn inscription on a piece of wood which is showing its age.
I don’t know who Alan Jones was or anything about him, but I know that reading that memorial just two days after the anniversary of his death made this pew in his honour particularly special.
The pew is at Gilwell Park, a large campsite and the home of British Scouting. The open air chapel in which it sits is one of many religious spaces on site, spaces which include a Catholic chapel, a Buddhist temple, a Jewish synagogue and a Mosque.
I’m not a particularly religious person. I don’t believe in god or follow the teachings of any faith. Each time I go camping I do, however, try and spend a few moments in the site chapel (if they have one).
There’s a serenity which seems to elude most areas of such a busy campsite. There were no children running around and even the sound of the planes overhead seemed to be quieter there. Not only does the chapel provide a few moments peace, but also a few for reflection.
From my seat I could see a stone wall, a Poppy wreath faded in colour by the wind and sun, and a stone plaque: “in memory of Robert Baden-Powell, Chief Scout of the World, 1857-1941”.
I was excited by the prospect of coming to Gilwell Park. Its fame as a campsite and Scout centre is immense and just a simple walk around the site (which itself can take a couple of hours) shows the enormity and splendour of the site.
In three days of being on the site, I got to see its facilities be enjoyed by a Cub pack from Hampshire, a group on their NCS residential, a group of Scouts from Germany, and literally hundreds of others of young people (and adults). It is quite spectacular to be able to walk around a site as big as this and see such a wide range of activities being enjoyed by so many people, and early mornings saw minibuses and coaches leaving for a variety of off-site visits – there’s even a forest within walking distance.
Today Gilwell Park is an amazing site and is owned by Scouting, an amazing organisation. But neither the site nor Scouting would be anything without people like Alan Jones; people that are remembered on the plaques, monuments and structures dotted around the site (including on the Promise Path which is an emotional walk in itself) and in the hearts and minds of Scouts across the world.
Peter Marcus 