The ARC aren’t organising this, but it would be wonderful to have a big contingent from Norfolk!

Princess Mary, the Princess Royal, was President of the Girl Guides Association from 1920 until her death in 1965. She was also President of Norfolk Guides, who made this standard as a gift for her wedding in 1922. It was used throughout her Guiding life, and is now displayed in Princess Mary House at Foxlease.

A Rally is being held to raise funds towards the conservation of the standard. For the modest payment of £10 you can join the Facebook group on which further details of the plans will be unveiled. You will also receive a camp badge and printable certificate to commemorate your non-attendance, and a downloadable backwoods cooking recipe book.

The small print: this non-attendance Rally is to raise funds towards the cost of conserving Princess Mary’s standard at Foxlease. The event will take place only in the imaginations of its participants, and on the Facebook group.

Please email wingle@btinternet.com  for further details of how to register for this amazing event! …. Supporting for the future what was begun 100 years ago.

Girlguiding has always had nature and the outdoors as one of its programme themes, and this year we are finding some of our old badges to demonstrate this! We have selected birds and include owls (were you one?!), getting back to nature Girl Guide style through camping and, with a specifically Norfolk flavour – a look at the Farmworker Badge through the eyes of our girls who have found out about farming at camps at Gressenhall Union Farm in the past.

Please watch our welcome video and then look at the menu at the side of this page to choose pages that interest you.

Camping style, and in particular equipment, has changed hugely over the past 100 years

Look at this photo from our collection, of the 1939 camping catalogue to compare with your experience of present-day equipment. Click to enlarge the photo.

Now look at these photos which have been copied from a photograph album compiled by Phillipa Patteson, one of the Patteson sisters who originally lived in Hautbois House and gave it to Girlguiding Anglia. They also gave some land to Girlguiding Norfolk where first Patteson Lodge was built, and subsequently our Archive Resource Centre (ARC).

The pictures show the skills and patrol duties undertaken in the past; look very carefully and answer the questions below each picture. Click on the picture for a bigger image.

We’d love to see your answers on the camping post on our Facebook page.

1. Bed making:

What is actually happening here in this photo?Look at the beds: Why was it done? Is it still done nowadays? Do they
look the same as yours? What’s the same/different?
Look at the tents: what do you call what they have done to the walls of the
tents? Why has that been done? What type of tent is it?

2. Camp August 9th -17th 1929

How long was that camp? How does that
compare with today’s camps? How many years ago was that?
What do you think the girls are doing?
What can you see inside the tent?
What is hanging from their belts?

3. Colours

What is the meaning of that word in this context? Do you still do
this at your meeting place, or at camp?
This is a large group… how many girls, how many leaders? Is it easy to tell?
How?
Are they all from the same companies do you think? Why/why not?
Look how high the guylines are to keep up the flagpole… could you do that?

4. The Cook Patrol

What are they doing? How might you describe the
person in the middle?

5. Too much smoke?

What is this person doing?

Any thoughts about what she is wearing, and what she is doing? What are
the poles for around the fireplace? What’s on top of some of them? Why?

6. Around a tin bowl

What’s happening in this picture?
What do you notice about hair fashion?

7. Rest Hour

Do you have rest hour? Do you like it, or not? Why?
Can you name the two different types of tents?
Some have been prepared to help them dry, but others haven’t. Any ideas
why, why not?

8. Gibsone, CEP and Elsie Ipish

What are the girls doing? Can you do that? Is it still a useful skill?

9. Knot Tying

What knot do you think they are tying?
Can you tie a reef knot?
Can you do it behind your head?
Can you do it with your eyes shut?
Who is in the background? What are they discussing do you think?
And what else is in the background?

In summary

If you look really carefully at all the photos you might notice something
about these girls….
Is there anything unusual, that you might pick out?

These girls were called extension Guides, because they didn’t always belong
to regular companies…. Any ideas why they were extension guides and
perhaps why they had their own special camp?

For the last 13 years, we have run a 1940s style camp at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse Museum as part of their annual Village at War event. Have a look at our videos of the camp in 2019

If you have been to see us at Gressenhall, or taken part in one of the camps, please leave a comment on our Facebook page

If you haven’t been to visit Gressenhall, maybe you have seen us at the North Norfolk Poppyline event which would normally be taking place this weekend. 

As part of the Guide Interest or Proficiency badges Guides could work towards their Backwoodsman Badge

One of the clauses for this badge was to make a simple one-man shelter from natural materials or a groundsheet. This skill is still important and is a clause in badges today eg Ranger’s Bushcraft Badge.

Trees are vital for our existence. They can provide shelter if you are lost in the wilderness and they also provide oxygen to help us breathe. Shelters can be the difference between life and death so it is important that you know how to make one.

Have a go at making a shelter like the Guides would have done. You can make it either inside or outside. If you are making your shelter inside have a look at the Rainbow Skills Builder Tent-tastic activity.

If you are going to make your shelter outside there are many links on Youtube with tutorials. The link below has an easy shelter for you if you are going to use a tarpaulin.

If you are going to use natural materials you may find this link more helpful:

When you have made your shelter, we would love to see a picture. Please post it on our Facebook page

When you have made your shelter, how about following a trail? As part of Second Class Test in the past you had to know how to follow a trail. Look at the amazing modern trail that has been launched this week at the ARC…. we hope you might pop along to do it sometime! There will be a badge available for those doing it!! Look at our Facebook page or Geocaching.com to find out more.

Kim’s game is a memory game that has been played by Scouts and Guides since the founding of the organisations.

It is named after Kim from the stories written by Rudyard Kipling.

Look at the first image below for 1 minute. Then look away from the image and write down all the things you can remember in just 1 minute (click to enlarge the images).

Now try with a more difficult picture. remember, you have 1 minute to look and 1 minute to write down what you can remember – no cheating!

And even more items…….

Were you really paying attention?

How many did you remember correctly?

What else did you notice? Try the test below to see if you were paying close

attention.

Badge test

Badge test answers

Many of the patrol badges for Guides have traditionally been birds.

Brownie leaders have been given bird nicknames such as Brown Owl or Tawny Owl for a very long time. The Second Class Test for Guides up to 1968 involved being able to identify wildlife like birds, farm animals and flowers.

Kingfisher, nightingale, robin and canary patrol badges

Were you a Guide? What patrol did you belong to? Please go to our Facebook page and add your memories to our patrol badges post.

Did you stitch your own patrol emblem? We have found some beautiful ones in our collection and have posted them on Facebook. Click here to see them.

Many birds are common in gardens across the country, and you can look at their identifying features to tell what kind of bird they are. Can you identify these common birds in your garden or at a park?

Click on the bird picture below to download some descriptions to help you.

The RSPB also has an interactive bird identifier, which can be found here:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/identify-a-bird/

Another way to identify birds is by their birdsong. Most bird species have very unique songs, some of which you will hear at different times of day. This video contains a few:

How observant are you really? Have a look at the sketch and post on our Facebook page and follow the instructions. How did you get on? Don’t forget to post you pictures.