The delightful coombe of Colley Hill in the North Downs with Reigate and Redhill, further east. The smooth lines of this scarp-slope valley is broken by the woodland at its base where a spring once surfaced to erode it, after previous ice-ages.
Commentary.
In the mid-1960’s and up to 1977 I took great delight
in being a member of the 18TH. Kingston and Merton Boys’ Brigade Company based in Farm Road Mission, Morden, Surrey.
I had started as an Anchor and Lifeboy at Cheam Baptist Church from 1961 to 1964.
From 1973 to 1977 I was a Non-Commissioned Officer at Farm Road in the St. Helier Estate, Morden.
Over a period of ten years, in winter we would have a Parade Evening on a Tuesday evening, in full uniform, that would include the discipline of marching drill.
On Sundays we would attend the Mission for a Bible Class.
All year we would enjoy many different sports, camps, hikes in the country, and even Orienteering Competitions in a wide range of rural settings.
We also learned many skills like First Aid, map-reading, roped rock-climbing, and kayaking/canoeing and other water-sports.
In the Spring/Summer months, Parade evenings would cease.
Instead, we would do outdoor sports in the nearby Recreation Ground, including football, cricket and rounders.
Often, on alternate weeks we would meet half-an-hour earlier
and travel to places like Banstead Woods, Epsom Downs, Box Hill, Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park to play “Wide Games.”
These involved two teams in a large, but specific area,
trying to capture their opponents, before they can return to a central point. Team with the most captures, by a specific time, wins, exhausting, frantic, but great fun.
We would also visit Colley Hill, above the town of Reigate.
On one such evening a group of 20 boys and 4 leaders had a walk around this very coombe at Colley Hill, on a glorious summer’s evening.
I had a bad reputation for telling pretty bad jokes.
As we reached the top of this coombe, the patience of a few, wore thin, the straw had broken the camel’s back.
Five or six of my “best” friends(?) picked me up and rolled me down this 35° path.
I rolled across broken chalk, through thistles, nettles, brambles and probably Bee Orchids, down, down, down, probably 200-300 feet of descent, who needs enemies when you’ve got friends like that?
Fortunately, I was known for my resilience and barring a few scratches didn’t get hurt, we laughed it off.
But, as you might have guessed, my jokes dried up for some reason!
Looking back, these times are the best of your life.
The “camaraderie” of my friends was simply wonderful!
The delightful coombe of Colley Hill in the North Downs with Reigate and Redhill, further east. The smooth lines of this scarp-slope valley is broken by the woodland at its base where a spring once surfaced to erode it, after previous ice-ages.
Commentary.
In the mid-1960’s and up to 1977 I took great delight
in being a member of the 18TH. Kingston and Merton Boys’ Brigade Company based in Farm Road Mission, Morden, Surrey.
I had started as an Anchor and Lifeboy at Cheam Baptist Church from 1961 to 1964.
From 1973 to 1977 I was a Non-Commissioned Officer at Farm Road in the St. Helier Estate, Morden.
Over a period of ten years, in winter we would have a Parade Evening on a Tuesday evening, in full uniform, that would include the discipline of marching drill.
On Sundays we would attend the Mission for a Bible Class.
All year we would enjoy many different sports, camps, hikes in the country, and even Orienteering Competitions in a wide range of rural settings.
We also learned many skills like First Aid, map-reading, roped rock-climbing, and kayaking/canoeing and other water-sports.
In the Spring/Summer months, Parade evenings would cease.
Instead, we would do outdoor sports in the nearby Recreation Ground, including football, cricket and rounders.
Often, on alternate weeks we would meet half-an-hour earlier
and travel to places like Banstead Woods, Epsom Downs, Box Hill, Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park to play “Wide Games.”
These involved two teams in a large, but specific area,
trying to capture their opponents, before they can return to a central point. Team with the most captures, by a specific time, wins, exhausting, frantic, but great fun.
We would also visit Colley Hill, above the town of Reigate.
On one such evening a group of 20 boys and 4 leaders had a walk around this very coombe at Colley Hill, on a glorious summer’s evening.
I had a bad reputation for telling pretty bad jokes.
As we reached the top of this coombe, the patience of a few, wore thin, the straw had broken the camel’s back.
Five or six of my “best” friends(?) picked me up and rolled me down this 35° path.
I rolled across broken chalk, through thistles, nettles, brambles and probably Bee Orchids, down, down, down, probably 200-300 feet of descent, who needs enemies when you’ve got friends like that?
Fortunately, I was known for my resilience and barring a few scratches didn’t get hurt, we laughed it off.
But, as you might have guessed, my jokes dried up for some reason!
Looking back, these times are the best of your life.
The “camaraderie” of my friends was simply wonderful!