A TRIP AROUND HOPEHILL

Approaching from either the North of South along the A227 the first thing you will
see is a sign saying Hopehill on either side of the site entrance turn here and
pass through the gates of HOPEHILL, camping & training ground and District
Headquarters of the Gravesham Scouts.

Come with us for a walk around the site and we will introduce you to some of its
history. If you have managed to park your car near to the finger post. You will
see that it tells you that to get to Hopehill you should go back out of the front
gate and keep walking for 24,900 miles.

It's the building that catches the eye but this tour will take you round the twenty
acres of grounds first. On the left of the drive there is a sundial. It's quite
ancient, bearing the date 1725 so it is older than Hopehill. The plaque tells us that
the sundial commemorates the work of Redvers Walker and Joe Doust and it was
put in place in 1964. These two gentlemen are also remembered for setting up the
Doust-Walker Fund which has helped to send Scouts from this area to World
Jamborees every four years and will do so for the next one in Sweden.

On the right if the drive there is a cairn which was erected after the Millennium
camp. Each stone was donated by a person or group and is engraved with their
name.

There are three benches outside the building and the Doust name appears on
two of them. Joe Doust joined the Executive Committee in 1925, became
Chairman in 1942 and held that post until 1964, which is when the sundial was
erected. Clara and Helen were his sisters.

The third bench is in memory of Bert Sandall. He was Group Scout Master of the
21st Gravesend (St. Faiths), which became Christ Church Scout Group and, more
recently, Windmill Hill Scout Group. He died when he slipped between the platform
and a train at Gravesend Station. At the time his wife was expecting their
daughter. Mrs Sandall took over as the first lady GSM in this district and went on
to teach good scouting to many.

The next sundial , made from local flint, was put here by "Boss" Tutton as a
thank you to all those who helped to make Hopehill what it was. "Scoutmaster"
Tutton started the first Gravesend Scout Troop in 1908 and he had a letter from
the Chief dated May 1908 confirming his appointment as Commanding Officer. It
must have been 1918 that Mr Tutton picked up the title "Boss" because this was
when Gravesend became a Scout District and Mr. Tutton became D.C.

"Boss" went to Singapore in 1924 but picked up where he left off on his return in
1926. He resigned and moved from Gravesend in 1939, which was before Hopehill
was acquired. According to John Thompson, famous Rover Scout and GSM of 6th
Milton, as he did not personally actually put the sundial in place himself. The truth
is he sent the top and the service team of the day, namely Derek Parsons and
Doug. Rew-Smith made the pillar and mounted it. There was a collection at the
time of "Boss" Tutton's funeral that provided funds for the signs at entrance to
Hopehill and for the District public address system.

Moving on between the new building and the wardens hut you reach the hut now
used by the Service Team (known by their labours, an apt motto) was once the
camp shop and in those days this was a service that was managed and manned
for the most part by members of the B-P Guild of old Scouts.

Past the Green Marquee Store, given to us by Beck & Politzer, are three fairly new
trees. The first, an acia, was bought and planted by Jackie K. wife of Stan K.
former warden and author of the original tour upon which this is based. The
other two trees are part of Tom Y's progressive planting programme. We have in
the past planted quite a few trees in memory of people but sometimes the tree
does not last as long as our memories. Two such trees, one to Bert Pickering and
another to his "side kick" Bert Cross, are examples of this so nowadays we try to
find other ways to remember our heroes.

Bert Pickering was the DC at the time when Gravesend & District Scouts acquired
Hopehill. It is thanks to a legacy of the late Walter Mathews and the generosity of
Mr A. E. Barnes (Rainbow Stores) that Hopehill was obtained but someone had to
say thank you and Bert Pickering was that someone.

You should now have reached the chapel gates . The last chapel gates were
wrecked in the 1987 gales so they had to be replaced but instead of having new
gates we had the "Skipper Bennett Gates" restored and reinstated here in a new
gateway. These were the original front gates to Hopehill, built by a local man and
erected in 1961 to commemorate the jubilee of "Skipper", honary camp warden for
many long years.

The gates had been taken down when the posts rotted and anyway the opening
was simply not big enough for the current traffic. The storm was just the impetus
needed to get the gates repaired and back into service as a reminder of all
skippers' time and energy spent at Hopehill.

The cost of the restoration was met from a collection made for Stan Day. Stan was
ADC Cubs until he was forced to retire when the "65 rule" came in with the
advance party report. He was well past 65 at the time. Scouting played a large
part in his life, when "Scouting for Boys" was still hot off the presses he was out
there persuading someone to start a troop in Northfleet. He would tell the story of
999, the ninth day of the ninth month in the year 1909, when the formation of the
Girl Guides was announced. Stan was there, and at the first Jamboree even
though he had to walk all the way from Northfleet. Stan married his Girl Guide sweetheart and they both lived happily ever after.

Added to the gates is a memorial to Ken Jarvis, DC until his 65th birthday and he
died not long after. Inside the chapel gate you will see a number of plaques of
remembrance that are being added to all too frequently. They are all for revered
leaders from groups in the Gravesham area.

Inside the chapel is a bench dedicated to Bert Cross 1907 to 1985. Bert was
county secretary for the "BP Guild of old Scouts". This did have other names from
time to time but Bert was constant. He was also Bert Pickering's right hand man.
Bert Cross deserved to be remembered, not because he was a memorable sort of
a bloke but he was everybody's "first lieutenant" and in the front row of every
support team whatever the event.

The next bench was donated by the residents of the Cheshire Home at Maidstone
to mark the many Hopehill Handicapped Rallies that their members had enjoyed.
Here is another bench, in memory of a gracious lady, C Olive Brand 3rd June
1968. This lady was Jack Beslee's wife's aunt, there is another seat elsewhere
bearing the name William J. Brand 1968. Mr Brand gave both seats but did not
think it necessary to die before we sat on his bench. The altar and cross were
constructed by Cyril Brown, last heard of living in New Zealand.

Moving round the activity field we come next to the climbing wall & abseiling
tower dedicated to Martin Wright, leader of the Kipling Venture Scout Unit. You
will see from the dates on the plaque that this was a young life and climbing had
been a big part of it, so it seemed very fitting that when this facility was built it
should use money from the Martin Wright fund and be dedicated to his memory.

To the left are two gates either side of a public footpath which runs along the
north boundary of Hopehill behind the Chapel. Past the furthest of the two gates
is five acre field which is the newest addition to the site. Within the field glades
are being developed to provide camping areas.

Between the gates mentioned before and the climbing tower is a third gate. Go
through this gate and follow the footpath straight ahead into the woods you will
be at the camp fire circle.

Returning to the climbing tower, carry on walking around the field first we will pass
a former toilet block which has been converted into stores for both the
Explorers Scout and Network.

Continuing along this edge of the field we pass the air rifle range and then the
archery venue. As we turn away from the woods and head along the field
boundary towards the car park we reach a gap in the trees.

There was a move at one time to name different areas of the site after people but
it appears the only area to be named was "Bennett Way", the tree lined avenue
that separates the east & west camping fields. Half way along this path is Skipper
Bennett's Oak Tree (there is no notice but you'll know it when you reach it) so you
can tell that he was held in high esteem by the Scouts of the day and long may his
tree continue to grow.

You should now have reached the end of Bennett Way. "Skipper" was the
warden of this site for a good long time, he was connected with the Grammar
School Troop (the 23rd Gravesend) and he probably had a hand in planting many
trees on this field.

Pausing at a suitable gap as you head along Bennett Way turn towards the woods
and look into the camping field. Looking back towards the field you have come
from and you will see the second of the kitchens to be installed in the camping field
'Starsky'.

However "Skipper" did not plant the tree right at the end. This one is for "Mina"
Hobbs ADC (Beavers) who died in 1996. It was provided and planted by Mina's
relatives. It's a Dutch Elm, treated to be resistant to the disease that did for most
of the elm trees in the country some time ago, making it significant as a specimen
and a poignant reminder of Mina's ancestry. We hope that this tree will grow into a
splendid example as was Mina herself.

We now turn around and start walking back towards where we came from. We are
heading towards the toilet block, on the left is the first of the kitchens in the
camping field 'Hutch'. However we still haven't found the red and white Ford
Torino. Perhaps aptly Hutch will be upgraded to the former mobile police station
that has been positioned beside it. The current Hutch will be relocated to five acre
field.

We don't know how many people would be flattered to have a toilet block named
after them but we call this one the "Madeline Allen Amenity Block". It was
Madeline Allen's will that left a significant amount of money to Gravesend Scouts to
remember the happy times her husband spent camping whilst a Scout in
Gravesend. So that is how we have the "Clifford Allen Centre" which is where we
go back to next, passing on the way seven silver birch trees given by the
Longfield & Hartley Scouts because of "Sticky" Wickham their leader.

The "Clifford Allen Centre" has two wings, the Barnes Wing and the Lions
Wing. This perpetuates the names of the two accommodation buildings that
preceded this one. Mr Barnes has already been mentioned; he was the proprietor
of the Rainbow Stores, which later became Bennett & Brown. It was he who put
up the money for the first Barnes Hut. This was not the only furniture shop to
support scouting in its earlier days, Baldwins of Perry Street and Pounces were
both in the forefront. The Lions Wing takes its name from the Lions Hut, which was
built, for us by the Lions Club. The Rotary Club contribution to early Hopehill is
now the service team workshop but the first warden accommodation built by the
three wheelers club sadly had to go to make way for the current complex.

The "Clifford Allen Centre" has two foundation stones. One is its own and is self
explanatory; the other was taken from the Barnes Hut and marks the official
opening of the site in 1950 by Brigadier W.E. Clark. CGM. DSO. DL. CC. Except
that he didn't! Mr Clark went down with flu or something so Richard Scully did
the honours in his absence.

For more on the history of the artefacts on display inside the main building and
other treasures stored at Hopehill please see the original tour of Hopehill by
Stan K. which forms the basis of this tour.

A Trip Around Hopehill - edition 2

This Trip Around Hopehill