Persistent rain meant that the field day had to be in the hall instead of on Deans Field as planned. Everyone pulled together getting everything ready for the 11 am opening time. The tea and coffee were moved to the John Bentley room along with the Tommy Silhouette. The Blood bike arrived and the local police arrived to do bike postcode marking. The falconry display team got their tent ready. Meanwhile, inside, the stall holders were setting up and you could really feel that everyone was working together.
At 11 am the Field Day was officially opened by our ex District Commissioner Steph Argyle. Everybody poured in and immediately started having a go on the stalls. A lot of the young children liked the Lucky Dip and Poopla had a smile on many people’s faces. Before long most of the plates had met their demise on Smash-a-plate, a favourite among the leaders to let some stress out! There was also a stationary bird display outside.
Former District Commissioner Steph Argyle opens the 63rd Derby Scouts’ Field Day 2019
The first falconry display was at 12:30pm inside the hall. They had two owls, both of which I held. It was amazing to watch the owls fly around the hall with such ease. I never knew that there were 25 names for the barn owl! Luckily the other birds didn’t have quite so many names. I also learnt that the term “wise old owl” isn’t necessarily true and owls aren’t that wise.
At lunchtime there was the usual queue at the BBQ tent. I had already had my lunch but just the smell was making my mouth water. The John Bentley room was also full of people drinking coffee and tea or eating cake.
After lunch I spoke to Ben Breward, the owner of the birds of prey. He said that he had fallen in love with birds ever since he went bird watching with his Granddad as a young child. He said that one of the great things is that “you can never ever train a bird of prey” Ben owns a falconry business based in Risley.
After that it was time for the second falconry display. This time they had a Harris hawk and another owl. The owl liked perching on the Poopla sign and the hawk was just amazing to watch.
I then talked with Dave who had brought the blood bike. He explained to me how the concept works and what blood bikes are needed for. He explained that they supplied medical supplies very quickly if they are needed in a hurry. His motor bike looked well geared-up and more than capable for the job.
I ended the day by asking Chris Roe the Beaver leader what he thought about Field Day and being the Beaver leader. He said that Field Day was good fun and that he liked teaching the Beavers things they wouldn’t learn at school.
All in all, it seemed like an excellent day. Even though we are still not sure of a figure we are pretty certain we raised a lot of money for the hall.
