1st Kettering Company, The Boys' Brigade

This will be a look back at our personal memories. If you are an ex 1st Kettering member, with memories of your time with us, then please let us know, and we will include them. Email to the webmaster, please.

The idea of this section is to put down various people's memories of over 60 years of Company Life with the 1st Kettering. If you have anything to include, email it to the webmaster and I will put it on unadulterated (as long as it complies with the usual standards of taste and decency!). Here's just a few of mine to start things off!

1968, I joined the Company Section...... The Company had just 2 Senior Boys, and I remember our Drill Sessions. Ron Julian was our Drill Officer, and he had a saying, "When I give the command, I want a cloud of dust, a stamp of feet, and a line of living statues!

Its good to the group still going strong. I think i was a member about 10 years or so ago. We had a good laugh and we would always look forward to meeting every week.I remeber many things but especially the supervisors. Mary, Derek and many other that i remeber but can't quite put names too. It was a bit embarasing when i first left the Anchor Boys to the next level as i thought Sheila Farrow was actually called Sheila Parrot.......need i go on.

Early 70's, I went on my first NCO's course, where we were introduced to Advanced Drill. Denis Cotton, our County Field Officer used to say "I have a new drill move for you. You are standing here, and I want you to be over there, so when I give the command, MOVE!" Dave Mitchell, Webmaster.

Late in my Boy career, we went to take part in the Battalion Handball competition in Corby. Against the odds, WE WON! and we had to catch the bus from Corby Bus Station back home, so we ran all the way from the HQ of the 1st Corby Company, to the Bus Station, with the cup held high as if we had won the FA Cup at Wembley. Dave Mitchell, Webmaster.

We have had another email from ex Captain Ron Julian, who now lives in New Zealand (see the Camp Memories page for his last email!).

From: xxxxx

To: 1stkettering@boys-brigade.org.uk

Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2004 8:45 AM

Subject: Memories!

Does anybody remember the two canoes we built? I forget when they were launched, but I think we took them to a stretch of the Nene out towards Raunds. We chose the biggest boy ( I think it was one of the Lovelocks) to try the first one out. We put the thing proudly into the water, I was about to tell lance corporal (can't think of his name blow it) how to go about getting into canoe, when he just stepped off the bank straight into it! There was a loud crack and the beautiful new pride of the fleet gurgled slowly to the bottom. With the "captain" corporal what's his name having the incredible presence of mind to salute as he went down with his ship. I was wondering if anybody had taken a photo of that? It should have been recorded as a lesson in 'How not to....'

Yes Ron, I remember that too, I was there, standing on the bank as the canoe filled with water! I think I was due to sit in the front seat on the maiden voyage! The Captain of the ship was Andy Lovelock, known to us all as "Slim" and he did get into the canoe, and there was a great "CRACK!" and water started pouring through the bottom seam of the canoe. It was made from marine ply, and the bottom panels were stitched together along the bottom with fishing line, then the joints coated with fibre glass tape and resin. The instructions did say to sand down the fibre glass, and we think we took too much off. Anyhow, someone was despatched to the garage down the road and came back with a roll of insulation tape, which we used to seal the bottom with, and we tried again. Once we got it back to base, we redid the bottom seam with fibre glass and it was perfect ofter that. The canoe was christened "Lewin Fisher" after our first Captain, the second one was "Reg Bridges". As we don't have a qualified canoe instructor, the canoes went into disuse, and were finally sold to another Company a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, we don't have a photo of the event!

The idea of this page is to put down various people's memories of over 50 years of Camp with the 1st Kettering. If you have anything to include, email it to the webmaster and I will put it on unadulterated (as long as it complies with the usual standards of taste and decency!). Here's just a few of mine to start things off!

Dateline 1973 (I Think). 1st Matlock's first camp with the Kettering Companies. Jane Hall, one of the Matlock Officers, drove a Renault 5 to Camp at Southwold, in Suffolk. When the camp awoke on the last morning, Jane's car was sitting in the middle of the parade square, covered in balloons. The other officers had her convinced that she had come in late from a wild party and parked it there!!!! What really happened was that the parking brake was on the front wheels, so the other Officers picked the front of the car up and wheeled it in place. A similar thing happened a few years later at Bognor Regis. "Charlie" Sallis had bought a Mk2 Cortina from a Carey Youth Leader who was also a mechanic. We knew that the driver's side window could be pushed down, so we pushed it around the site, took the wall of the marquee down, and parked it in the Mess Tent. The cook's face in the morning was a picture!

Dateline 1970 (Again, I think) My first Camp at Oxwich Green near Swansea. Our tent was being noisy after light's out, and Richard Lewis, one of our officers, came around the tents, with his torch. Dave Owen shouted out "Put that Pigging light out!", at which Richard said "Who do you think you're talking to?". Dave replied "Me teddy bear!!!". Later that week, Molly Chambers, our cook, was on the beach with a group of Boys, when they found a pebble shaped perfectly like an egg, which the next day, found it's way into the CO, "Benjamin" Britten's breakfast. Another incident that week, was when a fisherman came by with a conger eel, which ended up in our tent, staring Jem Barker in the face when he woke up!. Dave Mitchell, Webmaster.

Dateline 1976, the year of the drought. We camped at Durlston Country Park at Swanage, and someone (suspiciously) forgot the Camp Flag Pole. Now, the Kettering Camp Flag at the time was a Union Flag that had decidedly seen better days, and the end was all ragged. The Warden of the country park asked where our pole was, and when he heard that we were "poleless" he said that he would send one of the lads out to get us one. Later that day, a 30 foot tree trunk was delivered, so the flag was tied to it. When our QM Charles stood underneath it, he was christened Robinson Chambers, as with the dried up grass, it looked like a desert island! Dave Mitchell, Webmaster.

I've had an email from Ron Julian, who was our Company Captain in the 60s when I joined the Company Section, about camping on the Isle of Wight. Ron is now on another island, this one is called New Zealand!

From:xxxxxxxxxx

To: 1stkettering@boys-brigade.org.uk

Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2004 10:00 PM

Subject: Memory lane!

I've just been looking at your camp memories. Dont have a photo I'm afraid, but if anybody remembers the first camp at the Isle of Wight, you may remember that we camped with the 2nd and 3rd Kettering companies. This was my first introduction to B.B. camping and resulted in me coming into the 1st. Kettering as an officer. I was so impressed with the caring attitude of those officers - Reg Bridges (C.O.) Dick White, Bob Gunnell, to name a few (can't recall all of them -ancienticity strikes occasionaly!)

It was very windy one day and the boys were all out for the day Earnie Gunnell (our cook), myself and another Ron from the 3rd. were left to see that the camp was secure. The two Ronnies went down to the farm house for something or other and on the way back into the site we heard a terified cry for help. But we did'nt hurry because it was very faint. Then we turned into the lane and realised it was Earnie and began to run. As I said, it was very windy at the time and we both suddenly collapsed into laughter as we came though the gate; there was poor old Earnie hanging onto the corner guy of the big marquee, and he was being lifted by the wind and swung around on the end of the rope crying "He e l p stop laughing you idiots and come and help me or this things gonna fly away and take me with it. We were'nt very popular with Earnie for a day or two. But it was so funny (to us, anyway.

Here are some photos that I have raided from my collection of newspaper cuttings. They all come from the Kettering Evening Telegraph.

August 1992, Sponsored 24 hour Scalextric Grand Prix, part of the Challenge 92 Publicity Campaign

Not exactly a BB picture, but the Company and Church support Muscular Dystrophy Research. This shows 6 BB boys taking part

L-R Dave Lovelock, Dave Owen, Andrew (Slim) Lovelock, Keith Mitchell, Jeremy (Jem) Barker, Dave Mitchell