On June the 19th 2011 our
branch treasurer was contacted by one of the Adult Scout leaders of
the 1st Cropwell Bishop Scout group. He told us that the Scout
group was hoping to form a Pegasus troop within the 1st Cropwell
Bishop Scouts and was wanting to have a link between The Nottingham
Branch of the Parachute Regimental Association and the Armed
Forces. It appeared that many years ago, some of the now Senior
Scout leaders had visited one of the Arnhem commemorations as young
Scouts. The experience had impacted on them in such a way that they
never forgot that experience, and now they wanted to honour the
Airborne Forces by forming their own Pegasus troop and have closer
links with the Paras of today and yesterday. The Nottingham Branch
were happy to form such links, who's members had also served as
Scouts or Cubs when they were younger.
On Thursday the 13th of
October the Nottingham Branch of the Parachute Regimental
Association attended a very special ceremony at the 1st Cropwell
Bishop Scout Group.
This was to create new links
between the 1st Cropwell Bishop Scouts and the Parachute Regimental
Association, and also forming the first and only "PEGASUS TROOP"
within the Scouts Organisation. Six Nottingham Branch Association
members attended the ceremony including; John Needham, Bill
Cumming, Stan Hopkins and his Wife Margaret, Dave Ross, Bill
Marshall and Mark Holding.
To mark the occasion a
Pegasus Shield and Scroll was presented to the 1st Cropwell Bishop
Scout Group by John Needham and a 1.5 Inch Pegasus Badge awarded to
each Scout and Scout leader to wear on their uniform.
The Scouts were also awarded
their Queens Diamond Jubilee badge by their District Scout leader
and as a surprise to all our members who attended, we too were
presented with the Queens Diamond Jubilee badge by the Senior Scout
leader of the 1st Cropwell Bishop Scouts, (The Gaffer) Chris Keast.
"Many thanks Chris".
During the evening talks
were given to the Scouts by John Needham, Bill Cumming and Mark
Holding on their experiences as former Paras, with questions being
asked by the Scouts. The evening was enjoyed by everyone
concerned.
On Saturday the 29th of
October 2011 the Scouts will enjoy another interesting day as Jon
Baker, curator of the Air Assault Museum at RAF Duxford, hosts them
at the museum.
Both the 1st Cropwell Bishop
Scout group and the Nottingham Branch PRA look forward to keeping
close links with each other in the future and we wish all the
Scouts well as they progress through their new "Pegasus
Troop".
"Utrinque
Paratus"
Mark Holding (Treasurer
Nottingham PRA)
"PEGASUS
TROOP"
1st Cropwell Bishop Scouts visit
to the Air Assault Museum RAF Duxford
SATURDAY OCTOBER 29th
2011
Above: Young Scouts try out the Parachute Equipment and the SLR
Rifle for size.
Below: One of the Scout leaders with the Bren Gun, while another
young scout assumes the Paratrooper pose with SLR
Rifle.
Bellow:
Left another young scout with the Bren Gun, and Right: Two more
scouts with the SLR Rifle, while Jon Baker and Scout leaders look
on.
Bellow
left: A young scout in Parachute kit and equipment. Bellow Right:
Senior Scout leader and Scout checking out the museums
The new
Pegasus Troop, 1st Cropwell Bishop Scouts enjoyed their day at the
Airborne Assault Museum and the Duxford Imperial War Museums on
Saturday October the 29th 2011. They were able to see, wear
equipment and handle weapons in the museum and were hosted by Jon
Baker (Curator) and his team. It is hoped that Jon Baker and his
team will visit the Cropwell Bishop Scout Group in the future to
give more presentations and form links with the first and only
Pegasus Scout Troop in the United
Kingdom.
Airborne All
the Way.
CROPWELL BISHOP BEAVERS CHEQUE
DONATION FOR TROOP AID
On Thursday the
8th of March members of the Nottingham Branch of the Parachute
Regimental Association were invited to the Cropwell Bishop Scout
group by the Beavers for a presentation of £50. This was to go to
Troop Aid for the purchase of grab bags for wounded servicemen and
women.
Back in September
Cropwell Bishop held a village carnival and invited the Nottingham
Branch PRA to attend and at the same time hopefully raise some
money from our tombola for the branch. The leader of the Beavers
group, Jackie Dabell, took interest in our Troop Aid grab bag,
which we always display at our events, and said that they would try
and raise funds for it in the future.
At the beginning
of March we had an e-mail from one of the Scout leaders with the
news that the Beavers had been busy creating Christmas Stationary
over the Christmas period, and had raised enough funds to purchase
two grab bags for Troop Aid. We arranged to go along on a Thursday
evening and collect their cheque, which we would then add to, and
pass on to the Troop Aid Charity.
The night was
very rewarding for all. We took the grab bag along to show the
young Beavers and Scouts that followed, what the grab bags
contained. President John Needham also presented a Pegasus Flag to
the Pegasus Scout troop later in the evening, which will be flown
at Scout camps in the future. The Flag was presented to Chris Keast
the Scout Group Leader, and both the Beavers and Scouts hope to
donate more to Troop Aid in the future. During 2011 the Nottingham
Branch donated £275 to Troop Aid. This year we will be adding to
the donation that the Beavers have given us, and pushing the cause
at all our public events, as we feel that the Troop Aid is a very
worthy cause.
On behalf of the
Nottingham Branch we would like to thank the Beavers and the Scouts
for all the hard work that they have put in to help raise awareness
and funds for our forces in need.
Mark Holding
(Treasurer)
Jackie Dabell
presenting the cheque for £50, which will go to Troop
Aid
Above: The
beavers being shown what the grab bag that they have raised money
for contains, while members of Nottingham Branch look
on.
Above: A great
end to the meeting with the Beavers.
Above:
THE BEAVERS. Back row Left to Right: (Beaver Scout Leader)
Jackie Dabell, George Worthington, Bill Marshall, Bill Cumming,
Dave Ross, John Needham, (Assistant Beaver Scout Leader) Elaine
Mellor, Mark Holding.
Above: Dave Ross
about to show the contents of a Troop Aid Grab
Bag.
Above: (Cropwell
Bishop Scout Group Leader) Chris Keast with the Pegasus Flag,
presented by Nottingham Branch President, John
Needham.
Above: The
contents of a Troop Aid Grab Bag, and lower right the cheque for
£50 from the Beavers of the Cropwell Bishop
Scouts.
"TROOP
AID" CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION
TO
CROPWELL BISHOP BEAVER SCOUTS
On
Thursday the 29th of March, the Branch president, John Needham,
along with the Secretary, Bill Cumming, and Treasurer, Mark
Holding, paid a visit to the Cropwell Bishop Beaver Scouts. This
was to present them with a certificate of appreciation for the £50
that the Beavers had raised through the making and selling of
Christmas stationary. It was then donated to the Troop Aid Charity
through the Nottingham Branch of the Parachute Regimental
Association. Troop Aid also included a letter of thanks from Troop
Aid. It was a quick visit, as the Beavers were making good of the
late day sunshine and walking from Cropwell Bishop too Cropwell
Butler and back. The visit was an unexpected surprise for the
Beaver leaders and the Beavers. We wish them well in the future and
hope to raise more funds together.
Above
Right: John Needham presenting Jackie Dabell with "Troop Aid"
certificate of appreciation for the £50 that was raised for
their charity.
Above:
Jackie Dabell (Beavers Leader) thanking the Beavers for all their
hard work.
Scout
leaders at St Mary's Church Nottingham
Above:
Standard bearer George Worthington with Cropwell Bishop Scout
leaders at theNottingham PRA Memorial Stone unveiling, which took
place on Sunday the 15th of April.
Cropwell Bishop Scouts - St Georges Day - Invite to
NFFC
On Sunday the 22nd of April members of Nottingham branch
who had attended the Cropwell Bishop Scouts earlier in the year
were invited to the Rushcliffe District Scout groups St Georges Day
celebrations being held at the Nottingham Forest Football ground.
We were invited to coffee in the VIP lounge, followed by seats in
the VIP box area. Awards were presented to long serving Scout
leaders for their service to the Scouts, and to Scout group members
from all age groups. Everyone had a great time, and we thank Jock
Shaw, the District Scout leader for his kind invitation on the
day.
Above left: Jock Shaw (District Scout Leader) with other
officials giving one of the Scout leaders a special award for long
service.
Below: Eyes front, George Worthington and Bill Cumming with members
of Nottingham PRA in the VIP Box.
Above: George and Bill enjoying the
day.
Below: PRA Members and wives in the lounge before the start
of the day.
Cropwell
Bishop Scouts meet the Red Devils
Sunday the 13th of May 2012
On
the 70th Anniversary of the formation of the Parachute Regiment the
Pegasus Troop, Cropwell Bishop Scouts got to meet the Red Devils at
Hardwick Hall. By the looks of the photo both parties enjoyed
themselves.
Pegasus Troop Cropwell
Bishop Scouts Annual camp
Snowdonia
National Park
"Pegasus
Troop" on the summit of Mt Snowdon
Early
in 2012 the 1st Cropwell Bishop Scouts wrote to the
Nottingham Branch of the PRA to ask if it would be OK for them to
adopt the name Pegasus Troop for their Scout
unit.
Permission
was granted and subsequent links between the Scouts and the
Nottingham branch PRA were developed.
The
Branch presented the Scouts with a Pegasus flag and a framed write
up about the Greek mythological history of Pegasus and how
Bellerophon came to be on Pegasus.
A
quantity of Pegasus shoulder flashes were presented to the Scouts
and the leaders, these flashes are now proudly displayed on the
back of the 'Neckers' worn by the scouts and their
leaders.
Throughout
2012 the link strengthened with the Scouts and Beavers (6 – 9 yr
old) raising money for 'Troop Aid'.
Mark
Holding (treasurer) and Bill Cumming (secretary) of the branch with
other branch members in support, attended at the memorial hall in
Cropwell Bishop to be presented with the cash raised for Troop Aid
and where Mark Holding gave a demonstration of the contents of a
Troop Aid 'Grab Bag' to the Beavers and the
Scouts.
Dave
Ross, a member of Nottingham Branch PRA extended the link further
by becoming a leader at the Scouts teaching field craft, survival
skills, BASHA building and map and compass skills at the unit and
at several weekend camps with both Beavers and
Scouts.
Traditionaly
all Scout Leaders are given a knickname by the youngsters and
because at every camp Dave produced a 'Dog Bowl' out of his Para
Bergan to eat his meals, he was quickly christened 'Dog Bowl
Dave'
Pegasus
Troop has also attended during 2012 in support of the Airborne
Forces Day Memorial at Hardwick Hall where they were photgraphed
with the Red Devils, The un-veiling of a Memorial Plaque to Local
Paratroopers in St Mary's Church Nottingham and (Chiefy) attended
as a representative of Pegasus Troop at the Sgt Michael Willetts GC
Memeorial at Blidworth Church.
In
his capacity as a Leader at Pegasus Troop Dave went on camp for a
week in Wales in August this year and apart from activities such as
a visit down a Copper Mine, a ride on Ffestiniog Railway, Riding
inflatable RIB speed boats at sea and Beach Olympics, the Troop
Tackled Mount Snowdon (see photos of Pegasus Troop Flying the Flag)
but by far the hardest task of the week was trying to pronounce the
name of a place they visited:
'LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYRNDROBWLLLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH'.
Leaders
who attnded the camp were: Jock Shaw (DC for Rushcliffe), Steve
Heffernan (Skip - Troop Skipper), Mick(Tricky Mickey) and Abi
Beazley, (Chiefy), Dave Ross (Dog Bowl
Dave).
The
week ended on Friday evening with a Hawaiian beach party at the
camp, with food and soft drinks. The dress code for the evening was
Hawaiin style loud shirts and sunglasses or
similar.
Dave
Ross ( Dog Bowl Dave)
Cropwell Bishop Beaver and Cub Scout
Presentation
FRIDAY 17th JANUARY 2014
The
Branch has had a link with the Cropwell Bishop Scout Group for
almost three years. The Scout Troop already had the honour of being
the first Scout Troop in the Country to be titled Pegasus Troop,
and all wear a small Pegasus flash on the backs of their
neckerchiefs. Tonight’s special occasion was to roll out this
honour to the other younger troops of the group. This included the
Beavers and the Cub Scouts. Each of the Beaver and Cub Scouts were
presented with their new Pegasus Patch and this was also included
to their troop leaders. A cheque was also presented by John Needham
(President - Nottingham PRA) for the sum of £200 for the use of the
troop.
Above: Members of Nottingham Branch of the
Parachute Regiemental Association with the Beaver Scout Pegasus
Troop, after their presentation.
