And so it was at high noon on a hot, sunny blue sky day that Acid, myself, Peachy and Hibbo found ourselves cowering in the shade of the scout hut porch.
Day 5 and event number eight for a now jaded andy.t, event four for a bored Ollie Hibbs, a Holi-day out for Acid who had taken the day off work and noted that the bus times weren’t compatible with our plan, and respite for Peachy from exam revision. But where were the Explorers?
Exhausted? Bored? Indoors? Uninterested? With better things to do and older brothers to annoy? 4 leaders had turned out but there was not one Explorer scout to be seen for miles around. Finally the scenario I’d vaguely feared had arisen. My worst nightmare turned reality. the crushing weight of having my plans scuppered bore down on me with excrutiating despair. So we went for a walk anyway and that was that. We didn’t really miss the Explorers at all.
Not requiring the bus, Peachy masterfully drove us, without “spirito di punto” to a shortened start at Rowarth, and it was free parking! Winner! Having carefully parked in the shade – to keep the car 1 degree cooler than in the sun, we headed to Matley Moor farm and then out into the moors and towards the shooting cabin for some lunch. Sun tan lotion was constantly applied and sunglasses remained firmly in place.
It was a lovely atmosphere as we sped along the paths, over stiles and through farms. Nothing too exhausting, no peat bogs to leap, no massively steep enduring hills, just an easy ramble through quiet countryside and a few new footpaths to boot. No explorers to harass, trip, trick, or make map read, nope. Not here. Not Today! We just strolled on and enjoyed the views – uncaring leaders in a world of no marple explorers.
Chat ranged from the Cub Scout Census plan to the latest TV dramas, including Peachy’s running career and Acids working life – Imagine as many jaffa cakes and love hearts as you can eat! A chance to catch up with peoples plans and fortunes while wandering out in the fresh air. One incident of mild note was the taking of the wrong path after lunch and the discovery of a path not on the map! High drama indeed! That’s about as exciting as it got. ( And to be honest it wasn’t even a “wrong” path, more of a “different” path, as we weren’t incredibly concerned to take the “right“ one.)
We rolled on with non muddy, clean boots back up the final climb of the day and onto the lesser used paths that lurk behind Rowarth. Behold the crux decision of the day. Pub finish or no pub finish. Without any Explorers present we had free choice, but we still turned the opportunity down – it’s what the Explorers would have wanted, we felt.
Back aboard the red tank and back to marple along the scenic backroads – it was that kind of lazy day. We finished early so Samuel could revise for more exams and parted our separate ways. The Explorers probably had better things to do, or maybe were busy doing paper rounds.
That was it. In the words of Justin Timberlake:
Ladies, goodnight.
Gentlemen, goodnight.