The Geoffrey Beavan Challenge 1995

One of the major scout competitions is the annual “Geoffrey Beavan Canoe Challenge”. This was set up many years ago by Mr Geoffrey Beavan and was essentially a long distance canoe race along the canals of Cheshire and occasionally Lancashire over a weekend with the competitors covering 15 to 20 miles on both Saturday and Sunday. There were also a couple of non-canoeing activities such as shooting, cycling, quiz etc. which also contributed in a minor way to the overall scores.

In the 1990s there was an increasing emphasis on “health and safety” and the numbers of competent canoeists seemed to be decreasing. Therefore, a new structure was introduced to the “Beavan” in which the importance of the canoeing element was reduced and the prominence of the “other activities” was increased. This had the desired effect of encouraging the scouts who did little or no canoeing to take part.

The first of the new “Geoffrey Beavan Challenge” weekends, took place in 1995 based in the Llangollen area. 1^st Thurstaston Scouts attended and entered senior and junior teams.

The 1st Thurstaston Junior Scout Team of Adam Glen, Matthew Thomas and Chris Jones, swept the board by winning first place in all sections and hence taking the overall GB Challenge Trophy for this age group. Chris Jones also won the overall Individual Junior Scout Trophy by gaining first place in the Mountain Bike section and sharing the top spot in the individual Canoe Sprint stage with team-mate Matthew Thomas who also came third in the Individual Canoe Race.

Not to be left out and to complete a very enjoyable and successful weekend for the troop, the 1st Thurstaston Senior Scout Team of Andrew Johnson, Matthew Jones and Daniel McLennan came third in the camp project section and fifth in the overall team ranking.

Daniel McLennan, who was also the Patrol Leader of the Wolf Patrol, wrote a detailed and highly amusing account of the weekend for his patrol log.

You can read this account by clicking here.