westminster Abbey

Yesterday I went to a very different kind of church service at Westminster Abbey in London.

There was a National Scout and Guide service of Celebration and Thanksgiving held there and there were Leaders from all over the country. I went with the Falcon Akela and her husband Duncan who was actually the one invited as he has given over 30 years of service to the Scout Association as a Leader in Hertford District.

We caught the train from Hertford North because there were no trains from Ware, and went to Kings Cross where we met Akela’s mum and dad who were also invited. We travelled on the Underground to Westminster Station, then joined the queue to get into the Abbey. The service was quite short with several hymns, readings, prayers and a talk by the Chaplain to the Speaker to the House of Commons. There were some really nice interviews with Young People who had achieved lots of different things with their time in Scouts or Guides, they had all got their Queens Award, been to Jamborees and tried many different and exciting activities. After the interviews we renewed our Promise again before singing the National Anthem.

 I then visited the Memorial to Lord and Lady Baden-Powell, who were the Founders of both the Scout and Guide Movements and were the World Chief Scout and Guide.

After that we went to a restaurant and had lunch, before going back to Kings Cross. On the way back we visited Platform 9 3/4 and I had my photo taken on Harry Potter’s luggage trolley before we travelled home to Ware.

One of our Dinosaurs is missing!

A trip to the shop

I am sure you have guessed by now that the destination of the Heron Cub Pack trip was the Natural History Museum in London and, as far as we know, all dinosaurs were still there when we left!

Blue whale and mammals

I had the privilege of travelling by train and tube with the Cubs to the Museum. Once there we looked in the Dinosaur section, visited the Blue Whale area, went to see human biology area and loved the investigation centre. Some of the Cubs claimed to have spotted Terry Wogan in the dinosaur section, which I saw made a few leaders give a wry smile!



Dinosaur Walkway


We travelled back the HQ where we had an evening meal from the local fish and chip shop before gathering outside for a roaring campfire and making s’mores.

In the investigation centre



The Cubs then got into their sleeping bags and we all watched “One of our Dinosaurs is missing” before dropping off to sleep.



In the investigation centre


This morning we ate a breakfast of bacon rolls and watched some Looney tunes before the Cubs were collected and we locked up and came home.

Human Biology area

meeting an ancestor

 It was another successful trip to London. Well done Herons!

Having a whale of a time..

Just in case you need another clue!

Have you guessed yet?

And we're off!

Check back later to see where The Heron Cubs are off to on this fine day....