0.00 - The Respondent is introduced and thanked for attending the Interview. He is asked where he was born and where he grew up.
“So, I was actually born in Turkey. I’m half Turkish. I came over here when I was a baby, and I grew up in Edinburgh. [Interviewer] Local to here? [Respondent] Originally Dalry, and then we moved around here when I was about 4 or 5, maybe.”
0.52 - The Respondent is asked how he was involved with the 30th Craigalmond Scout Group and his years there.
“I remember, it must have been about 2004, we just moved house, and I got a place at Davidson’s Mains Primary School, and I can’t remember if it was my Mum or my Dad, but they said would you like to go to the Cubs, as it was then. I remember going. I think they used to be on a Wednesday night after school and everybody else who was in my year was all involved in it so it was quite nice, you saw all your friends at school you saw at Cubs later on, so it was just like a continuation of that really. That was my first memory of joining, and I think I must have left, I want to say, around 2010, maybe 2009, my memory is failing me a wee bit there, but I remember being in the Scouts, like progressing from Cubs to Scouts.”
1.49 - The Interviewer then asked what the Respondent remembered about a typical night when he was a Scout.
“Yeah, it depended on what time of year it was, so if it was summer, you’d do stuff outside. There used to be lots of stuff in D’Mains Park; sometimes, we used to go to Longcraigs, the sailing centre, by South Queensferry, and we used to do sailing there whenever that was organised, and that was great. That was in the summer, but in the winter, we used to go in here, and we sometimes did ropework, more theoretical stuff, maybe some games as well. I remember, before Christmas, we used to, I think this was in Cubs, we used to build stuff out of newspaper, big structures – everyone used to get a few newspapers together, and we used to build big, massive things, a lot bigger than I was! You just used to build them, it took you all the time that you were there, and you just used to trash them all at the end [laughs].”
02.47 - The Interviewer goes on to ask if he remembers taking part in any traditions or ceremonies, such as raising and lowering the flag.
“Yeah, we used to do that at the start; I can’t really remember much in the Cubs, but in the Scouts, we definitely used to do it at the start of every session, and it used to be like, I don’t know what you call it, but like the senior scout or whatever used to be the one who was conducting it, and then maybe sometimes they would choose different people to raise the flag at the start of the hall -that was at the Scout Hall. I remember being in the Centenary Camp; I think that was in 2007 or 2008, just when I joined High School, and I remember it being the hundredth year Centenary Camp at Dalmeny. I remember that, yeah.”
03.39 - The Respondent is then asked if he recalls much about the uniforms in the time that he was there.
“Yeah, so in Cubs, it was like a jumper, a green jumper that you wore, and I can’t remember if you had the little tie over it; I think you might have. And Scouts was a shirt, an actual shirt that you had to iron and you had like you could fold it up, it was a good bit of kit, I think, you know, a sturdy shirt, you put all your badges on it and wore like a woggle, I think it was called, and you had to wrap up the brown and blue tie as well. I remember that, yeah. Yeah, it was a decent uniform.”
04.15 - The interviewer asks whether the respondent remembers anyone in Cubs wearing the old Cub cap. He replies that he does not, adding that he disliked wearing hats of any kind and would not have worn it himself. He is then asked if he remembers the name of his patrol.
“I think I was in [pauses]. I want to say it’s called Wolves, as I remember the little symbol had a wolf on it, but I don’t know if that was the actual name. I remember the symbol was blue and red and had a wolf – I remember that. It's annoying as my Mum still has my Scout uniform somewhere, but she couldn’t find it for this interview. I think she knows where it is – I want to see it again, you know, try it on [laughs].”
04.57 - The Interviewer asks if the Respondent remembers any leaders.
“I remember Dylan Lynch, I remember him; he was big into like Scouts and Explorers and all that, and I think he still is. I remember a guy called Nikki Vohra, and before him, I can remember the faces but not the names. Those were the two main people that I can remember.”
05.28 - The Respondent is then asked if he was ever made a Patrol Leader.
“Yeah, I remember becoming a Patrol Leader. I had been in the Scouts maybe four or five years, so I think [had] a bit more experience. I remember being the Patrol Leader for my little patrol; we used to stand just by the door [laughs]; that’s where we always used to stand cause I think back then you had like different patrols used to be in different corners, and they had a little symbol of where they were, and ours was always there.
Interviewer: How many patrols were in the night?
Respondent: Four, I think, four, I can’t remember what the other ones were called, but I’m pretty sure there were four.
Interviewer: How many Scouts were in each patrol?
Respondent: Four or five, so maybe twenty people in total.”
06.08 - The interview moves on to badges and if the Respondent remembers receiving any and what kind of work was involved in that.
“I remember there were two types – there were ones that were the shape of a diamond that went on your chest, and there were ones that were the shape of a circle that went on your arms. I remember the diamond one I received for navigation, I think, which I was quite proud of cause I was never really good at it [laughs], so I was quite happy that I got that. I remember the circle one was… like sometimes you had to research stuff like either a different language or just different things, and you had to present it to everybody else, and if you done that, you got the wee circle badge. But I remember one of them was ropework, and I always remember like some of the knots we were taught – like the reef knot, the bow line and stuff like that we got taught, so I always remember them, just muscle memory – I could probably remember them still today [laughs].”
7.01 - The Respondent was then asked if he recalled any outdoor adventures or trips that he attended.
“Like I said, sailing was a big one, I think, down at Longcraigs. That was really good as I had never sailed before, it was just cool going out in the Firth of Forth, and you know seeing all these big ships going past you in your little sailing boat, so that was really good, we done that quite a few times actually and that was quite nice. But we also…like in the summer, we used to go out all the time to D'Mains Park, Corstorphine Hill, we used to learn different themes each time so I remember once we learnt about all the trees that were there and they were telling us how to tell if a woodland was native or if it's been like planted by humans, so I remember that. And other stuff used to be just playing a game of like hide and seek or something like that, where you know people were happy just trying to find you and stuff like that.”
07.58 - The Interviewer asks if he remembers any other games that he used to play to which he couldn’t at that time. He was then asked if he remembered any of his friend groups during his time at Scouts.
“Used to be a few guys who was in my year and a few guys in the year below…I can’t remember their names anymore…one was called Kieran, I think; he was in my year and then a few people who were below, in the years below me, who also went as well. It was great to meet like different people who were at your same school, but you never got to see otherwise, so it was good for that. Like I said, a lot of people who were in my class at school went to Scouts, so it just sort of seemed like a natural thing to go to
Interviewer: Do you keep in touch with anybody?
Respondent: Not specifically from Scouts.”
08.54 - The Respondent was asked about his favourite activities and experiencing in Scouting.
“Definitely, it was the camping, I think and the sailing. I think just like all the nights that you come here, and you don’t necessarily know what happened but just coming here, and I remember one thing – it was near Christmas, and you used to do the Scout Post, so we used to fundraise down at Tesco or Somerfield or whatever it was called back then, and we used to raise all this money and then we used to come here and sort out everyone’s post for the local area and we used to post it. So, I think they stopped doing it in 2008/2009 or something. But I remember, this is a bit nerdy, but I remember watching Pippin when I was little, and they followed the Royal Mail. I just remember like them sorting out all the letters and stuff like that, and that’s how I remember it! [laughs]. Interviewer: So that would have been like a community project. Was it Christmas Cards you were delivering? Respondent: Yeah, only Christmas cards.”
09.47 - The Interviewer asks if he remembers any other community or volunteer projects.
“I think we did litter picks around D’Mains Park quite a few times, and I think we also done Remembrance as well, that was always really important and the Gala as well, I remember that – we used to march at the Gala.”
10.04 - The Respondent is asked about marching in the Davidson’s Mains Gala.
“That would have been with the Scouts, and we started off at the Green, and we would have followed the procession, and somebody would have had the colours, and someone would have had the Union flag. We used to just march all along the road with everyone else, going up until Lauriston Castle.”
10.25 - The Interviewer mentions that the Gala used to take place in Davidson’s mains Park, and a brief discussion about that followed.
The Respondent was then asked about his experience with Scout camps.
“My favourite was a place in Fife, I forgot the name Interviewer: Fordell Firs, maybe? Respondent: Fordell Firs is the one, yeah, that’s it! Fordell Firs was a good one – I think that it was just that much out of the city that you got somewhere a bit different – Bonally’s great but you can still see Edinburgh, you can hear the traffic whereas Fordell Firs you can just not hear anything which was great. So, I remember we went there once or twice getting the train from, as I can’t really remember where we got the train from, but getting the train from the nearest station and walking. But I remember my first was Bonally when I was in the Cubs, and I’ve still got the little T-shirt that says, ‘Pirates of Bonally 2005’. The shirt does not fit me anymore, but I remember for a time that it was massive! Yeah, I remember the Centenary Camp at Dalmeny; there were loads of different Scout Groups from all over, from, I guess, the central belt, but you saw just the tents that were there just everywhere, so I remember that one.
Interviewer: Were there flags to kind of differentiate them? Respondent: Yeah, so like, people obviously had their flags and then like, as you do, people get together and they are all tribally [laughs] everyone marked out their own little area, they stuck stuff in the ground, they put little ropes around to say this is our area, this is your area. There was an area in the middle where everyone used to walk to different places.“
12.02 - The Respondent is asked about the kind of accommodation he stayed in at camps.
“We always stayed in tents. I think one time we went somewhere near Glasgow way. There was like an air rifle range below where you were staying. That was the only time I remember staying in accommodation, but otherwise, it was just the Stormhaven tents.”
12.07 - The Respondent is asked whether he remembers camping with his patrol or a group of friends. He replies that it was a mix and largely depended on how many people attended the camp. The interviewer then asks if he recalls any camp ceremonies or traditions.
“On the last night, we used to have a bonfire, I remember that, especially at Bonaly, because they had that place by the actual activity centre or the buildings. I remember having a fire, and obviously, at the hundredth anniversary, or the Jamboree as it was called, there were lots of activities throughout the day and the night and on the final day, there was like a big ceremony at the end. I remember at Bonally, they used to do a ceremony as well because they had a flagpole, so they used to do a raising of the flag, and the lowering of the flag was more important, I think, cause everyone got there at different times, so there was no point waiting for everybody, it’s all dark and you can hardly see [laughs].”
12.42 - The conversation then turns to campfire songs, though the Respondent cannot recall any. He is asked about international camps or Jamborees and explains that, while these opportunities were available, he never attended any and did not receive the Chief Scout Award. The Interviewer then asks about his most memorable experience in Scouts.
“I think like when I was in charge of the patrol just like whenever you were camping, making sure they had all the stuff they needed and just like showing new people around and stuff like that – this is what you do here – I think that’s quite a memorable thing for me. But I think the biggest memory for me, I don’t know why but doing the Scout Post was always a memorable thing because I always like Christmas and it always…it used to be Remembrance, which I remember and then you know Christmas used to happen so the Christmas lights got turned on here and then you’re doing Scout Post and it was quite a nice progression of things really but yeah its really weird as I’ve got different memories about it but they are all pretty positive yeah there all positive.”
14.00 - The Respondent is asked if he believes that Scouting made a positive impact on his life or personal growth.
“I think so, yeah, I think it’s a really good thing for young people to get involved in, and I think I’m really happy that I did get involved in it. I’ve always liked the outdoors and think that Scouts makes you comfortable being, and you know, sleeping outdoors, sleeping on the ground, getting used to being a bit cold, a bit wet, getting used to wearing boots, getting used to you know pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. And it teaches you to sort of like interact with other people cause, like you say, I was with people a bit younger, a bit older, and I wouldn’t have spoken to them otherwise, there was no reason for me to.”
15.25 - The conversation then moves on to talk about his thoughts on current Scouting.
“From what I’ve seen here, I’m glad that it's still going strong, and I’m glad that they’ve got the Squirrels for really young kids – I’m glad that that’s still a thing and I’m glad that it's still available. I hope it can stay, to be honest, cause I think it is really good; obviously you have the cadets and stuff like that, and I think that’s great but if you’re not wanting to be in the army or you don’t want anything to do with that then I think Scouts is a really good option and I do think you learn a lot of skills that you wouldn’t learn otherwise.”
16.03 - The Respondent is asked if he ever went on to have kids – would he send them to Scouts
“100% yes. I’d want to get them involved in some kind of organisation like it where they are part of something bigger. I think its really good.”
16.18 - The Interviewer asks that other than the Scout Post what was his favourite memory.
“One of my favourite things to do with the Scouts was either just to go up Corstorphine Hill or Davidson’s Mains Hill and just looking at the land that was around you and you had someone that told you what it used to be, you know, why the woods were the way they were or why nature was the way it was and just sort of connect you back with the outdoors and just really explain like about Scouting and saying ‘look you know as a Scout we want you to know all about this stuff because one day it might become useful. One day you could be helping conserve all this stuff, so I think it’s just instilling that you know. It’s like those days you don’t necessarily remember but you still remember the feeling if you know what I mean?”
17.04 - The Interviewer asks for his final thoughts about the 30th and his experience with them
“I’m just glad it was a part of my life and when I look back on it like it really set me up for later in life, it was a good experience. Yeah, I think the 30th has set me up great for later on in life. So I went on to join Mountain Rescue, something I’m incredibly proud of, and I think without the exposure that I got here at the 30th, I wouldn’t have done that because it got me used to being outdoors, got me used to being outside my comfort zone, which a lot of time in Mountain Rescue you are and all things start somewhere and that’s where it started for me.”
17.35 - The Respondent was then informed that the Interview had ended and thanked for his time and for sharing his memories with the project.