Lord Noel On Being Prepared

What ho! Pepys...

I love being in the outdoors....
...and when I was younger there was nothing I liked better than going camping....
I belonged to a local Scouting group and we used to have an annual camp in the middle of the Lake District where we could enjoy the outdoor life to the full.

The other day I was going through some of my old school books in the attic and I came across this letter I'd sent home from one particular camping expedition....
...which I think captures the flavour of it quite nicely.

"Whatto! Mama and Papa......Lord Noel here! Our Scoutmaster told us to write to our parents in case you heard about the flood on the radio and were worried. We are okay. Only one of our tents and 2 sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up on the mountain looking for Adam when it happened.

Oh yes, can you please call Adam's mother and tell her that he is okay? He can't write himself because of his cast. 

I got to ride in one of the search and rescue jeeps. It was terribly exciting. I don't think we would ever have found Adam in the dark if it hadn't been for the lightning storm.

Scoutmaster Keith got very angry at Adam for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Adam said he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn't hear him. Did you know that if you put a gas cylinder onto a fire, it will blow up?

The wet wood didn't burn, but one of the tents did..... and also some of our clothes. We were told that Matthew is going to look weird until his hair grows back.

We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Keith gets the bus fixed. It wasn't his fault it got damaged. The brakes worked okay when we left Norfolk but Scoutmaster Keith said that with a bus that old you have to expect something to break down; that's probably why he can't get any insurance.

I think it's a lovely old bus. He doesn't care if we get it dirty and if it's hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the bonnet. He lets us take turns riding in the trailer until the Police man stopped and talked to us. It gets pretty hot with 45 people in the bus but that's because it is only made for 24.

Scoutmaster Keith is a lovely chap. Don't worry, he is a good driver. In fact, he is teaching my friend Jessie how to drive on the mountain roads where it's nice and quiet. 

We cooked dinner on the camp fire last night but Steven and I threw up. Scoutmaster Keith said it probably was just food poisoning from the leftover chicken. He said he got sick that way with food that they ate in prison. He was only in for a few years for something called pedal-filing. I think he must have fixed bicycles.

I have to go now. We are going to town to mail our letters and buy some more beer and ammunition. Don't worry about anything. We are fine and tonight it's my turn to sleep in the Scoutmaster's tent.

Lots of love, your son - Lord Noel"

Tallyho!
Best Wishes - Lord Noel