St George's Day

[Manky Monkey]

Anyone celebrate it? Are we still allowed to?
Must admit, I hadn't realised it was today -until I nipped to a local shopping centre this morning & found myself in the middle of a parade by various Scouts, Cubs, Brownies & some groups I didn't even recognise. 100s of 'em.
I'm not big on Religion, (do they count as Religious groups?), or marking Saints' Days, (like St Patrick, the patron Saint of pubs), but did think it was nice to see so many kids involved in something good. Modern kids get so much bad press, sadly often well deserved,, that the good examples often get overlooked. These all looked excited & proud to be taking part. Brought back memories of marching with the 4th Woking Cub Scouts in Surrey when I was their age.
The only thing that let it down were the impatient adult shoppers, who couldn't wait 2 minutes & had to barge past to get to Tescos.

[Manky Monkey]

When did they start wearing fleeces? In my day the Woggles were made of braided leather & we wore shorts with coloured tabs on our socks, (my pack's colours were green & red).

[Manky Monkey]

I heard an appeal on the radio the other day for more adults to get involved as helpers. Seems the negative connotations of Scout Leaders are putting people off, along with modern parents saying they haven't got the time. Shame cos I still think it's still a good thing for kids to do.
 

[Manky Monkey]

It did amuse me to see that on St George's Day, there was a group there called The Dragons!

On the flip side of this English celebratory day, I was in Stratford on Avon this evening, birthplace of Billy Shakespeare, one of our greatest ever Englishmen, & I swear I was the only English bloke there. The entire town seemed to be populated by Polish men.

[BikerGran]

I was in Wareham today taking pictures of the local Scouts (one being my grandson), Beavers and Cubs St George's day parade.  One good thing about our small town is they still like to encourage local celebrations - so the main road was closed for an hour for the parade.  The way the roads are in wareham that means you can't get in our out of the town, but it still happens!

Grandson on far left and his dad on right - all the mums and dads turn out to see them!

[BikerGran]

Oh and we had a dragon too!

[Manky Monkey]

 

[JayJay]

It is nice to see the day recognised. Lyndhurst, a nearby town, has had signs up for a couple of weeks warning the roads would be closed. They have a similar event to Wareham. Today of course was the end of the Easter hols and many of the New Forest holidaymakers would need to go through the town to get on the motorway. I bet they were cursing St George. I've also seen other events advertised locally plus a few St George Crosses have been flying. When I see those though, I tend to think football.

Andy you are really out of date with the Scout uniforms. I'm pretty sure they changed about 2000. I think the Brownies uniform changed before that. Mind you I suppose you notice more if you have children or nieces or nephews of that age.

I loved Brownies and Guides (for a while). I think groups like that are great for children. I paid for all the kit for my grandson and he enjoyed it but his mother couldn't be bothered to get him there. A lot has to do with a child's support from their parents. Similar to what I was saying in the 'six or half dozen' thread the other day.

[stinkey]

Well guys you've made my day..I truly didn't believe this went on anymore ? I'm proud to be an ENGLISH man..( of Irish decent ,and a touch of welsh/Viking too ?) so to see these youngsters marching proudly filled my heart with joy ? Thank you guys Andy I'm sure some of those polish guys will have kids and most likely consider themselves English one day ?

[Manky Monkey]

Shows how my memory's fading -just looked out this shot of me in the 4th Woking Cub Scouts. Brown & yellow colours. The leather woggle & other colours were when we moved to Berkshire.
Look at the cap though -& possibly the last time my knees saw daylight. I would've been 7 or 8 years old. Late 1960s. Whatever happened to that kid.

[Manky Monkey]

My brother, sister & I. 

[morrag]

That would be the St. George, of Turkey then?

[BikerGran]

Elliot's woggle is leather, though I think he had a plastic one in the cubs.  The modern uniforms are more practical for all the activities they do, like camping in February!  And traipsing round London to visit the Science Museum and see the sights as well.  they're all off to Snowdonia later in the year.

The leaders are wonderful, they put so much into it.

[JayJay]

That would be the St. George, of Turkey then?

I think most people know he wasn't from England but it is claimed St George was chosen because he was executed when he refused to renounce his Christian beliefs and in doing so he defeated the devil (AKA the dragon). He is not only England's patron saint but other countries too. St George was also referred to by Shakespeare in the 16th century. Shakespeare's day of birth and death was also on April 23rd.

"Cry God for Harry, England and Saint George!" from 'Henry V'.

My brother, sister & I. 

Andy, your brother hasn't changed much. I recognised him more than I did you.

[Manky Monkey]

 

Shakespeare's day of birth and death was also on April 23rd.

I didn't know that -bizarre that I should randomly choose to visit Stratford on Avon on that date!