Broadleas Fete 15th June 2013

Wow!! Weren’t we lucky with the weather. After strong winds and heavy rainstorms in the morning, the afternoon remained dry and mostly sunny. The Juniors enjoyed their football games and the Anchors were kept occupied with the Safari Hunt (what a brilliant idea), looking high and low for animals hidden and camouflaged in the areas around the boardwalks and paths. My friend and I (divide our ages by 10 and we qualify as Anchors) enjoyed the hunt walking two or three times around the grounds but, although we looked low, we didn’t look high enough and missed the tiger in the branches; we spent so much time looking we barely had time for our cream tea and cake which we felt we’d earned, having walked up the Tor and round the quarry in the morning once the rain stopped.

For the first time that I remember there were no Seniors or Company Boys to take part in the Superstars – where have they all gone? However it was good to see so many younger children – the superstars of the future.

While some regular faces were missing, as our warden of several years retired last month and we learnt of the death of John Turner, an old friend of Broadleas, the District and Exeter Battalion, it was good to see and be able to meet our new warden, Ian, who has several ideas for the future of the site. How it has changed over the last 40 years – I think I must have attended the first fete, before any buildings were built and the toilets were Elsan behind sacking walls. Now we have a magnificent dining hall, kitchen, flush toilets and showers, the Turner Hall, a brick building for storage of tents etc., and a swimming pool. I remember when the pool was an area hollowed out with the stream running through to keep the water fresh; I don’t know how deep it was, but it couldn’t have been much more than 3ft.

And so we look forward to the next 40 years and many happy weeks of camping by members of the BB, GB, Scouts, schools and other youth groups.

Hilary Malpas