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Sea Scout Pirates - The 1950s
Some time in the mid-1950s, the Second Whitstable Sea Scouts
adopted a new approach to carnivals and picked up a number of
awards for their efforts. They simply put away their uniforms
and appeared in themed costumes.
One of the most well remembered themes was the "pirate"
idea. The shot below shows some of the lads preparing for
Whitstable Carnival close to the junction of Cromwell Road and
Railway Avenue. The building to the right is the old Weatherly
bakery and shop.....
Photo supplied by Jock Harnett
The photo below probably shows the full group on Tankerton
Slopes at the end of the procession....
Photo supplied by Jock Harnett
The pirate in charge of the Big Drum was Cyril Marsh. Thanks to the message from Jan Smith
(Hutton) below, we can include a photo of pirate Cyril.
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Cyril
& the Big Drum
I attach a photo of my Uncle Cyril Marsh who was in
the Sea Scouts he used to play the big drum in the
carnivals in the 1950s.
Photo supplied by Jan Smith
This was taken in the one way street in Whitstable.
When I was a young girl, he used to take me to beetle
drives at the sea scout hut on the beach also on a coach
outing in the summer to see the lights in Ramsgate I
thought this was wonderful as I never went on holidays
then so it was a great day out
Jan Smith (Hutton )
Whitstable |
At this point, I may need to explain "beetle
drives" to our younger readers! The "beetle" game
required participants to draw a complete beetle on a piece of
paper. This included a body, a head, two eyes two antlers, a
tongue and six legs. Players could add a bodypart if they threw the
correct number on a dice. The numbers worked something like
this.....
| 6 |
= Body |
| 5 |
= Head |
| 4 |
= A tongue |
| 3 |
= A leg |
| 2 |
= An antler |
| 1 |
= An eye |
Things had to be "done" in the right order. It
wasn't permissible to add an eye to a non-existent head.
Beetle drives were social gatherings designed to raise funds
and I seem to remember my parents attending. Participants were
divided into groups at separate tables.
Of course, things
have moved on since then. The last time I attended a Sea Scout fund
raising, it was a Wine and Wisdom "do".
Sadly, it was the last time that I met Shirley Harnett.
Sea Scout
Gladiators...
One of the Sea Scouts most successful outfits was also the most
complicated to put together. It was, of course, the gladiator
theme....
Photo supplied by Jock Harnett
I am not sure where this photo was taken. It is
not Whitstable but it could be Canterbury carnival.
Other
Costumes...
A different theme was used each year. Other themes
included... ancient matelots and Dutchmen.
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