Ned the Beaver

Over 150 Biggleswade Beaver Scouts and their leaders invaded the seven acre camp site at Henlow recently for a twilight Teddy Bear’s picnic and a thrilling search for Dr Who and his henchmen. Organised by Assistant District Commissioner Sharon Betts, the event introduced the Beavers to basic Scouting tracking skills to find nine Dr Who characters hidden in the trees and get back to the winning post to meet and identify Ned the Beaver. The Beavers later enjoyed a Teddy Bear’s picnic. There were Cybermen and Daleks to find, a Tardis near a tree stump and Dr Who himself hidden down a path. Ned the Beaver turned out to be a 20-year old glove puppet brought out of retirement for the occasion by Sharon Betts herself. And just to complicate matters for the searching youngsters it was on her hand.

All the Beavers brought a menagerie of Teddy Bears that they carried with them on the hunt. They later took prided of place during a noisy picnic tea on the field outside the headquarters as the sun went down at the end of the evening. District Commissioner Jan Brooker said, “This takes me back to my adventures as a leader in Henlow. It was a real eye-opener to find leaders taking part (complete with Teddies) and enjoying every minute of it.”

1st Langford winning team with their Teddies

The prize for the fastest team, who completed the course in 22 minutes, went to the 1st Langford Scout Group. They were Tom Lockyer, Conner Clark, Harry Deal and Ethan Rickett who proudly showed their teddy bears still intact for the photographer after the event. Despite being out of breath the Beavers still managed a loud yell of appreciation when Jan Brooker asked if they had enjoyed themselves.

Winning team with leader Sharon Betts

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