Bispam Hall

[Rowan2222]

This was an old mansion house and extensive grounds that was bought by the Scout association in the UK mainly because the hall was in ruins and was at a time when a lot of large buildings were suffering the same fate. So- Lots of land - ideal for a campsite!

It is still going - Bispham Hall Scout Estate which is good news.

I was told this story by several of the older venture scouts who had stayed in the hall itself, as we used to do things like that for fun.
It was part derelict by then, but still had staircase and roof, most of the windows but there were large gaps in the roof letting in water.
The group of 6 that went there did so in November so was pretty chilly, and stayed in the hall itself on the upper floor. All 6 slept in the same room, upstairs, but to get to it they had to negotiate past a sizeable hole in the floor, and helped each other get past safely.
One in they unpacked and made food, spent the night talking till late and eventually turned out the light and settled down for the night.

The next morning they awoke to find the room somewhat different.
Most of their equipment - except what they were sleeping on - had vanished!

Panic ensued - first blaming each other and then the other alternative that they had been robbed.
They searched the upstairs rooms and found nothing, negotiated past the hole in the floor and brought their belongings downstairs.

It was only then they discovered that their rucksacks were neatly stacked by the front door !
Nothing had been stolen- but their kit was downstairs by the door?

It would have been a good prank save for a few things - nobody did ever own up to it. Doing so in complete darkness without waking anyone would be a feat in itself, and lastly - crossing that hole in the floor in complete darkness carrying 6 rucksacks is damn near impossible let alone safe.

Nobody did find out how it was done or by whom, but the 6 decided to leave the building and camp further away for the remainder of the weekend, despite the cold conditions.

Since that time it suffered a fire so no further stays were permitted - it was just too far gone.
I can't verify the story other than I spoke to two of those that were there separately and they both said it was pretty weird and spooky.

 

[garnetsilver]

It sounds like someone said, "Would you kindly just get the f*** out of here?

 

[Lynne]

Another good camp account. I’m so surprised that the scouts were allowed to stay in such dangerous buildings. They sounded pretty sketchy.

 

[Rowan2222]

That is what the ventures get up to. They are sort of left to themselves to decide what to do under the general say-so of the leaders, but it develops leadership skills and we are trained pretty well to deal with situations - map reading, night navigation, survival skills, more advanced first aid similar to the military. Several of our unit ended up either in the Navy or in the Ambulance / medical services. My best friend went to work for the RAF...but I can't even talk about that!
So staying overnight in a derelict building is par for the course. I have stayed 2 nights in an old tin mine cave, made lamps from old rope and tins with cooking oil, and several times winter camping....which is interesting. One of the group started getting hypothermia and couldn't feel his legs. So we went for a walk at 3am to sort it out. The water bottles we had with us in the tent froze solid, and food froze solid before we had finished eating it. Still made it to the pick-up point on time.
Learn't a lot with them.

 

[garnetsilver]

That is what the ventures get up to. They are sort of left to themselves to decide what to do under the general say-so of the leaders, but it develops leadership skills and we are trained pretty well to deal with situations - map reading, night navigation, survival skills, more advanced first aid similar to the military. Several of our unit ended up either in the Navy or in the Ambulance / medical services. My best friend went to work for the RAF...but I can't even talk about that!
So staying overnight in a derelict building is par for the course. I have stayed 2 nights in an old tin mine cave, made lamps from old rope and tins with cooking oil, and several times winter camping....which is interesting. One of the group started getting hypothermia and couldn't feel his legs. So we went for a walk at 3am to sort it out. The water bottles we had with us in the tent froze solid, and food froze solid before we had finished eating it. Still made it to the pick-up point on time.
Learn't a lot with them.

Reminds me of doing Bivouac during basic training in the Army. I got frostbite on one finger!

 

[Lynne]

That is what the ventures get up to. They are sort of left to themselves to decide what to do under the general say-so of the leaders, but it develops leadership skills and we are trained pretty well to deal with situations - map reading, night navigation, survival skills, more advanced first aid similar to the military. Several of our unit ended up either in the Navy or in the Ambulance / medical services. My best friend went to work for the RAF...but I can't even talk about that!
So staying overnight in a derelict building is par for the course. I have stayed 2 nights in an old tin mine cave, made lamps from old rope and tins with cooking oil, and several times winter camping....which is interesting. One of the group started getting hypothermia and couldn't feel his legs. So we went for a walk at 3am to sort it out. The water bottles we had with us in the tent froze solid, and food froze solid before we had finished eating it. Still made it to the pick-up point on time.
Learn't a lot with them.

That sounds way more rugged than our US Boy Scouts ! Glad it was a good experience.