History

On 7th April 1924, Ethel Emlyn (wife of Charles Willmore Emlyn) presented a skin to be awarded as a trophy in a competition between troops in woodcraft, along with some ideas for the format.  The trophy was apparently one of the last pieces of work undertaken by Mr SMJ Rowlands, who died later that year.  A few months later, Charles Emlyn reported that the skin had been mounted and rules for the competition had been drawn up and approved.

The first competition was organised the following year with the support of Sir Lionel Wells (the County Commissioner), with the aim, which remains broadly similar to this day, of encouraging woodcraft and good camping in Hampshire.  It was held at St Cross, Winchester on the afternoon of 19/09/1925 (i.e. no actual camping was involved) and was attended by four Districts: Bournemouth, Lymington, Christchurch and Alresford (all at that time within Hampshire).

Points were gained for laying out a campsite, making camp gadgets, a relay race with message carrying (gaining compliments on a correct message), leaf recognition, an exhibition of physical development, games and camp fire entertainment.  A report on the competition stated that it took place in 'a downpour of heavy rain, but the ardour of the boys, by no means was impaired, and they were complimented on their pluck'.  The winners were Bournemouth.

The February after that first event, the mounted skin was named 'The Emlyn Woodcraft Trophy', and so, in 1926 ‘The Emlyn’ was again held in Winchester at a location arranged by General Henry Burstall.  The format remained similar for the first few years, except that in 1929,  it switched to being held in July, rather than September.  A year later, it became a 24-hour affair, with teams arriving between 14.00 and 16.00 on a Saturday, then departing at 16.00 on Sunday.  This format seems to have persisted for most of the first 50 years, and then after a few sporadic instances, the two-night camp format took hold from the 1970s.  Also around this time, the competition switched back to being held in September, having been held in July for all intervening years for which dates are known except 1969.

Back in 1929, the 'trophy committee' (presumably the organising committee) comprised Charles Emlyn, Major Roger Cyril Hans Sloane Stanley (founder of the 2nd Copythorne 'Stanley's Own' Scout Group, now part of New Forest North) and Colonel Footner (benefactor and Scoutmaster of 10th Romsey, later Romsey DC and County Secretary).  Dr Emlyn held the position of 'Deputy Camp Chief'.  In 1930, the competition was held at Paulton's Park, which was owned by Major Sloane Stanley.

For reasons unknown, the original trophy was replaced in 1932 by the one which is still in use today.  The new trophy was made by Mr CFC Steward (possibly Charles Frederick C Steward?) and the old one was stored at the county training centre in Hattingley, near Medstead (where the competition was held in 1931 and 1935).  The circular trophy was mounted in a flat square box, with a lid hinged at the top.  By 1939,  the lift-up lid had been removed and sideways-opening fold-out doors were fitted instead, with 18 small shields on the inside of each one where the winners were recorded.  In 1946, the trophy was re-mounted in a new cabinet by Romney Green of Christchurch and Mr Gibbins of the Municipal College, Bournemouth.  The cabinet had (and still has) fold-out doors lined with walnut panels, and the list of previous winners was transferred to these panels from the small shields where they had originally been recorded.  This sufficed until 1964, when space ran out and a further hinged panel was affixed to the right hand door, which served until 1996 when a counterpart hinged panel was affixed to the left.

Within  a few years, the competition syllabus had been formalised as 'tests of intelligence and Scouting knowledge not beyond the 2nd Class badge', though there was a rule change in 1934 to extend the scope to include 1st class badge work, justified by the high standards observed in 1933.  During the 1934 competition, marks were awarded for the journey into camp, an obstacle race, a night inspection, a Sunday morning inspection, cooking, latrines, twists, knives and observations.

Winners' names recorded on the trophy indicate that the competition has been run every year since its inception, except for 1940 - 1944.  However, there are some handwritten notes in the Hampshire Record Office in Winchester that suggest an event was held in Broadlands Park in July 1940, that there were 17 entries, and that the winners were the King Edward's School Troop from Southampton.

In 1985, the Patrol from Alresford district were presented with special commemorative pennants to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the competition in recognition of their district’s presence at the first ever competition.

The constitution of the teams has varied over the years, initially consisting only of Patrol Leaders selected to represent their District.  There were 12 people in the winning team at the first event.  Relatively early in the competition's history a rule was introduced that Patrols had to be 'properly constituted' and a genuine Patrol of 6 Scouts, not one formed especially for the purposes of competing in the Emlyn.  This rule persisted until 2001 (with some flexibility in the number of Scouts in the Patrol), when among other changes, the Scout Association rules were updated to give Troops flexibility over whether to adopt a Patrol system or not.  At some point in between (and at least during the 1960s), composite Patrols were allowed to enter, but were ranked separately.  No evidence of a separate trophy has come to light though.

Initially, there was an age limit of 18 (corresponding to the age limit for Scouts at the time), and a stipulation that only Scouts who had been members for more than 3 months and had passed the Tenderfoot test were allowed to attend.  The age limit was reduced to 17 in 1934.

By the 1950s, the competition had evolved into a lightweight camping format, with Patrols being dropped off about a mile away from the camping field and having to make their own way there, pushing or pulling their equipment in a trek cart.  In the early 1960s, a challenge was set as an integral part of the competition (one year this was to pitch a bell tent).  For the main meal on Saturday, each Patrol was provided with the same ingredients, and it was then up to them to devise a menu - the only stipulation being that a 3-course meal was expected and they could not supplement the ingredients with other food they might have brought.  By the late 1960s, all kit was expected to be carried in rucksacks and trek carts were no longer used.  The emphasis therefore moved towards much more lightweight camping using hike tents and with most meals recommended to be made from dehydrated foods.  Only one of the meals was judged, but to ease the comparison, the meal was prescribed and a recipe provided.  Cooking stoves were optional, but an axe was mandatory, so many Patrols cooked exclusively on wood fires in order to save weight/space in rucksacks during the hike.  The nature of the competition changed during the 1970s to a standing camp format, and the Blacks & Edgington 'Good Companion' became the popular choice for the sleeping tent, giving way later to the 'Icelandic' model.  The increasing availability of cheap hike tents throughout the 1990s once again saw a proliferation of this type of tent being brought to Emlyn, despite the standing camp format (reflecting changes in camping practices both in and outside of Scouting).  In 2004 the marking scheme of the competition was altered to ensure these two very different types of tent could be judged according to their unique characteristics, thus removing the advantage of using hike tents, which was inadvertently penalising Districts that continued to use the heavier and more unwieldy Patrol tents.

The marking scheme has varied considerably over time, as has the number of points available.  In the 1960s, the maximum number of points was around 250 and marking was carried out on a sample of aspects of camp which differed from one year to the next (with some common items).  From at least the 1980s onwards, the maximum points available has been around 1000 and the marking scheme varied very little from year to year until 2004, when a major overhaul of the score sheets was undertaken to make the marking more prescriptive in an effort to reduce inconsistency between judges.

Marking schemes have come to light for the following years: 

The 'trading post' comprised a series of bases that the Patrols could visit and perform specified challenges in exchange for 'dollars', which were then converted to points.  In 1968, the bases were quiz, ropework, mapping, life saving, camping, first aid, Scouting skills and miscellaneous.  The trading post evolved into a special project, which by the 1980s was a pioneering-related challenge worth approximately 10% of the marks.  This project was split off into a separate competition with its own Special Project Trophy in the 1990s.

The 4th Aldershot won the Emlyn in 1951 and 1983.  One member of the winning patrol in 1951 was Dave Fisher and in 1983 his son Andrew was the PL of the winning patrol.

In 1965, the trophy was presented by the then County Chairman Lieutenant-Commander Henry Victor Bruce, in whose memory an annual award is now made to one  adult and one young person (under 25 years) with a Scouting appointment, who have inspired and encouraged others in Scouting.

A Patrol from the 14th Bournemouth won the competition three years in a row, in recognition of which, they were presented with a 1966-1967-1968 commemorative trophy.

A change of county boundaries in 1972 prevented the Christchurch and Bournemouth districts from competing for the Hampshire trophy (between them, they had won the trophy 18 times out of the 42 years it had been running up to this point).

In 2010 Wayne Bulpit visited the Emlyn and toured the camping field in his capacity as Chief Commissioner for Scouting in the UK.  During his tour he recollected his own experiences as APL of the winning Patrol from 1st Warsash in 1979.

An article on the 2010 competition appeared in Hampshire Scout News in November 2010, which prompted the editor of that publication (Tim Palmer) to recall his own similar experience as APL of the winning Patrol from 1st Lymington in 1980 and PL (not of the winning Patrol) in 1981.

The most prolific Emlyn Scout is certainly Bill Brown, who attended every year from 1960 to 2013, as well as competing as a Patrol member for Winchester once during the 1950s.  He recalled that in the 1960s the Emlyn was run by the county training team, headed by the ACC (Leader Training).  Some of those who played a significant part in the organisation of the event during the 1960s and 1970s were Bill Layley, Alf Breeze, Dave Smith, Ian Greig, Ron ?Haywood, Jack Sandford and John Manners.  The County Commissioners Christopher Bilney, John Mitchener and John Derben were also strong supporters of the competition.  During this period (and presumably prior), judging was based around the standards set out in Baden-Powell's 'Scouting for Boys'.  Many of the things that have come to be regarded as 'traditional' Scouting skills were not seen as traditional at that time - they were still the norm for Troop and Patrol camps.

It was several years after the admission of girls into the Scout section in 1991 before any girls appeared as competitors at the County Emlyn.  The first female Patrol Leader to win the Emlyn was Sarah Wright from Gosport in 1999.  The Patrol Leaders' Hall of Fame lists all the known winning Patrol Leaders.

There have been many changes to the competition format and rules over the years.  Until 1992, Patrols were presented on arrival with a list of ‘spare time activities’ which could be undertaken at any time during the weekend to score some additional points counting towards the main competition.  These activities were dropped in 1993 and resumed (as 'optional activities') in 2015.

The change to the maximum age of the Scout section from 15.5 to 14 in 2001 led to a drop in participation, and since then Districts have been allowed to enter more than one Patrol (subject to an overall limit and a fairness policy), and to enter composite Patrols, subject to limits on total combined age.

A major rewrite of the score sheets took place in 2004, introducing much more prescriptive marking in an effort to improve consistency between judges.  Saturday lunch ceased to be judged from this point, as did Programme (Patrols were required to submit details of their planned programme for certain periods of the weekend, with points being awarded for alignment with the Scout training scheme, and then whether they actually executed the programme as planned during the weekend).

Another major revision in 2013 saw an end to the judging of gadgets and full kit layout from the main event judging with an agreement that they would feature periodically as optional activities.  This revision also resulted in the consolidation of the main judging into just three areas: Site, Tents and Storage (from five previously: Site Layout, Personal Kit, Kitchen Area, Food and Hygiene, and Equipment).  It also saw an end to the judging of menus as a standalone item, replaced instead with a check during meal judging that the meal matched the menu submitted.

Prior to 1993, the organiser of the Emlyn was appointed by the County Commissioner.  These appointments were usually for 5 years.  From the 1988 until 1992 the event was organised by Gerri Yarrow and Steve Lawless.

Since 1993, the Emlyn has been organised by the Yeti, initially supported by the same team responsible for Pro-Badge.  During this period there has been a policy of inviting back former PLs of the winning Patrol and other PLs who have demonstrated sufficient maturity to act as judges, and the judging staff is now almost entirely comprised of former PLs.  The first such PL to be invited back (in 1993) by the Yeti was Jonathan Hallam (the winning PL from 1992), who went on to become the Chief Judge.

Judging over this period has become considerably less onerous.  When both menus and programmes were judged, it was common practice for the judges to split into two teams on the Friday evening - one to judge menus and the other programmes.  With up to 32 Patrols to mark (and throughout most of the 1990s it was never far short of this number), it regularly took until 2am on Saturday to complete the marking!

Complaints about the legibility of judges' handwriting on score sheets was a common feature of the competition well into the 2010s, but this was nothing new - the first such recorded complaint appeared in a report on the 1938 event written by Henry Murray Letchworth!  An attempt to put an end to this began in 2016, with the first trial of an online score sheet (used in parallel with a paper sheet) for marking Saturday dinner.  A full pilot of online score sheets (again in parallel with paper sheets) was undertaken in 2017, with judges using smartphones to assign points and comments, then submit them instantly from the field.  This drastically sped up scores processing, eliminated legibility issues and transcription errors, and meant that the final results were available much sooner than in previous years.  The online score sheets were adopted fully (and paper score sheets discontinued) in 2018, along with other developments in results processing making use of data from the online entry system.  This has drastically reduced paper usage and eliminated some tedious administrative aspects of the competition.