Guisborough Grammar School Scout Camp at Howick

This charming amateur film records the carefree exploits of an enthusiastic troop of Guisborough Grammar School scouts as they trek to a summer camp at Howick and enjoy bucolic days out along the Northumbrian coast. The boys swim at secluded Sugar Sands Bay, explore Bamburgh Castle, lose at cricket against the local Boulmer team, and practice scouting skills such as fire-lighting, semaphore flag signalling and …peeling potatoes!

The spectacular Bamburgh Castle was rescued from ruin by the Victorian Newcastle-born engineer and industrialist, Sir William George Armstrong, the “Magician of the North” and inventor of a 110 ton ‘monster’ gun for which he was knighted by Queen Victoria. Armstrong was also ‘an environmentalist 150 years in advance of his time, advocating water and solar power as substitutes for fossil fuels.’ He bought Bamburgh Castle for Ј60,000 in 1894, intending to create a convalescent home with ‘all mod cons’ for retired gentlemen. He designed and fitted central heating and air conditioning systems but died before his dream home was fully renovated. The castle is still owned by members of the Armstrong family.