The above is a view of the camp site at 7.30 this morning – all quiet, but not for long as the staff of the camp get to work preparing the site for the Scottish Scouts arrival tomorrow morning.

The weather today was overcast initially but the sun soon break through and it is really hot out in the field. There is a possibility of rain later this afternoon, but it is looking good for the arrivals tomorrow and on Tuesday.

Most of the marquee tentage is up, the sub-camps are in various states of preparation, but all the patrol campsites are marked out. As the day progresses, the pioneering poles will be delivered to each of the campsite areas, to enable the patrols to build their camp table. Meanwhile the sub-camp staff are preparing their sites for the theme they have chosen. Sorry you will have to wait and see exactly what they all come up with.

The Kastle, which contains the Post Office, Café, Bank, Scout Shop and stage area, is slowly taking shape, as are the inside activity areas on the other wings of the Kastle. Structures are being painted and wallpapered – yes wallpapered. We will show pictures of the Kastle as the camp progresses.

The Kastle Build  1	The Kastle Build  2	The Kastle Build  3

And of course the Admin team have their work cut out, in preparing for the Scouts arriving tomorrow – all the ID cards are being collated into patrol sets, along with a Blair Atholl scarf, badge and booklet.

Staff members are allocated into teams for the duration of the camp – Activities, Catering Quartermasters, Administration, Reception, Site Services and off course Sub camp Staff (Aunts and Uncles). Over and above that each member of Staff is allocated to a sub camp as a Cousin and the aim is that the Cousins will help around the sub camp when they have time. This especially important on Monday with the Scottish Scouts coming in to set up camp.

Today’s lunch was a break away from the normally routine and all of the Cousins went to their respective sub camps to meet the sub camp staff and the other Cousins. Lunch was supplied on the sub camp.

The Morrison Sub-camp Aunts, Uncles and Cousins having lunch

To assist the Sub-camp staff, some of the Cousins helped them move the pioneering poles into the various campsites.

Moving the pioneering poles into the camping areas.

Work has continued all afternoon on preparing the site, the climbing wall has come on site and is now ready for use, work in the Kastle is still on going and finally before dinner, the activity team had a briefing session to go over various things and to allocate some of the team to help welcome the Scottish Scouts in the morning.

The Climbing Tower	Still hard at work in the Kastle	The Activity Team meeting

Day one of the Jamborette and the arrival of the Scottish Patrols. There was some cloud early on in the day, but that was soon burned off, although there were a few occasions when it reappeared during the day.

In the main an excellent day for setting up camp, albeit at times a bit on the hot side.

The first arrivals came on site at 10 a.m. and there was a steady stream of patrols until 1.30 pm at which time we were missing two Scouts who were travelling from the Western Isles as part of the Inverness & Western Isles patrol. They arrived just before 3 pm.

The first patrol registers	Another patrol checking in	The last two from the Western Isles

Since they arrive of the Scouts there has been a steady transformation of the field as tents are pitched, camp tables built and below is a selection of pictures from around the sub-camps

General views around the site	General views around the site	General views around the site

We must apologise, there have been some outages of the Jamborette website during this afternoon and hopefully these have been resolved.

After their evening meal, the subcamps did a circuit of 6  centres where they learned how the various facilities on the camp site worked, The Doctors, Reception and Administration, Site Services, The Kross, Quartermaster Stores and a session on weel being and team work.

MacLean Subcamp with the Doctors	Murray Subcamp at Reception	Robertson Subcamp at Site Services
Stewart Subcamp at the Kross	MacDonald Subcamp at Quatermasters	Morrison Subcamp leaving their chat session

Time for some more work and then relaxation before turning in for the night

The camp site at 8:30 pm this evening

Remember there are lots more pictures in the Gallery for today.

Morning 2 – and another beautiful day.  A few clouds in the distant to the west beyond the Castle, but nothing to worry about today. It is going to be another hot one.

The patrols are in full swing cooking breakfast and continuing the build of their camp tables.

The first arrivals are due around 10 am.

The first arrivals	A patrol registers

The flags are paraded into the field	Sharkey	The torches are lit

Today was a change from yesterday initially anyway. Low cloud all around us and a wee bit on the cool side. But by 10 am the sun had burned it’s way through and it has been another scorcher.

Today was the first day of activities’ Last night the Activity Team provided each subcamp with a list of activities that the youngsters could take part in for the day, and they made their selection which was fed back to the Activity Team. This process continues every night where there are activities the following day.

The Patrols are subjected to a full uniform inspection each morning and this includes their camp site, where sleeping tents, store tent,  wood chopping area and hygiene are all taken into consideration.

This followed by flag break at 10 am, and part of this process is hoisting all the nations flags on the hillside.

Then it is on to Activities. Some are half day, others, like water activities on Loch Tummel are full day activities. If you are on camp, lunch is provided in the subcamp area and if you are off site, a packed lunch is provided.

The team discuss their meal with leaders	Using a power saw to shape his wood	Cycling trial around the course
Selecting today's playlist for the broadcast	A taste of Japan with using chopsticks	Pioneering - 3 Ballista's ready to fire

Everyone is back on site tonight and the staff of the camp are invited to dinner in the subcamp that they are attached to as a cousin.

After dinner the evening activities start and to night it is the Wicky Wacky Wild West Party

Staff dining with a patrol in the subcamps	The Wicky Wacky Wild West Party

Yet again this morning the cloud base was right down on the camp site – we are about 160 metres above sea level ( approximately 525 feet).  But, as like yesterday, the sun soon burned it off and it has been another scorcher.

After flag break, it’s back to activities as yesterday with a new selection that people made last night.

The gallery has a new selection of some of the activities in it and we also got a set of pictures from BART (Blair Atholl Rescue Team) of an exercise they did today with some of the Scouts. This is one of the activities, not an actual rescue team, although the leaders on the activity are in fact members of Mountain Rescue Teams across Scotland.

The archery range	Baking bread in the backwoods	A simulated mountain rescue

Face painting as one of the challenges	The five leaders supporting Aunt Linda	Uncle Steve gets a soaking

The Subcamp Showdown event this evening.

It has been another fantastic day here at Blair Castle, no mist this morning, the temperature just rose – another very hot day indeed.

A few days back I mentioned the flags of the countries attending the Jamborette and the picture is below.

Activities continued today and I spent the morning go round the Atholl Experience taking some pictures which are in todays Album in the Gallery.

How they started yje Atholl Experience	And how they finished

You can follow the Experience in today's Album in the Gallery

The numbers at the Jamborette increased dramatically today as the Satellite Camp arrived to give the younger people an opportunity to have a taster of what the Jamborette is all about. There are 390 Cubs, Scouts, Explorers and Leaders now in camp until Monday – an opportunity to let them see what the Jamborette is about – the youngsters are the potential future participants.

Tonight two live bands performed in the Kastle - well actually in the arena at the back of the Kastle as the weather was so good.

One of the two bands this evening	and their followers

Tomorrow is Visitors Day. With the gates opening at 1 pm. There are no activities for the Jamborette patrols as they have a lot of work to do before the visitors arrive. However some activities will be available for the Satellite campers and they will also have the opportunity to visit the subcamps.

Another fine morning here at Blair Atholl. Perhaps slightly cooler than some previous mornings, possibly down to the light breeze blowing across the field.

It’s Visitors Day, no activities today but lots of work to be done in preparing the site for the influx which will at least quadruple the number of people on site if past years are anything to go by.

The camp had four visitors last night when they attended the Reception for the Overseas Leaders, and they are here today as well. Graham Haddock, Chief Commissioner for Scotland accompanied by Wayne Bulpitt, UK Chief Commissioner,  Nigel Hailey, the UK International Commissioner who is about to retire from the role in September and Dan Wood who will be taking over from Nigel. Our photographer caught up with the visitors at the Satellite Camp this morning.

Flag Break at the Satellite Camp

At 1 p.m. the gates were opened and the crowds poured in, entertained by our own Scout Pipe Band. Unfortunately, there was a road accident on the A9 near Dunkeld and many of the visitors were delayed in getting to Blair Atholl. We hope that they did enjoy the brief visit to us.

At 2 pm the Band made marched up to the Kastle and played a few tunes there whilst parents, friends and leaders went round the many stalls that had been set up by the patrols and countries.

 few examples of stalls today - A scottish stall, A Canadian contingent entertaining and a Japanese  contingent preparing snacks for the visitors.

There was also some entertainment provided by some of the overseas contingents.

We were very fortunate in that is stayed dry for the duration of the Fair, albeit the forecast was rain. The rain finally arrived around 6.30 pm and was quite heavy for a while but by the time of the campfire at 9 p.m. in was mainly dry, a few spits of rain now and again, but nothing to get excited about. 

Various views of the camp fire - more pictures in todays album in the Gallery.

A great finish to a great day.

Sunday, and an extra hour in bed, at least that is the theory.

Breakfast at 9 am, Inspection as normal and flag break at 10.30.

The Scout Pipe Band will lead the camp up the Avenue to Blair Castle for the Scouts Own. Fingers are crossed, it’s dry but the forecast was for rain, but fortunately it held off for the Scouts Own.

As usual, the subcamps positioned themselves on the lawn of the Castle with the national flags lined up in front of them. Once again we were privileged to be able to access the Tower on the Castle and get some pictures look down over the gathering.

The theme of the Scouts Own was ‘The Commonwealth’ and each subcamp was tasked with presenting an item. The subcamp subjects were:-

• MacLean - Water
• Murray - Teamwork
• MacDonald - Colours (of the people)
• Robertson - Music
• Stewart - The Baton (holders nominated as special people in the community)
• Morrison - Sportsmanship
• Subcamp- Diversity (of wealth)

Very well performed by the Scouts. There are pictures of this in the Gallery.

Immediately after the return from the Scouts Own, there was the usual flurry of sub-camps taking pictures of the complete subcamp, a picture of the Core Team who have planned the whole event and promotional pictures.

The afternoon was a relaxation period for the main subcamps, but the Satellite Camp ran a session on International Games.

In the evening, the staff cousins returned to their respective subcamps, and along with the aunts and uncles, cooked the evening meal on barbecues .

 The evening ended with a Kavenman Kapers party in the Kastle.

Monday morning, again a lovely day and it is going to be warm again. However the forecast is for cloud to spread in later in the afternoon.

Our apologises  for the late arrival of yesterday’s diary entry, we encountered a few technical problems with the internet – it’s not easy to keep it running in the middle of a grass field in rural Scotland. And no, it was not BT that caused the difficulty.

Today sees a return of the activities after the week-end break.

Celtic Connections, Fencing and River Rescue - three of the activities I visited today - more in today's Album.

I also paid a visit to the QM Store just to give you a flavour of the work in there. If any of you are interested in serving in the region of 500 people with three meals, with a choice,  a day for 13 days...

As promised, the cloud rolled over around 4 pm and it now a bit cooler as the patrols preparer dinner.

Tonight it’s Karnival time in the Kastle with sideshows and inflatables – always popular.

Also tonight, the Patrol Leaders miss out on the fun, they will be attending the International P.L.’s supper in the Staff Club, as guests of Sharkey, and are entertained for an hour.

This is day 5 of activities, it is overcast and there was a light shower of rain as the subcamps started inspection, but nothing significant. The forecast is for it to be basically dry all day.

Yesterday I told you a bit about the QM store and today I have a bit more to add as to how the patrols actually get their provisions.

Twice a day, each patrol sends two members to the store to uplift their provisions. They are issued with plastic containers on day 1 and this has to be returned to QM when they lift there next consignment and so it goes on. After the breakfast delivery the QM staff start building up the boxes for dinner time and the cycle continues. But what about lunch I hear you say. That is supplied direct to the subcamp by QM each day, and the subcamps provide lunch for the patrols in their central area.

The usual morning routine for the subcamps – Inspection, flag break and then into activities.

Geocaching and how it works	Gorge Walk	Mountain Biking

Immediately after the evening meal, Staff had the opportunity to try their hands at Circus Skills and also running a bike round the cycle track that the scouts have been using. Our picture shows a combination of both activities.

This evening there are a series of things happening. In the Kastle there is the International Showcase where contingents, or individuals come along and perform  -  playing music, a dance routine and the presentations can be outstanding. It makes a great evening, my only regret, I never get the opportunity to see from start to finish.

In parallel with that the Staff Club is running a entertainment evening with members of staff taking part and support by the acts from the International Showcase in the Kastle. It makes for a great evening

And yet again a little gremlin crept on site last night – we had a power cut which meant I could not load the page onto the web site.

This is the last full day of activities.

It is overcast, a bit of a breeze blowing, which has need some remedial work to be carried out  to cook shelters and the like, and the odd threat of a shower.

A demonstration of a vacuum mattress as used by Mountain Rescue. an Irish Jig lesson and a challenge for six people to have only 2 feet on the ground 

In actual fact the rest of the day has been dry, but windy at times. Just as well as 4 of the subcamps held their Burns Supper in the open.

To Night each of the subcamps, and the Staff Club held a Burns Supper, complete with the haggis being piped in and being addressed.

Flag down this evening was slightly different, and slightly later due to the Burns Suppers, and the Staff all assembled at the main flags.

The final full day of the Jamborette.

This morning the formal inspection is forgottenn and we have a 'Dress Down' flag break in the subcamps.

Already parts of the site are being dismantled, but before the work on subcamps start we have Atholantics – 90 minutes  of inter subcamp competition with a wide range of bases as you will see in the Album.

And throughout the games, there was always some impromptu entertainment by the scouts, with leaders joining in,

After lunch, it’s time to start the dismantling the subcamps, gateways and tables down and the pioneering timbers stored away for another two years. By the end of the afternoon all that will be standing in the subcamps are the sleeping tents and staff marquees.

Tonight the final campfire for Blair Atholl Jamborette 2014. It will be an emotional night for many.

A view of the campsite from the campfire, two girls performing at the campfire and the traditional distribution of white heather to each of the overseas contingents

The final lowering of the flags, and the lights are slowly extinguished across the campfire and the Jamborette is over.

Tomorrow the overseas contingents will leave Blair Atholl with the Scottish Scouts to go to their homes and experience Scottish hospitality for up to five days, whilst the leaders remain until Saturday to finish the dismantling of the camp site.

Compare this with Wednesday picture

So Blair Atholl Jamborette 2014 draws to a close, the majority of the overseas scouts are going to Scottish homes for a few days home hospitality, others are travelling straight home from the camp.

Groups waiting, while others are cramming baggage into coaches and some are ready for the off.

Haste Ye Back in 2016