WALLS (1961)
Message from the District Commissioner of the Chester and District Boy Scouts' Association (V. H. Stonebridge).
If anyone mentions walls in Chester, one's thoughts automatically turn to those magnificent old ramparts that surround the City. Their original purpose was to keep out the Invader, and the City itself was contained within their perimeter. Nowadays the City has spread well outside those walls, and the walls themselves are a great attraction to all visitors to the City. They are pleasant walls, welcoming walls.
One can think of other walls throughout history - walls which never lost their grimness - which always said in effect "Keep away we don't want you." The Great Wall of China. The Seigfried Wall, the Maginot Line, and the latest of them all, the Berlin Wall. Those were all walls of hatred. Walls of division.
But there are the symbolical walls too, that nations put up against nations. Class against class. Individual against individual. Just as real in their way as those physical barriers. Spelling just the same things. Hatred, division - and the "keep off the grass" attitude.
It may sound an exaggerated claim to say that Scouting is a real force breaking down these barriers but when you remember that Scouting can be found in every country in the world, except those under Communist domination, then the claim begins to look well founded. And when you consider that every four years an International Jamboree is held somewhere in the world, to which representative parties from all those countries go and mix together, it begins to add up even more. It's a real thrill to attend one of these Jamborees, and see boys of every colour, class and creed, getting together and overcoming the language difficulty to such an extent that it doesn't even exist! They have, of course, one thing in common, the great game of Scouting which, although it is a game, does aim at bringing all these boys up, whether their names happen to be I See U of Japan, or Bill Bloggs of Clapham, to be good citizens. Besides these Jamborees, more and more" parties of boys travel abroad from their countries every year and mix with the Scouts of other lands. Why, we are even sending a party of 24 Senior Scouts to Norway next year from Chester. Is it too much to hope then, that with the youth of so many countries getting to know one another, we can look forward to real understanding and peace in our future generations? On the stage tonight you will get a glimpse of Scouting as it is. You will see why it attracts so many youngsters of all colours, so that it is the biggest Youth Movement in the World. And you will see why we, who are in the Movement, are so very proud to be members of it.
