Reunion for 60th anniversary of Longmynd Adventure Camp
Memories of the early days of the Longmynd Adventure Camp will be rekindled at a reunion next week.
The camp near Church Stretton was launched by local village policeman Bill Williams to give a break in the countryside for disadvantaged boys from urban environments.
Young lads from underprivileged backgrounds across Wolverhampton, the Black Country and Birmingham, travelled to Shropshire to take part in the camp.
Now some of those involved in the past years will be taking a trip down memory lane in a camp being held at Minton from October 28 to November 1 to mark its diamond anniversary.
Some of them are planning to stay in tents, while others will have the luxury of cabins, and they will hoping to take part in things like hiking which were such a part of camp life.
Originally the reunion had been planned for August, but it was cancelled when one of those involved fell ill.
"It's the 60th year since the camp was started by Bill Williams in his back garden," said Mike Powell, of Shrewsbury, a past tent leader at the camp.
"The main camp, when we do various activities, will be on October 30," he added.
The Longmynd Adventure Camp – in its title, Long Mynd is spelt as one word – started in 1958 when Bill Williams held a camp in the back garden of his police house at Wistanstow, near Craven Arms.
The first camp in the foothills of the Long Mynd was in 1959 at a field in Minton.
Aimed at boys aged 11 to 14, it was originally called The WVS (Women’s Voluntary Services, as it was then) Boys Camp, and its aim was to provide a camping holiday for deprived boys from the West Midlands, mainly from the Wolverhampton and Birmingham areas.
Later its catchment area broadened.
The camp gained charitable status in 1973.
