Last month in our article The boy who never forgot Iden we brought you the story of Francois Ulcakar. He asked Rye News to help him find the Larkin family who he stayed with in the village on an exchange trip from France in the early 1960s. The good news is that Francois and David Larkin have now re-connected and we hope to bring you an update soon. Francois also mentioned a trip to Switzerland with Rye Scouts which brought back these memories from Alan French, his brother Colin and their friend Christopher Breeds. Can you help them fill in the gaps?
After reading the article in Rye News titled ‘ The boy who never forgot Iden’, Francois’s recollections of his time spent with the Larkin family and his scout camping trip to Switzerland with David Larkin set me on a quest to search for the boxes of slides, which had been under the bed gathering dust for many years.
The 1960s collection of slides covers several 1st Rye Scouts camping trips including ones to the Swiss Alps, which scoutmasters George Taylor and Father Richard organised. The three trips to Kandersteg, high in the Bernese Oberland, were in the summers of 1963, 1965 and 1967. Francois joined the first trip in 1963.
That first trip was a new adventure for most of us, travelling by train from Rye to Newhaven, ferry to Dieppe and train to Paris where we were met by a coach which took us on a late evening sightseeing tour around Paris, past the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. I’m not sure if Francois travelled with us from Rye or whether he joined us in Paris and maybe his father had a hand in organising the memorable coach tour.
Looking at the photos of my brother Colin and Peter Chapman in the train setting off from Rye, the scene on deck the cross channel ferry and the quayside at Dieppe makes me realise how archaic some things were at that time despite it being the decade of Moon landings and Concorde.
Later that evening we caught the train from Gare de Lyon to Switzerland through Dijon and on to Bern, sleeping as best we could on the rather uncomfortable seats. Early the next morning we changed trains at Bern to continue our journey across Switzerland to Kandersteg passing Lake Thun and Spiez where we caught our first view of the snow capped Alpine peaks.
At Kandersteg International Scout Centre we slept in dormitories in a huge chalet and each scout troop was allotted a small outdoor kitchen area with tables where meals were prepared and eaten, including the infamous scrambled egg that’s imprinted on Francois’s memory.
Luckily not too much time was spent preparing meals and the locality was well provided with colour-marked footpaths that linked with the cable cars and chairlifts. One of the chairlifts took us up to Lake Oeschinensee where groups of us hired rowing boats for our own Swallows and Amazon adventure. The photo shows Adrian Gray, Colin French and Francois midship and Peter Chapman and a scout whose name escapes me to the left of picture. I took the photo.
The group photograph was also taken near Lake Oeschinensee and I have tried to identify the14 members of the group as best I can.
Interestingly Francois can be spotted in the front row wearing a Rye Scouts’ uniform with a discreet Union Jack stitched to the front of his shirt. George Gray, Adrian’s dad, must have taken the photo.
What a long time ago and quite some journey with no social media and no phone calls home, just a postcard that struggled to arrive before we returned.
There were two further trips to Kandersteg in 1965 and 1967, travelling to Dover by coach and onwards to Switzerland by ferry and train.
Interestingly the 1967 group photo, taken between the railway station and the old Maidstone and District bus depot and waiting room shows how the area has been transformed. The building behind the coach is the old goods yard and tucked away in the background is the old Fire Station’s practice tower.
If you can identify any of the missing names please leave a comment below – and add your memories of the trip to Switzerland.
Image Credits: Alan French .