Bill Moon - A Tribute

Bill has had a long and varied Scouting career, the earliest Scouting record that I can find for Bill is his appointment as an Assistant Cub Scout Master (with the 6 th Newcastle) in Newcastle Eastern District on the 18 th November 1947, which was a short time after his 18 th birthday.

Bill did not hold this role for long as on the 26 th July 1948 he changed roles to that of an Assistant Scout Master and then Scout Master on the 9 th June 1950.

Bill moved from the position of Scout Master at the 6 th Newcastle to that of Scoutmaster of the 24 th Newcastle (Gosforth Eagles) his warrant being dated 24 th March 1958.

The troop met then in the Edgefield Avenue School but Bill changed this very quickly to the troop meeting at the 88 th Newcastle (Kenton), now the West Gosforth (9 th Gosforth) headquarters. They met on a different night to the 88 th and were run as a completely different troop.

Fund raising was started with a “Feather the Nest” scheme and also a “Buy a Brick” scheme. Within a short time enough funds were raised and the 24 th built their brand new headquarters at Felton Avenue Gosforth. The 7 th Gosforth (Eagles) Scout Group.

On the 17 th November 1967 with the implementation of the Advance Party Report, Bill took on the role as Group Scout Leader, a position he continued to hold until 31 st December 1976.

During this period of time Bill was also very active within the District and the County holding the position of Assistant District Commissioner Leader Training from 10 th May 1967 until 20 th March 1974 and Assistant County Commissioner for Leader Training 27 th May 1970 to 20 th March 1974. Bill also held the position of Assistant Leader Trainer from the 7 th February 1968 to the 2 nd April 1969 when he became a Leader Trainer until the 2 nd August 1994.

He gave up both his Assistant District Commissioner and Assistant County Commissioner roles when he was appointed as District Commissioner for Gosforth, a position he held from 20 th March 1974 until the 10 th April 1987.

After a short break from a warranted position Bill took on the role again as Group Scout Leader with the 7 th Gosforth (Eagles) on the 24 th May 1988 until the 2 nd August 1994. When he was appointed as an Honorary Scouter.

On the 9 th May 1995 Bill was appointed as District Chairman until 18 th November 1997 and then continued as a member of the District Executive and editor of the District newssheet, until the present day.

Bills outstanding service to Scouting was recognised with the Medal of Merit on the 9 th February 1966, The Silver Acorn on the 23 rd April 1974, the Bar to the Silver Acorn on the 23 rd April 1979 and the Silver Wolf, the highest Scouting award, on the 23 rd April 2004.

His long service was also recognised with various service awards culminating in the Chief Scouts 50 Year Service Award on the 13 th September 2005.

As a Scout Master Bill ran many camps both at home and abroad. Gretna Green was famous for its rain, virtually non-stop for a week. Austria provided its own memories on a number of visits. On one such visit following England winning the World Cup in 1966 the troop travelled to Austria being forced to sleep in the bus for two nights for one reason or another. On the way there we encountered visitors from England, who seeking help to light a stove, did not recognise us as English, despite the Union Flag in the back of a Northern bus, us all wearing Scout uniform and the English word spoken as only true Geordies can. But it was in Austria itself that, having toured the “Sound of Music” countryside, we were making our way up a back lane, seeking out the convent, when all of a sudden, we stopped dead, applied rapid reverse and bumped into everyone else following, as the cry was heard bloody hell it’s a brothel. Northern Ireland also brought many memories with Bill Chambers, the red spot on the ceiling and the rhubarb patch.

Bill was also famed for his campfires and ghost stories. Sitting in a tent one night telling such a ghost story, he suddenly thumped the table with a large mallet. This caused one scout to jump up and make a bolt for the door, only to find that it was dark outside. He quickly returned to his seat quaking.

Prior to the Advance Party Report in 1967, Bill had formed a Junior Training Team, for lads who wanted to be Leaders but were too young to do so. We would do anything for Bill, even things that he only hinted at. Talk of an extension to the headquarters saw the flagpole duly felled the next day. Bill seamed quite surprised at that. The extension has never built. Talk of a larger den resulted in a wall coming down, electrical circuits changed, doors closed up and decorating done.

Other activities spring to mind, such as the visit we made to the old Watergate coal mine in Durham, where we not only went down the mine, but crawled along the smallest seam in the County, about 15 inches high. It was whilst crawling on our bellies along this seam, that Bill accidentally leant against the coalface that had just been cut. This resulted in the coal falling against Bills side and Bill saying just about every prayer he knew. I was following behind and saw that it had only been a small section, but Bill was not to know that.

Hikes were also one of Bill’s main activities. One such hike saw us hiking through the snow at Hexham racecourse, following a track that the sheep had made. As we progressed, one Scout stepped off the track and disappeared, we had been walking along the top of a hedge. Another Scout kicked a piece of wood that was standing up, only to find that it was a gatepost.

Todmorden Gang Show and lowering Bill six foot into the orchestra pit, having just stopped him from stepping over.
Meals at Bill’s house where we were fed sausage rolls with cotton wool inside. Spoons of sugar that fizzed in our cups, as they were Andrews Liver Salts. Spoons that had holes in, and spoons that melted.
On New Years Eve, Bill’s was also a good stopping point. We often slept all over the house, if in fact we slept, before going bowling in the morning.
Bill also introduced us to Canasta and coffee.
The minibus trip we made to the south of England, sleeping in barns the back of the minibus and also in tents, (I think). Where Ian Browns boot spent several hundred miles travelling tied to the bumper, because he had stepped in dog muck.
Barrasford Bar-b-cues etc.

Bill will also be forever linked with Gang Shows, having been a member of the cast and Assistant Producer with Newcastle Gang Show as well as the Musical Director for a number of years. Bill also produced shows himself with Group Shows and the Gosforth Gang Show. He was also strongly linked with a number of other shows around the North East from treading the boards, to production, to musical directing.

Bill was also an active member of the Freemasons where once again he held various positions including being the Worshipful Master of Venture Lodge in 1975 and 1998

Bill enjoyed being a member of Air North, an association of plane spotters which had their own premises at the airport and of which he was chairman from 1994-7. He was an expert on identifying aircraft and could identify any plane by sound (a skill perhaps learned from his time in the RAF with wireless communications). This activity was of practical use to the airport authorities as on one occasion Bill was able to identity an aircraft attempting to land without having paid the required fees. He was given an award for outstanding service and treated to a trip on Concorde. Bill learned his early computing skills compiling a database of the planes he had spotted running into thousands of records.

This was another hobby that Bill had. He not only enjoyed taking photographs, but in recent years with his new found computing skills he enjoyed manipulating photographs before printing them as calendars, birthday and Christmas cards.

Bill enjoyed music and had a very large collection of records that he enjoyed listening to.

Although Bill never married he was very much a family man, showing an interest in the lives of the youngsters in the group and their progress as they developed their careers, married and had families of their own. For a large number of years of his life Bill lived with and looked after his father and in particular his mother as they aged.

He also enjoyed telling his friends about his own relatives and how they were getting on as they followed their chosen pathways.

Bill’s final illness began about 15 months ago but he continued to lead as normal a life as he could until about two weeks before his death. Bill will be greatly missed by all those whose lives he touched.