Foxlease 15
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The First World Camp 1924
On July 16th 1924 all the dreams about Foxlease seemed to be coming true ; Foxlease was the home of all the World that day! Arrivals flocked in from early morning until late at night, all the Heads of the Movement finding rooms awaiting them in the House. Mrs Houison-Crawford, Deputy Chief Commissioner for Scotland, was acting as hostess, and she, Miss Clegg, Miss Nash and Miss Bromley, were kept busy dealing with everyone as they came.
The French arrived at the early hour of 7 o'clock in the morning and after that there was no pause. Each in turn was asked, "Do you speak English?" - and when they sadly shook their heads, attempts were made in French or German. Those who came from Chile, Czechoslovakia and the solitary representative from Iceland seemed to understand none of these efforts, so conversation was limited and much reference made to dictionaries. Meal times provided the opportunity for acquiring knowledge of various languages. The House had its meals in the loggia, sitting down about sixty-two strong at small tables and many a time at one table of six people, "Thank you" would be learnt in six different tongues but the most prevalent word was "Nice" - it could be heard in varying tones in every direction ! It was wonderful how quickly all settled down and the house certainly was the centre of much talking, informal meeting and discussion on Guide matters concerning everything under the sun.
The six special Guider orderlies had their hands full seeing to the comfort of all the visitors - two of them were always stationed in the hall to welcome any outside visitors and how these flocked in! Saturday was the record day as a constant stream surged through the front door into the hall. Processions rolled . . .
