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“EXPEDITION NORSEMEN ‘68”
A Personal Recollection by Barry Jones
[Click HERE to view the Photo Diary]
It was felt in late 1967 that the First Aldershot Venture Unit (FAVU) needed an ambitious project to provide a real challenge which seemed to sum up the ethos of the new Venture Scouting. It was decided to embark on a foreign “expedition”, and after initially considering Iceland, the idea of travelling and camping around southern Norway became a firm idea. A committee was formed to give serious thought to all aspects of such an undertaking.
Much of the first half of 1968 was devoted to the planning, preparation and fundraising for the Unit’s Norway adventure, which was quickly christened “Expedition Norsemen ‘68”. The intention was that the Ventures would travel to southern Norway by ship, and then travel a clockwise circular route of around 1000 miles in two vehicles, spending time visiting local features and camping wherever and whenever required en route.
It was agreed that the majority of the time in Norway should be spent either travelling or sightseeing, so much thought was given to the camping equipment required and the catering arrangements. Much of the food would be taken from the UK. A series of practice camps before the trip (including one in Hastings) refined these ideas, and by the time the expedition party left, well-rehearsed teams were capable of arriving at an empty site and having all tents set up, kit stowed and a meal cooked in under half an hour.
 With the likely number of participants approaching twenty, the chosen land transport was a pair of Ford Transit-based passenger vans. These would be modified prior to leaving in order to create the required balance between passenger seating and kit stowage. The drivers would be “Bosun” and “Conga”.
The expense of such an undertaking, involving as it did van hire, boat fares, ferry fees, fuel, food and insurances etc. was a key concern at the planning stage. A series of imaginative fundraising events were held, which kept the individual cost per person down to £25-0-0, although this later rose to £27-0-0!
It was also agreed that a cine film would be made of the expedition, with Roger Hammett and Richard Tremayne-Smith being responsible for shooting the film throughout the trip.
The expedition was carried out from 4th–18th August 1968, and the contingent eventually numbered fourteen Venture Scouts and four Leaders. The participants were:
Venture Scouts
Bill Butler, Kevin Jenkinson, Ray Constantine, Barry Jones, Stephen Foster, Kevin Lucas, Roger Gear, John Machin, Clive Gear, Richard Tremayne-Smith, Nigel Gillingham, Keith Watkins, Roger Hammett, and Graham Wilson
Leaders
Tom Curtis (Bosun), Alan Candy (Conga), Harry Oliver (Cobber), and Brian Edwards.
The Expedition Route
Places Visited:
Harwich
Kristiansand
Mandal
Flekkefjord
Algard
Sandnes
Stavanger
Tau
Forsand
Sande
Nesvik
Sand
Roldal
Odda
Kinsarvik
Eidfjord
Fossli
Geilo
Gol
Nesbyen
Honefoss
Oslo
Drammen
Asker
Kongsberg
Larvik
Porsgrunn
Arendal
Grimstad
Lillesand
Kristiansand
Notable Events
Harwich to Kristiansand on board the Fred Olsen Line “Black Prince”
 The Black Prince was originally built in 1966 as a passenger and cargo ferry(later converted to a conventional cruise ship). 143 metres (470 feet) long, 20 metres (67 feet) wide. 11,209 tonnes. The journey time from Harwich in Essex to Kristiansand was 22 hours.
Barry’s notable memory - Trying to sleep on “couchettes” in the bowels of the ship, and giving up in favour of staying on deck listening to an unscheduled guitar sing-along session.
John’s notable memory - Walking out on deck in a fearsome gale and seeing how far it was possible to lean into the wind without falling over!
Kristiansand
 On the southern tip of Norway, Kristiansand is the fifth largest city and second largest port in the country. It contains major shipbuilding facilities, and has shipping route links with many Scandinavian and European countries.
The Stavanger to Tau Ferry
 The early part of the route, in the eastern part of the country, was on roads which had a habit of stopping at a fjord and carrying on across the other side, requiring the party to take a car ferry which was provided for the purpose. There were several of these on the trip, but the Stavanger (Norway’s third largest city) to Tau ferry was the first one we encountered and involved the widest stretch of water.
Pulpit Rock
 One of the first features we identified as worth a visit was Pulpit Rock, a flat granite slab, 25 metres square, which juts out 604 metres (1,982 feet) above Lysefjord. From outside the town of Forsand, we followed a well-signposted route up the mountain, which eventually brought us out above the “platform” and provided a spectacular view of the unguarded slab in profile, and the sheer drop to the water below.
Barry’s notable memory - Our route took us via a mountain top lake, which, being a hot sunny day, we took full advantage of for a spontaneous swimming session.
John’s notable memory - Was it in my dreams or didn’t we find a load of girls swimming in the lake in their undies?
Hardanger Plateau
 Driving north, the first snow we encountered was the distant whiteness of the Hardanger Plateau, which is the largest eroded level plain in Europe, covering an area of some 6,500 square kilometres (2,500 square miles) at around 1,000 metres (3,500 feet) above sea level.
Barry’s notable memory – Seeing snow during the height of the Summer was something of a novelty to us, so we parked the vans and hiked up to the snow line, just so we could touch it!
Odda
 Odda is a small town situated at the end of Hardangerfjord, nestling beneath the third largest glacier in Norway, the Folgefonne. We camped there for two nights on a grassy site by the side of a fast flowing river of glacier meltwater which discharged into the fjord nearby.
Barry’s notable memory – a) Drinking the meltwater straight from the river, almost certainly contributed to around two thirds of the party contracting gastro enteritis which persisted for some time; b) The majority of the party persuaded a local guide to take them up the mountain above the campsite to the very edge of the Folgefonna Glacier; c) Five of the Ventures opted not to trek up to the glacier but, instead, had a sauna at the local swimming baths, followed by a half hour flight in a 6-seater seaplane, which took off from the fjord and flew over many spectacular mountainside waterfalls and right over the Folgefonna Glacier itself. For most, it was the first time they had flown in any sort of aircraft!
John’s notable memory - Finding out that it was possible to regurgitate whole canned peach slices when being sick with the illness! Also, a vision of Stephen Foster not knowing whether to sit on a branch to ‘s**t through the eye of a needle’ or lean forward to be sick!
Fossli
 The town of Fossli is famous for being home to Norway’s highest waterfall – The Voringfossen, some 180 metres (591 feet) high. The impressive waterfall is by far the most prominent feature of the local landscape, and was not very far from the road taking us around the northern part of our route.
Gol
Gol is a well known and extensive winter sports centre, with many ski and toboggan runs. During the summer months, when generally snow-free, the landscape is plush and sparsely wooded. The cable ski lift operates all year round, which we took to the summit, from where outstanding views were seen. Gol also boasts one of the most famous traditional Stave Churches in Norway. The magnificent example, which is used regularly for worship, is in fact an exact replica of the original church built on that site in 1216, but which was dismantled in 1885 and reconstructed in the Oslo Folkmuseum.
John’s notable memory - Was it Gol where some of the Ventures visited a sauna bath for the first time and discovered that Kevin Lucas couldn’t sweat, even after 20 minutes!
Oslo
Oslo is the capital of Norway, and its largest city. In order to be able to see all the tourist attractions, we camped on the outskirts of the city for three nights. As things were to turn out, this was just as well.
 a) The Holmenkollen Ski Slope is situated high on a hillside to the north of the city. It was built in 1939, and famously used during the 1952 Winter Olympics. It stands 60metres (197 feet) high, and during the summer it becomes a popular tourist attraction, with the landing area being used as a local swimming pool.
 b) Another impressive sight was Frogner Park, home to 212 Vigeland sculptures of bronze & granite. They include the “Wheel of Life”, and “Monolith”, which is a single vertical sculpture 14.2 metres (47 feet) high, incorporating 121 separate human forms.
 c) The Maritime Museum contains the famous ship “Fram”, which was used by the explorer Roald Amundsen for his trip to the South Pole in 1911. Also on display was the “Kontiki” raft, built and sailed by Thor Heyerdahl, and “Ra II”, a reconstruction of an Egyptian papyrus boat.
d) The Oslo Folkmuseum is a collection of historical traditional buildings, including houses and agricultural buildings. It also contains an impressive traditional Stave Church (see Gol).
 e) Oslo City Hall is located on the harbour front. It was built in 1950, and apart from its administrative accommodation, it boasts a very large marble-clad assembly hall which houses a collection of large colourful murals depicting Norway’s history, culture and working life.
Barry’s notable memory – On the first day of our Oslo stay, the van driven by Conga was involved in a city centre crash (own fault!), which badly damaged the bonnet and radiator, and completely ripped the Union Flag which had been proudly displayed throughout the trip. Apart from being told by local police that had we been Germans we would have been put in jail (deep seated wartime memories!), our main concern was to get the vehicle repaired without interfering with our timetable. A friendly garage was thankfully found which was able to fix the van in time. As a token of our thanks we surrendered the ripped Union Flag, which was then promptly hung on the wall of the garage! (we had found all Norwegians to be extremely friendly and pro-English wherever we went in Norway)
Drammen
 On the last leg of the trip, the road west out of Oslo passed through Drammen, and soon afterwards took the party through a tunnel, which was particularly notable because it had been cut through the rock in a spiral fashion. The tunnel is some 1,650 metres (1,804 yards) long and consists of six complete revolutions 70 metres (230 feet) in diameter, enabling the change in ground levels of 193 metres (633 feet) to be achieved in a very short horizontal distance, albeit like travelling through a corkscrew!
Kongsberg
 Kongsberg Church is the largest church in Norway, a red brick building capable of holding some 2,400 people. The church dates back to 1761, and is also notable for housing a magnificent baroque organ of the same age, which is extremely decorative and ornately finished in gold leaf.
Kristiansand
Barry’s notable memory – Before departing for Harwich, again on the Black Prince, we decided that the person who had suffered for over a week from the gastro enteritis (see Odda), Graham Wilson, should be checked out at the local hospital before embarking on the voyage. The first aiders accompanying him were devastated to be told by the doctors that Graham was in fact suffering from severe Croupial Pneumonia, and was unlikely to survive the night, as the only treatment was with penicillin, a drug to which he was allergic! As we were to sail the next day, hurried arrangements were made with local scouts to visit him, with the option for his parents to fly out if they wished. Happily, Graham recovered fully, albeit taking three weeks, and was then able to return to the UK.
POSTSCRIPT
 On 8th May 1993, sixteen of the eighteen “Norsemen” gathered together at the 1st Aldershot Scout Headquarters to reminisce about the memorable expedition held 25 years earlier. Only Graham Wilson and Nigel Gillingham were unable to attend, and everyone left with a copy of the original cine film, now restored and transferred to video. The Aldershot News sent a reporter to cover the event as it had done for the original trip, and a report and photographs of the party, both in 1968 and 25 years later, were printed in the 15th May issue.
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