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Gilwell Park

Epping Forest DistrictScout Activity Centres of The Scout AssociationScout campsitesUse British English from July 2022
Gilwell Park, Chingford, Essex geograph.org.uk 886098
Gilwell Park, Chingford, Essex geograph.org.uk 886098

Gilwell Park is a camp site and activity centre located in Sewardstonebury, Essex, England. It is in Epping Forest and is close to Chingford, London. The 109-acre (44 ha) site is owned by The Scout Association, is used by Scouting and Guiding groups. As the original base of leadership training in the Scout movement, it is an important site of the worldwide Scouting movement. In the late Middle Ages, the area was used as a farm, which grew to become to a wealthy estate that fell into disrepair around 1900. In 1919, Scout Commissioner William de Bois Maclaren bought the estate and gave it to The Scout Association to provide camping facilities for London Scouts and training for Scouters. Scout leaders from all countries of the world have visited Gilwell Park for their Wood Badge training. Gilwell Park is also host to Scout Adventures Gilwell Park, one of twelve national centres run by or in partnership with the Scout Association, including Downe, Youlbury. The site has a number of camping fields, indoor accommodation, historical sites, Scouting monuments, and outdoor adventure activities. The site can accommodate up to 10,000 people, and regularly does so. The site is also used by schools and other youth organisations, and hosts social events such as weddings and birthday parties.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Gilwell Park (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Gilwell Park
Bury Road, Epping Forest Waltham Abbey

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N 51.650277777778 ° E 0.0022222222222222 °
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Gilwell Park Scout Activity Centre (Gilwell Park)

Bury Road
E4 7QN Epping Forest, Waltham Abbey
England, United Kingdom
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Gilwell Park, Chingford, Essex geograph.org.uk 886098
Gilwell Park, Chingford, Essex geograph.org.uk 886098
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Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit
Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit

The Air Support Unit (ASU) was a Central Operations branch of London's Metropolitan Police Service. The main responsibility of the unit was to provide aerial reconnaissance and other air support operations. Helicopters are particularly useful in aiding searches for missing persons, car pursuits, suspect capture and large public order operations such as football matches. The ASU also supported other emergency services, including the London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service and Marine Coastguard. On 31 March 2015, the National Police Air Service took over providing air support to the Metropolitan Police Service (along with all other police forces in England and Wales). This resulted in the closure of the Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit. The Metropolitan Police Service has also reportedly been secretly using Cessna aircraft for a number of years that have been fitted with surveillance equipment capable of intercepting mobile phone calls and listening in on conversations.Formed in 1980, the unit was based at Lippitts Hill, Essex and had 48 personnel comprising 3 sergeants, 18 constables, 4 aircraft engineers, 1 avionics engineer, 11 pilots and was headed by an inspector. The unit also employed other members of staff, including operations room staff and an intelligence officer. The senior management were based at Wapping police station. All pilots were ex-military Royal Navy but also Army Air Corps. Each aircraft was crewed by a pilot with two officers acting as observers, and averaged over 260 flying hours per month.In 1980, the ASU started with Bell 222A helicopters and in 1993 transitioned to Eurocopter AS355N Squirrel helicopters.In July 2007, the ASU took delivery of three new Eurocopter EC145s costing a total of £15 million, using the call signs India 97, India 98 and India 99. Each aircraft has an L-3 Wescam MX-15 sensor pod which houses a gyro-stabilised colour "day" camera and a thermal imaging camera with digital video downlink from the helicopter.In February 2015, it was announced that the control of the Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit was to be transferred to the National Police Air Service (NPAS) on 31 March, and that the base at Lippitts Hill would close in the following year. A projected new base at Elstree was intended to serve Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, and Essex as well as London. However, by February 2017, a replacement for the Lippitts Hill base had not been procured, and the possibility of using RAF Northolt instead was being investigated.On 7 September 2017 it was provisionally agreed by Epping Forest District Council to allow the unit to operate three helicopters and one fixed wing aircraft from North Weald Airfield in Essex, with a 25-year lease.