About Guestwell
Guestwell is the campsite of the 14th Hastings Guestwell Scout Group, in the small country village of Guestling in the heart of 1066 country, about 3 miles from Hastings and 9 miles from Rye. The group's website said Guestwell was open only to official Scout and Guide groups, to hire at very reasonable rates.
Set in the Sussex countryside, Guestwell backs on to woodland owned by the Woodland Trust, rich in plants and wildlife, which makes it a good place to camp at any time of year. Pett Level, the nearest beach, is about 2 miles away, close enough to walk to on a fine day.
The first Guestling Cub Pack was formed in 1948. In 1976 the GPO took the group's old headquarters under a compulsory purchase order, and after refusals at every other request the present site was given to the Scouts and Guides by a clergyman who had once been a King's Scout. Building began in April 1976, and the hut was officially opened by the County Scout Commissioner on 28 May 1977.
In 1998 the Hastings & Rye District Scouts agreed to buy the land to safeguard the site's future, and the toilets and kitchen were modernised with help from parents, leaders and local grants. The name Guestwell joins Guestling, the village, with Gilwell, the home of Scouting. The website described a Wall of Friendship by the main entrance, displaying County, District and Group badges and the name tapes of groups who had camped there, and said Guestwell's overseas visitors had come from Switzerland, Sweden and France.
The camping field and the campfire circle, from the original website's slideshow.
The Camping Fire
