Scouting

Colonel Baden-Powell had withstood a siege at Mafeking for over seven months in the Boer War and was relieved on May 17th 1900. This made him a national hero. Souvenirs of all sorts including buttons, cups and postcards were made at the time and some still turn up today at antique fairs, markets and even car boot sales.

On his return to England he gave talks to schools and Boys’ Brigades and found that a book he had written for his military scouts had become a bestseller amongst boys. The book, called ‘Scouting’, was about observation, deduction and being self-reliant. He then had an idea for a youth movement and, to test his ideas, he organised a camp on Brownsea Island for a group of 20 boys in 1907. These boys were split into four groups (patrols), the Curlews, Ravens, Wolves and Bulls, one boy in each group acting as a patrol leader. The patrols competed in a wide variety of games, one of which was called ‘Harpooning the Whale’. In this, the boys rowed boats out from their own small harbour on Brownsea to where a ‘whale’ (large wooden log) had been sighted and where they tried to harpoon it and tow it back to harbour. This was supposed to get the boys to work together. It seems really extraordinary having a game like that, not very green, eco-friendly, conservationist or even ‘plain good stuff’ now in the 1990s.

After the first Brownsea Island camp Baden-Powell, often referred to as BP, produced six editions of a small magazine telling of his ideas, games and methods of lighting fires, cooking, erecting tents and one particularly good idea – ‘to do a good turn every day’. To launch and support the magazine, lectures were given in major cities and it didn't take long before girls were openly interested in the same activities as the boys. Things really began to take off. In 1909, BP arranged a meeting of all would-be scouts at Crystal Palace in London and at the march past they were counted; this took some time as there were eleven thousand boys and girls, all of whom had started on their own. The Girl Guides were formed by BP’s sister, Agnes, in 1910. On July 4th, 1911 probably the most important Boy Scout rally ever took place at Windsor Great Park. Thirty thousand Boy Scouts from various countries around the world attended and were visited and inspected by several members of the Royal Family including King George V. Scouting had gone around the world; girls as well as boys were part of an organisation which was very soon divided to cater for their own particular needs and later again was divided into groups for younger followers. BP asked a Miss Vera Barclay, who had been a scoutmaster, to take some of her favourite ideas from BP to put into a book for the new ‘Wolf Cubs’. The ceremony to open those first meetings was based on Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Jungle Book’ stories and characters and is still used now in the 1990s. BP was recorded on BBC radio in the 1930s as saying, “Scouting started itself” and that he only provided the opportunity. The ideas and principles for cubs and the even younger section of cubs called Beavers is still basically the same as when it started all those years ago at the beginning of the century. Something must have been right somewhere because at the last official head count in 1998 there were over twenty five million scouts in 216 countries with another forty countries working towards registration, plus all the Girl Guides.

The cubs in Broadmayne in the 1990s are an enthusiastic group. A lot of events are organised throughout the year in Dorchester district which are well attended, from the St. George’s Day Parade to the Christmas Party. Competitive events like the five/six-a-side rugby and football are always taken on but one that Broadmayne really enjoys and does well in is the handicraft or model-making competition. Boys always seem to want to go camping and the annual camp is always well attended. The last several camps have been held with the Maiden Newton group. In 1999 the camp was at Swanage, where twenty cubs spent a hot, sunny long weekend under canvas. The theme for the camp was work for their Explorer's Badge and, being a short camp lasting only four days, there really was a lot to pack into it. Cubs in the 1990s have a lot to do, a big choice of activities to take part in, as well as helping in the community, learning to help others while learning to help themselves, making things, going on visits, having people visit them and give them talks and having fun in general.

Cubs have a handbook in which there is a wealth of information and ideas for them to earn a whole list of badges and take challenges. They have a uniform, and on the right arm there are emblems and badges to say where they are from, and to which district they belong. A very important item is the neckerchief, a coloured scarf particular to each Group. Broadmayne’s colours are sky blue with a navy border. Boys come mainly from Broadmayne, West Knighton, Owermoigne and Woodsford but are welcome to join us from wherever they live.

The future, what of the future? If you read about the past and see it as a guide to the next one hundred to two hundred years, are we going to expand, become more popular and carry on doing solely knots and camping? I find it hard to see it so; the schools are calling on the parents’ time more and more to help with school work and school clubs, and parents’ work is very often calling on mum and dad to achieve more, in a shorter time. The computer is becoming more involved every day in most people’s lives; it has been introduced in the last few years as a cubs’ badge. It is quite difficult to get people to give up their precious free time to teach a bunch of noisy kids how to tie a knot which may seem outdated when it is far easier to use Sellotape. Why should they teach them how to get a load of stones and a pile of wood to light a fire and cook a meal when there is, seemingly, a Burger King, McDonalds or a Little Chef within every child’s horizon? Children do like camping, having adventure challenges and having talks from other people because it shows them some of the things they can do – they can climb a rock face, they can sail a boat, it shows them that, if there is a problem, they can solve it. They learn not to doubt themselves. If they can have fun and stretch themselves in a safe environment it has to be good and if the future is treated in the same way scouting will continue to be popular.

I would like to thank all the previous and present leaders and committee members for their hard work and dedication.

Robin Pearce

Dave Lancaster is the Group Scout Leader with Robin Pearce, ‘Baloo’, the Assistant Scout Leader. Mrs. Val Latham is ‘Akela’, the Cub Scout Leader, having taken over the running of the Broadmayne Pack in 1989. In 1999 Val received a long service award for 18 years service to scouting. She first started scouting in Northern Ireland in 1982 with a military pack, The 1st Devon and Dorsets, which later moved to Berlin where she scouted alongside Americans, French and Russians. The Broadmayne Cubs and Beavers meet on Mondays at the village Hall.