Birdeen Groom

Guiding Memories

by Jean Cross

Newly wed Birdeen and husband with Brownie guard of honour.

Guiding Memories   by Birdeen Groom (nee Draper)

I joined 1st Hatfield Brownies in 1947;  we met at Ground Lane in the old wooden hut.  The Brown Owl was possibly Millie Rumbelow with Phyllis Taunton as Tawny Owl.

We worked from Test Cards.  We learnt health (had to have note from Mum to say had slept with window open – still do it today!);  how to make cup of tea;  do washing up;  how to make a bed properly (note from Mum again!);  learnt to tie knots (especially reef knot for tie), sheepshank and sheetbend (Bunny up the hole, round the tree, etc).

There were 3 Brownie packs in Hatfield at the time.

I went to board at Sherrardswood School, where I became a Guide in the 9th Welwyn Garden City Company.  Again had Test Card:  learnt how to fly Union flag and how to treat it (i.e., always over shoulder, never let it touch the floor when raising or lowering).  Passed Tenderfoot and Second Class and gained Needlewoman badge (had to show darning, sew a seam, hemming and sew on buttons).

Took part in a rally at Gorhambury when Princess Margaret attended.  Guides were dressed either in yellow or blue and had special positions – and then had to bend down to show only the colour which made the shape of the Guide Flag.

We had guide camp weekends when we camped in Lockleys (part of the school).  I became a Ranger in Welwyn Garden from school.

The Ranger Guider gave my name to the Hatfield District Commissioner, Glen Berry, who asked me to help at 3rd Hatfield Brownies.  The then Brown Owl left and I took over.

I married and the Brownies formed a Guard of Honour at the wedding.

I finished running the Brownie Pack in 1960 when my daughter Christina was born and in 1962 had my second daughter, Paula.

Glen Berry rang me to say that 2nd Hatfield Guide Company was about to close and asked if I would take it on – I was also spoken to by Joan Street, the mother of one of the Guides (Barbara Street), as she lived just down the road from the shop (Draper’s (Birchwood Post Office). The Company was then meeting with 1st Hatfield Guides – run at that time by Sylvia Lowe and Gillian White (later Gillian Carr).

I took over with only a Patrol of Guides (Purple Heather Patrol who were Jean Cross (PL) Barbara Street (PS) Mary Dunham, Elaine Sansom, Mary Oakley and ?) who wanted the Company to grow. A competition was spotted in one of the Guiding Magazines and the patrol decided to enter the Stork Cookery Competition (but were entered as Scarlet Pimpernel Patrol and had to change their badges!) They had to choose a menu for afternoon tea for a Thinking Day (22nd February – Joint birthday of Robert Baden Powell and his wife Olave) – Chicken Noodle Soup, Ham Salad with potatoes and a sponge cake.

To our surprise they were invited to take part in the competition and several evenings were spent practicing to time, complete and present the meal.

When the day arrived we went to Van den Burgh’s headquarters where the Guides were lead off to their kitchens, but I and the Guiders from the other Company were left to wait – unable even to see the area where they were working. When they were going to announce the results I went into the kitchen with a smile hoping to lift their spirits as I didn’t think by any stretch of the imagination that they could have won. To my surprise THEY HAD!!!

The prize was a copy of Marguerite Patten’s new Cookery Book, a trip to London Zoo and to see Lionel Bart’s “Oliver!” (The Guides also contributed to buy me a copy of Marguerite Patten’s book “Cookery in Colour”- which was a great surprise).

The publicity gained from that win encouraged others to join the Company which then grew to a reasonable size.

We held a garden party at Dr. Rathbone’s house to raise money for camping equipment. A sponsored walk was held around Welham Green with Miriam Collett of Potters Bar to raise funds to set up a campsite at Bentley Heath and we spent several weekends at working parties to clear the site and drain it for use  and to build the hut for Pack Holiday and Guide Camp use.

Liz Baatz (who owned the Wool Shop in our row of shops) came to help me run the Company.

We also camped as a District with 1st Hatfield Guides – notably at Cheddar (where one Sarah Morley gained her Dairymaid badge on the local farm) and in the Lake District – where I gained my QM’s certificate.

There was a Cookery Competition held at Bentley Heath (to cook a 2 course meal on a proper camp fire) at which I was a judge – could not tell anyone what was wrong as we went round (took the lid off a pan of Sausage Casserole and they hadn’t pan fried them first – looked awful!!). I still use the same recipe myself now.

I was asked to take over as District Commissioner in 1972 when Glen Berry retired. One of the other jobs that came with it was to put together a Christmas Parcel for those still in Displaced Persons Camps after the war.

One year I had a letter from Guide Headquarters saying that “Prince Charles would be attending a particular service and that uniform must be spotless” I lined the Guiders up in fron of Church Cottages to inspect them and the local Councillors came and joined the line saying that I might as well check them over too!

I attended the Funeral of Lord Salisbury with Jean Newman. We were stood at the graveside with others including the military types. We gave the Guide salute but one of them had to give a proper military salute and sent his wife’s hat flying! We had great difficulty keeping a straight face! I also thought that I had lost my car keys there but when we got back to the car they were there  on the car roof! Couldn’t do that now.

As a District we were asked to help at a big MENCAP rally in Hatfield Park. We were to serve the food (breakfast, lunch and dinner) – which was provided by John Brown and British Aerospace. It taught the Guiders and Guides a lot about handicapped people and we got a good write up in the local paper for our efforts.

I had had Ian (my third child) and HQ were insisting that every unit had to be visited once a month and with the growth of units in the town (six Brownie Packs, four Guide Companies and a Ranger Unit) it became too much to cope with and Jean Newman took over as District Commissioner.

This page was added on 22/03/2011.

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  • I was one of the Guides who attended the parade when Prince Charles came with his grandmother, the Queen mother with Birdeen Groom. I wasn’t a Guide very long as we moved away from Hatfield but enjoyed my time there.
    I have now been a leader for over 20 years with a local brownie pack,
    Carolyn Palmer (nee Groom – no relation to Birdeen)

    By Carolyn Palmer (01/03/2018)