Girl Guiding

 

I went to Guides at about age 12+, joining 2nd Hatfield Company who were at that time sharing the meeting with 1st Hatfield Guides, then run by Sylvia Lowe and Gillian White (later Gill Carr).  Unfortunately membership had dropped and Sylvia moved and Gill married.  The Company was in danger of closing, but one of the mothers knew that the lady at Birchwood  Post Office  had been a Brown Owl and persuaded her to take us on.   We were the Purple Heather Patrol consisting of myself, Barbara Street, Mary Dunham, Elaine Sansom and 2 others whose names I have forgotten.

Our new Guider, Birdene Groom from Draper’s Newsagents and Post Office saw a competition in one of the Guiding Magazines – the Stork Cookery Competition (Plan a meal for Thinking Day) – and thought that if we entered it we could get publicity for the Company and maybe new recruits.  Barbara and I got together and decided the menu. “Chicken Noodle soup, ham Salad with boiled potatoes, Butterfly cakes” We also designed a Menu Card which I illustrated (including copies of Storks taken from the margarine packaging!) We were entered into the competition as the Scarlet Pimpernel Patrol and Birdene received a letter inviting us to take part in the competition at Van Den Burghs headquarters in London. We were up against the Bantam Patrol from Potters Bar.

We practiced making our meal in Birdene’s kitchen with everyone having their own role in the cooking. The big day came. We travelled up to London by train and arrived at the building.  After a short while we were taken to our (glass fronted) kitchens and our leaders had to leave us.  As we worked the testers came round to watch and mark our progress. We finished the cooking and had to present the meal.  One of the testers asked why there was no salt in the potatoes and it had to be admitted that it had been forgotten!

The testers went away to consult and we got on with eating the meal and washing up.  Birdene came in with the testers with a sympathetic look on her face and we all thought that we had lost but we were all very surprised to hear that we had won! We each received a copy of ‘Cookery In Colour’ from Marguerite Patten and were taken to see the stage production of “Oliver!” via a trip to London Zoo for a publicity photo of the two Patrol Leaders to be taken with the storks. I had to feed one with white mice! On our way home on the train the Patrol agreed to club together and get our Guider (Bridene) a copy of the book as well.

We had great fun at meetings – gaining our Tenderfoot badges, our Second Class and some the First Class and a very few the Queen’s Guide Award. We played games – Ladders, Princess rescue (in the dark) a different version of the Key Game played now. We learnt First Aid, Observation, Fire lighting (both at the Hut and in Hatfield Park) and  (of course) cooking. Lighting a fire with just 3 matches is still challenging today! I also remember taking my Patrol on an expedition to Verulamium and the Hypocaust. I think we walked there and caught the bus back – not something that could be done today!

I moved on to Rangers with Mrs. Glen Berry and also went on to help with the Guide Company which by now had attracted new members such as Joyce Roberts and Jenny Hanson – both Commissioner material. The Land Rangers (as we then were) also had joint meetings with the Rover Scouts who had the Rover Den in buildings in Hatfield Park -under the archway to the left of the Old Palace – for special talks. We normally met at Glen Berry’s house in Roe Green Lane.
We took part in St George’s Day Parades (by invitation from the Scouts) and Remembrance Sunday at the War Memorial by Hatfield Park Gates.

In about 1966/67 Mrs. Berry left a box at my house. Davina Wiltshire who had been running 3rd Hatfield Guides had decided to give up and I was “volunteered” to take it on. Margaret, one of the other Rangers came to help for a while and later I was joined by Christine Hare until she to moved on. We met in the Old Mission Hall in College Lane – a building of corrugated iron for which we paid rent to a Mrs Livermore (I believe) who lived in one of the cottages further along the lane and for heating in the winter we had to keep a ready supply of 50 pence. pieces. The Guides there taught me their favourite game known to them as Swedish Netball. The Guides did fire lighting and cooking in the copse at Chantry Lane (before it was made a nature reserve) near the Air Scouts Hut and took the washing up home! I had many good Guides who took part in District Activities – Thinking Day, District Sports and one year a Swimming Gala.

Our first big Rally was “Hertfordshire Meet” in 1968 when the then Chief Scout came to Watford. The Guides were either Folk Dancing or dressed as Rats for an enactment of the Pied Piper of Hamlin! Several of the Hatfield Guides acted as markers for the opening of the event. There was a Division Camp in Hatfield Park where I burnt 3 fingers picking up the wrong end of a grid, but I was not as badly hurt as Brenda Palmer who went a camp to Norfolk and spilt hot fat over her hand! Not good!

In time Glen Berry and Ken Seaman ( the Scout District Commissioner) managed to arrange the lease of another piece of woodland – Skips Grove near the Waterworks in Bishop’s Rise. Each family was asked to contribute £5 and we also did fundraising. Mr. Eric Gardiner drew up the plans and the hut was put together by a team of Scouters and dads (one of whom was Ted Chapman – husband of Irene Chapman who ran 6th Brownies) and we were able to move into more spacious accommodation (although the beams were much lower than we had been used to!)Unfortunately almost from the beginning we suffered varying degrees of vandalism which culminated in the burning down of the hut in 1999.

I went on several camps with Brenda Palmer as part of the “Gooseberry Patrol” to Cheddar, the Lake District and NorthWales – with Puffin and Mole (Brenda and Geoff Palmer) Brown Owl and Toad (Birdene and Len Groom) and Otter (Joyce Roberts) as well as other weekends at Hatfield Park and Harmer Green, Division Camps at Well End and Tolmers when Liz and Mike Baatz were on the staff, Week camps at Fairthorne Manor and later Crickets Camp site in Hampshire, Arthog in North Wales where we went by minibus and got so wet the water from the tentage poured out of the back of the hired van we had packed the kit in! By train one year when we trailed across the concourse and Brenda forgot to count herself in the party and thought we’d lost someone! Going to see the Victory in Portsmouth where the naval rating selling the brochures was persuaded to tie the cap ribbons bought in the gift shop whilst Otter sold the brochures for him!
We were also regular volunteers when Miriam Collett negotiated land for a Pack Holiday House and Camp Site at Bentley Heath. Clearing the scrub, digging trenches for land drains, cleaning out the ditches and digging a large Lat Pit! We also had to contend with cattle who had the grazing rights! The site was opened by Lord Peter Baden-Powell and his wife Patience.

I finally took my own Camp Licence in 1980 at Mymmwood School (now a Nursing Home). “Apres Moi Le Deluge” as anyone who was there can testify! Since then there have been Knebworth 81, Scougui 1, 2 and 3, HIC 90, CHAT 1, camps at Nottingham and Birmingham, Campat Buckmore Park with the Dutch from Zierikzee, two camps in Holland at the Middleburg Scout site (the second at the same time as the World Jamboree), Millenium Camp at Morven; CHAT 2; Chinwag and last but not least HIT THE HEIGHTS 2010 )(not to mention all the other weekend training camps).  With the arrival of Heather and Ian Andrews in the District I became involved with the Ranger Unit – going for several years to the Sedan Chair Rally at Gilwell, and enjoying weekends on the canal aided by Jill and Bill Davis.
I was also “volunteered” to become part of the Herts County Walking Team – masterminded by Betty Mac Dermaid with meetings held initially at her house in WGC. Other Members of the team were Tricia Dundas (later County Commissioner), Vicky Ashby, Diane Parrott, Sheila Holden, Wendy Shipperlee, Shelagh Cox, Linda MarshAt this time  Herts County Guides and Scouts were looking for an “Intermediate” Centre for walking as the Scouts already had Lochearnhead Station. This was found at “Orchard Farm, Waterhouses – a listed buiding owned by Blue Circle Cement Company (now Lefarge) who were looking for tenants. Many weekends were spent as part of a working party, clearing rubble, pointing walls, painting and varnishing the floor ready for the grand opening. Many walking weekends have been spent there and it became the base for the Guider run “Introduction to the Hills” or ITTH as it is more familiarly known. A spin off from that was Multi-Activity Week” spent at Coetmor Mill, Bethesda of the October half terms. Some very good Guides and Scouts came through our hands and we also had memorable weather – one year seeing the farmers bringing their sheep down off the hills as we were walking up Drosyl as it snowed!  In 1980 I was joined at 3rd by Gwynne (Was I there at the Time?) McColl and we have run the Company ever since. Gwynne has also been on Camp as First Aider and General Helper and lastly as AQM (even if we do have to wake her up!)

Together we have taken the Guides to Headquarters, to London Zoo, to watch the Lord Mayor’s Show, to walk the Jubilee Way, found the BT Tower and the Swedish Shop, to the Museum of Childhood, to ICANDO, to watch the Changing of the Guard, to the Royal Mews, walked several of the London Bridges from Westminster, been on the London Eye and down the river to Greenwich ( the National Maritime Museum) and to the Observatory.
We have also succeeded in supporting at least 4 Queens Guides when that award was within the 10 – 14+ age range and several of the Baden Powell awards when the Queens Guide returned to the 14-21 age group. We also supported one of our younger guiders to her Queen’s Guide award and have seen several of our own Guides become Guiders in their own right.