A brief history of 1st Camelsdale
Camelsdale was one of the earliest Scout groups to form around the time the Scouting movement started in 1907/08 when a few boys got together to form a scout patrol following the book "Scouting for Boys". The one recorded name we have from that time is someone called Perce Hedges (Perce later became group treasurer between 1948-58, his son Neil gained the Queen Scout award and was a Scout Leader for some years and his grandson Adam was also an Assistant Scout Leader).
At Easter 1909 the Scout troop formally started.
At Easter 1909 the Scout troop formally started.
Some key events
1949 - Job Week started (called "Bob-a-job week")
1951 to 1975 - the Group held an annual group fete at ‘Cherrimans’, which was Dr Cummings' house
1956 - Scouts changed from wearing hats to wearing berets
1966 - Scouts changed from wearing shorts to wearing long trousers and the Scout Masters became known as Scout Leaders.
1978 - A boat was provided for the group to help clean out Shottermill Ponds for the National Trust
1979 - A Group Fellowship was started with monthly meetings.
1989 – The first Beaver Colony started.
1951 to 1975 - the Group held an annual group fete at ‘Cherrimans’, which was Dr Cummings' house
1956 - Scouts changed from wearing hats to wearing berets
1966 - Scouts changed from wearing shorts to wearing long trousers and the Scout Masters became known as Scout Leaders.
1978 - A boat was provided for the group to help clean out Shottermill Ponds for the National Trust
1979 - A Group Fellowship was started with monthly meetings.
1989 – The first Beaver Colony started.
Centenary
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In 2010 (just a year or two late!) the group celebrated their centenary year with a number of events throughout the year culminating in a day long party. A competition to design a badge for the group was held and the winning design has been used many times since.
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A brief history of the HQ
In the early days, the group met at what is now a private house converted from a barn, Springhead Barn at the bottom end of Marley Lane. The group moved to the current HQ in December 1936 and in October 1938 purchased an old army hut for the sum of £93 and 10 shillings. This is still part of the present HQ and now known as the 'front room'. At this time the land was owned by Lord Cowdray and the group paid one shilling a year rent to use the land.
1960s
In 1962 an extension was built on to the old hut, now the store rooms. The Group raised the princely sum of £35 and in 1964 bought the approximate 4 acres of land on which the HQ stood from the then owner, Lord Cowdray (the land was held by the Cowdray Trust and the Dickinson Trust whose registered offices were both at Millbank Tower, Millbank in the City of Westminster, London).
1970s
In 1973 what was then known as the "new hut" was built at a cost of £2,517, paid for entirely by money raised within the group by sponsored walks, jumbles sales and so on. The new hut was separate from the old hut and the first meeting was held in there in February 1974. A year later in 1975, the old and new huts were joined by new toilets and kitchen (now kitchen and store rooms)
1980s
In 1982 a concrete garage was erected to use as a store room. In 1989 the trustees received £7,000 to allow right of way across the land to the back of the barn (now a separate house).
1990s
The car park was extended to its present size in 1991 by using telegraph poles and in 1995 a new entrance hall and toilets were added to the new hut. Ann Thornhill, who was then the Group Secretary/fund-raiser, obtained £7,612 of grants and £5,000 was given by the trustees to help pay for the extension.
There was a major fire in the store room of the old hut (now the car port) in January 1998 started by arsonists. Because the building was so damp, the fire never really took hold, but there was extensive smoke damage to the kitchen, the new hut and the old hut and severe damage to the old hut roof where the store room was. Canoes stored in the rafters melted completely! The insurance company paid out £2,367 for emergency cleaning of smoke damage (to enable meetings to go on) + £19,257 in damages but this was not enough to put the HQ back in the state it was before the fire.
Dave Campbell (Skip) and Paul Vickery, who were both extensively involved with 1st Camelsdale at the time (Skip was the Scout leader and later the Explorer Scout leader and Paul was the Group Scout Leader) were also newly retired from their jobs and agreed to do the work needed for minimal labour costs so that most of the insurance money could be spent on materials. Major work carried out included:
There was a major fire in the store room of the old hut (now the car port) in January 1998 started by arsonists. Because the building was so damp, the fire never really took hold, but there was extensive smoke damage to the kitchen, the new hut and the old hut and severe damage to the old hut roof where the store room was. Canoes stored in the rafters melted completely! The insurance company paid out £2,367 for emergency cleaning of smoke damage (to enable meetings to go on) + £19,257 in damages but this was not enough to put the HQ back in the state it was before the fire.
Dave Campbell (Skip) and Paul Vickery, who were both extensively involved with 1st Camelsdale at the time (Skip was the Scout leader and later the Explorer Scout leader and Paul was the Group Scout Leader) were also newly retired from their jobs and agreed to do the work needed for minimal labour costs so that most of the insurance money could be spent on materials. Major work carried out included:
- removal of the store room, replaced with a car port
- complete rebuild of the inside of the old hut (now the "front room"), including insulation
- complete strip out and refit of the kitchen, including tiling
- installation of a combo boiler and hot water system (there had been no hot water in the hut before this time)
- fitting of store cupboards
- electrical work and decoration
- new racking in the two store rooms
- painting done in a special paint which stopped the HQ smelling of smoke
- entrance hall and toilets tiled and redecorated.
21st Century
In the early 2000's there was another small fire caused by a mouse getting into the fuse box in the new part of the hut. Thankfully the damage was contained, though did require the fuse box to be replaced along with some wiring.
In 2014 the main water pipe sprang a leak and a work party of leaders, parents and local helpers was formed to dig the old pipe out and replace it with a new one. Over 150 volunteer man hours saw this work completed, including re-laying the surface of the car park using planings recycled from a motorway road surface.
In 2014 the main water pipe sprang a leak and a work party of leaders, parents and local helpers was formed to dig the old pipe out and replace it with a new one. Over 150 volunteer man hours saw this work completed, including re-laying the surface of the car park using planings recycled from a motorway road surface.
