Boys from East London were amongst those invited to attend Lieutenant-General Robert Baden-Powell's experimental camp at Brownsea Island in August 1907, now regarded as the founding of the Scout Movement. Records exist of Scout Troops being started in London in late 1907, before the publication of the first installment of Baden-Powell's book, Scouting for Boys in the following January.[3]
In March 1909, a Conference of London Scout Officials was held and at about the same time, Sir Francis Vane was appointed the first Commissioner for London of Baden-Powell Boy Scouts by Baden-Powell. Vane and Baden-Powell soon fell out over the former's antimilitarism, and he was dismissed in a dispute about renting an office for London Scouts.[4] Vane later became the second President of the British Boy Scouts which had begun in Battersea, London.[5] A further meeting of London Scouters in November 1909 agreed to the establishment of six Scout districts covering the County of London. Such was the size of these districts that Baden-Powell granted the commissioners in charge of them the rank of County Commissioner. This led to a degree of autonomy which prevented the formation of an effective London-wide organisation for some years, despite the appointment of an eminent London Commissioner, Sir Herbert Plumer.[6] His successor from 1911, Major-General H B Jeffreys, had no more success in bringing the districts together, but did oversee the start of the first troops for Scouts with disabilities in London special schools.[7]
In September 1909, the Crystal Palace Scout Rally was attended by 11,000 Scouts including a patrol of "Girl Scouts", now recognised as the founding event of Girl Guiding.[9] London troops played a leading part in the event.[10] In November 1909, an American publisher, William D. Boyce, was lost in a London smog, but was directed to his hotel by a Boy Scout who refused any reward; an act which led directly to the founding of the Boy Scouts of America. The Scout was never identified and is known today as the Unknown Scout.[11]
In 1939, the outbreak of the Second World War caused the evacuation of more than 21,000 London Scouts,[14] representing more than half of the membership.[15] The service performed by Scouts during war and particularly during air raids and the Blitz on London in World War II is recognised by their presence every year on Remembrance Day at the Cenotaph in London.[16]
Baden-Powell House in London
In 1961, Baden-Powell House was opened in South Kensington,[17] which included a small museum of the story of Robert Baden-Powell.[18] In 1965, the new County of Greater London was formed; the Scout Association reorganised their boundaries accordingly, replacing the former Scout counties of London, London over the Border and Middlesex, with the seven new Scout counties (Greater London Central, North, North East, North West, South, South East and South West). Included in these new Scout counties were districts which had previously been part of the neighbouring home counties, but were now within the borders of Greater London.[19]
London Scouts celebrated the centenary of Scouting on 1 Aug 2007 in many ways, including the New Year's Day Parade in which many Explorer Scouts were led by the Enfield District Scout Band, LIVE 07, Festival of Scouting, and a Sunrise Ceremony at the London Eye.[20][21] The first UK international camp of the new Scouting century was Campdowne 2008 in July 2008, where nearly 2000 participants from the UK and 23 other countries camped at Downe Scout Activity Centre.[22]
John May from London become the first UK Scout elected to the World Scout Committee since 1994 at the 38th World Scout Conference in Korea on 16 July 2008.[23][24]
The Scout Association Counties
The Scout Association in Greater London is administered through six Scout Counties.
The county has 145 Scout Groups serving over 6,500 young people with 1,600 adult volunteers. It is divided into a number of districts, some of which are based approximately but not exactly around present London Borough boundaries:
City of Westminster - previously part of Greater London Central which was disbanded in the early 2000s
The name of this district is taken from the River Thames and the Grand Union Canal, both of which flow through the area. This name was chosen rather than Hounslow district, because the Acton area falls partly in the London Borough of Ealing, although most of the district is within the London Borough of Hounslow local authority
The county is divided into four districts with over 80 Scout Groups, as well as being responsible for the Dockland Scout Project. The 2012 census showed a total membership of 6,036 - an increase of more than 20 per cent since 2007.[27]
Barnet Borough - the result of a merger between three districts - Barnet, FFBGG (Finchley, Friern Barnet & Golders Green) and Hendon & Edgware
Enfield - incorporating the previously separate Edmonton District since 2007
North London District - formed in 2014 by the merger of Haringey with CCI (Camden, City & Islington); the latter had been part of Greater London Central until that county was disbanded in the early 2000s, with its districts being split between GLMW and GLN
Enfield Scout District runs a traditional marching band which is open to members of the local Scout and Guide organisations.[28]
The band was formed in 1976, and is a corps of bugles and drums. The band is a member of the Traditional Youth Marching Band Association, and competes regularly in competitions run by the Association across the UK.
Since its formation, the band has continued to lead the District as it marches through Enfield Town for the Remembrance Day and St George's Day parades which are a traditional part of the Scouting calendar.
The county currently has over 4700 members + 1,900 adult volunteers, with 90 Scout Groups and 30 Explorer Scout Units, led by Darren Lodge the County Commissioner, the Deputy County Commissioners responsible for people, programme and perception and the wider County Team. The County Team is support by the County Board of Trustees.
The county is now divided into five districts which have the same boundaries as the five London Boroughs.
The county has a centre based in Dulwich, The South London Scout Centre[33]
Greater London South East
Greater London South East (GLSE) covers the London Boroughs of Bexley and Bromley, an area stretching from the Orpington in the southeast to Bexleyheath in the north.[34]
From 1 October 2011 the four heritage districts of Beckenham, Bromley, Chislehurst and Orpington were merged into a new single district, called 'Bromley Scouts' (as opposed to the old 'Bromley District Scouts'). The new district is the largest Scout district (by membership) in the UK.[citation needed]
The county has three Scout Bands, Kingston & Malden Scout and Guide Band,[36] 1st Hook Scout and Guide Band[37] and Wimbledon, Wandle and Sutton District's Scout and Guide Band.[38]
Activity Centres and Camp sites
The White House at Gilwell Park
Three of the six Scout Association Activity Centres are in Greater London. Baden-Powell House is a hostel and conference centre in central London. Gilwell Park is a camp site and activity centre, as well as a training and conference centre for Scout Leaders. It is close to Chingford, London. The White House at Gilwell Park has been the headquarters of The Scout Association since 2001, although Baden-Powell House (the former headquarters) still facilitates some departments of the Scout Association. Downe Scout Activity Centre is in Kent, but was owned by the Greater London South East Scouts from 1987 to 2005, when the site became under the direct control of The Scout Association. Downe was closed during the 2020 pandemic and is now up for sale on the open market,[39] after several community groups failed to raise enough money to save it.
Greater London Middlesex West is responsible for the PACCAR Chalfont Heights campsite 30 minutes from London at Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire. Originally purchased in 1938, it was operated by Scout Headquarters until 1970 when it taken over by the Greater London Middlesex West County as its County campsite and Training Centre.[40] The current name was adopted following major sponsorship from a charitable foundation owned by PACCAR Inc, the multi-national heavy vehicle manufacturer. Ealing & Hanwell District in GLMW own and run the Walter Davies Activity Centre near Stoke Poges,[41] and the City of Westminster Scout District is responsible for Coombe Farm Campsite, located in Addington.[42]
The Docklands Scout Project and HQTS Lord Amory in West India Dock.
Districts in Greater London North own or operate campsites and activity centres at: Danemead Scout Campsite near Broxbourne (Enfield District, with Chingford District of Greater London NE), Scout Park at Bounds Green (North London District) and Frith Grange near Mill Hill (Barnet Borough District).[43]
The Training ship RRS Discovery, Captain Scott's Antarctic expedition vessel, moored on Victoria Embankment near Temple Underground station, was used by London Sea Scouts between 1937 and 1979, when it was handed over to Maritime Trust and relocated in Dundee. The Dockland Scout Project was then created.[44] Based on the Lord Amory, the only permanently moored Scout 'campsite' in the UK, the DSP is located in the West India Dock, east of the City of London and opposite Greenwich across the River Thames.[45]
Districts in Greater London North East own or operate campsites and activity centres at: Crow Camp near Noak Hill (Romford District), Fairmead Scout Campsite near High Beach (East London District),[46] Hargreaves Scout Campsite, Little Heath (Ilford East District),[47] and the Michael Mallinson Centre, Highams Park (Waltham Forest South District).[48]
Greater London South owns the South London Scout Centre, the closest camping centre to central London at Dulwich.[49] Also known as "The Fort" it was the site of an ant-aircraft gun battery during the Second World War and has been used by Scouts since 1961.[50] Hammerwood Scout Campsite, located in East Grinstead, is owned and operated by 6 Groups in Lewisham; it has 27 acres (110,000 m2) of woodland plus a field. The forest is mostly unpartitioned with an unmanaged area for survival training weekends and is popular with Scout, Cadet and Duke of Edinburgh groups.[51] Lewisham Scout District is responsible for Frylands Wood Scout Campsite in Croydon.[52] Royal Greenwich District also operate 3 campsites two within the district: Avery Hill Scout Activity Centre [53] located in the former New Eltham district and the ExNet centre [54] named after the explorer and network sections in scouting. There is also a campsite located in the village of Downe, Kent called Eleven acres Scout Camp [55]
Wilberforce Scout Centre in Keston is owned by Bromley Scout District,[56] and Cudham Shaws Site (previously a Guide Association site) is run by Bexley Scout District,[57] both of the Greater London South East Scout Association County.
Yr Hen Neuadd ('The Old Hall'), Bethesda, Gwynedd, North Wales, originally a Salvation Army Hall, was converted in 1970 by Greater London South West as an Activity Centre.[58] Other sites owned or operated by districts within Greater London South West include the Bears Wood Training Centre in Croydon and Pinewood Campsite in Shirley (both Croydon District), also Polyapes Campsite at Stoke d'Abernon, which lies just outside the county boundaries but is managed jointly between Royal Kingston and Esher Districts and has been in continuous use since 1929.[59]
21st World Scout Jamboree
There were 36 Scouts from Greater London North taking part in the 21st World Scout Jamboree in August 2007. The Enfield District Scout Band played at the Closing Ceremony.[60]
The Greater London North East Scout County sent forty-five Scouts to the 21st World Scout Jamboree. Thirty six, plus four leaders, acted as a whole contingent while the remaining nine were part of another contingent with Guides from Cambridge and a Scout troop from Montserrat.[61]
Two contingents from the Greater London South East Scout County attended.[62]
Greater London South West (GLSW) had two full contingents (of 36 Scouts plus 4 leaders each) named Victory Unit and Nelson Unit. GLSW Additionally provided a patrol (9 Scouts) and the overall unit leader in the most diverse unit at the jamboree, consisting of 25% GLSW Scouts, 25% Scouts from Fife in Scotland, 25% Guides from Somerset and 25% Scouts from Mauritania in North Africa. This unit was named The Discovery Unit. Two of the unit were present at the Sunrise Ceremony on Brownsea Island to welcome the 2nd century of Scouting at the movement's birthplace.
Wimbledon, Wandle & Sutton District's,[38] Kingston & Malden[36] the 1st Hook[37] and 2nd Hook Scout Bands played at the closing ceremony.
Gang Shows
Southwark Gang Show in Greater London South, started 1950. Originally named Bermondsey Gang Show, then Thameside Gang Show, then Albany Gang Show[63]
SOUWEST Gang Show in Sutton - started 1982. Greater London South West Scout County.[64]
ShowStoppers Gang Show. Greater London North East Scouts Gang Show. Started 2003.[65]
