Group History - 1st Gurnard

We will be adding information to this page as resources become available. Can you help or do you have any information we can add? if so, please contact us via our Facebook group, here.

In the meantime you can read the document and photos used by Barry Groves in preparing the group entries in his Isle of Wight Scouting History books. We don't have a lot of information so we would really appreciate any additional documents and/or photos.

1ST GURNARD SCOUTS As supplied for a book in 2007

The 1st Gurnard Group started before the First World War.

From the earliest information found, the first Scoutmaster was a Mr Greenham although not much further information is available on him. It is possible he was called up for War Service and never returned. The only Island resident that can be found is: -

Arthur John Greenham, Hampshire Regiment 8th Bn.Service Number 1495

The 1st Isle of Wight Rifle Volunteers, later the 8th (Isle of Wight, 'Princess Beatrice's Own') Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, but known informally as the 'Isle of Wight Rifles', was an auxiliary unit of the British Army formed to defend the Isle of Wight after a mid-19th Century invasion scare.
Son of John and Lucy Greenham, of 2, Myrtle Cottages, High St., Wootton Bridge, Isle of Wight.
During the war the Troop Colours were given to a Mr Phillips, who lived in Gurnard, for safekeeping as the Troop was suspended. He later moved to Northwood and founded 1st Northwood in 1926. Rumour has it that he had the name of 1st Gurnard removed from the Colours and replaced with 1st Northwood. The Troop wore green neckerchiefs, the same colour as the Village Guide Company.

In the very early 1950’s, a group of young boys in Gurnard were avid readers of Scouting for Boys. They decided to form a club, which they called the Coot Club, with two patrols named Swallows and Amazons (they obviously also read the Arthur Ransome books). With no adult leader or meeting place it was difficult to organise meetings, nevertheless, their enthusiasm was recognised by one or two adults who persuaded them to form a Scout Group in Gurnard. Mr and Mrs Mundell and Mrs Chick, with the Scout Troop restarting later in1953, reformed the group with just a Cub Pack.

A schoolteacher by the name of Dave Smith was persuaded to be the new Scoutmaster. Two Rover Scouts from 2nd Cowes assisted him. John Pitts was Group Scoutmaster from 1954 until 1982 when he retired. The scouts took part in all the usual scouting activities of camping, signalling, cooking over open fires and boating.

One of the Coot Club Boys was Harvey Wallace. He was the Troop’s first Patrol Leader, Senior Patrol Leader and Queen’s Scout. He went on to become a Scout Leader with 1st Gurnard. Harvey was alsoinvolved in Scouting as the Scout Leader at 1st Northwood. The second Patrol Leader was Neil Tatersall.

Over the years there have been several Scout leaders such as Ron Morgan, Ted Mundel, Ken Chambers and Harvey Wallace. Paul Rock took over in about 1971 and Mike Bunday became the Venture Scout leader.

The Group met in the Parish Hall, Church Road, initially but later moved to Glenorchie, Cockelton Lane. GLenorchie was a bungalow donated to Cowes UDC to act as a Cottage Hospital after WW1 by Harry Guy. Finally in 1966 they had their own Headquarters built in Worsley Lane, which is still current.

When Paul Rock left to take up a position as Assistant District Commissioner for Scouts, Mike Bunday took over as Scout Leader with Peter Harris as his Assistant.

Paul Savill followed as Scout Leader with Peter Harris his Assistant. The Venture group disbanded due to lack of numbers but now there are three strong sections, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts. (Added October 2022 - 1st Gurnard were the first group to start a new Squirrels section, under the initial leadership of GSL Paul Savill).

They are rather unique as there are two committees. The Group Council and the Support Committee that is responsible for the maintenance of the building and fundraising. Stalwarts like Mike Cole and Ron Biggs were instrumental in keeping the group solvent for many years.

My memories of 1st Gurnard by Peter Harris — Group Scout Leader

My association with 1st Gurnard started in 1965 when I joined as a Cub. I can still remember walking to the Church with my Mum and hearing “Grand Howl” for the first time. Peter Cartwright was my Cub Leader. My years as a Cub seemed to pass very quickly although I remember with fondness being introduced to the tuck-shop with ginger beer, lemonade and crisps.

I remember going to a Cub Pageant at Carisbrooke Castle dressed as a cowboy and also attending a St George’s Day parade on a very cold April day.

I moved up from the Cubs to Scouts in 1968. My first Scout Leader was David Gladdis and the Group Scout Leader was then John Pitts. At this time the group were very close to moving from the old Church Hall to our brand new “Banbury Hut” headquarters in Worsley Lane. I believe the cost of this finished HQ was £2,000. The opening of the new HQ took place in July 1968. Ron Morgan, a popular past leader, who had moved to Wales, performed this. Later that year, we camped in the grounds of Ron’s house in Abergavenny. During that week, we visited a steel works and did some hiking in the Brecon Beacons. I can remember returning to Wales for a further two camps.

Buckmore Park campsite, which you will find next to the M2 between Maidstone and Chatham in Kent, was another popular summer campsite for the group. We were there in 1972, 1979 and 1983. I have happy memories for the heated swimming pool, weekly disco and go-kart track.

During 1968, Paul Rock became Scout Leader assisted by Michael Halpin and with the new HQ the group began to grow. The cubs were thriving with Mrs Jefferies, John Jenkins and Eric Lewis all taking the helm of the Pack at different times during the 70’s and into the 80’s. In approximately 1972 a Venture Scout Unit was formed and we gained the services of Ken Chamber (ASL) and Mick Bunday (VSL). The three founding members of the Unit were John Billows, Richard Harris and Colin Winter. John Billows went on to gain the Queen’s Scout Award in 1973, our last recipient of that honour. With more re-organisation Paul Rock was invited to take up the position of Assistant District Commissioner of the old North Wight District. This is where Mick Bunday’s lengthy run as Scout Leader and Group Scout Leader started with Ken Chambers returning to the Venture Unit after a break.

We had many scouts pass through Gurnard during the 70’s. One was Stephen Coles, whose Dad Mike volunteered to serve on the Group’s Committee and is still with us today. Mike has also been part of the County Finance Committee. It was very evident that, even in the new building, space was becoming a premium. Fortunately we had some room to the side of the hall, which enabled us to build storage space and Dens for the Brownies, Guides, Cubs and Scouts. The leaders and parents carried much of the work out, with Mike Coles taking up regular Saturday brick laying duties. The numbers of Cubs remained high. This was due in the main to the strong pairing and leadership qualities of Dick Weir (the Village Policeman) as Akela assisted by Vic Sayer as ACSL.

In 1979 we camped in Guernsey, the second of three camps in the Channel Islands. My memories of this camp were strong to gale force winds that caused havoc everywhere (including the Fastnet Race) and flattening a couple of our tents. It was at this camp, after helping with the Annual Battle of the Flowers’ that we heard the shocking news of the assassination of Lord Mountbatten.

By the mid 1980’s a Beaver Colony had been opened in Gurnard. Hazel Downer led this with two assistants who had previously been supervisors with the local playgroup. Brian Brazier, with many years service as a leader on the mainland, joined the group and went straight in to help with the Cubs. Christine Shelmerdine (later to marry Brian) helped with Beavers, where her young son, Lee, was a member.

Other notable Cub Leaders to join in the 1980’s included Peter Dawson, Paul Savill, Jeremy Merton and Carole Jewett. Also at that time Mick Bunday’s eldest son, Kevin, returned to the Island and into the Group. He and his family had been living in Scotland for several years as part of his Navy career. We have been fortunate with our supply of leaders, Peter Symans moved over from 1st East Cowes and Doug Slaney re-started the Venture Unit during the late 1980’s. In 1993. Mick Bunday suffered a heart attack and for a period was absent from scout meetings, but in time, he did return. Paul Saville succeeded Mick, moving from ACSL to SL with myself taking on the role of GSL. This paved the way for Mick’s retirement having reached the age of sixty-five, after many years distinguished scouting service. Sadly, Mick passed away in July 2005. Paul decided to put the ‘Sea back into 1st Gurnard Sea Scouts with the emphasis on kayaks and canoes, as well as obtaining new camping equipment. To attract more people to our Group Executive we decided to hold our Annual General Meetings outside of the HQ at Gumard School, during the summer. This proved to be a very successful move. Recent County Census figures show our group to be one of the largest on the Island, not bad for a small village group.

I must mention previous Beaver leaders Tina Cundall and Alysin Jacobs plus all our current leaders Paul, Sarah Flux, Claire Havard, Mary Hodder, Katie Mairis and Daniel Coleman, plus of course our regular helpers, Tony Hathaway, Tony Revert and Bob Chambers. We have also received great support from our Group Executive over the years as well as substantial parental support. I know there were leaders and helpers I have forgotten to mention, which I must apologise for I must close by thanking Harvey Wallace who supplied most of the information at the beginning of this history.