The Beginning

The group as started in 1965 by Rev Morgan, the minister at Grove Road Methodist Church, with John Burr as the first GSL, Leslie Simms and Paul Daly as the Scout Leaders and Joan Wilkinson, Cynthia Oughton & Christine Foxton as the Cub Leaders. Shortly after it started, the 21st Harrogate Scout Troop (Dragon Parade Methodist) closed down due to lack of leaders, and so the scouts transferred to the 16th. This brought Clive Hainge into contact with the group and within two months of arriving he was made into an Assistant Scout Leader

In 1969 the group expanded into three sections with the addition of the Venutre Scout unit, whose first camp independent of the Scout Troop Was held in Eire where they hired two horse drawn caravans for a week

The Seventies

The beginning of the seventies saw a change in the leadership with Clive Hainge taking over as the Scout Leader and Paul Daley together with his wife Jean taking over the Cub section. The seventies also saw a large increase in membership of the Cub and Scout sections. By the mid seventies, the Scout section began to regularly win district competitions and events, dominating the pioneering, and Teko and Tohunga competitions. Clive also got married and the group gained another leader in Moira Hainge. The venutre unit combined with ranger guides to form a joint Venture Scout and Ranger Guide unit, and under the leadership of Euan Mcluskey & Monica Pain it grew to one of the largest units in the country with between 40 and 50 members. They became famous for their charity runs, Edinburgh to Harrogate with a Haggis, Running the Yorkshire boundary and Harrogate to Luchon with Harrogate Toffee to name a few!

The Eighties

The Scout Troop in particular continued to thrive, the range of activities offered to the Scout increase with at least 10 weekend camps or activities during the year, and it continued to win district events and competitions on a regular basis. Three ex Scouts, John Harris, Richard Manning and Nicky Heward came back to the group as Assistant Scout Leaders to help Clive with the running of the Troop

Another importan tmilestone in the development of the group was the start of our Beaver colony, with Pat Weber as the leader

The end of the Eighties saw us celebrating our twenty fifth year and we did it in style but climbing twenty five hills in a weekend. The Venture Scouts climbed Ben Nebis, Scafell and Snowdon, The Scouts Climbed Sixteen Hills in the Yorkshire Dales, The Cubs climbed Simons Seat, The Beavers walked to Harlow Hill (the highest point in Harrogate), the group exec climbed the three hills in the Dales and eager parents climbed the final hill. From Each summit we collected a rock and these formed the focal point for a church service

The Nineties

The biggest change in the Scout troop since it’s formation saw the troop become the first in the country to admit girls, with the arrival of Rachel Connors and Clair Newby, both of whom went on to become PLs and Chief Scouts Award holders. Another girl Rachel Bunting became the first girl in the district to gain a Chief Scout Award and the first to lead a winning team in a district event; the Teko expedition weekend

They also had another first towards the end of the nineties when our all girls team won the Tohunga expedition weekend

To celebrate the groups thirtieth year we climbed or descended 30,000 feet, 1000 feet for every year in as many different and varied activities as possible. The Scouts and venture Scouts, skied, climbed, abseiled, Canoed, Caved and Cycled. The Cubs went down a coal min and the Beavers went to the top of the local observatory. Present and past member of the group finished the day off by climbing Great Whernside at Midnight

Another highlight of the nineties was the canoe trip across Scotland form Fort WIllam to Inverness by the Scouts

The new millenium

we started the millennium with our five sections still intact and the Venture section which had been struggling for the past couple of years starting to function again as a working unit