Group History

Our group is one of the older ones in the country, having been formed in 1910, 3 years after the birth of Scouting. At first, there was only a Scout Troop, with very little equipment, and it remained this way until after the 2nd World War. Before this it had been forced to close temporarily a number of times, thanks both to a lack of leaders and the wars.

In around 1968, the old chapel that used to be the HQ was demolished and the current building put in its place. Around this time, the group was also granted perpetual access to The Firs by the Hills family for any camps they wished to take there, and this agreement remains in place today.

Our current Group Scout Leader, Howard Smith, joined the group as Scout Leader in 1985, later becoming Group Scout Leader after a period of time away from the village. Together with David Hoar, a previous Scout Leader, they built the group up to what it is today.

We moved into the Millennium Hall circa 2001, a community building build with funding from Hills. We still, however, own the existing building in the High Street.

Based on research from 'Records and Recollections of Purton and District', By Alec Robbins, published 1994. Information believed to be correct at 06-Feb-2005.