A Brief Group History

June 1955 - The Newbury News reported that a meeting had been held to discuss the formation of a second Scout Group in Thatcham. The Group would not be run in opposition to the present Church of England Group, but would be complementary to it. At that time boys of other denominations had to go to Newbury for their Scouting. At the meeting two ladies offered to start a Cub Pack. Major Bostock, who was president of the District Scout Association, had already asked Ray Rogers to become Scoutmaster. £24 was put at the disposal of the Group, which would start meetings at the Cadet Hut on Tuesday 28 th June.

December 5th 1955 – The Group was officially registered with the Boy Scouts Association. On the document Fredrick Allen was shown as Group Scoutmaster, Sapper Douglas Bell was Cubmaster; Miss Margaret Looker and Miss Betty Rice were his Assistants. Ray Roger was Scoutmaster and George Brown the Assistant Scoutmaster. Janet Chapman, nee Slade, soon became an Assistant with the Cub Pack. There were 20 Wolf Cubs and 16 Scouts registered.

1956 - Permission was granted to erect a Scout Hut on the Memorial Field. A second hand hut was purchased from the Army base at Hermitage, thanks to Major Bostock and Dr Fraser, the chairman of the Scout District.

October 1956 - The Groups first anniversary was marked by the dedication of Cub and Scout flags at the Congregational (URC) Church.

August 1962 - Scout David Thurlwell, of Cromwell Road , Newbury, was presented with Bronze Cross by the Chief Scout, Sir Charles Maclean. David had saved the life of a fellow pupil from Kennet School , while they were on a school trip to Spain.

April 1966 - The Group was re-registered as 2nd Thatcham (Greenham Court) in recognition of the support given by Major Bostock. Greenham Court was the name of the Major's home, in Newbury.

March 1969 - A Venture Scout Unit was formed, with Trevor Williams as Leader.

June 1970 – It was noted at the AGM that there were only three leaders; Trevor Williams, and Cub Leaders Nora Dobson and Josie Joyce.

November 1971 - Ray Rogers came back to run the Troop. The Venture Unit only had three members, so they were integrated into the District Unit.

May 1974 - A second Cub Pack was formed, Rogers Pack met on Monday nights and Bostock Pack met on Thursdays. In June a Venture Unit was re-started with 8 members and it was hoped that Scouts from 1st Thatcham would also join.

May 1975 - Scout Chris Warrick gains his Chief Scout's Award.

May 1976 - Scout Ian Wallace gains his Chief Scout's Award.

June 28th 1976 - 2nd Thatcham's 21st birthday celebrated.

November 1976 - A week of birthday celebrations; including a church parade and Cub and Scout open nights. A pantomime "Sinderella" was put on by the Leaders, Cubs, and Scouts.

May 1977 - An application to replace the old wooden hut with a new building, was refused.

July 1977 – 5 Scouts, Richard Kirkham, David Edwards, Duncan Bailey, Hefyn & Ceri Thomas were presented with their Chief Scouts Awards at Gilwell, by the Chief Scout.

September 1977 - The Council applied for planning permission for a new Scout HQ, which the Group could lease. The land on which the old HQ stood will be sold for building houses, and the money used to fund the new building.

December 1977 – New Cub award system started, with Bronze, Silver, and Gold Arrow badges.

July 1978 - Bricks were sold on the Broadway Green to help raise money for the building. The mayor was the first to buy one.

November 1978 - The high number of Scouts forced the Troop to be split into two. One Troop met on Wednesdays ( Avon ) and the other on Fridays (Kennet).

February 1979 - A grand opening of the new HQ, starting with a service at the URC, followed by a parade to the HQ, and an opening ceremony by the Mayor. 300 invitations were printed.

April 1979 - At the AGM it was noted that the Group was one of the largest in the District. It had two Cub Packs, two Scout Troops and a Venture Scout Unit.

September 1979 - A playgroup plans to start meeting in the HQ. A contract is drawn up by the Scout Association solicitor.

October 1979 – Scout Chris Rudd gains his Chief Scout's Award.

June 1981 – Scouts Peter Kirkham and Philip Lewis gain their Chief Scout's Awards.

November 1981 - Richard Kirkham gains the first Queen's Scout Award in the Group. In 1982 the Venture Unit becomes affiliated to 1st Thatcham as well as 2nd Thatcham.

July 1982 - Cubs and Scouts enjoyed a weeks Group Camp in Guernsey , to mark the "Year of the Scout".

August 1983 - A Scout from Kennet Troop, David Maleham, attended the 15 th World Jamboree near Calgary, in Canada.

May 1984 - The 2 Scout Troops had to be combined, due to a lack of Leaders.

July 1984 - Scout Leader Pat Edwards went on an expedition to a village in Kenya called Gichocho, with a group of Ventures from all over Berkshire . They planned to build a dam, tank, and pipeline to provide a water supply for the village. In order to gain building experience, the young people helped to build a shed at the rear of the HQ.

March 1986 – The Venture Scout Unit was no longer shown on the Group Census form, so must now be an independent Unit.

April 1986 - At the AGM it was announced that a 15 seater minibus had been purchased for the use of the Group.

June 1986 - Newbury District was split into two sections, down the A34. The western side, which includes groups in Lambourn, Hungerford, Inkpen & Kintbury , Wash Common, Woolton Hill and Newbury, is to be called Kennet District. The eastern area, called Taceham Hundred, covers Compton, Chieveley, Hermitage, Hampstead Norreys, Cold Ash, and the Thatcham Groups. The Taceham Hundred District covers the area right over to Pang Valley.

September 1986 - The first meeting of the 2nd Thatcham Beaver Colony is held on the 10th.

February 1987 - Cubs from all over the District took part in a party at Northcroft Leisure Centre to celebrate 70 years of Cub Scouting.

January 1989 - Scouts Steve MacLean, Mark Jordan, Jeffrey Callan, and Paul Rowlands were presented with their Chief Scout's Challenge and Awards.

May 1989 - At the AGM it was noted that more leaders are needed in all Sections. Cub caps, and Scout and Leaders berets ceased to be part of the uniform. The minibus needed a new motor, costing £1000, so it was scrapped.

November 1990 - Beavers can now wear the Group scarf, rather than the original turquoise Beaver scarf.

September 1990 - The Cubs and Scouts had taken part in the "Go for a Million" Camp at Newbury Racecourse. The Scout Association was trying to create a record for the number of people under canvas over that weekend.

January 1991 - The Cub badge system changed from the arrow scheme, with different badges and new books for the Cubs.

September 1991 - Scout Troop Meetings were changed from Friday to Wednesday nights.

January 1993 - The two Cub Packs are merged due to a shortage of Leaders, and started to meet on Monday nights. Ray Rogers died.

July 1994 - The Group Executive Committee decided not to allow girls to join the Group, as there was such a long list of boys waiting to join.

February 1995 - Scouts Alastair Chapman and Chris Pritchard receive their Chief Scout's Awards at a County presentation ceremony.

April 1995 - One of the original Cub Leaders, Douglas Bell, has died.

July 1995 - To celebrate the Groups 40 th birthday there was an Open Day on the Broadway Green, and a trip for all the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts to Wembley Stadium later in the year.

August 1998 – The HQ path is widened to allow vehicle access right to the back of the building.

July 2000 - Colthrop Paper Mill closed, bringing to an end 16 years of paper recycling, which had raised almost £18,500 for the Group, and recycled over 820 tonnes of paper.

Spring 2001 – The outbreak of Foot & Mouth disease curtails many outdoor activities.

Autumn 2001 - New uniforms for all Sections became available. Beavers to wear turquoise sweatshirts, Cubs a slightly different green sweatshirt, and the Scouts have teal shirts. All Sections, and Leaders, can now wear navy blue combat style trousers.

September 2002 - Vast changes made to the programme and badges in all Sections. Scouts now go up to a new Section, called Explorer Scouts, when they are 14. For young people over 18 another new Section is being created. This is called the Scout Network, and will cater for young people aged from 18 up to 25. The new Sections will replace the Venture Scout Units, which had catered for 15 to 20 year olds.

December 2002 to January 2003 - Scout Ben Dixon went to Sattahip, in Thailand , to take part in the 20 th World Jamboree.

August 2003 - The HQ kitchen was refurbished – thanks to donations of units & equipment from B & Q, and hard work by leaders and parents.

January 2004 – The death was announced of Janet Chapman, one of the earliest Cub Leaders.

Autumn 2004 – Plans are made to celebrate the 50 th birthday of 2 nd Thatcham in June 2005, with a joint Cub and Scout camp.

August 2003 - Scouts take part in WINGS 2003, an international Camp in Windsor Great Park

May 2005 - The Group has Camp at Rushall Manor Farm. The Cubs and Scouts go camping outdoors while the Beavers join them with an indoor sleepover. At the camp, every member of the Group renews their Promise and receives the Group's new scarf, which is the same colours as before but now a bordered design rather than a half-and-half split.

June 2005 - The Group's celebrates its fiftieth birthday with a party at the Memorial Hall. Friends and Members, past and present attend the successful evening, at which presentations were made to many of the longstanding members and ex-members.

January 2007 - All members of the Scout Group receive a special Centenary Scarf to wear throughout the one-hundredth year of Scouting.

April 2007 - The Group participates in a special Centenary year St. George's Day service at Douai Abbey.

May 2007 -  Pete Frost (District Beaver Leader and ABSL of 2nd Thatcham) took on the role of Group Scout Leader,  the first GSL for a number of years.

July 2007 - Assistant Scout Leader Peter Swynford and Scout Sam Frost went to the 21st World Scout Jamboree at Hyland's Park, Chelmsford along with 40,000 other Scouts from 216 Countries.

August 2007 - Members of the Group join together on Thatcham Broadway to rewew their promises on 1st August as part of the worldwide Scouting Sunrise celebrations.

September 2007 - The Cub section loses a number of its leaders and a new team of leaders joins the pack.

November 2007 - The Group rounds off the Centenary Year by attending the Live '07 Festival of Scouting at the O2 dome at Greenwich.

April 2008 - Three Scouts from the Troop win the Three Towers Hike.