Scout and Guide HQ

Building Great Horwood Scout and Guide HQ

Clare Martin

In 1980, the first steps were taken towards providing a purpose-built headquarters for Great Horwood Scouts, Guides, Cubs and Brownies. (Beavers and Rainbows hadn’t been invented yet.) At that time, the groups held their meetings in the Victorian school building, which was Great Horwood School’s kitchen and dining hall in those days. It was a good space for running around in but was ‘no longer capable of holding all the activities undertaken by the young people.’ The lack of toilets and storage were probably the main problems. In those days, there were very few outdoor activity centres and certainly nothing like the indoor ski slopes, climbing walls and trampoline parks that we have today. Scouts and Guides could only take part in adventurous activities if their leaders trained and gained the necessary qualifications to be able to instruct them and if the groups had the necessary equipment. For the Great Horwood Scouts, that meant canoes! The Great Horwood Scouting and Guiding groups needed a building where they could meet in comfort and also store lots of tents, camping equipment and a few canoes.

Cubs meeting in the Victorian school building, 1975.

Scouts meeting in the Victorian school building, 1975. These photos were taken by a photographer from the Buckingham Advertiser who was doing a piece on the reopening of Great Horwood Scouts after an 8 or 9-year break.

Group Scout Leader, Paul Ketteridge, had the vision and professional skills to design a suitable building. In October 1980, the local education authority gave permission for the HQ to be built in the school grounds, planning permission was sought and Paul presented his plans to the people of Great Horwood, appealing for cash and muscle to get the project off the ground. It was estimated that it would cost around £25,000 to build the HQ with much of the work done by volunteers.

Paul Ketteridge's Scout and Guide HQ plans, July 1980.

Paul Ketteridge with his model of the proposed HQ, October 1980.

A steering committee, led by Don MacDonald was set up to co-ordinate planning and fundraising. While donations were welcome, the focus was on seeking interest-free loans from villagers over a period of two years. Former Great Horwood Scouts and Guides were approached for help and it was hoped that the young people themselves would fundraise as much of the money as possible.

The children’s efforts started straight away. At the end of November 1980, around 80 Great Horwood Scouts, Guides, Cubs and Brownies put on a show in the village hall. Devised and produced by Paul Ketteridge, the show was called “All Together” and included 19 different sketches and songs, with every child appearing at least once. The show was a sell out, playing to an audience of 150 on each of two evenings.

The Buckingham Advertiser's report of the 1980 show, 'All Together.'

The Scout District Newsletter's write up of the show.

By May 1981, the need for the HQ had become more urgent because Great Horwood Rector and 1st Great Horwood Group President, Rev. Roland Sleight, had just retired. This meant the group would no longer be able to use the Rectory to store all the equipment. Fundraising was going well but the County Council had turned down the application for a grant to complete the project. Paul Ketteridge told the Buckingham and Winslow Advertiser that sponsorship was now being sought from elsewhere but that, with a revised design, voluntary help and donated materials, the HQ could be built for about £12,000.

At the beginning of May 1981, despite rain and snow, the young people undertook a sponsored walk along part of the North Bucks Way. 21 Scouts and Cubs, 21 Guides and Brownies and 14 adults attempted to walk 20 miles from Great Horwood to Quainton and back. 26 completed the whole course and the total distance walked by the whole group was 812 miles - over 2,150,000 steps – and £200 was raised.

Children and adults meeting on The Green, Great Horwood before attempting to walk to Quainton and back.

A further £200 was raised with another gang show at the end of November 1981. The show, again devised by Paul Ketteridge, was called “Here We Go.” More than 100 Scouts, Guides, Cubs and Brownies took part this time and, again, the show was a sell out both nights.

The Guides' performance of The Can-Can was considered the highlight of the 1981 gang show, 'Here We Go'. Pictured l-r: Nicola Sirett, Fiona Glew, Maxine Smith, Lesley Horton, Sharon Cook, Katy Berrill

By March 1982, the young people had raised £5,000 through their shows, sponsored walk, bazaars and fetes. In recognition of their hard work and in honour of it being the ‘Year of the Scout’, Buckingham Lions Club donated a further £150.

Katy Berrill is handed the cheque from Buckingham Lions, March 1982.

In February 1982, Aylesbury Vale District Council turned down an application for a grant but, in April, another application to Bucks County Council was successful and the project was given a grant of £12,000.

A delighted Paul Ketteridge on receiving the good news of a £12,000 grant from Bucks County Council, April, 1982.

After two years of planning and fundraising, building work started at the beginning of the 1982 school summer holiday. The commemorative ‘1982’ brick that’s visible in the HQ wall was laid, with a Guide badge and Scout badge buried underneath it, along with a 20p coin to represent the year because 20p coins had only just been introduced to circulation.

Building work begins at last and the 1982 date stone is laid, summer 1982. Pictured, l-r, back row: Andrew Cook, Darren Sirett, Sharon Cook, Paul Ketteridge, front row: Tracy Sirett, David Cook, Karen Whitehall, Nigel Essam.

A ‘topping out’ ceremony was held in November 1982, when the final roof tile was laid by Rodney Glew, who was Scout Assistant County Commissioner for development, and David Hammond, director of Stony Stratford company M and D Hammond, Ltd. who built the HQ.

Construction of the HQ is completed as David Hammond (left) and Rodney Glew (right) lay the final roof tile, November 1982.

Paul Rudkin is presented with the cheque from Buckingham Round Table, November 1982.

It was now up to the young people and villagers to complete the internal work and decorating.

Buckingham Round Table donated £400 and a third sell-out gang show, entitled ‘Raise the Roof’ raised another £200 towards the completion of the wiring, painting and carpentry. Again over 100 Brownies, Cubs, Guides, Scouts and now also Venture Scouts took part.

The Buckingham Advertiser reports on the 1982 gang show, 'Raise the Roof'.

In November 1983, with the internal work nearing completion, the HQ project made it through to the final of a Buckinghamshire “Village Ventures” competition to find the villages with the strongest spirit of self-help. The HQ lost out to Hardwick villagers’ conversion of the former school into a village hall but it was awarded the £100 second prize.

Paul Ketteridge (left) meets the Buckinghamshire 'Village Ventures' judges in the nearly complete HQ, 1983.

HQ committee chairman, Don Macdonald (right) receives the 'Village Ventures' second prize and certificate, November 1983.

At last, on 16th December 1983, the Great Horwood Scout and Guide Headquarters was officially opened by the County Guide and Scout Commissioners, Mrs R A Pearse and Wing Commander D. H. Way.

Invitation to the official opening of the Great Horwood Scout and Guide Headquarters, 16 December 1983.