In 1910, two years after Robert Baden-Powell published his book ‘Scouting for Boys’, the Vicar of Merton asked two local brothers, Allan and Ernest Tanner, to start a scout group here in Merton Park. Meetings of the original group of eight boys were held at the Old Church House opposite Merton Parish Church. The boys came from a wide area including New Malden, Wimbledon, Haydons Road and Mitcham.
The original group was known as the 75 South West London Troop, later being registered as the 1st Merton, and then the 7th Wimbledon.
The group’s first ever summer camp was held in 1913, at Christchurch near Bournemouth.
1914 saw war intruding on scouting life, with World War I declared while the group were away at camp. Ernest later recollected: “Though advised to return home, we stayed on for two weeks. We nearly caught a spy and we certainly saw the first British airship in action over the Channel”. The Scouts later contributed to the war efforts with activities including coast watching, entertaining the troops, distributing circulars and delivering vegetables from local allotments to Nelson Hospital. For this they received War Service Badges. Both Tanner brothers joined the Army. While Allan was sadly killed in action in 1916, Ernest remained actively involved in the group for the next 30 years, receiving the Medal of Merit in 1943 ‘in recognition of his good services to the Scout Movement’.
In 1916 a new section called Wolf Cubs began for younger boys – later this would be renamed the Cub Scouts.
After the war, local scout numbers were severely depleted, but the group never closed, continuing even with a single scout at some parades. Helen Tanner (sister of Ernest and Allan) had led the group in her brothers’ absence during the war, for which she was awarded three Medals of Merit, and she continued leading it afterwards.
Activities continued in the post-war years, with many camps taking place.
In 1942 the Shepherd family launched a new scout group, the 16th Wimbledon. This had scout and cub sections.
World War II was underway by this point, and when rambling on Wimbledon Common boys would often discover bomb craters. For the group’s first birthday in June 1943, a cake was served. With rationing in full swing, parents each donated a tiny share of the ingredients. The first slice was reserved for the scout troop leader who had joined the Army the previous day.
The scout section was initially made up of 16 boys in two patrols, the Buffalos and the Bulldogs. They camped for the first time in July 1943, at Walton Firs in Cobham, Surrey. They had a challenging four and a half hour trek to get there, pushing their kit the whole way on three treck-carts. Later, while camping in Chichester in the summer of 1945, they celebrated VJ Day with fireworks.
In 1960, the decision was made to merge 7th Wimbledon and 16th Wimbledon, to form a larger group – 1st Merton Park. This was prompted by increasing difficulty for both groups to find permanent leaders. The District Commissioner at the time decided ‘scouting in Merton Park would be best served by a single strong group’, rather than two groups competing with each other for recruits and leaders.
Both the 7th and 16th groups had strong fundraising traditions, which continued after the merger. The efforts of dedicated volunteers over the years have made a vital contribution to our activities, funding camping equipment and other expenses.
The 16th Wimbledon became known for organising activities including Christmas fairs, whist drives and concerts.
The 7th Wimbledon specialised in jumble sales, which are still a familiar and much-loved fixture in our local community, and run in much the same way as always!
Ray Donovan-Hill took over from Carol Martin in September 2010, Ray had been with the Beavers as Assistant Leader since 2007
An explorer, adventurer and TV presenter, Dwayne's been seen in BAFTA nominated Channel 5 series Race to the Pole, on BBC Springwatch, Countryfile, National Geographic and Disney+.
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