Trip to England with English Trefoil Guild

Margaret Harding's experience from her England trip.

From the 19th July to 14th August I went on a very good tour with the English Trefoil Guild to celebrate the centennial of guiding. We traveled the length of Britain from the south to as far as Inverness visiting many historical Guiding places and other interesting places having nothing to do with Guiding. The tour was divided into four different weeks all following one another with different people each week. There were four of us who did the whole tour, Val from Australia, Carol from Canada, Betty from Stafford England and me from New Zealand.

As far as Guiding is concerned the major things of interested we did stared the very first day. We  all met at Baden Powell House in London the Scout headquarters there. We then went to Wimbledon Common and saw the windmill were Lord Baden Powell wrote Scouting for Boys. Then on to Crystal Place which would have been an extremely large building before being destroyed by fire. The Guides of England have build a maze in the Crystal Palace grounds with guiding symbols to find such as an oak leave, beaver and squirrel. The following day in with a tour of London we visited Guide Headquarters in Buckingham palace road, a tour of Westminster Abby were there is the memorial to Lord and Lady Baden Powell, and then on to Pax Lodge for a tour and afternoon tea. 

The next two nights were spent at Foxlease, where, Val the Australian I shared a room with that week had Lord Baden Powell’s room but we did not sleep out on the balcony as he used to. The whole of the following day which was I think the highlight of the whole tour for me was spent a Brownsea Island.

We were taken on a tour of the places of interest to Scouts and Guides by a Scout Leader were we visited the sight of the experiential camp which was the star of the Scout movement. The only thing the red squirrels did not oblige us and come out one of the few places they are left in Britain. At Poole which is one of the places boats leave for the island is a lovely statue of lord Baden Powell by the waterfront.

The second week we stayed two nights in Broneirion which is the Welsh guiding centre. When in the dining room there you are told to look for mice.
A wonderful thing for Brownies

on Pack holiday. On all except one form we found the mice. They are carved into the legs of the tables and chair. The famous carpenter who made them was told he would never make a living with his work and be as poor as a church mouse, hence the mice. Some of his work is in stately homes in Britain along with the mice.

The third week we visited Waddow for afternoon tea and a tour of the house, a Girlguiding centre in the north of England. The same day and not far from Waddow we went to Waddecar were an excellent museum has been set up by one man on the history of Scouting and Guiding well worth a visit if in the area. A few days later we went to Harwood House were the centennial camp was being held in the grounds. We were giving morning tea at the camp followed by a short tour of the camp and met the chief Guide. The day before they had had fusion day where Rainbows, Brownies Guides had come from all over the country. On our way to York we met bus number 260 something!

The first day of the last week we went to Peebles at Castle Venlaw Hotel where the first Scottish Guide company was set up here we were given morning tea and a talk by two archivists for the area.

The last two nights of the tour we stayed at Netherurd the Scottish Guiding centre about an hour out of Edinburgh. That last day we visited the Dalmeny House the home of Lady Rosemary who had been chief commissioner for Scotland. We were then given a lovely tea by a local Guide group in a church hall before going to the Edinburgh Tattoo. On return to Netherurd at 12.30am we were given tea coffee and sandwiches.

In many of the places we went we met by the local Trefoil Guilds and often given mementos to take with us. We also spent time looking out for centennial gardens which were all over the country organized by local Trefoil groups and done by them or the local councils paid for by the Trefoil. In one place we saw the Brownies had done the garden.

I will have live long memories of places been to and never dreamt I would see and livelong Guiding friendships.