History

The Sandstone Scout Group traces its origins back to 1928 when the 1st Tattenhall Scout Group was registered with 13 Scouts and 14 Cubs.

The ‘Bickerton Boy Scouts’ was formed on 22 January 1951 when a few small boys gathered around the kitchen table in Bickerton Vicarage at the Vicar’s invitation. The ‘Bickerton Wolf Cubs’ was thus formed under the leadership of Mrs Edwards, the wife of the Vicar. They were invited to meet at the Vicarage next to Bickerton Church, and later at the Bickerton Institute.

On 10 July 1951 the 24th South West Cheshire Scout Group was registered by the Boy Scouts Association with Winifred Marion Collier of Bank House, Bickerton as the Cubmaster. It had one Leader and 8 Cubs.

They were joined on 6 November 1951 by a Scout Troop which met initially in the ‘Scout Den’ (a stone former stable in the Vicarage garden) and then, from 1955, at the Bickerton Institute.

In November 1955 an ex army hut in Beeston was purchased for £75 on condition that it was moved by 31 December! The work was completed entirely by volunteers and by 15 July 1956 the shell was standing on Goldford Lane, Bickerton. It was officially opened on 19 October 1957. The Rev EJ Mitchell of Brown Knowl Methodist Chapel led an Act of Prayer and Dedication.

Bickerton Scouts and Cubs in the new Scout Hut in about 1957

By this time the Scout Troop was led by Leslie Whittingham, a former “willing parent”, grandson of the Head Teacher of Bickerton School and son of one of the original Trustees, and Sid Hall, a former Bickerton Scout. They were shortly to be joined by Ken Hall and Robert Proctor, also a former Bickerton Scout and one of the boys who first met in the Vicarage kitchen in 1951.

Also in 1957 the 1st Tattenhall Scout Group was reformed (it had become dormant, possibly because of the war). It became dormant again in 1970 and was reformed in 1977 under the sponsorship of St Albans Church, Tattenhall.

In 2005 the Bickerton Scout Group merged with the Tattenhall Scout Group to form the 1st Sandstone Scout Group with a Scout Troop and a Cub Pack and about 50 members

Since then the Group has grown and now has a Scout Troop, 2 Cub Packs, 2 Beaver Colonies and an affiliated Explorer Scout Unit with over 160 young members and 30 adult Leaders.

1st Sandstone Scout Group in Forest Camp, Sandiway, for their Group Camp in 2015

1st Sandstone Scout Group in Forest Camp, Sandiway, for their Group Camp in 2015

(Compiled from information supplied by Sid Hall and Robert Proctor)

HELP: if you can provide any information on the history of the Bickerton or Tattenhall Scouts please contact us.