Written by Alec Gallagher, with subsequent edits
The formation of 2nd Edgware
The Reverend H A H Lea had become Rector of St Margaret’s church in 1925. In an article written for the 21st Anniversary of the Group in 1950, he described how he found his new situation:
‘When I was appointed Rector to the village parish of Edgware in December 1925 there was no uniformed movement of any kind, but a number of youths – rather rustic in outlook – had been drawn together by the keenness of Mr Rudolph Consterdine, the younger son of the Rector, who when leaving, had handed these lads over to Mr W J Freeman. They were a difficult crowd and yet from them emerged one missionary, Rev Arnold Herbert, who spent heroic years in the Arctic, and one who was to become a strong leader in the future Scout movement, Mr Ernest Soden. Who shall despise the day of small things?’
The new Rector could hardly not have been aware of the existence of the 1st Edgware Scout Group, or indeed of the 1st Edgware Guide Company which started in a hut behind the rectory and subsequently met in Truth Hall, so when he wrote that ‘there was no uniformed movement of any kind’, he was obviously speaking parochially (in both senses of the word). He continued:
‘In the spring of 1929 a resident stopped me in Edgwarebury Lane with the words, ‘I am not a church-goer myself, Rector, but I am a great believer in the work the Church can do among young lads and I wish my youngster had something like the Scout Movement here, where he could spend his time and keep out of mischief’. You may be sure I did not lose the opportunity to tell that father that ‘Go!’ was a poor effort beside ‘Come!’, or in other words, if he did not show a better example he could not wonder that his boy grew up without any restraining or helpful influence. He was only one of a large number. Nevertheless, he set me thinking – we ought to have a Scout Troop in Edgware! The crux was and always is – the leader. Now I have felt, rightly or wrongly, that I could interest boys in talks and hold their attention, but my greatest failing had been in getting down to understanding them and winning their friendship, which are very different things.
‘Thus it came as a gift from heaven above that I received soon after this a call from an unknown stranger, Mr A J Martin. I was immediately struck by a forceful yet quiet reasoning and persuasive personality and a fire hidden beneath that personality which glowed for youth.’
What Lea described as a gift from heaven was in fact the indirect result of some internal discord within the neighbouring Scout district of Hendon. As a member of the Naval Brigade, Alfred James Martin had been sent to Belgium in 1914, where he spent most of his time as a prisoner of war. He worked as a tailor, managing the Watford branch of N Berg. After the war he became Scoutmaster of the 5th Hendon (The Hiawathas), who at one stage, Arthur Pitcher recalled, held meetings around a lamppost! He had also been instrumental in bringing Scouting to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, in the form of the 1st Brockley Hill Troop, and was the Rover Leader there for some time. The cause of the friction which prompted Martin to decamp from Hendon was the rather elitist attitude of the 8th Hendon Troop, who hand-picked each member selected for their excellence in a particular area – swimming, sports etc. There was no place for boys of average abilities, and this offended Martin, who presumably believed that Scouting should be open to all. His strong sense of fairness, discipline and religious conviction clearly appealed to Lea, although in the latter case, this did not preclude him (Martin) from standing up to Lea when the interests of Group and church clashed. In the course of many interviews conducted in the preparation of this book, the recurring adjective used to describe Martin by those who remember him is ‘wonderful’.
His brother, Leslie Martin, was also a tailor as well as a District Scoutmaster. Leslie liked to visit different churches to discover their individual appeal. Thus, he was in the St Margaret’s congregation one Sunday to hear Reverend Lea’s appeal for a leader to head his proposed new Scout Troop. Leslie returned home, and over Sunday lunch informed his brother that a vacancy had arisen in Edgware for which he ought to apply. Whether Martin had by this time already given up his warrants in Hendon is not clear, but whatever, he seized the opportunity.
On Sunday 14 September 1929, at a special World Jamboree Thanksgiving service at St Margaret’s, Lea was able to announce to a congregation which included the 1st Edgware that he was about to start a new Troop, sponsored by the church, under the leadership of Martin. He reassured the 1st Edgware that he did not wish to draw from their ranks, and hoped a spirit of co-operation would ensue. The increased population of Edgware meant that there was no shortage of boys to fill two Troops – and subsequent years were to show that the area would be able to support many more than that.
The first meetings
The inaugural meeting of the new Scout Troop took place in Truth Hall on Wednesday 2 October, 1929. Present at that meeting were Martin (who from this point on was habitually referred to as ‘Chief’), Claude Fox (an adult recruit), Fred Wilson, Will Woodland, Jack Frazer, Dudley Costella, Norman Bradford, Fred Harrison and Ernie Soden. The Bulldog patrol’s logbook, written by Soden, describes the scene:
‘We must have looked rather a queer lot to Chief on that first night. He had us seated on half-a-dozen chairs straight across the room.’ Queer or not though, those first few founded a new Troop for better or for worse in the little old village of Edgware. I can only remember one phrase in Chief’s first talk: ‘Scouting is a game – and a way of living’.
A week later, at the first parade (weekly meeting) on Wednesday 9th October, the new recruits were working hard at the tenderfoot tests, with Ernie Soden and Norman Bradford as the leaders of the Bulldog and Lion patrols respectively. The Bulldogs consisted of Soden, Wilson, Woodland, Frazer and Costella, the Lions of Bradford and Harrison. The Bulldogs bagged the fireside for their patrol corner – without much opposition, one supposes, as Harrison’s absence that night left the Lions rather understaffed! Subscription was set at 1d (0.42p), and it was decided that the colour of the equipment should be khaki throughout and that a shirt should be worn.
One week later, the first new recruit not at the inaugural meeting, Bob Boulter, joined the Troop. The start time was fixed at 6.30pm and Claude Fox proposed that the Troop colours be Oxford Blue and Cambridge Blue, in halves.
Martin issued a short list of necessary items of equipment and uniform to the recruits. On Monday 21 October the two Patrol Leaders passed their tenderfoot tests. It was also reported that the Troop colours proposed by Fox were unobtainable and consequently ‘grey will be worn temporarily.’ Pale grey remained the Group’s scarf colour for the next three and a half years. Had the more elaborate blue scarves been available, it seems likely that the Group would still be wearing them today, and the black and red scarf would never have been donned. On such an inconsequential matter as the availability of material, a central part of the 2nd Edgware’s heritage hung.
The following day, Soden and Frazer obtained their uniforms, the first to do so. Soden’s brother was a Scout with the 1st Edgware, and a spare shirt was therefore available. (Soden himself had been a Cub with the 1st, and in 1929 was already 16). One day later Soden was invested into the Troop in the church vestry, and thus became the 2nd Edgware’s first Scout.
The start of the Cub Pack
Meanwhile, the Cub Pack was also underway. The Group Registration Form shows that the Cubmaster at the date of registration was Claude Fox, with Edith Moss, from the 1st Brockley Hill Troop, assisting. Unfortunately, there is little documentary evidence concerning the early days of the Pack. From Troop records, however, we can at least guess at some of the original Cubs. They include Syd (Sprat) Wilson, Charles Hynam, Joe Wade, Alan Snelgrove, and Hector Brooke. Arthur Pitcher recalled attending the first Pack meeting with his brother Ron, but was disappointed to be told at the end of the evening that he was too old for Cubs, and should apply to join the Scout Troop instead. So while Ron enjoyed another two and a half years in the Pack, Arthur found himself as one of the youngest members of the Troop. Sam Wade, who joined the Group as a Cub in 1930, remembered Pack meetings taking place before Troop meetings – as the Cubs trooped out, the Scouts trooped in, he recalls.
