17th Lancaster Rovers 1936
From the “History of St. Joseph’s Parish” – 1996
“The first mention of a Scout Group at St. Joseph’s is in a bulletin in May 1931.” (However, see this newspaper article dated 8 Jan 1920).
Pictured above are Jack Fryers, Eddie Parkinson, John Harrison, Sam Helme, Mick Moor, Jim Madden & John Rutlidge. The Scoutmaster was reportedly Tommy Angus.
“The Beavers, begun in 1987 (now registered as the 35th Lancaster) by Sandra Griffiths, assisted by Yvonne Mack, care for the young children aged from six to eight. They meet every Wednesday now under the care of Dorothy Ryan and Diane Earnshaw, helped by her daughter Rachael.”
Author’s note:
The 35th Lancaster (St Joseph’s) Group, registration number 37418, was registered at Scout Headquarters on Jul 12 1965 by Douglas Marsden, meeting at St Joseph’s School, Lancaster.
“The Cubs, dealing with the eight to nearly eleven year olds, also meet on Wednesday evenings. There are records of this section as far back as 1965 and probably much earlier. Over the years, the leaders and assistant leaders included Veronica Thompson, Claire Prickett, Michael O’Neill, Tom Dixon, Jim Collins, Kieron Ryan, Bob Lochrie, Chris Harrison and Katrina Harrison. The current leaders are Jean Goodwin and Stewart Clark.
The Scout group lapsed for some time in the 70’s, but in 1986, it was resurrected by the present Group Patrol (sic) Leader, Brian Bissett, assisted by Tony Dixon. The current leaders are Keiron Ryan and Martin Grime, helped by Steve Burgess, Jim Bond and Michael Collins. They meet every Friday night.
This year saw the formation of a new Venture Scout Unit, catering for people between sixteen and twenty one years of age. The group includes Sea Scouts and members of St Chad’s and St Joseph’s Groups. Mrs Lesley Mason is in charge, helped by an executive committee of David Grime (Chairman), Steve Jackson (Treasurer) and Joanne Lancaster (Secretary). One member, Andrew Dixon, who progressed from Cubs to Scouts and Later Venture Scout in the Morecambe Group, has been presented with the Queen’s Scout Award – a wonderful achievement.
All grades of the Scouts now include both boys and girls. Many parishioners outside the group have been supportive over the years. Ken Watson lends his van for carting equipment to camps and Lynden Orris and Charlie Physick drive it. Many others help in various ways, assisting the members in their ambitions to become, not only proficient Scouts, but useful members of society.”
