The 11th Stirlingshire, now the 11th Bridge of Allan, started in the winter of 1909, only 2 years after Baden Powell initiated the movement with its first camp on Brownsea Island in August 2007. By 1914 Stirlingshire had 450 scouts across 16 troops as seen below for a gathering on Bannockburn Day of that year.
Cub Scouts (or Wolf Cubs as then known) began in 1916, although we don't know when they were started in Bridge of Allan. Soon after in 1920, Rover Scouts for older boys began - they became Venture scouts in 1967 and as of 2003 Explorer Scouts. Beaver Scouts began in Canada in 1973 (explains the choice of animal!), but didn't get going in the UK until 1986. Thus 2016 is the 30 year anniversary of Beavers and the Centenary Anniversary of Cubs in the UK!
1924 saw the 44th Stirlingshire start at Hurst Grange School (or Beaconhurst as it is now known) - and, perhaps not co-incidently, in that year thirteen boys from Bridge of Allan went to the Imperial Jamboree at Wembley joining 10,000 others from the UK and 1000 invited from 25 countries in the Commonwealth. They performed a Highland Dancing exhibition for which they won an award.
Scouting in Bridge of Allan has seen a few periods of abeyance - the two great wars of course resulted in a ramp down of operations, and in 1974 the Scout Troop disbanded leaving only Cubs to run. At some point both Scouts and then Beavers restarted and by 2009 when the Group celebrated it's own Centenary, it was flourishing and growing in numbers with Scout, Cub and Beaver Sections and a healthy pool of Explorer Scout Young Leaders. In 2014 we doubled the Beaver and Cub sections capacity and for the first time in a decade we hope to accomodate all the potential eager Beavers on the waiting list.
We'd like to say thanks to all of leaders, past and present, who have created many fond memories for the kids of Bridge of Allan over many generations now:
(If you could shed some light on other leaders who have been a part of this history please let us know!)
1950s/60s
| Date / Decade | Section Leaders |
Assistant Leaders/Young Leaders |
| 1909 |  |
|
| 1920 ? | ||
| 1950's/60's/70's |
Willie 'Skip' Graham Alasdair Sherman |
(Credit: Jeff Paterson)
|
| 1980's/90s |
Douglas Harper (GSL) Murray Airth (SL) Bill Shaw (CSL) |
|
| 1990's |
Colin Smith & John Petrie (SLs) Richard Carter (GSL) Colin Robertson (SL) Gloria Carter (BSL) Craig Mair (CSL) |
Ian Carter Roy Sexton
|
| 2000's |
Iain Robertson (GSL) Mandy Ross (BSL) Claire Wood (SL) Kevin Brosnan (CSL) |
Susan Brosnan, Jim and Claire Cowie, Debbie McClusky, Scott Macfarlane, William Purdie, Lynne Russell, Greig Lowery, James Cowie Alan Fuller, Louise Wood, Nigel Roberts, Alex Ashton, Michael McCann, Jenny Macfarlane, Simon Metcalfe, Maria Rooney (YLs) James Parker, Peter Blackwood, Simon, Guy and Kayleigh Wells, Keiran Ferguson
|
| November 2009 | 11th BoA Centenary Year |  |
|
2010's - present |
Iain Robertson (GSL) Lynne Russell (SL) Eve Kidd (BSL) Viv Hanson (BSL, CSL) Jo Cookson (BSL, CSL) Pauline Drummond (BSL) |
Sara Brockbank, Richard Ackroyd, Drew Robertson, Cuit Mota, Zac Allen Brian Cooke, Gwen Wells, David Eastwood, Forbes McKay, Mandy Cooper, Susanne Beaton, Thomas Anker, Ewan McQueen, Jane Corbett Douglas Wood, Richard Cuthill, Nicola Watts, Caroline Carmichael, Gabriella Farquar, Neil Douglas, Gary Thomas (YLs) Blythe Walker, Murray Benson, Thomas Kane, Ross Notman, Craig&Ciar McKenna, Euan Rennie, Zander Westland, Ruaridh McEwan, Tomoki Hayashi
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Apologies to anyone who we've missed - please help us complete the list by getting in touch here!