3rd Salisbury Sea Scout Group History
The 3rd Salisbury is one of the oldest Scout groups in the area with a long history and in February 2020 we were pleased to celebrate the groups 110th birthday.
We are very proud to be one of the oldest Scout groups in the area having first met in 1910 and been at the forefront of many innovations in scouting from camping to opening a Beaver section. Over the years we have taken part in numerous district competitions from sailing to chess and raft racing to swimming and are pleased to have won many trophies. Here is a moderate account of what happened in years gone by:
| 1910 | 3rd Salisbury Scout Group first met in Crane Street We were initially called the 3rdSarum or Salisbury St Thomas Troop. |
| 5th March 1915 | Wolf Cubs started on with 11 boys. |
| 1928 | We had been to Camp for 12 consecutive years now; so the 3rd could be considered as ‘Pioneers’ as few packs camped before 1918. |
| 1937 | Lord Radnor granted the Scout Association use of the Great Yews. |
| 1944 | The pack was forced to close for 18 months until restarted in 1946. |
| Late 1040s | We moved into a wooden building in a field off Donaldson Road above the railway line. |
| 1950 | We opened a senior troop. |
| 1955 | Senior Scout Douglas Chapman represented the Troop in Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation Parade. |
| 1960 | The pack was split into two sections; one meeting at the Tunnel Hut and the other on Bishopdown Estate. |
| 1960 Continued | ‘Sea Scouting’ was introduced into the Troop and Sailing was started at Blashford. |
| 1962 | Plans to build the Inner Ring road, forced the Group to vacate their premises at Donaldson Road, and meet in different halls around the town. The 3rd were offered the use of a Scout site in St Mark’s Avenue. |
| 1970 | Our group moved to a newly built Wooden Hut in St Marks Avenue and this is still our Scout HQ today. |
| 1977 | Mrs Jill Offer took over as Cub leader and was joined later by Mrs Wendy Rusbridge as her assistant. Both leaders retired, after 32 years, in 2009. |
| 1981 | Girls were allowed to join Venture Scouts and the first girls were introduced into the Group. |
| 1982 | The Cubs from the group went on the very first District Trip to London, which was the start of their bi-annual trips to London. |
| February 1983 | The Beaver colony for 6 to 8 years olds was started in the Group by Sarah Bennett and we have been having fun on a Tuesday evening ever since. |
| 1989 | Some of our scouts at camp were involved in rescuing a man in difficulties after swimming in the river. In 1990 this action was rewarded when the Group received the Chief Scout’s Commendation for Merit-or-ious Conduct. |
| April 1994 | The Pack took on their biggest cleaning challenge for ‘Scout Job Week’ by washing the trains at Salisbury’s train depot. |
| The Winter of 1997 | Scouts started helping with the Scout Postal service and taking over a small round |
| 2007 | The Scout Centenary, celebrating 100 years of scouting. |
| 2010 | 3rd Salisbury celebrated their own centenary and we won district cub swimming gala |