Following the news that the County boundaries were to change in 1965 and with the creation of Greater London North County Scouts, arrangements were made for 5 North London Groups in the Friern Barnet area to join Finchley. In order for them to retain some of their own identity and common link they were renamed as the 1st – 5th Friern Barnet. With the 199th North London being the third oldest of the five Groups they became the 3rd Friern Barnet within the renamed District, Finchley and Friern Barnet. 

The Group was founded by the Rev. B Thackeray in 1935 and was sponsored by St James and St John: St James being the Parish Church in Friern Barnet Lane and St John being a Chapel of Ease in Friern Barnet Road.  The Group met in an old hut that had previously been located at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, on a plot of land in Goldsmith Road, at the junction with Stanford Road. Use of the hut was shared with the Guides and it was also occasionally used by the church.

Although this article deals primarily with the Group after it became the 3rd FB we have uncovered a number of pieces of information and a handful of press articles that relate to its time as the 199th NL.

One of the longest serving members of the Group was Melita Archer who was in charge of the Cubs for 35 years. Having been evacuated to her native Scotland during the war she started to help with a local Cub Pack and, upon her return to Friern Barnet, in 1940, she joined the 199th NL.

The next references we have found are some press cuttings from 1950 and 1951. First there is reference to a night hike in February 1950 across the Hertfordshire countryside and then an article in March referring to the Group’s annual church service at St James’. 

In August there is a tiny piece that simply says “Senior Scouts of the 199th North London Group left on Saturday for their annual camp. It is being held at Bantry, in Southern Eire”. Unfortunately there is no follow up story.

During February 1951 the Group held a reunion dinner to which 35 old boys attended. A press cutting confirms that Hugh Dare was the Scout Master at that time.

In August, Haden Blatch and David Coombes, as King’s Scouts, were selected to form part of a London contingent to attend the World Scout Jamboree in Austria. A substantial article appeared in the local press that gave an account of their adventure. The following January Haden was fortunate to attend a special ceremony at Edinburgh Castle where he was officially presented with his King’s Scout certificate by Lord Rowallan, the Chief Scout.

Information about the remainder of the 1950s is a little thin although it is known that the Scout Masters included Eric Baker, Gordon Low, Michael Dilly, Don Snowden and Cyril Derbyshire who was in charge when the Group merged with Finchley.

Regular Troop and Patrol camps took place. There is reference to a summer camp at Aberbeeg in South Wales (1959), where Reg Lewis, the Group Scout Master (GSM) had originally lived, and where his brother was the local District Commissioner.

There is also hardly any information about the Cub Pack although it is known that the they had an annual outing to London Zoo and the Sixers always attended the District’s annual Sixers’ Camp at Scout Park in Bounds Green. They also had a football team and entered the District competition.

During 1960 the Scout Association held the 1st National Scout Cooking Competition at Gilwell Park which some of the Scouts entered. No one from the 199th won an award but those deemed to have reached a satisfactory standard were presented with certificates.

In 1961 Laurie Derbyshire, the younger brother of Cyril, joined the cast of the London Gang Show and in fact, continued in the cast until the final show in 1974.

The Group though, as a whole, also enjoyed putting on a show, and had, over a period of roughly ten years, produced one with the Guides called ‘Evening Stars’. However, in the early 60s the Group decided to change the format and do their own version along the same format as the London Gang Show. Laurie managed to recruit Don Ray from the London show as the producer of the show they called ‘Take it Easy’. Cyril played the piano, as he had previously done for the joint shows with the Guides.

Another annual event was the Christmas meal for the parents of the Scouts and Guides. It was usually organised by the parents’ committee and held in the hut. 

It is understood that the Senior Scouts were also very active and in 1963 a party of 6 plus their leader John Jennings spent two weeks camping in Scotland. They stayed at Auchengillan, the Glasgow City Scout Campsite. They travelled by the scheduled bus service to Glasgow, with all their gear packed into rucksacks, and then by a local bus to the site.

In August of that year, with the support of Cyril Derbyshire and the Group Committee, Paul Thompson, the Troop Leader, was selected to represent his District (Wood Green, Southgate & Friern Barnet) at the 11th World Scout Jamboree that was held in Marathon, Greece. Whilst there he was lucky enough to meet the Chief Scout, Sir Charles McLean.

It is thought that around this time Reg Lewis resigned as the GSM and the position was vacant until shortly before the merge with Finchley District, when the church curate Derek Carpenter took over.

Shortly after the Group became the 3rd Friern Barnet three Scouts gained their Queen’s Scout Badge: Ivor Newman, Alan Palmer and Barry Naylor. For Barry it was a family double as his brother Russ had also gained the badge a year earlier.

These were not the only awards made in 1964, Russ Naylor gained the Duke of Edinburgh Award (Gold) and it was announced that Melita Archer had been awarded the Medal of Merit for her outstanding service and it would be presented the following February after a special church service marking the Group’s 30th anniversary.

At the end of July some of the Senior Scouts went to Austria and although there is a photograph from that expedition nothing else is known.

On the 21st February 1965 the aforementioned 30th anniversary church service took place followed by a reunion social during which Melita received her medal. The Group’s new flag, with the name 3rd Friern Barnet replacing 199th North London, was also dedicated during the service by the Rev. B Thackeray, the founder of the Group.

At the District Cross Country in March the Scouts won the Pulham Shield while the Senior Scouts finished 3rd and in the race for those over 17 ½ they finished 2nd. 

At the end of March, the first census since the Group’s change of name revealed that there were 12 Cubs, 22 Scouts, 7 Senior Scouts and 7 Rovers.

There are only two other pieces of information that relate to 1965, the first being that Peter Hagger became an Assistant Cub Master, having been an instructor for 2 years and secondly that it was about this time that the Group considered building a new hut to replace the old one they had used since their formation.

More to follow.

Gallery

Click here to view associated press cuttings and photographs.

Note: There are also a number of old photographs relating to the 199th North London that can be found on the web site run by the Friern Barnet & District Local History Society. Unfortunately we have not been able to obtain the appropriate permission to add them to our pages.