How we started: Although the current group was only founded in 1968 the group name is much older. The 1st Sandhurst (St. Michael's) was founded in 1926, membership being open only to those connected to St. Michael's Church. Later the 2nd Sandhurst (College Town and St. Mary's) was founded, again with restricted membership. When the leader of the 1st Sandhurst (a Mr Payne) died the group was closed down and the boys transferred to 2nd Sandhurst and membership became open to all.

In the mid-60's the move the TRRL to Crowthorne brought a number of active scouters to the area. One of these, Bill Oliver, initially became involved with 2nd Sandhurst. It became apparent that there was a need for further development of Scouting facilities in the area and so with the agreement of all concerned Bill set up a new group taking over the old 1st Sandhurst title. The first Group Chairman was Ron Hardman and the first Group Secretary his wife.

The new group first met in the social club in Wellington Road (not the Methodist Hall as has been printed elsewhere). The first meeting was on 29th September 1968 and there were then 31 cub scouts.

A Site for a Hut: With help from various local "worthies" - including Kitty Dancer of "History of Sandhurst" fame - the group was given the choice of two sites for its HQ - the one we use today or an area off Edgebarrow Rise. The group obtained a 21 year lease on the site from April 1970 at a nominal rent, but unfortunately for us the land was owned by Bracknell Forest Borough Council not Sandhurst Town Council. This meant a very substantial increase in rent in the new lease (dated April 1991) and a very short term of only 7 years.

Obtaining the hut itself was not without incident. The original building which the group intended to use was pruchased (cheaply) from a firm called International Janitors in Camberley which had gone bankrupt. It had been their social club. However, as a result of confusion with the receivers by the time the group was able to collect the hut it had been demolished! The useful bits of wall that remained were used to make our kitchen/toilet area.

A new hut was then purchased with the help of a loan from the Borough Council and erected by "parent labour" during 1970. There is a newsclipping from the Bracknell News dated 20th August 1970 showing the hut in pristine condition before weather and vandals got at it!

Group Scarf: This was originally yellow. However, the yellow scarf apparently wore very badly and was changed to the current green/white around 1972. Green and white was chosen because it had been worn by Bill Oliver when he was a Wolf Cub with the 191st St. Mary's Group in Bristol many years earlier.

Camps: The first camp took place at a site near Ascot. It apparently involved the boys in walking to the camp site, pushing a trek cart with all their tents and gear! As is the way of such things, the journey took rather longer than expected and the tents had to be put up in the dark. Other early camps were held at Walesby Forest (in Nottinghamshire), Broadstone Warren and Salcombe Regis. Transport to these involved the ubiquitous Collins Road Services lorry. Everything went into the back - including the boys - and away it went. More recent Scout camps have involved using sites with no facilities - dig your own latrines and the only running water an ice cold stream - and canoeing down the Thames. Skip (then Tony Brown) travelled in the support boat! Cub Scout camps have, in recent years, involved over fifty boys. Digging latrines has not been on their activities!

People: Not only did Bill Oliver play a major role in starting our group, he also contributed much to Scouting in the area generally. Bill was awarded the Medal of Merit in 1977 for his services to Scouting. He finally retired from the Group in May 1982 and went to live near Bristol. Others who were involved in the early days are named in the list of warrants issued - they include Maurice Clark and John Housden.

Chief Scouts Awards and Challenges: We do not have a complete list of those Scouts who gained their Chief Scouts Awards or Challenges with the group, but those which we do have are as follows and there must be more. If you know of any, please let us know.

This brief history was compiled by Chris Harris in 1993.