Hooking up the scouts (From Surrey Comet)

Hooking up the scouts

10:33am Thursday 19th July 2007

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2nd Hook was formed in 1963 at the instigation of the vicar of St Paul's Church who had identified a need for a second scout group in the area to complement the already well-established 1st Hook.

The person chosen to create the group was Reg Cooper, a scout leader with 1st Hook and station sergeant at Surbiton police station.

Rumour has it that on taking up the role, he lined up his constables at the station and announced to them that they would be assisting him in setting up the new group - there were indeed five policemen on the register as leaders by the time the group first began meeting.

Headquarters for 2nd Hook was finally established in the old library premises at the rear of Hartfield Road in 1964.

It is one of only three groups in the district to boast its own scout band, which was formed towards the end of 1965.

With numbers flourishing, and a separate troop for disabled boys established that year, it quickly became clear that the building in Hartfield Road was not large enough and alternative premises were considered.

Negotiations between Reg Cooper and Kingston Council for a site behind St Paul's parish hall began and were finalised at the end of 1967. Work on the building began the following year with a team of willing volunteers and the new headquarters were finally opened on July 14, 1971, by the County Commissioner Eric Walden.

Reg Cooper eventually hung up his scouting boots in 1980 but was later appointed president and maintained a keen interest in 2nd Hook until his death in 1999.

Under the new chairmanship of Stan Lacey, the headquarters were refurbished and reopened in 1994.

Now, 44 years after its creation, there are now two beaver colonies (Evergreen and Redwood), a cub pack (Hawk) and a scout troop.

A second cub pack is being considered, although a lack of available leaders is one obstacle that current group scout leader Alan Cooke is struggling to overcome.

Memories

Chris Kemp, 75, joined 2nd Hook as an assistant cub scout leader in September 1965, under the command of group leader Tom Rapley.

He said: "I had always been involved in scouting in Tolworth and then Molesey, and when my wife and I moved back to Chessington, Reg Cooper got to hear of it and turned up on my doorstep asking me to help with 2nd Hook. My oldest son was coming up to eight years old so we got involved.

"We used to go to camp once a year and our favourite camp was Bentley Copse.

"I remember the dreadful swimming pool there which was always cold and a bit green, and I had to fish a couple of dead squirrels out of it each time before the scouts could go in it.

"My wife wasn't as keen a camper as I, and when we went on camp with the group, she used to stay in the hut at the camp site with some of the other ladies. The problem was that the hut was overrun with mice, and we never knew who was more scared - the ladies or the mice!

At our weekly meetings with the cubs, Tom Rapley, a policeman, was a methodical chap. We had a firm programme to follow, and began with vigorous games to tire out the scouts, such as British Bulldogs.

"Then we did badgework, and concentrated on far more old-fashioned things than today, like knots and first aid. We taught the cubs things that you just can't teach children today, like how to use a primus stove."

Next week: Berrylands and a look ahead at Kingston District's centenary celebrations in August.

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