About us
A brief history of the Group
The 107th is an amalgamation of the 144th Bristol (1st Whitchurch) operating since 1946 in the hall adjacent to St. Nicholas Church, Church Road, Whitchurch and the 23rd Bristol (2nd Whitchurch) Scout Groups.
March 1957 saw the commencement of the 23rd in their temporary headquarters at the Hengrove Athletic Club (then in Ridgeway Lane, Whitchurch) whilst they built their new H.Q. in Maggs Lane on land leased from The Bathavon Rural District Council. The lease commenced on 24 June 1958. The land was eventually purchased by the 107th Group in February 1982.
Work must have been nearly complete in October 1960 when the (then) Chief Scout, Sir Charles MacLean opened the hut in Maggs Lane during a tour of Bristol.
The group files show that in January 1961 the main building was considered complete at a cost of £1,575 and that a further £450 was needed to complete the work.
September 1966 saw the amalgamation of the 1st and 2nd Whitchurch Scout Groups (144th and 23rd respectively) and this ‘new’ group became the 107th Bristol (Whitchurch) meeting in the Maggs Lane HQ.
The present neckerchief colours for 107th, green with a white border are a combination of the colours from the original groups. The green from the 144th and the white from the 23rd, whose other colour, was black.
The title of our present newsletters, ‘The Magpie’ recognises the original 23rd magazine name taken from their neckerchief colours, black and white.
The 1st Whitchurch Cubs became the ‘A’ pack (Wednesday Cubs) and the 2nd Whitchurch Cubs, the ‘B’ pack (Tuesday, later Monday Cubs).
This ‘B’ pack eventually closed, due to lack of leaders in Oct’ 1987. 107th Cubs continue on Wednesdays.
The Scouts from the 144th and the 23rd combined to form a new troop meeting on a Friday. This Friday troop closed, again due to a lack of leaders in Oct’ 1988. Thursday (later Tuesday) Scout Troop was formed in September 1977 and continues, now meeting on Mondays.
June 1992 saw the start of a Beaver Colony (which continues, meeting every Tuesday) and during April 1993 ‘Yeoman’ Venture Scouts, a mixed unit joined the 107th Group. They were formed in 1986, originally as a District Unit and eventually merged with a District Explorer Unit ‘Super Nova’
At the end of 1993 additional adjacent land was purchased and became our ‘second field’. A fence was erected, a hedge planted and a small parking area created.
A planned refurbishment of the H.Q. building started in the summer of 1998 and continues.
October 2000 saw the enrolment of girls into the Troop, Pack and Colony for the first time.
In 2006 (forty year anniversary of 107th) a ‘back badge’ worn at the base of the neckerchief was introduced for all members. The design included a Magpie from the original 23rd neckerchief colours of black and white.
We currently operate with a dedicated team of Adult Volunteers running enriching and exciting programmes for the young people.
