A Potted history of our Group
Following the reunion of former members the history of the 4th RE is a little clearer however, records remain unclear as to exactly when the group was formed.
The 4th strangely enough may have been the first scout troop in Eltham. It was formed by W. J. Munro about 18 months after BP had the notion to take a bunch of boys camping and teach them the skills of an army scout. They met in a large garden shed briefly before moving to the Gordon school in Eltham and took the name Gordon Rangers (after the great General).
At that time the South London Scout Association was drawn up in Parliamentary Boundaries and the meeting place was deemed to be in Greenwich and was identified as the 12th Greenwich. BP, recognising that he had started something, brought into being the Scout Association . However, as the Scout Association developed new boundaries were drawn up in 1911and in 1912 the group was reclassified as the 4th Royal Eltham (Gordon Rangers).
Mr Munroe continued as Scout Master of the rapidly growing troop. In 1916 the troop were invited to use the hall of St. Luke’s Methodist Church in Westmount Road as their head quarters. The group grew with the addition of a Wolf Cub Pack under the leadership of Mrs Jupp. During the 30’s Edward (Ted ) Cowdry joined the 4th and became Group Scout Master until 1939 when the group was suspended because of the war. Hitler claimed the meeting place and probably most of the boys.
It was not until 1954 that George King (a local policeman) and John Efferden (Effy) got together with some friends to reform the group at Ruxley Manor School. For a few years the 17th met at St Albans Church but amalgamated with the 4th in 1959. The group remained at Ruxley Manor (the Troop met at St Albans Church for a few years in the 70’s, leaving the Cubs at the school and a second Cub Pack at Greenacres school) until 19th July 2001 when local politicians thought it would be a good idea to close the school.
So now reverting to our nomadic past we moved once more, this time to the Community Centre in William Barefoot Drive. The group took the challenge of the District Commissioner and started a beaver colony in October 2017 with 7 children at the first meeting.
