The Madron Scout Group was formed in 1911 by Captain Venning (Later to become Major Venning) and our first Headquarters was in a barn belonging to Mr Richards of �The Reens�, Heamoor. They soon moved to a room in Landithy Hall, Madron. Mrs Robin Bolitho made this available to them and they met there one night a week.
In 1912 Scouts from 1st Madron attended the first World Jamboree at Windsor Park, King George VI was also in attendance. Captain Venning was called away for service during World War 1 and his wife and the Patrol Leaders held the fort back in Penzance. On return, Capt. Venning set up a new HQ for the Troop in his own house at Boscovean, Heamoor.
1919 saw the Troop on the move again, this time its new home was in a loft over an old coal house at Poltair Terrace, Heamoor. Col. Harvey of Penzance opened this new HQ. Quite a long stay there, comparatively, in December 1923 1st Madron was to move to the old infants school. The rent for this place was �22=10=0 per year payable to Cornwall County Council.
At last, the group were to have their very own, purpose built headquarters in Heamoor. In 1929 Scouts and Parents were to raise enough funds to be able to build their own hall. Col. E H W Bolitho donated an area of land and stated that if a hall were to be built out of concrete he would donate a further �15 to start it off. So with that members and friends of the Group started digging the foundations and started making the blocks to build the Scout Hall. With a lot of fundraising, hard work and dedication they had built their very own hall. It stood behind Rosparvah Gardens, where the Heamoor Rifle Range is now situated.
Miss Thomas and Miss Burstow formed a Cub Pack in 1930. 1932 saw Capt. Venning take on the job of Group Scout Master and receive a �Medal Of Merit� for services to Scouting.
Then came World War 2 and with it came the destruction of the Scout Hall. A stray bomb hit it square on in July 1941. There were only a few things salvageable from the debris; among them were the Troop Colours and the first Volume of the Madron Troop Log Book, which we still have to this day.
1st Madron Scout Group were a resilient bunch and after several more years of fundraising the building of another new hall was underway. This time it was to be built on land donated by the then, Major Venning. By 1948 it was built and in December of that year it was opened, once again, by Col. E H W Bolitho.
Meanwhile, down in Penzance, A young man called John Henry Ruhrmund, Harry to all that knew him, with another young man, Doug Stone were running 1st Penzance Troop. They met at the seaman�s mission behind St Anthony�s Gardens near the Jubilee Pool.
Then in 1958 Major Venning died. 1960 saw a local lad, a now renowned face, Desmond Hosken receive his Queens Scout Award. CC Air Vice-Marshal R. L. Ragg CB, CBE, AFC, presented this.
In 1962 1st Penzance Troop got a new Scout Leader, this was a Mr Joe Vivian. He was later to become County Commissioner for Cornwall Scout Council.
In 1968 Doug Stone took over from Joe and continued to run a successful Group. When the Seaman�s Mission shut, it left the Group with difficulty in finding another venue in which to meet each week. They went from pillar to post and back again. Then in August 1969 1st Penzance amalgamated with 1st Madron, this was instigated largely by Harry Ruhrmund who was District Commissioner at the time. I don�t know whether this was solely due to the problem of having a meeting place or if there were other reasons but the fact is they joined and we haven�t looked back since.
In 1976 Harry Ruhrmund was awarded the �Silver Wolf� which is the unrestricted gift of the Chief Scout for service of a most exceptional nature. This is the highest award that can be given. Two years later Harry played a leading role in creating an international link with Denmark. After leading the World Jamboree (Cornish) contingent to �Nordjamb� in 1975 he made friends with a man called Karl Christian Thiessen and between them they dreamed up the idea of a joint camp every 3 years, alternating between Cornwall and Denmark. Although both men have now gone to a higher service, their memories live on in the �Cornish Danish Exchange�.
More awards for 1979. This time it was Doug Stone�s turn, he was presented with the �Silver Acorn� awarded for specially distinguished service and then some years later he added a bar to the award for further distinguished service. One of Penzance / Madron�s finest moments came in 1983 when their former Scout Leader, for some 20 years, was asked to travel to Buckingham Palace. Harry was now, Harry Ruhrmund M.B.E.
Doug Stone had found a new helper and from acting as his assistant for several years Rob Murdoch took the reins in 1983. He continued as Scout Leader for about 5 years and from there he became Assistant Scout Leader and finally District Treasurer. He has just had to give up this position due to other commitments such as being very busy in the role of President for �The Round Table�.
1986 was the Groups 75th Anniversary and we celebrated with a party. We had a cake made and professionally decorated for the occasion by Mary Maddern (Tasha�s mum, then a committee member) and also a wooden plaque was carved to mark the date, this now hangs in pride of place.
Keith Strick took over from Rob and continued to take PZ/Madron forward until 1994 when two new faces came along. These were Natasha Maddern and Jeremy Rowe. Natasha had served with the District Venture Scout Unit until she reached the grand age of 20. Jeremy was Assistant Venture Scout Leader and when Keith and Rob made it known that they wanted to finish, Tasha and Jer took over. Tasha was Scout Leader for the first 2 years but Jer soon found he was more capable and had more time on his hands to put into the job so the decision to swap roles was made.
Recently we have had the benefit of Lottery funding, this has enabled us to repair our roof, by new camping equipment and upgrade our old electric fires to a gas central heating system. Thanks must go to Tony Richards (X-GSL) for a lot of paper work and some extremely long phone calls.
The year 2001 saw our 90th Anniversary of Scouting in the Madron Parish and to celebrate this we decided to have a competition to design a badge that we could wear for the year. The winning entry was picked by Jacky Aitken, (Former Mayor of Penzance) and the idea came from a Cub Scout, James Howlett, he has since moved up to the Troop to continue his development mentally, physically and spiritually.
2002 saw lots of changes to our movement, a new Uniform and the implementation of a brand new Programme for Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, also the introduction of 2 new Sections, Explorer Scouts and the Scout Network. The only problem with this introduction was; where do we find the Leaders to manage them? Well Jeremy and Natasha took on the role of District Explorer Scout Leaders and PZ/Madron were lucky enough to be able to recruit 5 new young Scout Leaders. They are Sean Jenkin, Daniel Brace, Maria Pryor, Rachel Godfrey and Rachel Murley. With help, these new, young, fresh Leaders will continue in their predecessor�s footsteps for a long time to come.
We now look forward to a brand new century of Scouting with, no doubt, more changes ahead. We have just held the 30th �CDE� camp, (Cornish Danish Exchange) in July/August 2005 and had agreat time with friends old and new. We of course invited them back and so continue this great Exchange Camp.
Natasha has now decided to leave Scouting (To maybe come back at a later date) and Jeremy has been made D.C. of Penwith and Isle Of Scilly Scout District. At present he carries out the roles of; ASL, GSL, ESL, DESC, DC, and Training Advisor, and to top it all, has just been asked to lead the Cornish Contingent to the 21st World Scout Jamboree. This will be held in London but is extra special as 2007 is the centenary of Scouting and it promises to be the biggest Jamboree ever.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody that has helped in any way over the last 95 years or so and also to hope and pray that the help we receive continues well into the next century.
