2nd Warwick Sea Scouts History
The Beginning
2nd Warwick Sea Scouts was started in 1959, they met in a variety of locations including the Nelson Club and a Nissen Hut in Pickard St. In 1966 it moved from the Nissen hut where the sheltered housing in Pickard Street is now, to the new HQ building (The Boathouse) in St Nicholas Park, Warwick.
The new HQ was opened on 30th April 1966 by The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Aylesford, having cost the Group £2,000. The Group continued to raise an extra £450 to fully fit out the new building. (it cost a fair bit more than that to build TS Norton In 2019-2021 see more here).
The 80s
The Group grew again in the 80s and the second floor was added to increase the space available. The Group had no money to pay someone to do the job so a team of leaders and parents did a massive and excellent job of putting in the first floor and on 12th January 1985 the hut was re-commissioned as a two-storey building.
In 1986 The group opened the first Beaver Colony in the area, with Gill Davison as Beaver Leader. Photos
Those involved in the second floor included John Tenny, Ken Larner and many more, if you were involved why not let us know... Especially if you have any photos of before/during. (form at the bottom of the page).
The 90s
The Group’s high standards led to the award of Royal Navy Recognition in the late 1980s. This honour is currently granted to only 103 Sea Scout Groups in the UK at any one time. 1996 saw the installation of the foot bridge across the river by the hut, massively increasing the amount of passers by and making sailing more tricky on the river. 1997 saw Guides join the Scouts on camp and this was the early stages of the girls Scout troop.
Easter 1999 witnessed massive flooding across the country and the river flowed through the Scout hut for the first and only time!
Girls too
Girls were officially welcome into Scouts in September 2000, starting off with 2 patrols and building up to the full troop we have today.
The Group has significantly grown over the last 50 years and has a current membership of over 200 including its co-located Explorer Sea Scout Unit. It now has 4 sections covering children aged 6 to 18 years old: Beavers, Cubs, Scouts (a girls troop and a boys troop) and Explorers.
Hopefully, people who have been members of the Group in the past may spot themselves in some of the photos, or in the old newsletters etc. For those who are members now it will hopefully give you an idea where some of the traditions came from.
In 2005 while we were at Scout camp, we were the victims of arson and the sailing club was burnt almost to the ground, luckily most of our boats were at camp with us; Photos
See the following pages to get a flavour of our history in pictures.
In June 2016 we celebrated 50 years at the current hut, and got back in touch with former members.
In 2019 we are celebrating our 60th anniversary. Please join us at our anniversary ball to help us celebrate Anniversary Ball and read about our plans for the next 60 years, and our aim to start building a new HQ in 2019 here: Building a Future!
If you are a former member we'd love to here from you. Please do get in touch if you have any old photos or memorabilia that you'd like to share by emailing admin@2wk.org.uk .
We also need former members to complete an online survey to help us when we apply for grants for our new HQ - you can find our survey here Former Members Survey.
2nd Warwick in the 1960s
2nd Warwick in the 1970s
Past Leaders of the group (Work in Progress)
Beaver Scout Leaders
Gill Davison 1st Beaver Leader in group
Liz Meek
Jan Mcquorquodale
Jane Thomas
Sue Hissen
Emma Elson
Heather Tomlin
Assistants & Helpers through the years
Holly McCann, Heather Tomlin, Sue Hissen, Gina Southey,
Cub Scout Leaders
Eileen? (1970s?)
Bernie Campbell opened Daring Pack
Sally Shacklock & JoAnn Bramston
Janet Crossley,
Andrea Bridgeman, Sue Hissen, Sue Scurrah
Assistants & Helpers through the years
John Kelly, Steve... Martin Crossely, Peter Jones, Polly Scurrah, Mark Fletcher
Scout leaders
Bill Cook 19xx - 19xx
Ken Larner - 1981 - 2004Scout Leader
Dave Shepherd & Sally Collett - 2004 - 2009
Jane Thomas and Mick Davison 2009 - 2013
Polly Scurrah 2013-2019
Mark Fletcher - Present
Nick George 2019- Present
Assistants & Helpers through the years
Bill Murdock, Pete Sword, Frank Henderson, Jeff Briars, Dave Yates, Colin White, Mark Preston, Big John Gaskell, Crabdoc (Andy), Eddie Clymber, James Sanders, Gerald & Kate Whittaker, Barbie Tomlin, John Valance, Martin Stockbridge, Jenny Stockbridge, Anne Porter, James Breward, Paul Tomlin, Dave Shepherd, Amy, Dave Tomlin, Tom Evans, Dave White, Mark Brenig Jones, Dave Brenig Jones, Sally Collett, Jess Breward, Andy Tomlin, Chris McQuorquodale, Nick Hiorns, Gary Trinder,Richard Shacklock, Joe Scurrah, Steve McQuorquodale, Scott Reader, Jane Thomas, Doug Collett, Chris Underhill, Andy Keeble, Kay Whipp, Scott Bridgeman, Heather Crossley, James Elson, Dean Lawson Usherwood,
Venture / Explorer Scout Leaders
Venture Scouts
Andy Hinks -
Chris Steele -
Alan Gandy 199x - 2001, Mike Bayes, Christine Hobson
Explorer Scouts
Mark Lacy 2001 - 2003
Dave Tomlin 2003 - Present
Assistants & Helpers through the years
Joann Bramston, Simon Agar, Laura Cundy, Pete Sword, Scott Reader, Martin Stockbridge, Barbie Tomlin, Becky Gough, Joe Scurrah, Becky Draper, Elaine Thomas, Carrie Beardmore, Andi Frost, Mark Clinkscales, Alex Carr, Tom Ormsby, Jeremy Menage, Guy Joseph, Emilia & Laura Dunkerly, Liam Ryan
Group Scout Leaders
Ian Gibbs - Was GSL when we gained RN Recognition
Paul Davison - 199x - 1997?
Joan White?
Nick Shacklock
Martin Scurrah - AGSL Boats
Barbie Tomlin 200x -2006
Neil Pitchford 2006 - 2010?
James Elson 2010 - 2016?
Ian Walton 2017
Martin Stockbridge 2018
Marc Gadsby 2019- present
Our leaders change from time to time, but the standards continue. If you can remember some leaders we don't know then please get in touch