The 3rd Streatham Scout Group consisted of sections that catered for all ages allowed for by the Scout Movement. Wolf Cubs (which later became Cub Scouts);
Boy Scouts (later to become just Scouts) and for the older boys there were Senior Scouts and Rover Scouts. When all the changes happened to re brand and
modernise the movement in the late 1960s, Seniors and Rovers became one under the Venture Scout banner. The Venture Scouts section became the Livingstone
Venture Scout Unit
So where did the name "Livingstone" come from? It is possible that it came from the "Livingstone" telephone exchange in Church Road, Norwood. Church Road
was originally known as Vicar's Oak Road and appeared in a survey of Surrey in 1745 known as Roque's Survey. The exchange was built in 1929 and continued
to grow as more people got telephones. Then modern space-age technology appeared and the need for the exchange as a bricks and mortar facility with lots
of cables gradually disappeared. (Information sourced from the Norwood Society). The telephone number for the Streatham News was "Livingstone 3333" back
in the 1960s.
Or was African explorer David Livingstone from Blantyre in Scotland the inspiration for the Unit's name?
The 3rd Streatham Group met at Woodmansterne Primary School in the school hall with each section having its own meeting days and times. Entrance to
the school was via an entrance in Stockport Road which ran off Woodmansterne Road. The school was part of a complex that housed at the other end, (with
an entrance off Woodmansterne Road), Cotswold Secondary School. Cotswold School was a secondary school for children with disabilities.
There was a cupboard in the male teacher's toilets where the Scout Group kept any equipment that they used on meeting nights. Medicine balls and
staves for each Scout Patrol were kept there as well as plenty of other miscellaneous "stuff".
Many members of the 3rd Streatham began their education at Woodmansterne Primary School. On the other side of Streatham Vale was another primary school.
Granton Primary School was the arch enemy of all those that attended Woodmansterne. In reverse, Woodmansterne was the biggest rival of Granton.
Each school had a nickname for the other. Woodmansterne was know as Walls Pork Sausages (WPS) whilst Granton was known as Granton Pig Sty (GPS).
The following website link recalls memories of young people who attended Woodmansterne. It mainly covers students from before 1950, but there are some
photos and more importantly many, many references to the roads and landmarks in the area around Woodmansterne Primary School. Check out the link
here. Page 4 refers to the late, great Chris Coffin.
The 3rd Streatham Scout Troop was the only one in Streatham that wore the traditional "Campaign Hat" made famous by Robert Baden-Powell during his time
in South Africa. He started to wear a Stetson campaign hat in 1896 during the Second Matabele War. An American scout then introduced him to the Campaign Hat
and after the victory at the Siege of Mafeking in 1899, Baden-Powell was recognisable everywhere he went because of it.
The 3rd Streatham ceased wearing the Campaign Hat when the Scout Association modernised the movement in 1967. Berets became the standard headwear.
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