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Week Commencing 7/7/08: Page 2

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Foreword...

Before reading our article on the 1st Whitstable Scouts, we would like to draw attention to an important message to all ex-scouts from Lawrence Wells....

 We would be grateful if our readers would pass on the message to ex-scouts around the globe

The First Whitstable - Circa 1954...

Oh boy.... are we gonna have some fun with the gem that that Cliff Cuttelle has emailed from Thailand....

It's a group photo of the First Whitstable Scouts and Cubs - taken on Westmeads Recreation Ground. Cliff dates it as mid-1954 and it is not only the personnel that makes it interesting. We can discuss the backdrop for ages... and we will!

At the end of the day, the photo will form the basis for a 'First Whitstable' page on our Days Gone By Menu.... but, first, we need to collect as as much information as possible. I'll start things off by pointing out what many people already know about the First Whitstable. Their HQ has dominated the western end of Acton Road for many years and troop members wear very distinctive yellow and black neckerchiefs. The troop has always been noted for its excellent brass band. 

Now let's get underway with a look at the group members in the photo and an exploration of a whole host of features in the background.... 

Name That Scout....

We'll start with the serious stuff. Inevitably, people will want to have a crack at naming a few scouts.... and so I have divided the photo into three enlarged sections. Cliff has provided some names.... but, now, it is up to you. (NB There is no significance in the colour of the numbers. Yellow and blue have simple been used depending on the shade of background). 

To date we have received messages and comments on the photo from the following:

Their full messages are published at the foot of the page. Where scout names have been provided, we have included them in blue text below the photo sections.

In the Distance....

That's the Personnel issue underway. Now lets' start to look at the backdrop....

The dominant feature is Wheatley Road - running along the edge of the recreation ground and it doesn't look much different from today. There are also some other buildings that remain in the new millennium - the Masonic Temple (Cromwell Road) and Elvey Bros printers (now the Whitstable Times building). Although I have identified Tankerton Rustics workshop, the photo may have been taken before the company relocated from Tankerton. I seem to recall that the building may have been used as an auction room at some stage.

Far more interesting is that black chimney stack away to the right. I think it belonged to the Whitstable Model Laundry in Diamond Road.... and what an amazing place that was! The interior was so hot that the side doors were usually open and steam poured out..... along with the damp smell of soap suds. There were times when a large section of Diamond Road grappled with humidity approaching 99% and an army of women ran around in overalls and head scarves like demented Widow Twankeys.

At one time, the laundry had quite a claim to fame... and it was all recorded in an article in the Whitstable Times. The company was chosen as the official wishy-washy for the West Indian touring team when they visited Kent County Cricket Club at Canterbury. Thus, it washed the smalls of people like Garfield Sobers, Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith.

The laundry building later became the works of Tankerton Automatics but it is now just another block of flats. When the hot tubs were removed, they took with them a closely guarded commercial secret..... How did the laundry ensure that the right stuff was returned to the right people?..... In particular, how did it match up the socks?

I have no doubt that quality control in the sock department was the clincher for the West Indian contract and the company did a good job. I never, ever saw Gary Sobers bat in odd socks.

The Playground...

Now let's move a little closer to the scout group.....   

Yes... it's the old children's playground area. Away to the left, you can see the metal supports of the swings. There were also exercise bars and, just out of shot, parallel bars. The centre piece was the old slide. This comprised thin overlapping steel sheets that hit 100 degrees C in hot weather and ripped trousers when the metal became burred at the edges

But 'ang on a minute..... let's zoom in a bit more because I've just spotted something.....

Anyone know who he is? If so, clip his ear 'ole.

The slide must have been the most misused piece of equipment in town. Apart from using the underside of the steps as in the photo extract, kids would climb up the tubular supports or run up the slide itself. When rain made things wet and slow, it was not unknown for kids to locate pieces of tin from the nearby hedge and use them as toboggans. As you can imagine, this increased the velocity somewhat... before depositing the miscreant in the permanent puddle at the bottom.

The Weather Station...

Just behind the scouts, you can make out some of the elements of the Whitstable weather station. This was a fenced off area with various meteorological devices....  

The weather vane gave the wind direction of course. The sunlight 'thing' comprised a magnifying glass which burned a path into a special piece of marked card..... thereby showing the number of hours of sunshine. Other instruments (such as thermometer and barometer) were secreted in a box - mounted on legs and with louvred side panels.

We didn't have Michael Fish to interpret it all. That task fell to the Town Beadle who would arrive at the appointed time to take the readings. He was happy in his work until he hit the rainfall instrument - a tin pot that stood on the ground.

Unfortunately, that rainfall pot attracted kids like a honeypot attracted bees. The trick was to fill it with water collected in a milk bottle. Some kids went a little further by filling it in less savoury ways... but I won't go into that. There were days when Whitstable had more rainfall than Bombay in the monsoon season.

Sadly, the weather station has gone...as have the bees.

In Modern Times...

The photo below shows Westmeads recreation ground just a few days ago...

It is taken from Westmeads Road looking diagonally across the grass towards the Whitstable Times building in the distance. Wheatley Road fringes the rec' on the right.

The old children's playground and the weather station have long since disappeared. However, a new fenced playground extends along the full length of Wheatley Road. 

The photo below shows the First Whitstable Scouts Hall in Acton Road in December 2003. I seem to recall that the building of the 1950s was a corrugated iron structure - painted green.

Reaction to Scout Photo....

Messages received on the subject of the Scout Photo are given below. We would like to thank all those who contribute...

Comments...

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