Explorer History
The section we now call Explorers began its life in 1918 as Rover Scouting, and was for young men aged 17 to 25. The section was introduced as a result of the successful growth of the Scout Movement and was intended to provide a programme for those who had outgrown the age of the Scout section.
Before being invested as a Rover Scout, a period of time had to be spent as a Rover Squire. This allowed the Rover to consider what he intended to achieve as a Rover Scout and how he planned to accomplish these goals. The Squires had to undertake training, which was detailed on Rover Scout Membership Cards (we had a number of originals on display at our memorabilia events).
The Rover Scouts also had what was called a Rover Mate. Our archives have a paper on the Rover Mate. We had a very old original on display at our events, but to save it being handled as the paper was very fine, we transcribed it – it’s available here), and well worth a read as it provides details of the Rover Mate’s responsibilities and how that role supported the Squires.
Like all Scout sections the Rover Scout had a uniform (see Uniform display for more information). It was the same as the other Scout sections, except 2nd Renfrew Rovers wore a Glengarry (as opposed to the green beret) and wore shoulder tabs.
Unlike other Sections, when a boy joined the Rovers, he had to spend time in Reflection, when he was expected to consider his future and what being a Rover Scout meant to him. Reflection was generally spent in the Church, in the dark and lasted for 2 hours – it was quite an experience, as many Rovers told us. The most consistent comment they made was that being in the cold, dark, church certainly focused their minds, so the Reflection did exactly what it was designed to do.
Rovers used the same Promise as the other Scouting sections, but had a motto of “Service” (which was to reflect the purpose of the section). There’s more information on Promises, Laws and Mottos in the Emblem, Promise, Law, Motto section.
We were extremely fortunate that our archive held a couple of Rover shirts and also that when former Rovers knew about our memorabilia events, they offered us their shirts to add to our collection. We had them all on display, including one shirt which included a Queen’s Scout badge. Our archive and display also included a number of Rover epaulettes.
Perhaps one of the unique points of 2nd Renfrew Rovers is that they met in ‘Dens’. We’re not sure if any other Rover Crews had this privilege, but it was a fantastic and memorable experience for 2nd Renfrew. There were a few dens in different locations around Renfrew over the years and we’re delighted that Jim Hair, one of our ex-Rovers and a former Scout Leader, volunteered to write the history of the dens. Jim’s information was so interesting that we decided to print it as a booklet and had a good number of booklets on display at our events for visitors to take away. The booklets were so popular we had to organise a second print run. A lovely position to have been in, and great for Jim, given all the hard work he, accompanied by Fred Wilson and Charles McQueen, put in to organising the photographs for the booklet and all Jim’s work writing it. Due to the number of photographs in the Dens History it’s too big to upload as one document, so we’ve split it in to three parts – please click each one to read it (all open as new tabs so you can flick between them if you open all) – Part 1; Part 2; Part 3.
Rover Scouts kept their name until 1967 when they, and Senior Scouts, were amalgamated into a section known as Venture Scouts (Ventures). It was 9 years later, in 1976 that girls were allowed to join.
Some of our Rovers have recently admitted that they were not at all pleased at the Section’s name being changed, to the extent they gave Douglas Killin, the then GSL, a hard time about it, only later realising that he was merely carrying out the instructions of the Scout Association. Needless to say, such was their respect for Douglas that he was subsequently inundated with apologies.
Like the Rover Scouts, Venture Scouts were designed to have an active programme which promoted outdoor activities and community service, the difference being Venture Scouts were being for young people aged 15½ to 20.
Ventures wore the same uniform as leaders (a beige shirt), but could select their neck ware from any of a tie, or group/unit/district neckie; 2nd Renfrew Ventures wore the Group’s neckie, but there’s a story here. When the Venture uniform was introduced, there was no neckie, Ventures were to wear a tie. Not so for Trinity – the Ventures there decided that their loyalty to 2nd Renfrew outweighed anything else, so they wore the Trinity neckie. The Dictrict Commmissioner at the time told them that ties were the order of the day; that didn’t cut the mustard as the expression goes, as the neckies were steadfastly worn. Perhaps that could be seen as a sign of defiance, but our boys’ take on it was their Group connections had been in place since they were Cubs, so the neckie was a strong part of their identity. On the upside, their determination won out (and we’re pretty sure we were not dissenters to the ties), as there was a change in rules as neckies were subsequently approved for use by Venture Scouts.
Our Venture Scouts were very active and, as you’ll read (or may have read) in the Helping Others section, did a lot of work to do just that – help others, in terms of Christmas Parties for children at Quarrier’s Homes and ‘good turns for old people’, as in the Quiz which is published in the Helping Others section. One other thing our Ventures were very good at was organising discos – they were events not to be missed. We are fortunate that Brian Cowie, one of our Group members and an Assistant Scout Leader, was a prolific record keeper and kept the most amazing albums of his years in the Group (including our 50th and 75th years, and some of the international camps he attended). Some of these albums included tickets for the discos. Sadly, Brian is no longer with us to allow us to thank him for his work, but his brother and sister, Derek and Patricia, kindly had all the albums professionally scanned so that we have them for our archive, and we’re extremely grateful to have them. Pictures of the tickets (copied from Brian’s albums) are below (and yes, we did all have a chuckle at the cost!):
Venture Scouting thrived in the 1980’s, but by the time the 1990’s came along educational demands on young people meant they couldn’t devote as much time to the section.
This therefore created a further change in the senior Scouting section whereby, in 2002, Venture Scouts not only changed their name to Explorer Scouts (commonly referred to as Explorers), but the age of that section was amended so that it encompassed young people aged 14 to 18.
Explorer Scouts follow the same badge programme as the younger sections, albeit on a more difficult level. In addition, after they’ve reached the age of 16, Explorers have the opportunity of undertaking the Queen’s Scout badge, and part of their programme includes the Young Leader’s Scheme which trains Explorers in leadership methods and encourages them to help with younger sections of the Group. 2nd Renfrew is very fortunate that a number of our Explorers are following this programme and serving as leaders today.
The Explorer uniform is the same as the leaders (as was the Venture Scout uniform) in that it’s a beige shirt, accompanied by the Group’s neckie.
Explorers make the same Promise and follow the same Scout Law as any other member of the Scout Association (see Emblem, Promise, Law, Motto section).
2nd Renfrew’s Explorer Scout section is active and well attended. We currently have 14 members as a few recently arrived from the Scouts. Those who were age to leave when the Scouts moved up have either moved on to become young leaders or occasional helpers. No matter which, we’re delighted they’re staying with us, as all leaders, particularly young ones who are our Group leaders of the future, are very valuable to us.
If you’d like to find out what Explorers currently get up to, there’s more information in the Explorers (please click) section.
From Explorers to Scout Network
Due to the decrease in the upper age limit of the Explorers, a new Section was introduced to capture those who were too old to be Explorers but wished to remain with the Scout Movement. This section is the Scout Network, which is for young people aged 18 to 25.
Its structure is slightly differently from the other sections in that its focus is on achieving the top awards of the section, namely the Queen’s Scout Award, as opposed to achieving individual badges. Its structure is also slightly different in that it’s generally not run by leaders, but by members of the Network. The Network also has international camps and visits abroad.
Alistair Norris, one of our Assistant Cub Leaders has very fond memories of his time in the Network, so much so, that he wrote a paper for us on his Network experience – a copy is available here. Like the Rover Dens booklet at the memorabilia events, we had Alistair’s Network paper printed for visitors to take away. We were delighted that the large pile of papers diminished very quickly.
Finally, not forgetting the Network uniform – it’s an easy one, as it shares the same uniform as Explorers and Leaders.
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Hopefully you’ll have read the history of each of our Sections (assuming this is the last one you’ve read). If so, this Explorer and Network section brings the Section Histories sections to a close. If you haven’t read any others, they’re well worth a read (well, we think so!).
If you’ve enjoyed reading the histories, please look at other parts of our website to find out more about us, and Scouting in general.
