History
Mrs Wright moved to Wardle Village in June 1972 with her husband and 3 children. Two of them moved to the local Girl Guide Unit but there were no groups that met the needs of boys of any age that met in the village. She moved to teach at St James’ primary school, Wardle in September 1970 and started to take part in village life. Two years later saw her arranging a meeting between the postmaster Ken Hindle and our next-door neighbour Ted Bolton with a view to starting a scout group in Wardle.
The Scout Troop started in early June 1972 and met in the upstairs of Wardle Chapel (now the Ecumenical church). The Scout Troop met on Wednesday with Ken Hindle as the Scout Leader, Jeff Rabbitch and John Hilton to assist. The Cub Pack was started in September 1972 with Ted Bolton as the Cub Scout Leader and Mrs Wright as the Assistant Cub Scout Leader. The cub section met on a Thursday evening. One of the very first Mixed Venture Scout Units started at Wardle Scout Group in 1976. This was led by David and Barbara Holroyd. The Venture Scout section met after the Cubs on a Thursday evening.
The Beaver section opened in 1986 when a scouting provision for boys aged 6 and 7 was made. Susan Pike (Wright) was the Beaver Leader (Tygga) assisted by Angela Dawson (Kanga).
Female Scouts were allowed in Scouting UK from 1992 and Wardle opened its doors to girls in the Beaver and Cub section from 2007.
Ted Bolton went on to be ADC Venture Scouts and Ken Hindle took the role of ADC Scouts in the late 1980s.
Our Building
Once the scout group was established, the Scout Group executive committee started searching for a building of their own to meet in.
Initially the old Co-Op was identified as a possible Scout HQ but after inspection by the Fire Service it was reported that as the building went onto three floors it would need an external fire escape installed. The cost of around £3,000 was considered too much for a fledgling scout group to raise so the Methodist Church were approach with a view to the Scout Group renting the ‘Old’ Chapel located next-door to the ‘New’ Chapel. The lease was drawn up and signed on 1st May 1975 valid for a term of 99 years.
In 1977 the Wardle Conservation Area was designated and the Scout HQ became a Grade II Listed building.
Interestingly, in the late Eighties, Rochdale Council approached the Methodist Church with a view to purchasing Wardle Scout HQ to convert into flats. The Scout Group engaged a solicitor who rightly pointed out that the Scout Group held a 99 year lease with no termination clause in it so the purchase of the building did not go ahead. In the early 1990s the roof was replaced.
