Rover Scouting

Rover Scouting began in August 1918 when it was mentioned in The Scouting Gazette by Baden Powell, and was properly established by November 1919. Originally catering for older boys, the scheme became defunct in the UK with the Scout Organisation, but carried on with others, such as BP Scouts, and British Boy Scouts. There are also plenty of independent Rover Crews which have no upper age limit, and are not affiliated to the World Scout Organisation or BP Scouts etc.



Traditional Rover Scout badges &shoulder boards

Earlier this year, Richard, a good friend of mine asked me if I would be interested in joining a Rover Crew. 'Rovers?', I said, 'Are they part of BP Scouts?'. 'No', he replied. They were a completely independent unit, that did not belong to any Scout organisation. Also, anyone over the age of 18 can join. There is no upper age limit. Traditional Scouting activities are undertaken, camping, walking, parades on Remembrance Sunday & St George's Day, service in the local community etc. You can even do activity badges, handyman, rambler, 

John Bunting Chapel, North Yorks Moors 

So anyway, I agreed, and with David from Durham we met at the end of August, and had a nice walk in inclement weather to the John Bunting Chapel in the North York Moors. (Click on the link)John Bunting Chapel  North Riding Rover Crew (Captain Allmand's Own) was born. Captain Allmand was a Rover Scout and Scout Master at Ampleforth, N.Yks before he left to join the army in WW2. Tragically he was killed in the Far East, an action in which he earned the VC, the only Rover from North Yorkshire known to have won the VC in that war. More info here: http://www.6thgurkhas.org/website/regiment-victoria-crosses/captain-michael-allmand 

It's early days, we are still few in number but we can only grow. We took part in the Pickering WW2 weekend parade with other independent units, Thane Rovers and British Boy Scouts. Richard had an article published in Best of British magazine which has produced some interest. Hopefully next year my health will have improved somewhat to get some more walking in.

Anyone from North Yorkshire interested in joining North Riding Rovers please contact: jonathansevers@hotmail.com, or richardbowman1@live.co.uk. Richard has a blog with loads of Scouting stuff here: http://1stvofpscoutarchive.blogspot.com/