The 1st Langland Brownies

Photo: Mumbles Guides cooking at their camp, undated

The 1^st Langland Brownies
Celebrate 75 Years of Guiding

1985 was an exciting year for Guiding and for 1^st Langland Brownies in particular. We entered our 75^th Anniversary Year by taking part in the County Challenge – we made a Pack Scroll, shared a special celebration for Thinking Day with 1^st Mumbles Brownies, litter picked the path outside the Churchmen’s Club and completed a series of 10 personal challenges each. As a result we took part, with over 1000 other Brownies, in a fun day at Neath in May, during what must have been the heaviest rainfall of a very wet year.

During the early spring the Brownies designed and made a rather special dragon for the Welsh Dathliad, a type of eisteddfod, which was Wales special event for the Anniversary year. We were thrilled when our dragon won not only the County heats but went on to be the best in Wales! As a result our sixers were presented to Princess Margaret during the Dathliad at Builth Wells in May.

Guide week was in June and we had fun at our District Party at Parkmill, when we lit our candles from the Guiding flame which had come from Buckingham Palace, and blew out 75 candles on our birthday cake. We attended a special service at St. Mary’s.

In July we took part in our spectacular Guide Carnival, when we rode on an open top bus through town with over 1000 other members of the movement.

We provided a display at St’ Peter’s Flower Festival as well as decorating our usual window in the Children’s Corner at Easter, Harvest and Christmas. At the end of July we enjoyed an exciting pack holiday at Parkmill, which was transformed into Sherwood Forest for the week.

During October four Brownies took part in a District International Weekend at Parkmill and we held a tea morning to raise funds for Save the Children Fund. We attended our District Church Service at All Saints church, and one Brownie competed in the Division Swimming Gala. We had a lot of fun at a Brownie Disco in November and enjoyed an Art Straw demonstration during one of our meetings.

In December we made sweets at Tawney’s house and ended the year with our Brownie Banquet, when we fed and entertained our parents, brothers and sisters.

During the year we have fund-raised for our new Parkmill Centre by each collecting 75p in a Smartie tube and “selling” bricks, and we have contributed to the Scout Hut Maintenance Fund by providing a lucky dip for the Scout Fete and taking part in their Christmas catalogue scheme. We feel our pack have done well in keeping their promise and being useful members of our community.

Newton Parish Magazine.

1^ST MUMBLES GUIDE COMPANY REPORT 1915

Registered in November 1914.

Meeting at Glyn Cerrig, Mumbles.

Captain, Freda Rayner, Langlands, Mumbles.

Officers, Hilda Thomas & Ethelwynne Marks.

43 guides meeting once a week on Friday evenings.

8 guides enrolled in 1915 & 4 transferred to another company.

A great deal of this season has been taken in passing 2^nd class tests. On some club evenings we have been practising signalling as far as our limited space would allow, also first aid and drilling. The guides have made themselves useful in delivering letters of various kinds chiefly in connection with Red Cross work: also in helping at various functions selling programmes, handing tea etc.

They have lately been very enthusiastic in earning money for the Recreation Hut at the front, and with their earnings and gifts from our friends we were able to stock a little shop with homemade cakes etc. We opened the shop for five days and in that time made the sum of £18 : 10 : 6d, clear profit. £6 : 6 : 0d of which we are sending to the Hut Fund, and the remainder to Red Cross Hospitals >