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YMCA enamel badge
In the center the words JON XV11 V 21
The birth of a movement George Williams was born 11th October 1821 on a small farm in Somerset. 20 years later he came to London to work in a large drapery

wholesalers.He became increasingly concerned about the firms young assistants who worked long hours and lived in cramped conditions.Deciding that he wanted to change the lives of his fellow workers and also share his Christian faith, he set in motion a prayer meeting and bible study group. This quickly became a regular gathering with other companies getting involved and so on June 6th 1844 it was named YMCA hence the birth of the first YMCA in Britain. Growing Worldwide the movement rapidly began to spread in Britain and overseas. The turning point was in 1851 at the Great Exhibition in Crystal Palace, London, which attracted people from all over the world. This helped to develop the links with other countries, which resulted in a number of YMCA's opening in USA and Canada.

Wembley speedway
supporters club badge
1929, Two years after greyhound racing began at Wembley, the stadium owners selected speedway as a potential money-spinner. After a difficult start, when rival promoters prevented the stadium from staging international events, the stadium prospered as the home track of national league team, the Wembley Lions. By the time the Lions won their first title, speedway was a profitable exercise. In 1937 the stadium attracted a crowd of 85,000 for the world championship and numbers initially grew after the war. In 1948 the Wembley Lions had a fan club with 60,000 members and, for one league meeting against fellow Londoners West Ham, an 85,000 crowd was augmented by 20,000 fans who were locked out and had to listen to a broadcast relay of the action taking place inside the stadium.

Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes.
The earliest known traceable date of a Lodge
is 1822 at the Harp Tavern, Great Russell Street, near Drury Lane Theatre. London

Stagehands and theatre technicians created the Lodge.



Golden Arrow badge 1950s

Hauled at first by Lord Nelson class steam locomotives, the Southern Railway's all-Pullman Golden Arrow train started off as the `White Pullman' train which ran from London's Victoria Station to Dover from 1924. It became the Golden Arrow in May, 1929, with passengers enjoying special customs handling and their very own ship, the 'Canterbury', for the journey across the Channel before boarding another train in France for the final leg of the trip to Paris Leaving London at 11 am; Golden Arrow passengers would arrive in Paris at 5.35 pm the same day. The Golden Arrow ceased during the Second World War but was restarted in 1946 when Bulleid Pacific steam locomotives started hauling the trains. The peak of the Golden Arrow was in 1951 - the year of London's Festival of Britain - when the impressive Britannia class steam locomotives started to haul the service and the train was given seven specially built Pullman carriages. But from the mid-1950s, the service began a steady and decline: its luxurious Pullman coaches were slowly replaced by ordinary carriages. The service was electrified in June, 1961, and ended in September, 1972.

Davy Crockett 1950s badge
Davy Crockett was born 17 August 1786 in what is now north eastern Tennessee. It was not until he was eighteen before he learned to read and write. About that time, he married and started a family of several children. Perhaps by default, he first became involved in politics as magistrate of his local community. By 1821, he was elected to the State Legislature, and was re-elected to that position in 1823. From 1827 through 1833, Crockett served in the Congress of the United States. However, in his run for a fourth term in Congress, he was defeated by a narrow margin. Disgusted by that time with politics, Crockett bid farewell to
Tennessee and headed for Texas in the fall of 1835.There he was well received and seemed to enjoy his new environment, for on 9 January 1836 he wrote a daughter back in Tennessee:
"I would rather be in my present situation than to be elected to a seat in Congress for life."
Less than one month later, however, Crockett and a few of his fellow
Tennesseans were among the 189 defenders that sacrificed their lives at The Battle of the Alamo in the interest on Texas independence.

Bovril badge 1898-1900

50 Times more nourishing then ordinary extract of meat Or beef tea.
John Lawson Johnston, invented Bovril,
He won a contract in 1870-71 to supply Napoleons army with over one million
cans of beef they were at war with the Germans. Napoleon realised that his armies could not march on empty stomachs. The only problem was Britain didn’t have enough meat so Johnston developed the product from beef extract (It was first known as Johnston's Fluid Beef). By 1888 over 3,000 pubs and grocers were serving it! and by 1901 Bovril was trading as far as South Africa and South America.


Girl Guide Membership Brooch (1932-1967)

First started in 1910, for girls aged between ten and 14 years of age