Lord Roy Hattersley
In 1942, during World War Two, a young boy from Airedale Road, Wadsley, joined 150th cub scouts. His name was Roy. He struggled with becoming a ‘distinguished’ cub, for example, he was unable to gain his first star badge due to being afraid of performing the forward roll.
He moved into the scout troop early – by telling fibs about his age – but this wasn’t a problem as he fitted in much better with scouts than with cubs. There was no obligation to perform forward rolls or skip backwards and he got to learn worthwhile skills like Morse code, building rope bridges on Wadsley Common, and knowing the difference between a stoat and a weasel.*
This was also a time when normal people had to adapt to the challenges of war. The cub leader Miss Weaver saw service with the Women's Royal Navy Service, which meant that the assistant cub leader, Peggy Stringfield stepped in as cub leader – a role she would keep for the next 20 years.
In scouts, Roy was able to contribute to the war effort. He, like other 150th scouts volunteered at the Wharncliffe Military Hospital. This later became Middlewood Hospital and is now Wadsley Park Village housing estate.
After about 50 hours of national service, scouts could earn a red badge with a gold crown embroidered upon it and Roy set his eyes on earning that honour.
Roy was assigned to Ward 13B, a refuge for survivors of the Normandy landings. There was no blood in the psychiatric wards. Occasionally, a patient would shout or jibber and be led away, but the blood stained dressings about which the other scouts would talk with a mix of horror and pride were mercifully absent.
Roy posted soldier’s letters, ran errands and listened to their stories. That was, until one day an officious doctor suggested that a ward crammed with mentally unwell soldiers was no place for an 11 year old boy to spend his free time.
That’s how Roy found himself downstairs in the surgical ward. He also found that you could queue up for dinner and get meat and scoops of mash. However it turns out that, during war time, the hospital wasn’t supposed to feed volunteers and Roy was dragged to the Sister’s office and scolded for scrounging.
A few weeks later, Mr. Bull, the scout leader, received a report that one of his scouts had lost interest in his volunteering after discovering that free meals were not included in the deal.
Counting the time he’d spent on both the psychiatric and surgical wards, Roy had completed his 50 hours service. However, no badge was issued until his mum marched round to the scout leader’s house on the next street to convince Mr Bull of Roy’s worthiness of the red and gold badge. It worked and Roy was soon proudly wearing the crowned badge upon his uniform.
Roy related scouting with knives, and before he had left, the lad had assembled a formidable collection:
Roy used these last two knives for carving his initials on trees.
Other wartime mischief occurred when the scouts were given a room inside the almost derelict school building (now known as the church hall) provided that they did DIY, mainly in the form of cleaning and painting. Roy and friends scrubbed crusty floorboards and rubbed the walls with damp cloths until the water ran down the paper in grey streaks, rather than covering it in a uniform film of black.
After the initial clean up, Roy and Harold were persuaded to paint the woodwork with a promise that they could decorate in the colour of their choice. They chose Primrose – a bright yellow. When their artistic excess was quickly discovered, the scouts’ tenancy of the room was cancelled. But for years, a single yellow window frame smiled down onto the schoolyard. Harold and Roy thought of it fondly.
In his book, A Yorkshire Boyhood, Roy remembers Scout camps in the Derbyshire countryside, setting off on a tram car and digging his own toilet on arrival with friends such as Geoffery Kirby and Harold Woolhouse.
In his last year in scouts, a campfire concert was arranged on Wadsley Common to celebrate the return of Geoff Kirby from Loughborough College. It included endless campfire songs and was visited by the group leader, Reverend Hughes.
The boys were halfway into a song in which every verse began “If I were not a boy scout…” when a verse was included about Rev Hughes. The song was enjoyed by most, but sadly not the vicar, and the scouts were closed for a month.
As an adult, Roy went on to be an MP in Birmingham, stood to be Labour party leader only to come in second to Neil Kinnock, and has been a member of the Privy Council since 1975 (this is a select group that advised Queen Elizabeth and now King Charles). He was deputy leader of the Labour party and was also a government minister under Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
It is not known if his skills in Morse code, rope bridges or stoats helped him in his political career – but we’d like to think it did.
His mum, Enid, also lived a life full of success. As Lord Mayor of Sheffield she oversaw the creation of the Crucible Theatre which has been home to the World Snooker Championship since 1977. She lived on Airedale Road until her old age. She continued to support the scout group, every year donating her jumble to help us raise money to build our existing amazing Scout HQ.
It is not known if her skills in convincing a scout leader to give her son his red and gold badge helped her career – but we’d like to think it did.
Who knows what today’s 150th youngsters (or their mums) will go on to achieve?
Notes
He moved into the scout troop early – by telling fibs about his age – but this wasn’t a problem as he fitted in much better with scouts than with cubs. There was no obligation to perform forward rolls or skip backwards and he got to learn worthwhile skills like Morse code, building rope bridges on Wadsley Common, and knowing the difference between a stoat and a weasel.*
This was also a time when normal people had to adapt to the challenges of war. The cub leader Miss Weaver saw service with the Women's Royal Navy Service, which meant that the assistant cub leader, Peggy Stringfield stepped in as cub leader – a role she would keep for the next 20 years.
In scouts, Roy was able to contribute to the war effort. He, like other 150th scouts volunteered at the Wharncliffe Military Hospital. This later became Middlewood Hospital and is now Wadsley Park Village housing estate.
After about 50 hours of national service, scouts could earn a red badge with a gold crown embroidered upon it and Roy set his eyes on earning that honour.
Roy was assigned to Ward 13B, a refuge for survivors of the Normandy landings. There was no blood in the psychiatric wards. Occasionally, a patient would shout or jibber and be led away, but the blood stained dressings about which the other scouts would talk with a mix of horror and pride were mercifully absent.
Roy posted soldier’s letters, ran errands and listened to their stories. That was, until one day an officious doctor suggested that a ward crammed with mentally unwell soldiers was no place for an 11 year old boy to spend his free time.
That’s how Roy found himself downstairs in the surgical ward. He also found that you could queue up for dinner and get meat and scoops of mash. However it turns out that, during war time, the hospital wasn’t supposed to feed volunteers and Roy was dragged to the Sister’s office and scolded for scrounging.
A few weeks later, Mr. Bull, the scout leader, received a report that one of his scouts had lost interest in his volunteering after discovering that free meals were not included in the deal.
Counting the time he’d spent on both the psychiatric and surgical wards, Roy had completed his 50 hours service. However, no badge was issued until his mum marched round to the scout leader’s house on the next street to convince Mr Bull of Roy’s worthiness of the red and gold badge. It worked and Roy was soon proudly wearing the crowned badge upon his uniform.
Roy related scouting with knives, and before he had left, the lad had assembled a formidable collection:
- The standard Jackknife
- A buck horn handled penknife with five blades and a cork screw
- A bowie knife with a plastic handle that shattered noisily when rogue Roy threw it at his bedroom dartboard
- Two knives that Roy had been given by soldiers in Wharncliffe Hospital (whose sheaths he had covered with fur from rabbits that the family had eaten for dinner)
Roy used these last two knives for carving his initials on trees.
Other wartime mischief occurred when the scouts were given a room inside the almost derelict school building (now known as the church hall) provided that they did DIY, mainly in the form of cleaning and painting. Roy and friends scrubbed crusty floorboards and rubbed the walls with damp cloths until the water ran down the paper in grey streaks, rather than covering it in a uniform film of black.
After the initial clean up, Roy and Harold were persuaded to paint the woodwork with a promise that they could decorate in the colour of their choice. They chose Primrose – a bright yellow. When their artistic excess was quickly discovered, the scouts’ tenancy of the room was cancelled. But for years, a single yellow window frame smiled down onto the schoolyard. Harold and Roy thought of it fondly.
In his book, A Yorkshire Boyhood, Roy remembers Scout camps in the Derbyshire countryside, setting off on a tram car and digging his own toilet on arrival with friends such as Geoffery Kirby and Harold Woolhouse.
In his last year in scouts, a campfire concert was arranged on Wadsley Common to celebrate the return of Geoff Kirby from Loughborough College. It included endless campfire songs and was visited by the group leader, Reverend Hughes.
The boys were halfway into a song in which every verse began “If I were not a boy scout…” when a verse was included about Rev Hughes. The song was enjoyed by most, but sadly not the vicar, and the scouts were closed for a month.
As an adult, Roy went on to be an MP in Birmingham, stood to be Labour party leader only to come in second to Neil Kinnock, and has been a member of the Privy Council since 1975 (this is a select group that advised Queen Elizabeth and now King Charles). He was deputy leader of the Labour party and was also a government minister under Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
It is not known if his skills in Morse code, rope bridges or stoats helped him in his political career – but we’d like to think it did.
His mum, Enid, also lived a life full of success. As Lord Mayor of Sheffield she oversaw the creation of the Crucible Theatre which has been home to the World Snooker Championship since 1977. She lived on Airedale Road until her old age. She continued to support the scout group, every year donating her jumble to help us raise money to build our existing amazing Scout HQ.
It is not known if her skills in convincing a scout leader to give her son his red and gold badge helped her career – but we’d like to think it did.
Who knows what today’s 150th youngsters (or their mums) will go on to achieve?
Notes
- A stoat has a longer tail with a dark tip. A weasel’s tail is shorter. But you knew that already?
- The stories here are told with thanks to the Rt Hon Lord Hattersley, also known as Baron Hattersley of Sparkbrook; or, when he was a cub, Roy. You can read more about his book Roy Hattersley A Yorkshire Boyhood, first published in 1983.
