The French connection with Shields

Members of the 22nd South Shields Cub Scouts who left Brownsea Hall for the Whit camp held at Moorhouse, County Durham.

Laurie Alder emails, saying: “I write to you from Toulouse, in south-west France, where I have been living for the past 24 years, though the first 18 years of my life were spent in South Shields.

“My mum is currently visiting me here, and she brought with her page 21 of the Shields Gazette, from Time Of Our Lives, showing some photos from the 22nd scout group.

“I was a member of this cub scout group, and I think I can identify some of the people in the photo, pictured leaving Brownsea Hall for the Whit camp.

“We have had a family debate over which one is me, I think it’s third from the left (standing), peeping round from the standing boy on the extreme left, which is certainly Michael Burnside, while my mum thinks that it’s the boy crouching directly behind the boy sitting cross legged at the front.

“I think that the boy standing under the “d” of Sunderland is Sean Hammill, but the boy sitting side-on is certainly David Fantarrow.

“Also not sure, but the boy right at the back, fifth from left, might be Robert Faircloth (Fairclough).

“Just another point, the photo showing Ian Lancaster presenting his many badges to LF Prior is certainly not in 1994, as Ian was a contemporary of mine, so it must have been in the early seventies.

“I remember that Ian suffered a very bad rugby accident, breaking his neck, when he was a late teenager/early twenties.”

Thank you Laurie for your contribution, it’s much appreciated.

I will be featuring some more scouting pictures soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

In the meantime, please keep sending in your memories of scouting and guiding in South Tyneside.