Our History
1st York Poppleton Scout group began life behind a grocer’s shop in Acomb Road, Holgate, in 1909.
Five boys gathered there with a copy of Boer War hero Robert Baden Powell’s influential book Scouting For Boys. The five called themselves the Stags, but in October of the same year became 1st Severus Baden Powell Troop.
The troop’s rulebook stated that members had to live within one-and-a-half miles of the Fox Inn public house at Holgate and pay a weekly subscription of one old penny. Early Scout uniforms were homemade, the hats were panamas dyed with permanganate of potash and the brims were stiffened with glue.
The name was changed in 1910 to St Paul’s because the first Scout master was Cecil Molyneaux a teacher at St Paul’s Primary School. The '1st' part of their name refers to the fact that they were the first registered Scout troop in the city. Molyneux was a gunner in World War I and was killed in action in 1917. In 1964, the troop moved to Poppleton and became 1st York Poppleton.
In May 1989 a new Scout and Guide Headquarters was built in the village
In 2022 we opened up a second Beaver colony in the village, meeting at the Tithe Barn on Monday evenings. This colony was named Broadley and the original colony was named Imeson.