Harold Wyld emailed us from Walmer in Kent:

The creation of the “Swamplanders” website was prompted by a bit of “spring cleaning” and my unearthing a pack of old Scout memorabilia from my time in the 8th Lambeth nearly 60 years ago. It seemed a shame to consign the various news clippings, photos and log books to the paper recycling bank, so reluctant to venture out during the recent icy winter, I decided to spend a few days scanning the more interesting items and producing some on-line web pages. These prompted Stan Allen (who still looks after the 8th Lambeth as Group Manager) and Bob Hay, a former Queen’s Scout, to let me have bundles of further material. As a result, a few pages turned into a much more substantial website.

Although the website features a lot of quirky humour that today some might find baffling, it is a reasonably accurate representation of the things that amused the 8th Lambeth Senior Scouts and Rovers – or the “Swamplanders” as they called themselves – back in 1960. Indeed that humour and sense of fun was an important part of the “glue” that kept the older members of the Group coming back week after week.

It occurs to me that my decision to store some of the 8th Lambeth Scouts history on the Internet might be an approach that other voluntary groups could try. There is a real danger that a lot of old material that could form a useful resource for future historians will be lost. All those fading newsletters and photos could so easily be consigned to the tip by relatives anxious to clear a deceased owner’s home.

Swamplanders Revisited records the exploits of the 8th Lambeth’s Rovers and Senior Scouts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, with selected newsletters and photos. It’s at www.northdowns.plus.com/swamplanders

Despite the passage of time, the 8th Lambeth are still meeting weekly at St.Michael’s Church in Stockwell Park Road (at the rear on Fridays, 7-15 to 9 pm) where they have been since starting up in 1909. Harold Wyld is a former resident of Coldharbour Lane who moved out to Bexley with his parents in the mid-1960s. In 1960, Harold’s cartoon strip for the group’s newsletter migrated to the national magazine “The Scout”. Under the pen-name “Aitch” he continued to produce cartoons in later years while working in the Scout Association’s public relations department – I remember creatively “re-cycling” some of them in local Scout newsletters when I was looking after public relations for South Lambeth Scouts during the 1970s.