The commandant who helped Hartlepool girls to chop up firewood

Lots of you should if you were involved in the Girl Guides movement in Hartlepool and County Durham.

In 1967, she was assistant county camp advisor and a camp commandant with 1,000 people under her charge at Wynyard Park that year.

Girls and Guiders were led by her during the eight-day break at the park which had been given over to the movement by permission of the Marquess of Londonderry and Dowager Marchioness of Londonderry to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Girl Guide movement.

She was in charge of 19 groups at the time including from Hartlepool.

And she certainly had the background to be the perfect person in charge. She was a Guide from the age of 11 when the first company was formed at her church.

The Northern Daily Mail article at the time said: “She is continually providing encouragement to girls of all ages to join the movement she has devoted her entire spare time to.”

She told the Mail at the time: “I was always encouraged to camp and my brother was a Scout and my sister, who joined at about the same time as I did, is now Sunderland Divisional Secretary.”.

Miss Brown went to Sunderland High School and left when she was 16.

Her greatest reward in being involved in the movement was seeing the delight in a child’s eyes when they put up a tent or chopped up firewood.

Who remembers Miss Brown. Email [email protected]