Cambridge District Scout Archive
Much of the following material is from Martin Whelan, ex chair in one of the local districts, in 2019.
Local Government It is probably helpful to quickly run through the local government changes in the period as it explains most of the district changes
- Peterborough historically was only the area north of the River Nene, with the exception of Thorney which until 1965 was administered as part of the Isle of Ely County Council. The Soke of Peterborough (area north of the River) was a County Council in its own right but due to being very small was technically an autonomous part of Northamptonshire until 1965.
- The area south of the River has largely only been developed into the last 20/30 years and was not classed as part of Peterborough until the local government changes in 1974, and instead was part of Huntingdonshire (specifically Old Fletton and Norman Cross Districts of that County Council).
- The Soke of Peterborough and Huntingdonshire merged in 1965 to form Peterborough and Huntingdonshire County Council, and subsequently with Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely in 1974 to form Cambridgeshire. Peterborough until 1998 was a district council within the County of Cambridgeshire, but became a unitary authority in that year.
Scouts
The first troop was registered in Peterborough in 1910 and initially the local association/district was part of Northamptonshire. The local association became a Scout County in its own right in 1912 and remained so until 1966 with the name Soke of Peterborough.
For the majority of its existence the Soke of Peterborough was a single district county, although up until the mid-1920s it periodically split into East and West Soke Local Associations under the county banner.
The Soke of Peterborough merged with Huntingdonshire Scout County in 1966 to form Peterborough and Huntingdonshire.med Peterborough District with effect from September 2017.
At various times the boundary with Lincolnshire has been fluid with Cambridgeshire based groups operating in Lincolnshire and vice versa.
Peterborough District was formed on the 1st September 2017.
The district was formed through a history of merges, splits and name changes throughout its long history.
From the Peterborough Scout website we have the following history:
Scouting in Peterborough first began in June 1910, when three troops were registered to the district ‘The Soke of Peterborough.’ These groups were located at The Kings School, Walton and Barnack, Ufford & Bainton. On 8th November 1912, The Soke of Peterborough was divided into two districts – ‘West Soke Association’ and ‘Peterborough Association.’
By 1914/15 the two districts had re-joined again, this time incorporating the Norman Cross association too and known only as ‘The Soke’. Scouting continued throughout the First World War and a total of 203 members served in the forces, with all but 25 returning home safely. During the Second World War, Scouting in Peterborough was still active, but the number of groups across the city varied due to leaders going on war service. In 1946 those leaders returned and the number of groups in ‘The Soke’ district stood at 17.
In 1965, a new Scout county was formed, known as ‘Huntingdon and Peterborough,’ and alongside this ‘The Soke’ became ‘The District of Peterborough.’ As Scouting continued to grow in popularity, Peterborough then split in to two districts – ‘Peterborough North’ and ‘Peterborough South.’
Again, in June 1977 the decision was made to further split the districts in Peterborough, forming three separate districts known as ‘Fitzwilliam,’ ‘Hereward’ and ‘Nene.’ There districts were then in place for over 20 years, until further changes were made to the structure on 1st April 1999. At this time, the decision was made to merge ‘Fitzwilliam’ and ‘Hereward’ districts which became ‘Medehamstede.’
Finally, in 2017 the decision was made that to make a more effective and collaborative Scouting provision across the city it should be returned to work as one unified district and the ‘Peterborough’ district was officially formed on 1st September.
J WR Archivist October 2023
Cambridge District Scout Archive 