1ST RYDE SCOUTS celebrate their 111th birthday this week being officially registered at the new Boy Scouts office in Sydney on April 17 1915 when H J “Stoddy” Stoddardt was the inaugural NSW State Secretary.

Before Ryde Scout Group had their own scout hall in Princes Street Ryde, the cubs and scouts met in a myriad of venues including the now defunct Young Citizens Hall and Ryde School of Arts – which were demolished for Devlin Street road widening – to Ryde bridge, shops, private garages, Ryde Park grandstand and outdoors.

In 1940, Arthur John Booth who was a WW1 veteran, bought land at the corner of Victoria Road and Princes Street Ryde and donated it to Ryde Group Committee for the Ryde Scout hall.

A foundation stone was laid at a ceremony in 1941 but construction was not started until after the end of World War 2 in 1945 when building materials were very limited, so volunteers had to make their own cement block bricks on site every Saturday.

Later the original hall was demolished and replaced by the current building.

Read the full article here:
https://www.weeklytimes.com.au/ryde-scouts-celebrate-111-years-this-week/