Halton Memories: Best days for Boys' Brigade
ONE of the things many of us oldies miss these days is the once regular sighting of a contingent of the Boys' Brigade.
We became so used to seeing them marching in parades and carnivals.
Looking back, I suspect we almost took them for granted.
So much so that many us never even thought of joining.
But now, with the benefit of hindsight, we realise we missed out on plenty of splendid camping trips.
The Boys' Brigade was also a chance to play in one of the many successful bands which were such notable and splendid features of the companies.
There was a time, of course, particularly in the 50s, 60s and 70s when the Boys' Brigade was probably as strong, if not stronger, in Runcorn and Widnes, as any of the towns of relatively comparable size in the whole of the country.
But the Whit processions disappeared with the fall-off in church attendances and ultimate closures.
So the demise of so many Methodist and Congregational churches ultimately spelt the beginning of the end for the Boys' Brigade in our part of the world.
Just how much Boys' Brigade membership gave to communities is brought home in a refreshingly entertaining piece by former Widnes man Geoff Crompton.
Geoff kindly provided a story for the second edition - volume 2 - of the Runcorn Historical Society's edition of their magazine Runcova.
An ICI man who worked at the Bankes Lane offices in Weston Point and was later promoted to a post at Northwich, Geoff spent 50 years in voluntary youth work before calling it a day in 2007.
As a youngster he lived just off Kingsway in Widnes and joined the Life Boys.
This was a junior organisation of the Boys Brigade, at the old Milton Road Church.
His time in the Life Boys passed quickly and at the age of 11 he joined the 1st Widnes (St Paul's) Company, rather than the 7th Widnes (Milton) Company.
His brother John had served in the St Paul's Company.
He was also attracted by the fact that they had a wonderful band!
Between 1951 and 1953 he completed his National Service with the RAF.
He was then approached by his former Boys' Brigade sergeant from the 1st Widnes company.
He told him the company was short of officers.
As a result, one night in early 1954, he presented himself at St Paul's Parochial Hall.
Things went well and the company progressed from strength to strength. Summer camp was the highlight of the year and in 1955 they decided to return to Onchan on the Isle of Man.
His Battalion had camped there on two occasions during his youth.
It was there that he met his future wife, Lois, at the Village Marina and they danced the night away to the strains of Joss Loss and his orchestra.
Having married and settled a year later in Morval Crescent, Runcorn, he was soon involved with two friends in establishing a new Boys' Brigade company - the 2nd Runcorn - attached to Halton Road Methodist Church.
The chapel hall was unsuitable for games and they spent 12 months renovating the then defunct chapel hall in Ellesmere Street. It was to become the company's new home.
Geoff's full story is well worth reading.
Priced ã7, the Runcova embodies the spirit of the society in the way it is designed to educate as well as entertain.
The publication provides readers with many other interesting stories and is available from the Curiosity Bookshop, High Street, Runcorn; B J Owens Newsagents, Balfour Street, and Norton Priory Museum.
The picture shows the defunct chapel hall in Ellesmere Street which became the home of the 2nd Runcorn Boys Brigade Company.
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