The Birth of Scouting

1st August 1907

Robert Baden-Powell invited twenty boys to Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour to participate in an experimental project. He wanted to see if his proposed scheme of activities, based on his successful Army training manual, would appeal to a broad range of young people and so, he recruited ten boys from public schools and ten from local Boys' Brigades branches in Bournemouth and Poole. rnThe boys, aged 10 to 16, were divided into four patrols; wolves, bulls, curlews and ravens with four of the older boys given the rank of Patrol Leader. It was a huge success and marked the beginning of organised scouting as we know it today.rnOn the back of the trial, Scouting For Boys was published the following year.