Ninety years since Boy Scouts World Jamboree at Arrowe Park

July 29 marks the 90th anniversary of the World Jamboree at Arrowe Park, Birkenhead, an event which lasted two weeks. It was known as the Coming 0f Age Jamboree as it was the 21st birthday of the Scouting Movement which was founded by Lord Baden Powell in 1908.

Birkenhead was a good choice of venue as it was relatively easy to reach by road, rail and sea. Four hundred and fifty acres of Arrowe Park were provided free of charge by Birkenhead Corporation. The land had originally been a farm and was bought in 1807 by the ship owner and slave trader John Shaw (an indication of Liverpool's source of wealth).

Shaw's nephew of the same name built Arrowe Hall in 1835 and had the land landscaped as a country estate. It was the land surrounding the Hall which was used for the Jamboree. Birkenhead Corporation gained ownership in 1927, only two years before the Jamboree took place.

The event took months of preparation. he relevant committees sent out invitations, arranged transport, prepared the campsite which was one mile long and half a mile wide - needed for visiting scouts. Ten thousand British scouts camped nearby - there was no room for them in the park.

Thought had to be given not only to accommodation but also to the provision of meals and medical facilities. A hospital under canvas was set up and Cheshire Girl Guides helped the medical staff. Shops were set up, a post office too and a bank for currency exchange. Arrangements were made for the publishing of a camp newspaper, the Daily Arrowe, of which 55,000 copies sold daily. The Times made regular reports on the event.

The general public was allowed in at certain times and was treated to displays such as American scouts acting out Sioux war dances. Scouts also showed off their handicrafts, bridge building, first aid and gymnastic skills.

In the evenings they enjoyed songs around the camp fire, concerts and cinema shows in spite of the heavy rain and mud. The Prince of Wales (the future Edward VIII) slept under canvas there.

Each scout donated a penny or equivalent towards a gift for Lord Baden Powell (he had been made a baronet by King George V). His wife suggested a Rolls Royce and a touring caravan. These were duly presented at the Jamboree and the car's new owner nicknamed it 'Jam Roll'. Incidentally the name of the manufacturer of the caravan was Eccles!

At the end of the Jamboree there was a farewell march past and then Lord Baden Powell, hatchet in hand, announced: "Here is the hatchet of war, of enmity, of bad feeling, which I now bury in Arrowe." He then drove the hatchet into a barrel of arrows.
What an opportunity for international co-operation. Sadly, 10 years later, the Second World War began.