Scouting for boys (and girls)

Recently, the Scouting Movement celebrated its centenary. Its roots in Resolfen go back many decades and the first scout hall was established in 1938. The following story recounts the history of the hall.

Scouts celebrate new Hall

On Wednesday the 12th of September the 12th Neath (Resolven) Scouts opened a refurbished hall. The Scouts have kindly lent the Society some documentation regarding the establishment of a scout hall in the village.

A parcel of land was leased to the Scouts by J.N. Edwards Vaughan, Esq. of Rheola on the 3rd of May 1938. The lease was to last 21 years at a rent of £1 per annum. The current hall is still in the same locat

ion alongside the Clydach Uchaf (brook). A sketch of the site was also included in the lease.

In 1948 the Rugby Club which now played on the Vaughan Field made the Scouts an offer to use their hall as a changing room, this was formally agreed on January 20th with strict conditions as to how the hall was to be kept clean and also maintained at the Rugby Club’s expense. Interestingly the Scouts also charged the Rugby Club a rent of one guinea which meant that their lease was also covered by the deal.

The current building was erected in the 1980s when County Councillor Ron Rees obtained it from a site in Briton Ferry though the Scouts themselves installed the wooden floor. Its refurbishment will give the Scouting Movement in Resolfen a facility to be proud of for many years to come.