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Robert Baden-Powell and the first Scouts at the first Scout camp

The Brownsea Island Scout camp was a boys camping event on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, southern England, organised by Lieutenant-General Baden-Powell to test his ideas for the book Scouting for Boys. Twenty boys from different social backgrounds participated from 1 August to 8 August 1907 in activities around camping, observation, woodcraft, chivalry, lifesaving and patriotism. Recognised as the world's first Scout camp, the event is regarded as the real origin of the worldwide Scout movement.

Up to the early 1930s, camping by Boy Scouts continued on Brownsea Island. In 1963, a formal 50 acre Scout campsite was opened by Olave Baden-Powell, when the island became a nature conservation area owned by the National Trust. In 1973, a Scout Jamboree was held on the island with 600 Scouts. (more...)