New Handbooks Come to Harwich District

The new handbooks are delivered by boat to Harwich quay, where Guide Leaders supervise the off-loading of the valuable cargo.

On receiving a parcel of new handbooks from a Guide Leader, the girls give the Guide Sign, a salute with three fingers which represent the three elements of the Guide Promise – to be an active citizen, to be kind to others, and to respect the beliefs of others. The sign is usually given when pledging the Promise, when greeting other Guides, when presented with a Guide badge and at the close of meetings.

In 1910, Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts movement asked his sister, Agnes Baden-Powell to form a separate Girl Guides organisation after a poor reception to the idea of girls and boys scouting together. Baden-Powell used the term ‘Guides’ from British Indian Army regiment, the Corps of Guides, which was well-known for tracking and survival skills in the Northwest Frontier, though some groups around the world use the term ‘Girl Scouts’ to link more directly with the boys. Younger girls aged between seven and ten are able to join the Brownies as their introduction to girl-guiding.