On 13 September 1909 1st Strathblane Scouts lined up to form a guard of honour for the departure of King Edward VII from Blanefield Station after his official visit to the parish. The king complimented them on their smart appearance.
On 26 February 2025 today’s Strathblane Scouts welcomed Strathblane Heritage co-chair, Anne Balfour, to the Scout Hall for an illustrated talk about local history. Her presentation included a timeline stretching from the arrival of the Romans around 140AD to the opening of the Thomas Graham Library in 2023, as well as sections about local shops, sport, transport and childhood through the ages. She also shared photographs from the SH archive of the activities of local cubs and scouts across the years, including that guard of honour for Edward VII.
Anne reports: “What a lively bunch! They were full of questions and observations and some of the scouts displayed impressive knowledge of local history details. Several were aware of the World War 2 landmine that killed four people, including two children, at Sunnyside, a cottage below Wood Place in Blanefield. One even knew that the Blanefield printworks began life as an ‘inkle tape’ factory. It’s always a pleasure to share Strathblane’s rich and varied past with today’s younger generation.”