Pontypridd & District Girl Guides 1934: Camp at Merthyr Mawr 1934

The Girl Guides, in the service of God and the Queen, do their best, whether gathering firewood, boiling a kettle, making food, washing up or playing cricket with a tennis racket.

It’s all go at the camp, from writing letters home and collecting wood for the fire to making sandwiches and keeping the tent tidy and rainproof. But’s it not all work – there is cricket (played with a tennis racket) and playing on the stepping stones across the River Ogmore, even a pageant. The Merthyr Mawr estate, where the camp is situated, was owned by the family of Miss Olive Nicholl who was the first Girl Guides County Commissioner for Central Glamorgan.

In 2013, the Girl Guide promise was changed in order to make the movement accessible to young women of any faith or none. Guides previously promised to do their best “To love God” and “To serve the Queen and my country”. Now, they promise “To be true to myself and my beliefs” and “To Serve the Queen and my community”. The vast majority of those canvassed were positively in favour of the change and were pleased at the retention of the reference to the Queen, who is patron of the movement. However, some Christian groups are unhappy at the removal of ‘God’ and republicans feel that a chance has been lost to remove the pledge of allegiance to the Queen.