A HISTORY OF THE 18TH SOUTH SHIELDS COMPANY
The 18th Company was founded in 1930 / 31 with Mr John Young as Captain.
1933 was the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Boys Brigade, and two boys from the company attended the International Camp held at Glasgow to commemorate this event. Boys from the Company also went to Glasgow and took part in the Grand Parade held in that city where the BB started. (see video below)
Our old home; St Andrews Church, now the Charles Young Centre
The Company at this time had a very successful football team (naturally with John Young as Captain!) and played on a ground near where the recycling centre at Tyne Dock now is. Battalion Camps were always well attended – Barnard Castle, Rothbury and Shotley Bridge come to mind as being popular sites.
In about 1935 the Company was taken over by Mr Stewart Blenkinsop and then by Mr Angus McPhee until he left South Shields in 1938. At this time Mr William Barron was a Staff Sergeant in the Company (having joined when he was 12 years old) and he was asked to become Captain – a post he held until September 1939 when the Company was disbanded for the duration of the Second World War.
In 1946, when the Rev W A Rodgers came to St Andrew’ s Church, Talbot Road, (where the Company was then stationed), he asked Mr Barron to reform the 18th. Another old boy of the Company, Mr Norman Graham, was contacted and he agreed to help. Mr Chalmers held a film show in the Church Hall, and a number of boys were recruited – and so, in September 1946, the 18th was Re-born. Documents can be seen below concerning the Companies reformation.
Football Team 1961.
Although the Company was never large in numbers at this time, it played an important role in all Battalion activities – Sgt. Wm Jermaine represented the Battalion at the presentation of a cot at the Ingham Infirmary – Lieut. N. Graham as officer-in-Charge of the Battalion Colour Party – Capt. W Barron was Convener of a number of Battalion committees and was on the House Committee that was closely involved in the setting up and running of the newly bought BB House in Westoe Village. (How many jam jars equal one BB House?)
As Mr Rodgers was Chaplain to both the 3rd and 18th, there was close co-operation between the two companies, and joint Company Inspections were held on a number of occasions.
In the late 1950s, Mr Barron and Mr Graham had to give up active Company Work, and Mr Robert Owen became Captain for a short period and was succeeded by Mr James Stobbs.
Under Mr Stobbs, the Company expanded and was very successful in Band Competitions and Duke of Edinburgh Award Schemes. Mr Thomas Brown followed as Captain and the Company continued to flourish and win Battalion competitions and a number of boys gained Gold Awards.
In 1971, Mr George Armstrong became Captain, and again the Company grew, and eventually a new Junior Section was started at Biddick Hall School, as well as that held at St Andrew’s.
Our Joint Boys and Girls Brigade Band performing at a school fete.
When the decision to close St Andrews was taken, members of the Church were concerned that the work of the Company should continue. Everyone was therefore pleased when it was arranged for the 18th to transfer to Talbot Road Methodist Church, just down the road from their old home, after the last service at St Andrews, which took place on 25th October 1981. St Andrews is now called The Charles Young Centre, an organisation aimed at helping elderly and handicapped people.
Mr Armstrong had always been a favourite amongst the Junior members of the 18th, who all, without question, had an enormous respect for him. During his time as Captain the Company was famous for its summer camps, which could last for weeks on end. Advanced parties were often sent a week before to set up the equipment.
No wonder we needed advanced parties...Even the pool table went to camp in the 1980s
During his time the Company also had a very successful bugle band which later joined forces with The Girls’ Brigade of Talbot Road Church. The band won many tournaments and were booked nearly every weekend to perform at school fetes and other community events. At the turn of the millennium, the Company was also very successful in numerous Battalion Competitions, notably winning the Unihoc (Keith Arthur Trophy) and various football competitions on numerous occasions.
A Typical Mr Armstrong pose whilst serving tea at Broomley Grange Camp,2004
Mr Armstrong was to go on to become the longest serving Captain of the 18th, serving for an amazing 41 years! When he sadly passed away in 2012 due to Motor Neurones Disease, Lieutenants’ Phil Davies and Stuart Mchaffie took over the joint running of the Company.
The Company had a spell when due to lack of numbers, it was touch and go whether it would disband, but thankfully a massive influx of young people in the past few years has seen a revival of fortune and as of 2016, after 86 years, the 18th South Shields is still going strong.