During my time as archivist for the Guide Association in Worcestershire, now known as Girlguiding Worcestershire, I have read a lot of logbooks kept by Guides, Rangers or Guide Leaders. The book I have chosen to reproduce here is one of the most interesting and entertaining, and I would like to share this with you.

The Guide Association celebrated its centenary in 2010 and the age limits for Guides were ages eleven to sixteen. Senior Guide groups were first formed in 1916 and they were for girls over sixteen years old, although the upper limit must have been flexible. In 1920 they were renamed Rangers. At the time, the school leaving age was still fourteen, although there was formal education above this age in grammar and technical schools.
The title ‘Feckless Young Women’ appears first in the account of the Rangers’ trip to London on 3 October 1936. The report is written by Mollie, so it may have been her joking choice of name for her fellow Rangers, but it appears afterwards in the logbook abbreviated to F.Y.W. I think it makes a good title for this booklet and they were clearly far from feckless, but enterprising and keen Rangers.

The period covered is from 1935 to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and includes mention of the death of King George V on 20 January 1936, the Guide and Scout Rally at Eastnor Park in May 1937 and the Guide Rally at Windsor in June 1938. Much is made, however, of much smaller affairs such as the need to light a fire to warm them at Ranger meetings and a pre-occupation with food!

This book is dedicated to those girls and women who were Rangers and Guide Leaders in the 1930s and who found friendship, fun and an opportunity for service in the Guide movement. Their memories are preserved in their logbooks.