- Time Traveller – Blast off!!!
- Check out the ARC’s new Geocaching trail
- ARC notelets for sale
- Living in Lockdown 2020 Challenge Update – Badges now available
- Rally Round the Standard, 16 – 19 October, 2020
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Welcome to Norfolk Girlguiding Archive Resource Centre
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Camping – how has it changed?
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Bringing camping history alive 1940s style
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Camping – making a shelter
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Camping badges – Kim’s game
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : How are birds linked to Girlguiding?
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Owls in Girlguiding
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Birds – Kim’s game
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : The Farmworker badge
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : My experience as a 1940s farmworker
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Interest Badges with an outdoor theme – Kim’s game
- ARC Heritage Open Days 2020 online here
- History Begins at Home Project
- Kids in Museums Awards
- Virtual work experience at the ARC July 2020
- A message to current and previous members of Girlguiding… from the County Archivist!
- What an amazing weekend!
- V for Virtual closing ceremonies
- Join the campfire
- A game of common sense
- V for Virtual – Your tasks for the weekend
- V for Virtual in the media
- So you think you can be a member of the GIS?
- Prepare for V for Virtual – 1 sleep to go!
- Prepare for V for Virtual – 2 sleeps to go!
- Prepare for V for Virtual – 3 sleeps to go!
- Prepare for V for Virtual – 4 sleeps to go!
- An invitation from Carol Bundock, County President, to the V for Virtual camp 8-10 May 2020
- V for Virtual – an opportunity to find out all about the GIS
- Our ARC Angels Zoom together
- The ARC volunteers stay hard at work
- We had a great ARChive weekend
- New videos added!
- All Events Cancelled
- Is my Grandfather a WW2 hero?
- The ARC Angels at work!
- Heritage Skills Netbag Making
- Join us for our ARChive weekend
- Heritage craft events at the ARC
- Ready for the New Year!
- Log Book Challenge
Heritage Open Days 2020 : Owls in Girlguiding
Why are Brownie leaders named after owls?
Owls feature widely in guiding, particularly in the Brownie age group. In the Brownie story the one person who could explain where to find the Brownies was the Wise Owl. In the story two messy children go to the woods to find a helpful Brownie to help their mum tidy the house, guided by a Wise Owl. As the owl is so helpful to the children, Brownie leaders have been named after owls ever since.
Pre-1968, Leaders were warranted as a Brown Owl or a Tawny Owl, and the titles were used universally (other than in those countries where owls either weren’t found, or had a bad press). Since then the title has been optional, but many units find it useful to continue the theme, as it gives a name which is less formal than Miss/Mrs/Ms, but not as informal as first-name terms.
Leaders might be called Brown Owl, Tawny Owl, Snowy Owl…. And at one time senior trainers of Brownie Leaders were called Eagle Owls. We have heard too of some modern-day owls being called Pepperoni Owl, Choc Owl and Ginger Owl , as the Brownies chose the names !!!! We love the twist on tradition, led by the girls themselves.
The story has been modernised since it was originally written, but it is an important part of Brownie history.
Click on the picture below to read the current full Brownie Story, or if you would like to watch a version of the story, click on this YouTube link.
Hidden Nature!
What are owl pellets?
Pellets are the undigested parts of what a bird has eaten. They are produced by many bird species including all types of owls. As owls mainly eat shrews, mice and voles, which they swallow whole, their pellets often contain the bones and fur of these animals. You can see this by gently pulling apart the pellets. To identify what animal the bones came from, measure them and compare to known samples.
Click on the picture to learn how to dissect the pellet and identify the bones.
Enjoy! It’s fascinating, and please take photos to show us what you’ve done, then post them on our owl post on our Facebook page.