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Original poster

To ask if you were a brownie or a guide?

204 replies

Pavementworrier · 08/12/2025 22:32

Apparently 1/3 of British women have been at one point

I LOVED Brownies

So many of my adult life skills are thanks to those badges

OP posts:
Mumtobabyhavoc · 09/12/2025 00:24

Waitingfordoggo · 08/12/2025 23:20

I don’t think anyone’s quoted this one yet:

‘Twist me and turn me and show me the elf, I looked in the water and there saw…myself’ (That was when you were enrolled I think).

And the songs…

‘Oh you’ll never get to heaven in Brown Owl’s bra, ‘cause Brown Owl’s bra won’t stretch that far’

(We changed it to ‘would stretch too far’ because our Brown Owl was very buxom)

Oh, yes! That was going from Tweenies to Brownies. 💡

BauhausOfEliott · 09/12/2025 00:26

I went to Brownies. It was all right but I’d have been just as happy not going, IYSWIM.

I briefly went to Guides but hated it so didn’t stick with it for long. I found all the promising to God and the Queen stuff uncomfortable as by that age I was very certain that I didn’t believe in God and didn’t support the monarchy.

TappyGilmore · 09/12/2025 00:27

Yes I was a Brownie. We lived in a very small town and it was one of those activities that everyone did. Then when I was 8 we moved to a city and there were lots of other activities to do, so I never re-joined Brownies.

Waitingfordoggo · 09/12/2025 00:36

RampantIvy · 08/12/2025 23:34

My brother was a cub and went camping and learnt how to build a bivouac which looked more fun.

We did that at guide camp.

I loved camping with the guides.

Same. Looking at some of the responses here, I was obviously lucky in the pack I was in. We did plenty of camping, hiking, orienteering, making fires etc. We made bivouacs and A-Frames out of wood to cross streams. I loved making furniture on the camps- stringing sticks together to make draining boards and stands for the washing bowls 😂 Our leader was great: old-skool and quite strict, but she wasn’t into arts and crafts and got us outdoors a lot.

Newnameshoos · 09/12/2025 00:40

For me, going to Brownies (I was a Gnome, then a Sprite sixer) and then Guides (Snowdrop patrol) was an escape from a pretty awful childhood home. I went with friends from school to both, loved it and ended up staying on to be a Ranger where I got my Queen's Guide Award, and then became a Rainbow leader until work and studying for professional qualifications got in the way.
I would say that I use the skills from being a Guide most days in my everyday life, and becoming a Queen's Guide is one of the most proud moments that I've had.

ChubbyFecker · 09/12/2025 00:43

Very briefly. I refused to jump over the toadstool because no one could tell me why I should. I was 8

Yesimmoaningaboutbenefits · 09/12/2025 00:52

Yup. I was a brownie. An imp if I remember correctly. I left just after getting my 2nd birthday badge because my friend quit and I was too shy to go without her.

Makingpeace · 09/12/2025 00:53

Sixer of Imps for me! I did Brownies, Girl Guides, and Venture Scouts. I still have my Brownies sash with all my badges and my Girl Guides neckerchief (double bordered and embroidered) and my woggle...

My eldest has recently started Rainbows and already loves it. Also has 4 badges I need to sew on... 🫣

I remember taking my subs for the collection dish each week - 20p a week!

I had a knitted Brownies doll that had a perfect sized pocket to fit a single 20p coin in 😆

OlderGlaswegianLivingInDevon · 09/12/2025 00:58

I was a Girlie Dhu ( prob spelt wrong ) loved brownies and afterwards went down to the local chippie with my 6d ( old money ) before going home.
Only gained 2 badges, riding and something else - can't remember what, possibly reading.

Didn't like Girl Guides - too much work ( i.e. towards badges ) and not enough fun.

Makingpeace · 09/12/2025 00:59

DayOfSummer · 08/12/2025 23:19

I was a Brownie and loved it. I remember I had the brown dress uniform and just a few months before I was leaving the new yellow jumper and brown culottes uniform came in and I really wanted it! Mum said no as I was leaving soon and had no younger sister to pass it on to. I was only one of two girls who still had to wear the brown dress by the end of my time there and I was mortified!

I went to Guides for a bit but not long enough for my mum to invest in the uniform. Aside from my ongoing uniform woes, my residing memory is watching a really scary video warning us not to drink too much alcohol and being terrified of hangovers for a very very long time.

I was the cross over - started with the brown dress and then got the cullottes and sweatshirt! Still have that brown dress in my wardrobe 😆

AppleDumplingWithCustard · 09/12/2025 01:17

mismomary · 08/12/2025 22:40

Very proud to be a Sixer of the gnomes. Happy times singing in the church hall, playing games, doing badges, going on revels.

I was a Sixer in the Gnomes too! I got my Golden Hand so flew up to Guides which involved jumping over the toadstool. Fortunately I was quite agile at that age. 😂. I eventually became patrol leader in the Bluetits which provided much merriment as we wore blue shirts. 🙄

sparkleghost · 09/12/2025 01:31

I was a brownie and a guide. I LOVED brownies and needed a new sash after filling both sides! As a brownie I was convinced I’d be a guide and ranger, but ended up leaving guides as I hated it. I can’t even remember why now, think leadership were unkind or stern - definitely very different to brownies.

GrandTheftWalrus · 09/12/2025 01:47

I went to girls brigade in primary 1. I was an Explorer then left and went to guides but never got a badge as ours never seemed to do them even though I was there for 4 years and went on camps etc.

My 9yo is now in GB and has all her badges and next year her wee sister will join her.

chunkychoos · 09/12/2025 01:54

I was a Brownie in the early 80s, sixer of the Sprites, then Guide in Forget-me-nots patrol. I still have some of my Brownie badges stored away at my dad's house.

Who can remember all the things you had to have in your Brownie pockets every week?!

EconomyClassRockstar · 09/12/2025 01:58

I was a brownie and, after a couple of years, asked to leave the Guides because apparently I was "distracting the troop". I was just a bored 11 yo.

EBearhug · 09/12/2025 02:11

I was a Brownie (Elves - sister was a Gnome.) Then I was given the choice of Guides or Young Farmers, so I went to YFC. But I also did DofE, so did all the camping stuff. My sister was a Guide, and we lived on a farm, so they often did practice camps there, and one year we had some camp for the whole county, so I didn't completely escape them.

ticklyfeet · 09/12/2025 02:21

ChubbyFecker · 09/12/2025 00:43

Very briefly. I refused to jump over the toadstool because no one could tell me why I should. I was 8

Oh shock and horror! You dissident child how dare you! 😂

Toddlerteaplease · 09/12/2025 05:58

@chunkychooswasn’t it a 20p, piece of string, safety pin? I’m sure there was something else as well! I hardly ever had mine on me.

Toddlerteaplease · 09/12/2025 06:09

I broke my ankle on the first night of the only pack holiday I ever went on. And first time away from home. And they didn’t believe and left me overnight before seeking advice.

cuttinganotheronion · 09/12/2025 06:47

my sister and I were brownies and Guides. Loved brownies - playing hide and seek in the old tabanacle, planting tulips and doing all the badges. Guides was intimidating and the older Guides used to tell us about periods and tampons!

jetlag92 · 09/12/2025 06:50

I was a brownie and am also a brown owl!

Squishedpassenger · 09/12/2025 06:54

No, it wasn't very popular around my way because the leader person was known to be racist and we preferred mixed sex activities.

Philandbill · 09/12/2025 06:57

Toddlerteaplease · 09/12/2025 05:58

@chunkychooswasn’t it a 20p, piece of string, safety pin? I’m sure there was something else as well! I hardly ever had mine on me.

Coin, notebook and pencil, string, plaster, safety pin is what I remember. The coin's value will depend on the decade.😂

Superhansrantowindsor · 09/12/2025 06:57

I can still remember my promise, the songs and the little dances from over 40 years ago.
Cant remember what I did yesterday though.

Superhansrantowindsor · 09/12/2025 06:59

I also remember the absolute excitement I felt when my sister fell and cut her knee on the way to brownies and I got to tie a handkerchief around her knee with string from my pocket. The one and only time I needed my pocket equipment.