Foxlease 11
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The New Foxlease 1922 - 1942
GUIDING has always been called a Family and a family needs a home. Just as in a fairy tale, at the moment when it was most needed, a Guide home seemed to rise up from the ground.
In 1921 there came a rumour that, somewhere in Hampshire, there was a house which the owner might be willing to give to the Guides. The rumour grew and at last a definite offer to the Girl Guide Headquarters came from Mrs. Archbold. It was felt to be a wonderful opportunity but the Executive Committee had to look at the offer from every point of view.
Would it be possible to afford it? Would the New Forest be in a sufficiently central position? At first it seemed as though it might be too far away for Guiders living in Scotland, Wales, or even in the North of England. Soon it became clear that if this house was accepted, it would have to become not only the Centre for the British Isles, but the real home of Guiding for those coming from every corner of the globe. Its situation, nine miles from Southampton, was surely ideal for this, great liners from all over the world making their way into this port.
On 2nd January 1922, the Chiefs agreed to go to see Foxlease for themselves. Everything in the house, the garden and the grounds seemed to be specially appropriate to Guiding. Even the dark blue paper in the hall was covered with fleurs-de-lys, the Scout emblem. The whole place seemed most suitable and the ten bathrooms were not least among the attractions.
The lovely garden room and loggia were specially suited for a Training Centre, while out in the grounds the wonderful old, thatched barn captured the Chiefs' imaginations as they pictured the Guide meetings that could take place in it. Best of all, the Forest stretched . . .
