Peter Brown talks to Barry Osborne, who celebrates 25  years as P&TGScouts Quartermaster

When Barry Osborne became a cub in his West London scout group over 60 years ago it was nothing more than a childhood adventure, a chance for a bit of fun and enjoyment in a rather dreary post war Britain. Yet the friends he made all those years ago remain friends today. They may have ventured off into many different walks of life, but Barry and his fellow former cubs, together with their wives and partners, meet up regularly.

That's one of the unexpected attractions of scouting and guiding: for so many it brings lasting friendships long after the tents have been packed and the badges stored. Not that Barry has left his scouting days behind him. This year he celebrates 25 years as quartermaster of the Penn and Tylers Green Scout Group.

In addition to maintaining the equipment and ensuring supplies are adequate, he plays other important behind-the-scenes roles. He's the chairman of the management committee that oversees the headquarters in Ashley Drive- a base for the village scouts and guides; and leads the team that runs the twice-yearly jumble sales.

We may live in an age when everyone enjoys a vast range of technology, and has a wider choice of activities, but scouting remains popular. There are 90 scouts, cubs and beavers in the village - a figure restricted only because of the lack of adult helpers.

Of course there have been changes - the tents are not as heavy as they used to be, and camps tend to be a little more sophisticated. "We always had an annual camp over the Whitsun bank holiday at Hall Barn on Lord Burnham's estate, in Beaconsfield," recalls Barry. "We would buy any fresh produce required for the weekend in the Old Town and our fresh milk from Wilton Dairy.

"Cooking was generally carried out over an open wood fire, supplemented when required with Primus stoves.Today it's bottled gas – wood fires are only used where camp sites permit the use of open fires!"

Born in Sunderland in 1939, Barry moved to London during the war after his father, a civil servant, was transferred and he spent his childhood in Ealing. A lifelong railway enthusiast, he thought he had acquired a dream job when, after school, he joined British Railways at Paddington as a prospective civil engineer. He was then called up to National Service - one of the very last - and returned to the railways and a nasty shock.

The infamous Beeching report recommended that a third of Britain's 18,000 miles of railways be closed. As the closures were implemented Barry's job disappeared too. He soon found a new employment however, this time with Bisons, a leading company in building with pre-cast concrete. He trained as a structural engineer and for the next 40 years was involved with number of iconic developments ranging from Aylesbury's county hall to the seating structure at Wembley Stadium.

Meanwhile, back in the Sixties, he not only had a new job but a new girlfriend, Barbara. Love blossomed and as marriage approached in 1966 the young couple set out to find a new home. At the time hundreds of acres of farmland were being acquired by developers in the Hazlemere and Tylers Green area and with his recently widowed mother living in Marlow Bottom, Barry land Barbara looked for somewhere fairly close -after putting their name down for a new house, they bought one of the last available homes in Kings Ride for the enormous sum of just over £5,000- living there ever since.

They moved in with just a few bits of essential furniture - using a couple of deckchairs as sitting room seats and struggled to make ends meet, just like the many other newcomers to the village at the time. The long time residents weren't necessarily welcoming either. "Our garden backed onto the extensive grounds of a single large house in Manor Road," he recalls. "Just after we arrived I saw the owner through the newly planted hedge walking through his grounds and I went over to say hello. His opening words as he gestured to the new Kings Ride properties 'we didn't want you to come here you know',"

But, welcome or not, Barry and Barbara made Tylers Green their home. Daughter Julie was born in 1969, followed by Wendy two years later and Simon in 1976. When Simon joined the cubs in the  980s Barry realised how much he'd missed the scouting movement and volunteered to help out as a parent. The rest, as they say, is history.

Barry has played a quiet yet key role in the continued success of the scouting movement in our  community, not least being involved in a major fund raising campaign to improve and extend the  Ashley Drive headquarters.

He now has six grandchildren, but intends to keep his scouting links. In fact he relishes new challenges. His biggest challenge currently? "Squirrels," he says, after some thought. "They somehow managed to chew their way into the hall and it took ages to discover how they were getting in and work out ways to prevent them returning." Now there must be a badge for that.

This article first appeared in the February/March 2012 edition of Village Voice (issue 148). To see it in its original format please select the relevant edition from the Village Voice pages of this website.