Wimborne Youth Group evolved from the production of a youth pantomime in 1949, and concert parties and one act plays made up a large part of our activities for several years after that.

But plays weren’t the only activity, for; under the guidance of the two Grammar School boys who founded the group, Michael Habgood (Gabby) and Alan Hollick, this became a very sophisticated and socially aware club with its own premises, committees, constitution and all the paraphernalia of a mature organisation. See the side panel for a list of just some of our activities.

We are fortunate in the amount of archive material still in members’ possession. Several were keen photographers; many of our activities appeared in the local press; we published our own monthly magazine reporting Group events; and lastly, but most importantly, there are still a lot of sharp memories out there.

So from this wealth of material not only emerges the history of the Wimborne Youth Group but also a snapshot of life in a small Dorset (UK) town in the austere years just after the Second World War.

It’s all here:- the music we liked, rationing, the dance tunes, coach outings, hobbies, boating at Canford, National Service, Bournemouth swapping its horses for lorries, London Shows, the books we read, collecting silver paper for the Cottage Hospital, the great 1951 pageant, the films we saw, RAFA carnival parades.

So - Click on the links below to discover the history of the Wimborne Youth Group.

Enjoy.

Brian Willis.

Site last updated July 31, 2006 .