History of Soham Brigade

The Soham Boys’ Brigade has been part of the history of Soham since it was formed in 1925. It originally met in a room lent to the group by Mr Roger Clark at The Mill (Lion Mills) which was described at the time as cold and draughty.

The first Captain was a school master at Soham Shade School called Captain Stanley George Thompson. He was known as being a strict but fair minded man. He later became a squadron leader in the RAF in WW2. He died in 1980.

In 1928 Captain Thompson was in Soham on the recreational ground as the Company was being inspected by the Mayor of Ipswich. The lads were keen on sports and gave a PE display at the Suffolk Show in Bury St Edmunds in 1929.

Captain Thompson worked hard raising funds and raised £250 from the generosity of residents of Soham. He was aiming to purchase a hall costing £550 which was formerly Cutlacks and Harlocks Brewery and on the 9th October 1929 the Soham BB bought the hall in Paddock Street. It was described as a spacious and well lighted room and suitable for the BB having been renovated to a high standard.

The opening ceremony in 1929 was performed by the Rev. L. Vining, The National Executive Committee members, Chaplain to the Bishop of Bristol, and Chaplain of the Bristol Boys’ Brigade Battalion. The Rev. Vining was met in Paddock Lane by the members of the Soham Brigade, who accompanied him to the door of the building, where after a short prayer, he unlocked the door and allowed all those present to enter. Among those seated on the platform in the hall were the Rev. L. Vining, M.A. (Bristol), Captain S.T. Thompson (1st Soham Boys Brigade), Mr. and Mrs. H.J. Fisk, Mr. and Mrs. Churley, Mrs. B.W. Owen, Mrs. W. Pollard, Mr. Dimmock, Mr. and Mrs. F. Butcher, Mrs. J.C. Platt, Mr. Palmer, Rev. L. Mason, Mrs. Roger Clark, and Mr. Harwood (1st Mid. Suffolk Brigade). Mr. Roger Clark was to have the chair, but couldn't make the opening, the Rev. Vining then making a speech. 

Refreshments were given by the parents and friends of the Soham Brigade, and a concert was also given in the hall later on in the day, by Mr. B. Ash, Mr. J. Connell and Captain R. Goddard of Ipswich, Miss Reader of Fordham and Mr. C.W. Crouch of Soham.
Unfortunately, the hall could not accommodate some hundred or so visitors at their opening concert, but their tickets were reserved for a later Brigade concert that they hoped to have about three weeks later.

A competition for guessing the name of a doll, given by Mrs King was organised, and as no one guessed the name correctly it was sold by mock auction and realised 10s. for the funds. A prize draw was also arranged, the winners were, 1st. Mrs Howlett, Newmarket, a sovereign given by a well wisher, 2nd. Miss F. Barber of Soham Fen, a half sovereign by a well wisher, 3rd. Mrs. R. Craven of Ely, a copper and brown vase, given by a Mrs. A. Hobbs, 4th. Mr. H. Pollard of Soham, a suitcase donated by A Friend, 5th. Mr. J. Reed of Soham, 100 cigarettes donated by Mr. J. Pollard, 6th. Miss Slack of Soham, a box of handkerchiefs donated by Mrs. L. Frost, 7th. F. R. Jolly of Cambridge, a flash lamp donated by Mr. A. Rawlings, 8th. Miss Collens of Fen School an electric torch donated by Mr. G. Pollard, 9th.Mrs. R. Banyard of Soham a box of confectionary donated by Mrs. C. Mann. 

The Boys Brigade in Soham sought to supplement the home and the Church and to provide for boys in their free time. The Boys Brigade looked after everything as far as the boy’s religion was concerned. Some people thought the Brigade was a military organisation because they had drills, but this was not what it was about. The Boys’ Brigade was only military in that it sought to enlist soldiers in Jesus Christ. It was also said in Soham that if the people could get out and drill once a week like the boys, it would be a very good thing. 

The Rev. P.F. Boughey (vicar of St. Andrews Church) at the time, congratulated the Brigade in possessing such a fine hall and wished the Brigade work well.

In the company then was Jack Hayhoe who went onto to be a Justice of the Peace in Newmarket, Jackie Bishop who made a name for himself in boxing and later was killed in WW2 and Eric Isaacson who use to run the local Soham butchers shop in Hall Street, Soham.

Captain Thompson was subsequently promoted to Head Teacher at Sawston Falkner School and as soon as he moved from Soham to Sawston he approached the local church to explain the benefits of starting a BB company in Sawston.
On the 2nd November 1928 the 1st Soham BB travelled to Sawston and put on a concert and gym display in the Boys School, Sawston with the proceeds going towards starting a BB company in Sawston. This indeed happened and the 1st Sawston BB was formed in December 1928 based at the then Sawston Congregational Church (now URC) and is still meeting today.

The Soham BB declined in the 1930s and it is believed closed by the end of 1933.
I do not know what happened to the Hall in Paddock Street except it is now a residential accommodation.

The Soham BB was re-started on the 17th September 1986 by Georgina Newell with helpers of Cindy Steward and Jane Colborne based at Soham Methodist Church for boys only and was again quickly successful. On the 19th March 1987 the company was officially enrolled by Rev Ernest Goodridge with Georgina as captain and 14 Anchor Boys.
In 1991 the company put an item on at the Battalion Show Accord called Changing The Guard.

In 1994 the Brigade had a float at the Soham Carnival based on Peter Pan. The company grew throughout the 1990s with a large Junior and Anchor section.
However in 2007 a cry for help came from Soham BB as Georgina was retiring due to ill health. Unless new leaders could be found the company would close.
Richard Foakes and Paul Whitmell, both from the 2nd Sawston BB, met with the minister of the church and parents who were keen for BB to continue.
Both made it clear that they would help for one year until the church could find new leaders and on the 5th of Sept 2007 Soham BB started led by Richard Foakes as Captain and Paul Whitmell as Lieutenant with the help of Zina Shah and Holly Burgess.
The company agreed to admit girls as well as boys and grew in numbers.
Richard retired from Soham BB in 2020 and sadly died in 2024.
Thereafter in 2021 the Captaincy moved to Mrs Caroline Burgess with leaders from Sawston leading the company – Steve Burgess, Jack Burgess, Holly Burgess and Paul Whitmell.

Today the group is small and is led by leaders who travel each week from Sawston to keep the company going.   In 2023 five young people – 3 from Soham and 2 from Sawston achieved their Bronze Dofe Award and were awarded their certificate by the Soham Town Mayor in March 2023.

Today our activities today include crafts, games, cooking, trips to Ely Cathedral, first aid and art. We have a simple uniform of a polo and fleece and the programme is often determined by the young people themselves. We receive wonderful support and encourage from everyone at Soham Methodist Church.