Guides celebrate centenary

Guides take part in some cheerleading at the centenary event in Heaton Park.

Hundreds of Rochdale Guides, Brownies and Rainbows celebrated the centenary of Girl Guiding at Heaton Park on Saturday.

A century since youngsters urged Lord Robert Baden-Powell to offer 'something for the girls', girlguiding is still going strong and all of the Rochdale girls had a fantastic time at the event.

Rochdale's Mayor, Councillor Keith Swift, attended the event alongside MP Paul Rowen and both said they had a 'really enjoyable afternoon' and the weather turned out fine after some early rain.

The girls enjoyed a range of activities and sights from dog training display, with 250 guides in a circle and the dogs jumping over their backs, to Royal Engineers parachute jump causing great excitement as they delivered the 100th anniversary flag.

Lucy Dodman, 12, who attends Wardle Guides, was one of the hundreds of girls from the Rochdale area to take part. She said: "It was brilliant! It was great to get involved with all of the activities and there was a disco at the end with dancing. The best bit was just meeting everybody and having fun.

"I enjoyed rock climbing, bunjee jumping and trampolining and there was face painting. The only problem was that the queues were really long."

Amelia Williams, 10, of 21st Dearnley Guides, also had an enjoyable afternoon. Her dad Alan, who is deputy manager at Rochdale Town Hall, said: "I took the Mayor to the event so I could see how much fun it was for everyone. Amelia absolutely loved it. She was able to wander around the park with her friends for a few hours without me having to worry about her.

"Everything seemed very well organised. It was nice to see so many people enjoying themselves."