Spring 2022Lieutenant Commander Lawrence Scholes

Commander Lieutenant Scholes, 81, of Milnrow, was named the Man of Rochdale winner at the annual Springhill Hospice men’s luncheon.

Known for his involvement with registered charity Sea Cadets, Lawrence has helped raise in excess of £300,000 to keep the Rochdale group running.

Starting with the group himself at just 12-years-old, Lawrence progressed through the ranks to become a commanding officer (CO), treasurer and more recently Rochdale Sea Cadets Life President.

For the past 68 years he has been giving up two nights a week - and most weekends - to help children across the borough, with more than 4,000 youngsters passing through his unit.

Katie Davies spoke to Mr Scholes about his win and his involvement with the local cadets.

How did you become involved with Rochdale Sea Cadets?

I joined in 1953 just as a cadet. I really enjoyed it; it did me a power of good. I could never understand why other youngsters didn’t join because I got to do things that I would never, ever have got to do.

When I was 14, we went down to HMS Osprey [an anti-submarine training establishment] at Weymouth and went out to sea in a submarine and on the hydroplanes.

Later on that year, down at Portland, we went up in helicopters. It was brilliant.

I signed on with the British and Continental Steamship Company when I was 15 and worked my ‘passage’ from Liverpool to Rotterdam and Amsterdam over 18 days. Another lad and I from the unit worked on the ship in the mornings.

When you’re 18 you either left cadets or stayed on and became an instructor, so I stayed and progressed over the years to eventually become CO in 1978.

I particularly enjoyed adventure training, so I went and got my mountain leader certificate and in doing so, changed position and took charge of all adventure training in the North West. I did that for about 15 years before retiring in 2000.

Keeping the unit afloat takes around £10,000 every year, how have you raised this?

After retirement I eventually joined the management committee whose responsibility is, in a nutshell, to raise funds to keep cadets open.

I spent most my life then applying for grants and trying to get people to give us money - some you win some you lose.

A single teddy bear stall or jumble sale could raise as much as £300-£400. We’d also arrange bucket collections in places like Middleton Shopping Centre or the Arndale Centre in Manchester, or instead of flower donations at funerals people might say ‘donations to Sea Cadets’.

You’d be surprised how much has been raised just through little things over a long period of time. People were always sympathetic to the cause, which was nice. Goodwill is the lifeline.

We received a Covid grant too of £10,000, which came in handy as we’d just spent money that we didn’t have on making sure all new rules and regulations were met like having certain fire doors.

What are your favourite memories from Cadets?

There are so many. I was talking to a man who said, ‘you’ve got to enjoy it because you couldn’t have done it for so many years if you didn’t’, and that’s very true. If I was to write a book about things that have happened, or if you were to see it on television, you would say ‘that’s going too far!’

In 1955, we went on the British Continental working our passage and we sailed from Liverpool. As soon as we got out of Liverpool Bay we turned, and I was sick.

When we went to shore in Holland, we had to go in our Navy uniform - bear in mind this was just ten years after the war, and we were big 15-year-old lads - so we finished up not paying for anything.

When we got on the bus they wouldn’t take our money, and we went in a café, and somebody had bought the meal for us. All because we were in uniform. That happened two or three times.

Technically we weren’t old enough to drink but we went to a bar one night and didn’t buy a single drink either.

We went camping at Millcroft many times, organising assault courses with different training exercises like commando crawl. It’s something the kids really used to love. They let us use the land for free. Millcroft Tea Rooms is still there.

Why should young people join?

A cadet could join when they were 13 and it wouldn’t be to everyone’s liking; some would leave after a couple of months, but some would stay until they’re 18.

What is good there, from my perspective, is to see how they’ve changed to be the best version of themselves, with self-confidence and drive. Cadets puts you in charge, which all helps later.

I think making some good friends was the reason I stuck with it for so long.

You can do virtually anything from cooking to engineering, sailing and outdoor adventures, providing you’ve got the staff.

The evenings consist of the theoretical side; you’ll do rope work, Morse Code, arms drill, something like that. At the side of the unit, we have a firing range so you can even do shooting.

You learn teamwork, respect, loyalty, commitment, self-discipline.

At Rochdale you can also gain qualifications that you can take with you once you leave.

How do you feel to be named Man of Rochdale?

I had no idea that I was in mind for it.

An awful lot of my life has been involved with cadets, and I don’t regret one minute of it.

It’s very nice to have recognition.

Behind every good man is a very good woman, and my wife Margaret has supported me in everything that I have done over the years. If Margaret hadn’t had been backing me up, there’s no way I could have done it. I owe it all to her.

Rochdale Sea Cadets meet at Training Ship Frobisher (named after HMS Frobisher, adopted by Rochdale) on Greenbank Road, Rochdale, OL12 0EN every Tuesday and Friday evening, 8.30pm - 9.30pm, plus some weekends. A junior group is available for ages 9-12, or you can join Sea Cadets from 13-years-old.