October 2026 marks the 50th Anniversary of the opening of The Gladstone Training Centre as it was known back then.

Here is a bit of history from the mid 1970’s to the present time.

The Gladstone Training Centre was built on land leased from the Gladstone Estate which was provided by Sir William Gladstone, who was The Chief Scout of the UK at that time.
The existing training facility for Clwyd Area Scouts was located on the Mostyn Estate and was burnt down in a fire. It was at this point that the Adult Leader Training facility was moved to Hawarden.
The original building consisted of a Main Hall, Store room and Kitchen. The toilets were in a separate block down a path in the woodland at the back of the building.
Shortly thereafter an extension was built onto the building which housed new toilets which saved the perilous walk to the Toilet Block in the woods.
Adult Leader Training was carried out by Clwyd Area Training team for many years, with the occasional use by visiting Groups.
In 1984 further money was raised to build a Bunkhouse for 24 persons and this was used to allow the younger sections of Scouting to have nights away without camping and provide a District Office for Deeside District Scouts for meetings and administration.
In the year 2000, work started to upgrade the Main Centre completely with a makeover happening in all areas including the Kitchen, Main hall, Toilets and Stores along with new doorways and walled access paths.
This took around 3 years to complete. A Lottery Grant was obtained which led to the refurbishment of the Bunkhouse in 2004 which saw 6 bunkroom being created instead of one large room. The old Deeside District Office was converted into a Kitchen and Dining/Recreation Room to make the Bunkhouse autonomous.
In 2018, Clwyd Area passed on the ownership of Gladstone Centre to Flintshire District Scout Council.
Over the last 20+ years the facility has been maintained and operated by the Gladstone Centre Management Committee, under the stewardship of Eric Gardner, The Warden until 2022.
New Wardens and Committee are continuing the good work by improving and maintaining The Gladstone Centre for all users.
The improvement programme is helped by The Gladstone Service Crew, made up of Explorer Scouts, Scouters and helpers from many Groups within Flintshire District.