THE guide movement is this year celebrating its centenary.

One person who was actively involved with the association for many decades was Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth, of Gawthorpe Hall, Padiham.

To celebrate her work, an exhibition is currently being staged at the hall, entitled Guiding Light and it will run until the end of October.

Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth was the last member of her family to live at Gawthorpe Hall, and is widely known for her textile collection that is displayed there.

She had earlier been interested in the Scout movement but felt that there was not enough being done for girls.

Rachel was a pioneer of the movement and who, at the age of 30, was appointed North East Lancashire's first County Commissioner for the Girl Guides' Association in 1916.

It was a role she held for more then 30 years, working strenuously to establish more packs, as she took the movement to heart; starting new Girl Guides' companies, finding and training leaders and allowing rallies and camps to be hosted at the hall .

Rachel is also well-known in guiding history for her work as the first heraldry adviser, having the idea that there should be standards to represent the guides.

As well as advising on design and layout, she also worked on many of them herself.

One of the most famous is the North East Lancashire standard, which includes the Victorian motto from above the front door of Gawthorpe Hall and a centrepiece of the exhibition is her own county standard.

Because of her enthusiasm, Gawthorpe Hall hosted many guiding events and ceremonies, as well as summer camps, when guides would set up their tents, to learn about the local countryside.

* The Guiding Light exhibition is at Gawthorpe Hall, Padiham, from June 22 to October 31, from 1 to 5pm every day except Mondays and Fridays.