REUNIONS
Clare Swann ( Art and Head of Middle School ) and former staff member Iain McDougall ( 86-13 ) ( Head of Geography , former School House Housemaster ) also came along for a catch up .
Although some OPs were a little nervous immediately beforehand , everyone soon relaxed and clicked back in to the friendships they had made all those years ago .
Jim commented “ It was awesome meeting up with everyone again after 20 years . I wish it could have lasted longer .”
Some of the group came back for the Summer Reunion lunch on Sunday and a tour of school with their children . They were impressed with the changes at the school and enjoyed reminiscing about their school days .
At the end of the weekend the group vowed not to leave it another 20 years before the next reunion – indeed there was talk of a night out in York later in the year .
If any year groups would like help organising a year group reunion , whether you have a significant leaving anniversary coming up or not , please get in touch with Rachel in the OP Office who would be happy to help .
CLASS OF ’ 47 REUNION AND REMINISCENCES
Four OPs who all started as boarders at Wilberforce Lodge on the same day in September 1947 met at The Old Swan at Minster Lovell near Oxford on 26 April 2016 for lunch . This occasion started informally some ten years ago and has become more or less an annual event now , though not necessarily at the same venue .
The four who attend are David Garside ( 47-55 ), Peter Radcliffe ( 47-54 ), Alan Creighton ( 47-55 ) and Geoffrey Currey ( 47-55 ). Mark Child ( 47-55 ) was also in the group before he moved from Oxford to Manchester a few years ago .
Geoffrey Currey writes : “ Invariably , we seem to be blessed with good weather and the drive through Oxfordshire ’ s spring countryside ensures that we are in good spirits before we even arrive . Although the food and wine are a secondary consideration , they are chosen with care and enjoyed at leisure as the afternoon slips into early evening , but our long-suffering hosts are very accommodating .
Not surprisingly , reminiscences of our time at Pocklington dominate the conversation but it is fair to say they do not monopolise it . We have many shared memories , some good and some not-sogood , of the early days at ‘ The Lodge ’. Tom Pay was our House Master , characterised by an inscrutable rough justice which could seem unfair at the time but which has served us well in later life . We were probably all somewhat afraid of Mrs Pay who ruled the kitchens and other aspects of domestic life . We remember the Matron as Susie Harwood although that was her married name and she was not married in 1947 . One of us can remember taking letters from The Lodge to School House in an evening when we went to the main school for piano practice . That more or less confirms that there was no piano in The Lodge . The letters reached their intended destination ( namely Dougie Harwood who was a House Tutor in School House , fresh from the RAF ) intact , unopened and on time .
Post-war austerity was in full swing although we were unaware of its worst aspects because we had not known anything other than that , but it must have been very difficult for the staff trying to run the place on a shoe-string . Food rationing still operated for some items .
Two of us were in the same form , 3B , with Charles Windsor as form master . He also took us for French , Latin , English and Divinity . Better not to say too much about ability in French or Latin but I can still remember the General Thanksgiving with its humble and hearty thanks etc . As we moved up the school our subject choices meant that we had different teachers . At a time in most schools when science and arts were seen as two quite separate intellectual activities with little compatibility between them ( C . P . Snow ’ s recently published “ Two Cultures ” and all that ), three of us were on the science side and enjoyed ( yes , enjoyed !) the finely honed chemistry teaching of Reggie Allen and the rather less wellhoned but inspiring physics teaching of Jo Derbyshire . Peter did classics with James Eggleshaw as the key figure in the department . As Headmaster , P-T ( Mr
Pitts-Tucker ) seemed a remote god-like figure to us as 10-year-olds but by the time we reached the dizzy heights of prefect-dom we were welcomed into his inner sanctum ( that is , his private dining room ) for a weekly prefects ’ meeting on a Sunday morning before church . In that setting , even as boys with a lot still to learn , we saw and liked a different side to him .
Our paths after school , university and careers diverged widely ( David Garside in industry , Peter Radcliffe in commerce and Alan Creighton and Geoffrey Currey in academia ) so it was by no means a foregone conclusion that we would enjoy meeting up again after more than half a lifetime , but enjoy it we did and do , hence it is on-going . We recognise our good fortune in having gone to Pocklington School at that time , and send our greetings to any contemporaries who may read this .”
( Article by Geoffrey Currey , 47-55 )
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