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A.O.S.A. 2002 ANNUAL REPORT |
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Thanks to Bevan Pumphrey, Dorothy
Newby, Hal Benbow, David Pritchard, Emma Wilson, Ben Sessa, William
Vodden, the late Arthur Grainge; the District Secretaries and all OS who
sent in news by ‘snail’ or e-mail for the Annual Report 2002. I am
very grateful to all of you, please don’t stop sending. News deadline
for the 2003 Annual Report – Christmas 2002, PLEASE.
DICK DENNIS (1944-52) was in e-mail contact in 2001 with Fred Wyatt who lives in Victoria BC and is the son of old scholar EMILY CONSTANCE CRAKE who was enrolled as a scholar in 1907, and the nephew of WILLIAM A. (1902-04), JOHN C. (1902-05) and EMIL (1906-09). Fred had accessed our website and wondered if we had any records dating back to his family’s time at school. His mother and her brothers were spread throughout the world with Connie living, when married, in BC, William in Tahiti and John and Emil in New Zealand. Thanks to his mother, Fred has copies of the Annual Reports for 1958-60, 1966 & 67 and also copies of Becksides for the Autumn Term of 1916 and the Spring Term of 1919. There was another Crake - TIMOTHY RICHARD, at school from 1961-66 and Fred would like to know if he is in any way related. Dick also had a lovely letter in May 2001 from Joan, daughter of BERTIE FAWCETT (1911-16) , from Victoria, Australia, thanking him for sending Bertie a copy of a photo of him taken when he was in the 4th form at school, in 1915. Bertie celebrated his 100th birthday in 2001, and news of this remarkable feat was recorded on our website. The letter gave details of the last trip Bertie and his family made to Ayton in 1967, when he was able to show them the bed he used to sleep in. They visited J. ARTHUR TAYLOR (1915-17) in York. He used to sleep in the next bed to Bertie. Bertie remembered Dick’s great uncle, HERBERT DENNIS (1903-05 & 1913-39), who was Headmaster during his years at school. Bertie died on 8th August 2001 at the remarkable age of 100 years, six months and two days.
I had an interesting correspondence last year with BEVAN PUMPHREY (1924-26) and apologise most sincerely to him for not replying to his last letter. My explanation for his house move and the reasons why Bevan did not purchase a flat in the former Headmaster’s House were not correct, I would like to set the record straight for him now….. “The directors of Wimpeys, Teesside, so much wanted me to secure the flat over the Main High Green entrance to Ayton School, adjacent to the Friends’ Meeting House and the Nutshell Cottage because they knew what it would mean to me, that they said, ‘Tell us you are a cash buyer and we will give you priority of purchase.’ So much did I want to end up at Ayton that I rushed through the sale of our property in Midhurst, Sussex, where we had lived for fifteen happy years. With cash thus available, I was about to pay Wimpeys the immediate deposit asked for when they informed me that a policy of bidding had been introduced. Refusing to participate in a ‘lottery or game of chance’ I found myself without a home at all. Imagine my bitterness and frustration.” On behalf of Dick Dennis, who was at that time researching details of early Presidents of our Association, I later asked Bevan if he had any details or photos of his uncle – WILLIAM THISTLETHWAITE – President (1903-04) and he remembered the following anecdote… “William Thistle-thwaite was my uncle, owner of the prosperous grocer’s shop which became Cockerills. Naturally, he bought all his sugar from my father’s sugar factory in Thornaby-on-Tees; the company had very few bad debts, but William Thistlethwaite was one of them and I vividly recall the Meeting for Worship during which Uncle Will read the Quaker items of discipline, solemnly declaring, THOU SHALT PAY THY DEBTS PROMPTLY while my father squirmed in his seat!”….Bevan included with his letter a most moving document he wrote following his special invitation to visit Omagh in Northern Ireland, by John Moore, the President of Omagh Rotary Club, after the bomb explosion there in 1998. This visit made a lasting impression upon him. He also sent me a beautifully presented booklet entitled “My Golden Years” which gave a fascinating picture of his schooldays at Leighton Park (1926-31) where he went after his two years at Ayton. As was his wont, COLIN McLAURIN-JONES (1921-25), wrote to me last May shortly after receiving his copy of the 2001 Annual Report. It would seem that I made an error while detailing those pictured in ROBBIE RIDDLE’s (1919-23) ‘walking round’ photo in the ‘teen years.’ FRED NORTHERN (1921-24), should have been FRED WORTHERN. Colin told me that there were two ‘Worthern’ brothers at the school, Fred and also HAROLD (same dates.) They lived in India where their father was a school principal. Colin was interested to read in ERIC CHART’s (1922-26) news about ERNEST JOHNSTONE (1922-23) from Jamaica, and remembers that he had a particular loathing for rice pudding!……. “I can see him now sitting at the dining table all on his own, everybody else finished and gone, with his plate of rice pudding in front of him, and on the end of the table was MISS WELLS (1899-1901–1902-1938) sitting bolt upright as usual trying to get Ernest to eat his rice pudding. I don’t think he ever did.” In early September, 2001, we received an e-mail from his daughter with the sad news that Colin had died on 31st August, following a short illness. I shall miss my correspondence with this amazing 90+ year old former Rawdonian. I have recently enjoyed, during another visit to our
website, reading through the 1927 School Prospectus which had been sent
to Dick Dennis by BERNARD LOW (1966-68) who received the original
which he had scanned, from TIM BREVIS (1929-31), a friend of his
parents. Beautifully written and illustrated, this 8 page document gave
a wonderful snapshot of life at Ayton School at the time. Taken from the
plantation end, the ‘Lake’ looked magnificent, while the ‘Centre’
Library, later to become the Boys’ Schoolroom, woodwork room, Afton
Hall, was shown attached only at one end to ‘Rawdon House”, before
the later building of the teaching block and the Boys’ ‘A’
dormitory was added to it in the 1930s. |
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