A.O.S.A. 2003 ANNUAL REPORT

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What a month June 2002 turned out to be. Firstly there was all the celebration for the Queen’s jubilee, then there was all that football that some people seemed to get quite worked up about but the highlight, of course, was the AOSA reunion. Once again held at the Whinstones’?, I decided that this was the year to try a bit of camping! So I left work on the Friday night, car already packed with tent, sleeping bag etc., and with a slightly anxious look at the skies I drove north. This is my annual fix of nostalgia and as Roseberry came into view that old familiar feeling of ‘?coming home’ brought a smile to my lips. I arrived at Whinstones’ to see a number of caravans and one other tent already pitched. I knew that Dick Dennis and Gill Jackson would be there already as I had arranged to meet them for an evening meal. I pitched my very small tent at the side of a very large, tent and so the weekend started. The other tent belonged to an old scholar, from a different era from me (Phil Ramsey and his family) but of course this is ‘old scholars’ and so there was an instant kinship, a feeling of belonging to the same ‘family’, we were soon chatting away as if we had met years ago.

The meal with Dick and Gill also included Helen Watson (Woollam), Harry Snalam and later John and Margaret Fothergill; much time was spent discussing our own memories of the school. One of the main topics of conversation was porridge! Sometimes it was thick and lumpy, sometimes it was like water but it seems that it was always grey. How wonderful Sunday breakfast was when we actually got cornflakes and if we were very lucky rice krispies. Helen has never eaten porridge since!

Saturday was both walk day and exhibition day in the Meeting House. Wendy Smith (Arnold) was in charge of the walk and Jane Campbell (Bye) in charge of the memorabilia in the Meeting House. I had offered to help Jane in the Meeting House and so missed the walk. The memorabilia exhibition was, as usual, excellent. The old uniforms etc add to the interest and you could hear people discussing the colour of their summer dress or the length of their games shorts – long I seem to remember. There were so many old photos and Jane’s knowledge is seemingly unending. There were giggles and gasps as people recognised themselves in various pictures or tried to decide if that ‘really was so and so – no it can’t be – yes it is.’

People continued to arrive throughout the day so that by Saturday evening there were about 100 of us ensconced in the marquee – which has become a feature of the AOSA weekend, ready for the official handover of the badge of presidential office from Sonia Wade to Dick Dennis. Well Sonia wasn’t going to hand over her badge of office easily, she had obviously enjoyed her year as president and was not going to let go without a struggle. Eventually though someone managed to prise it from her neck and the new president, Dick Dennis, was ‘in charge.’ The main problem now being – who was going to take the photographs of his inauguration. Dick is usually the phantom camera man, creeping up on you unexpectedly and snapping away. What a good job that he does, those wonderful picture reports that we get every year are mainly thanks to Dick.

The time had come for the evening entertainment to begin properly. Again we had the buffet, which I think is always very good with plenty of food for everyone. An excellent new way of queuing this year was the introduction of going up table by table to collect your meal. There was the usual ‘hum’ as people chatted with friends, old and new. More gasps as old classmates were recognised, or not, and much laughter. You are always sitting with friends even if you have not met before. I remember the wonderful ‘Taffy’ Morgan used to say that wherever you go in the world you will eventually meet someone from Ayton. The other truth is that whenever you meet them you have a common bond and an instant friend. As the evening continued there was music from Emma Wilson and her Band ,which was quite varied and so suitable for most people. The high point of the entertainment though, must have been the singing of the ‘school song’ I know that I was not the only one to find it rather emotional.

Eventually everyone left the marquee to go to their various places of rest. I to my tent. It is at the end of an evening that the tent comes into its own of course, not having to drive home or having to watch what you are drinking. There is one big disadvantage of sleeping in a tent, the rain is very loud, so when it started to rain at about 5am I was definitely awake. Once all the campers were up there was a discussion as to the benefits of leaving the tents up to dry, or packing them away wet. It was decided that the worst that could happen was that they would stay wet but they might just dry, so they were left. This turned out to be completely the wrong decision. After showers and breakfast - I had to use Dick’s tin opener for my beans - it was time for Meeting. It is always a joy to see a full Meeting House and the Meeting for Worship at ‘old scholars’ is always a moving experience for me. It is so full of memories and emotions and if you don’t look too hard you can almost imagine that the school is still there. After meeting there was more time to spend on the memorabilia and then for those of us who did not have to dash off home it was back to the marquee for lunch and the AGM.

The AGM began with a short silence, to remember Arthur Grainge, past president, who died in December 2001. Arthur had been a wonderful inspiration to the oversees members of the Association and had worked tirelessly to ensure that his contemporaries returned to reunions as often as possible. Our new president gave a fascinating address detailing the history of the school, and we completed the usual business. This was the last AGM for Sue Fox as Chairman and Margaret Carnegie as Secretary; Sue has been in office for 4 years, Margaret for 8, doing excellent work, both will be sadly missed. As will Roy George who also leaves the committee after a further eight years of service to the Association. The longer the meeting lasted the heavier the rain became and I sat there trying not to think of the tent which needed to be dismantled. Of course, dismantled it eventually had to be, and not only was the tent wet when it was packed away, but so was I – soaked to the skin in fact. But it was a small price to pay. The weekend had been another resounding success, I had had my nostalgia fix, enough to keep me going until next year. Any of you reading this who does not usually attend ‘old scholars’? Get yourselves sorted and try and get to Ayton next year because, let me tell you, you don’t know what you are missing!

Diz Dexter (1960-65)

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