A.O.S.A. 2008 ANNUAL REPORT

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I would like to start off by thanking Gill Jackson, Dick Dennis, Suzi Scaife and Wendy Smith for their help in putting the Mag together. Something I didn’t foresee when becoming the editor is how busy I would be at reunion weekends. I normally scour the memorabilia room for articles and photographs to include. With all this activity it has been over three years since I last had a wander in the schools former grounds. Last Autumn I arrived for the Executive Committee’s meeting early and so took the opportunity to have walk.

I had heard some horrendous stories about the conditions of the school’s old playing fields, with tales of overgrowth and vandalism, so it was with some trepidation that I set off along the footpath opposite Suggitts. Having walked along the beckside, past the cricket pitch, I turned through the gap onto Top Field. This was a hive of activity with at least three games of junior football about to start. The pavilion was far from derelict with what I presumed were parents visible through the windows tidying up discarded clothing in the changing areas.

I remembered that my first visit to the site following the closure was at the 2001 reunion and I found the lake area of Bottom field a meadow. However, on this trip another football pitch had been created on this location, but not in use during this particular visit. The area reserved for use by the school’s current residents although maintained, looked a little ragged. The cover photograph is taken from this point. I walked along the levee, which has a new path along the top. This has wooden edging to keep the gravel in place. Looking back to the slope up to Top Field a new set of steps of similar construction to the path has been built. Another set of steps makes the climb from the Plantation more accessible.

Boys Bridge has been moved to a new location just upstream of the site of the old girder and concrete bridge that let Leven Hall residents cross the beck. As you can see from the photograph on the back cover, this has become a very rustic scene. I returned to High Green via Little Ayton Lane. My walk had calmed my fears that the grounds were being left to wrack and ruin.

James Slater
Hon. Editor.

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