A.O.S.A. 2009 ANNUAL REPORT

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For many AOSA members, the Association goes on from year to year with little visible sign of any particular activity, with the exception of Reunion weekends' organisation and AGMs. The Annual Report appears in the post each May and so life goes on. Committee membership tends to change every four or eight years, members come and members go, all make their own individual contribution, but some, in their time on Committee, leave an indelible but often invisible legacy, and too often we fail to acknowledge publicly their contributions.

Two such former Committee members are Mary Banks and Clifford Weschenfelder. Mary and Clifford were on the Committee at much of the same time and their activities overlapped.

Mary Banks photographed in 1986 -
her Presidential year

Mary Banks was a pupil from 1932-38, along with her brothers Peter and Harry. She enjoyed Ayton, recalling that she was no scholar, although she enjoyed games, needlework, art and cookery. On leaving she was steered into the usual training for young ladies - learning shorthand, how to type and office routine; a round peg in a square hole as Mary freely admitted. WWII came and Mary joined the Women’s Land Army until she was invalided out in 1944. When she recovered, she joined the Wrens for two years, followed by another two years in Cyprus looking after friends’ children, which is where the square peg started to fit the round hole.

On coming home, and with no job, Evelyn Nicholson suggested Mary consider becoming a school matron. Her first post was in Swanage, followed by Ackworth and then on to St. Peter’s in York. It was there, in 1961, Mary learnt that Dora Patton, Ayton Boys’ Matron, was retiring. She applied for the job, got it and the rest, as they say, is almost history, Mary was back where she started - at Ayton - and now with ninety boys in her care During her nine years as Matron, the number increased to one hundred and ten, which must have had its problems, as demand for accommodation far exceeded supply, and boarders were housed in a variety of homes around the village. She was a good and caring Matron and much loved, always there for homesick new boys, and for all when they were ill. Mary started a variety of clubs, modelling of all sorts, and stamp collecting. Many of the finished articles were exhibited on General Meeting Day.

When Mary retired as Matron in 1970 she worked with mentally handicapped adults in a Middlesbrough Further Education College until her official retirement, when, responding to an appeal from the Yatton House Committee in Ayton , she once again helped with mentally handicapped children, where her gentle and patient nature was much appreciated.
Mary never lost touch with the School, becoming involved with Old Scholars, helping at reunions - twice a year in those days, both Summer and Autumn - joining the Committee in 1985, when she became President Elect. Mary followed Clifford Weschenfelder as AOSA President, 1986-87. At the end of her three-year Presidential committee cycle, Mary became a regular committee member and took over as Convenor of the Nominations Committee from Dorothy Dawson (Easton) in 1996. Finding the right person either for the committees or as an Association officer is not easy and will have taken up much of her time. However, it will be Mary’s reunion organising work for which she will be mostly remembered. In those days, stretching back to the 1980s and beyond, reunions were all held in School and meals in the dining room. It was Mary who, in my recollection, made the detailed arrangements with school, received the bookings and money, and sent out appropriate tickets, and then made sure all her arrangements went according to plan (unruly OS could often be the cause of things going awry, and were appropriately chastised.)

Then came the School closure. Mary continued her committee work through this very difficult time, finally stepping down in the Millennium year. Her cheerfulness was always a feature at committee meetings and she was much missed. In the years since, she has been a regular at reunions, but latterly, restricted by mobility problems, her attendance has been limited to Reunion Sundays and the AGM. We are grateful for all she has done over the years for the Association.

Clifford Weschenfelder - a photo
taken for his Presidential year

Clifford Weschenfelder’s years at school were 1943-51. In his 1985 Presidential Address, Clifford told us about his family, starting with his grandfather, who came to England in the early 1900s from Germany, attracted by industry on Teesside, where he met and married a German girl working in Middlesbrough. Clifford related how his grandfather was interned in the Isle of Man during WWI - the Island of Barbed Wire, as it became known. Clifford’s Presidential Address is surely one of the best and describes the almost accidental manner in which he eventually arrived at Ayton, with his grandfather and grandmother’s application for British citizenship being endorsed by a Quaker minister, and his grandfather advising Clifford’s father to send his children to the Friends’ School Great Ayton.

Clifford did not like School very much; it would be called a culture shock nowadays (a lot of us would identify with that). He would have joined the "Junior-Junior" School in 1943 (Junior-Junior School was a temporary classification for boys and girls under the age of nine accepted as pupils - mainly boarders - during the War years), thus having Edith Carr’s motherly eye looking over him. He did not like games of any sort and deliberately avoided all the compulsory sport he could. But he did like music; learning to play the piano, and, thanks to Bernard Porter, learning about all the composers. He was a winner of the Ruth Arundel Music Scholarship. It was at Ayton Clifford met his future wife, Barbara Bearby, herself the daughter of Old Scholar Jack Bearby.

It seems almost accidental that he was later involved with the school, for Clifford left in the middle of sixth-form studies; “Eight years at School was too much,” he said. Within a year, he was called up for National Service in the Royal Air Force, and served, for much of the time, in Pakistan, thoroughly enjoying himself over there. Back home, he re-met and married Barbara. The family followed, and when it was time to think about where the children were to be educated, there was really no contest. This brought about for Clifford a reconnection with school, this time as a parent and exposed to school life, and the Staff, in the way parents are, in discussions about their children’s progress.

Evelyn Nicholson, who always had an eye open for OS talent, wrote to Clifford and asked him to join the School Committee. Surprised as he was by the invitation he agreed, and remained a member for eleven years, the last four as Treasurer; slowly he became more and more involved with School and Old Scholars’ affairs.

Clifford joined the Association Committee as part of his three-year Presidential term, and soon became Chairman, handing over to Wendy Smith. He took over the Hon. Treasurer’s office and quietly, but efficiently, kept track of subscriptions (there were many more members in those days), producing annual accounts, managing the Association’s financial assets and handing over to William Pine in 2001. Still in the background though, Clifford continued his connection with the Committee, auditing the annual accounts until 2006.

Mary Banks and Clifford Weschenfelder both gave much to Ayton and the Old Scholars’ Association, for which we express our appreciation and thanks. The helping habit persists though; early each May they join Wendy Smith in her Stokesley home inserting Annual Reports into envelopes prior to posting to Association members at home and all over the globe. Long may they do so and long may we enjoy seeing them both at Reunion gatherings.

Dick Dennis (1944-52)

This photo was taken on the occasion of Barbara Bearby and Clifford Weschenfelder's wedding, Monday 5th May 1958. There were twenty-one members of staff and old scholars present. It was reproduced in the 1998 AOSA Annual Report when Clifford and Barbara celebrated their Ruby Anniversary. Last year, 2008, was of course their Golden Wedding Anniversary; our belated congratulations to Barbara and Clifford.

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