Tuesday 15 September 2009

Priory School Shrewsbury - 70th anniversary.

My two school friends and I had a great afternoon on Saturday. Our old grammar school - now The Priory School Shrewsbury - celebrated its 70th anniversary. My school friend from Shrewsbury, being a brilliant organiser, bought tickets and arranged for our friend from Poulton le Fylde to join us for the weekend. So we set off to school together, just 40 years since we left in1969!

Amazingly much of the school was just as we remembered it. Of course, there were new buildings, including a smart library and huge sports hall, but mostly it looked much the same. We even recognised cupbards in classrooms and the odd desk or two with ink wells and lids carved with initials from the past - not ours, I hasten to add.

Gone are the draughty corridors open to the elements and threatening frost bite when you ventured out to change classes or worse still strip to PE gear for hockey on the field. The corridors are now glazed and we baked under hot glass as we walked along to Room 3 - the 1960s room. We were hoping to meet old friends from our year but we three were the only ones. We did meet others we remembered and shared their photos and a few happy memories.

Lots of the "old girls" were literally that - ladies who had been at the school much before us - some back into the 30s and 40s. It was lovely to see them enjoying a good natter over their refreshments. The organisers had put on a wonderful spread and even produced a huge celebration cake with the school badge. Our motto, I think, was "haud pro una, sed pro multis" and if my memory and my latin learned all those years ago serve me correctly, means "not for one but for many". Very true I suppose, whichever way you choose to interpret it!!

We took a few snaps of each other and then made our last port of call the old gym where we spent many an unhappy hour in our bottle green knickers!! We opened the door with a faint feeling of trepidation, only to find that it is now a drama hall, an altogether much cosier friendlier place. It didn't stop us sharing a few of our memories of falls from wall bars and struggles to mount leather backed, huge boxes and pommel horses!! We could even recall the names of those lythe, agile beauties who could accomplish all with ease - sadly we were not amongst them!!

Heading for home and a barbecue on this rare sunny evening in my friends back garden, we all three thought it had been an event not to miss but wished some of our other friends had turned up to share it with us.



For anyone interested- left - Josie, Chris, Judith & Gill

Below, gathered around the sculpture called "Femininity" in the quadrangle, are the girls of the Upper Sixth in the summer of 1969. We designed and made that uniform ourselves!!

Those were the days, my friend.........

If you recognise yourself then please get in touch!

PS - Thanks Chris, for organising a brilliant weekend.

8 comments:

Annie said...

Oh happy happy memories. Love the photos but I'm happy to say I'm not on them 'cos as we all know I am much younger than you and didn't go there 'til much much later :-)

Friko said...

Amazing, a school reunion after 40 years, joining old school mates. I haven't the faintest idea what happened to my year. Do you actually meet up with some of them at other times?

Twiglet said...

Hi Friko - I only meet up with the two I was with on Saturday and its just like old times. Would love to catch up with a few of the others now that I am back in Shropshire!

pinkfairygran said...

How lovely to be in touch still with schoolmates... I am only in touch with one, and she is a lousy correspondent so I never get more than a card at Christmas and a surprise email once in a blue moon! But, I have moved around a lot and it's easy to lose touch with people that way, and it seems that not many of them wanted to keep in touch with each other, even when they lived in the same town. Interesting you mentioned Yorkshire, as I am from that beautiful county... and Poulton le Fylde, as I knew that well, living in Cleveleys (which won't mean anything to you probably but to the friend from Poulton it may do.)
Interesting nostalgic post, lovely to read about other's pasts, and thanks for dropping into the Three R's... do call again, if you're passing.

Twiglet said...

pfg - thanks for calling - yes i know Cleveleys a bit as hubby's Auntie Margaret and Uncle Jack lived there and we spent our honeymoon around there 35 years ago! Hubby is from Castleford/Normanton area but I am a Shropshire lass.

Calico Kate said...

How lovely. Mum & my aunt go to the Ludlow High School reunions. Did you ever play each other at hockey etc. I wonder?
CKx

Twiglet said...

Hi Kate - If only I had been good enough to play for the school team!! No - I never played at Ludlow. Its a lovely little town and we always enjoy our visits there.

UK lass in US said...

I am always hoping that I'll be able to go if my old school ever bothers with a reunion. I always kept in touch with 4 or 5 friends, who I try to see whenever I go home to England. Facebook has put me in tough with a few others, though - I had a visitor this summer that I hadn't heard from in over a decade.