Weymouth Grammar School 1973–78/80: Reunion 2003
If
you don’t know this already, the 2003 reunion was organised by myself. I never
considered myself the ideal candidate for the job (I wasn't exactly Mr
Popular at school), but I took on the challenge for the following reasons:
A
– half the school year had recently registered with the internet phenomenon
Friends Reunited, but nobody appeared to want to seize an ideal
opportunity to make use of this contact info for reunion purposes
B
– I had a lot of time on my hands at that point, and felt this was an opportune
moment to do something positive that would give me some focus (although
I still wish that someone better-suited had stepped up)
I
contacted all those registered on FR with my proposal and considered
their responses. As you can imagine where any group of people are concerned, of
those who made the effort to reply I got the usual gamut ranging from instant
agreement to participate, to any manner of reasons (genuine or not, as the case
may be) as to be
indisposed. However, initial reaction was in the main positive enough to at least get
the ball
rolling…
I
decided to look into booking a venue that many of us were already familiar with from
schooldays. Possibilities included WGS itself and the Crown Hotel, a favourite
watering hole of that era. However, what I really wanted was a place where
out-of-school parties had been held. The Kingswood Hotel on Rodwell Road was
unfortunately no longer available, however back then you may recall
I did the discos for some parties at the old Chickerell village hall, where many
of us first discovered the joys (?) of getting bladdered. So I checked it out in
the unlikely event it was still there: after all, it was an anachronistic
throwback even in the 1970’s. Amazingly, not only was it still standing, but it had hardly
changed since, and it was still available for hire.
This stroke of good luck dispersed any lingering thoughts of abandoning the project, and I pushed ahead with things. I was also fortunate to engage the help of Sarah Moon (who had co-organised the 1994 reunion) plus Anne Rogers and Jane Bowering who proved immensely useful as local contacts. Although I was living in Manchester without my own transport, I made two or three trips by train to Weymouth to look people up (thanks to Rick Stubbs for the use of his bike).
Once I really got into it, it was like I’d been able to step into a time vortex and gone back to school, with many memories seemingly becoming as fresh as yesterday. I got to recollect (I think) all the boys on the register, and most of the girls (sorry “U” girls, but I could only remember about half of you). I also had good recall on where people lived when at school (fortunately, a lot of their parents still lived at the same addresses, which made people a lot easier to find). Eventually I managed to track down and invite at least three-quarters of the year, and got around 70 people to commit to participating, which I suppose wasn’t bad.
As
for the evening itself, I think things went really well on the whole – people
certainly seemed to be having a good time. Perhaps it was because I was the host
with the responsibility of making things go smoothly, but it finished far too
quickly, and due to staying behind to clear up, I was a victim of the infamous
town “curfew” and wasn’t able to join those who had continued jugging once
the party was over. However all things said and done I felt it was a good thing
to do and didn’t regret doing it, although I think once a lifetime is
sufficient… But as time goes on I just might change that opinion. Of course, should
any other brave soul wish to organise another reunion in a few years time
(before we start dying off), then
I can forward the contact details I have available.
All pictures courtesy of Ross Aldridge.
one Bev and two bevvies...
Mr G Wakeford: Winner of the "Dorian Gray" award...
Frostie shares a laugh with Spence and Steeps (never thought that would happen...)
new boys now old boys...
I bet they regretted it in the morning...
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add your own amusing captions from now on:
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the following were "Leo" montages I put together to display at the reunion:
Update March 2009:
I recently revisited Weymouth, and whilst there went over to Chickerell to see a friend. Glancing down the side road where the village hall was located, I was taken aback to discover that it has now been demolished, presumably to make way for new housing.
Apart from feeling rather saddened that a piece of our past has been consigned to oblivion (likely for reasons of financial greed - it should have been listed!), that pretty much puts the kibosh on any lingering thoughts of organising another reunion. So, if anyone else wants to do so in a few years time, then best of luck, and feel free to contact me if you want to make use of any info I have.
Ps: anyone out there who wants to contribute photos, etc they feel worthy of inclusion on this site, please email me...
Hog: If you're reading this, then get in touch - let me know what you've been up to...
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