THE REUNION 2ND JULY 2006
As you see from the list we had a good attendance, everyone seemed to enjoy meeting up with friends, over a cup of tea.
Apologies were received from PAUL GILLINGS, who had gone to Nottingham for his final Ofsted Conference before his retirement. St Thomas Garnet's School had received a very good report following the Ofsted inspection.
Also MARIE TARRANT (BROWNE), SHEILA HART (DANAGHER), HELEN WARRINGTON (BOND), PETER DEVLIN, DAPHNE TAVENDER (HOPGOOD), who was at a wedding in Norfolk.
YVONNE PENN (THIOLLER), BARBARA KEAY (HAWKINS), JOAN CONROY (POWTER), who hopes to come from New Zealand in 2008;
BETTY SAVORY, who went to Ampleforth College, where her granddaughter Rosie was performing in The Mikado; SHEILA ELLIOTT, MARGARET JAQUES (MASON), SALLY JAMES (MANNING),ANNE STARBUCK (MANNING), TESSA WELLSTEAD (SIBETH), RENZA CRADDUCK all sent their good wishes to former school friends.
SISTER MAY MAGENIS had hoped to come from the Isle of Wight but had commitments there.
SISTER BERNARDINE CALLAGHAN had intended coming from London but Sr. Rufina had suffered a stroke so she was needed there. BROTHER RALPH LOFTUS sent to us from Newcastle wishing us blessings and a joyful gathering.
It was a lovely, hot day. Committee members plus FRANK BROOKS & TOMMY BROWNING, who are Past Pupils, arrived early to prepare the hall. We are beginning to find the moving of furniture more of a strain but once the tables & chairs were set up, the cloths and lovely sweet peas soon made the premises look welcoming.
Many people expressed their gratitude to the committee members, without whose dedication and hard work the afternoon would not be so enjoyable and successful.
CHRISTINE BROCKLEHURST (PLACE) our Treasurer, deserves a special mention as she was recovering from a recent carpal tunnel operation yet still came to do ail she was able in her role as Treasurer, with the help of MAUREEN HUNT (DALY).
LINDA HOOPER (HERBERT) kindly collected Christine from Ringwood and returned her home afterwards. We were delighted to welcome our President JEAN WALSH (HUGHES), her health had been so poor that we had been praying for her.
Her determination to attend the reunion was very much appreciated. Although the ulcerated leg still has not healed she enjoyed the weekend in the motor home with ANGIE, to whom many thanks for her constant care and for bringing Jean.
Sadly Robin is now in a Nursing Home in Sidmouth. Early arrivals were JOYCE CROOKS (KIRK) with her brother Douglas and son Richard. JOYCE was over from Christchurch, New Zealand and attending her 1st reunion.
I had been able to contact MARGARET JONES (THORNE) for her, who had in turn got in touch with MAUREEN PLATT (McMULLEN), who was away at the time.
Later in July JOYCE came down again and met MAUREEN in Poole, where she also was able to visit relations. Joyce & Douglas also visited their parents' grave in Christchurch, showed Richard where they grew up and drove through the New Forest en route to Surrey.
Joyce said that the reunion was an extra special time, & that it was a blessing to see the number of people there and the spirit of the Convent still alive.
She thanks the committee for their organisation and hospitality. Later her brother Maurice went from Manchester to Surrey and they were all together after 34 years!
GLENN EDGELEY-LONG had got some good photos at the reunion so I was able to print appropriate ones for Joyce, a memento of a happy day.
BARBARA EGG1NTON (ADAMSON) and her husband Leslie travelled from near Alton for her 1st reunion too. She was so pleased and surprised to meet others who remembered her; in her initial contact BARBARA had said that no one else in their 80s was likely to be around who would remember her; we had a good group of our Senior Past Pupils present.
Both she and Leslie are converts & Barbara attributes her faith to the Sisters who taught her, in 1931 -'38, and to her fellow pupils.
She was amazed that JEAN WALSH (HUGHES) remembered teaching her! She says, "I was poor at needlework and hope I didn't mess about and make teaching harder for her.
If I did, I apologise." THEA TURNER (HORSLEY), JOAN HARRISON (HACKETT), BARBARA TANNER (BROWNING) & RITA WALKER (BROWNING) were among those who had memories to exchange with Barbara.
Another newcomer was JUDITH HARRISON (ELLARD), I wrote in the last newsletter about the contact established with JUDITH; MAUREEN BARRETT (McCORMICK) was able to get in touch with other contemporaries of theirs.
It was good to see NAIADA BLUNDEN again this year, she enjoys the contact with people and is very good at recognizing voices. Going through the list of names of those at the reunion I feel so sorry that I hadn't managed to talk properly with many of you.
We had intended presenting a gift to PAUL GILLINGS, on his retirement as Head Teacher at St. Thomas Garnet's School; as he was unable to attend the reunion we sent him a voucher to enable him to buy himself some books, hoping he would have the leisure to enjoy them now.
He sends us his most sincere thanks. We are very grateful for ail the support he has given to the Association over the years. Of course he is a past pupil himself, as is his sister CELIA PHILLIPS (GILLINGS).
JANE O'BRIEN (THURGOOD) organised a reunion of those in her year group who turned 70 this year. She has given us an account of the weekend:-
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Reunion of 70-vear olds July 2006
Following a mention in the last Christmas newsletter about special birthdays, it was agreed to try and organise a 70s reunion for those of us about to, or having just, entered our eighth decade!
Letters and emails were sent to all known contacts, which produced some interesting and very welcome replies from people not seen, but not forgotten, for many years. It was sad that a number of school friends had lost touch over the years - sad too that some were not well enough to take part or lived too far away.
However, a few friends had a most enjoyable weekend at the time of the Convent Annual Reunion in July. On the Friday, Wendyann Crawforth (Johnston), Genevieve Basto (Bond) and Jane O'Brien (Thuraood) met up in London at Genevieve's Mews house in Islington for a wealth of memories, scanning numerous photographs and reading old Convent magazines.
'Do you remember......... ?' times without number! Genevieve treated us to
a lovely meal in a nearby French restaurant, then it was back to her house for more memories.
Wendyann and Jane had not seen or been in contact with each other since 1952 when leaving school, but it could have been (almost!) yesterday; both had been in touch with Genevieve over the years.
It seems that shared experiences and friendships at the Convent of the Cross have endured over the intervening years. It was discovered that both Wendyann and Jane had been received into the Church many years ago.
On the Saturday, several of us, including one friend from Scotland, Josephine Jackson (Lidstone), planned to meet up in Poole for a meal together. Linda Baker (Thornback).
Ann Bravshaw (Crawford) Genevieve and Jane met on Poole Quay only to learn that Josephine had not been allowed to board her booked Ryanair flight from Glasgow because she did not have the 'right' ID (although she had a perfectly good document with a photo)! What a disappointment as we were all looking forward so much to seeing Josephine again.
A very good meal was enjoyed at Corkers restaurant and even more 'Do you remember ... ?' moments, much to the amusement of the staff and other diners. A lovely bouquet (given to Jane - 'thank you'again)) sat in the champagne bucket while we drank rather less expensive alternatives.
Later, Ann invited us to her home for coffee and we spent more time reminiscing and watching the lights of Poole and the harbour in the distance. Much later, it was home to bed!
That evening had been the football match between England and Portugal. All around Poole in the many pubs, there was great cheering, shouting, singing, and scores of England flags everywhere - until the end of the match, when all went quiet!!
We thought it quite appropriate that Portugal won as Genevieve lives most of the year there. Next morning, numerous England flags were seen discarded along the streets! Sunday morning saw some of us at Mass at Corpus Christ! Church in Boscombe - then the planned Sunday lunch at a pub was forsaken and, instead, we went off to Linda's home to eat the 'goodies1 that she had prepared for Josephine's stay with her.
We spent a long time chatting to Josephine on the phone, commiserating with her and complaining about Ryanair!
Then we were off to the main Reunion at St Thomas Garnet's School (the former Convent Junior School) to meet everyone else and some more friends of our age group, including Deirdre Foster (Crick). who had been unable to make it for lunch.
Those it had been a pleasure to hear from, but who were not able to take part in the weekend reunion, were Sheila Ouantick (Barty). Anne Soicer (Nolan), Patricia Ooden (Buck), Patricia Daniels (Perkins).
We were also sorry that Theresa Nicol (Brooks) was unable to join us. A letter sent to Hilary Pearson (Edwards/Henbest) in South Africa has not been answered at the time of writing (late October).
Specially remembered during the weekend were three school friends who had died in the intervening years: Marv Miller. Ronaleen Lee and Mary Hannigan. Mav they rest in peace.
There may not have been many of us at our '70s reunion', but we had a great weekend, and can thoroughly recommend such an event for special occasions.
Many thanks to all who helped to organise the weekend, offer accommodation, provide transport, hospitality and good companionship.
You may not have read your name above and, if it has been omitted in error, apologies! If we were not able to contact you before the reunion and you would like to get in touch,
Mary Brooks has all our details.
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