Wigton Old Scholars’ Association

Cumbria Reunion Weekend, 17 & 18 July 2004

Saturday Lunch at Aspatria Rugby Club

July 2004 attendance list (65) ~ Hector Cameron, Tony & Jill Kemp, Peter Kurer, Evelyn Tickle, Liz Clark (incoming President), Barbara Dodd, Barbara Jamieson, Irving & Margaret Coulthard, John Bell, Sheila Baylis, Avril Solari, John & Mary Peile, Betty Scott, Laura Mitchell, Joan Little, Mary Graham, Sallie Wilkinson, Sheila Rankin, Kathleen Slack, Tony & Irene Goodfellow, Janet Robertson, Peter & Olive Manix, Joyce Nanson, Malcolm & Elaine Atkinson, Hans Kurer, Archie Rankin, Sylvia Marshall, Harry Routledge, Colin & Jo Lawton, Greta Saul, Liz Sismey, Paul &  Ivy Graham, Cameron Walker, David & Jean Yates, Bob Williamson, Judith Beeby, Ronnie & Mary Robinson, Agnes Edwards, Willie & Isobel Watson, Janet Grindley, Fred Hall, Margaret Ball, Joseph Bewley, Patricia Castree, Joyce Laidlow, Edna Wood, Ann Skelton, Donald & Tricia Dobson, Robert Graham, Trevor & Jean Green, David & Charmion Brock.

July 2003 Reunion - Outgoing President’s Address by Hector Cameron:

Link to Hector’s Presidential Address

Left to right ~ Sue Herd, Pat Todd, Audrey Thompson, Alison Hughes, Joyce Bell,  Betty Miller, Anne Douglas, Elizabeth Mounsey,Sally Wilkinson, and Pat Hall on an outing to Joyce Bell’s The Craggs Restaurant, near Bassenthwaite, 30 July 2004.

Northern Reunion, Tarbet, Loch Lomond, 5 June 2004

No Scot could refuse an invitation to visit the "Bonnie  Banks", particularly an exile like me, so June and I, in company with thirty others, gathered at the home of our President Hector Cameron for the first Northern Re-union.  (O.K. you wise guys, tell me there was one on the 27th March 1892).

In spite of Hector’s lavishly illustrated instructions one couple (you know who you are Tony and Jill) managed to cross the Kincardine and not the Erskine Bridge and were a little late.

The virtuous ones walked or drove down the drive to be met with a view of the Loch (Lomond of course) across the terraced, not to say precipitous and well manicured lawns. Our host was at his door to give us the "hundred thousand welcomes" of highland hospitality and libations of all kinds followed by, not the eighty-six ways with a plate of porrage their sassenach minds may have feared, but a most wonderful array of beautifully presented dishes prepared by Hectors partner Maggie.

We made inroads into this spread on the terrace by the Loch, or in the beautiful rooms restored to better than their original glory and dashed back at the pudding call to stuff our faces further. Wonderfully self indulgent!

After lunch, Hector chivied us down to the nearby jetty where a twin-deck cruiser awaited us - all aboard and off we went on a delightful tour of the Loch (note the repetition of the word Loch in this treatise .........stop your Lake nonsense!).

The Gallant Captain gave a most erudite commentary as we progressed - historical, botanical and geographical - while his colleague dispensed further hospitality downstairs. I am sure that all of us are now aware that a boatload of wosa members is the only object on the Loch visible from outer space and if you hook a MacGregor you have to throw him back. We made landfall again in the late afternoon and it was back to "Edendarroch" for a restorative tea. The terrace featured less this time as the "midgies" made Kamakaze runs across us (there are reputed to be 412 midgies in the  area but..... extremely active).

Gradually, reluctantly the visitors started to depart but just when we thought it was all over, Hector gave an invitation to take an evening cruise with him on his own boat. Those who did were  enchanted by the tranquility and beauty of the vistas and given yet another reason to thank Hector for his thoughtfulness.

Perhaps because of the distance certainly because of the efforts of the president thirty two people turned up. I say perhaps because of the distance as it focused the mind and encouraged many to make a week end of it, so that in the event it had something of the atmosphere of a full blown wosa reunion.

Thank you Hector and Maggie for providing us all with such a platform for all the fellowship and fun that these reunions provide.

Attendance (29) ~ Cameron & June Walker, Arnold & Helen Snowball,
Eddie & Carol Williamson, Martin & Ann Raven, Paul & Ivy Graham, Tony & Jill Kemp,
Sylvia Marshall and Evelyn (friend), Hector Cameron & Maggie, Mary & John Peile,
Elizabeth & Dick Clark, Fred Hall, Bob Williamson, Liz and Ron Sismey,
Greta Saul and Carole Anne, David Goodfellow + Guest, Dr Hannah Stirling.

Southern Reunion, Swindon, 15 May 2004

What a gay May day it was, that Saturday in mid May, when a small but select group of Wigton Old Scholars gathered at the home of Liz and Ron Sismey. Everyone gravitated onto the patio to a shaded table where we could all chat and sip cool drinks. As at all these events there was a constant stream of talk as people caught up with each other’s lives. Adam Whone, son of Marjorie Whone nee Reed and grandson of David Wilson Reed late Headmaster of Brookfield, brought along a bound copy of his late mother’s  reminiscences which some of us had the chance to peruse. They are a fascinating glimpse into a time many of us still remember with great affection and Adam has promised to photocopy some of the pages for use in future Newsletters.

Lunch  was an absolute feast of good things and we all made heroic efforts to do justice to the table groaning under dishes of mouth watering fare. Replete, all but a couple of us sallied forth for a totter round the local park just across the road. Heinz Herschmann, who at eighty is still working in his music publishing business, and Barbara Dodd elected to stay on the patio resting in the shade. The rest of us walked and talked our way round the park, beside the lake (where Leyla, Liz and Rona’s black Labrador, enjoyed a cooling swim) and back to base, admiring the trees and visiting the badger setts. Home again, we collected together for the obligatory group photograph before tucking in to a sumptuous tea. Liz didn’t think we had eaten enough and pressed us to take ‘doggy bags’ away with us!

Thank you Liz and Ron for hosting this reunion and making us all so welcome once again. It could only have been improved by greater numbers of Old Scholars attending.

Those attending (12) ~ Liz and Ron Sismey, Ann Fort, Greta Saul, Heinz Herschmann,
Paul and Ivy Graham, Pat Gooding, Barbara Dodd, Jill and Tony Kemp, Adam Whone.

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