SALIAN JUNE 2011

Class of 51 Reunion April 15th 2011

The original Class of 51 all started school on a cold morning in September 1951, a lifetime ago and only 6 years after the end of the war. Sweets were still rationed and it cost 6d to get into the Odeon on a Saturday morning. The school sec. Was Mrs. Hunt and Bill Shepherd drove an M.G. Happy Days? Not particularly, SGS was quite a frightening place for us new entrants and the thought of having to stay at school till 4oclock was daunting after having been used to finishing at 3oclock for the previous 5 years So you can imagine that after a gap of nearly 60 years some of us had changed, except for Alan White, whom my wife still insists still looked like Clarke Gable. In an effort to minimise the risk of buying a drink for a stranger when we first assembled at Sale Golf Club sticky name tags were issued which had an additional coloured sticker showing which House we had been in. It was very satisfying to see that Egerton House provided the most attendees. As you can see from the photos the scene is somewhat reminiscent of the lounge in an Old Persons Retirement Home except there are no ladies and there wasn’t a discernable smell….not at my table anyway or at least not till later!! I think that we all enjoyed ourselves and the catering was very good and it’s all thanks to Derek King for his assiduous searching of the electoral rolls on his PC that so many of us were discovered. Following a letter I wrote to the Sale and Altrincham Messenger there

were people from as far away as Canada, South Africa and France who responded. None of these could attend unfortunately but at least we have them on the Salian database

For those of you with a very good memory you will no doubt be able to recognise some of the faces in the photographs despite the lines and hair or lack of it. It helps if you can imagine a school cap in place although poor old Brian Marshall was always in detention for not wearing his because he came to school on the back of his father’s motorbike .

Just to give a brief picture of a few of the people present and as an example of how we had changed look at John Wood, easy enough to spot because he is still as handsome as ever. He was a first class high jumper at school in the Cheshire Sports and representing his House. 60 years later jumping a high kerb is challenging and usually ends up in a Fosbury Flop and that’s before drinking.

Max Weir is another example of the effects of 60 years rich living. A first class athlete at school whose 100yd. Sprint time wasn’t broken for years after he left and his hurdling times were impressive. He got his leg over a lot quicker than the rest of

us whether it was on the hurdles or in Sale Park

. Frank Sale was there somewhere behind all that hair looking like the Archbishop of Canterbury

Look at John Deas if you can recognise him. Poor John’s parents thought that the school day didn’t finish till 5oclock because he was in detention so often yet he went on to become a P.T.I. in the army. Tony Roberts is showing signs of having lived a life worthy of a super injunction. But how come he does not have a single grey hair on his head? Donald Horsefield was as chirpy as ever reminiscing about the time he and I were sent to Norrish’s office by Bill Shepherd for the cane for throwing snowballs in the quad. 6 of the best for our troubles. It was a delight to meet Anthony Wilkinson again after 60 years and we reminded him of the time he told Mr. Shepherd that he could not attend detention because he had to be back home in time to watch the Flowerpot Men. Even Bill Shepherd had to smile (or should that be smirk) at that one. Andy Will lives in Northwich with two dogs and two horses having given up on the women. David Parry is still growing by the looks of him and Peter Williamson, who was at Primary School with some of us seems to have lost his hair. Follically Challenged would be a polite description I think. It was nice to meet Jim Eccles, Ray Hopwood and Roger Percy again and two of them have certainly managed to stave off the ravages of time away remarkably well. Thanks to those who could make it and to those who could not look out for the next one on 2071!! Gordon Chadwick (Class of 51) Peter Ashley (Class of 47) In November of last year Peter was awarded an Honorary Master of Arts Degree at the University of Worcester for his work in Dementia studies as well as other areas. After service in the RAF he graduated following external studies in Electronics and Mathematics. There then followed a career in cutting edge electronics, computer aided design and graphics. This led to him becoming Group Technical Director of a major public computer plc.Peter contracted Legionnaires Disease leading to heart attacks and in 1979 he was diagnosed as suffering from a form of dementia. Peter then decided to lend his talents to furthering the cause of those living with dementia.

Since his diagnosis Peter has spent time as a Council Member and Trustee of the Alzheimer Society, has been a major contributor to the NICE Dementia Guideline, advised The National Audit Office on their report on Dementia and was an invited reference member to the first National Dementia Strategy for England published in 2009. He is a member of the Dementia and Neurodegenerative Disease Network, a Councillor on his local Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and a Public Member of the Royal College of Physicians Pharmaceuticals Forum. He is also Patron of the South West Yorkshire Mental Health Collaborative and a founder member of Worcester Association for Dementia Studies. The honorary degree was presented to Peter by Professor Dawn Booker, Director Association of Dementia Studies at The University of Worcester. Keith Sibbald (Class of 47) Where Are They Now Gordon Chadwick has come up with a good idea that we should run a “Where are they now” section which will maybe enable people to get back in touch with old school mates. So here we go. If you are looking for an old school mate then please let me have the details. I will then put your requests in the next news letter and see what readers come back with. Give it a go! Content There is not much content in this issue but this is due to you readers not sending in your stories. So come on and give me some content for the next issue. I am grateful to Gordon Chadwick and Peter Ashley for their efforts. Peter “Tub” Casey the Cumbria based class of 47 member has promised a piece for the next issue. He has been spurred on by the piece put in by Brandon Williams . One of Ted’s claim to fame is that he was the youngest member of the Kestel patrol at the 15th Sale summer camp in 1948 at Great Langdale… can’t wait

Keith Sibbald (Editor of sorts)