OLD GIRLS

75 Old Girls and former members of staff met at Malvern St James on Saturday 22nd May for the Summer Reunion and Annual General Meeting.

The day started early for Committee members at 9.30am, when the planning takes place for future reunions and the progress made is assessed. It was great to have a good turn out from the Committee. The Treasurer Margaret Wood arrived from Spain the day before and had a long session with Elisabeth Rambridge, the OGA Secretary, making sure all was well on the financial side. Margaret presented the accounts to the Committee and they were available at the AGM. Committee Members at the Reunion were Chairman, Hannah Plant, Vice-Chairman Penny Smith, Tricia Wilkinson, Di Cooley, Cate Bennett and Margaret Wood, as well as Trustees Anne Borrowdale and Veronica Blackmore, plus Elisabeth Rambridge.

Visitors were already arriving at 11.30am as the Committee meeting came to an end. Prefects took them over to the Sports Centre where it looked more like a scene from Southern Spain as the sun blazed and the best place to have a relaxing drink was on the balcony with its stunning views. It was super to see so many members of staff at the Reunion. Two Patrons of the Old Girls' Association, Miss Elizabeth Mullenger, the Headmistress of St James's and the Abbey and Dr Val Payne the Headmistress of Malvern Girls' College supported the event.

Three Headmistresses

Hannah and Val

Hilary Churchill, who was also the OGA Secretary at St James's and the Abbey, was there and delighted to see her girls. Anita Lloyd, Joy Patten and Jill Bray were there. So many of us have connections with several schools and it was lovely to see Teresa Hughes who taught at Malvern Girls' College and St James's. Joyce Roberts and Judith Davis, who taught at Malvern Girls' College, as well as Brenda Shipman, former Housemistress of Hatfield, were all present. Thanks to Judith for being an official photographer. Our faithful friend and Honorary Vice-President June Roundhill was there and loved meeting up with her pupils. Sue Adeney, who is also a member of the MSJ Council, was there, as well as Greer Owen, Hilary Martin and Lynne Lindner, all current members of staff at MSJ.

Elizabeth with her 'girls'	Hilary and Harriet

Margaret had got together with a great group of friends from Mount days to celebrate their 50th anniversary since leaving school. It's always fun to come in a group and the friends from the 1960s were in great form – Margaret Wood, Carole Gibbens, Sandra Finer, Jane Green, Janet Evans, Elizabeth Evans and Angela McGeown. They had masses of old photos which all brought back memories of school days.

Our Treasurer Margaret Wood

50 Years on and looking great

There was another group kindly organised by Carol Knowles, including Carolyn Hall, Sarah Groves, Helena Mercer and Caroline Hammonds. Carol's daughter is an Old Girl who is friendly with the School Registrar Jennifer Bailey, whose friend Antonia Ellis came even though the arrival of her twins is very close. Another friend Biba Spencer Pratt brought her lovely baby Willa.

The Edwards family were there in force; Felicity and Katherine Allcock, as well as her daughter Rachel. Their parents Lynne and Michael thoroughly enjoyed the day. Only Miranda was missing.

Emily Jauncey had got a fantastic crowd together – Rozanne Delamore, Elizabeth Usher, Claudia Berry, Susie Parker and Marcia Coles.

There were many loyal supporters – June brought Betty Roberts and it was lovely to see Mary Young, Janet McIntyre, Phyllida Cockell and Jemima Bristow from the 1940s. Denise Southall came with her daughter and granddaughter Elizabeth Rees who has just started at Malvern St James, making a lovely family group. It was very good to see Tricia Birchley, the former Chairman of the OGA. Tricia Wilkinson was with two friends, sisters Deanne Donaldson and Linda McClure. Sadly Libby Anson, from the 1950s, was not able to be there at the last minute. Patricia Nicholson was there, as well as Helen Pugh and Charlotte Gunton. It was very good to see Sarah Staniforth. Tracy Gardiner and Sarah Froggatt were on cracking form as would be expected and Tracy did some naming of Benhams house photos.

Tricia with Deanne and Linda	Joyce, June, Marilyn and friends
Diane Southall with her family	Tracy and Sarah
Jennifer, Ros and Teresa	Elizabeth and Jemima

Penny Smith held it all together for Elisabeth by taking photos and making sure everything was going well. Hannah welcomed everyone so warmly.

Lunch in Lawnside

The buzz continued through lunch in Lawnside and then everyone listened with much interest to the AGM. The Minutes of the AGM will be posted in June. Hannah spoke very warmly to Ros and gave her a present from the OGA Committee. After this there were tours of the School given by Prefects and Members of the Mount – Old Girls loved looking around and the girls thoroughly enjoyed hearing stories of how it used to be.

The day ended with a stunning concert put on by Lynne Lindner, the Director of Music, with Malcolm Forbes-Peckham. The performances given by the girls were outstanding and thoroughly appreciated by all present.

Everyone was still chatting over a delicious tea and then Mrs Prophet warmly welcomed Old Girls to the Mount.

Hannah and Elisabeth, still smiling!

Kersten collects Hannah

Celebrations continued in Malvern the next day with the 150th Anniversary of the Railway Station. The Imperial Hotel, designed by the same architect, will celebrate its 150th Anniversary in August 2012 – another cause for celebration.

Great Malvern Railway Station

The Station Staff

As Cate Lockwood said as she left, ‘there never seems to be enough time' – and so with all that chatting, there was more to say, more people to meet.

So please come again – please join us and keep reading the website to keep up to date.