Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine
F.P. Club History – Part 1 As the Club looks back on the 50-year history of the Club Centre at 86 Queen’s Road it is instructive to reflect on what went before. The proposition in 1968 that consideration should be given to the acquisition of premises for a social club in the neighbourhood of Rubislaw was not entirely new. In 1916 Rubislaw Field had been opened and, well before the end of the War in 1918, it had been resolved to erect a Pavilion as a Memorial to former pupils of the School who had lost their lives in the War. The opening of the Pavilion had been scheduled for the day of the School sports in June 1924 but there were some last-minute outstanding matters to be completed. Instead of such a formality the Pavilion was open for inspection by parents and pupils attending the Sports and in view of the recent unveiling of the War Memorial in the School hall it was decided not to have any formality about the Pavilion. In 1923 a new Constitution for the F.P. Club was adopted, updating the original Constitution of thirty years earlier, and it is interesting to see within it detailed provision for the Sections of the Club. There were the obvious Sports Sections of Rugby, Cricket, Hockey and Tennis, but there was also a Motor Section and a Club Room Section. At that time car ownership was in its infancy and the objects of the Motor Section were to hold runs and competitions. Their events included Speed Trials, Reliability Trials, Hill Climbs and Speed Trials. It will be recalled that the 2016 Magazine contained a reprint of an article from June 1913 narrating the Motor Section’s inaugural weekend run and revealing the difficulties both of vehicles and roads which faced drivers just over a hundred years ago. The objects of the Club Room Section were to promote social intercourse among the members of the Club. To this end they were permitted to meet in the Club Room in the Rubislaw Field Pavilion on three nights each week during the months of October to April inclusive from 7p.m. to 10.30p.m. No gambling of any nature was permitted and no excisable liquor was allowed to be supplied or consumed on the premises. In these days there was a resident groundsman whose home was on the upper floor of the Pavilion and he would have had a supervisory role in regard to this Section. The various sports sections in the 1923 set-up reported regularly in the Magazine but no such reports were published in respect of the Club Room Section. Whether it still functioned at the time War broke out in 1939 is unknown. What its activities may have been can only be a matter of speculation, as eighty years on from then there is no longer anyone alive who can answer such questions. At a guess, members may have played bridge or other card games, may have played chess, may have debated current affairs or may even have given thought to how best to support their School. 20
