Re‘Unions

Celebrating the marriages of ONs Michael Hayle (70-76) and Niall Ramsey (88-95)

The happy couple, Michael (left) and Caroline with Adrian Arthur

I continue to enjoy the magazine, although I realise that my cohort are increasingly appearing in relation to the recently departed, but it is always interesting to hear what everyone has been doing since school –and how “far went they forth” etc.

However, I was fortunate recently to have a more up to date story involving a couple of ONs.

Whilst at school in the 70s as sixth formers and then prefects we were allowed out onto Eskdale Terrace and the surrounding streets at lunchtime. In 1976, I was one of a group that used this opportunity to talk occasionally to the girls from the Central Newcastle High School (CNHS) over the road. I still have the photographs of these small groups of girls from Central High out shopping for their lunch. And after almost 40 years, I recently (or perhaps finally) married one of them, having been reintroduced by Adrian Arthur (70-76), giving me her details during a visit to see him at the British Library about seven years ago while I was working on a contract in London.

After being together for a few years now, Caroline Evans (Central High Old Girl) and I were married in the gardens of Fitzroy Square in London’s Fitzrovia last July. We held a great garden party and used it to bring together many of our friends and family from past employments and travels, with whom we had lost touch, and we were fortunate to have with us W Gareth Rees (70-76) and his wife Christine (née Jones, Central High Old Girl), Adrian, and also some of Caroline’s friends from CNHS.

My brother Peter Hayle (75-82), was best man and his entertaining speech seemed to centre on the time I gave him 100 lines when I was his form prefect!

Caroline is a GP who has been working as a partner in a surgery on the square for 20 years. I retired a few years ago –after a career spanning a wide variety of public and private appointments –and am now passing the time studying for a PhD at the London School of Economics, looking at some of the governance challenges in large-scale public procurement. I hadn’t realised working in academia with really enthusiastic students was such fun or I may have turned to it earlier. Now I can see what some of the staff at the RGS were on about all those years ago –like Ankita Karn (07-09) in your recent edition (see Issue 94).

By Michael Hayle (70-76)

It was the wedding of Niall Ramsey (88-95) to Godessa ‘Dess’ Callupig in the Philippines on 17 March 2016. In the picture below, from left to right, are Henry Nelless (90-95), Stuart Athey (85-95), Niall Ramsey (88-95), Daniel Laws (88-95) and Richard ‘Rick’ Astbury (90-95). Here is also a picture of the happy couple. It was a great day and, as Niall pointed out, the picture represented over a century of “Barong-clad RGS friendship”. All of us in the picture are now married, with Daniel and I living in London, Stuart still in the North East (Whitley Bay), Rick in New York and Niall in Singapore.

By Henry Nelless (90-95)

Below: Niall and ‘Dess’ on their wedding day Bottom: Class of 95: barong-clad RGS friendship