Westonbirt Association News 2022

WESTONBIRT Association News 2022 KEEPING IN TOUCH

This edition of the Westonbirt Association News is

dedicated to her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II

For many Association members, and readers of and contrib utors to this publication, Queen Elizabeth II was the only monarch they had ever known and part of the fabric of our lives. For those Association members at Westonbirt School in 1952 there are still vivid memories of being called into the Great Hall to be told of the passing of King George VI, and the commencement of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Philip Larkin’s lines, penned for the Silver Jubilee in 1977, sum it all up:

In times when nothing stood, but worsened or grew strange, there was one constant good, she did not change. We give thanks for the life of our Queen, a long life dedicated to the service of her country and the Commonwealth of Nations and the peoples thereof, a life lived with grace.

Westonbirt Association Officers 2022

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President & Honorary Secretary Mrs Leigh Ralphs

News Finances and Distribution Mrs Jenny Webb

News Editor Mrs Bridget Bomford

Headmistress Mrs Natasha Dangerfield

Staff Representative Mrs Joy Bell

CO-OPTED MEMBERS

Mrs Serena Jones

Ms Karen Olsen

Mrs Mary Phillips

SUPPORT ROLES

Membership Assistant Mrs Jane Reid

Westonbirt Marketing Team

GENERAL COMMITTEE

The Executive Committee and all the Section Representatives

VICE PRESIDENTS

Mrs P Faust

Dr A Grocock

Mrs M Henderson

Mrs G Hylson-Smith

Ms Karen Olsen

HONORARY MEMBERS

Mr R Baggs

Mrs B Bomford

Miss V Byrom-Taylor

Miss D Challis

Mrs S Cole

Miss B D Cooper

Miss N O Davies

Mr P Dixon

Mrs D Elsdon

Mrs S English

Mrs L J Evans

Miss M Evett

Mrs M R Farley

Mrs J Hutchings

Mrs V A Innes

Mrs R J Kingston

Miss J Marr

Miss E M Miller

Miss P E Morris

Mrs H Nickols

Mrs H Owen

Mrs J Paginton

Miss O T Pasco

Mr D Philbey

Mrs M Phillips

Mrs H R Price

Mrs A M Reed

Mrs J Reid

Mrs A Rodber

Mrs D Thombs

Mrs C Tilley

Miss S Urquhart

Mrs M Walding

Miss K S Yates

Mrs D Young

Mrs A Dunn

It’s the 11th of August, and here I sit, starting this editorial. It’s 27.9 degrees centigrade outside, and set to top 34 degrees over the coming few days.

Last year I began this piece by stating that I had no idea what I was going to say. I find myself in a similar situation this year, because, although there is much I could say, it’s difficult to find much positivity in any of it…I am constantly reminded of the words of the poet William Carlos Williams: “Man has survived hitherto because he was too ignorant to know how to realise his wishes. Now that he can realise them, he must either change them or perish.”

On second thoughts, I can qualify my above statement…Having read everyone’s news there is much to be positive about, especially on personal levels; global and environmental levels are more difficult… And yet… I find myself coming back to the word “transformational”, which I explored last year, and there is news aplenty of Westonbirt alumnae (soon to be alumni – I think I’ve got that right!) doing things which can transform; from developing the use of nanotechnology to the creation of non-polluting alternatives to plastics, through planning and designing a carbon negative home, to implementing climate-repairing regenerative agricultural solutions – it’s all out there! All being done by former Westonbirt students! So, it is possible to transmute old and damaging practices into new healthy ones! And what is the cornerstone of this transmutation? Courage, vision and determination.

We’ve all either read about, or seen, the transformation taking place at Westonbirt School – it’s phenomenal; and those of us who attended the Association’s 90th celebrations in May could not fail to pick up on the excitement and resolve of the current students, inspired by their amazing Head and her team, to be part of that transformation. Westonbirt students have courage, vision and determination – that’s great! What else does the world need?

Well, the war in Ukraine made me realise that my knowledge of the history of Eastern Europe was woeful, (bear with me, this is relevant!) so the latent librarian in me found a book on the subject! It was an eye-opener. So many different tribes, races, cultures and religions, dating back thousands of years, have passed through these lands, leaving a melting pot of hugely diverse heritages behind them. The present occupants of this vast area must all carry the DNA of multitudes of races and tribes. So why the conflict, the desire to dominate and subjugate? At the end of the day, on one level we are all the same – human beings all needing the same basic things to survive; on another level we are all completely unique, all 8 billion of us. We all share, and are sustained by, this astounding planet, but we squander and waste its gifts because we fail to learn the lessons of history and continually allow ourselves to become bogged down in pointless, needless conflict. It is only by embracing our uniqueness and celebrating our diversity, by caring for each other and making sure we support those who find themselves in need, on personal and global levels, that we can truly make a difference, be truly transformational.

So, this brings me back to the transformational heart of Westonbirt School, a place that has always embraced and celebrated cultural differences and found delight in learning about them; it’s these qualities, along with the courage, vision and determination, that can truly make a positive difference, on individual, local, national, international, and global levels, allowing the world to flourish and thrive. Perhaps these are some of the new wishes William Carlos Williams had in mind?

Bridget Bomford

President’s Report

Having missed being able to hold an AGM/Reunion Day because of Covid we were delighted to have a mini one in October 2021 and a bigger one to celebrate our belated 90th Anniversary in May 2022.

In October several alumni attended Westonbirt in person and a large contingent attended online via Zoom – it was great to be able to talk to members from as far away as Kuala Lumpur and Australia!

On May 21st as part of our belated 90th Anniversary celebrations, we had over 100 alumni of all ages and past staff (including 3 Heads!) attend a sit-down lunch at Westonbirt in the Upper Dining-Room with speeches and sixth form representatives answering questions about their lives at the school. The atmosphere was really positive and enthusiastic. There was a lovely Chapel Service to celebrate our anniversary and tours of Westonbirt by pupils. There is a lot of building going on to house all the extra students that have started recently – there are now over 400 and they are reaching 50% boys/girls – a fantastic achievement.

The GCM/AGM was held in the morning when we talked through the process of handing over the administration of the Association to the School. We are almost there – just a few remaining issues regarding finances to sort out. Once we have a final draft agreement to present to the membership this will be done via the Section Reps. We are already seeing some changes. You will already have noticed the much improved and glossy Association Newsletters, sent this time from the School, and hopefully reported your News via the form on the School website rather than through your Section Rep. Although the aim is to make life easier for everyone, we appreciate that some of the older sections prefer to still send it to their Section Rep and we are happy to accommodate that.

My thanks as always to the Section Reps, the Executive, Natasha the amazing Head, Joy, Rhiannon and their team for all their help and support during this time of massive change for the Association.

Leigh Ralphs

Headmistress’s Report

The school this year has stepped into that point of ‘unrecognisable’ for some, as the departing Class of 2022 said farewell with our first male alumni and the last single sex year group.

First school photograph, May 1928

Last single sex year group, 2022

The Leavers’ event took place on in the library on Friday 20 May, with the alumni receiving silver Amaryllis keepsakes - cuff links for the boys, to complement the same style charm bracelets received by the girls.

This metamorphosis has taken us 4 years and the transition has been relatively easy! As far as education is concerned, we have always delivered a strong and holistic approach which I believe is for all, not just girls, so, in many ways, this has been the most straightforward part.

Our numbers have thrived over these 4 years and a trebling in size has perhaps been the greatest challenge, as we have had to integrate infrastructure shift more quickly than anticipated. As we have previously discussed, thishas seen a number of projects over this last year all of which are expected to complete over the next 2 years.

Crucially, it has been paramount to maintain Westonbirt’s strong ethos; we continue to promote opportunity to those willing to take it, we continue to inspire those pupils and staff around us to want to do their best, and the quality of the environment around us should encourage all to be aspirational in doing so. Passion in all we do is key, and there are a number who bring this, along with their energy, to the school every day, in a wide variety of areas, from the classrooms, to the pitches and the stage. Equally, our support staff go out of their way on a daily basis and should be recognised for their huge contribution in maintaining this incredible campus, but equally in all they do for the pupils.

We stepped into September 2022 with much to be thankful for, but also with our significant challenges ahead. Our first set of additional classrooms, perfectly designed to fit within the walled garden, will complete…

Architect’s impressions of new classrooms

Things begin to take shape!

and see life pour into them, largely from the maths Department.

Our new car parking approach will open, taking parked cars away from the main drive, opening the parkland to allow the Platinum Tree Planting Project to begin –restoring the landscape to former glories as we sneak a small corner to become an AstroTurf and lift our provision for the Sports Department.

Boarding expands and Holford House, once the bastion of the balcony, will reform off site in the new Sixth Form Boarding House just outside of Tetbury and the boys will take over Badminton as the once ‘new Sixth Form building’ is renamed as Beaufort Boys. Closing houses some years ago was a sadness, but reawakening them is a joy.

There is much to see here in your alma mater, and I do hope that you will take the time to visit us - either for a formal Association Day, or more quietly for a private tour – you are always welcome! There are also many events we can now open as the Covid regulations diminish, so please, get in touch.

With warm wishes and my thanks for the important part you will have played in the progress of the school.

Mrs Natasha Dangerfield

School News

Association 90th Anniversary Reunion Lunch

It was wonderful to welcome over 100 members of the Association to Westonbirt on 21 May for our belated 90th anniversary lunch. The day commenced with tea and coffee in the Ante-library and the annual AGM in the Library, followed by a packed chapel service with the Chamber Choir treating the congregation to some stunning vocal performances. Lunch was served in the Upper Dining Room with Association President, Leigh Ralphs, and Headmistress, Natasha Dangerfield, speaking after dessert and a group of current students answering questions from Association members regarding life at Westonbirt today. The staff who attended were especially thrilled to see so many of their past students at Westonbirt, and lumps in throats were not uncommon with so many expressions of appreciation coming their way!

Association members from across many decades then enjoyed a tour of Westonbirt today including the exciting new Walled Garden development.

Headmistress, Natasha Dangerfield, said of the event;

“Particularly wonderful for me was to welcome both Mary Henderson and Gillian Hylson-Smith back to Westonbirt so that three Heads of the school could celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Association with many of our past pupils.”

Architectural Development and Tree Planting at Westonbirt

Works at Westonbirt are continuing apace with the Walled Garden development due for completion in December. This exciting architectural plan will realise eight new classrooms designed to reflect the heritage of the glasshouses that once stood on this site, as the images in the Headmistress’s report illustrate.

Westonbirt’s ten-year architectural masterplan additionally includes new carparking, a sports Astro-zone and an extension to the prep school. The school is working closely with English Heritage to ensure all works are in keeping with the history of the site and this includes planting a significant number of trees to offset development works. A group of trees will be planted to commemorate the ongoing hard work and dedication of Section Reps and there will also be opportunities for alumni to sponsor their own tree or trees.

In times when nothing stood, but worsened or grew strange, there was one constant good, she did not change. We give thanks for the life of our Queen, a long life dedicated to the service of her country and the Commonwealth of Nations and the peoples thereof, a life lived with grace.

Deaths Notified Since 2021

(cw/contemporary with: denotes a non-member’s cohort)

Obituary Tributes

Miss Miranda Filmer (4 April 1992- 10 June 2022)

Miranda joined Westonbirt School’s Year 7, in 2003, at the age of 11, completing her secondary education here and leaving at the end of Year 13. Miranda was in Dorchester House, and Housemistress Sally Gould knew Miranda well, remembering her as a ‘quietly determined (person, who) would rise to any challenge’. Sally also recalls Miranda’s great prowess at Lacrosse, and how much her family supported the school team at their matches.

Miranda did extremely well academically at Westonbirt, and in the Sixth Form she was awarded an academic and sporting scholarship. She was part of a lovely year group and made some lifelong friendships at Westonbirt. Laura Moreland, speaking for Miranda’s close friends, recalls how Miranda was the first to welcome her when she joined the school in the Sixth Form, with the two of them soon becoming great companions. Laura also recalls hilarious times shared at socials, and how she and Miranda would watch Wimbledon at every opportunity…(including during lessons..!)

As the holder of a sports scholarship, it is not surprising that Miranda had a ‘Fit Wall’ in her room (as did Rosie Bathurst), but these particular walls did not depict training regimes, exercise techniques or match fixtures, but rather the rippling muscl es of the most popular heart-throbs of the time! These walls were much admired by many of the sixth-formers it seems!

Laura sums up Miranda most eloquently, saying ‘Most of all I will always remember how loyal she was as a friend, the glue of our friendship group and memories of time with Miranda are filled with fun and laughter.’ It seems totally unreal that an obituary for her should now appear in the 2022 Association News: a young woman of great promise taken far too soon.

Miranda Filmer died on 10 June 2022, aged 30, having been diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer in 2017. Neuroendocrine tumours are rare, but can develop in many different organs of the body, affecting the neuroendocrine cells that release hormones into the bloodstream. It is often not detected until it is quite advanced, and it can be very aggressive; sadly, both these cases were true for Miranda. Most people diagnosed at an advanced stage only survive for about a year, so it is a testament to Miranda’s immense bravery and strength that she not only lived for five years post-diagnosis, but lived fully and actively at every opportunity during this time.

On leaving Westonbirt Miranda went to study at Loughborough University, where she gained a 2:1 degree in Geography. Her love of geography was second only to her absolute passion for extreme sporting experiences: she was a keen cyclist, loved skiing (on snow and water), swimming and running, was game for any sporting challenge, including rock climbing, and, thanks to Westonbirt, she had a passion for lacrosse, playing as an adult for the local Cirencester team.

Miranda’s greatest love, however, was equestrianism. She began to ride at the age of three and was taking part in pony club competitions by the age of five, a clear indication of the success that was to follow. Eventing became her passion, and at the time of her diagnosis she was very successfully competing two young horses of her own in British Eventing. She was hugely loved and admired by the equestrian community, having worked for eventers including William Fox-Pitt, Polly Williamson, Mike and Emma Winter, and Gubby Leech (where she was working as ‘Head Girl’ at the time of her diagnosis).

Following this devastating news not only did Miranda continue to ride and compete, she also began to study for an MScR degree (master of science by research) in equine hydration, at the Royal Agricultural University, conducting experiments, and writing up the results whilst on a chemotherapy drip.

During the covid lockdown she was selected for interview by Giles Anderson of the horseracing publishing firm Anderson & Co Publishing; so impressed were they by her “can-do attitude, intelligence and willingness to learn”, she was offered a job by the company, and was actively working for them until a few days before she died.

It is, of course, Miranda’s family who understand most clearly her immeasurable courage and indomitability, her fortitude and bravery. Determined not to be defined by the disease she never complained about it, she simply got on with living every moment she had to the full. She remained joyful about the fun she had had, wasn’t afraid of death, and didn’t want anyone to be miserable about it. A truly remarkable young woman.

Donations in her memory can be made to the Royal Free Charity, for neuroendocrine cancer research, either via: TheBigGive Neuroendocrine Cancer NETs Research Appeal (www.thebiggive.org.uk) Or:

Elspeth Weaver (Bolus) (D.O.B – 22 February 2022)

Some of you may have read the news of Ellys’ and her partner’s tragic deaths in a car accident in February, in France where she had lived since 1986. Her three boys were born and schooled in France and Elly had successfully taught English in local schools for many years. Although she had suffered from significant bouts of depression, it was a great relief that in the last couple of years, Elly found contentment and happiness in Châtillon sur Indre, with her partner Gérard nearby. She had a charming townhouse with a garden she loved and enjoyed life to the full in “la France profonde”. She was an active member of many local groups, encompassing interests including Scottish Dancing, walking and gardening. She also continued to work each summer in the local Tourist Office and came regularly to England to visit friends and family. It was testament to the great success she had made of her life in France and how very fondly she was regarded in the local community, that at her funeral service the church was full to bursting with those who came to pay their respects to her.

Section News

Thank You to Section Representatives

The Association is enormously grateful for the hard work and attention to detail of all Section Representatives who have so assiduously collected and collated news from their former classmates over the past almost 90 years! Whilst the news is now largely being collected via the Westonbirt Association section of the school’s website, the Section Representatives are still a key part of the Association, the first port of call for any enquiry or news dissemination, and absolutely vital in keeping their section members informed, arranging reunions and get-togethers and much more.

As the Association will soon be handing over its administration to the school, it was agreed at the Association AGM, in May, that the dedication and hard work of all the Section Reps should be recognised and celebrated in some way. The opening up of the parkland, as part of the new car parking approach, has enabled the Platinum Tree Planting Project to commence, and this provides the opportunity to plant trees in commemoration of Section Reps and their commitment to the alumni association, which the meeting agreed would offer a fitting tribute. A full proposal of how and where these trees will be planted will be available soon.

Thank You to Section Members

We are always pleased to hear members’ news, so if you’re a regular respondent, thank you very much for continuing to keep us posted. You can post your news via the Association section of the school’s website, or, if you are unsure how to do this, please don’t hesitate to contact your Section Rep or the school for help and advice.

If you’ve not sent in your own news for a while, please don’t hold back. Even if you feel you have nothing to report, we still like to know that you are alive and well, and that we have the right contact details for you. We also love hearing reminiscences about your own time at Westonbirt.

Youngest Sections First

We’re continuing the practice of starting with news from the most recent leavers. Life post 18 is generally very full on and hectic, but it’s great to hear everyone’s news, however brief, and putting recent leavers’ reports first should make them easier for busy people to find! In all sections, we have listed members in alphabetical order by their current surname, to make it easier to find your friends.

If reading any of their news makes you hanker after a nostalgic trip back to Westonbirt, we would love to see you. The annual Association Day is a great opportunity to meet up with old friends, and visits by appointment are welcome all year round. To arrange a visit, or for any information regarding the Association, such as the current contact details for your Section Rep, please do not hesitate to telephone Westonbirt School on 01666 880333 and ask for the marketing team or email association@westonbirtschool.uk

Staff Section

Section Representative:

Joy Bell

Bridget Bomford

After the horrors of losing my Mum during the 2020 lockdown and the subsequent dismantling and sale of my family home in Cornwall, 2021, and 2022 to date, have been much less traumatic, thankfully, although I know myself to be changed by these experiences. I also find the state of the country, the world, and the planet deeply depressing, and have to force myself not to dwell on these matters or I would, I think, fall into deep despair…

So, on a more positive note, Steve and I are doing our best to enrich our half acre of Shropshire and have been busy outside whenever possible. We’ve grown a good selection of organic vegetables again this year, and planted up a small soft fruit bed. The apples have cropped quite well and we had a great harvest of blackberries from our hedgerow. Sadly, strong winds in March blew off most of the Damson flowers off the trees, so we’ve not had many fruit from them this season.

I’ve planted up as many pollinator-friendly spaces as I can near the bungalow, and it’s a delight to see clouds of bees and hover flies waft up from the border and window boxes whenever we walk by! The Penstemons are particularly popular with the smaller bumble bees, and whenever I find a sleepy bee on the ground I can pop him on a finger and coax him into a Penstemon trumpet! In early spring Dandelion flowers are the best for early bees needing a quick fix of nectar!

We finished Phase 2 of our flower meadow conversion in September, so much mowing, scarifying and raking took place prior to seeding with local Shropshire meadow mix. In the spring were very pleased to see all the new grass species, and a great sprinkling of the much desired Yellow Rattle, appear in the Phase 1 section we did last year!

I spent a few days in Cornwall at the end of June, and managed to visit all the elderly relatives I have down there, as well as my sister and family, all of whom joined me for a lovely afternoon tea one of the days - a small early cel- ebration for the Significant Birthday I have coming up this year…It was good to have time to catch up with various friends, too. I’ve also caught up with friends in Devon and Gloucestershire, with visits from friends in Yorkshire and Somerset to come.

Steve and I had a week in North Wales at the end of September, staying in a cosy cottage, on a sheep farm, with a wonderful view of Snowdon. We did some lovely walks, and also visited some National Trust properties, and partook of (too much!) cake in various tea rooms… We’re off to Somerset for a couple of nights in late October.

Pablo and Sprocket (Mum’s cats that we adopted) keep us entertained – we are definitely ‘staff ’ as far as they are concerned!

Sue Cole

Another unusual year has gone by, but 2021 did return a little way to normality and despite high Covid figures in the UK, and another lockdown, I was able to holiday in Cornwall with a friend and also on the Isle of Arran playing golf with Mary Henderson, Sheila Urquhart and Sarah Nannestad (Nutter). In November my mother aged 102 (!) passed away. I have managed to keep well, and am enjoying playing lots of golf. I still see many of my former Westonbirt colleagues including Ann Dunn, Gill Fry, Gill Hylson-Smith, Diana Challis, Helen Price, Philip Dixon, and Jane Keay.

Mary Henderson

This year it has been good to return to a more ‘normal’ pre-pandemic life. I continue to enjoy my involvement with the Bath/Aix-en-Provence Twinning Association and being a Governor at Cheltenham Ladies’ College. Golf, singing and walking take up much of my free time and I also help my husband in his very productive allotment.

This summer I am looking forward to walking on Colonsay with Chris Lloyd and Angelika Stredwick and a Nutter’s golf tour on the Isle of Man with Sue Cole, Sheila Urquhart and Sarah Nannestad (Nutter).

The Westonbirt highlight of this year was the 90th anniversary reunion of the Westonbirt Association. I was delighted to return with my predecessor, Gill Hylson-Smith, who had come south from her new home in York for the occasion. We were both thrilled to see the school in such good spirits and to meet former colleagues and girls, particularly of our vintages. I loved every moment, especially the moving church service with beautiful singing from the chamber choir, the very jolly lunch in the main dining room and the tour to see the Italian gardens in full bloom. I was both amazed and impressed to see the new classrooms being built to accommodate the huge number of new pupils anticipated for September. Natasha is doing a wonderful job and I so enjoyed being able to share the day with her and with Gill.

On 3 April I returned to my old school, Berkhamsted School for Girls, for the memorial service of my former Headmistress, Mrs Farley, née Bateman, previously Head of English at Westonbirt. Her very lively character and skill in the classroom were much mentioned and her sister told me how happy she had been teaching at Westonbirt, especially living in the village. Plus ça change!

Gillian Hylson-Smith

Enjoying new city (York) so far at least!

Mary Phillips

Still teaching my adult art group and I have also been working as a guide for HOWT tours at school. This is very interesting, and it keeps my love of art and its history alive.

The family are all on great form, with some of my grandchildren now taller than me! Rob and I managed a 3 week break driving to Italy (…Bellissima!) with Dalglish who is now 2 years old. By accident I met the sculptor Pablo Achugary in Lucca, which was a real experience, and managed to track down and see work by Plautilla Nelli in Florence.

My main news is that Anna Gage, art teacher at school, and I set up a mother and baby/toddler playgroup, in Stinchcombe, near Cam/Dursley, in January. We are called Tiny Toads (not the best of names but a long story!) We have been quite overwhelmed with the need for young mums and toddlers who have missed out on socialisation because of the Covid lockdowns. It is so heart-warming to see the small differences we are making each week.

We welcome carers and grandparents who also need a place to chat. As you would expect we have an arts and crafts activity which they all love! We charge £3 per session which includes drinks and snacks...and doesn’t leave much to buy new toys. There is such a growing demand we find we are always in need of funds, so if anyone feels able to donate to help support our work that would be amazing! My email is themaryphillips@aol.com

Sheila Urquhart

With covid restrictions lifting it was marvellous to be able to have a week of golf in late summer on Arran with Mary Henderson, Sue Cole and Sarah Nannastad (Nutter). As always it is good to hear of former Holford girls, and, quite out of the blue, I heard from Flavia Dent who had news of many of her year group, Fleur Gilchrist, Antonia Gulf Osmark, Jemima Wilson and Elisa Able Smith (Dorchester). I keep myself busy with all that goes on in the village, golf and my garden. This year seems to be making up for lost time in terms of getting out and about: in April, I am off in a motorhome to do the NC500 (Scotland’s answer to Route 66) - this will be our third time of trying so hopefully it will happen this year; then to Tiree, to visit before a trip to the Canaries. Hopefully I will manage to come down to Westonbirt in the Autumn to catch up with everyone having missed the last 2 years, the last time I was down people had just started to talk about Covid as there had been an outbreak in Tetbury Primary School, a strange 2 years.

Debbie Young (Shimman Green)

I’m still living in Hawkesbury Upton, not far from WB, and still run the Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival, which postCovid has morphed into a series of occasional talks year-round rather than one multi-event programme oncea year. This is much easier to fit in around my family and my writing life.

I now have an agent in New York and a 13-book publishing contract with the multi-award-winning Boldwood Books. My tenth novel will be published in November 2022, the third in my ”Staffroom at St Bride’s” series, which was inspired by the WB community - but all the events and characters are fictitious! It will be published by Boldwood, who are going to reissue my existing nine novels. In addition, I’ll be writing at least two new books for them a year, and I also have some other writing projects planned, so I’m going to be busy! I’m now starting to licence other rights too, e.g., the English language audiobooks for the first seven Sophie Sayers novels were acquired by Saga Egmont last November, and my agent has recently sold German translation rights for that series.

I’ve now stood down from working part-time for the Alliance of Independent Authors, whose self-publishing advice blog I edited for eight years, but I’ve still got a foot in the self-publishing camp as a tutor for a Jericho Writers course called “Simply Self-publish”. I also write articles about publishing for magazines such as “Mslexia” and “Romance Matters”, the membership magazine for the Romantic Novelists’ Association. I do quite a lot of talks to book groups, writers’ groups, WI’s and lit fests, and am often on BBC Radio Gloucestershire talking about books and writing. If anyone would like me to come and talk to their group, please don’t hesitate to ask.

In my spare time - or rather as my therapy for trying to do so much in far too little time - I sing with the village choir and have recently taken up bellringing, since St Mary’s Hawkesbury acquired eight wonderful new bells. Meanwhile my daughter, Laura, who was born while I was working at WB, is now 19 and enjoying well-deserved travels funded by her earnings from working for nine months in our community shop. In September she will go to Aberystwyth University to read English Literature. So far in her gap year, she has been to the south of France, Berlin, and Costa Rica, and she is currently on a 21-day Interrail trip, after which she’ll shoehorn in a week in Scotland with my husband and me and a fortnight nannying in Munich before she starts uni.

I often meet Belinda Holley for lunch, and Mary Phillips occasionally. When opening a local fete at a neighbouring village, two people with Westonbirt connections introduced themselves to me - the daughter of a former Bursar (from before my time) and the son of Jill Green, who was Sedgwick Housemistress when I started at WB. All roads lead to WB! I have also been pleased to hook up with Cathy Yorke, former school nurse, who is now co-owner of a the very successful “The Cotswold Bookroom” in Wotton-under-Edge, and also with Hannah Lynn (nee Phillips) who was asixthformer while I was at WB and is now an amazingly productive, award-winning novelist doing very well!

Section 90 (2021)

Section Representative: Elosie Stokes

Harriet (Hatty) McCormick

Hi all, I am currently studying Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Oxford after a taking a year out to nanny and solo travel around Egypt. In October I will be going on my year abroad to Amman, Jordan, where I will be studying and interning. It should be amazing, with lots of exciting adventures.

Section 89 (2020)

Section Representative: Eloise Stokes

Madeleine Perry

On leaving Westonbirt in 2020, I started at Exeter University studying for a Marketing and Management BSc. During my first year, I am pleased to announce, that I bought my first property… age 19! Outside of term time, I rent it out on Air BnB and now have acquired the status of ‘Superhost’. I am now going into my third year which is my industrial placement year, so I am moving to London for an exciting new role of Marketing Intern for a great eco-centric and

sustainable company. Alongside this, I am just in the process of starting my social media marketing agency.

Natasha Simmons

I left Westonbirt in 2020 and returned to Seychelles for 18 months where I was an intern in the Secretariat of the Designated Minister. I then received a full scholarship from my government to study Politics and International Relations at the University of Greenwich and I have just completed my first year at University.

Section 88 (2019)

Section Representative:

Natia Jikia

Amelia Ford

After leaving Westonbirt I started my gap year by travelling Thailand; I then did a ski season in Morzine, which was the most fun I’ve ever experienced! I am so grateful to still be in close contact with all the friends I made out there! I then joined Oxford Media and Business School for a year, which I LOVED! I promise I was very well behaved.. That gave me the qualification to go and get a job in London! I didn’t stay very long there however, although I regularly go back to party most weekends! I have found my love for Margaritas..! They are delicious!

I moved back home and got a local job and I have secured an amazing internship with a Canadian company, where I will be learning how to teach children to ski! It will be a 2 year course and the final qualification will allow me to teach internationally! I start in November, and I am super excited! This will be a great opportunity for me to combine my 2 favourite things, children and skiing! Whoo! Can’t wait!

Isobel Griffiths

Having left Westonbirt I spent time living and working in Madrid whilst trying to learn Spanish, then travelled and worked around Australia for around a year and a half before returning to the UK to study International Business at Loughborough University in 2021.

Section 87 (2018)

Section Representative: Georgina Billingham

Kate Willey

I am currently in the final stages of a master’s degree in International Law and Security at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. It’s been a fascinating year learning and understanding more about the potential of both law and politics to solve issues of international security and being able to devote more time to my research interest in the role

of gender in peacebuilding processes. Alongside this, I undertook an internship at Global Human Rights Defence and was involved in the launching of a new research project exploring polarisation in Dutch higher education institutions. I’m now working with Vanessa Newby (not sure of section number) (Section 58, BB!) at Women in International Security The Netherlands. In September, I will be moving to Strasbourg for a traineeship at the Council of Europe so if there’s anyone reading this who lives nearby, I’d love to hear from you!

Section 86 (2017)

Section Representative:

Thea Montanaro

Suzanna Battishill

It has been a busy year now we have come out of the mists of covid! Last summer I travelled through the Mediterranean and spent 6 months working as a cook/stewardess on a super yacht! It was safe to say it was a challenge! I have now moved to London and for the past 6 months I have been working at the Jamie Oliver Cookery School as a Teaching Chef - all those skills learnt in Leiths with Mrs Bell have been put to the test this past year!!

Cordelia Cross

Having continued my studies at Solent University in Southampton and completed my Master’s in Visual Communication at the end of last summer, I have since been working in Oxford at the international school, ‘Kings Oxford’, as their local marketing content producer. This has been a really interesting job, one that has allowed me plenty of opportunities to develop, take on responsibility and grow in various aspects of my character and personality, as well as broaden my knowledge and experience whilst doing so. We shall see where things go… All the best to everyone at Westonbirt!

Lottie Dickens

I’m still currently working in lettings for a property company based in Wandsworth where I have been for the past year and a half.

Isabelle Gent

Just moved to London to start a new job at Satelitte414 a PR company that works with celebrities, especially musicians. Really enjoying it so far. Get to see all the girls in London, can’t wait for Sophia to move as well next year. Been catching up with everyone over the past year has been lovely and can’t wait to be living with Mills.

Hunny Grainger

I’ve had a really fun year! Last July I flew to Guatemala for 3 months where I worked in a hostel. Whilst I was there I climbed 3 volcanos: Acatenango, Fuego and Pacaya. I then spent 3 months travelling around Mexico and then 2 months travelling around Turkey. I was lucky enough to see lots of my Westonbirt girls in February for a ball whichwas very, very lovely!! I am now living in Bristol and plan to move to London in the coming months.

Thea Montanaro

Currently working in Graduate Recruitment in London and really enjoy splitting my time between London and the countryside. Done some lovely travelling this Summer to France, Spain and Greece.

Section 85 (2016)

Section Representative: Charlotte Price

Sophia Ashe

I continue to enjoy all my farm work, now abiding to climate-repairing regenerative agriculture. I have also just published my first book ‘Ride Like A Gaucho’, which tells my story of working on a massive cattle station in Argentina. I continue to gain all sorts of experience and have now begun giving lectures on various aspects of food production. I have also kept myself busy working on a few projects of my own - soon to be unveiled!

Emily Brooks

As of 22nd June, I am officially Dr Brooks! It’s been 6 years of hard work and lots of fun in Bristol, and I’m really sad to be leaving the city. I am very surprised and excited that I managed to get accepted into London for my first two years and will be working at North Middlesex Hospital in my first year and moving onto the Royal Free Hospital in my second year! My 6 years at medical school have flown by and I have made some incredible memories and even better friends. I am very excited for this next stage of life!

Scarlett Jones

Having worked in an office the past 3 years I decided to take a leap and follow my passion which is coaching/ playing sport (in particular lacrosse). I am currently at the King’s School Canterbury and have been here since September. I will be off to New York to coach lacrosse for the summer holidays!

Section 84 (2015)

Section Representative: Stephanie Thorndyke

Elizabeth Motley

I’m still enjoying life in London, very happy with my job as a creative at Universal Music, assisting on set for music videos, making behind the scenes style content, and attending gigs.

Stephanie Thorndyke

Since the last news, I have been promoted to Kitchen Manager and now work at The Commercial Rooms in Bristol city centre. It is refreshing being near the harbour side every day and I am really enjoying it, although it has been challenging. My partner and I are hoping to move out of Yate and closer to the centre soon. I spent a long weekend in Edinburgh earlier this year which I really loved and can’t wait for my holidays to Egypt and Italy this summer

Section 83 (2014)

Section Representative:

Amelie Sievers

Louise Nicholls

After a busy few years working on Brexit and the Covid crisis it’s been nice to work on creating new policy. I’ve mainly been working on the Data Reform Bill being laid in Parliament in summer 2022 which will mark the UKs divergence from GDPR. I will soon be moving to a new role looking after environmental public bodies like the national parks and forestry commission.

Amelie Sievers

I am currently working on my dissertation to complete my master’s in Psychology. Am also still doing a traineeship in HR alongside, so life never gets boring! Am really enjoying living back in Germany but also really missing England, so still figuring out which country to live in after my studies!

Alice Wordsworth

I’m still living in London and have spent an exciting year in a whirlwind of rehearsals.

I have been the Associate Director on the National Tour of ‘An Hour and A Half Late’, staring Griff Rhys Jones and Janie Dee. We opened the show at Bath Theatre Royal, where I have fond memories of Westonbirt weekend shopping trips, so it was lovely to spend time there again.

I toured with the show in spring, before Assisting on ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ at the Unicorn Theatre in London. I then directed my London debut, ‘An Intervention’ by Mike Bartlett, at the Riverside Studios, which was a great success!

The end of the year will see me back in Amsterdam with the ensemble I work with there, directing an immersive

piece of theatre with company Amsterdam on Stage.

Alongside my theatre work, I have been doing a PG Cert in Psychodynamic Counselling at Oxford University and working part time for charity 50:50 Parliament as their events co-ordinator, campaigning to get more women into Parliament.

It’s been a busy and rewarding year, with lots of fun packed in too!

Section 82 (2013)

Section Representative: Abigail Lowes

No news returned this year

Section 81 (2012)

Section Representative: Olivia Birkin-Hewitt

No news returned this year

Section 80 (2011)

Section Representative: Rebekah Heaney

Georgina Lee

I am still living in North Yorkshire which my family. My youngest has just turned one and my eldest goes to school in September. I am very much in mum mode, and loving every second. It has been so nice to see so many in my year get married, which in turn meant we all had a great catch up.

Section 79 (2010)

Section Representative: Sophie Martin/Laura Moreland

Emily Sinclair

Currently living in London, working for Medidata Solutions which is a life science/tech company that designs and develops software for clinical trials. Due to Covid everyone has started to realise how important clinical trials are and working for a company whose mission is “Powering smarter treatments and healthier people” has been so eyeopening and rewarding during this difficult time.

Section 78 (2009)

Section Representative: Amy Falkenburg

No news returned this year

Section 77 (2008)

Section Representative:

Portia Ingram

Sophia Barker

Currently still working in Hong Kong, teaching at Malvern College.

Lottie Mayland

I am living in West Dulwich with my husband and daughter, Maisie who is now 15 months. We moved into our house last November after spending 6 months renovating it. I have my own business as an Embroidery Artist and still see lots of the girls from my year at Westonbirt, I’m currently planning a holiday for next summer with Tessa, Mudge, Portia, Rosie and Sophia and their families.

Lucy Matthews (Clare)

Still living in Cardiff with my husband, daughter Amelia (9) and son Ben (7). Having worked at a local primary school for the past 4 years as a year 3 teacher, I have decided that this September I will be moving on to an exciting, new opportunity in a new school. I am also studying for a master’s in Education Policy and Practice.

Section 76 (2007)

Section Representative: New Representative needed No news returned this year

Section 75 (2006)

Section Representative: Charlotte Boyes

No news returned this year

Section 74 (2005)

Section Representative: New Representative needed No news returned this year

Section 73 (2004)

Section Representative: Emily Paul (Stephenson)

Emily Paul (Stephenson)

Not much has happened this year other than the busy life that comes with looking after two small boys and a third child imminent. We are still renting in the Candover Valley in Hampshire, and keeping an eye out for a house to buy (along with the rest of the world!)

Section 72 (2003)

Section Representative: Fiona Tubbs

Caroline (Kits) Lambert (McMeekin)

Three kids of 5, 3 and 2, so life is wonderful if a bit hectic! Still drama teaching a little and hoping to do some drama tutoring in the next year. Still in London but plans afoot to move out and buy a tent to live by the sea…let’s see!

Section 71 (2002)

Section Representative: Joanna Colson

No news returned this year.

Section 70 (2001)

Section Representative: Catharine Loveridge (Hallpike)

Maija Calvert

Happily living in Paris for the last 7 years. Graduated in May this year, with the AMI Assistants to Infancy Montessori 0-3 Diploma from the Maria Montessori Institute in London. (Took a while with the pandemic.)

Still living my passion of following toddlers and guiding them towards being independent. It’s incredible observing children under 3, able to prepare their own snacks, pour water from a glass jug into a glass, absorbing language bilingually, listening to them saying, “a moi / I’ll do it by myself “ and be there for them with they are communicating through their tantrums!

Narisa Cherdjareewatananun

I’m still here in Singapore, having lived here for the last 15 years. I’m working as a consultant for creative visual

directions for global lifestyle brands, interior styling and brand aesthetics.

Tor Jones-Davies (Inskip)

Married, living locally near Malmesbury with 3 year old daughter called Eliza and a baby due in July. Working as Director of Savills Residential Development in London where I have been for 16 years.

Julia Elizabeth Grant

After 10+ years running wild, working in the music business in London, I have moved to a small Scottish island and am now training to be a brewer.

Fiona Macfarlane (Cameron)

Freelance jewellery designer and illustrator living in a small seaside village in Scotland with my husband and two children. Just finished illustrating a Department for Education validated phonics scheme and currently working on my new men’s jewellery collection for a well-known Scottish jewellery house. Had an absolute ball seeing everyone in May and a huge thank you to Ms Bell for showing us around the school and helping bring backsomany wonderful memories.

Abby Moule (Warn)

We are all still happily based in The Cotswolds and the children are getting along very well in school. We have a new addition to the family; Coco the miniature Golden Retriever, and we enjoy many a walk in the arboretum.

Olivia Wallace (Bleasdale)

We have recently moved to the Bourne Valley in Hampshire from London and are enjoying life in the country. Having left Christie’s just before the pandemic, I have since been at home with our two children, now aged 7 and 3. It was great to be back at Westonbirt in May!

Section 69 (2000)

Section Representative: Lucy Croysdill (Fletcher)

Lucy Croysdill (Fletcher)

We managed to visit Michelle (Lawson) in Boston, USA for Christmas and New Year. We had a wonderful time. We also caught up with Laura Arnott (Griffiths), who flew up from Washington D.C. A mini reunion state side!

Lucinda Davy (Dungarvan)

In October 2021 Rory, Tatiana and I moved from London to Hampshire, we are all very happy in our new home in the country. Tatiana is now 4 years old and starts Twyford School in September. In July we welcomed another daughter Lilah.

I am on maternity leave but will return to my longstanding role at B-Flexion in Mayfair in 2023.

Eila Greaves (Denaro)

Currently living in Aldershot, although coming to the end of our time here as James hands over Command of the Grenadier Guards in December. Three boys growing fast and loving life - cricket, fishing, sport and play in general

(would have made wonderful Westonbirt pupils back in the day!). We watched the school’s Lacrosse team play brilliantly at the National Schools’ Championship in Aldershot earlier this year. My curtain and blind making business is burgeoning but still manage to fit it around the school run!

Clemency Jacques (Dr)

I am a counselling psychologist working in the NHS and private practice, mostly with clients with complex mental health needs, as well as providing supervision for trainees, lecturing, publishing and research. I live in Brighton with my son and have other family members nearby.

Henny Mercer

Living in Opio in the South of France and now assistant head at the International School of Monaco. My twins are 4.5 and getting naughtier by the second! Just completed a major house renovation and looking forward to lots of my ‘old’ Westonbirt gang visiting!

Section 68 (1999)

Section Representative: Jane Reid (Bottomley)

No news returned this year

Section 67 (1998)

Section Representative: Julia Collis (Bleasdale)

Julia Collis (Bleasdale)

It has been a lovely year with us all enjoying a return to normality. I continue as a PA to the Deputy Heads at Monkton Prep School. My husband Phil is making the most of hybrid working and we all benefit from him being around far more in the week. My son Tobias sat the entrance exams to move up to Kingswood Senior School in January. Thankfully he was offered a place and the next chapter can start for him but not before lots of Year 6 fun now the exams are over. Tobias is also on the winter training course for Gloucestershire cricket, which keeps us busy ferrying him around. My daughter Isabel is in Year 4 at Kingswood Prep and loves all the opportunities that come her way but perhaps especially playing matches against other schools. Lastly, our naughty lock-down pup Laurie will soon be 2. We all love him very much and he has meant that we have explored so much of the area where we live and enhanced friendships with long walks for which we are all grateful. Not a dramatic year but definitely happy!

Section 66 (1997)

Section Representative: Katie Mason (Eves)

Kate Castle (Billingham)

Nursing since 1994, now work in private healthcare and live in Essex. Live with partner, have a son, 9 stepchildren, five grandchildren and a grandson due in April.

Jessica Green (White)

Still working as a GP near Swindon but now also working as an appraiser and continuing my teaching role at Great Western Hospital so life is very busy. The twins are now 9 years old, and Ems is 5. We love being in Wiltshire and catching up with lots of Westonbirt girls.

Section 65 (1996)

Section Representative: Catherine Hirons (Charlton)

Alexandra Butler (Earley)

Living and working in Sherston and both daughters now at Westonbirt, one in the Prep and one in the Senior School. Day job looking after a charitable foundation, rest of the time chasing around after my family.

Harriet Mackinlay (Bradley)

Bert, Louis and I are all well and happy. I am still working at the Home Office and have been kept very busy for the last couple of years on policing issues. I still love it although it can be challenging at times! Louis is 4 now and starts school in a few weeks and I am still trying to get my head around that...

Alys Mathew

Not much has changed really! Trying and mostly achieving living my best life; loads of cycling which I continue to love, exploring new countries – 2 months last summer in Georgia (country not state). Working from home was a special highlight and now looking at potentially moving out of London to the countryside (likely somewhere west so if you are that way let me know!!)

Jo Wilkie

Wow another year has passed. I guess after a quieter couple of years, things have started to get back to normal with travel more possible again. Not unfamiliar territory for me, but I got made redundant at the end of last year. I decided to enjoy some time out which was a little scuppered when I broke my elbow. All good now and also 3 months into a 12 month work contract (still financial services). Most of my non-work time is still spent being pretty active and competitive with running and cycling and now back to triathlon training. Next event is an 85 mile bike race in the Italian Dolomites though, and I did a 3 day bike race in Provence and 3 times up Mont Ventoux last year which took me back to French class with Mme Kemble at Westonbirt! I don’t think I’ve caught up with anyone from school in a while, although saw Amy (was Bartholomew) in Tesco the other day but she’d left before I could finish paying and say hi!

Section 64 (1995)

Section Representative:

Emma Lloyd-Williams (Leek)

No news returned this year

Section 63 (1994)

Section Representative: Belle Morton

Nancy Lawson (White)

It is so good to be able to catch up with friends again and I have loved seeing Jemima Mann, Lucy Clark, Clare Grim, Sarah Tyce and Tory Holland in the last year. I am back running Overtown Manor B and B and meeting venue. I have printed a cook book…Jemima very kindly proof read it for me!! My children are growing up far too fast and I realise I have turned into my mother (nearly!) so just very annoying for them!!

Jess O’Brien

As with probably everyone it feels like I’ve completely lost track of time over the last few years. I’ve had a pretty brutal work environment during that time but thankfully that’s over and I’ve just started a new role at the Universi-

ty of Warwick. So far it seems a fantastic new start, great people and a return to my Market Research roots. Just recently been to my baby sister’s (born when I was in Upper 6th!) wedding party. The real one was last year during Covid so parents only. It was nice to be able to celebrate with her, her husband and friends. Also met a fellow Westonbirt leaver from 2009! Reassuring to hear that things were very similar, even 15 years on from when our year left!

Section 62 (1993)

Section Representative: Caroline Copland

Alison Williams

Now living in South East Cornwall near Looe. Manage holiday homes in our local area through my company Blue Jacaranda Ltd. Callum now 12, Rhiannon now 15. Both very cheeky but doing fine! Almost 20 years with Craig now. Hoping you’re all well and also hoping to see lots of you at reunion one day.

Section 61 (1992)

Section Representative:

Coquita Mills

Cordelia Gover (Harries)

I’m still living in Oxfordshire and enjoying a mix of running our family property management business, and looking after my daughters Ellie (11) & Jazzy (13), as well as 10 pets! I still see quite a few WB’s like Lina, Charlie, Claire, Coquita, Rowls, Debs, Raqs, Cally, Sophie, Sam and Candy. I’m looking forward to catching up with them again, as well as others from our Section, at the 90th Anniversary party!

Virginia Kelly

I am living in Malvern with Paddy and our 2 children who are 11 (Rufus) and 8 (Eleanor). We have spent the last few years working on converting an old barn into a home. I have returned to working for a television drama pro- duction company doing business affairs for the development and production of tv drama shows.

Coquita Marsh

It has been good to return to a more normal life this year. I have started working part-time in the Finance Department of Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School in Marlow with lovely people and it works wonderfully with Barnaby (12) and Cecily (8). Simon has returned to the office a bit more and he is travelling, so it is good to get a steady supply of gin back! Dog is a terror of a terrier but apparently that is all my own work, and I will have to get stricter

or live with holes.

Caroline Wilson (Pullin)

All good with myself and family, boys growing up fast, now 11 and 15. GCSE year next year for the oldestdoesn’t seem that long ago we were doing our GCSE’s!

Farm, family and business life very busy.

HS2 a complete nightmare, now taken 1/3rd of the farm permanently when initially they only wanted 25 acres (6%). Took more all because their powers of acquisition were coming to an end, and they hadn’t designed the railway yet - what have they been doing for the last 10 plus years?! Massive stress on our family, difficult people to work with when all trust in them lost.

Enjoyed the reunion at WB in May, great to see so many old faces, many not seen since we left. Time went really quickly! Shame we were not able to get to see our old bedrooms, but good to see WB in good heart and spirit. The gardens were wonderful, and we enjoyed a special church service too, which was a treat. Saw Melanie Hob -son in the summer on a trip to the New Forest, she was on good form.

Section 60 (1991)

Section Representative: Rebecca Willows

Adrienne Quartly

Working as a freelance sound designer/composer and recently composed the soundtrack for Gunpowder Immersive at the Tower of London, starring Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy). https://gunpowderimmersive.com/the-experience

Section 59 (1990)

Section Representative: Julia Roberts (Stubblefield)

Emily Reed (Hoggarth)

Living in London with my husband and 2 teens and our scruffy lurcher. Enjoying freelancing for an Olympic cham- pion. Due to the pandemic, I haven’t caught up with as many friends as I’d like to. Katherine Hunt was in London recently and we met up which was such fun.

Section 58 (1989)

Section Representative:

Natasha McLeod (Marsh)

No news returned this year

Section 57 (1988)

Section Representative:

Fiona Stokes (Tobin) - (Section 45)

Jo Hibbard (Hatherell)

Not much has changed over the years. Enjoying turning 50! It’s not so bad. Eldest Lucy is studying Health Science at college, hoping to train as a paramedic. The twins Pippa and Charles are Year 10 so heading into the dreaded GCSE year. Tim is still running his plumbing business, wishing to retire but not much chance with trying to keep up with 3 teenagers requirements. I work at a local preschool and spend all of my spare time running around after the teens!! We continue to live in Malmesbury, the youngsters enjoy swimming club at Westonbirt. I do enjoy keeping in touch with ex WB’s on social media, especially this year with all the 50ths going on! Have a good year!

Amanda Spring

Hi everyone, I hope that all is well. Things are fine with me, still living in Poland, so obviously at present spending a fair amount of time assisting with the efforts to help those arriving from Ukraine, but things are a little more organised than they were during the first days, so that helps a lot. I sadly lost my lovely dog Winston last October. He had been by my side for 12.5 years, so it was a sad decision, but the right one. No dog could ever replace him, but we do have a new addition to the family. Bobby has joined us after spending 7 years in a shelter which was closed due to animal abuse. He was terrified at first, but now he has been here 2 months and is a happy old man. Other than that, not much news, business is surprisingly good, but I feel that we are in very uncertain times. Wishing everyone well.

Section 56 (1987)

Section Representative: Fiona Stokes (Tobin) - (Section 45)

Arabella Bishop

Just managed to get my news through in time! Actually, not much has changed, but I had a really great dinner re- cently with Cressida (Auckland) and Vanessa (Kearney) in London – it was fabulous to see them both and to catch up. I am still working for Sotheby’s in Ireland and still loving it! That’s all for now, so best wishes everyone.

Section 55 (1986)

Section Representative: Emma Lack (Fitch)

No news returned this year

Section 55A (1985)

(Amalgamated year group)

Section Representative: Ouvrielle Roberts (Holmes)

No news returned this year

Section 54 (1984)

Section Representative: Sarah Clunie

No news returned this year

Section 53 (1983)

Section Representative: Sarah Clunie

Sarah Clunie (Roberts)

2021 was a very tough year for me. David was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 and all amongst Covid restrictions he fought hard with treatment but sadly passed away in April 21. We had luckily moved into a new house in Henley on Thames, during 2020, which is within walking distance of the town. I have spent the time trying to sort the house, (garden is still to do) and rebuilding my life. I am lucky to have such great friends around me. I am still managing to be Group Organiser of a Riding for the Disabled Association Carriage Driving group which keeps me busy.

Section 52 (1982)

Section Representative:

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Mobbs (Overton)

No news returned this year

Section 51 (1981)

Section Representative:

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Mobbs (Overton)

No news returned this year

Section 50 (1980)

Section Representative:

Antonia Doggart

Belinda Bradley (Trentham)

Rob and I moved from Bath before lockdown and are now living in the village of Westonbirt! I can see the school from the field! 60 this year- and still wandering around the school grounds! Actually, I’m one of the volunteer gardeners on Wednesday mornings - you’ll find me in the Italian Garden! The school looks great, I love seeing both boys and girls - it seems to be going from strength to strength.

Antonia Doggart (Ross)

My work in helping with the campaign to stop unsustainable housing developments on the Manhood Peninsula continues and we had a successful march through the streets of Chichester back in January! This is not nimbyism but communities fearful of flooding from the sea and high water table, as well as sewage back-up in new builds, all of which make this southern wetland region vulnerable, especially with climate change. I continue to enjoy helping with Arundel Castle Cricket Foundation, RNLI, Heartspace Community Arts Programme and other voluntary jobs, as well as a little cooking locally. Clare and Hamish were married in a field in the middle of nowhere on a glorious sunny Easter Saturday, Charlie is moving from Garden House prep school to help run schools’ ski competitions in Canada and James is entering his second year with the Light Dragoons. I continue to enjoy tennis, yoga and beach and South Downs dog walking with friends and family. THE WB 90th anniversary should be a hoot!

Tanya Hart (Gee)

Hello! My husband (of 29 years) and I are currently living in Seattle, Washington USA, however we are planning on moving to the East Coast by next year to be closer to our children. Our daughter Gabby (24) lives in DC, and our son Harry (21) plays American Football in college. My husband is a Packaging Engineer, and for the past 4 years I’ve been running Titan Bioplastics, a company I started with my business partner. This after spending 35 years in the wine industry, as I wanted to do something in sustainability. Haven’t been back to visit WB, but remain in close contact with many of my classmates and get some of my news and updates on WB from them and good old Facebook. Hope to visit one day soon and see how things have changed.

Astrid

Mitchell (Sadler)

Two years of not being able to travel hit our business hard, as the majority of it was organising international conferences, but we have come through and business is getting back to normal. On the personal front, I became a grandmother - Isobel arrived November 2020. And second grandchild due this September. Elder son Tom and wife are busy doing up their new house north of Edinburgh in between childcare. Younger son Rory bought his first flat in London earlier this year. Cannot believe the property prices there but at least he is on the ladder now. We got a new Labrador puppy, Poppy, a year ago. She is just about over the chewing everything stage, but still likes retrieving footwear and hiding it, so we have to allow an extra 10 minutes when going out to find our shoes. Mum still going strong(ish). She was at WB 1945-50 and turns 90 this year. We are planning a family get-together in Cornwall this September to celebrate.

Catherine Street

Not much news from me this year, other than Simon and I have resumed travelling, but wherever possible, avoiding the horrors of Heathrow with its queues, delays and missing bags! For our 30th wedding anniversary (only a year postponed!), we had a great holiday driving the Wild Atlantic Way on Ireland’s west coast - absolutely stunning cliffs and definitely recommended if you like wild landscapes. Daughter Christina is now living in Wimbledon, which is lovely as easy for her to drop in to see us or for us to find an excuse to have dinner in Wimbledon Village. Despite

Covid, it still boasts an array of lovely cafes and restaurants, sadly the same cannot be said for many other areas of outer London. I was sorry to miss the school reunion lunch earlier in the year, do hope to make the next one.

Kate Wood (Oura)

This year saw my daughter Emma getting married in France near Bergerac. It was a fabulous 3 day event. Having had to postpone in 2021 it seemed extra special to be with friends and family and dance the night away!

Section 49 (1979)

Section Representative: Fiona Merritt

Olufunso Adegbola (Ige)

All well at home and work. I recently became a grandmother- my granddaughter and grandson were born within a space of 5 months. Both of them are doing well and I am loving this new phase of my life.

Neelam Christie

I am happy to share that I have decided to take early retirement next March. I will be going on the Queen Elizabeth for a much longed for holiday soon, and am looking forward to many more trips in the future.

Joan Lowton (Mullens)

My only real news is that I have been working 3 days a week this last year, to prepare myself as I will be retiring at the end of December. To celebrate, we will be (finally, after 2 postponements due to Covid) going on an Antarctic cruise!

Fiona Merritt

A second year where catching Covid missed me but it’s impact did not! Vaccination steward shifts, family care requirements and Sailing Club duties helped keep me busy and put off my own de-cluttering for another year. October 2020 Red Sea boat week rolled to October 2021, was re-rolled, but did sneak in a late November shore-based diving week which was only spoiled by Covid testing issues and mozzie bites!! Great to catch up with Lucy Toyn (Phillips) this January when breaking her journey to London, and hard to believe how long since we last met. Also, good to have a March skiing fix in Austria, sorely missed in 2021.

Nikki Tehel

I still live in Dartmouth, South Devon with Australian husband, and Sealyham Terrier. I’m still an assessor with the Pets As Therapy organisations (dogs into hospitals and schools).

Attending dance classes for fun with Flavia from Strictly; have signed up for an aerial hoop workshop, and life drawing classes... generally enjoying life by the water. And, of course, carrying on as a holistic therapist (yoga, reiki, lightwork and card reading).

Last year I officially changed my name by deed poll from Nicola Penelope Susan to Nikki Penelope Stripey since I’ve actually been Stripey ALL my life, never Nicola - and Nikki was only created for me to use when I came to WB from East Africa in 1972. The Palmer obviously changed to Tehel on marriage 22 years ago...

Juliet Tomlinson

My partner Dave and I have moved to May Hill near to Ross on Wye and have a pretty idyllic life enjoying the

beautiful countryside around here. I’m still busy playing the cello - at the moment Siegfried at Longborough Opera. I’ve stopped teaching after 40 years and I’m so enjoying having extra time to spend with my three horses. I’m now a horseback archer - a wonderful and challenging hobby! I’ve just bought a little place in Italy and plan to spend free time there - it’s a dream come true.

Section 48 (1978)

Section Representative:

Amiel Price

Polly Davies

Polly Davies owns Marco Polo Travel - offering adventure holidays and cultural tours. She recently appeared on TV talking about luxury holidays in emerging destinations, one of their specialist areas: “Luxury Holidays for Less” on Channel 4 - available on demand. Polly is interviewed for the first 15 minutes of the programme.

Susan Kennedy (Sheard)

Like many others, the last year has been a bit of getting back to ‘normal’ after the lockdowns and catching up with friends and family not seen for ages. Have had Covid twice, once in October, very mildly and once in March - also mild but for 6 – 8 weeks afterwards I was easily tired when doing any activity. I continue to be active to save my

sanity and for my health!

I really enjoyed going back to Westonbirt for the delayed celebration of the old girls association. The day was so well run by the school, including a delicious lunch in the dining room and a lovey service in the church, with some wonderful singing from the choir. So lovely to see so many alumni, staff, ex-staff and current students, some of whom gave us a tour of the school and grounds. The lake looks incredible. I think I am getting so old now and have been back enough times that the slight shiver down my spine at the more unhappy memories of school are really far behind. It was great to see all the girls, from my sister’s (Penny Sloman (Sheard) year, who have continued to do so much for the Association, Leigh Ralphs (Davidson),h Jenny Binder and others. I very much enjoyed catching up with Marie Ann Fountaine ( Gibson ) from my year who I had not seen for a very long time. It was strange to chat and find out how we had so many similarities in our backgrounds from the school days that we certainly were not aware of at the time. Always fun to catch up with Polly Davies - we ended up talking about travelling - my long awaited/ delayed trip to South America, tentatively being planned for next year - I am now getting her to organise the trip for me with her Bristol based travel company Marco Polo!

It was also really impressive to see how the headteacher Natasha Dangerfield has turned the school around, with help from others, and the numbers are doing so well. It was also great to hear about the big tree planting planned with the Holford foundation. Not so great to hear of the demise of Holford House (THE BEST HOUSE!).

My own family is well, our father moved to flat near Cirencester, so we said goodbye to the house in Nailsworth - I hesitate to call it the ‘family home’ as we never really all lived there as it was bought when I was in Sixth Form at WB, so we were never all there much together. There were very mixed feelings emptying the house – but, overall, a relief as it needed a lot of work and to heat it was impossible then - the bills this coming winter don’t bear thinking about. It was somehow like saying goodbye again to our Mum, who died in 2018, which was, of course, sad.

Hubby Gordon is busy doing a bit of filming for a new series being made from one of the radio shows he produced for Radio 4 (he has produced rather a lot over the last 8 years!) - it’s a comedy drama -crime, starring Meera Syal – called ‘ Mrs Siddhu Investigates’ - he has a small role as a police chief as well as being one of the producers. He is also playing a lot of cricket! For the Middlesex Over 60s 2nd team, the Lords Taverners, Jardines and the RNVR - there were some weeks this summer where I hardly saw him! But I have been keeping up the running with Queens Park Harriers - love running cross country still - my love of mud and running I definitely got from WB - all that lacrosse - and I am set to run the Loch Ness marathon on 2nd October - just need to cram in a bit more training!

I have become one of those cold water evangelists too! I have ‘swum’ through two winters now, including in ice for the first time at the Ladies Pond in Hampstead in January! My husband has been doing it much longer than me (seven years) but I really love the madness of the dark cold mornings, with a gang of other women, all ages and abilities - it’s been a life saver in lock down and I plan to continue until I can’t get down the ladder!

Our boys are both well and happy, which is all you can ask for. One in East London, the other in Toronto. It’s a long way away but we are happy he is happy.

Some great plans to celebrate the Section Reps who have worked so hard to keep us in touch - in our case, Amiel Price. Looking forward to a possible WB meet-up in September with some of my old Holford gang, Tella Wormington, Claire Staveley, Fee Robertson, Angie Haviland, Cally Henson and Gillie Isaac - as a result of lock down we have a WhatsApp group now which is great for keeping up with news…we even let Rachel Nobes (Beaufort) and Vanessa Turvill (Badminton) into our group!! will be going to the Carol Service in London in December and hope to see lots of familiar faces there.

Amiel Price

The past year has been one of both sadness and joy as Coronavirus took a very dear friend of mine, then later, as restrictions relaxed, we could enjoy reunions with family and friends. A similar year for many of us all over I am sure. And now we face new crises - the war in Ukraine, rising costs of living and energy, and industrial unrest.

And we mustn’t forget the climate crisis - forget that at your peril. It reminds me of my schooldays at Westonbirt in the 1970’s when we had inflation, power cuts, short working weeks and industrial unrest. Re-reading letters exchanged with my parents I am reminded that during the power cuts in February 1972 Mum cooked on the gas cooker by the light of a tiny paraffin lamp and wrote letters by candlelight. Searching for a hotel one evening during an exeat weekend they were using the car headlamps in the dark and squinting at a map inside the car. Batteries, which were becoming scarce, were sent to me at school for a torch to use on trips between Sedgwick House and music lessons in the courtyard. At home we had an open coal fire, but we used to collect wood from the local woodland to help eke out the coal. Apparently Westonbirt had written to parents saying that we would all be sent home on 23rd February if the power cuts continued, and summer holidays would’ve been curtailed to make up the lost time. However the coal strike was settled by 19th February 1972 and gradually industry began to return to normal. Writing about the ’70’s reminds me to tell you that over the past 12 months I enjoyed two holidays in North Wales in a 1970’s vintage VW camper van that I hired. Driving it was interesting, but it was fun to get waves from other drivers and quite a few people came over to admire - the van, not me!

Lorraine Stanton (Martin)

Living in Buckinghamshire. Loving the life of a grandma and gardener while growing my online coaching practise! Never a dull moment!

Stephanie Wolfe

I have continued to be busy organising a small garden maintenance company and am trying to arrange succession as I hope to take a step back later this year.

I am the Chairman of the local Choral Society, and we made great efforts to get up and running again after lockdowns. We rehearsed in a churchyard when the government did a U-turn last June and decided overnight not to allow choirs to meet indoors. This brought us some surprised looks from joggers and dog walkers, but the members were delighted to get back together again and make music.

I am part of a group planning another visit to Neve Shalom Wahat al Salam in Israel - the only village in Israel dedicated to peaceful coexistence. There is a bilingual primary school there and a school for peace. Being a practising Anglican with a Jewish husband, it’s a project close to our hearts. We are going in November and will also be visiting various other peace projects.

We have adopted a Spanish Podenco, from a shelter in Spain, who is completely bonkers and hard work but only 16 months old, so we keep working at his behaviour ( six TV remotes chewed so far!). We are the only permanent home (he was living on the streets) he has ever had so I hang on to that fact when I find the remains of a chewed book in the garden. A very loving dog, though, when he stops trying to steal! Still an enthusiastic WI member, cellist and Book Group member.

Section 47 (1977)

Section Representative: Sally Kincaid (Franklin)

Fiona Dix (Bolus)

Very sadly my whole year, in fact my whole life and my elderly father’s, has been blighted by the terrible shock of my only sister Elspeth’s death in a car accident in February. It is heart-breaking that the opportunity for us to

spend more time together came just too late, as I am since September an ‘empty nester’ with my son living and working in Cardiff and my daughter starting her degree at Durham Uni. An obituary tribute to Elly appears at the beginning of this publication.

Picking up the pieces of my life, I was thrilled this summer to pass the RHS Diploma in Horticulture, with flying colours, after two years of study. I haven’t revised as hard as that since my finals in the 1980’s. With formal knowledge and confidence to use it, I have since started a garden ‘guidance’ business, sharing what I have learned, to create, improve and refresh gardens for clients. I feel blessed to have found something that absorbs me so totally and about which there is always something to learn and enjoy.

On the green theme, it was lovely to spend time with Leigh Ralphs, Jenny Webb, Katharine Hill, Fiona Leith, Penny Sloman and other contemporaries at the May AGM at WB. Having stayed nearby, the next day, Leigh and I walked round the Arboretum and were amazed by its incredible collection of rare specimen trees and quantity of acers. It’s a pity we never appreciated it when we were at WB!

Another thing which harks back to life at WB is that I have started singing again, this time with the semi-professional Chichester Singers. We are very lucky to have the talented Jonathan Willcocks as our choir master and consequently, our repertoire this year has included majestic and modern dynamic works, notably the jazz Mass in Blue composed and played by Will Todd and his jazz trio.

Cherry James (Lucas)

My news doesn’t change very much! However, I can say that I am still teaching law though have gone down to three days a week and I’ve been enjoying helping at a local vaccination centre for over a year now and will continue to do so during the Autumn booster campaign. I’m doing my best to improve my French as we now go as often as we can to the cottage we were lucky enough to acquire in southern France, just before the pandemic. It is just outside the charming town of Uzès, overlooking a vineyard. Travel has fortunately become easier this year, which is just as well as our son Freddie now lives and works in Lucerne as an organist (in a beautiful church there) and harpsichordist, and teaches at the Music Conservatoire, and Anna lives and works as a chartered surveyor in Paris. I enjoy keeping in reasonably regular touch with Sharon Chen in Sydney, and with Corinna Kershaw, Nicky Volkommer and Henrietta Ewart; I am very much looking forward to going to the wedding celebration of Henrietta’s daughter, my goddaughter, in November.

Fiona Leith (Goodbody)

We had a fairly quiet 2021, with short breaks on the Isle of Wight and in Scotland. Otherwise, gardening continued, tennis and golf got underway again, and bridge returned to the table rather than zoom. We saw a lot of the family and our middle one got engaged in the autumn, which we are very pleased about. I had a lovely weekend with Nicky Henson visiting Bosworth Field and generally catching up. I also finished my cross country walk from Bardsey Island in the west to Lowestoft, the end of 10 years of walking the length and breadth of the country. It’s been huge fun. 2022 has brought a flurry of family weddings and other events. It’s so lovely to see everyone again in normal circumstances. I very much enjoyed the 90th celebrations at WB - well done to all the organisers.

Tina Panton (Galanis)

Our eldest daughter Anna and her lovely wife Erica are expecting twins in December, one of each! We’re very excited to be grandparents and we’re off to New York for the big day - and to do the cooking and cleaning and childcare for a few weeks! Really hoping I live another 15 years so I can see her coping with twin teenagers!! Happy days! Hoping to fit in a visit to the opera and the Metropolitan Museum of Art while we’re there. NY will be a big change from our quiet life in Symi, which we continue to love. Lots of love to you all, old friends.

Catharine (Kate) Porter (Bullock)

Very happily retired from teaching but finding life a bit difficult due to severe osteonecrosis. Awaiting new hip(s) in due course. This has curtailed our normal road trips, sadly, but I look forward to travelling again once the operation has been done. Youngest offspring now training to be a teacher too! Enjoying the lovely spring weather,and am very glad the extreme heat and drought have not been nearly so bad for us here in the Central Belt, as in many places down South. Looking forward to getting out and about a bit more with my new wheelchair. Hoping everyone stays safe and well, and that we all have a better year! Best wishes to all my former classmates.

Leigh Ralphs (Davidson)

We are beginning to emerge from semi-shielding due to the pandemic and it was a delight to attend the Association’s belated 90th Anniversary lunch at Westonbirt alongside some old mates – Ruby Lau, (over from KL), Fiona Dix, Fiona Leith, Penny Sloman, Jenny Webb and some from the year below - Marie Ann Fountain, Susan Kennedy, Amiel Price and Polly Davis. We enjoyed a special Chapel service and tours of the School. There is a lot of building work going on at the moment to cater for the huge increase in numbers since going co-ed – there are over 400 students which is brilliant. We had a great day as the sun shone and Fiona Dix and I stayed overnight and had a tour around the Arboretum the following day.

This year my mum turned 100 (received her card from the Queen) but sadly died a few months later. She’d had a full and wonderful life andher glass wasalways halffull!

Charlie is about to join Alleyne’s School in Dulwich as Head of Maths and James is still at Bryanston as Head of 6th, teaching Geography, and has just become engaged to the lovely Georgia!

Guyon and I have been busy sorting the garden out this year and completing some finishing touches to the house. We are both doing more voluntary work – Guyon has become a Governor at Repton and I am helping in the shop in Malvern Priory, about to start at the FoodBank and undertaking some grant fundraising work for a local Autism charity. Being President and Secretary of the WB Association has taken up a lot of my spare time over the years, but we are now handing the admin over to the School which will hopefully free me up. I need to start putting more effort into golf for a start! We have started to return to visiting our apartment in Spain and are really enjoying being able to go more often and outside of school holidays.

Penny Sloman (Sheard)

Another year goes by and it’s good to have the pandemic behind us, hopefully. I have 3 sons all living abroad still so have taken in a Ukrainian mother and 18 year old daughter, to help them in their lives. Two weeks in and all well, boarding school helped prepare for this! I hope the war will end soon for everyone concerned and world

peace. I continue many voluntary roles including the local tennis club, Foodbank, mentoring ex-prisoners and a texting crisis line. So many people in this country needing help and support it is scary. I also continue playing tennis, for fun and competitively, as well as bridge. Horry, my husband has returned from Saudi and now works for Cognician, an e-learning based program for cultural change which is still very much needed.

Nicola Vollkommer (Sperry)

Life was supposed to be getting quieter, but is doing the opposite… Our greatest joy is being grandparents to nine wonderful grandchildren, spread over our four families. Jessica and Stefan and their families live nearby, Dani works in Berlin, Debbie is on placement at the German Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria. We sold our house to Jessica and her husband and moved out of town into a smaller apartment in a lovely place called Bad Urach - a bit more driving, but a beautiful view from the balcony over the hills. Church is thriving despite all the restrictions the Covid lockdowns imposed on us. Helmut is gradually handing over responsibility to younger folk. My book writing, podcasting and speaking are keeping me busy - a weird occupation for someone with my chronic hatred of driving and my stage fright! My novel “Flucht nach Mattingley Hall” has gone into its second edition, and has had some great reviews!

Jennifer

Webb (Binder)

A year of high points and low points. My eldest son’s wedding in Downpatrick was a lavish and very happy occasion in November. Then in August we celebrated my father’s 90th birthday with a trip to Glyndebourne, and in September a week in Cornwall with all the family. Timely as it turned out as he sadly died on Christmas Eve. January was spent on dealing with the aftermath, but then we battled our way through PCR tests and form filling and enjoyed a lovely holiday in Oman. Our lockdown beagle Tazzie variously entertains and frustrates us otherwise nothing new to report. Looking forward to seeing friends in May at Westonbirt!

Section 46 (1976)

Section Representative: Jean Stone (Borritt)

No news returned this year

Section 45 (1975)

Section Representative: Susie Younger (Goodbody)

Gaye Collis (Wilkinson)

I am still living south of Dorking with my husband Peter who has recently retired. Our son Benjamin is 31, a chartered surveyor living in south London and getting married next year. Our daughter Katie is working as a Foundation 1 doctor at St Mary’s hospital in Paddington. We still have two elderly horses, a dog and a cat who have not left home. We have recently celebrated Pete’s dad’s 100th birthday and are looking forward to a family holiday cruise on a Gulet in Turkey.

Jenefer Greenwood

Writing for this is rather like answering that question on the telephone “ so what have you been up to?” Since retiring, at least from full time employment about 10 years ago, I have been kept quite busy as a non-executive director on a number of property companies, including a not for profit housing association and a landed educational trust. Not having children or grandchildren to run around after, it is good to keep mind and body active!

I am now living permanently in Gloucestershire so have done my turn in chairing the village Fete Committee for 5 years and singing in the village choir. Last December saw my retirement as a Governor of Westonbirt after 22 years’ service - I think I had envisaged 10 years at most!! Delighted to have joined in the 90th birthday celebrations of the WB Association and to see the stunning progress that has been made in the 4 years under Wishford’s guidance. The fabric of buildings is mostly the same, but not a lot else!!

Anne Millman

Very sadly, my wonderful husband, Hans Meijer, died in March of this year. He’d endured four years of terrible illness, during which time I learnt so much about how extraordinary it is (and such a privilege) to care for someone full time, and how to adjust to a very different way of life. I am now engaging with a bit of my working life again, and appreciating so much the love and help of family and friends. (A wonderful thing to have been able to do. BB)

Fiona Stokes (Tobin)

Random snippets of news: I have been looking after Mum (93) this past year; she is still living alone in Oxfordshire. She broke her right elbow in April but after a couple of frustrating and painful months she recovered. Her kind carer comes in the evenings, and my brother and I visit weekly to shop/cook/take to medical appointments etc.

I am looking forward to welcoming a daughter into the family! Ollie and Claire bought a house in Cheshire in 2021, got engaged later that year and their marriage ceremony is booked at a church in next-door Flintshire, with a reception at Saughton Hall in April 2023.

Son Matthew moved out of our house recently to rent a flat in Haywards Heath with his doctor girlfriend, who works at a hospital in Brighton. He works for a bio diversity company in Guildford.

All three sons joined us in Anglesey for a Tobin family reunion of cousins over the Platinum Jubilee weekend. Ben was able to get time off from working at home in Wokingham for an American IT recruitment company.

Loved the chance to visit WB again on 22 May and catch up with Jen Greenwood. Have also seen Lizzie Bennett (Phelps) at Kew Gardens, Trudy Evans (Wardle) at Reigate, Clare Williams at Grange Park Opera, and Leigh Ralphs (Davidson) at Merchant Taylor’s for a Public Schools football finals, then in Anglesey whilst she and husband Guyon were staying with his sister there and we were at our holiday lodge.

Chris and I sang in a Platinum Jubilee concert in March with Windsor and Eton Choral Society at St George’s Chapel, Windsor in the presence of The Earl of Wessex. This was memorable not only for the wonderful English music and sense of occasion, but also because it was my likely source of Covid infection. Chris managed to avoid it, despite Matt and I both contracting it from different sources in the same week!

Gillian Stuart Smith (Ward)

The best news is that as of February both our boys are now gainfully employed - Marcus is about to join Brewin Dolphin and Fabian has started on a career in commercial property in central London. As they are both now living in London, it means that there is no-one at home to exercise the puppy. We got another springer spaniel last April 2021, and she is a complete handful. I’m not sure she will ever be calm enough to be a competent gundog, but I am persevering with the training. After no real travelling for the last couple of years, we went to Kenya as a family over Christmas and the New Year which was an excellent break. And in March we spent a few days in northern Norway - we flew to Tromso and went dog-sledding and admired the snowy scenery. Sadly, we didn’t see the Northern Lights in the three days that we were there. The only old girl I see regularly is Davina Instone (Vetch) who has just become a grandmother to Rosie.

Section 44 (1974)

Section Representative: Elizabeth Battye ( Jones)

Elizabeth Battye ( Jones)

Another year of retirement has brought us out of lockdown and fortunately activities are starting up again. My daughter, Claire, is due to have her third child any day now, in fact at the time of writing the baby is overdue. She will then have three little ones under 4 years old. My son, Thomas, is working locally as an accountant; he and his wife are still living nearby which is lovely. My husband, Chris is now fully retired so we are hoping that, with restrictions lifted, we can perhaps do some travelling, once the initial period of helping with the new baby has settled down.

Jenny Denholm (Goodbody)

It’s been so lovely being able to see children and grandchildren (the tally so far is 8) which is bliss! So far 7 girls and one boy! Mind you this could have been expected in a family with so many sisters! Our mum was 92 in February. Had a lovely time planning my garden, including installing a wheelchair accessible greenhouse, whoopee! I can now grow lots of exciting things. I am spending a lot of time getting it all organised. Best thing is my wheelchair

paths are perfect for grandchildren on their bikes!

My youngest daughter is getting married in July, having had to cancel it several times, so that will be the full set of 4 daughters all wed. Lovely seeing all my sisters at various family weddings. Three of my daughters are now living in Stirlingshire, with the youngest hoping to join them too. It will be lovely for me having them all so close!

It’s very nice still being in contact with Val Byrom-Taylor and Penny Peregrine (Ferguson) by email and phone.

Update: Just had my youngest daughter’s wedding- tremendous day with all my sisters there plus all 8 grandchildren as bridesmaids/page boy. As with my generation- so many girls…4 sisters, 4 daughters, 7 granddaughters and one grandson!! Gus definitely had to stand up for himself! Have finally got myself a motorised wheelchair…terrifying! It arrived the day before wedding so not much time to practice!! I managed not to wipe out any guests - phew!

Apart from lots of family time including my 92 year old mum I’ve been very busy with my garden.

Julia Goss (Willcox)

The very sad news is that Elspeth Weaver (Bolus) was killed outright, along with Gerard, her partner of many years, in a tragic car accident in France, where she lived. Elspeth came to Westonbirt for her A levels (72 - 74), her younger sister Fiona was already at the school. In the A level term she shared a study with Lulu James, Tish Bush and myself. This was the start of a long friendship, and indeed our WhatsApp group was called “WB Study Mates”. We had regularly chats, and these kept us going in the Covid lockdowns. Elspeth was great fun and lived a full life. She leaves behind her 3 adored, gorgeous boys. Her passing leaves a huge hole and she is much missed.

Pauline Jackson (Garrett)

Another year battling Amyloidosis, Multiple Myeloma and for the past 5 months, constant back pain. Still spend a good deal of time at the home in Spain - between hospital appointments. Have recently moved to Chiswick to be close to my daughter. Was devastated to hear of the death of a good friend, Elspeth Weaver (Bolus) earlier this year. Also recently attended a celebration of the life of Felicia Milosevic (Leman). Grandchild number 5 born in May to my youngest David (his first); Laura married Marlon from New Zealand last week; Paul still unmarried, living in London; Stephen lives in Spain and works in Germany, Holland and Madrid.

Caroline Lloyd (Lane/Pelham-Lane)

I have retired! So I can finally tackle all/some of the projects I have had on my list and put off because there “wasn’t time”. Or rather that is the plan! Lots of household clutter to deal with and a fair amount of mental adjusting to do, and I am looking around for some more useful local charitable work to do. Already a Governor of my local hospital trust, so my involvement with the NHS will continue. I am viewing this as a time of opportunity and a new phase of my life, but I still describe myself as a Chartered Surveyor by reflex. That will take a while to fade, I think - 43 years in property doesn’t evaporate immediately! Optimistic!

Section 43 (1973)

Section Representative: Sarah Thomas (Leslie)

Miranda Godbaz

I have nothing really to contribute this year...just enjoying life in Palmerston North with my husband. My son in California visited for a month recently, along with his wife and daughter, which was a delight! Our daughter is in Wellington and also has a little girl, who we love to play with when they visit. Life is good!

Best regards to Sarah Leslie, by the way. I have found that corresponding with Westonbirt was so meaningful when the link was someone that I had known at school when I was there. Hope you don’t mind me saying this, but I really miss that! It provided a really special link to Westonbirt that I will miss. But things change, I know, so onward and upward! Many thanks for the good work that you are doing.

Tish Golding

I have had a sad year, which started with helping to nurse my sister-in-law through the final stages of cancer, before she had to go into a nursing home. Only a couple of months after that my beloved aunt fell and because of Covid, I was her sole designated visitor while she was in hospital and a rehab care home. Her dearest wish was to get home which we were able to organise but sadly she caught Covid just before she left the care home and was never really the same after that She died 10 weeks later in mid-May, and I am only now coming to terms with it all. (Heartfelt sympathies, I had a similar experience with my Mum in 2020 and wasn’t able to see her. BB) Not helped by also catching covid myself recently and taking a while to get back to normal. Not there yet.

But there have been happy moments too. The choir I belong to performed The Messiah in the Cadogan Hall in Chelsea in April, which was rather a dream come true, especially as it had been postponed weeks before we were due to perform in 2020. I first sang The Messiah at Westonbirt, and it has always been a favourite. We are still living in south London, and I see quite a few old WB friends like Anti Seymour Williams, Zoe Littleton and Renee Gunn. I sadly missed seeing Rekha Dutt when she was over from the States this year because of everything that was happening.

Our children have all left home now, although our youngest is moving back in the autumn when she starts a PGCE. Our older daughter lives in Kent with her four grandchildren. They are a joy, and we see lots of them as they are only an hour away. Our son works for Bloomsbury and often pops to see us on his bike. My mum is 91, still living independently in Sussex and very busy with her garden - especially growing cucumbers! She comes to stay quite often and enjoys life. That’s it really! We are looking forward to doing a bit more of the travel we’d planned for our retirement until Covid stopped us.

Section 42 (1972)

Section Representative: Miranda Purves (Saxby-Soffe)

Lorraine (Lorrie) Clemie (Gibbs)

Still living in Yorkshire with husband John and dachshund dog Riley. I retired at Christmas after working as a speech and language therapist for forty odd years. Have five grandchildren and they are all delightful boys. We spend a lot of time with them as one son, Jack, lives next door and the other one, Alex, lives twenty minutes away. We feel very lucky to have family close by.

Sally Gesua (Clifford)

Another mixed up year one way and another but still managing to keep pretty busy. A lovely lunch at Valerie Byrom-Taylor’s home in August - really put to shame by the number of things she packs into her daily life! Travel plans cancelled and re-booked a few times - did manage another trip to Mauritius for a bit of sunshine and golf. Life is busy with bridge, golf, tennis and gardening, along with children and grandchildren.

Miranda Purves (Saxby-Soffe)

In June this year (2022) I was finally able to have my 2020 holiday which consisted of a stay in the Austrian Tyrol with lovely hikes and visits (including to Salzburg) then a visit to Oberammergau in Bavaria to spend a spectacular evening at the Passion Play. What a performance! At the beginning of this year, I flew out to Florida and was able to sell my apartment there which all went through very quickly. Most of the contents were shipped back to the UK for me, which worked well. Luckily friends in Florida have invited me to stay whenever I want to visit again.

Section 41 (1971)

Section Representative:

Jennifer Cope

Karen Broomhead (Fielding)

This year much time has been taken up with planning and designing a carbon negative new home for Tony and I, to be built next door to our current property. Very exciting, but so much needs to go into the planning application, hiking up cost on a daily basis it seems. Given the effort of the aspirations, it would be a travesty if it’s a no!

I continue to act as Treasurer for the Westonbirt Association and, together, the Executive Committee is working hard to complete the transfer of admin et al to the School (definitely the right thing to do) and it is good news that it’s thriving with Wishford in control, which Reunion Day demonstrated beautifully.

I am in fairly regular contact with Jennie Cope (Wells), Di Farrington (Broughton), Jen Greenwood, who is on holiday in France with us at the moment, Caroline Revitt, and it was lovely to see Karen Chapman during a short visit to Norfolk last month. Karen has retired as Head of her School in Italy and is getting back to playing her violin again, no doubt with her characteristic energy, enthusiasm and talent.

Nicola Currie

(Penley)

Like so many retired people I’m so busy I wonder how I ever had time to go to work but of course the answer is I’m now doing what I want to do instead of what I had to do. I’ve recently blown the dust off my oboe, but it will be a long time before I produce anything musical, although at least the muscle memory still seems to be there. Having raised £340k to carry out a major restoration of our church tower, including the bells, my husband andI are both making progress in our quest to become bellringers and now go to three practises a week. I am now learning to ring, grappling with the mysteries of Call Changes...’if the bell you are following is called you follow the bell that that bell was following...’ which means you need to know who is following never mind keeping time and following the bell you are following with the perfect tiny gap. All very good for the ‘little grey cells’! The trouble is it’s not something you can practise ‘at home’. We must be improving as we were asked to ring for the Jubilee in a neighbouring parish, but no one has trusted us with a wedding yet! Ringing at our own church is made more challenging in that we are all learners, due to the bells having been unsafe to use for 100 years, until we raised the restoration funds. The ideal is to learn surrounded by expert ringers. Otherwise, my time is taken up gardening, amateur bird watching, attending a local history group’s meetings, keeping fit and getting involved in various village activities. Gosh that makes me sound like something out of a cartoon!

I hear from Angie Neuhaus (Low), Karen Grieve (Fielding) and Jenny Cope (Wells).

Section 40 (1970)

Section Representative: Jennifer Cope

June Barrow-Green

I am still living in Islington and working for the Open University although I have finally decided to retire later this year. Last year I was very surprised and honoured to be awarded the 2021 Royal Society Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar medal for my research into history of mathematics, particularly that on women in mathematics. But I did have to sing for my supper and for those who are curious my prize lecture is available on YouTube. https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=9Ezq8CX3KVo. I was delighted that my sister Belinda and Clare Jordan (Gore Langton) were able to attend at the Royal Society, although sadly Lee Twist (Beanland) and Shan Rigby ( Jones) were unable to make it. I am also one of only three historians of mathematics to be invited to speak at the 2022 International Congress of Mathematicians (it is a quadrennial event like the Olympics!). So at least I can feel I am going out on a high!

I am still running and in October did my annual trot round London in the London Marathon and have next year’s already in the diary. Last summer I did my first ultra-marathon - the Stour Valley Path 50K - which was quite a challenge as it was on trails and much of the ground was very hard and rutted. I have also been camping with my running friends, which brought back memories of guide camps at Westonbirt, a time when integral groundsheets did not exist, and we had to make curious contraptions with sticks and string! However, there was always plenty of food - I distinctly remember copious quantities of cauliflower cheese!

My aunt Dheidre Philips (Hornsby) died in May this year. She was 103, so was probably the last of her year. I think she left Westonbirt in 1936 or possibly 1937.

Section 39 (1969)

Section Representative:

Louise Dixon

(Sara) Jane Daniell

An eventful year. Daughter Ciara, husband, and their two boys moved to Oman last August for three years. I was looking forward to visiting them but was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma just before they left. After a year of treatment, I had a Stem Cell transplant three weeks ago. Delighted to be home and onto the recovery stage.

Son Justin continues to work for Investec in Ireland. He and his wife have three boys 4, 2 and 1. A busy household.

I’m looking forward to getting back to my garden and getting out and about. The combination of Covid and my diagnosis have resulted in a lot of isolation. My border terrier is great company, but I have missed not being able to travel. Here’s to a much improved 2023 with a visit to Oman.

Louise Dixon

I am obviously not alone in being grateful to emerge, to a certain extent, from the dark days of Covid, but do wonder what the lasting impact on society will be. For so many, working from home and ordering takeaways, instead of eating out, have had such an enormous and I think lasting impact on cities, businesses and personal lives. For some eight years, I have been a non-executive director of the Automobile Association in South Africa and it was extraordinary to see the call centre staff taking their computer equipment and operating from home. The challenges of taking calls with small children in a very small house are beyond me! I remain very concerned about how you build and sustain a corporate culture and how employees are to achieve the important goal of social and career upliftment that normally comes from ‘sitting by Nellie’. Time will tell how digital, rather than face to face interaction, affects businesses and society.

My own life was forever changed by the death of my much loved brother from Covid. So many families have suffered the same terrible loss, under the most cruel of circumstances. I can only say that Covid is far from over and as a society, we do still need to be very aware of the potential threat to older people and those who are vulnerable.

From 2020, Euan and I have been based largely in Puglia, in the heel of Italy. The pulling up of the Brexit drawbridge has created a far more restricted living and travel environment, as far as the wider continent is concerned, but we did manage to complete the Italian residence formalities in time. It has been interesting to dig a lot deeper into the day to day world of living in a country that seems to function in an ever-revolving door of government changes. We have travelled within Italy a certain amount and are delighted to be able to attend world class operas in the stunning opera houses in Naples and Rome, for example. Trains in Italy work exceptionally well, and we enjoy the journeys, as much as the destinations.

I am daily grateful to Miss Bean for having given me such a solid grounding in Spanish and French, which is a very good entrée into Italian. I’ve worked in Italy in the past, and am enjoying the process of becoming adept at such a beautiful language.

I am enjoying seeing the posts on the Westonbirt Facebook page and am fascinated to see the very positive culture that now exists. I look forward to seeing the school continue to flourish.

Section 38 (1968)

Section Representative:

Chris Shaw (Morris)

Deborah Dorrance-King (Dorrance)

Since my previous update, I returned from my last trip from the ‘Upper Egypt’ area of Sudan with the Salamat Medical Charity in time for lockdown. Despite the hopes after the revolution, it has not been safe for the non-Sudanese Salamat members to return. My husband died during lockdown (not Covid related). My middle son got married at Wimborne Minster during Covid with only parents and siblings allowed. They had a blessing and reception a year later. He is at the Treasury. The eldest is an architect in New York but visits twice a year for a month. The youngest is an artist and earns as a chef in central London. Travelling has been curtailed which means that I have visited friends and explored new areas in Britain. I am looking forward to holidaying in Europe and visiting friends in the US this year and possibly even Sudan. I am always happy to meet up in London or reasonably close.

Sarah Ferguson

In September I spent a delightful week on a car rally driving on tiny roads through the wilds of Northumberland, Durham and Cumbria with my pal James in his family’s 1930’s Lagonda. Then in October we had another of our Westonbirt reunions, this time based at the Hare and Hounds with visits to the School, Tetbury and the Arboretum. During our lockdowns and my Covid isolation I was transported away virtually by the London Mountain and Kendal Mountain film festivals. My garden, with its flowers and vegetables, and Studland Bay House gardens, still keep me busy.

Diana Gale (Forwood)

1st May heralded my 70th birthday. I had a card from my ‘twin’ Gail (nee Lambert) who seems well and looking forward to down-sizing into the house they are having built near Cirencester. I also heard from Hilary (nee Moore) living in Brisbane still and busy with her book writing - a couple of children’s books written for her own grandchildren, as well as the true story of a great-uncle who went out to Australia at the end of the 19th century. Annabel (nee Johnston) lives just round the corner. I love visiting her, especially now there is a new baby in the house, Anna’s 6th grandchild. A busy hands on granny! But she had a lovely birthday surprise just this last weekend ( June) when her son organised a garden party to celebrate. John and I were invited too.

My family have kept well. I spend a lot of time playing tennis and more time on admin now I’m back in my old role of Chairman of the Committee. I am gradually improving my ability to delegate.

Alison Gaye Gauld (Taylor)

Still busy as Chairman of the Petersfield Voluntary Care Group (www.pvcg.org.uk) driving people to medical appointments, and Sacristan of St Peter’s Church. Husband, Jim, is enjoying retirement. He is a Trustee of East Hants Citizens’ Advice, and Hampshire CA too. Had 3 good Bridge holidays abroad since October 2021, in Cyprus, Lanzarote and a Croatian cruise from Split to Dubrovnik. However, we then both caught Covid mildly, so are currently isolating at home. I keep up with Penny Bysshe and Sue Bottell, more often these days by FaceTime or Zoom. Feel that I have slowed down a lot over the last 2 years. We enjoy our home extension and enlarged flat patio with garden swing in the sunshine. Miss Scott-Smith used to say that I was a “home bird.” She was right. I had the honour of being presented with a medal and Mayor’s Award 2021 for services to Petersfield during the pandemic. I was also honoured to sit next to the Bishop of Portsmouth at one of his farewell dinners in May 2021.

Chris Shaw (Morris)

2022 brings a huge change in my Westonbirt life - for a large part of the past fifty or so years I have been this Section’s representative, and responsible for chivvying my friends for their annual news, collecting and collating it,

and sending it to the Editor - mostly very near the deadline, and sometimes late! Now everything is to be done via the School, which is a logical progression. While I will definitely not miss all of the above, I will miss the excuse to contact old friends regularly. I do hope that despite the lack of personal contact, everyone will continue to contribute.

The last year has been pretty much a repeat of the year before. I am learning to live with the after effects of polymyalgia rheumatica and have now been diagnosed with severe inflammatory arthritis. Golf and tennis clubs are long gone from my life, and I am now propped up by a walking stick! Obviously this has brought some changes for us, especially as the triple whammy of autoimmune disease, chronic inflammation and steroids make me vulnerable to repeated infections (in my case mainly recurring shingles). Martin is my “strength and stay” and is still fit and active and does enough exercise for both of us - mostly golf and walking, and still running in his late seventies.

Andrew’s family moved into a new house last year and Callie (4) will join Erin (7) at school in September. Suzy’s family are still at Christ’s Hospital School in West Sussex, where Luke is Deputy Head. As Nellie (4) will be joining Ralph (8) at school next term, Suzy is gradually returning to teaching, but will spend most of next year studying for qualifications for teaching children with special needs, for which there is great demand.

Section 37 (1967)

Section Representative:

Jenifer Davidson (Moir)

Sultana Al-Qu’Aiti

Busy as ever managing my charity www.hadhramaut.co.uk and organising a wonderful 3 day fundraising event in Oslo next May.

Alison Boxley (Muir)

Yesterday I finally got New Zealand citizenship on 19th May!

After over two years locked down here in NZ (great place to be though, I’m not complaining) I was able to travel to Australia to hook up with my daughters and granddaughter. So much fun was had and I’m looking forward to my next visit in July.

Anne Collings

My year has been eventful. I signed up as a host for the ‘Homes for Ukraine Scheme’ and after filling in numerous forms to allow my guests to obtain visas they finally arrived in the UK. I have a grandmother, mother and daughter staying with me and they are hoping to arrange for their pet dog to join them soon.

On the morning of the day they arrived, my dog decided to have 9 puppies, but fortunately she had them beforeI was due to pick up the family from Birmingham airport and the puppies made a brilliant ice breaker especially for the 13 year old!

I thought the visa applications were complicated, but they paled into insignificance in terms of the rest of the settling in process of getting British bank accounts and SIM cards, registering with a GP, attending job centre interviews, getting the British Residence Permits, applying for a school place with transport arrangements and uniform fitting, arranging English lessons, sorting out getting their car brought into the UK etc.! Now they are part of the

family! I think I have been very lucky as they are delightful guests, and their command of English is growing by the day, as is my knowledge of Ukrainian food! Almost every day I am shown a video of yet another atrocity from their home town of Dnipro or the surrounding area. The grandfather and father are not allowed out of Ukraine as they are subject to conscription. I cannot begin to understand the inner turmoil the family try to hide. Hosting is a very sobering experience but if anyone is thinking of doing it, it is very rewarding. I managed to meet and stay with Joss Green-Armytage (Doxford) earlier in the year and we enjoyed reminiscing about our time at WB. I have taken my 4 grandchildren to the arboretum a few times and they are in awe of the school main entrance. I am sure they would love to see the dorms one day. They can’t quite get their heads around living at school!

Jenifer Davidson (Moir)

Very little has changed in the last year. I am still working a couple of days a week and still playing lots of tennis. Following reorganization of the Church of Scotland Presbyteries, I have become a member of the newly formed Presbytery of Edinburgh and West Lothian finance committee. I feel rather out of my depth at the moment (everyone else seems to have been on Presbytery Committees for years) but am gradually learning what goes on. I was sorry not to make our reunion last year and unfortunately won’t be able to attend this year either.

Hilary Davis

I was glad to attend the school’s postponed 90th birthday lunch in May this year. It was good to meet with members of our year, some of whom I had not seen for decades, and to recognise other Westonbirt faces from the 1960s!

We have just returned from a super family holiday in Northumberland, a part of the country that we had not visited before. Among the highlights of our trip was a visit to Holy Island, where the ruined priory was of great interest, and a boat tour of the other Farne Islands, to see the sea birds and the seals – much enjoyed by our 3 year-old grandson, Lewis!

Otherwise, no particular changes to report. Ledbury continues to be a vibrant town and we enjoy living here.

Section 36 (1966)

Section Representative:

Julia Braggins (Cock)

Julia Braggins (Cock)

The first year during which I have not had to encourage and badger section members for their news! I wonder how this new arrangement will work…I do hope people will still have submitted their news as I do enjoy reading what everyone has been up to. I expect that, like me, the answer will have been ‘not much’! We have been fairly cautious, Covid-wise, but still managed to contract it at Easter. No real problem for us, mercifully, but I know others who have been laid very low. We are about to set off, with some trepidation, for our first trip to France in what seems like ages, and feel quite elderly and anxious. The first time we won’t be able to sail through on our EU passports either. Sigh. All the family are well and growing up. We have much to be thankful for. I do hope all contemporaries are well too. I was very sad to report the death of Diane Stibbard (Brocklehurst) last year.

Lucy Fisher (Sadlier)

I recently went to London for a Westonbirt reunion of our year, 11 of us staying (mostly 2 nights) at The Royal Foundation of St Katherine in the East End - we had a wonderful time! 12 of us met up for lunch at Smiths next to Tower Bridge which was also marvellous!

I have recently returned from 5 days in an ancient campervan in Devon, parked adjacent to my son and family who are living in an old static caravan while rebuilding a barn which hopefully will be complete in a year’s time. Wonderful family time with a lift from my daughter and family so we were all reunited for 5 days.

In the spring I had Jeni Whittaker (Waterfield) to stay and she came to talk to our lunch club about her book ‘The Courage Game’: very well written, it is all about her great aunt, who was a suffragette and I heartily recommend it.

Veronique Lewis (Hall)

My husband, Tim, sadly died in May after several years of increasing difficulties and health problems.

Sandy Marshall (Hellawell)

It has been a year of emerging from one’s burrow and reconnecting the broken threads. Like most, we have travelled very little in the last couple of years, but our choir did finally get to Italy at the end of May. We sang in St Mark’s in Venice, which was of course fantastic, and saw some wonderful interiors in Ferrara and Ravenna. Back home it’s been a matter of home improvements and consequent disruption (worse when no one comes, and you gaze on an unattended building site. It reminds me of Virgil Aeneid 4 sessions with Miss Newton in her study. The building of Carthage comes to a standstill as Queen Dido loses interest!).

Karen Olsen

Having cancelled a reunion lunch for some of us from both Sections 36 and 37, planned for June 2020, it was good to catch up instead with a reunion dinner in September 2021 at the Hare and Hounds at Westonbirt. Several of us stayed in and around the area and on the final day made a visit to the school itself, courtesy of Rhiannon Roche and her team from Marketing. We had a guided tour around the main reception rooms and the grounds with an impromptu rendering of Jerusalem in the Chapel! Many thanks to the School and Natasha Dangerfield for giving us the chance to ask questions about life at Westonbirt today. It was good to finally enjoy celebrating the ninetieth anniversary of the Association in May 2022. I enjoyed catching up with Hilary Davis (Stone), Chris Maclaren, Alison Palmer (Wheeler), Jane Darch (Constance), Linny Costelllo (Bryan) and Ruth Watson (Genden). The service in the Chapel was so appreciated with the addition of the inspiring school choir.

Alison Palmer (Wheeler)

I have enjoyed meeting up with my year this time at the Hare and Hounds. We spend a few days together with lots of chatting, and a visit to the Arboretum, and the school. Since then, I met up with Eileen at the V and A and Alison Parry at the Royal Academy. I would be delighted to have people to visit me in Whitchurch or anywhere convenient.

I have had two holidays this year, one to Venice in October to join a singing holiday group; we sang Vivaldi Gloria in Venice, and I’m now being tempted by Mozart Requiem in Vienna. More recently I have been to Cappadocia in Turkey, which is an astonishing place. We also did a hit air balloon ride. Quite an experience. My second son married his partner and mother of his daughter in December, on the beach in Worthing with their respective children as bridesmaid and groomsman - surprisingly gorgeous day.

Tomorrow, I go to near Limoges for a week with friends. All good.

Alison Parry (Sturdy-Morton)

2021 was an uneventful year in my concrete jungle with no overseas travel, the first year that I have not seen my children and their families. Thank goodness for the Internet. Two pandemic grandsons in the USA that I still have to meet, but feel I know them quite well through daily photos and videos from my daughter-in-law. Have now caught up with my daughter and her family. Wonderful to spend time with my grandchildren in France, where the temperature is 40C!

I enjoyed being in London once the lockdowns lifted, because with social distancing and fixed numbers for entry to buildings, there were lots of opportunities to visit uncrowded museums, exhibitions and theatres. I booked the first entry slot to museums (so many within walking distance) and had whole rooms to myself - the most memorable being the Elgin Marbles! Lots of excellent theatre that meant lovely evening walks along the Thames to the

Old Vic, the National Theatre, The Menier and many others. Fabulous concerts in the City’s churches and at the Barbican. Definitely an excellent year for culture.

A lot of life continues online, which can be convenient, but much interaction has now returned to in person. The latter was seriously daunting at first after a year alone… had forgotten how noisy people can be! I loved catching up with individual school friends: Judy Chesterman, Alison Palmer, Budgie Savage and Vanessa Pugh. Am looking forward to our London get together in September.

Tilly Roberts de Zagal (Roberts)

2021-2022 has been a year to forget, also a year to remember. On the positive side: Chile has a new, young president as of 11/03/22 (age 36, a record for Chile). He has a team of mainly young, intelligent, well qualified members in his cabinet. It’s impossible to tell what will happen, but we have to hope. He’s a socialist president with a communist party backing…

Also on the positive side, Chile has managed (so far) to come through Covid with no major catastrophes probably due to an excellent vaccination program. I’ve had 4 shots so far. (April 2022), 2 Sinovac, 1 AstraZeneca and 1 Pfizer. The AstraZeneca gave me Covid for one awful night. I’m sure it was worth it. So far family and friends have kept clear of the dreaded sickness. I, too, have been lucky enough to have avoided getting it, in spite of very recent trips to the UK, Corfu, Australia and San Pedro De Atacama in Chile to visit family and friends. It’s also been a joy to have my Utah family staying. Lots of fun and laughter having not seen them for 3 years.

Another plus: our economy is reasonably stable. On the negative side, we listen, read and look at an ongoing war in Ukraine not knowing which are lies and inventions or real atrocities too medieval to imagine. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could pass a “WORLD LAW” (which would be adhered to), forbidding countries to go to war?

To add to the chaos, Chile, like the UK, has an immigration problem with people arriving on a daily basis having risked their lives to get here. It’s impossible to control all people entering due to many walking in via the Atacama Desert where temperatures can be sub-zero. Quite a few have died en route. Unfortunately, in addition to those coming in who are honestly struggling to find a new life, there are also many drug dealers, felons or criminals. Hence, we have reports of shootouts, violence against the police etc. All this is new to Chile and requires urgent attention from our new young president.

Back to the last negative: I was very sad to hear of Di Brocklehurst’s death. She was a great friend. When we left WB in ‘69 we drove all over Europe together in a Morris Minor hatchback her dad bought for us for fifty pounds. As Di was 18, she was able to get a driving license. I was 17, so we had to drive with L plates. It was an unforgetta- ble and delightful experience, and she was a great travel companion.

Section 35 (1965)

Section Representative: Marilyn Jones (Bird)

Philippa Dutton (Thomson)

Life continues to be full. Turkey being closed last autumn meant a change of scene to Malta for us. We spent a week in Valetta, my first visit for forty years, and it was fascinating to see the impressive re-build and enjoy the many wonderful restaurants and sites.

In February we took a small cottage in Mousehole. The town, being deserted of tourists, gave us ample opportu-

nity for exploration of the coast, the art galleries and beaches and we managed to depart on the day of the big storm without being blown off the road.

We have recently returned from a wonderful bike and boat holiday with fourteen others, all nationalities, starting at Corfu, cruising the Ionian Islands on a large sailing boat, where we ate and slept, alighting every day to cycle. Electric bikes made all the difference in tackling the not inconsiderable hills in the heat - a thoroughly recommended holiday with two friendly Greek guides and lots of laughter.

Musicians Livery Company fixtures, having been curtailed during Covid, are now returning. I am also on the Friends Committee of the Musicians Chapel at St Sepulchre’s Holborn, where after a two-year gap, the moving Service of Remembrance for Departed Musicians, whose names are inscribed in the Book of Remembrance in the Chapel, took place on May 18th. It is a privilege to play a small part in this Church where I have recently also become a member of the PCC, representing the Musicians Friends.

I continue to sing with the Academy Choir Wimbledon under the baton of the inspiring Matthew Best. Dicke and I celebrated our Silver Wedding on Midsummer Day.

Section 34 (1964)

Section Representative: Julia Popham (Bishop)

Ann Beattie (Buckland)

It feels very strange not writing my news to Julia Popham after all these years. Not much news to report anyway. John and I have managed to keep free of Covid, so we had a week self-catering in Suffolk at the end of May. Can- terbury is beginning to see the return of many foreign visitors which is good for the Cathedral funds and the localeconomy. We hope for better times.

Clare Carter (Binney)

Small steps to a more normal life I suppose. My daughter and family have come over from Denmark a couple of times which is lovely. They are expecting another baby in the summer so that’s exciting. I continue with U3A activities, which are slowly leaving Zoom and returning to face to face -it’s so good to see everyone in person. I’m still cautious but I had my fifth jab yesterday so feel I must surely be protected. I’ve road-tested every type of vaccine now and have been lucky not to react much to any of them. Zoom calls with Claire Marshall and June Cohen every couple of months have been a definite bonus of Covid - great chat about every topic, with a good dose of WB reminiscence. I loved the photos of the reunion. The gardens look beautiful, lovely to see the lake restored. Now the sun is out, and weeds are growing, so I’m out to the garden.

June Cohen (Kefford)

As with most people, I imagine, our gradual emergence from the restrictions of the pandemic has heralded something of a more normal life and a resumption of pre-pandemic activities. My choir has resumed, and we are due to give our first concert for two and a half years in a couple of weeks, and I have trips to the Isle of Wight and Spain planned. However, the excessive amount of walking in the first part of last year also ushered in a second arthritic hip so, in August, I became double bionic.

I have continued to enjoy zooms with Claire Marshall, Clare Carter (Binney), Helen Faircliff (Weinholt) and Anne Grocock and lovely email exchanges with Denise Bittolo (Porter). I have also chatted to and met up with Carol Brawn (Topham) and I write this just a week after the Westonbirt Reunion Day on May 21st which I attended with Jo Wilson (Forcey). Jo and I had a wonderful catch up together and also so much enjoyed the day itself.

The sun shone, the organisation was great and the hospitality warm and generous. It was very good to see the school in such excellent shape internally, externally and numerically; and I should also add, musically, with some beautiful singing by the Chamber Choir.

My wonderful family continue to be a massive source of joy and the interesting age span of my seven grandchildren means that the eldest will leave education and graduate this summer, whilst the two youngest begin their schooling at primary school this September.

Charlotte Essex (Humpidge)

A year with ‘ups’ and ‘downs’! Firstly, a bout excruciating sciatica, followed by Covid just before our 3rd jab; and recently having to call 999 for Richard as he had an adhesion in his stomach and had to be rushed into hospital for an emergency operation the same day.

It’s been good to see more of family and friends this year. We are starting to clear out after 27 years of accumulated clutter. Sadly, the garden is just too big to cope with and we are thinking of moving before we get too old!

Anne Grocock

Not much news because of COVID but it has been wonderful to zoom with Claire Marshall, June Cohen (Kefford) and Helen Faircliff (Wienholt) on a regular basis. I am also in touch with Chris Bryan who lives partly in London and partly in Florida. I was sorry to miss the 90th Birthday event on 21st May but will try to get to the next one when I hope we will have some celebrations of the sterling work of our wonderful Section Representatives.

Claire Elaine Marshall

First off, I want to thank Helen, Julia & June and other reps for sections 33 & 34, who for so very many years have been the keystones holding our intertwined years together on paper and in person as we arc through youth to maturity. For Helen, it’s been a supremely giving and impressive 50+ years. The warm bond we enjoy after all this time is largely due to their efforts. If we could meet, there would be a rousing three cheers, hugs, laughter and joy. So, as you read this, let’s do it: Hip, Hip, Hooray! And if the Editors get a dozen similar comments, may they will all be published just to underscore our gratitude. For me, another bright spot arrived last August with the birth of Éowyn, a second granddaughter. How wonderful they all live within an hour’s drive. Choir has continued in hybrid format this year with requiems by Fauré (lyrical) and Forrest (vibrant). Volunteering continues but on a much quieter level than before. No travel, (Me! No travel!!), but many wonderful zoom chats with Helen, June, Sandie, Clare, Anne and Liz.

Julia Popham (Bishop)

It is wonderful that life has more or less returned to normal following the Pandemic and it has made me so grateful for those things which we took for granted prior to Covid. During the past year we have enjoyed a couple of short breaks in the UK including a lovely few days with our son and his wife and family in Norfolk. My husband Nigel and I recently celebrated our 75th birthdays and we enjoyed a week of treats, including lunch at the Ritz which was absolutely incredible and all thanks to my winning a raffle prize at a charity event last November! We gave each other birthday presents of tickets for My Fair Lady at the Coliseum which we absolutely loved. I first saw the show with my parents in April 1959, shortly before starting at Westonbirt, and I still have my Souvenir Pro-

gramme with Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews and Stanley Holloway then heading the cast!

I was really sorry that I had to miss the Westonbirt Reunion Day in May; it sounds as though the school is doing extremely well and really flourishing and Natasha Dangerfield seems to be the most excellent Headmistress.

I am in touch with Lella Fountaine (Bateman), Joyce Seaman (Carnegie) and Pippa Dutton (Thomson). I also thoroughly enjoy keeping in touch with other members of our Section by being our Section Rep. I was absolutely delighted to bump into Laetitia Olney at a concert at our church in Wimbledon. We managed a good chat in the interval and hope to meet up again soon.

Section 33 (1963)

Section Representative: Helen Faircliff (Wienholt)

Sandra Russell

In a reply to a follow-up email Sandra said that she doesn’t really have any thing newsworthy to report, but is still alive and kicking, and staying well! (We are glad to hear from you, Sandra, even if life is quiet! BB).

Jane Simpson (Witt)

John has now had his second knee replacement so with two new knees and one new hip he is truly bionic. It has been a long haul but we have got there at last and gradually he is improving. Otherwise, life in Somerset continues with the usual gardening and grandchildren! We met up with Liz Graley (Constance) and Jo Wilson (Forcey) for a pub lunch, and we chat to Alannah Rylands (Hall) from time to time. Off to Tresco for a week in October with our daughter and family. We celebrated our golden wedding anniversary in May. A long time to go steady as John says!

Section 32 (1962)

Section Representative: Sarah Rundle (Milner)

Denise Porter

Life continues much the same in sunny Naples. Thank goodness we are near the sea because no vacations last year due to COVID, but to compensate, four stays in the nursing home! Last just before Christmas to have my gall bladder removed. Cannot believe what is happening in Ukraine and seriously wonder who will be next. We live 1 km from the NATO base and 5 kms from the American Naval Base!!! One of our local volcanoes is “playing up” at the moment which means we feel small earthquakes almost daily. Whatever will be next! Kept busy helping our son shuttle the grandchildren to and from school and swimming lessons as my daughter in law leaps up the ladder at the Ministry. Of course, I am very involved in English homework over the weekends. Four years now since we saw the family in Tenerife.

Jessamy Reynolds

We have had a quiet year, as I continued recovery from major surgery in November 2020. We were able to enjoy summer visits to Glyndebourne, Grange Park and Garsington, where we saw The Wreckers, Alcina, La Gioconda, Otello, The Flying Dutchman, The Turn of the Screw and Rusalka. It was really lovely to be out and about again. Grandchildren are growing up fast, and the eldest starts her university education at Exeter in September, just as theyoungeststartsschool forthefirsttime inGeneva.

Despite having had four covid vaccinations, my husband tested positive after a visit to London during the Spring, but I was fortunate and didn’t catch it. My husband’s symptoms were extremely mild and short-lasting, so we feel very lucky. We expect to get our fifth booster dose of vaccine later this month.

Two of our three offspring now live in Suffolk with their families, so we are lucky to see them all regularly. Wehope to visit the family in Switzerland before too long, but meanwhile we can keep in touch by FaceTime.

Erica Rigg/Jyotipakshini (Harding)

60 years since I left Westonbirt! I realise I only really enjoyed WB when I got to the Upper Sixth and just tolerated the previous 5 years there. I am particularly aware of this now having watched my older two grandchildren leave school after loving the opportunities they’ve had and range of choices they’ve been able to make. I just hope their futures are positive too. I was at WB 1956-1962 when the country was still emerging from the War, we still had rationing, and attitudes seemed quite rigid and dull. In the few years after I left, the world opened up -the pill, the Beatles, hippies,’ make love not war’ exciting colour and noise etc and my life felt it had begun!

Life for us is still generally OK at the moment. Michael and I have had our 4 covid jabs and managed to stay fit and healthy, enjoying good walks and camping during the various levels of lock down. Very sadly though one of our lovely sons in law was diagnosed unexpectedly with a cancerous brain tumour which cannot be cured. He and our daughter are doing all the things they’ve always meant or wanted to do while they can, on the advice of the wonderful Maggie’s Centre and local cancer hospital. Who knows what the future holds for any of us?

Sarah Rundle (Milner)

I have missed contacting Section 32 for news this year. I would like to thank everyone who has replied to me over the years. Very much appreciated. This has been a year of ‘getting back to normal’, whatever that is! Whoever says that time is a great healer has it wrong in my case. Robin died four years ago, and I miss him more than ever. However, I am lucky to have so many wonderful memories over the 54 years that we were together. I did manage my annual trip to Perthshire last year and am booked to go again at the end of August. It is a long drive from Cornwall to Scotland, but the dogs and I stop on the way in the Eden Valley, which I also love. Family news is mixed. Younger daughter, Nicola, who lives with her family in Toulouse, developed breast cancer in April. She is having fantastic treatment there. She saw the GP in the morning and was at the cancer hospital in the afternoon. She has now started chemotherapy. But there is good news from that family, as Freya, their eldest daughter, has an internship at Kew Gardens in sustainable food systems - she is thrilled as am I! Sam, Claire’s younger son, is off to Nairobi in the autumn, also on an internship on sustainable farm machinery. They are both heavily into the future of the planet. I continue to help out at Caerhays Gardens in the spring and continue with my singing in a local choir. I find it very hard to accept that I am now well into my seventies! Once again, many thanks to those members of Section 32 who have kept in contact over the years.

Deborah Soper

Last year was filled with a builders’ saga - wretched dry rot - but fortunately they were all nice people and apart from the inevitable dust and noise (which didn’t last too long) they proved an excellent crew. Two rooms were affected and in the process I moved my ‘studio’ up to the top floor which has been a good change. This year I have managed to get on with some painting again and have been really enjoying it. Guernsey is a stimulating place for painters! I visited WB in the Autumn and met up with Sue Whitfield (Bottomly) when I was staying with my sister.

I saw Sue again in March on another visit and also Carolyn Halliday (Wheeler). It is so lovely to meet up with old friends and relish their company as before. My nine year old granddaughter came for Christmas and she and her dad are here again now, packing in the activities! My 25 year old granddaughter is now a qualified doctor! One of the boys has graduated and the other has one more year at Oxford after spending time at the Sorbonne, living in Montmartre. Some people have all the luck!

I am liking the bird visitors to the feeders including a particularly acrobatic thrush. Until this season it is about thirty years since a thrush came in the garden and now there are two. I would like to think that is a small but hopeful sign. We certainly need it.

Section 31 (1961)

Section Representative:

Priscilla Llewelyn (Rickard)

Liza Coates

At my age I am beginning to do a lot of reminiscing. The other day I was watching a David Attenborough programme and I was reminded that when I was at Westonbirt there were two men who did maintenance work around the estate. One was a carpenter and the other had a moustache just like the walrus on the David Attenborough programme. So, of course, they were referred to as the walrus and the carpenter!

Other news: Mike and I recently celebrated 56 years of marriage and 52 years of living in this house in Morningside. I am finding ways of keeping active and of adapting to live with Parkinson’s, so this message has been dictated rather than typed out on my mobile phone screen.

Vanessa Cook

I still run Stillingfleet Lodge Garden and Nurseries and we have workshops and a café. The garden is open to the public and we have a specialist herbaceous plant nursery. 4 children, 9 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. Delighted to meet anyone who ventures north!

Jane Drew (Mason)

I’m still alive and well! Quite busy with family. My younger sister’s husband died in August last year, which caused a lot of problems as she has mental health issues and was then diagnosed with breast cancer in September. As shehas no children and doesn’t drive I had to drive up and down to Redhill regularly - about 260 miles round trip!

I’ve enjoyed seeing more of my granddaughters this year. My younger granddaughter, aged 3, is currently being tutored, as if she wants to go to a private school in London she will have to take a 4+ exam - my Bristol friends are shocked !

The older one, aged 5, has been diagnosed as autistic However, she is quite happy and outgoing and doing well at Infant School, so hopefully it won’t affect her future. There seem to be a lot of these kind of diagnoses these days - I’m sure I had something as a child, too!!

Otherwise, it’s been nice to get back to holidaying - we had an enjoyable cruise around the Adriatic and also some weekends away.

I’m not in touch with any one from Westonbirt now, although I was given the name of a lady near me in Portishead. However, I’ve been rather distracted and never got round to contacting her.

Sue Garden

Apart from covid, my news didn’t change last year. I am still a Lib Dem peer, a Deputy Speaker, on multiple committees, including chairing the cadet health check team. I am the Lib Dem on the APPG for independent schools and always interested to see the community contributions which private sector schools make.

Stephanie Grant ( James)

A strange 2 years with lock downs. I had Covid in early 2020 and spent 3 days in hospital and had to have oxygen. On the positive side one is still here and alive and kicking. Son James busy in the film world with Oscars for his film Dune. A sequel being filmed as I write in Budapest. Grandson Dylan just finishing his time at Eton which has been so good for him. Now to Oxford and probably Harvard afterwards. About to start the Hay Festival here after an absence of 2 years.

Pennant Huskinson

We now live all the time in our Cotswold House, having sold up in London, and have never been happier. Nicholas goes up to the Garrick for Bridge evenings, but I can’t be fagged to accompany him to the Smoke most of the time.

We do still go to France, and it is 50 years ago this month since my mother bought La Voûte, and we are here now, with the usual suspects of other bridge obsessives, and I can enjoy doing not very much here as well. I don’t play bridge, they did try to teach me, but I was too stupid (and bored to death!!).

I had both my hips replaced last year in London, six months apart. I was pleasantly surprised how easy and painless it all was. I spent ten days after each op in the Lynden Hill Clinic, near Reading, which I can thoroughly recommend, which my surgeon Sarah Muirhead- Allwood said was a game-changer and encouraged me strongly to go. She was right because they make you do the all-important exercises which make all the difference to recovery. Plus, you are not burdening any of your friends and/or rellies with the post-op caring and general assistance. I also can’t rec-

ommend Sarah highly enough, at least four of my friends whose hips she had done said to me before to not even think of considering going to anyone else, and it certainly seems they were right. Well, if she could give the Queen Mum two hip replacements when the old girl was in her nineties, I reckoned she was safe to be let loose on my considerably younger bones too!

Our son Tom and his wife have given us two gorgeous granddaughters, Maya, 5 and Mala, 7 months, so we feel very blessed.

After so many decades of grinding away as lawyers in London it is very soothing to rusticate in a large garden full of wildlife and roses, and play with two young Birman tomcats, who are constant fur-baby sources of amusement and joy.

I keep up with Nicky Cannon/Brookes, and we went to her son Charlie’s wedding, to a gorgeous Australian beauty, 3 years ago. He is my godson. Nicky now has 6 grandchildren so I doubt I will ever be able to catch up.

If you are ever in this neck of the woods give us a shout.

Jane Frances Merritt (Wilkinson) (Wilky)

We are still living and enjoying retirement in New Bern, North Carolina. We were so delighted to be able to travel to Denmark to see my son Michael and the grandchildren (Cecilia 24 and Marcus 22) after a 2 year period of restricted travel. Cecilia is finishing the first year of her master’s degree program at the University of Copenhagen. She is working part-time at the SAP Experience Centre, as part of the required experience for the degree. Marcus, now 22, has just run the Copenhagen Marathon in 3 hour 14 minutes - his fastest yet. We decided that we will try to get over there twice a year in future, so I will be leaving after Easter, in April, for a couple of weeks, and then returning with Keith in August. We love spending time with the family in their beach cottage and going for long walks on the sand, looking across the sea to Sweden. I am learning to live with my health problems and am so thankful that I am still able to travel!

Marcus graduates in June with a bachelor’s degree from the Copenhagen Business School and will join Cecilia in the master’s program in the fall. We are still involved in Prison Ministry and are very active at Christ Episcopal Church.

The family has enjoyed vacations in the Maldives and then skiing in Austria. I just join them in the rustic beach cottage! Keith and I are enjoying a quieter lifestyle after getting used to the COVID restrictions.

I look forward to reading the News and looking at the lovely photographs. I cherish my memories from Westonbirt and the many close friends I had there, and wish we lived closer so that I could attend some of the reunions.

Jane Mousey

Sorry, no news to impart this year!

Susan Nock

For me personally, one of the highlights of this year has to be the 90th Anniversary at Westonbirt in May. It was quite an emotional day meeting up with old school friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen or heard about for sixty years! When you have spent several years living in the middle of nowhere with a group of girls from all over the UK, and other parts of the world, you still have much in common and you pick up where you left off. Sadly, the day was not long enough to catch up with everyone.

Most of the chat was about the ‘old days’ and we laughed as we remembered Miss Lilly, Dorchester House Mistress, winning a Triumph Herald motor car in a Daily Express Competition. I was never quite sure how well this went down with the Senior Staff as it was quite a sporty looking vehicle! I recollect having a lesson- free Ascension Day and walking cross country to Tetbury and the Transport Cafe and spending our few shillings on a real ‘greasy spoon’ meals surrounded by cheerful lorry drivers!

We still live on a farm outside Stow on the Wold and my children and their families drop in and out and keep me up to date with the real world. One of my great nephews is about to start school at Westonbirt this September so

the Constance family will continue to have links with the school.

My eldest daughter also spent a short time at Westonbirt. This year she just happened to be in Kyiv with Clive Myrie, for the BBC, when the Russians moved in, so spent several days sleeping and broadcasting from an under- ground car park. The discipline at Westonbirt probably prepared her for that very tricky period when the shells were falling nearby and the team needed to keep calm and get on with the job.

I am still Church Warden of our beautiful little Church and I ensure we choose many of the favourite hymns we sang in Chapel the late 1950s and early 1960s, which the boys and girls at Westonbirt probably still love today.

Angela Sellings (Marson)

Last year ended with COVID getting me over Christmas but not too badly. I am keeping my fingers crossed for next Christmas! This year has been a matter of getting used to being on my own again as my husband died last June very suddenly. As the world has opened up, I have travelled to France to cruise up the Seine from Paris, call- ing in at Monet’s garden on the way, and have been on an expedition to the Arctic, which was fantastic. 24 hour daylight and no internet for a week! We explored Svalbard in Zodiacs while we cruised round the islands viewing the wildlife. I went back to Westonbirt for the celebrations in May and I enjoyed the day very much, meeting up with friends from my time at the school, and finding out how much things have changed since I left.

Susan Harrison – Bath & North East Somerset

I do hope everyone has come through the pandemic safely; I was lucky that all my nearest and dearest did. If they did catch Covid, it was not a severe attack and it was lovely how friends rallied round and the local community set up a help group. Initially I thought it was a good chance to declutter at home, but that soon palled and instead took the opportunity to make changes in the garden. Zooming was a godsend to keep in touch and in between lockdown did meet up with friends and family in the garden, in town or in London. I have not travelled outside the UK yet but have renewed my passport for the future. The picture is appalling but it was returned in three weeks. Best wishes to all our section for whatever the future brings and thanks to Priscilla for all her hard work on our behalf.

Priscilla Llewelyn (Rickard) - Monmouthshire

My news this year: The autobiography I mentioned last year was finished and published - and - at least one of my daughters refuses to read it as she is too worried/embarrassed about it! However I don’t think one writes these books for our children (who should know the story anyway) but for the grandchildren - in the hopes that in thirty years time they might be interested.

I doubt that there will be any of us who doesn’t feel how different life has suddenly become - back to the ‘new’ normal again. Suddenly the whole world has opened up, and I for one feel rather overwhelmed by it. I noticed that last year people actually admitted to enjoying the lockdown - in a strange way - and I rather agreed with them. Perhaps WB taught us the ability to live and occupy ourselves alone when the need arises - and it will for some of us, now, as time goes on.

I am fortunate that all the family are fine and grandchildren are doing well at school. Sadly none at Westonbirt. I live happily alone in my house overlooking the Black Mountains and I am currently applying to accommodate Ukrainian refugees, as I have plenty of space here. It is proving an absolute minefield of paperwork and regulations and I am not surprised at all the complaints about this. Considerable computer knowledge is required to succeed - not something we learnt at school unfortunately!

During the second Pandemic I wrote the story of setting up a Care Home. Rather more interesting than it sounds. A friend of mine read it the other day and kept laughing. When asked why he just said this should be read on the R4 morning story slotso its given me ideas.

I have just returned from a week at the Hay Literature Festival - really stimulating and something quite different to everyday life. Good to see Stephanie there too. I can't agree with Pennant about bridge - I love it and play three times a week!

Gillian Wynes (Ross Goobey) - Somerset

I only went away for one night in 2021, and that was to Pevensey near Eastbourne, for a thanksgiving service in the church there. Then we went into Eastbourne for the wake, and stayed the night. On our return journey, there wasn’t much petrol available, and we had to go ‘off piste’ to find any at all. It took hours and hours to get home

Apart from that my son and granddaughter have been here on a visit from America. My granddaughter Camilla is 17 years old and, in America, they’re not allowed in a night club until they’re 18, so she thought she’d come to England. It was lovely to see them, they stayed in the Guest Suite at the complex I’m in.

Section 30 (1960)

Section Representative:

Jane Reid (Bottomley)

Phoebe Field (Northcroft)

The grass and trees have enjoyed a good season this Summer, keeping the mowers busy, and a big help for my native plantings of the previous year. Our 2 grandsons are both at school now, but a few hours away, which has its pluses and minuses! Covid has dampened activity around the country, as elsewhere, but things are picking up.

Janet Kingston (Oakeley)

Janet says that she enjoyed visiting Westonbirt last year to see her daughter partake in a triathlon that was being held at the school. She was very impressed to see the swimming in the pool, the running and the cycling. It was lovely to see everyone and she thoroughly enjoyed watching the other competitors. After the event she escorted her daughter and husband around the grounds and got some lovely photographs. The sun was shining, showing Westonbirt at its best. Janet also visited an Open Day last year and really enjoyed seeing all the developments happening around the school and seeing Westonbirt thriving. She says it is always so lovely to be welcomed back.

Roma Part (Thorpe)

Roma said that she was still enjoying living in a very active retirement village. She had much appreciated the 2021 AssociationNews - somany different careers thesedays.

Jane Reid (Bottomley)

Even though my personal three indicators that life can be treated as normal have been reached - access permitted to the stacks in the University Library, computers in the Public Library and (for my husband) meals in College – my life continues to be very quiet. We will probably move to a small flat in a year or two, so I am gradually shifting books to Oxfam (or, if too elderly for Oxfam, a wayside stall for people to help themselves). When a book is out of copyright and available from internet archives, the decision to pass on the paper copy is easier – particularly

now I have found how to convert .epub files to .doc files, correct OCR errors, and convert back to .epub!

Building work for the Darwin Green development between us and the A14 is showing signs of work immediately behind us after well over a decade since initial planning consent. So far, it’s not too noisy, even at the back fence. The houses that will back onto us will face Beagle Road, which connects with Plymouth Close and Falmouth Avenue, the last leads to Galton Road and Randal Way. I enjoy watching the machines work, and look forward to tracing the reasons for further road names.

I’ve been in contact with Jean Astill (MacKenzie), Bodhiniya (Ann) Bruton (Udal), Penny Cowell (Bowring), Pat Davidson (Weaver), Dinah Delchambre (Middleton), Phoebe Field (Northcroft), Jennifer Greatwood (Bawtree), Elizaberth Hawken (Avens), Anne-Marie Jureidini (Kfoury), Janet Kingson (Oakeley), Jane Palestini (Macfadyen), Joan Madonko (Scott), Roma Part (Thorpe), Juliet Peel (de Galleani), Rosemary Somers (Fuchs-Marx), Sallie Sullivan (Sanderson) and Barbara Workman (May).

Rosemary Somers (Fuchs-Marx)

Without the Covid pandemic we would never have learnt to Zoom. Now my husband Tony and I have a weekly family meeting with our children and their spouses and grandchildren still at home, my sister Renate in Vancouver, and two granddaughters at different universities.

Thanks to the internet, we have also attended a few conferences, held the quarterly family Bridge match and visited with friends online. Perhaps some more of my Westonbirt friends might like to visit with me occasionally via Facetime or WhatsApp by emailed prearrangement?

Also, our local council used the time of having outdoor sport banned to renew the tennis courts in the park where we regularly play. The AstroTurf courts, with new lines and nets, are truly all-weather and as good as any club. We play there twice a week.

So, we continue to try and maintain our health with exercise both physical and mental (crossword puzzles). My ‘benign’ Parkinson’s Disease is very gradually worsening and slowing me down.

Bridget Towle

Looking forward to handing over the Presidency of the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society after 18 months of intellectual challenge on Zoom and in person. Enjoy visiting the family house in Norfolk for holidays.

Section 29 (1959)

Section Representative: Lin Coleman (Hutton)

Linda Angell (Northcroft, via Morley)

I married again one week before the Covid pandemic shut down the country, so the last two years have been unexpectedly strange. We decided to live in my husband’s house which is in Cannock, Staffordshire, about 1 hour 20 minutes from Gloucester and my house.

So, everything changed overnight for me! The last year has seen my health deteriorate, unfortunately, ands the worst aspect is losing the ability to speak clearly, which badly impacted my favourite hobby, choral singing. I de- light in my two little dogs....

In May, my family were all delighted when my son, Jeremy, married for a second time. This took place in Notting-

ham, and Giza, his wife, is Portuguese, with a charming son who is 19. It was a full Church wedding with my two gorgeous granddaughters acting as bridesmaids, together with a niece of Giza.

The trials of old age are now upon my husband and myself, but we try to keep a cheerful outlook as we slip towards the end of the log!

Sue Bowden (Humpidge)

No great changes this year. We continue in our country way, with sheep, poultry and donkeys. There’s always plenty to do, certainly a blessing in the Covid era, with lambing and hatching.

The animals appear regularly at Church, where Andrew still takes the service once a month. The donkey carried “The Queen” on Jubilee Day to our village celebration picnic, suitably attired! I made a crown out of a riding hat. So, life is still fun…despite rather feeling our age.

I enjoyed a wonderful talk at the WI about Westonbirt in the old days from fellow old girl Angela Potter (Tracey) and heard how thriving it still is now.

It is always so good to catch up with old WB’s especially teammates Lin Hutton and Libby Houston and Caroline Price. And talking of teams, our grand-daughter is in the lax team at Queen Anne‘s Caversham, once our rivals, l remember!l only just resisted the urge to run onto the pitch when watching her play against Cheltenham Ladies College!

Lin Coleman (Hutton)

We were all very sad that Myrth Russell, my predecessor as section head, died. She really resuscitated our section about 6 years ago and we’re very grateful. We reconnected on zoom during Covid but are all getting on in years nowand I’m noticeably not as active as I used to be.

I am, however, still working very part-time as a psychotherapist, mostly supervising trainees and practitioners doing initial consultations. I go in to the City once a week, and one day happened to be there on the first day of the new Elizabeth Line. The atmosphere was unbelievably festive! We also had a wonderful Jubilee Street party - but no ‘Queen’ on a donkey! (see Sue Bowden’s news). I love gardening, singing in a jazz choir and seeing friends and family. I wish my Westonbirt friends were not so far away from London.

Section 28 (1958)

Section Representative: Sue Hicks (Harker)

Jennie Bland (May)

A time of major change as I left my much-loved Blissamore a year ago and now divide my time between a London flat and an East Sussex cottage. I miss the horses and the trees I planted but I’m enjoying a life with fewer responsibilities, a lovely village garden, painting and reading - plus of course my 16 lively grandchildren, whom I see often. I am trying to write up the family stories that would otherwise disappear with me, before my memory fades, and generally realising what an interesting and fulfilled life I’ve had - with those seven good years at Westonbirt a very crucial part of its happiness. I do still miss Judy, who died 27 years ago. You will all remember what a kind and warm friend she was.

Susan Margaret Hicks (Harker)

My main sad news is the sudden death in January of my beloved husband, John, aged 82, after 52 years of marriage, following a stroke. He appeared strong and healthy, and we had hoped to have at least ten more years together, but it was not to be. Three weeks earlier he had cooked Christmas dinner for the family. Our two daughters and sons-in-law have been a great support. Jacqueline lives 7 miles away and visits often. Rosemary lives in Ireland, but has found a job as a vet locum not far from here and comes over every few weeks. I love our house and garden, and plan to stay here as long as possible. The two rescue cats and the three chickens seem well, although the gander died last year aged about 35.

We did not go anywhere on holiday over the pandemic, but the Canary Islands and Italy had been in our plans for 2022. I still see Sheila Astbury and we are hoping to have a short culture break in Vienna later in the year. I also speak to Rowena Ginns from time to time and am in contact with Anne Mercer.

Grandchildren-wise, one granddaughter is at Oxford studying languages and her sister has just taken her A levels. Three out of four Irish grandsons are going to school next term after some years of home education. That should be interesting. The eldest has almost completed the course and will work from home, partly as he has medical issues at the moment.

I try to continue my activities here: U3A, book group, garden visits, French conversation, French Twinning Association, singing, historical society, church. I still find it hard to go out on my own, but hope it will get easier. Friends and neighbours, several of whom have also been widowed, have been lovely.

Lesley Scoular

I’m afraid I have no news this year, having had surgery on one hand, followed by a bad dose of Covid, and not going anywhere. Hope 2023 will be more exciting!

Section 27 (1957)

Section Representative: Angela Potter (Tracy)

The news that everyone is now encouraged to write directly to the school has been greeted with dismay by my numerous respondents, and as a result my sections’ submission for this year is greatly reduced. It is of course inevitable that modern communication will eventually replace our venerable publication and its present method of collection, and tribute must be paid to the countless Section Reps. who have doggedly toiled to extract correspondence from their (often) reluctant sections over the last 90 years or so. However, although I am relieved not to have this annual pressure, I will continue to keep in touch personally and hope to hear back occasionally. However, as my three sections are all in their eighties, there really isn’t much news – just reminiscences!

This year I have heard from seven of my own section, Section 27:

Barbara (aka Tucker) Anderson

I moved in February from a 3-storey town house up a hill just outside Salisbury, to a retirement flat in town. I now look out on walls and roofs instead of a garden, river and fields, but there is a lovely public garden just across the road, and at 82 I decided it was time to pull my horns in a bit. I have very nice neighbours.

I was in Gloucester House in the 1950s, and when we were caught talking after lights out we had to sit on the floor in the gallery, each of us leaning against a different pillar, so we couldn’t see each other, where we had to learn a few verses of scripture, and we couldn’t go back to bed until we had recited them to the matron, Miss Smith. For years after, those particular lessons in church reminded me of being caught after lights out at WB! I also remember a concert in the hall - probably in 1952/3. We were greatly honoured to have Moura Lympany to come and give a piano concert. Right in the middle of it, Miss Grubb’s Siamese cat pushed her head through the bars in the gallery and let forth an ear-splitting yowl!

Judith Briggs (Walker)

I don’t have any major news, just feel lucky to be living independently, with my husband, Peter, and that we are both still able to get about.

I am still involved in various local affairs type things – local politics (just at a ward branch level now with no responsibilities), a small charity to assist the homeless/street people in our area, and in the affairs of the small complex where we live. No animals now, sadly, as my dear old cat died last year, but a manageable small house and garden, and a husband to look after (though he is actually remarkably sprightly still).

This country rolls from one disaster to another - electricity is often ‘load shed’ (i.e., off for a couple of hours at a time), so we’ve had to invest in alternative supplies to keep us safe. The government is as inept as ever, with no sensible long-term plans to bring things back on track. We have very high unemployment, poor education in many of the schools and a huge pent-up demand for quality education and training. There are, of course, pockets of excellence - one just has to hope that they can spread. We still enjoy living in Johannesburg, though, and have friends here, and all our support groups!

Life is beginning to get back to normal; I enjoy getting out and about, and hope that now that Covid is so much less threatening we can get back to concerts etc. We have travelled to Cape Town to connect with our son and his family there, and to enjoy some seaside living for a bit, and to the game reserve area last winter for a short break from the cold in Johannesburg. At nearly 6000 ft altitude it can get pretty chilly there in the winter with severe frosts at times, but it is a dry winter, and the sun warms us up! Our daughter from America managed a short visit to us at the end of October last year, which was lovely as of course we hadn’t seen her for a while because of the Covid travel restrictions.

We also had a lovely family get together in Portugal, to take the place of the cancelled get together in 2020 for my 80th birthday! We had a week near the Atlantic coast in the Alentejo region, but it was long enough for all the cousins to get to know one another again so it was special. We then had a visit to the UK to catch up with various other members of the family – siblings and nieces and offspring. Luckily we missed the extreme heatwaves so could enjoy the warm weather and get about comfortably.

Christabel Cumberlege ( Jacques)

We moved within the same village in 2020, and love our present bungalow with upstairs where family and visitors can go. It is on a cul-de-sac which leads up to Ham Hill with its lovely walks, which Mike and I and the dog enjoy so much.

Priscilla (Rosie) Boddington (Pentreath)

Rosie sent some news that never reached me!

Gillie Drake (Strain)

Gillie wrote to say that living in Guernsey makes it difficult, but she might visit Westonbirt sometime with Rosie.

Alison Reed (Hill)

Receive a brief message from Alison saying that she was keeping busy and had had a short trip to the Scilly Isles.

Rowena Ginns (Cullin)

Rowena phoned about a possible visit to Westonbirt garden, as her coaching activities are bringing her to Badminton.

Jane McCarthy (Hellyer)

Jane and I have emailed each other several times, and she recounted interesting school-time anecdotes, but they are not for publication!

Angela Potter (Tracy) I have recently had printed my latest version of ‘Weston Birt House and the Holfords’ It has taken a great deal of historical research and time, but I think it has emerged as being a good read! I have already sold it to several members of the WB Association, and it is even in the Arboretum gift shop! (Interested? Contact me via jbaker@holfordtrust.com) Other than this time-consuming job, I have been busy in other ways, with foreign trips, and family visits. Four grandchildren now have degrees, four are undergraduates, and two still at school. So many birthdays to remember!

Section 26 (1956)

Section Representative:

Angela Potter (Tracy)

Patricia Hedges (Crowe)

Lockdown has been very kind to me. I have had 2 books published, one was about my mother’s amazing life, she grew up in India. I also had 2 radio interviews in the States (Zoom) about the book. My third book, “Bark, Bark, this is my life and yours too” was published last year – it is narrated by a dog, describing his life but with insights into our lives too. All my books are on my website: www.patriciahedges.com

I have a very happy life here in Torquay, and have recently joined a monthly Enneagram group, which is absolutely fascinating. I also have two lovely French speaking groups weekly, and I see a man with MND twice a week, good to feel one is still useful!

In January I was in Gran Canaria, and in March and May I was in Llandudno to visit my one granddaughter at Bangor Uni. In spite of Dyspraxia and ADHD she achieved a First, and will start her Masters in September. In June I went on a lovely cruise to the Western Isles of the Mediterranean - I was a cruise lecturer years ago on the QE2. My friend Tony, who has a Newfoundland dog, (the model for my book!), has moved from Italy to the Cotswolds, so I go and stay with them frequently. The Cotswolds is such a lovely spot.

Love to hear news of other WB pupils, and hoping that my year are still in good health - for our age! I am!

Oriel Rogers Coltman (Corbett)

In May 2020 I was foolish enough to fall off the kitchen work surface onto the stone floor and broke two vertebrae which meant an operation in our excellent orthopaedic hospital at Oswestry. No sooner had I recovered than Wyndham became ill with cancer and died far too quickly in September. I am very lucky to be surrounded by my children and grandchildren who helped me back to some sort of normality. We were always keen on horseracing and are near to Ludlow racecourse so became members of their racing partnership along with about fifty others. It is fun and they have a nice little room under the grandstand where we can go and warm up with a drink and a seat. Last winter I got involved in another much smaller syndicate owning a young horse called Petty Cash. We had a lot of fun with him and won two races as well as being placed. He will run again this winter all being well. All my grandchildren have now left school and some university. The youngest is awaiting his A level results and hopes to go to Edinburgh.

Jane Hancock (Quayle)

The main event in the past year has been the arrival of our first great granddaughter in April 2021. We don’t see her very often but get plenty of photos, videos and skype chats with her mother. We managed a couple of nights in a hotel as our first venture into populated places after lockdown ended. We then went on a cruise to the Mediterranean in April. This started as a booking in 2020 and had been changed three times! However, it was enjoyable to be back at sea even with mask wearing and other restrictions. The ship was under a third full which meant the service was exceptionally good. We are going to Wales for a week in July and hope the British weather cooperates and it doesn’t rain the whole time.

Valerie Mitchell (Noad)

I wonder what “traditions” we had at school still apply - like a “mother” for new girls’ first 3 weeks, to show them around the School, e.g., “Piccadilly”; teach them the words/hymns for Vespers; and “Delhi” for the loo, etc.? Also, do they still do domestic work first thing after breakfast? I started in the Church. Do the pupils still choose the charities for their Sunday collections - first in the classrooms, then talking about them to the Seniors? (I spoke about the Lari Massacre in Kenya, and a charity supporting the victims/families was chosen that term.). Collections

were a penny in my day - what are they now? Exeats were only after Church on a Sunday, i.e., from about 11 a.m. until 6p.m-ish, in time for Evening Service, and that was all we had for half-term too!

Much as would have loved to attend the celebrations on 21 May, it was sadly not possible - my husband is no longer allowed to drive (eye-problems) and I drive only locally.

Valerie Sill (Marshland): Section 26

Not too much news really. Life goes on - the faster life goes, the slower one gets! Enjoyed visiting the antiques fair at Westonbirt School recently, and lunch at the Hare and Hounds afterwards. Also looking forward to a charity do coming up, in aid of the hospice in Worcestershire, which is taking place at the polo club near Westonbirt!

Section 25 (1955)

Section Representative: Angela Potter (Tracy)

Diana Ashby (Carolin)

There are a few of us old WBs here in Oxford. I see Vicky Haeri from time to time and Stella Boswell (Herklots) lives opposite me. I met Pauline Lebrun (whose surname I’ve forgotten) last summer in Cambridge as she knows my brother, Peter. I was so surprised when he told me the other day that they are planning to sell their property and move into a flat. It made me think maybe I should be thinking of the same thing - so I started a rather half-hearted clear out and found a 1959 copy of the Illustrated London News with an article on the ‘Education of British Youth’, at Westonbirt!! It’s a pictorial record of our time there. I wonder if the school would be interested to have it!?

Bridget Frost (Kell)

All I can say is I that I have had a sad year as my darling daughter, Laura, died at the end of September 2021 aged 53. She had lung cancer which quickly travelled to the femur, and finally to the brain. She was wonderfully looked after by St. George’s Hospital at Tooting and at the end by the Royal Trinity Hospice, Clapham. It is impossible to describe how much we miss her. She leaves behind two wonderful children: Stefan (23) who graduated last summer with a masters in Electronic Engineering and has secured an excellent job with an American company, and Ava (19) who is at university and enjoying her English with Creative Writing course. But life goes on and I am so looking forward to a short stay with my old friend, Heather Owen, in Cornwall. I have also become addicted to bridge which my kind friends have taught me throughout the pandemic. It has helped me so much since Laura died, because I can switch off completely for a couple of hours and only think of the cards. You see what a bore I am becoming!!

Jill Gibson (Connor)

We are well Covid-wise, just getting older and stiffer - and have enjoyed celebrating Easter with our son, daughter in law and family in Hurdsfield, Macclesfield. Our next excitement is that we hope to go to Canada in June to visit eldest son who is the Defence Advisor at the Canadian High Commission in Ottawa, so we are going to try to avoid Covid before then! On AGM day, June 21, we had a large celebration at St Mary’s Church in Bitton for the bicentenary of Canon Ellacombe (who was the Vicar in Bitton, as was his Father before him; they served nearly 100 years between them).

Alison Maguire (Mason)

Moving around, holidays in Italy and Spain and catching up with old friends is great fun. Vicky Culme-Seymour, Puff Drew and Alyn Paisley all busy and carrying on their lives; my sister Julia still in a care home in Suffolk but at last we were allowed to meet and go out to lunch.

Bridget Maslin (Coleman)

Having left the same time as Miss Grubb I must be a dinosaur to the present day pupils - I remember an astonished workman commenting how hard our lives were: ice on the inside of the windows, red lines on baths, prebreakfast exercises in Piccadilly with Miss Gibb, whatever the weather (later changed to runs). I clutched the porridge bowl to warm my hands - it must be on a par with youth offenders’ lives today! No-one was overweight or underweight, I don’t recall any bullying, and exams were just a fact of life; there was no extreme pressure over them apart from ordinary nervousness. I only scraped my ‘A’s due to a week’s (unsupervised) revision time offered by the school before the start of term. Preparation work was always promptly marked. Sixth formers mainly managed their own amount of study time. I was in Holford and housemistress, Miss Snow, who taught Greek and Latin, was always fair and in retrospect a good friend. I remember a tale about the wartime visit of Queen Mary visiting the school unexpectedly - girls were hauled off the games pitches and taught to curtsey. Of course, we had no peer or media pressures. Life in the 50s was simpler both in and out of school. Starting student life in London there was still unrepaired war damage. I was at the London Hospital and my first patient gave me a screwed up paper cone of stolen tea from the docks - it was a bit like ‘Call the Midwife’!

Veronica Shardlow (Graham-Brown; Howarth) – Section 25

I have some very exciting news……having been widowed for ten years, I met a lovely man last July and we married in February…..in our little church in Colaton Raleigh, Devon. It was a very happy occasion followed by a lunch in the village hall…we called it a ‘village affair’. My new surname is Shardlow.

At this moment, Julian and I are on holiday in the south west of France near St. Jean de Luz, a beautiful village called Ainhoa.

I now have 10 grandchildren, one great grandchild and another one due in November. Julian has seven grandchildren.

Section 24 (1954)

Section Representative: Alison Robinson (de Courcy-Ireland)

Jenny Andrews

Jenny reports that she is still alive (!) and living in the same house. She sadly lost her husband during the pandemic but not due to covid. She hasn’t travelled anywhere but she has been sorting lots of domestic jobs at home. She hasn’t been back to Westonbirt recently but enjoyed coming back for the 80th anniversary where she gave a talk. She is still in touch with Val Moorby and Mary Rusinow and continues to have very fond memories of the school.

Elizabeth Bennett (Anning; Lonsdale)

I am fortunate enough to be sitting in the shade, (27 degrees) in ‘la France profonde’, 40 km southeast of Limoges, where my son and daughter-in-law now live permanently. It is a joy to be here this year as I may not be able to make the journey next year. We have been joined by my daughter who lives in Barcelona.

Elizabeth Ells (Rawlence)

Despite Covid I had two exceptional excursions. I am very fortunate that one of my daughters, Louise, and I enjoy travelling together. It is amazing to have a younger person who can cope with all the online bureaucratic detail for this elderly personage. We went on a group photo tour of Iceland in September and had a marvellous time, both together and with the group. We had so much fun that when an unexpected opportunity arose to go on a cruise to Antarctica in December we were both keen and grabbed it. It was an amazing experience. Living where there is seven months of winter I had always resisted going to Antarctica, however in December Antarctica was warmer than Deep River. The scenery was quite beautiful and the wild life entrancing. We escaped Covid on both trips but I caught it at home in the spring and am still not fully recovered.

Amelia Gardner

I am still alive! I hobble along with a walking stick and don’t go out beyond our garden as we have a lovely sea view and lots of birds flying around. Ian and I have just celebrated our Diamond Wedding and are grateful to God for this privilege of companionship.. Our grandson Daniel aged 23 has been living with us for the past year whilst he works at the local youth hostel at the bottom of our hill. He is a great help particularly with all things modern.

Janet Knight (Sykes)

Janet is still with us, but sadly there isn’t much news and she hasn’t really seen anyone from school.

Sheena Mackenzie

Nothing to report, just happy that my bridge club is open again since Covid, it didn’t help my brain (or bridge knowledge) to not play for two years. For those of you in her year I saw Fiona Gray ‘s (Inskip) son the other day. She is in a nursing home (Alzheimer’s), and he reports not doing well with Covid cutting her off. I gave him old Westonbirt magazines to take to her, he felt it sparked some interest.

Sue Mitchell (Munro-Faure)

Not much news as not a lot has happened, except getting older (!) and looking after the garden. Haven’t seen anyone from Westonbirt but continue to keep in contact with Sylvia Lawrer (Farrer) who lives in New Zealand.

Valerie Moorby (Holmes-Johnson)

Like most other people last year, we were still limited with what we could do. Our Music Festival did take place again under limited conditions, but was good nevertheless and partially back towards normal. My brother and I managed a few days in the Lake District again, which was lovely but as far afield as we were able to venture. This year is proving much better. Peter, my brother, can come up here to Helmsley regularly and we have just returned from nearly two weeks in France, where my youngest son’s wedding finally took place, after nearly three years of delay, in a lovely, restored Chateau, near Saumur in the Loire area. Wonderful after all the postponements and anxiety and such fun. Family and friends from America, Canada, New Zealand etc. turned the whole thing into a wonderful international holiday. As the bride is American with parents from Taiwan I felt I was really giving Mary Rusinow a run for her money! It was such a happy occasion and just how international relations ought to be. My brother and I also spent time driving down and back with various stop-overs, some new, some nostalgic, and so a great time was had all round. Now I am just coming back down to earth as in the interim there has been the Jubilee weekend and I have had my garden open for a fund raising event. Not perfect timing when I and my indispensable gardener had both been away for two weeks!

No further plans at the moment but I felt revived and rejuvenated by the wedding trip and look forward to further travels, if not weddings, while I still can.

Heather Owen (Grange)

It was wonderful to go away for a few days after so long; I went to Menorca with friends on a “birding” break, and would thoroughly recommend it; we saw 31 different species including a purple heron! Life goes on well in Cornwall and I am lucky to live near my two daughters, in a lovely village. I do have Mesothelioma (from asbes-

tos), but it is kept at bay at the moment. I have finished my travel book, “US in the U.S” which is (freely!) available, written for charity. All good wishes Rhiannon and to all at the School.

Alison Robinson (de Courcy-Ireland)

Inevitably, when one reaches the age of 86, there is almost daily sadness at the loss or incapacity of family members and friends. But there is also the delight of watching subsequent generations grow and mature and I constantly marvel at the adventurousness of my grandchildren (Bartenders’ Course in Mallorca, anyone?).

Covid circumscribed all our lives and prevented contact, but just this week we have been delighted to be able to welcome out Australian family for the first visit since 2019. Another highlight has been a recent visit from Gillian Sandeman (Wright), her husband Sandy and sister Jennifer Pellow (Wright). We spent a lovely sunny day firstly visiting the Arboretum, and then being given a conducted tour of the School gardens and house by Amy Millyard from the Marketing Department. Inevitably there was much reminiscing.

Mary Rusinow (Worthington)

Alison de Courcy-Ireland: Mary has had a difficult year as she decided she must clear up and dispose of her condominium in Florida “which had papers and photos from my husband, his mother and his grandmother, most of them unlabelled. We finally managed to achieve some sort of order and my furniture is on its way to England to my younger daughter’s house in Surrey, which the tenants have just left. Of the family, elder daughter Alison is in the Hague where husband Jeff has now survived his double lung transplant for a year. Daughter Sian finishing first year at Edinburgh. Tamara and Sanjay still in New York but will leave next year. Daughter Ayesha graduating from Oxford this summer, Kiran from Duke next. Kofi still doing gymnastics with a first in his age group in vault and second in rings for the eastern national championships. It is quite hard to keep up with all of that sometimes.” Mary added that she was writing from Italy where she hopes to spend summers while she can still travel.

Gillian Sandeman (Wright)

Another year of lock downs and restrictions kept us close to home for much of the time, but as we near our 90s that’s more or less normal for us. We were happy that vaccinations meant that our daughter could bring our 6 year old great granddaughter from England for summer holidays and Christmas. We spent most of the autumn in Edinburgh and enjoyed some gentle trips.

In September we made a return trip to Orkney in unusually glorious weather and enjoyed having my sister, Jennifer, travelling with us. In spite of rather less glorious weather in November we had a lovely trip down the Caledonian Canal from Inverness to Oban on one of The Majestic Line’s converted fishing boats. This was our fourth trip with the Majestic Line on Scotland’s west coast, and we’ve enjoyed them all so much that I have reserved all the cabins for a sailing trip around Mull next April to celebrate Sandy’s 90th birthday. We’ll have 10 friends and family members (it’s a very small boat!) and 4 crew members catering to our every whim. Now all we have to do is to survive long enough to actually go on board…

From Edinburgh we also went for 10 days to North Norfolk where we have cousins and friends; Blakeney is where my family’s roots are, and I still feel at home there. We were back in England in May to attend a memorial service for a dear friend who’d died during the first Covid lock down. We stayed with Jennifer and took the opportunity to visit friends and family in southwest England. We had a lovely day (more glorious weather) exploring the Arboretum and the school house and grounds with Alison (our revered Section Leader) and her husband Douglas. And, of course, we spent time with our daughter and the lively Grace.

Between the autumn visit and the return in April we experienced one of the coldest and snowiest winters that we’ve had for years. Wielding a snow shovel and navigating icy sidewalks is becoming even more difficult as we age. But we don’t want to leave our house so will be looking for more help with things. We feel extremely fortunate to be still enjoying relatively good health and to have celebrated 64 years of marriage. I still find it hard to admit that my baby is now a grandmother and that our children are joining us in retirement. The day when we were taken to the great hall to be told that King George VIth had died seems very long ago. The school was given a short holiday for the Coronation in 1953 and Janet Knight (Sykes) came home with me: we sat on the rainy pavement on the Mall all night and cheered with the huge crowds as the procession came and went from the Abbey. Canadian television has been full of the Jubilee events in Britain for the last few days. Very few celebrations in Canada: the monarchy feels increasingly remote and in Ontario we even had an election for the Provincial Parliament on June 2nd.

Section 23 (1953)

Section Representative: Jean Stone (Borritt)

Jennifer ( JJ) Botsford (Reynolds)

It has been a funny year with lockdowns and now freedom. I have been lucky with wonderful friends here in the 1935 Art Deco block of flats, and especially one friend, who has the bottom flat in what was originally the squash court with a little private garden. She arranged to buy an enormous umbrella with a heater, so three of us spent a considerable amount of time there, putting the world to rights, when we could not meet indoors. I have not been to my flat in Mallorca yet, rather fearful of airports and planes, but several family members have been to stay there, which is great, and I hope to go soon, now I have just had my 5th jab.

I am currently involved with 4 other volunteers with the arrangements for a large street party in Kensington to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. We had nearly 2000 happy neighbours to the one a few of us arranged in 2012 for HM’s Diamond Jubilee, and we hope the one in June will be just as successful. Several streets are being closed off and we will have bunting, 500 chairs and 80 tables up one street, a live band and DJ, the Mayor to judge children’s fancy dress competitions and toast the Queen, attractions such as face painters, a street magician, Splat the Rat and a coconut shy. Street food and drink to buy ranges from a Champagne and oyster bar, to a barbecue and locally brewed beer. Organisation includes street closures, licences, insurances, arranging payment methods as well as booking all the attractions. So, there is a lot to do but it should generate a lot of local bonhomie and all profits will go to Ukraine.

Throughout the year the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars and the Reform Club held a lot of Zoom events and those were very stimulating. My daughter-in-law and I decided to have a joint birthday party in the summer which got delayed and delayed because of Covid restrictions, but at last we were able to have it in August in the Reform Club library and it was wonderful to see friends actually in the flesh, whom one hadn’t seen for ages. Then it was great actually to go to events such as an Arts Scholars Dinner at Armourers’ Hall, or celebrations of 40 years of women members of the Reform Club. I was one of the first, joining in 1981. I am also still involved with local politics and have just been re-elected as a Director of the limited company of landlords to Chatsworth Court where I live, which has nearly 200 flats. I also write a twice yearly newsletter for the owners and residents, which takes quite a lot of time on research.

I have seen a lot of my family, with my son and daughter-in-law who are based in Hong Kong here in their flat in Knightsbridge during last summer and autumn, and eldest son coming from Somerset to London a lot as well. My eldest granddaughter and her husband live nearby in Kensington, and her two sisters in Fulham, where they have started a floristry business, Les Soeurs de Fleurs. Two other grandsons live in London, so I am very lucky.

Last November, my eldest granddaughter and her husband had the big wedding that they had planned, only this time it was a blessing as they had had a small wedding the year before. It was quite splendid. The service was at St Paul’s, Knightsbridge, as before, but this time in the evening, with handsome ushers, beautiful bridesmaids in lovely dark green dresses, page boy and flower girls, the choir, wonderful singing and full congregation. Everyone was dressed in DJ’S and full length evening dresses. As the pair came out of the church, sparklers lit their way like a guard of honour. Routemaster buses dressed with white ribbons took the guests on a little tour to end up in front of the Natural History Museum, the frontage of which was lit throughout with purple lights, with plain lights up the stairs. Inside, we had champagne and canapés in a room with fossils on the walls while photographs were taken on the steps in the main room. When we walked in through a side door, it was incredible. The whole of the usual entrance wall was covered with black, as a backdrop to a myriad of starry lights, like a wonderful night sky. The dance floor was there with the band and a large round bar. The rest of the floor was covered with beautifully laid tables. The lighting all around the hall was stunning, with the blue whale skeleton up above. As the couple descended from the top of the steps, preceded by a Scots friend, piping them down, whoops and cheers greeted them. There were very moving speeches and toasts and then a delicious dinner, cake cutting and then the first waltz and lots of dancing. It was just the most magical occasion, and I was an intensely proud Granny.

Caroline

Fuchs (Kell)

I have now been living in Fulham for over two years in a very nice flat (7th floor) with wonderful views over London. My sister Bridget lives in the block next door, so I see her often. Although I miss Oxford - my friends and the university life - it was the right time to move. You can never be bored in London provided you can still walk up steps!

Anne

Greenstreet (Selby)

We have given up our car, but are within walking distance of shops etc. Anthony is now 94 but we both enjoy visits from the family, who are all in the Twickenham area - grandchildren range in age from 13-25. I was sorry to hear of Helen Lilley’s (Blakeborough’s) death but am in touch with her daughter and was able to send a memoir of Westonbirt days which was read at her Memorial Service, and recorded so I was able to watch it. (How lovely to have a

record of your tribute. BB)

Gillian Mary Henson (Groome)

At 86 years most of my news is of my three daughters , who are all working and edging towards retirement . We make a strong team , meet when we can , and spend a week every summer together. I am living in Devon , still active, and painting and sketching keeps me occupied . The Art Society here is thriving, and I find locations for their sketching day during the summer.

Sections 21 & 22 (1951 & 1952)

Section Representative: Margot Gill (Wilcox)

Mary Arden-Davis (Siviter) (Dalley)

In July I carried the Queen’s Baton for the Commonwealth Games. I was nominated by Hartlebury Castle, the historic home of the Bishops of Worcester; in 2007 the Church Commissioners decided to sell the Castle and I was one of the people who worked to save, and eventually, with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund, buy this place with its amazing history and unique Hurd Library. It is now a wonderful place to visit. (Have passed Hartlebury many times and had no idea this was so near – we’ll have to visit! BB)

Margot Gill (Wilcox)

Another busy year. Unfortunately, the second hip operation didn’t go well, so still recovering from that.

Susan Kavanagh (Harris)

I continue to live with my youngest daughter and family here in Portsmouth, but I was able to visit my family in California during April and May. Six of my 8 grandchildren live there - we had great family times together culminating in the wedding of my grandson Anthony. He and Gabi were married in North Carolina, my first visit to that beautiful state.

Sadly Mary Hall (Sercombe), a WB ‘old girl’ died late February, succumbing to Covid thanks to a weakened immune system. In early March my sister died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm - this was a total shock to all as she was an extremely lively 85 year old. For myself, apart from difficulty walking, which varies daily, (I still walk the dog!) I keep well, for which I’m truly thankful.

I have enjoyed watching the Christmas program from Westonbirt these past two years, so I hope that will happen again! Brings back all kinds of memories. (Those many years ago I played the organ - both for hymn practice in the church and often for Vespers in the great hall).

Enough! I do hope that all is well with you and that this start of a new school year is a really good one, leaving Covid well behind and looking ahead to brighter days.

Ann Sadler (Millard)

Ann reports that there isn’t much to say, life goes on and she is nearly 88. She is taking life easy where she can. The family is all well and she now has 7 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren scattered from Plymouth up to Edinburgh. Her daughter still lives just 5 doors down the road so they spend a lot of time together. She is a great support and it is lovely to have her so close. She came to Westonbirt for the 80th anniversary which she enjoyed a lot.

Jennifer Springett

Jennifer spoke on the phone and said she hasn’t much news to share, she is getting older and stiffer, but apart from that nothing much has changed.

Sections 19 & 20 (1949 & 1950)

Section Representative: Serena Jones (Walthall)

Susan Gardiner-Hill (Strachan)

A telephone call to Susan revealed that she is still going strong, and all is well. She shared a favourite memory of Westonbirt, namely the organ playing in the hall. She has very fond memories of Westonbirt, as it was always such a happy school.

Sections 17 & 18 (1947 & 1948)

Section Representative: Pauline Jackson (Garrett)

Jennifer Barton

Another year has sped by with lots to do but frustratingly slower. I’ve been in Selsey for much of the time where sea air and gardening (with the aid of a stick-length trowel) have kept me going. No need for a daily paper - the Sunday Times lasts all week. Again, I’ll spend the winter months in London, with better opportunity to see some old friends as well as younger members of the family.

Josephine Daszkiewicz (Woodward)

Josephine chatted on the telephone and related that that she has no real news, just another year older. Interestingly, she said that she was only at Westonbirt for one year and she was the only day girl at the time as she lived in Tetbury. Sheis still living in Yorkshire, now with her daughter.

Jean Edwards (Wates)

During a telephone call to Jean, she reported that she was well and still living at home with the help of a carer looking after her. She also says that she has 3 great-grandchildren and another due very soon!

Section 16 (1946)

Section Representative: Jane Reid

Elizabeth Watson (Allen)

Now 93 and still driving (my hybrid car) luckily, as l cannot walk without two sticks. My blue badge is a big help. Otherwise, hale and hearty, busy but not much painting. Had my fourth jab the week before Easter, then had Covid for the second time (!) and gave it to daughter and husband! All l had was a mild cold and didn’t realise l even had it. Off to Switzerland by train with a friend and 24 others to see the mountains shortly, but no climbing – that’s definitely not for the over 70’s!

Sections 15, 14 & 13 (1934, 1944 & 1955)

Section Representative:

Serena Jones (Walthall)

No news returned this year

Section 12 - 1

Section Representative:

Serena Jones (Sections 1-8), Pauline Jackson (Section 9), Rebecca Willows (Sections 10-12)

There are no active members in Sections 1 - 8, and no news from Sections 9 - 1

Westonbirt Association Memorial Bursary

The Westonbirt Association manages a special bursary fund set up in the late 1940s in memory of the five former Westonbirt pupils who lost their lives during the Second World War while they were members of the forces, civil defence or nursing services. Each year the fund gives a bursary to help fund the Sixth Form fees of one or more pupils in need.

To be considered for the Westonbirt Association Memorial Bursary, pupils must be nominated by the school in the spring of their Year 11. Candidates complete an application form and are interviewed by a panel from the Association. Once awarded, payment is usually made for both years of the recipient’s Sixth Form. Since the foundation of the Memorial Bursary, the Association has helped more than eighty pupils in this way. Donations are always welcome to increase the value of the award and can be made by contacting the Headmistress at Westonbirt School.

Association Award

This annual Association Award is an exciting new initiative that is open to all Westonbirt Association members up to the age of 26, including current 6th formers, who may apply for a project to be undertaken after they have completed their education at Westonbirt e.g., a gap year. It is awarded to fund or part fund an endeavour or endeavours of social value, for the greater good of others, and to help develop the recipient’s skills for life. A maximum of £4000 may be awarded in one year.

The deadline for applications is set for the end of Spring Half Term, after which interviews will be arranged. Applicants will be asked for a detailed programme of the proposed project, including a financial plan, prior to interview. To find out more, and obtain an application form please visit: https://westonbirt.org/westonbirt-alumni-association/

The June Jacobs Award and Grant

Westonbirt alumna, June Jacobs was a fearless campaigner who did great work for the causes she adopted, including the rights of women and oppressed minorities around the world, and the cause of peace in the Middle East. June, who was also a dearly loved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, sadly passed away in 2018 at the age of 88. Her family have generously endowed The June Jacobs Social Justice Awards and Grant to Westonbirt School in her memory. You can learn more about the award and her amazing legacy from the alumni page of the school website here https://westonbirt.org/the-june-jacobs-award/