APS Reunion 2012.

Friday 5th October & Saturday 6th October.

The Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate

We seem to be more than a little fortunate with our choice of dates for our Annual Reunion. For the second consecutive year we were blessed with beautiful autumn sunshine when we met in Harrogate for our 2012 Reunion. Seventy six past staff and students attended the Reunion many of whom arrived at The Old Swan on the Friday evening giving themselves the opportunity to get together over dinner and drinks.

On Saturday morning our President Barbara Graham (Holmes 1975) welcomed everyone and remarked on the wonderful year of sport we had all been privileged to enjoy during 2012, culminating in the immensely successful London Olympics.

She extended an extra warm welcome to those years who were celebrating special anniversaries in Harrogate; 1962 marking their 50th year as past students, 1967 their 45th and 1972 their 40th.

The collection of archive photographs shown at last year’s Reunion have now been put onto a CD and Barbara announced that these would be available for sale during this Reunion at a cost of £5 each.

After Barbara’s introduction, Linda Bond (Ward 1967) exhibited her corporate skills in getting the whole group to mix in groups so that memories of different eras could be shared. The year of 1962 were particularly forthcoming with stories of their time in College. They were one of the last small intake years numbering only in the 30s and consequently had enjoyed one of the last times where a whole year was literally like an extended family. After an entertaining session of listening to stories from all of the groups, people were given time to gather in their respective year groups to catch up on news and have photographs taken.

Following a buffet lunch served in the hotel dining room people returned to the Meeting Room for the AGM chaired by our President Barbara Graham. There were several changes to the Committee. Trish Wootton (1965) had previously given notice of her intention to stand down from the post of Treasurer after many years of service. Barbara thanked her for all the work she had done and presented her with a gift on behalf of all the members of APS. Jean Taylor (Sutton 1967) will be taking over the post of Treasurer. Trish will remain as a co-opted member of the Committee. June Nash (Oscroft 1967) was appointed as a Committee Member. Meg Maunder (1969) and Jackie Wright (Hughes 1968) were re-elected as co-opted members for another year. Kath Simpson (Fahey 1972) was elected as a new co-opted member for one year.

The venue for our next Reunion will be Radcliffe House, University of Warwick on 5th October 2013. This will be a new venue and has impressive facilities. However, the venue can only accept a maximum of 60 people and Sue Plant (1964) our Reunion Organiser warned everyone keen to attend to make sure they made early application. Acceptance will be on a strictly ‘first come, first served’ basis. Details and booking forms will be in next year’s Journal, normally published late March/early April, and will be on this website shortly thereafter.

After the AGM was closed Profs Pat Shenton OBE and Sheila Wigmore (1967) gave a presentation describing a Century of Achievements at I M Marsh College. This lecture had been previously presented to the Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University at the I M Marsh Campus in May. The presentation included a variety of photographs of college life in which many people were able to identify themselves or other members of their year.

Barbara presented everyone at the Reunion with a key ring displaying the College badge as a memento of the occasion before bringing the day to a close at 4.30pm. Many people stayed on at the Old Swan to enjoy the Reunion dinner on Saturday evening.

Members of the Committee were delighted that everyone seemed to have an enjoyable day and they hope that members will join us next year in Warwick. If you would like to become a member of the Association you can apply through the ‘How to Join’ section of the website.

You can view photographs of the reunion by clicking on the ‘Gallery’.