Old Princethorpians

Dear Old Princethorpians

What a treat it has been to hear from so many of you. I always knew we taught some pretty special people and your messages - from all over the world - have confirmed this. Thank you for your humour, your honesty and your kindness in trusting us with your stories. They are rich indeed and humbling - particularly the one from a respectable father of three who remembers me hurling abuse at him in the sort of terms that would have me marched before the Head today! Not quite the fond notion I have of myself as a kind of benign ‘Mrs Chips’ but a timely reminder that teaching exposes our weaknesses as well as our strengths. So, to all of you who remember me being particularly horrible, I hope you have survived unscathed and have the generosity of spirit to forgive me. And, if anyone else would like to get in touch, we’d love to find out what you have made of your lives.

(Our eighth beautiful grandchild arrived at Easter so our lives are blessed beyond measure.)

Love Moira Weir

‘Celebrate’ seems to be the word of the moment. That desire to ‘celebrate’ has kept the Archivist busy of late, and it will keep him fully occupied in the months to come.

Earlier this year, I assisted with the seventieth anniversary festivities at Crackley Hall. St Joseph’s Convent and School, which had been based in Coventry, relocated to Kenilworth in 1945. Although the school later merged with Princethorpe and was renamed Crackley Hall, its former staff and pupils returned on 21 March to mark the convent’s move to Kenilworth seventy years ago. They were addressed by the headmaster and entertained by current pupils; they enjoyed tours around the school and reminisced over tea and cake. I was asked to write a small leaflet for the occasion, which was a most enjoyable task, particularly because I had been furnished with plenty of old stories and photographs. I would like to express my gratitude to Angela Barnard at Crackley Hall for her help, and also to Jenny Smith, Archivist to the Union of the Sisters of Mercy GB, for supplying a wonderful array of historic images.

Although one anniversary has passed, another waits around the corner. As you know, a book will be published in 2016 to mark Princethorpe’s Golden Jubilee. Alex Darkes and I have started to select illustrations from the 8,000, or so, photographs which sit in the College Archives. However, we would very much like to include your memories of Princethorpe. This will not be any old history book but one that aims to provide an insight into the ‘real’ life of the school. Please do send us your reminiscences and photographs. We would like to involve as many OPs as possible. It is your story.

Anniversaries aside, work in the archive is still as hectic as ever. I have begun to sort and catalogue the photographs, press cuttings and minutes from governors’ meetings. The archive has also received a number of donations in the last few months. Items include antiquarian books owned by the nuns, old postcards and an ‘Options Subject’ booklet intended to help students to select their GCSE subjects in 1988. The archive continues to grow . . .

Nick Baker
Foundation Archivist

Former American pupil, Robert Eidschun, who now resides in New York, is making a habit of visiting the College, having so far returned no less than eight times since he left in 1977 and moved back to the States.

He last stopped by in December 2014 with his daughter, Erin.  They were in the UK to visit Cambridge University with a view to Erin starting there this autumn.

While on a tour round the College, they happily bumped into Matron Maria Lawless, who recognised Robert from his time in Fisher House in the mid-to-late 70s and took over as guide.

Robert takes up the story:

‘My daughter was quite impressed, since we don’t really have old historic secondary schools in the States – or at least they’re very rare there.  Her first reaction was, “This is Hogwarts from Harry Potter!”

Erin also recognized the Chapel from the BBC’s Father Brown episode that was filmed there in August 2012.  Erin is in her last year at High School, the equivalent of Upper Sixth, and she was very impressed with the Sixth Form Centre, which is located where the pre-fabricated buildings for biology and French used to be.  The Centre is quite a bit nicer than what you would usually have at an American secondary school.  For example, in the States, lecture theatres with terraced seating are pretty much found only at universities.

I’ve been back to the College several times since returning to the U.S.:  August 2013 with my father, and we visited Father O’Brien at the rectory in Wappenbury at that time too; September 2011 on my own; August 2005 with Simon Pritchard, who is a former Head Boy; April 2001 with a friend from Shanghai, who spent time speaking with Mr. Miller but was fascinated by the sheep grazing near the entrance to the College’s administrative offices; July 2000 on my own for the reunion, which Father Clarkson himself attended; April 1998 with Ian Thorn, who is also a former pupil; August 1992 with my then soon-to-be bride (Erin’s mother), who enjoyed the view from the top of the Chapel tower, which we were fortunate enough to be allowed to climb; and February 1986 on my own, which was my first visit back.  Father O’Connor was Headmaster at that time.  He let me sit in his office chair with my feet up on this desk!’

Erin has been offered a place at the University of Chicago and has chosen to attend there.  She will concentrate in biochemistry.  (At an American university, it takes four years to get a bachelor’s degree, and a student must study a variety of subjects.)  We wish her all the best with her studies.  Although Erin will be quite busy for the next few years, we hope to see Robert again very soon.