We thought the OPs might enjoy reading Fr Clarkson's foreword from the College publication Princethorpe '76, ten years after the school moved to Princethorpe.
We think it makes for interesting reading and hope you do too!
Since my arrival in August 2014, there has been a great deal of activity. I have purchased a large number of archive boxes and polyester pockets to house photographs and other documents. A unit has been fitted to make sure that the environmental conditions in the Archive Room are kept at the recommended levels. I have been working my way through the backlog of material, which ranges from school magazines to prospectuses, and am cataloguing these items onto the PastPerfect database. It is a fascinating collection because it covers the ‘lives’ of Princethorpe College, Crackley Hall School, St Bede’s College, St Mary’s Priory, St Joseph’s School and Abbotsford School.
With the Golden Jubilee celebrations coming up, much of my time will now be devoted to researching the history of the College, planning displays of material and helping with the publication of a new book. To that end, I have begun to catalogue and digitise the photographic collection kept in the Archive Room. There are approximately 5,000 prints which should keep me occupied for some time to come! We are fortunate to have a number of early postcards and one was sent during the First World War. Although it is difficult to decipher the name of the writer, it nevertheless tells us that 64 Belgian nuns found refuge at the Priory during the conflict.
The Archive continues to grow and is reliant upon donations. If you would like to give anything to the Archive, please get in touch. We are very happy to receive scans of items if you do not want to part with the originals. We do not just collect magazines and calendars, but also take clothing and other objects associated with the school. We are looking for your memories too and would welcome old stories!
To contact me please email nickbaker@princethorpe.co.uk.
Dr Nick Baker
Archivist
The OPs had a nice message from former member of staff Moira Weir who, along with her husband Pat, is keen to get in touch with any of their past pupils:
Pat and I were at Princethorpe from 1975 until 2001; he was Head of English and I taught English and was Head of Sixth Form for the last 12 years of our time at the College.
I have been reading the Old Princethorpian since its inception and have so enjoyed discovering all the wonderful things now happening at College and the stories of so many of my pupils, whom I remember with so much affection.
I wanted to record this and, perhaps, waken equally fond memories in the hearts of our students so have written the attached.
The photo was taken on the occasion of our 40th wedding anniversary, so it's no wonder we look so jolly!
Best wishes to all who might remember us at Princethorpe.
If you'd like to get in touch with Pat and Moira email oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk and we will reconnect you!
Dear Old Princethorpians,
What a pleasure it is to read of your successes –and those of the College -in these pages and how devastating to learn of your tragedies. But, of course, I don’t see the skilled lawyers, actors, artists, doctors, policemen, scientists, charity workers and proud parents who appear here. No, to me you are truly forever young, caught in that wonderful, uncertain moment between teenage fears and adult passions, on the cusp of something terrifying and wonderful.
I often catch you in the wings of the theatre –Ian Lucas in shimmering silver as an irrepressible mirror in ‘Snow White’; Emilio Doorgasingh and Joe Ruddy as punks in bin bags; virtually the whole Sixth Form line-dancing in front of an audience of unsuspecting parents; Tommy Hilditch and Caspar Davis leading surely the rudest troupe of Rude Mechanicals out under the stars (and then taking off round Burnthurst Lane kitted out in embroidered priests’ vestments on two bikes); the inventiveness of Chris James and Renaldo Merlo with the music for ‘A Tale of Two Cities’; Conrad Howard convincing us there really was a bright golden haze on the meadow. All the forgotten lines, wobbly sets, bonkers dancing, tantrums, tears and, above all, laughter – mostly that of my husband and Lou Skiffington, helpless in the wings - that went into College productions.
To read more of Moira's message to Old Princethorpians click on the attachment below.
