Report of YG 1972 Old Scholars Reunion
23 October 2022
24 of us, 19 of whom were old scholars, + Ella the sheepdog, met for the weekend of the 16th-18th September at the Nightingale Centre near Buxton, in the beautiful Derbyshire Peak District. We were blessed with brilliant, autumnal sunshine and we took full advantage of the glorious setting for walks of varying lengths, in particular to, from and around the plague village of Eyam and its fascinating museum. There were those among us with extensive knowledge of the area and its history which made it particularly enriching. We were close to Bamford Quaker Community, of which one of our number had been a founder member, and another is now a trustee and some of us visited and shared coffee and home-made biscuits and a tour of the well-maintained house and gardens. A creative writing workshop, recent wedding photos, photos of in and around the school site before and after its closure and a slideshow of the Sixth Form Iceland trip were other highlights. The food was good, tea and coffee were on tap and wine and beer could be bought on tab. But perhaps most important was the opportunity to talk, sometimes over the extensive albums of old photos, where friendships were renewed, memories shared, and a seamless lapsing into each other’s company occurred, which is so easy when coming together with people you lived with when you were little. Not all of us were equally happy at school, and certainly not all of the time, but we all shared some of our most formative years there, and that is something that we will always have in common. One person commented: ‘With thoughts of community, Quaker and otherwise, close to my heart and very much in mind during the weekend, I found the warm and inclusive community we established while we were together again really inspirational.’