Old Boys, Girls and Teachers Guestbook

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Welcome to the Guestbook
Feel free to add messages relating to the site and the school. The only rules are: real names only, no personal attacks and no unrelated messages (inappropriate messages may be edited/withdrawn without warning).

It would be appreciated if you gave an email address, where you now live and said when you were at the school, but you don't have to.

Plase note that if you click on an email address below you will need to replace ~DOT~ with . and ~AT~ with @ in your email program. The Guestbook presents these this way to avoid email address harvesters collecting your email addresses from the page. I know it's a pain, but it's very much better than the alternative.

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There are 500 messages in the guestbook
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Viewing messages 11 to 20

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello to all you responders and Mike of course,
In keeping with my New Year’s Resolution (for 2025) of writing at least one letter per month to the Guestbook, here comes my input for October 2025. It occurred to me that we seemed to have more submissions this year than normal. So I thought, “I’ll just have a gander and see if that’s true.” Then I thought, “No, I’m going to check all 500 letters that we have available to us and see what our yearly input has been.”
Here’s what I found for the period ending with Neale’s 22 September, 2025 input. The numbers in parentheses in the ‘Pages’ column represent the number of emails on that page for the subject year. Each page has 10 emails, but there can be two different years on a page.

Year Pages emails per year
2025 1 to 9(8) 88
2024 9(2) to 10(7) 9
2023 10(3) to 15(9) 62
2022 15(1) to 27(3) 114
2021 27(7) to 33(2) 59
2020 33(8) to 35(7) 25
2019 35(3) to 36(10) 13
2018 37(10)to 38(7) 17
2017 38(3) to 40(3) 16
2016 40(7) to 42(6) 23
2015 42(4) to 45(5) 29
2014 45(5) to 47(7) 22
2013 47(7) to 49(10) 23
500

The reason I started this observation was because I felt that this year’s input would surely be a record and it may still be with three months remaining. But what surprised me was the paucity of emails last year….only 9, !!!???!!??!?…in a whole year? So that’s what triggered my foray into the wonderful world of “emails in the guest book” I imagined that 2020 would be a bumper crop because of COVID, but it wasn’t much higher than normal. However 2021 tripled the regular average input and 2022 almost doubled the 2021 input. I don’t know whether it can be ascribed uniquely to the effects of COVID, but I think a case could be made. 2022 showed a decline in submissions which could coincide with the easing of restrictions on social gatherings (more time away from the computer) but I have no explanation for the miserly and miserable input for 2024. I share the blame with the other few contributors, however we have come back with a vengeance this year and still have time to beat the record. So get your metaphorical pens out boys and girls ( I have noticed some recorded asides from spouses ) and see if we can cap the old 2022 record.

NOTE TO MIKE,
Can you please reinstate the emails prior to 2013? I’m sure you won’t have trashed them and I’d love to have a complete copy of them for my family history book which is now about 300 pages long and contains about 300 photos, all written and compiled by my three daughters and one granddaughter. My eldest great grandchild is only six, and hasn’t contributed anything…yet. If you do have the earlier emails, I’d like to do the same exercise with them and do the second search to list the contributors.
“Bye ‘bye the noo”, from a gloriously sunny and warm North York,
Alex
P.S. I hope the numbers stay in the same format, although when I've sent things before the format goes astray. Sorry. Fingers and eyes crossed

Fri 3-Oct-2025 17:17 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Backhouse | neale1447~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Gently now, Alex. Just remember, we're all from Sheels

Mon 22-Sep-2025 01:56 - West coast

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

You guys are weered!!
Alex

Mon 22-Sep-2025 01:17 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Neale | neale1447~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Don't feel bad Alan, we're all feeling Weary.

Sun 21-Sep-2025 23:26 - Victoria BC

Alan Whittaker(1953-59) | alan~DOT~diwhittaker~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Oops! Please delete "Weir" from my last and insert "Wear"
I put it down to getting old!
Alan W

Sun 21-Sep-2025 12:04 - Langford Budville, Somerset

Alan Whittaker(1953-59) | alan~DOT~diwhittaker~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hi All,
Did you hear of the error that the medal producers made for competitors in the recent Great North Run? They embossed the river Weir onto the face of the medal instead of the river Tyne!!
Indications are that the medal is more valuable as a result!
You couldn't make it up!
Alan W

Sat 20-Sep-2025 15:22 - Langford Budville, Somerset

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

How sad. Marsden Inn as a Tesco!!

I'm surprised that the building doesn't have "Listed" status.

Thu 18-Sep-2025 16:14 - ruskington lincolnshie

Alan Whittaker(1953-59) | alan~DOT~diwhittaker~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hi Everyone,For those who used to go to the Marsden Inn had you noticed that the planners in SS have approved a proposal to convert a big chunk of the building into a Tesco Express supermarket?
I remember the pub well from the late 50's where you could buy pints of McEwens for a shilling and then catch the bus to go down town for an Anglo-Asian curry. You would have a night out and still have change from a pound!
Happy days
Alan W

Mon 15-Sep-2025 10:14 - Langford Budville, Somerset

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

Eric

Definitely 324 squadron.

Was then and still is if you look them up

Fri 29-Aug-2025 15:37 - ruskington lincolnshie

Neale Backhouse | neale1447~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Eric, I reported your dilemma, re. Cauldwell/Westoe, to my expert, who also lived on Chester Gardens. " Definitely not Westoe" she replied."I used to get off the bus from work when the conductor called out "Cauldwell", mainly because staying on until the next stop, (and closer to home), Harton House Road, would cost me another ha'penny.
"Thanks Eric," she says. "The memories are lovely."

Thu 28-Aug-2025 21:43 - Victoria BC

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