Former Pupils
Association
CLASS OF 59 AND 1st XV 50 YEAR REUNION
Members of the 1959 1st XV who reached the Final of the Schools’ Cup and the 1958-59 Sixth Form attended the Annual Dinner
on 3rd April 2009 to celebrate their 50th Anniversary. The nineteen strong group assembled for a Sherry Reception in one of the
classrooms before the Dinner to renew old acquaintances and make an early start to the evening’s reminiscences.
Derek Meldrum (Captain of the 1st XV) welcomed everyone and thanked them for making the effort to attend. Some had travelled
a long way to be present including Trevor Reid (Australia), Des Scott (South Africa), Ian Cunningham (Kendal) Dawson Long
(Cornwall) and Winston Patterson (Donegal).
Eleven members of the team were among the group attending the reunion. Robin Donaldson (poor health) and John Kane
(in America at the time of the reunion) were unable to attend and sadly Dougie Booth and Derek Hazelton had passed away.
Wesley McCamley (Past President of the Association) conveyed apologies and best wishes from a number of former classmates
who were unable to attend, some for health reasons. This included a message from Roy Sproule in New Zealand
(a semi-retired vet) which concluded by wishing everyone an enjoyable night, lots of nostalgia and exaggerated stories fuelled no
doubt with appropriate measures of liquid refreshments.
Everyone then gave a rapid fire 20 second account of their life over the past 50 years.
Winston Patterson (Head Boy 1958-59) led a moving tribute to six colleagues who had passed away since leaving school. Many
memories were recounted of Rowland Cummings, Dougie Booth, Derek Hazelton, Leslie Marshall, Ian Carson, & Denis
Wilson which cumulated with a minute’s silence. Sadly, Roy Cardwell passed away a week after the dinner.
Winston then proposed a toast to the School and the education provided which was proceeded by much communal fond
reminiscences about the great characters on the teaching staff in the 1950s including Alex Gaudin (Headmaster), Hugh Scott,
Barney Cartlidge, Tom Boland, Joe Kennedy, Jack Crooks, Jimmy Bennett, Bill Hutchinson, and Sam Ginn. The reminiscing
continued throughout the dinner and long afterwards. Apparently some managed to keep going until 3.00am.
The 1st XV has a special place in the history of the school being the first school team to reach the final of the Schools’ Cup for the
52 years from the victory by the 1907 team. Only the 1974 team has equalled the feat of reaching the Final in the past 50 years.
The team was welcomed by George Smyth (President) during the Dinner when they were introduced by Derek.
Reports on the 1959 and 1974 Cup Finals are included in School History ‘The Castle and the Crown’ and reproduced in a
hand-out distributed at the dinner.
Philip Annesley (the Association’s Archivist) provided a scrapbook of the exploits of the 1st XV during their run in the Schools’ Cup
and a tour of England in 1958-59 which was on display during the reception. This had been carefully prepared by Trevor Reid
(outside centre). Trevor was surprised and delighted to see the scrapbook again as the last time he remembered having it was
many years ago in Barbados and he thought he had lost. It is a mystery as to how it found its way to the school.
The group are grateful to Gareth Lucas and Richard Clingan (Dinner Convenors) for facilitating the reception and Willie John
McKenzie (also an Old Boy) for coming along to take some photographs.
Click pics for larger view
April 2009
RSD SCOUT TROOP 1955
NOTES TO ACCOMPANY PHOTO WITH NAMES
These
Notes
are
intended
to
be
read
in
conjunction
with
the
photo
of
the
RSD
Scout
Troop
in
1955
to
which
I
have added the names. I trust that this may be of interest to some people.
The
photo
appeared
in
the
School
History
–
The
Castle
and
the
Crown
–
and
although
I
was
not
a
member
of
the
School
Troop
I
was
a
member
of
the
Aughnacloy
Scout
Troop.
A
number
of
my
former
class-mates
are
in
the
photo
and
I
knew
a
lot
of
the
names
of
the
other
Scouts
in
the
photo
and
recognised
many
of
the
other
faces
but
could
not
put
names
to
them.
Jim
Fleming
kindly
gave
me
a
copy
of
the
photo
some
years
ago
and
I
brought
it
to
the
Former
Pupils
Annual
Dinner
for
a
few
years
and
gradually
filled
in
the
names
with
help
from
various
former
members of the Troop. I eventually found the final name at this year’s dinner.
It
has
been
interesting
researching
the
names
and
looking
at
the
photo
with
the
names
brings
back
many
happy
memories of my time at RSD (1953-59) and the great guys who were there in my time.
I
am
sending
the
photo
to
the
people
in
the
photo
that
I
am
still
in
contact
with
and
also
to
the
School
FPA
Archivist
and
the
FPA
website.
Please
pass
it
on
to
anyone
whom
you
think
may
be
interested
in
it
and
let
me
know if there are any errors in the names.
Wesley McCamley
RSD 1953-59
April 2014
What a great photograph, and thanks is due to Wesley who has put much effort into researching the names.
