THE OLD WEALDEN ASSOCIATION
The Association is nearly as old as the school, having been formed in 1937 by the first leavers, which speaks for itself. The Association flourished, and in a tribute to the founding Head, Barlow Butlin, on the occasion of his enforced retirement through illness in 1951, Merlin Rees, himself a founding pupil and then staff member, said: 'I recall the countless ways in which Mr Butlin helped the Association. Besides the great help given when the Old Wealdens was first formed, the freely given permission to use the school premises for plays, dances, badminton etc, has aided our growth and enabled us to to maintain contact with the school'.
So, thanks to such willingness to welcome past pupils, saying so clearly that once a 'Wealden', you would always be so, Old Wealdens continued to routinely attend the School Sports Day, and the Sports Day Dance, as well as the Reunion Dinner, Christmas Ball and the River Boat Trip, and they played badminton and hockey between themselves.
In those early days, people were of course geographically still near enough to meet up regularly for such activities, and the level of regular contact was inevitably likely to change as life's commitments and adventures expanded. The original Association did indeed gradually dwindle over the years, but was reborn in 1977 on the occasion of the unveiling of the Barlow Butlin memorial door. Today we are happy to report that we have upwards of three hundred regular members, - and others who come and go - and importantly that each decade of the school's life is represented. In the April e-News that went out in lieu of an actual reunion in 2020, we had messages from around the world, and responses from across all the decades to the question 'how are you doing?' (you can read these, on the Newsletters page - just choose April 2020).
So, how do we keep in touch these days?
Old Wealden News and Views is our regular publication, a paper one, annually, through your door - with extra e-versions two or three times a year to your inbox. News and Views started as a single sheet, in 1978, and has gradually grown, the most recent, Issue 45, February 2022, a full 20 pages of your memories, stories, questions, and importantly, lots of pictures.
The other way we keep in touch is through our annual reunions, traditionally held on the last Saturday in April. In April 2019, for the first time, the Reunion was held down the road at the Memorial Hall in Harrow Weald instead of at the school site. You can read the full story behind this change of venue on the Welcome page.
The first annual Reunion since the re-emergence of the Association was held in 1978 and they have since continued without a break - until the enforced cancellations of both the 2020 and 2021 events, of course. On page 2 of the April 2018 e-magazine, at what was to be the last reunion on the old school site - although we didn't know that at the time - there is a lovely picture of the 1930s and 1940s attendees. If you would like to come along to the next, information is on the Welcome and Diary Dates pages, and we would be delighted to welcome you. Accounts of some of our particularly epic reunions are on the Events Past page - but all of them are special, however many gather, and always memorable.
An important feature of the annual reunion is always a sizeable display of our truly rich archive, and of course, another of the functions of the OW Association is to take care of this, and to share it as widely as we can. There are ongoing plans to digitise it, and also to look to a future 'home' for the original collection - for it is a resource that will live beyond all of us, and be valuable for future seekers after history.
And now there is another excellent way to keep in touch. In April 2020, one of our 1966 members started a dedicated Facebook Group for Old Wealdens, and how timely just as we were having to keep our actual distance from each other, but still needed to keep close! It is growing fast, and well worth a visit.
It is called The Harrow Weald Grammar School group, and is of course open to any Old Wealdens, not just members of our actual Old Wealdens Association. We hope that mutual connections will be made, however, and the Association will also get new members - who may then come and meet up in person, sharing great food (it always is) and chat too, at the annual reunions.
Important note!
There was a pre-existing Facebook page but this is now inactive, so do search out the group, where you will be made very welcome.
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So, what will it cost you to join up?
It's a modest £7 annually per Old Wealden household in the UK, and just £8 if elsewhere. It's easy, can be done by continuing Standing Order, or year by year if you wish. It's organised by Keith Mayes, our Membership Secretary, who will remind you each year, at the same time as inviting you to the reunion. There is an additional charge for the reunion, to cover what is always a splendid spread, and the hiring of the venue. In 2022 the cost per person will be £16.
An email to Keith at
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The Nancy Young Memorial Bursary
A feature of our 50th anniversary in 1983 was the creation of the Bursary named for Nancy Young, who gave thirty-six years’ service to teaching and leading at the School and then the Sixth-form College, and who was one of the Association’s staunchest supporters. Under the Bursary, awards are available each year to Old Wealdens or their children – and now, their grandchildren – whose applications fulfil the aims of the Bursary, ie 'the furtherance of some personal project involving initiative, enterprise or adventure'.
This Bursary is still open to applicants and if you have an aspiring child or grandchild who you think may be eligible to benefit, please contact the Secretary.
Since its inception, many bursary awards have been made, mainly to the children of Old Wealdens, thus proving that the Weald spirit of endeavour lives on! Topics have ranged from medical electives to projects under the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme; and locations have included Malaysia, San Francisco, Kuala Lumpur, Pakistan, Borneo, Barbados, Guyana, and most recently, the 267 miles of the Pennine Way. Recipients of the award give accounts of their adventures / projects, as a requirement of receiving it, and these are published in the Old Wealdens News and Views. You can see the process in action, for Ollie Kingsland, in accounts on the Newsletters page, above. You will find the whole story, from application to achievement, on pages 1 and 10 of the June 2017 e-Newsletter, and page 7 of the April 2018 e-Newsletter.
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Our November Remembrance
Every year, in November, on behalf of all of us, Heather Bickerton (1940) organises and lays a wreath to commemorate the fifteen people named on our Honours Board who lost their lives in the Second World War. For many years this was laid in the School Hall, and then in the foyer of the College when the school changed its role. With further changes to the College, the Board has now been welcomed by the Harrow Weald Memorial Hall, just down the hill from the school. The public memorial is nearby, on the footpath, and it is here that Heather now lays the wreath, and attends on our behalf the service that is held there. Heather has also recently asked if it may be possible to have access to the Hall on that occasion, to lay our wreath by the Honours Board itself, and hopefully that will happen in future years.
Our Honours Board is registered with the Imperial War Museum and the entry shows where it is currently housed, the name of its maker - Percy Delf Smith, RDI – and when it was unveiled and dedicated.
Our page on the Imperial War Museum website is at:-
https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/11195