Reunion News
The Long, Hot Summer of 1976... Revisited
Mary Softley (Rickard), 1969-1976
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It is the summer of 1976, and the unprecedented heatwave and drought have been with us for some time. Not the easiest of times for us CCHS 6th formers to have been studying and sitting our "A" level exams - but perhaps made more bearable by listening to T Rx, Thin Lizzy, David Bowie, Blondie, or rebellious punk rock, on our records or cassettes, or watching the Montreal Olympics, on our newly acquired colour televisions, or just daydreaming. Would
I ever take a flight on this new, odd-looking aeroplane, "Concorde"? Could I ever find anything useful to do with an "Apple" computer? Will I be able to walk as far as my friend's house, in my new platform shoes? Well, we are about to find out, as exams are finally finished, and we are about to leave CCHS, for the very last time...
...and now, unbelievably, 50 years have flown by! Some things remain the same - another long, hot, dry summer and the music (played on very different devices, and considered to be "classics"!) But now we are older, and certainly wiser, if not always in the ways our teachers and parents had expected. For some, weddings and divorces, children and grandchildren; moments of great happiness, and great sadness, especially remembering those who are no longer with us. We have had varied careers, and lived and worked all over the world. All of us have stories to tell.
And so, in June, this year, 16 of us meet up again, to celebrate 50 years since we left CCHS. Some of us had stayed in contact; others had not seen, or spoken to each other, since leavibg school. Some had come from across the country, others, from across the world, including France, America, and Canada. If there was any apprehension before we arrived (Will anyone recognise me? Will we find anything to talk about?) we need not have worried - the years just melted away, instantly, and we just could not stop chatting. We might have looked different, at first glance, but within minutes, it was as if we were right back in the classroom, just girls, again. So many shared memories, and so many reminders of things, people and events, both long forgotten, and never forgotten. To mis-quote the late queen, "recollections varied", but between us, we were able to piece together so many half-remembered stories. And the photographs: we certainly made good use of the technology, to follow lives and families, in the intervening years, but what joy to see and hold a classmate's curled, badly composed, and slightly out of focus, but much treasured photograph from those teenage years,
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The food laid on by Lynne was excellent, although we probably paid it less attention than we would usually have done, because we were too busy chatting - but we still made a good attempt in demolishing it! And the star of the show was a fabulous cake, complete with the school badge, which seemed a shame to cut into - but we did it, anyway!
The time just flew by, and all too soon, it was time to leave, but not before we had exchanged e-mail addresses (and actual addresses!), joined WhatsApp groups, and agreed we had only just begun, and that we definitely needed to do it all again, very soon.
Our thanks thanks go to Lynne and Peter, for their kind hospitality, and for organising us all.