OAA

Welcome to the OAA pages of the website. As another extraordinary year draws to a close, there is plenty to report from the OA community and at the time of going to press we are also very much looking forward to our first OA Carol Service, in the school chapel on Thursday 22nd December. I do hope you enjoy reading the various OA updates and stories in the following pages and should you wish to contribute any news or even write an article for future editions, please do get in contact with us (oldaysgarthianassociation@gmail.com).

The most momentous event of the past year was undoubtedly the sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who reigned over us for almost half of the time that Aysgarth School has been in existence (she acceded to the thrown 62 years after the move to Newton-le-Willows).
During her long reign, many Aysgarthians served in Her Majesty’s armed forces and in numerous official and ceremonial roles, therefore it was very fitting that during the period of national mourning a number of OAs were on duty, as the country and the world paid their respects. My thanks go to Archie Struthers (82-86) and Toby Till (81-86) for sharing with us some of their experiences.

In my welcome last year, I alluded to the ill health of Caroline Goddard (Hon. OA) and by now many of you will be aware that Caroline is living with the truly awful Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and being cared for at home by Anthony. A heart wrenching message from Caroline follows this welcome along with an update on Anthony’s recent ordination and on behalf of all their fellow OAs I send them both our love and best wishes.

Whilst we had four OA cricket fixtures lined up for this summer, sadly two were cancelled by opponents struggling to field enough players. We did however hold another exciting and entertaining match at Cliffe Hall in July for OAs still at their public schools, as well as the annual match against the Harrow Wanderers held at the school, which was won by the OAs.
As mentioned at the top of the page, this December we will be holding our first OA Carol Service, which will take place in the school chapel followed by drinks in the dining hall. We hope many OAs and their guests will join us for a lively service, which will be taken by Canon Timothy Lipscombe (61-65) with Tom Oakshott (Hon. OA) playing the organ.
In the Autumn of 2023, we will be returning to London for an OA drinks party in the Sloane Club. We hope to see another great turnout of younger OAs and indeed OAs of all ages. For now, I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and happy new year and as always thank the wonderful team who help Diny and myself with running the OAA.

With best wishes,

Simon Price (1982-87)

• Email: sjeprice@hotmail.com