Start of year

Welcome to the start of another school year.  It's hard to say which is the more nervous group: the new pupils in their shiny uniforms, or the band of new staff - teachers, administrators, language assistants, etc - who join MGS this September.  Best wishes to you all.  It will doubtless all soon seem familiar.

There have been big physical changes over the summer, with a new access point to the grounds from Old Hall Lane to facilitate bus loading and unloading, a new computer infrastructure throughout the buildings, and the completion of the new accommodation for the youngest new MGS pupils for over 60 years, the 7 and 8 year-olds joining the Junior School.  This is the new view looking west towards the Rectory (the boundary with Birchfields Park is to the right):

Facilities in the new building are bang up-to-date, and the youngsters even have a dedicated playground outside, MGS oddly having been designed without such a facility when the school moved to Fallowfield in 1931.

The olden days are much in our minds as we approach our 500th birthday in 2015, and our archivist, aided by staff in the Art department, has prepared a wonderful mounted exhibition of photographs of times past which is hanging in the Display Area near the Memorial Hall.  Do pop in and see it if you can.  Call into the Development Office on the same corridor while you're visiting - we'll be delighted to see you.  Here's a taster - milk, anyone?

London & SE OMA Dinner

Down to London on Wednesday for the annual dinner of the London and south-east-based Old Mancunians. It used to be the case that the venue changed each year for the sake of variety, but this year we were again at the Oxford and Cambridge Club, which has looked after us well in the past. The food and wine are good, and the surroundings, combined with a relatively informal dress code, produce a memorable but relaxing evening, attracting 60-plus guests.

This year's Chairman, Fred Wheeler, introduced his successor, Lee Gabbie, who proposed the toast to our Founder, Hugh Oldham. Then our special guest, actor Robert Powell, gave an extremely amusing account of his life in drama from his days in the second form, later Classical Sixth at MGS, to the present time. Like (Sir) Nicholas Hytner, who spoke at last year's dinner, Robert explained how plays at school allowed him to discover the person he was. For him, as for many, this was in an activity outside the school curriculum, which in those days involved reading plenty of literary texts but not being examined on them. He shares our excitement at the development of facilities for drama at MGS and has kindly offered to present a one-man show in the rebuilt theatre in the autumn. The High Master rounded off the speeches with a brief (yes, really, seven minutes) account of highlights of the last year.

It was good to see the age-spread of the guests - the youngest two or three are still undergraduates at the London universities, the oldest two or three joined MGS in the mid-1930s. All walks of life seemed to be represented: I sat between a retired professor of medicine and a special needs teacher, and opposite an investment banker, a commercial aviation expert and a management consultant.

Back to Manchester to catch up on plans for our big Reunion on 8 May for pupils who joined MGS pre-1950. It's exciting to know that people are coming from as far away as New Zealand and California. Thank goodness the planes are flying again.

MGS at Blackpool

Well, it wasn't quite a repeat of the WW2 evacuation of the school to the Fylde coast, but we had a great day at Blackpool today to get us in the mood for the summer term which starts tomorrow. Inspired by Assistant Director of Development Simon Jones, who was in action today in spite of a very sore knee, 20-odd sixth-formers and staff ran the Blackpool half-marathon in aid of the MGS Bursary Fund.

They have been raising money by traditional sponsorship and via pages at JustGiving.com (check for The MGS Trust to find their pages). The lads are all motivated to put something back before they leave at the end of this term - they are well aware that either they or their classmates have been able to be at MGS because of the generosity of donors to the Bursary Fund.

Supported by Jane and Julie from the Development Office (sorry about the 7am Sunday start from school, ladies) the runners were at the start-line promptly at 9am. The weather was kind and the route (south to the Pleasure Beach, north to Bispham,) was pretty flat - well at least it looked flat to the spectators.

Mr Jones was looking OK at the halfway point but was already hurting.


Ollie Salt and Tris Honeyborne were our first finishers, with Messrs Noble and Lawrence not far behind.

All the finishers (and all the MGS team did finish) collected their commemorative T-shirt and medal, and most of the team posed for the final photo.

Well done, everyone - a great day.

Alan Garner, the Weirdstone and the Blackden Trust

Old Mancunian writer Alan Garner has lived all his adult life at Blackden, in the shadow of the Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Holmes Chapel in Cheshire. All of his writing is deeply rooted in north Cheshire, extending from the area near Crewe to that near his birthplace in Alderley Edge. The Edge is the setting of his 1960 novel, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, which this year on a magical date (10/10/10) achieves the rare distinction of 50 consecutive years of being in print. To celebrate, a series of special events is planned, details of which can be seen at http://www.weirdstone.org.uk/. You can even visit the mine workings on the Edge.

Alan and his wife Griselda have, with others, formed The Blackden Trust (http://www.theblackdentrust.org.uk/) to preserve the unique qualities of their house and its site, which shows evidence of human occupation for over 10,000 years. The trust offers a number of courses, led by experts, which provide insights into the history and archaeology of the area. It's a magical place: if you can possibly visit, do. You can see details and reserve places here. Some courses are designed specifically for younger people and can change lives: a number of those attending have already gone on to archaeology-related courses at university. The courses are inter-active, and some of the writing done by current MGS boys who have attended in the past can be seen here. After Easter this year all of our Year 8 pupils will have form trips to Blackden - how lucky they are!