APS Reunion 2011.

Friday 30th September & Saturday 1st October.

Alicia Hotel, Sefton Park, Liverpool

The weather forecast promised and delivered a weekend of glorious late summer sunshine for our annual reunion in Liverpool on the first weekend in October. To match the record weather we also had a record turnout of 120 past students who had booked to attend the reunion. Earlier on the Friday afternoon members of the Committee met at the Aldam Robarts Learning Centre, the new home to the College Archives, to look around the facility and to meet up with the Archivist, Emily Parsons (nee Burningham). There was general pleasure and satisfaction at the suitability of the facility to house the Archives of I M Marsh College. A relatively small number of artefacts are housed there so far but Emily would be happy to hear from anyone who has material that they believe would be suitable. Please do not let all your college memorabilia be lost in some black hole – get in touch with Emily!! You can find her contact details in the ‘Memories’ section of the website. Please do not send any artefacts before contacting Emily. You can choose to ‘give’ or ‘loan’ your artefacts. On Saturday morning our President, Barbara Graham welcomed everyone to the Reunion extending a special welcome to Miss Margaret Jamieson, College Principal 1965 – 1981, who had been unable to come to our reunions for a number of years. Linda Bond led off the proceedings with some activities aimed at getting people to mix and chat with each other thus sharing memories from different eras. After these activities everyone had time to spend with their own year groups, take photographs and remember their years at College. There were several groups celebrating milestones in regard to the number of years since leaving College. 1961 were marking 50yrs with 16 people, 1966 had 8 members meeting after 45yrs, and 1971 had 9 members celebrating 40yrs. Prof Sheila Wigmore our Archives Coordinator had created a Power Point presentation showing some of the photographs that have been digitalised for the Archives and this was available for viewing. Several people asked whether discs could be made available for purchase and your Committee will be pursuing this possibility in time for the next reunion in Harrogate. After the morning session, a buffet lunch was served which many people chose to enjoy in the pleasant sunshine of the hotel garden. The AGM was held in the afternoon chaired by our President Barbara Graham who did an excellent job of getting through the business rapidly so everyone could climb aboard the coaches that were to take us on our visit to College. The autumnal sunshine undoubtedly showed off all the buildings and surroundings in their best light but nevertheless, for most people, the occasion was tinged with sadness. The University have announced their intention to sell the campus within the near future and all the facilities will be moved into central Liverpool. I M Marsh College will disappear as a teacher training facility and many people were only too aware that this would probably be their last opportunity to visit. The coaches moved on to take us on a nostalgic trip around the city before returning to the Alicia hotel. Many people stayed on in the evening to enjoy the APS dinner. Miss Jamieson was presented with a corsage and she responded with a spontaneous and heartfelt thank you speech where she said how pleased she was that she had been able come. Remarkably, despite her advancing years, she had been able to participate in the whole day including the visit to College and the tour of the city and the Albert dock. Members of the Committee were delighted that everyone seemed to have an enjoyable day and they hope that members will join us next year when the Reunion will be held at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate on Friday 5th & Saturday 6th October. Information about next year’s Reunion will be available on the website shortly.

Members of the Committee were delighted that everyone seemed to have an enjoyable day and they hope that members will join us next year in Warwick. If you would like to become a member of the Association you can apply through the ‘How to Join’ section of the website. You can view photographs of the reunion by clicking on the ‘Gallery’.