CLASS OF '83 REUNION

Nick Williamson writes: The class that started out as 1WR in 1979 and took it's exams as 5AC in 1983 held a reunion over 16-17th May 2003. Exiles returned from London, Leicester, Leeds, Stockport and Preston for a meal at the Viceroy in Carlisle on the Friday night, and a meal at the Fantails in Wetheral on the Saturday night, followed by a trip into Carlisle on each occasion. Some people had kept in touch since we left school, but each individual was re-united with at least one person they hadn't seen for twenty years. A total of fifteen classmates met over the weekend and I know that a fair few of us felt at least a little apprehensive, but any nerves soon went and I think it's safe to say that we all had a fantastic time. I would encourage anyone thinking about a reunion to go for it; we proved it's possible to track down the majority of your classmates twenty years on and have a great night. I can't wait for the next one. One final thing to point out about these pictures: I'd only just bought the camera and so hadn't really got the hang of the anti-redeye thingy, which means that I've had to run round all these pictures with "Microsoft Paint", changing everyone's eyes to the right colour! ...and there's the problem - most of the photos gave me a hint of what to aim for but Paul, your eyes were redder than red things on a red day, so I scoured my memory and decided that you probably have brown eyes. You have now, anyway! Let me know if you'd rather have blue ones... :)

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CLASS OF '81 REUNION

Jackie Armstrong (nee Aldersey) writes : "There is a group of us arranging a school reunion for the class of 81, Myself along with Tracey Shepherd, Michaela Bell, Karen Campbell and a few others. We would be grateful if you could advertise the reunion on your site.  The reunion will take place in October 2001; we are in the throws of fixing a date and arranging a venue. But have nothing confirmed as yet".

Update 09/06/2001: Jackie writes "The reunion date has been confirmed as the 13th October and it will take place at the Lakes Court Hotel, Court Square which is beside the railway station. There will be no charge for the evening but we will ask for a donation to help cover costs. The evening will start at 7.30 and will probably go on 'til midnight, there will be a disco. I would be grateful if people who are able to attend could let us know via trinityclassof81@hotmail.com  to give us an idea of numbers".

Update 29/10/2001 from Nick Williamson: By all accounts, the reunion was a great success. My thanks to Alistair Woodcock for the following report of the proceedings:

Trinity 'Class of 81' Reunion, Oct 13 2001
So 20 years on, the fifth form of 1980-81 re-assembled in the Lakes Court Hotel (plus several local watering holes) for the first of what is hoped will become regular reunions. And what a surreal experience it was, meeting people in some cases you hadn't seen for two decades. The air was thick with sounds of 'isn't that whatsisname over there' and 'I do remember your face but can't put a name to it'. Thankfully somebody thought to hand out name badges as we came in. An address book was also laid out for people to fill in their details. About 100 people turned up in total and that represented over a third of the total Class of 1981. Of course, many of us had stayed on to do Sixth form and some had been at the same university or college. Only a handful had stayed in regular contact. For the majority, the faces were only just familiar enough to put a name to. In my own case, I turned out to be recognised by nearly everybody, which was fairly reassuring although I ticked off just eight of my original Trinity class. 

Paul Tyson, who helped organise the event, was there of course. A very different looking Mark White (almost bald) and the unmistakable Simon Williams were present, along with four female members of my class in Penny Wallace (not changed much), Diane Thompson (ditto), Sandra Wilson (ditto) and Nicola Tebbutt (still every boy's favourite and not changed at all). The overall opinion seemed to be that the girls hadn't changed as much as the boys. There were some sad stories circulating, not to mention quite a few heartening ones. I learnt that Shaun Waite, who had been in my class, was dead (not quite sure how) and there were sad tales of errant siblings and dodgy jobs and all manner of catching up with people's murky pasts. However, it was nice to hear how everyone was getting on including people who couldn't make it on the night. There had been a lot of marriages, babies and the odd divorce thrown into the mix. People came from far and wide - Graham 'Scotty' Scott made it all the way from Germany - and I think everyone was glad they'd made the decision to show up. I know a lot had doubts beforehand. 

Stephen Robinson showed up, to my great surprise. Known as 'Big Fry' at school, he is now working as an accountant in London and informed me he had recently joined a dating agency - oh well, top marks for honesty. Michael Skinner won the 'camp as Dale Winton' award. He still has the short spiky hair from school and has added a lovely little goatee beard - what a sweetie. Angus Styth was a right smoothie in his suit. Jonathan Taylor, who left Trinity in the Third Year, was seeing people for the first time in at least 22 years - quite a record! There were names that I'd long forgotten but suddenly sounded familiar again like Murdo Miller, Marcus Noble, Ian Marrs, Paul Telfer, Janine Bradley, Alison McKee, David Jackson, Matthew Newstead, Graham Harrison ... the list was probably endless. Geoffrey Swift attempted to moonwalk on the dance floor alongside myself, Richard 'Dicky' McIntosh and David McNeill. Paul Thicke propped up the bar all night and made a record number of visits to the gents. But the centre of attention was undoubtedly Angela Davidson. Angela of course achieved legendary status both at Kingmoor and Trinity. She turned up with her teenage daughter in tow. It is impossible not to be aware of Angela's reputation for being a bad girl. Tales of her misdemeanours (starting a fire in the girl's toilets at Trinity amongst others) and her Diana Dors-lookalike mother have been doing the rounds for years and continued on the night. Suffice to say she was the first on to the dancefloor and sometimes the only one left on it. The disco called time at 2am and we filtered away into the night, back to our sometimes mundane and everyday lives. Hopefully a few more will turn up for the 25th anniversary get-together. Those that didn't make it certainly missed a great night out. Many thanks to Jackie Aldersey, Paul Tyson, Michaela Bell and all the others who helped organise it.

Alastair 'Ally' Woodcock

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Here's a picture that appeared in the Cumberland News in September 2000, showing a reunion of the class of 1980, or at least a bit of it. You'll notice that it features one Eric Haugh - veteran of the Cumbrian Run, former head of middle school and known to his fellow teachers as "Hairy Cuff" (Allegedly). I e-mailed the CN for permission to use this pic, but they didn't reply so I can only assume they don't mind me using it.

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By the way, if you want to promote or organise your own reunion through the XPN, feel free to do so. I'll gladly put your details on the site