RAMBLING REPOST: WHERE WERE YOU IN SEPTEMBER 1967?

"Looking back to those days of old ere the gate shut to behind me..."

 From 'The Golden Age' by Kenneth Grahame.

******

The above photo was taken in September 1967 by departing teacher

Mrs. TIGHE (not sure about the spelling, to be honest), in front of the

annexed huts in the grounds of my primary school.  I can actually recall

the photo being taken, and can only assume that Mrs. Tighe wanted a

memento of her 'angelic' pupils to look back on in later years.  Maybe

she was just trying out for a career as a photographer 'though, as she

made copies available (at a price) to those of us who wanted one.

The photo is off-centre, as you can see, but I decided to leave it un-

cropped in order to make an ego-feeding speculation.  The exact middle

of the picture lies between myself (I'm wearing my blue jumper, but that

wasn't the day I was at the zoo with DOUGAL and FATHER TED) and

DAVID DRUMMOND (on my left), and I can't help but think that Mrs.

Tighe naturally gravitated towards me as the most obvious centre of

attention.  (I know what you're thinking, but I prefer my version.)

The boy on crutches further along in the same row is GAVIN REID,

alas now sadly deceased.  He had his right leg strapped up behind him

all through primary school (due to some medical condition), and it came

as a surprise when I later saw him in secondary school walking normally

without the crutches.  He started secondary the year after me, so he may

have discarded the crutches in his last year at primary, or in the school

holidays between changing schools.  He was killed in a motorbike

accident, aged only about 18 or 19, I think, in the late '70s.

Not long before he died, my parents told me that someone had asked

them if they were "Gordon Robson's mum and dad" as they waited at a

bus stop, and when they confirmed that they were, asked them to pass on

his regards.  "Gavin Reid was his name" they said, recounting the incident

to me when they got home that night.  Poor Gavin.  To endure a childhood

infirmity for so long, and then be cut short in his prime.  He used to play

football in the playground, using his crutches for support as he kicked the

ball around, or sometimes using one of them to blooter the ball between

the 'goalpost jumpers'.  I can still see him in my mind's eye to this

day, hopping around as fast as any jackrabbit ever could.

Returning to David Drummond, he used to trot along to my house on

November 5th for two (maybe three) years in a row, in order to partake

in our 'Bonfire Night' celebrations.  Lest you think we indulged on a grand

scale, let me disabuse you of any such notion by revealing that it consisted

mainly of waving sparklers around and setting off a couple or so bangers,

with a handful of rockets from the smallest box of fireworks available.

Nothing grand by any means, but David's parents didn't observe the

'Fawkes festivities', so he shared in our meagre show held within

the perimeters of our back garden.

Three along from me on my right is RAYMOND BENNY (or Bennie,

not quite sure), who emigrated to Australia around '68 or '69.  I haven't

seen him since and sometimes wonder what happened to him and whether

he's ever been back to visit.  On the only occasion I was ever in his house,

he gave me a stuffed Santa (which may have been a cat's toy) and I have

fond memories of me and my brother playing 'dodge it' as we tried to

 hit each other with poor ol' Mr. Claus from opposite sides of our

bedroom on Saturday or Sunday mornings. 

 At least two other people in the photo (LOUISE HAMILTON and

GORDON FAIRBAIRN) also emigrated Down Under in later years,

Louise around 1983, and Gordon in '88 or '89.  I know Australia's a big

place, but I'd like to think that they run into each other on occasion and

reminisce about happy days gone by.  Just imagine that, in the fullness

of time, everyone in the photo (apart from myself) were to emigrate

over there - I wonder if they'd even remember me?

Ah, so many familiar faces, so many meandering memories.  Funny

how events from nearly 50 years ago can sometimes seem as fresh

and as close as what happened only yesterday.

******

30 years ago, I returned to the playgroumd with a framed copy of

the class photo from 19 years before, and snapped myself beside it on

the same spot.  The annexed huts had been gone for some years by then.

The school will follow them into oblivion in a few months from now.

(Update:  The building was demolished nearly three years ago.)

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