Old Lidunians

Sad to have to report the passing of former English teacher at KES, Mr Steve Plowes. Steve passed away on 13th February and his funeral will be held at Lytham Crematorium on 1st March at 2 p.m. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.

The next Old Lidunians Dinner will be held on 16th March 2018 at Fylde Rugby Club - please click fpr more details. 

"What a great day!" was the general feedback from the 16 Old Lidunian golfers who played in the annual Penry Trophy yesterday at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club. Under blue skies and light winds, the players took to the course in the 80th Anniversary game - for 80 years former pupils have battled for the same trophy and on the same golf course, which is a record we should be proud of.

Lancastrians overcame the recent resurgence of St Johns to be crowned the House Champions, and the fun prizes were picked up by Paul Beverley (Longest Drive on the 18th) and Jon Flitcroft (Nearest the Pin at the 9th).

In the main competitions, Jon Flitcroft retained the Handley Cup after a score of 31pts following his win last year. Paul Breedon was Runner Up for the umpteenth time for the Penry Trophy, which was won by Chris Hibbert with a great score of 35pts (photo of Chris with the Trophy under a portrait of Seve that hangs in the clubhouse).

Thanks to everyone for taking part, and we look forward to seeing you all next year to do battle again.

The gallery at Booths in Lytham played host to an exhibition from the school archives and attracted a huge range of visitors from KES, QMS and Arnold in the first joint exhibition. Where possible we captured photos and stories from our guests, all of which are public on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/OldLids. Please do take the time to review. 

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The Pavilion: A couple of years ago the new incoming headmaster wrote a blog about an idea to develop the sports pavilion into a coffee house and facility for the wider school community. His original article from 2 years ago is still online: http://aksheadmastersblog.co.uk/?s=i+have+a+dream

The school has reported today that they have received external funding to cover all the necessary renovations. Building work is taking place this term and the plan is to have the new pavilion ready for the summer.

The Pavilion is designed to be open to all parents, both junior and senior, who may find it a welcoming place to sit or meet at the start and end of the school day, as well as to use during sporting fixtures throughout the week and Saturdays. At certain times it will also be accessible to our senior students.

Sunday 18th September 2016 saw the 80th hosting of the Penry Trophy at Royal Lytham St Annes Golf Club. Many thanks to the club for their hospitality on the day and continuing to support this unique event. The course was in fantastic condition and with perfect playing conditions overhead, all was set for a great day.

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The field was smaller than usual this year, but this did not affect the overall scoring. The front 9 saw a group of 4 players establishing some daylight on the others, all trying to track down the leader at the half, Dan Hargreaves, with a fantastic 23pts. Dan’s front nine was Faldo-esque with 8 pars and just 1 bogey, for a front nine of 36 shots. He was the man to be hunted down.

Last year’s winner, Jim Leach rallied on the back nine with 18pts, but the charge came too late for Jim. Alistair Marquis-Carr remained steady throughout the round, but a disappointing finish saw his chances slip away. That left the competition down to 2 players, Dan, and Paul Breedon. Paul’s back nine of 18pts saw him take a chunk out of Dan’s lead, but once again, Mr Breedon was the “oh so nearly man”, coming out in Runners Up spot.

Congratulations to Dan Hargreaves on his 36pts, and winner of the Penry Trophy. The Handley Cup, for players with a handicap of less than 12, was won by Jon Flitcroft.

The ladies competition for the Porter Trophy was won on a back nine card play-off by Linda Leach with 30pts. The nearest the pin, at the 9th hole, was won by Sean Kember, and the longest drive was won by Brenda Cunningham.

A note of thanks to Alan Roe, Chris Hornby, Richard Hankinson and Alistair Marquis-Carr for making their especially long journeys to be with us. I believe Alistair pipped that competition this year with his round trip from Inverness.

Wishing you all the best for the rest of this year, and look forward to doing it all again next September.

Cheers,

Paul

AKS will open it's doors to the public this weekend in the first of its Heritage Days. Current and former pupils will lead tours of the school whilst explaining the history and sharing personal stories of their time at the school. If you would like to be involved please don't hesitate to contact Paul Crouch (Paul.Crouch@arnoldkeqms.com) who would be delighted to have your support.

The exhibition about the school and QMS was held in the Lytham Heritage centre throughout late March and early April, and attracted hundreds of visitors from all over the country. Former pupils and teachers of both schools enjoyed the exhibits that had been brought out from the school archives - whilst it has been said before, a great thank you is owed to those who put their time into the exhibition. It was a great success all round. Many thanks to the Lytham Soroptomists for their donation that allowed the event to take place. Photos and feedback about the event can be found at https://www.facebook.com/OldLids/

The first reunion dinner for many years is being held at Fylde Rugby Club on Friday 4th December. It's a chance to catch up and meet old friends over a beer and a meal. Details can be found on the FaceBook page,

Dear Alumni,

A unique and exciting exhibition on the histories of King Edward VII and Queen Mary Schools will be taking place next year at Lytham Heritage Centre from Tuesday 8th March until Sunday 3rd April.  We are honoured to be invited by Lytham Heritage Group to stage this exhibition focussing on the Lytham schools, and our team of archive volunteers are now working hard to produce fascinating displays relating to all aspects of school life with much of the material being on public view for the first time.

We hope that many alumni will try to visit the exhibition and that some will try to plan their reunions around these dates.  The centre will be open each day from 10 am – 4 pm except Mondays, but will open on the Easter Bank Holidays.

If you, or other former pupils or teachers you may know, would be interested in volunteering as a steward, assisting visitors with their queries and minding the artefacts, please get in touch with us.  Equally, the archive team would welcome the donation or loan of any items which could form part of the exhibition, eg named photographs esp those relating to specific school activities, items of uniform, old trophies, badges, commemorative items including Coronation mugs or prayer books, drama programmes, exercise books, text books, school reports etc.

A small panel relating to romance between KES and QMS pupils is under way, and if any of you have ‘inter-married’ and would like to share your story, the team would be happy to hear from you!

We will keep you updated and hope that in the meantime you will spread the word and get in touch with us at if you would like to help in any way.

Kind Regards

Joe Matthews

Alumni Secretary

joe.matthews@arnoldkeqms.com

The extremely talented musicians at the school will be hosting their Autumn concert on 8th October. For information on how to purchase tickets, please take a look here on the school website: http://www.arnoldkeqms.com/NEWS/Creative-Arts/autumn-concert

A lovely day at St Annes Old Links faced the players as they teed off in this annual event.Teams of former pupils from independent schools across Lancahsire took on the beautifully prepared course, and some faired better than others........All in all a great day was had and we were able to put forward 2 teams, which is always positive when the event is in your home tome. Congratulations to the Old Arnoldians who wont the event - the full team results can be viewed onlne at: http://bit.ly/LOBAGSTeams and the summary results at http://bit.ly/LOBAGSInd

The old pavilion that overlooks the 1st XV rugby and 1st XI cricket pitches has come into a state of disrepair over the years. The new headmaster is looking for ideas on what could be done with the building and ways to fund it. If you've got any ideas on how this iconic little building could be re-used or developed, please do share your ideas with the school.

Our condolences are sent out to the family of David Webb who died after a short illness. A private family funeral will be held today followed by a celebration of his life at the Clifton Arms at 2pm. A short article appeared in the Lytham St Annes Express.

Sad to read of the death of Mr Bill Lewthwaite who died aged 90 on 23rd January 2015. Mr Lewthwaite joined King Edward VII school in 1959, and worked at the school for 30 years as a teacher of physical education and maths. Bill kept his association with the school after retiring and former members of the King Edward's staff recently made a special presentation of an engraved salver to mark is 55 year association with the school. His funeral will be held at Lytham Crematorium on 9th February at 1:30pm.

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Mr Roy Price on the 8th January 2015, aged 89. Mr Price was Head of English at KES for many years (1957-1988) and also a Sixth Form Master for much of that time. His funeral is at 3 pm at Lytham Park Cemetery & Crematorium on Tuesday 20th January. The school flag will fly at a half mast on Tuesday as a mark of respect in memory of Roy.

In December, the school produced its first formal newsletter for circulation to parents. We thought you might like to see a copy to give you a flavour of the sorts of things going on around the current school.

Paul Crouch, AKS, Director of Marketing

An open invitation has been made by AKS to come and have a tour of the school, and meet with the headmaster, staff and pupils alike. The date has been set as Friday 23rd January 2015 - if you are wishing to attend, please can you email Paul Crouch on paul.crouch@arnoldkeqms.com

The full agenda for the morning is in the attached document.

Mike Boddy

The newly re-formed Old Lidunians' Association had a goodly representation at the school's annual Senior Remembrance Day service on November 11th, led by our President, Paul Beverley.He was supported by four past presidents of the Old Lidunians' Association, in the shape of David Coupe, Stan Kitt, Peter Biddolph and Michael Boddy.
 
Another member, John Lilley, a former head boy of King Edward's, was also present, having come over from his home in Cheshire. The service was held in Big School, or as it is now called, the senior hall. During his address, the Headmaster, Mr Michael Walton, referred to some of the young men, old boys of our school, who had perished in the 1914-18 war, some as young as 18.The names of those who died were read out during the laying of the wreaths, one of which was by Paul.

Our acting President Paul Beverley was invited to Fylde Rugby Club for the opening game of the season at Fylde Rugby Club to receive a cheque for £636.This is a donation from the rugby club, based on the gate receipts for the annual Old Lidunians v Old Arnoldians Boxing Day match hosted at the club. The donation will be ring fenced whilst we decide how / where this could be put to best use. Our thanks go out to those involved in pulling together an Old Lidunians side and making this fixture the great success that it is.

Mike Boddy,

Believed to be the oldest living member of the Old Lidunians' Association, Stanley Brown celebrated his 100th birthday on August 16th. Stanley was at KES in the 1920s, when the headmaster was the legendary James Rowland Llewellyn Penry, who became the school's longest-serving Principal.

After leaving school, Stanley joined the Old Lidunians' Association, in which for many years he ...played a full and enthusiastic part, until recently. He was proud of the fact that his connection with the school spanned more than 75 years. As his century approached, he moved out of his house in Lytham, to become a permanent resident of the nearby Spindrift Care Home, Cleveland Road. The Old Lidunians' Association joined with the 30 members of Stanley's family who wished him a happy birthday.

Old Lidunians Golf

On a fantastic day for golf, 27 former pupils of KEQMS took on the annual challenge to compete for the Penry Trophy. This year’s field included 4 people who had never played in this fixture, which promises hope for continuing to see this competition grow. Thanks to all of those who travelled from afar to play – we had players from as far north as Aberdeen and from as far south as Cornwall.