MOSA nEwSlEttEr

Spring/SUMMEr 2017 Issue 1

new Alumnae OfficerWe are pleased to inform you that MOsA has a new Alumnae Officer, Hannah Roberton.

Hannah joined us in september to support the work of MOsA. Her main purpose is to take over the administrative tasks of the Association, thus replacing the work of the current secretary, Communications Officer and Reunion secretary. Her initial areas of focus include expanding the Old scholar database, organising reunion events, communicating with Old scholars and further developing links between Old scholars and The Mount school. she is very much looking forward to meeting lots of Old scholars over the coming months.

Hannah brings over 15 years’ experience to the role, managing and developing programmes in the education, charitable and sporting sectors. she works part time, is based at The Mount school, and has two young children.

Hannah is in the office on a Monday and Wednesday during term time and her contact details are:

email [email protected] Tel 01904 232330

It is with great pleasure I write to MOsA members. since taking up post as Principal 18 months ago, I have been actively involved with MOsA and have attended all the Committee Meetings and the two AGMs. The recent Reunion Weekend was a fantastic event and it was an honour to meet so many Old scholars. I have been bowled over by the support Old scholars have shown for the school and in-particular the two fundraising projects we have prioritised over the last year, the felling of the poplar trees and the refurbishment of the library window. Your combined donations have raised just under £12,000 and MOsA has agreed to meet any shortfall in the costs of the projects for which I am very grateful.

The opening of the new Life sciences Room in the Junior school took place in March with Old scholars in attendance. This exciting project has been kindly funded by MOsA and we would like to express our thanks to you all.

At the last AGM, I talked about the future of The Mount and in particular my desire to build a Performing Arts hub at the heart of the school. At the recent Reunion Weekend, we launched our new appeal to Old scholars, to build a specialist dance and drama studio, adjoining the current hall. If you have not already, you will shortly be receiving information on the appeal. Performing Arts at The Mount has a rich history with many alumnae having gone on to achieve great things in drama, dance and music so I do hope that you will support me in any way you can to help me realise my vision for the development of the Performing Arts Hub.

Please do get in touch if you are interested in finding out more about this exciting project. We will be launching the appeal to the rest of The Mount school community on 29th June, at our Performing Arts showcase event, to which you are warmly invited.

Update from the Principal

MOSAnEwSlEttEr

Dear MOSA Friends

Adrienne Richmond pictured with Christine Johnson from the MOsA Committee

We have been delighted by the number of updates, news, memories, and photographs sent by Old scholars and, so as not to overwhelm you with a huge first newsletter, have decided to share over several editions. We would welcome any comments you wish to make about the content and, of course, any contributions. Please email [email protected].

Our other main communications effort concerns social media. The Mount Old scholars’ social Forum is now the official Facebook group so please do join if you are not already a member.

Finally, we would like to thank all Old scholars who came to the 2017 Reunion Weekend and who helped make the event a big success. It was fantastic seeing you all and hope you enjoyed the weekend. A full report can be found on page 8.

Yours in friendshipThe MOSA Executive Committee

welcome from Your MOSA Committeewelcome to our new-look newsletter which we hope proves to be an interesting and informative way of keeping in touch with the whole of the Old Scholar community.

Updated Contact Details We are in the process of updating our database. Please ensure we have the right contact details (address, email and birthday) for you by emailing [email protected]. If you know of any other Mount Old scholars who would like to be on our mailing list that aren’t already, please ask them to get in touch.

Old Scholar News

MOSA nEwSlEttEr spring/summer 2017

Shelley (Bish) ShakespeareClASS OF 1992I am married with 4 children. I lived and worked in recruitment in London for years before moving out to Berkshire to raise our family. I still work; now locally and have moved into estate Agency. I did a lot of travelling after university (Nottingham Trent - european Business and French) and still use languages (which was my ‘thing’ at school) regularly. I bark on to my children about languages and mummy being Head Girl of Judy Dench’s old school-poor old them! They get completely fed up of listening to me! As a year group, we meet regularly both at home and abroad and many of us have

lucy turner ClASS OF 1997

rebecca Biggins phD ClASS OF 2007Rebecca came to The Mount aged 12. The school helped, encouraged and inspired Rebecca to have confidence in what she could achieve and taught her that through hard work most things could be achieved. Rebecca went on to achieve a first-class honours degree from York st John university and subsequently completed a PhD with the university of Leeds entitled “Marketing heritage tourism destinations: community and commercial representations of the past”. While studying for her PhD Rebecca became a lecturer in the Business school at York st John university. Now at the age of 27, and after six years of hard work, she has passed her PhD.

Rebecca’s mother Lynne said of her time at The Mount: “I have no doubt in my mind that without The Mount Rebecca would not be where she is today. sometimes it is the tortoise

poppy rodriguez ClASS OF 2015Leaving school, I was uncertain about what to do, so I chose to take a gap year. After nine months working as a waitress, I spent the most memorable two months volunteering in Nepal with Raleigh International. I also travelled in south America, Australia, and Canada.

Whilst volunteering in Nepal, I was fully immersed in the Nepalese culture. For the first three weeks, we embarked on a trek through the foothills of the Himalayas carrying our tents and belongings on our backs. I was pushed to my physical and mental limits but learnt about the importance of tenacity, perseverance, and leadership. We then moved onto the project phase; the aim of our project was to start building three earthquake-proof houses in rural villages, close to the epicentre of the 2015 earthquake.

spending five weeks in a rural community, working and living with the villagers introduced me to a completely different way of living. One of the biggest lessons I took away from Nepal was the importance of being able to be happy with little material wealth; people who had had everything taken from them but were still so willing to welcome us with laughter and jokes. I also learnt to wield a pickaxe, make cement, and remove leeches. (A skill which I would have been perfectly happy to never need to learn!)

This autumn I started at the university of Birmingham reading History and Political science. Having experienced so many different cultures and countries on my gap year brought a new perspective and focus to my studies, and the confidence I gained from working and travelling made the transition into university life very easy.

that wins in the end.” Rebecca’s favourite memories of her time at The Mount include the school House Christmas Carol Night and talent show, having the year 11 horseboxes (I hope these still exist) and the school history trip to Ireland with the fabulous Miss. Hebron who was an absolutely inspirational teacher and who still inspires her today with the memories of history lessons. Also, Rebecca still talks about how much she loved Games in the Dark on the eve of bonfire night.

I have worked in the NHs since leaving Bristol university in 2001, following my Bsc and Msc in Politics. I initially worked in London NHs Trusts as a project manager, then moved back to York and worked at the hospital in York for 13 years in a variety of roles including Directorate Manager for Medicine and Head of Operational Performance. I still live in York but am now working for Leeds Teaching Hospitals as General Manager for Oncology. I have recently completed a second Msc in NHs Leadership with the university of Birmingham - studying definitely gets harder as you get older!

These ladies are still my best friends and I feel privileged that I have been able to share all the happy and ‘difficult’ times in my life with them.

20 YEArS On

10 YEArS On

25 YEArS On

2 YEArS On

Front row left to right: emma (Wykes) Ward, Rebecca Noble, Lindsay (Kirkley) Murray, sophie (Robinson) scott, Kate (Bayes) Le Mesurier. Back row left to right: shelley (Bish) shakespeare, Beth Woodford, Lucy (Walker) MacKay, Alex (Meikle) Durie

Left to right: Alkelda (Bradley) Kelman, Mary (Ashby) Haigh, Lucy Turner, Mhairi (Baxter) Bennett, Nell Gair, Chris Turner (Bursary at The school until 1999), Ruth (Burnett) Muir and Lee (Robinson) Lyons.

been each other’s bridesmaids and children’s Godparents. A group of us celebrated our 40th birthdays together as girls in Majorca and we are also in touch with a number of boys and girls from Bootham in our year.

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Anna (Quilley) ScantleburyClASS OF 1986some of our class of 1986 met up at Old scholars Weekend in May 2016. It was 30 years since leaving, and we spent a happy weekend reminiscing and visiting old haunts. We think there were over 20 girls from our year from all corners of the uK and abroad, and quite a few from Bootham too; we enjoyed the meal and entertainment at the De Grey Rooms, as well as looking round The Mount and meeting current pupils and staff. About a dozen of us have met regularly over the years to go camping or rent a hostel with our families, the children now know each other well, and all agree the “Mounty” weekends are our best holidays!

Frances (Macgill) DupuyClASS OF 1975

I came from a very rural farming area in sW scotland; there were 25 in my village Primary school. 3 of us started in Primary 1 but after 3 years the other 2 went off to prep schools so I was the only one in my class. It didn’t matter, we had great teachers and all muddled through but I was a bit lonely at home

and The Mount provided me with around 30 friends from Day 1 so when I got there I literally thought I’d landed in Heaven. All those wonderful facilities, a beautiful city on our doorstep and so much fun and laughter. We had our 40-year reunion in 2015 at the MOsA Reunion Weekend. It was the first time I’d seen anyone since I left apart from my closest friend there - it was a fantastic weekend and many of us have kept in touch since then, through Facebook mainly.

I spent the year after school travelling and working in London followed by a year at the Froebel Institute in Roehampton. I left there

42 YEArS On

31 YEArS On

Left to right: Anna (Quilley) scantlebury, Peggy (Ashton) Giffin, Belinda Asquith, Geraldine (shaw) scott, sally Ann Norman, Natascha (Wilson) Rock, Kate (Green) Walker and Lucy (Hardie) Broadbent

Frances Dupuy during her time at The Mount in approximately 1970.

Frances Dupuy catching up with old school friends at the 2015 MOsA Reunion Weekend

disenchanted with the course and completed a secretarial course which led to my first job working for the Art Director of Fontana Paperbacks as Office Manager. Four years later I was offered a place on a graduate trainee scheme at a large advertising agency in the City (despite not being a graduate!) It was a great experience but I got itchy feet and left London 3 years later to spend some time abroad. After 8 years and many adventures in Greece, Italy and Austria I returned to scotland and married Geoff in 1992. We spent our Honeymoon on Paxos in the Greek Islands and made friends with the couple next door to us - she, it turned out, was an ex Mountie! Our son, Patrick, was born in 1994 and daughter, Zoe, 2 years later. Patrick graduated from Aberdeen uni with a Music degree in June this year and is hoping to work as a composer/sound designer for film/TV, Zoe is in her 3rd year studying Geology, also in Aberdeen.

We live now where I was born, in rural sW scotland, next door to my sister, Pat (Class of 1971) and an hour from Jane (Class of 1967) both of whom I see regularly. For the last 12 years I have been working for a small Whisky company and was delighted to be made a Director in 2010. We buy and sell single malts, mostly to export markets around the world. I have been very lucky.

The original Mount photo shows sally 7th in from the right on the back row.

From left: susan Croft, Katie (Challis) Blake with Grace, Joanne Barker, Christia ne eaves, Charis (Campbell) Bass with Lilla, sally Hebron, Judith (Wragge) Campbell

Sally JohnstonClASS OF 1976I have been a GP in Lymington for 28 years and lately am enjoying developing a career in medical politics. I am the Chair for Hants IOW LMC and Clinical Lead for the locality Vanguard. My daughter and middle son are both doctors and both married. My youngest son is an accountant. I have one baby grandchild and am happily married to an

Charis (Campbell) Bass ClASS OF 2001Charis’ first daughter Lilla celebrated her 1st Birthday with two generations of MOsA present.

41 YEArS On 16 YEArS On

sally is 2nd in from the right with a cream top in the reunion photo.

electronic engineer. I went to my first reunion last year which to celebrate 40 years since leaving The Mount and really enjoyed it.

request for Informationisle of wight Old ScholarsKate (Pafford) Ford (Class of 1964) writes “We are moving to the Isle of Wight next year and I would be very interested to know if there are any Mount Old scholars living on the Island. My e-mail is [email protected]”

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patricia (Barker) Moore 1931-2015Patricia Barker was born in January 1931, the younger daughter of John and Isa Barker. Her father was a Bootham Old scholar, and was a solicitor and Clerk of the Peace for Grimsby. There were three formative influences in her life. First, she was very close to her father, to whom she was perhaps the son he never had, for he taught her all sorts of practical skills from mending fuses to sorting out problems with car engines. secondly her aunt Margaret Wintringham, who had been the first British-born member of Parliament, instilled into her what were then modern ideas as to the role of women in society. And thirdly the onset of the war meant that she left home as an evacuee at the age of eight and had to learn the hard way how to look after herself.

she went to The Mount in 1944, and had the happiest memories of her schooldays there. she absorbed the standards of work and service by which she came to live her life. she went up to university college, London, in 1949 to read law. It was a sign of the times that in her year she was one of only five women LL.B graduates, whereas there were 120 men. she went on to read for the Bar, and was called in 1953. Life for a woman barrister was not easy. she could practise in the courts, but was excluded from the men-only social life, which was an important part of a young barrister’s training. Worse, women were frowned on in the courts. Her first case, at Bedford assizes, was before a judge who at first refused to recognise that a woman could defend a prisoner, and she had to argue forcibly to be heard. she subsequently joined the Legal Civil service, and prosecuted fraud cases in magistrates’ courts throughout the country, although she had to retire when she wanted to marry, because the Legal Civil service would not then employ married women.

In 1956 she married a fellow barrister, Peter Moore, who was an Ackworth Old scholar. They had got to know each other well when living at the Penn Club, which in those days had among its residents a large number of young professionals, many of whom had been at Quaker schools. After they were married they moved to the London suburbs, where Patricia quickly founded a local Women’s Institute. Their three daughters were born there, and, soon finding herself at a loose end, she began a 23-year spell of teaching in primary schools, as well as taking a part-time Diploma of Higher education at Middlesex Polytechnic. she was appointed as a justice of the peace, and sat regularly in Barnet Magistrates’ Court.

On Peter’s retirement in 1992 they moved to Odiham in Hampshire, where both became happily active in the Parish church, occupying

a variety of posts, as well as taking part in many village activities and Patricia continued her magistrates’ duties until she had to retire. Her ten grandchildren were an enormous joy to her, and she watched most of them through university. For many years holidays were largely spent walking and flower hunting in the swiss Alps. she was last in the mountains only three months before her final illness. she died peacefully with her immediate family beside her, leaving a note saying “I have had a very happy life…’. Don’t grieve for me – rejoice with me”.

Faith Alison (guy) wright 1943-2016

Ali Guy was born in edinburgh on 29 November 1943, the third and youngest child of doctor parents. After her father became Medical Officer for Westmorland she was

brought up in the Lake District, and arrived at the Mount in 1958 at the age of fourteen, one of only two girls to join that year in the Fourth Form. With her tall, imposing figure, hearty laugh, trenchant remarks and strong opinions, she made an immediate impact. Her friends remember with affection her enthusiasm for high culture, bemusing to the more sheltered among us (Rudolf Nureyev springs to mind), her energy on the hockey field and on school skiing trips, and her exuberant company on ‘wet walks’.

In spite of the pessimistic advice of Mount staff her formidable Welsh mother ensured that Alison did go on to take A-levels and left the Mount in 1962. she then graduated in Modern Languages from Trinity College, Dublin and spent many years teaching spanish and French at schools in st Andrews and edinburgh. In 1973 she met and married John Wright, and later had two sons, Thomas and Richard. she loved cooking and gardening, appreciated antique furniture and old china, and delighted in opera and stylish clothes.

Alison’s passion for history since childhood coupled with her indefatigable talent for research eventually culminated in a PhD from st Andrews in 2002 entitled, ‘The Layburnes and their world, circa 1620-1720: the english Catholic community and the House of stuart’, her interest in the subject having been kindled by a family armorial in Kendal parish church. In addition, she wrote at least two novels based on some of her colourful experiences. How she wished she could have confronted her old Mount teachers with her achievements! But those long-ago years at school turned out to be worth it after all, she said. Fragments of texts learned at the Mount came in very

useful at moments of stress, and like most of us she had many of them.

Alison died in an edinburgh hospice on 9 February 2016, witty and surprising to the end.

Obituary written by Karin (Hamilton) Blaikie and Marina (Riley) Branscombe.

June Brady Hyde MD1929-2017 Merril sylvester sent MOsA the obituary for her sister June who attended The Mount sixth Form from 1945 – 1947 as a Rowntree scholar. Her remarkable career was recorded in the san Francisco Chronicle:

Passed away at home with her family by her side at the age of 87. she was born in Birmingham to Margaret Atkinson Brady and edward Richards Brady. June loved life and lived it to the fullest across five continents; her deepest concerns were for the poor, the disenfranchised and suffering children everywhere. she graduated from Girton College at Cambridge university where she studied medicine. June was a House Officer in Pediatrics at st. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London.

June met her husband Dr. George A. Hyde, Jr. while skiing in Austria and then followed him to New York City where she completed residencies in Pediatrics at Bellevue, Bronx Municipal, and st. Luke’s Hospitals. They married in 1958 celebrating 52 years of marriage until his passing in 2011. In 1960 they moved to san Francisco where they raised three daughters, sandra, Karen and Wendy. June set up the first neonatal intensive care unit (NICu) at san Francisco General Hospital (sFGH) and then was the Director of Nurseries at Children’s Hospital in san Francisco for 24 years. As a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at uCsF, she was one of the first neonatologists to study sudden Infant Death syndrome (sIDs) and a lifelong ardent advocate of breastfeeding.

In her desire to embrace global health, in 1986 she completed a Master’s in Public Health at uC Berkeley and a diploma in Tropical Medicine in Liverpool. June and George were invited to teach at the medical school at the university of Nairobi, Kenya in 1987, and in 1990 they joined the medical faculty at the university of Zimbabwe, where she worked in Pediatrics and HIV/AIDs. she and George returned to the Bay Area in 1999, where they spent their time traveling, skiing and camping with their daughters and grandchildren. During their retirement, she and her husband worked as medical humanitarians and consultants in equatorial Guinea. June continued working as a volunteer at sFGH teaching hundreds of medical students how to examine well babies. In 2014 June received the Hillman Award for Lifetime service and Lasting

Births, Deaths & MarriagesAnnouncements with obituaries


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Contributions to Global Child Health from the International Child Health section of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

June is survived by her daughters, four grandchildren, her oldest sibling and members of her large extended family.

Annie Hodgson Died in 2016

Old scholar Gillian Cartwright (Barraclough) wrote to MOsA to inform us of the death of Miss Annie Hodgson who taught Geography at The Mount in the 1950’s.

An obituary to Annie was published in her local paper and has been included below:

Teacher and sportswoman Annie Hodgson, of Castletown, Penrith, has died at the age of 92.

The daughter of Thomas and evelyn Hodgson, who farmed at Kitchen Hill, Penrith, she was the eldest of four children, followed by May, John and Jean.

Annie attended Brunswick Road school and then Penrith Grammar school, where she was captain of the tennis and hockey teams and eventually became head girl. After leaving to attend university in Leeds, she became an active member of the Old scholars network of the grammar school and remained so throughout her life. During her time at university she continued to play hockey and was twice selected for the england team during her student years.

After graduating with a degree in geography, Annie took up teaching and after a spell in sunderland, ended up at the prestigious Quaker Mount school, York, an independent day and boarding school for girls, where she taught the likes of Dame Judi Dench. she was extremely proud to be a teacher, however, following the early and untimely death of her mother in 1956, Annie gave up her teaching career to return to the family farm, where she took over the care of her eight-year-old sister and looked after her father and all the farm workers.

upon her return to Cumbria, she became an active member of the Red Cross and began playing tennis again. she also ran the Old elizabethans badminton club; of which she was captain. When her father died in 1972, the family gave up the farm and Annie bought her home at Mill Terrace, where she spent the rest of her days. she also returned to work, this time as a domestic bursar, first at Kirkley Hall College and then south shields Marine and Technical College, where she remained until her retirement, when she returned to live in Penrith full-time.

she and her sister, May, took an allotment and grew a huge variety of crops. she also helped to run the evergreen Old Time and Modern sequence dancing club and helped to fund-raise for Castletown Community Centre. she was also active within the church and the Red Cross at this time.

she kept in close contact with old school friends throughout her life and at the age of 80, flew to Canada to visit one. However, she suffered a stroke 10 years ago which permanently affected her health. she also suffered increasing poor health towards the end of her life, when staff at Gardens care agency, Birkbeck district nurses and Hospice at Home did a sterling job of looking after her.

Yvonne Hotham (Cadbury) Fox1921-2016

Yvonne is a past MOsA President who attended The Mount from 1913-1918 and became Head Girl. Yvonne died peacefully on Wednesday 21st

september 2016 aged 95 years.Yvonne Fox had a remarkable positive

energy and spent her life joyfully serving others. she will be greatly missed by her friends and family who were touched and inspired by her optimistic spirit, selflessness and ability to find good in all.

she had a wonderful zest for life that she shared with others through her work as a physiotherapist and through her dedication to many community causes. Having trained and worked as a physiotherapist she went on to volunteer with st John Ambulance, Meals on Wheels, and Inner Wheel Club (part of Rotary International). she also served on the management committee at Tone Vale Psychiatric Hospital at Cotford st Luke, and she was a Governor at both sidcot school and Wellington school.

Yvonne was an early advocate of the natural childbirth movement, which went against the norm of the time. Instead of being made to lie flat on their backs with their feet in stirrups, as was the standard practice of the time, she believed that women deserved to have a more active role in giving birth to their children. she was able to combine her healthcare training with her ability to build confidence in others to empower more women to do this. she was greatly valued for her work with the Natural Childbirth Trust.

As an enthusiastic member of st John Ambulance Brigade Yvonne regularly ran first aid courses, helped with home nursing and did lots of fundraising. Her concern for others led her to setting up st John Car Outings, organising drivers to pick up lonely older people and take them to country houses for tea. Her open, welcoming nature put others at ease and made these outings fun. The generosity of local people in opening their homes was rewarded by the heartfelt appreciation of people who were becoming side-lined by society.

Yvonne was a committed member of Wellington society of Friends (Quakers), playing an active role inspiring newer members. Her Christian faith was expressed

practically in her love and care, and in seeing the best in everyone.

It was not only what she did, it was how she did it that inspired those around her. everything she undertook from the biggest endeavour to the smallest chore was carried out with joy, fun and a profound sense of gratitude. she was a source of wisdom and eternal optimism for her many friends and family.

Yvonne was born in Northfield, Birmingham on 27th July 1921 to Margery and Joel Cadbury. Joel was related to the chocolate-making family but he was a Director of Green & Cadbury a button-making business in Birmingham. Together with her three elder brothers she was brought up in a Quaker family.

she attended the Friends schools at sidcot near Bristol and the Mount school, York. When the second world war broke out she was studying english at Leeds university, but her contribution to the war effort was to train as a Physiotherapist at the Queen elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham in order to be of practical assistance to those in need.

she was happily married to Michael Pease Fox, Chairman of Fox Brothers of Wellington, who she met through her school friend Angela Fox of Gerbestone Manor. Michael spent the war with the Friends Ambulance

In Memory In memory of Mount Old Scholars and Friends of the school who have recently passed away...

Mary Elizabeth (Duffy) Smith Mary attended The Mount from 1950-1956. Mary died on 31 August 2014

Katharine E rees Katherine died 29 February 2016

May Kathleen Mary Strang May attended The Mount from 1935-1938. May died 1 March 2016

Eleanor rookledge eleanor attended The Mount from 1936-1938 and died 26 september 2016 aged 96

Sarah (Crosfield) Archer sarah attended The Mount from 1958 to 1963. sarah died peacefully at Addenbrookes Hospital Cambridge on 4th November 2016, after many years bravely struggling with the effects of lupus.

Maisie (Collis) rutterDied 13th February 2017

Helen Jay (Starkey) wilson Helen attended The Mount in the late 1930’s. exact date of death unknown.

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News from The ArchivesIn september we were notified of the forthcoming sale of a photograph album that had belonged to Isabel Abraham, a scholar at The Mount from 1900-1904. It turned up at the York Antique Book Fair and the dealer had recognised that the initials M.s.Y. referred to the school. We had to bid £270 to purchase it but feel it was well worthwhile as it contains many lovely photographs where all the pupils are named. There are also some very atmospheric photos of scarborough and North Wales in the album. A little further research reveals that Isabel Abraham graduated with Honours in History from Liverpool university and taught at Rotherham

and later at Wellington in shropshire. In 1915 she married McGregor Ross. He became Director of Public Works in Kenya. They had two sons and travelled much in east and south Africa. Isabel was the founder of the east Africa Women’s League and a member of the education Committee for Kenya.

Many enquiries come in every year. One very interesting one came from Marelene and Geoff Rayner- Canham who were writing a book about girls’ education in Chemistry. I was able to furnish them with quite a lot of information from our

there have been some exciting additions to the Mount Archives this year and some fascinating publications resulting from research in our Archives deposited at the University of York.


The Mount school Archivist sarah sheils pictured with the latest addition to the Mount Archives

unit in China before studying engineering at Cambridge university, and then joining the family textile business. They married in 1948 and moved into Legglands on Wellington Hill, where they spent their whole married life together. They went on to have four children, seven grandchildren and ten great grandchildren to whom Yvonne was a source of love, inspiration and fun. Yvonne loved being outdoors, regularly ate her breakfast in the fresh air, and welcomed friends and family to share the fruit, veg and flowers from her garden. she and Michael enjoyed going on picnics, walks and mountaineering together until well into their 80s.

Yvonne had an amazing ability to make everyone feel welcome and special. she was always really pleased to see you and shared her time and energy generously. she will be remembered by her family as someone who was perennially optimistic and whose

presence could transform the most mundane occasion into something special.

Her family are grateful for the loving care she received these last few months as a resident of Popham Court and for the friends and family who brightened her days with chats, visits and outings.

Births, Deaths & Marriages (continued)

Yvonne in 1939, centre front, in the tennis team.

Archives, including some delightful cartoons and poems dating from the late nineteenth century. The book has now been published and The Mount features in it as an example of early girls’ scientific education. It was launched at the Royal society of Chemistry on 10th April 2017.

Other enquiries have come from research students around the world. A south African PhD student is researching the life of Nontendo Jabavu, the first African girl to attend The Mount. she came for two years in the 1930s; she was the grand-daughter of one of the founder members of the African National Congress and her father was Principal of the first university for black south African students. Nontendo went on to become an active campaigner for Civil Rights. We look forward to hearing more of her life when the thesis is published.

What these examples show is what an important role The Mount has played over more than two centuries in girls’ education. Although not a large school, it has always been very influential and its Old scholars have taken its ethos all over the world.

We continue to collect archival material; much comes to us from Old scholars or their families many years after they have left the school. Please keep sending us anything you think might be of interest; we love to hear from you.

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request for Information

Does anyone know what ‘the web’ was? A document held in school talks about the building of The Mount swimming pool and mentions a Web being removed during site clearance. Does anyone know what the Web was?! The building of the swimming pool and gym was funded by Old scholars who raised in excess of £27,000 for this building project. Please email [email protected]

Do you have an announcement? send in your story and help contribute to future issues [email protected]


Our Quaker footprint is deeply important to us as a community and one major part of our enrichment programme is ‘peaceJam’ which pupils from J3 to College ii engage in. A group of college girls from The Mount attended the PeaceJam Conference at the university of Brussels in september. The weekend provided the girls with the opportunity to listen to a talk from the inspirational Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Jody Williams who campaigned to ban land mines. Jody was not only inspirational but also funny, making her speech about difficult issues, both entertaining and hard-hitting. In the afternoon they took part in discussions around the different ways to tackle the 10 global calls to action of the biggest challenges to our world today, including global health and wellness, and human rights for all. The second day saw the girls take part in the ceremony of inspiration where they heard people talk about those that inspire them. The weekend concluded with the main event of the trip; a talk by the Dalai Lama. His Holiness talked about the responsibility that we as humans have for the world around us and to each other, and how we should be engaged and mindful in everything we do.

During the weekend, the girls met a contingent from Peacejam Greece, who spoke of their challenge to help lone child refugees in their first few days after arrival in europe, when they remain at high risk of child trafficking. This inspired the girls to help them through the Lifebags programme. since returning from Brussels the PeaceJam pupils have visited many local schools and community organisations to ask for donations of bags and items to send to Greece. To date the girls have received enough donations to fill nearly 400 bags. The bags have been shipped to Greece and distributed to five refugee youth shelters in Athens and Northern Greece.

nEwS in FOCUS: peaceJam and lifebags

T h E M O u n T S c h O O l N e w S

Events at the MountThe Mount school is always open for Old scholars to pop back and have a tour of the school. Please email [email protected] or if your visit is last minute please do pop in and we will always take time to show you round if at all possible. Additionally, there are a number of events to which Old scholars are more than welcome. Please see The Mount school website for our events calendar and email [email protected] if you would like to attend. events this summer term include:

E v E n T D A T E

Performing Arts hub Showcase Thursday 29 June at 6pm to 8pm

Foundation Meeting Friday 7 July at english Martyrs Church 10.30am to 12.30pm

The first pallet shipment of Lifebags being despatched

2016/17 SChOOLnEWS In BrIEF Summer 2016 The Mount school celebrated another

strong year for A Level results in 2016 with well over a third of pupils achieving two or more A*-A grades and 70% of all entries at grade B or above.

Over one third of pupils achieved eight or more A*-A grades in GCse results. Latin students scored 100% A*- A grades with Religious studies, French, Music and Art students scoring 100% A*-B grades.

September / October six Mount girls won prizes in the Ilkley

Literature Festival’s open competition for young writers and poets resulting in the comment, ‘What a talented school!’ from the compère.

Junior school gave their Harvest Festival concert and donated food items were given to a charity appeal by the local salvation Army.

november / December The Junior school raised a fantastic

£525 for BBC Children in Need Christmas performances took place

with The Junior school wowing their audience with a spectacular Nativity Play performance of The shiniest star.

The senior school displayed outstanding talent with flawless performances during the annual Christmas concert which can be seen on our YouTube Channel.

January / February The Mount school hosted the esTA event,

‘Creating Musicians, Not Just Players’, led by the distinguished composer, performer and teacher, Mary Cohen.

The Mount hosted another ‘Your Daughter’ evening. Packed with thought-provoking workshops to help parents navigate the tricky waters of guiding a young person to realising their best potential.

March / April Mount senior school pupils slept

outdoors to raise awareness for the plight of the homeless.

The Mount school took gold in the Intermediate division of the York Rotary Technology Tournament.

The York Literature Festival came to The Mount for the Desmond elliot Prize Authors’ Q&A.

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Visit www.mountschoolyork.co.uk for more news from The Mount

rEUniOn wEEKEnD 12-14 May 2017 at the Mount SchoolThe 2017 MOsA Reunion Weekend took place from 12 – 14 May, and was enjoyed by many Old scholars from the last 65 years. Mount Old scholars joined those from Bootham on the Friday, for an evening of light refreshments and entertainment, followed by a visit to the Ye Olde starre Inn on stonegate.

The 134th MOsA Annual General Meeting on saturday morning at The Mount was well attended. The Members were brought up to date on MOsA’s affairs with reports from the steering Committee, Honorary Interim Treasurer, Communications Officer and Branch Liaison Officer. The school Principal, Adrienne Richmond, and Head Girl, Nicole Dransfield, reported on the key moments and achievements this year at The Mount, and together with two other College girls, launched The Mount’s Performing Arts Appeal to build a new dance and drama studio. More information on this appeal will be sent directly to Old scholars whose names are held on the MOsA database.

Following a drinks reception and hearty lunch in the school Dining Hall, Old scholars enjoyed guided tours of the school led by College girls. Many of the Old scholars have not been back to The Mount in over 60 years, including ladies from the Class of ’57, who are still very much in contact with each other, and who enjoyed looking around and reminiscing about their wonderfully happy times at school. Old scholars were excited to explore old school haunts and see their former classrooms and boarding houses

where they had spent many days as students, alongside the many changes that are now a part of the current Mount girls’ lives. Interesting memories of times gone by were shared by all.

The weather was kind to us and Old scholars and their families enjoyed a variety of activities throughout the afternoon, including musical and sporting performances by current Mount students. sarah sheils, Mount school Archivist, created a fantastic display of performing arts material, from as early as 1914, including Rebecca of sunnybrook Farm, Pride and Prejudice, Trojan Women, Animal Farm, Nicholas Nickleby and Wizard of Oz. A second showcase of more recent performances was displayed in the english Department and included plays such as Kindertransport by Diane samuels, The Witches, The House of Bernarda Alba, Alice by Laura Wade, Return to the Forbidden Planet and smike. Old scholars very much enjoyed these displays, spotting themselves and their peers in different productions over the years.

The Reunion supper at the De Grey Rooms in York was enjoyed by Old scholars from both The Mount and Bootham. The Mount string Quartet played as guests arrived and Old scholars had the opportunity to chat to old friends from both The Mount and Bootham. A small group of Mount Old scholars then joined us on sunday for Morning Meeting and brunch before the Reunion Weekend was closed. Overall it was a wonderfully nostalgic weekend.

Branch NewsSeveral MOSA branches exist and are always on the look out for new members. if you are interested in finding out more about your local branch or indeed setting one up yourself please email [email protected]. Below is an update on some recent reunions organised by local branches:

Bristol and South west Branch

eleven Old scholars met for lunch in June. several more had expressed interest but were unable to attend. If there is anyone else who would be interested in joining us please do contact the branch secretary Pat (stewart) Thirkettle on email: [email protected]

lincolnshire BranchFive Lincolnshire Old scholars met on 16th August 2016. We had a fun-packed lunch full of lively stories about our days at The Mount. Any more old girls from Lincolnshire out there? Get in touch with Margaret (Chadburn) Harrold on email: [email protected]

We are: (seated) left to right - sarah (Cole) Cooper (1974-76); Annabel Yulesmith (1977-82); Caroline (Brook) Findlay (1977-82); (back row) left - Margaret (Chadburn) Harrold (1963-68) and right Ruth Gatenby (1966-73)

irish BranchWe have made the decision to sadly discontinue this branch. We send our best wishes and hope the Association continues to enjoy happy reunions.

north west Joint Branchno Branch Secretary in post. report below written by Christine irving

The joint N W Branch met on 14th October for lunch at Crooklands Hotel near Kendal. Friends had come from far and near and we enjoyed a very convivial time together. Our thanks go to John Garrett for taking over the organisation from Brian spencer, and arranging another splendid occasion. This has become a very successful annual event and John told us that the hotel has been booked for 20th October 2017.

north Yorkshire and Humberside BranchWe had a New Year Lunch at The Dormouse here in York in January, followed by a July meeting at Harlow Carr Gardens in Harrogate. The rain stopped by the time we had finished our Betty’s lunch. Ten of us then enjoyed a gentle walk around the gardens, always a pleasant venue with good company. Report by Alison (Wroe) Baldwin, Branch secretary: [email protected]


South and west Yorkshire Branchseven of us met at our house in Bramhope, in July 2016. We repeated the local walk, out across fields and back above a quarry. Parts of it were more overgrown this year, and its length was as much as some of us wanted. unfortunately, four members had to call off at the last moment due to ill-health or other reasons. After an uncertain forecast the rain just managed to hold off. There were eight of us together for tea and chat. Report by elizabeth (starkie) Wagstaff. [email protected]

Class of 1987 Back row: Kathy (Rickards) Wood, Jennie (stout) Grady , Lisa Athron, Rachael (Wright) Lavelle, Harriet (Bremner) Reid. Front row: Jenna (Longbottom) Drury, Trudi (Frazer) Lister, Linda (smirthwaite) Kianfar

2007 Old Scholars: Rebecca Biggins, Florence Marsden and Penny Cheung

Documents

MOSA nEwSlEttEr