Congratulations to Steve Perrett and Christian James for a very successful dinner at Blanchflower on Friday 10th March!
All posts by colin
Sir Graham Brady to stand down as MP at next
Sir Graham Brady has become the latest senior Conservative MP to announce they will not contest their seat at the next election.
Old Boy Obituary Just Found on Lancaster University Site
Michael Waller, founding member of Russian Studies passed away on 24 October 2021. Michael was born in Manchester on 14th February 1934 and was educated at Douai College and Altrincham Grammar School. He learnt Russian while on National Service with the Navy. After taking a degree in Classics at Corpus Christi, Oxford, and a period of teaching at the Lancaster Royal Grammar School, he took a second degree in Russian at Manchester. He also worked with the late Barry Gregson to open a pottery at Caton, and he continued to make elegant and distinguished ceramics for many years. The forthcoming University of Lancaster planned to include the study of modern languages within Humanities, and it is said that Michael persuaded Charles Carter (Lancaster’s founding Vice-Chancellor) to include Russian. He, therefore, took up a post on 1st September 1964 as the founding member of Russian Studies (subsequently Russian and Soviet Studies), and further additions enabled Lancaster to offer a cluster of East European languages. Michael also met his wife, Manon Allee, at Lancaster, and she predeceased him in 2019. Language studies suffered under the Thatcher cuts to universities in the early 1980s, and the Senate narrowly approved the closure of Russian and Soviet Studies. Michael then moved to the Government Department at the University of Manchester, and in 1993 to a chair in Politics at Keele, where he became Director of European Studies.
2022 Newsletter and all the way back to 1945!
Fantastic job from Antony Perrett once again in producing this year’s Newsletter.
Click below to see for yourself!
At a previous Annual Reunion Dinner I was asked if we could make the him Newsletters from previous years, available online. Well, here they are!
A big thank you to Paul Atkinson who sent me copies of the 1971 and 1972 Newsletters, to Ken Webb (1954-61) for lending me his file of Newsletters, and also to Peter Monether (1963-70) for scanning his copies! Ian Stephen (1949-54) has sent me a box full of goodies which include an extra seven Newsletters!
Happy reading,
Colin Bamford (1965-1967)
Old Altrinchamians
2022 AGM
2022 Old Alts AGM – 7pm Tues 15th November
Hi all – this year’s AGM will take place at school on Tuesday 15th November 2022. There will be a zoom option for those unable to attend in person. We’ll issue the Agenda and Reports in due course. Many thanks, Christian.
Belated Centenary Dinner
Old Alts FC are holding A Belated Centenary Dinner on Thursday 17th November at Sale Rugby Club, Heywood Road, Sale. All Old Boys are cordially invited to join in this celebration. So please make a note in your diary and keep that date available.
Tickets are priced at £45.00 and include a three-course meal. The evening will be compèred by Fred Eyre and entertainment will be provided by the very talented impressionist, Kevin Connelly.
Old Alts FC reached their centenary in 2020 but the celebration could not take place because of the Covid pandemic. So we really want as many people as possible to make this year’s event a great success.
Several people are planning to organise tables at the Dinner, If you are a regular, please let your normal host know that you are up for it again.
First timers can contact Brian Clark on 07443 453318 so we can make sure that you are sitting with people that you know.
Looking forward to seeing you all on 17th November.
Brian Clark
David Nels Olson 1947-2022
It was with sadness we learned of the death of Dave Olson in February.
David (or ‘Hank’ as he was often known) was an outstanding and charismatic pupil. He was late arriving at AGSB (having previously lived in the USA) but was quick to involve himself in the school.
Dave was the Secretary to the Debating Society and with his easy delivery but knowledgeable manner won the day in many a debate. He was a School Prefect.
Dave proposed the toast to The School at the 1967 Annual Reunion Dinner.
His outside interests included attendance at the local Humanist Group as one of its youngest members and he also had an interest in Amnesty International.
Dave duly entered the 6th Form studying Arts, but on leaving AGSB he decided that he would like to study Dentistry, but entry to Dental School required Science subjects so Dave spent a year at a Manchester College of Further Education to get the requisite A-levels.
After qualifying BDS at Newcastle University, Dave enrolled at the Westminster School of Medicine at the University of London in 1979, funding his studies by working in a Dental Practice.
He qualified with MB; BS degrees and took up positions at St.Mary’s and St. Stephen’s Hospitals London before returning to the the USA in 1981.
Dave went on to specialise in Emergency/ Acute Medicine with licences to practice in several US states.
Dave was required to serve time in the US army as a surgeon and in 1991 he was present at an American airbase during the Gulf War when Saddam Hussein fired two scud missiles which wounded or killed many US soldiers.
He retired in 2019.
Dave will be remembered for his mighty intellect, his friendly charismatic persona and he was always such pleasant company.
He is survived by his wife, Cheryl and their two children, Rachel and Alan to whom we send our heartfelt sympathy and condolences.
L.A.B.
Recent school leavers v School Rugby/Football/Hockey
This year’s games will take place at 2:30pm on Wednesday 6th April.
Recent pictures.
Voluntary Exam Invigilators
We have been very lucky at AGSB in that we have benefitted over the years from many wonderful willing volunteers who have helped us with exam invigilating. After two years of cancelled public exams we are very confident that exams will run as normal this summer and we are now in the process of trying to build up a pool of volunteers to assist us again.
We are wondering if any Old Altrinchamians may have some free time and would be willing to provide some support in a voluntary capacity. The exams are running from Monday 16 May until Friday 24 June and we would provide information and training to those interested well in advance of the start. Morning invigilation sessions will normally be between 9.00am and 11.00am and afternoon sessions between 1.30pm and 3.30pm, however, volunteers could be asked to invigilate for only part of this time. Even a few sessions offered by volunteers would be a most valuable contribution. Invigilation would take place in the Coleman Hall or other exam rooms where there will always be a senior experienced invigilator present.
Astrid Lavin <alavin@agsb.co.uk>
The Livingstone Suite
You must all have heard about Sir Ian Livingstone’s Knighthood, but some of you may not be aware that in School on the first floor of the south end, there is The Livingstone Suite. It was named to mark Ian’s support for the School
Our student librarians are holding some of the ‘Fighting Fantasy’ books co-written by Sir Ian Livingstone. A series of role-playing gamebooks, choose your own adventure, that have recently been republished for a new generation of children.