Old Boys, Girls and Teachers Guestbook

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Welcome to the Guestbook
Feel free to add messages relating to the site and the school. The only rules are: real names only, no personal attacks and no unrelated messages (inappropriate messages may be edited/withdrawn without warning).

It would be appreciated if you gave an email address, where you now live and said when you were at the school, but you don't have to.

Plase note that if you click on an email address below you will need to replace ~DOT~ with . and ~AT~ with @ in your email program. The Guestbook presents these this way to avoid email address harvesters collecting your email addresses from the page. I know it's a pain, but it's very much better than the alternative.

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There are 500 messages in the guestbook
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Viewing messages 81 to 90

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Dear Mike, Neale, Bruce, Eric the two Alans and all the hundreds of regular and irregular readers and contributors,
Let me be the latest to wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year. I have an excuse for being late with my NY Greetings. At the time I normally try to do this letter, I was sitting on a plane in Moncton, New Brunswick on New Year’s Eve waiting for my 7.00 PM take off, back to Toronto. I was travelling with my eldest daughter, Katherine, who normally flies ‘Business Class” with her job and as a Christmas gift to me, got us both seats in BC. What a difference to ‘steerage” class !! I had legroom, lie down room, newspaper room, china plates, wine glasses etc., etc. All in all, a much better experience than my last flight four or five years ago. If I ever fly again I’m determined it will be BC in AD.
Our destination in Moncton was my granddaughter’s home the suburb of Dieppe, where she (Kaitlin) and her husband (Julien) he’s a Ph.D sociologist, work from home with one day a week at the office in town. She’s a Ph.D epidemiologist, dealing at the moment with a stomach flu outbreak at Guelph University with 200 students affected. She’s also the mother of my three great-grandchildren, Ben, Ellie and Henri, who speak only French. Thank goodness for Ma Goudie and Doc. Skilling for persevering with me to enable me to communicate with the children and Kaitlin’s in-laws, I must admit it was a bit of an exercise !!
The holiday was a real treat for me, the first Christmas in more than 70 years without Marjorie, who died in June. It was cathartic and really made an improvement to my mind set. It was the sort of week she would have loved…5 dinner parties in 7 days with two lobster parties!! I didn’t know it was a tradition in the Maritimes. There were forty of us at the second “Yuletide Lobster”party, many of whom had attended the previous party the night before.
Flying back on New Year’s Eve got us back in time to see the New Year in with my two other daughters in Toronto, where we quietly welcomed 2025. I made a silent resolution to write every month to the “Guestbook” I made it silently in case I forget one month. So please bear with me and allow me to criticize those who don’t write.
One last thing: I watched ‘Coronation Street’ last night and it was the best one I’ve seen for a long time. It was the episode where Gail Platt leaves the program!! Thank goodness for that, she’s been in for 108 years (roughly) and has never convinced me that she’s an actress. A couple I talked to at the retirement home today were bereft. !!
So I leave you all with these thoughts, May you enjoy 2025 better than last year, may you and yours be blessed with good health, well enough to keep on writing to Mike and the rest of us, and say a prayer for Canada.
Best Wishes and Lang May Your Rum Leek (Deliberate spoonerism) from -12C
North York to +3 South Shields.
Alex

Thu 16-Jan-2025 02:56 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

Glad to hear of the surviving contributors.
It would be lovely to have some input from the younger generation but I suspect that is unlikely.

No input from our friend on PEI for a long time.

Take care while you can.

Enjoy 2025

Sat 11-Jan-2025 20:22 - ruskington lincolnshie

Mike Todd | old~DOT~boys~AT~boyshighschool~DOT~co~DOT~uk

Yes, another quarter century - I'm coming up to 20 years since I retired, and those years have flown by.

And yes - it's been quiet (although it gets read four or five times a week).

Rothbury's charm has diminished, even in the 18 years I've lived here. Self-interest and money have changed its face - so many new houses being built in the time I've been here.

I wish you and yours, and also all Old Boys and visitors a very Happy New Year.

Tue 31-Dec-2024 10:17 - Rothbury, Northumberland

Neale Backhouse | neale1447~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Ye Gods,Mike, another quarter century and heading towards my 90th birthday in June (Alex leads the way in February).So thankfull that I can still wish you a Happy New Year, and will continue to do so as long as I am reasonably coherent. Still,must be glad to be able to contribute the occasional ditty to the Guestbook, although it's certainly been quiet on the western front this year.

I do hope that Rothbury retains the charm that I recall from many years ago. Victoria is approaching gridlock with so many newcomers driving so many cars from their so many condominiums. It's called progress I suppose. Hey, life's great!!
Best wishes to all in 2025.

Mon 30-Dec-2024 22:20 - Victoria BC

Bryan Cooper | brayncc~AT~gmail~DOT~com

This is an explanation if Sanddancer from another site. It makes far more sense to me than the usual ones of Muslims praying on the beach!
“The strange thing is that originally calling someone a sanddancer was likely to cause a fight. Sanddancers were the guys that coud get across the river mouth at low water springs. These guys could guide your wagons across saving you the 2/3 days it took to go through Newcastle. Unfortunately the amounts demanded were at times exorbitant so that sanddancers were considered money grabbing chancers.”

Tue 23-Jul-2024 09:31 - Old Colwyn

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

Mike

Whatever the gremlins, at least you're back on line

Tue 14-May-2024 18:58 - ruskington lincolnshie

Mike Todd | old~DOT~boys~AT~boyshighschool~DOT~co~DOT~uk

Bruce Graham - just picked up your latest message.

I don't know what could have been going wrong. I haven't had a message via Contact Me, and I'm not aware of any problems with the Rothbury site.

So I'm a bit mystified!

Tue 14-May-2024 18:04

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

This is for the few regular contributors to the Guestbook who may know what the current connectivity problems are.

My previous post might, I thought, have had a response from Mike. Not so. Tried a message via "Contact Me" but that didn't work so sent a message via my normal email, as recommended but no reply.

Then tried Mike's Rothbury site but that is closed.

I'm not the world's greatest at navigating all possible avenues of enquiry.

Sat 11-May-2024 20:36 - ruskington lincolnshie

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

For several days I've been getting an Error Code 403 - Access prohibited - when trying to get onto the site.

Now seems to be working.

I wonder if this is related to the earlier problems or is it just my ISP?

Fri 26-Apr-2024 15:49 - ruskington lincolnshie

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946-1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello Mike and all readers,
Thanks again Mike for your continuing work with our website. I echo Neale's wishes for a Happy New Year and let's hope it's a gentler and kinder new year to us all. We could do with a bit of good news now and again. If we keep writing to the site, it will cheer us up and give us something to think about. We're still here, and that's worth something to celebrate.
Cheerio and our very best wishes to all from a cool minus 2 degrees North York,
Alex

Mon 1-Jan-2024 15:37 - North York, Ontario, Canada

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