Centenary: a day to remember at Poltair
Even the unseasonable weather failed to dampen the spirits in St Austell on Saturday as Poltair School celebrated its centenary. Eighteen months in the planning the day was not for the faint hearted and it started with a church service at St Johns, then tours of the school and an exhibition of memorabilia and finished with a rousing party at The Eden
Church Service
From early in the morning there was an air of anticipation and excitement in the town as people from all over the world made their way to St Johns Church for the Centenary Service.
This service had been the brainchild of school governor, Bill Williams, and he can look back on it with great pride as it was such an uplifting and inspiring occasion.
The congregation, which was over 600 strong, were welcomed by Poltair’s current Head, Heather McIlroy. Heather’s greeting set the tone for the day with a well- balanced introduction looking back to the great days of Barritt, Bond & Smith whilst looking forward with bright optimism.
The singing will be remembered by those present for years to come. St Austell Grammar Schools were always well renowned for their choirs and with good reason. Former music teachers Alan Hutt and John Holland did sterling work organising members from four local choirs (Imerys Ladies, St Austell Male Voice, Engineers Choir; Eastern Area Choir)
Fourteen year old Hiedi Masters read from Philippians with great confidence and aplomb and felt honoured to be involved with such an occasion. Other readings were given by former pupil and co-chair of the Centenary Committee, Derek Olver and mother of two Poltair pupils and former Head of RE, Val Pascoe.
Reverend Ray Trudgian had travelled from Kings Lynn to give the address and his anecdotes had the congregation roaring with laughter.
The inspirational service was put together by another former pupil Michael Adams.
Poltair School
With their youth rekindled next stop for many was the School. St Austell County School’s foundation stone laying ceremony took place in 1907 and that school was later St Austell Grammar School before becoming Poltair School and it is this ceremony that was celebrated this weekend.
The school offered a real walk down memory lane for all. The hall was packed with artefacts spanning the 100 years. School uniforms, magazines, head teacher’s log books, cups and trophies as well as an array of long school photographs.
Sprightly octogenarian Mr Burt actually skipped when reminded of his French French teacher Monsieur Pierrot and relished telling tales about the man from Condom. Bernard Ede admitted to being “drunk on nostalgia” and was finding the whole experience overwhelming, especially when uncovering pictures of his mother and father performing in a 1920’s school play.
Many wished to contribute to the display including Mike Stroud who kindly donated a tasselled, purple school cap which once belonged to T. J. Sturtridge of Penwithick. Former star Grammar schoolboy, Sir Laurence Martin, son of the History master, was pleased to meet current History teacher, Tony Lake, and show him his father’s Service Book. This fascinating document recorded among other things his annual salary from 1923 to 1962.
As well as the exhibits the various slide show presentations proved extremely popular. Some traced the history of the school whilst others focussed on particular aspects such as the school’s war memorial. Certainly the most popular show was the one based on Ken Hunter’s scrapbooks. The former PE teacher was among the many former staff taking another look at the school and many of his former pupils were pleased to see him and Ken enjoyed reliving many of the sporting triumphs he made possible.
Eden
The day was non stop and by 6.30 a queue was gathering outside the Eden Project which was the venue of the grand reunion celebration.
Over 1200 people attended this great show and as well as opportunities to meet old friends and discover new ones the evening was packed with entertainment which started in the Visitors Gallery with Sax is Our Business. This young sax group under the tutelage of Steve Clifford was superb and set the tone for the evening.
Rumour had been rife for months that Former Mr Music at Poltair, Geoff Wheildon, intended to make a comeback for the evening and unsurprisingly when word got round members from his old brass bands answered his call to play one more time. Even with limited time to practice all the old flair was still there and the journeys made by many of the players were not wasted.
Poltair’s current head of Music, Kate Samuels, had carefully coordinated the music which climaxed with rock and pop performed by three groups made up of pupils and former pupils, Jailhouse, Mid Rift and First Refusal.
For those who wanted non-musical entertainment there was plenty. Mary Abbott, author of the acclaimed “History of St Austell Grammar School” talked about the background to the book to packed audiences and for the sportier there was abseiling in the Mediterranean Biome.
The atmosphere was terrific and Tracy Leaney’s sentiments were echoed by many, “The whole family is here tonight…my family is Poltair, my husband’s family is Poltair and we still have nephews and nieces there…we just had to come…the school has been good to us”. Wendy L’Ecuyer and her husband had travelled all the way from Nova Scotia and admitted that she would not have “missed this for anything”. A great day was had by all and was completed by a spectacular firework display.
However, that really wasn’t the end but a beginning. As Derek Olver explained, “For many of us today has been an emotional and uplifting experience. As well as celebrating the past and looking forward to the future we wanted to do something tangible for the current school so we have established a charitable fund, “The Eden Fund”, to help disadvantaged pupils enjoy school life a little more. About 2000 people have been involved today and they have been extremely generous and the Fund is off to a flying start…months of hard work having paid dividends and Poltair can confidently look forward to the next one hundred years.”