Class of 1949
In January, we were delighted to welcome back a very special group of visitors to the school.
Eleven members from the Class of 1949 returned through the Drayton Manor doors to have a tour of the school and share stories of their time here. Amongst the group was Carol Belch who was Head Girl in 1955 and two couples who met at school and went on to get married.
Clifford and Dorothy McCorry shared their wonderful memories of their time at Drayton Manor in a podcast and you can hear it by clicking here. It was clear that one of the strongest memories from the Class of 1949 was that of friendship which they have managed to maintain by having regular reunions. In 2005 some of the classmates returned to the school for its 75th anniversary. John Leppard’s memories of this visit is captured in his beautifully written poem below.
Finally, we would like to thank Dorothy for donating her old lacrosse stick which now has pride of place in our trophy cabinet and is already attracting attention from both students and staff alike.
It was a wonderful occasion and we look forward to welcoming the Class of 1949 back to Drayton Manor in the future.
Our DM Days
For a heartbeat, Spring banished Autumn,
The sun warmed us with November rays,
Yet from the moment we stepped in the building,
We were back in our old DM days.
Not much, they say, lasts forever,
But some memories time can’t erase,
Without doubt in our hearts we were really,
Back in those good DM days.
Back then, time didn’t concern us,
Problems seemed never to faze,
And friendships were forged that owed much to
Our wonderful young DM days.
Passing years have not yet corroded,
The principles that we still praise,
And most of them had their foundations,
Set back in our gold DM days.
John Leppard
The Class of 1949 Visitors:
-
Clifford McCorry
-
Dorothy McCorry
-
Carol Belch
-
Christopher Squires
-
Maggie Squires
-
Ian Thom
-
Alan Young
-
Jim Innes
-
Brian Rippeth
-
John Leppard
-
Anne Leppard
