School reunion brings together friends who haven't seen each other in nearly 80 years
A school reunion brought friends back together after 80 years.
The King's School welcomed former Macclesfield High School and King's Girls Division pupils on Saturday, March 29.
Among those in attendance were two women who met for the first time 80 years ago.
Marjorie Boothby MBE, 90, saw and instantly recognized her first Sixth Form prefect Shelagh Proctor, now aged 96.
Marjorie, who was brought up on Queens Avenue, said: "I remember walking into Macclesfield High School on my first day and following a notice which said 'New Girls Enter Through The Front Entrance'.
"It was all very different from Trinity Square Primary in Hurdsfield, which is also now not there, and just a little bit daunting.
"From there we were taken to what was then called the 'New Building' and divided into three classes of 30 and that's when I met Shelagh our own class prefect.
"She was such a lovely Sixth Former. Very kind and we could all talk to her about anything. We all loved her. She was a wonderful role model."
Marjorie was awarded her MBE for her 30 plus years voluntary work with HM Prison Service as a prison visitor, church organist and staff trainer.
However, before all that, she worked as a primary teacher.
She added: "I might not have been very academic but I enjoyed my school life immensely and perhaps that inspired me to teach myself."
More than 100 guests, both pupils and former teachers, attended Saturday's event, which served as a celebration of over 100 years of girls' education at Fence Avenue.
They could scan the archives of school photos, memorabilia and press cuttings and were treated to a video message from former headmistress, Beryl Footman, who has just left Macclesfield after 75 years to live in Cambridge.
Amber Owens joined King's Sixth Form in 1988, leaving in 1990, three years before Macclesfield High School reopened as King's Girls' Division,
Now chair of the King's Former Pupils' Association, Amber said: "It was a simply fantastic afternoon and just lovely to see so many former pupils and teachers aged from 17 to 97."
Amber, who is an accountant with French textiles company Flexdev and whose son Harry went to King's and is now studying Medicine at Keele, continued: "I too remember the friendships, many of which have become lifelong; the reassuring sense of belonging and the fact that it was just such a wonderful environment."
Jason Slack, head of The King's School, added: "Although the Fence Avenue site is currently being converted into houses and apartments, just like the Cumberland Street site, it is not the bricks and mortar that people remember but the connections they make.
"Life is not about the destination, not even the journey, but about the company along the way and that's what we saw very clearly today."
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