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Next Meeting of the F.P. Association

The next meeting of The Gordon Schools’ Former Pupils’ Association is at 7pm on Monday 26th February 2024 at The Gordon Schools.

Patrick Scott's Latest Book 

Association member and Huntly historian Patrick Scott has recorded the personal stories and memories of the war years and gathered them together in a book entitled ‘Huntly’s World War II’.


Patrick amassed the information from all sorts of people and in different situations over a lot of years. Stories from his own relatives and from the families of men who had come home from war and didn’t want to speak about their experiences.


The book is broken into short chapters with touching stories of evacuees arriving off trains, descriptions of planes over Huntly, conscription, pillboxes, sirens and life for ‘bairns’ during the war years.


Patrick has written at least a dozen books, including two volumes on Huntly Cricket Club and a History of Strathbogie.


Huntly’s World War II is available to buy from Orb’s Community Bookshop, Dean’s and McColls.

 Former Pupils' Battle in Beijing

Andrew Young and Andrew Musgrave gave a good account of themselves at the Winter Olympics 2022. If you want to know any further details please see articles published in The Huntly Express on February 10th and February 17th.

 “… the most distinguished female graduate in medicine”

What is it like to have something like this said about one? Ebony Martin, former pupil of The Gordon Schools, could tell us. If you would like to find out how she would know, please read the article in The Huntly Express, dated August 5th, 2021.

Lottie Florence

The Huntly Express recently announced the death at Rothieden, Huntly, on Tuesday, January 19th, 2021, of Charlotte (Lottie) Florence, for many years a teacher at Gordon Primary School, Huntly. Please read the obituary printed in The Huntly Express, dated 28/01/21 (click on the date).

Well-deserved Praise for Nicola

 
 
Nicola Whyte, a former pupil of The Gordon Schools, has been hailed as the local heroine in connection with the recent tragic train derailment near Stonehaven. In spite of being injured herself, Nicola bravely went for help, thinking of others before thinking of herself.


If you would like to read the article by Pat Scott published in The Huntly Express on Thursday, August 20, 2020, please click on these links: Nicola Whyte and Nicola Whyte 27/08/20.

  

Two Former Pupils Retire

Last orders were taken last week after nearly fifty years at the bar.

The Huntly Express, 21/04/17 

 

Congratulations to Rizza’s of Huntly

Congratulations to owners of Rizza’s of Huntly, Philip and Nora Morrison, on being awarded ‘The Herald’ Rural Family Business of the year. They are pictured with family members Fiona and Donald. Nora Morrison is President of the Former Pupils’ Association. Press cuttings:

Rizza’s 1 Rizza’s 2

Huntly Express

 

Guest Book Signed

For more details please click on Guest Book above.
 

Wilma Dean-Prasad - "Living in Dallas Texas now"

John A.M. Bisset - ”Attended school 9/1939 for a year ... Remember my friend John Law.”

Alan Gordon - ”I attended the Gordon Schools between 1982 and 1986. I was in Gordon House.”

Sharon Gray (nee Taylor) - ”I attended Gordon Secondary School from 1985 ...”

Darren Millar - ”Hello. Is it me you’re looking for?”

Joyce McGroarty (nee Finlay) - ”Great to find Lorna Chisholm ...”

Steven Arthur (Bushy) - ”sorry I missed the school reunion ...”

Heather Small (Anton) - ”Happy memories!!”

Glynis Lorina Eastmond - ”Was at the school from 1956 to 1960. ...”

Carol McCartie - ”I was a pupil 1974 - 1979.”

Charles MacPherson - He asks:”Anne McCauley Aren’t you Charlie Smith’s sister?”

George Riddoch - better known as Ridgy - attended The Gordon Schools from 1939 to 1951.

Brian Sandison: ”I remember about half the faces in Stanley’s photo of 1A boys 1959/60 ...”

J. Brown, 2004 to 2009, presently at Abertay University.

Philip Roger, 1968 to 69, Fairhall Farm, ”looking to get in touch with the Paterson family who lived at the end of our driveway”.

Maureen Newlands, nee Richards, 1962 to 1966.

This entry in the Guest Book is from Charlie McPherson: ”Nice to see some of the old class mates in the photos!”

David Smart signed the Guest Book (09/07/15). He is hoping that someone may have photographs of 1a girls and 1c girls (1959/60).

Stanley T. Fraser signed the Guest Book (28/06/15). He offers to share a photograph of class 1a boys from 1959/60. (The photograph has now been received. Thank you, Stan Fraser. Please click to see 1a boys - 1959/60.)

The Guest Book has been signed by Willson Raeburn Morrison. In his message he mentions John Anderson, Gordon Beverley and Ann Begg.

On February 11th, 2015, the Guest Book was signed by Jimmy Mason (”... recalling fond memories”) and Robert Wilson, who now lives in London.

Fiona Morrison signed the Guest Book on May 26th, 2015. She was a pupil at The Gordon Schools from 1966 to 1969.

 Class of 1959-1960

David Smart has made available the photograph of class 1b from session 1959-1960. To view, please click on the link:

Class 1b 1959-60

David has asked if anyone can make available an equivalent photograph of class 1a or 1c from that same session for placing on the website. See Guest Book. A photograh of 1a boys has been made available by Stan Fraser. Please click to view: 1a boys - 1959/60.

He has also passed on the whole school panorama from 1955. This is on the photographic page of the website. Panoramas

Angela Shearer MBE

 

Angela Shearer received her MBE from the Queen at the Palace of Holyrood in June. 

175th Celebrations: Vintage Night

As part of the 175th Anniversary celebrations of the founding of The Gordon Schools, a Vintage Night was held in June.

For further details see: Vintage Night Poster

Introduction

A welcome from the President.

 

Magazines

The 2014 edition of 'The School Road' has been printed and is now on sale.

 

Class of 1987 Reunites for 40th Birthday 

 Please see Pat Scott's article in The Huntly Express, dated 23/10/15.
 
 
 

"Brilliant" Reunion of Class of 1988

Please see The Huntly Express, 07/10/16.

 

You are on the EVENTS page.

 Music Teacher Carol Bell Retires

 

After more than thirty years’ service at The Gordon Schools and throughout the North East, music teacher Mrs Carol Bell has decided to play life in a somewhat more ritardando sort of way, less allegro, more andante. We wish her a long and happy retirement.

For more details, please see Pat Scott’s article in The Huntly Express dated Friday, October 18, 2019.

Congratulations to Former Pupil
Paul Donaldson

 

Paul has secured one of the first 41 Future Leaders Fellowships funded through United Kingdom Research and Innovation. Through UKRI “researchers are encouraged to pursue interdisciplinary and business-linked research. To foster the movement of people and ideas between the academic and business sectors and support excellence wherever it arises, the Fellowships encourage applicants [to] work with, or be based in, businesses”.

To find out more, please read the extracts in pdf-form from these two web-sites or go directly to the sites:

1. https://www.ukri.org/news/future-leaders-fellowships-gives-the-freedom-to-deliver-global-impact/
2. https://www.ukri.org/funding/funding-opportunities/future-leaders-fellowships/meet-our-future-leaders-fellows/.

 

Huntly Skiers in Olympic Team

Andrew Young and Andrew Musgrave, two former pupils of The Gordon Schools, have been selected for the Team GB Squad in the 2018 Winter Olympics. Both cross-country skiers began their careers at the skiing centre in Huntly.

For details, please see the article in The Huntly Express from 26/01/18. 

See also the articles dated 12/01/1816/02/18 and 23/02/18 in The Huntly Express.

Still not Lost their Class

Congratulations and felicitations to former teachers Sybil and George Miller who, in July of this year, celebrated sixty years of marriage. 

Please see the article in The Huntly Express (21/07/17) for more details.

 * * *

Family, friends and colleagues alike are saddened to reflect that the above photograph of the couple will have been the last to appear in these pages. On November 14th, 2017, the death was announced in The Press and Journal of Sybil Miller (née MacLeod), former teacher of Home Economics at The Gordon Schools.

Sybil MacLeod began her education at Portnalong Primary School, Isle of Skye, and continued at Portree High School from 1938 to 1943. She specialized in Tailoring at the Glasgow School of Domestic Science, which she attended from 1943 to 1947.

Miss MacLeod began her teaching career as a Domestic Science teacher at Dunblane High School, moving on to The Gordon Schools in the early 1950s, where she became Principal Teacher of Domestic Science.

In 1957, Sybil MacLeod married George Miller, and the couple moved to Ordiquhil. This was too far from Huntly to commute, and so Sybil Miller left The Gordon Schools. After a move to Fetterangus, Mrs Miller became a supply teacher in the local primary school. Two years later, in 1965, she found a new home in Rhynie and new posts in the primaries of Lumsden, Clatt and Rhynie. During this period, Sybil Miller also taught dressmaking in evening classes.

In the early 1970s, Sybil Miller returned to a post in The Gordon Schools as a Domestic Science teacher and continued to teach dressmaking in evening classes. She retired from The Gordon Schools in 1991, aged 65 years.

On Monday, November 13, 2017, Sybil Miller passed away peacefully at the Insch War Memorial Hospital in her 92nd year. She is mourned by her husband George, her children Elaine, Keith, Iain, Mairi and Elizabeth and her thirteen grandchildren. 

***

On Thursday, February 22, 2018, in his 90th year, George Miller followed his wife Sybil, surrounded by his five children.

 One Hundred Years Ago in Flanders

Professor Stephen Wigmore commemorates his great-grandfather, Major Walter Aitchison, together with the other sixty-two men from Huntly who fell in the Great War.

Please see the article in The Huntly Express, dated 28/07/17 for further details.

Huntly Soldier Honoured at Ceremony in Edinburgh

Private Albert C.M. Smith, who died on the first day of the Battle of Arras one hundred years ago, was honoured by his great nephew at a commemoration service in Edinburgh. Pte Smith was born and grew up in Huntly and was a pupil at                                                                  The Gordon Schools.

Please see the article by Chris Saunderson in The Huntly Express, dated 14/04/17.

 Family and Friends Raise Funds for Gary

Gary‘s life hangs in the balance. He urgently needs treatment in Germany for the aggressive cancer - non-Hodgkin‘s lymphoma - he has been suffering from for some time.
 
Please see Pat Scott‘s article in The Huntly Express from 28/07/17.

 Afternoon Tea 

held on August 22nd, 2015
photographs below courtesy of
The Huntly Express

To see an enlarged copy, please click on each picture.

 

 

2015 – What does it hold in store for us?

A fresh year is the perfect time to reassess what is most important in our lives and adopting a philosophy of trying to live each day to the full to achieve all that we can, is something we should perhaps consider.
 
This year the Association celebrates its 90th anniversary – a pretty marvellous achievement.
 
Since our last reunion in 2010, the Committee has received many requests to hold an informal coffee morning or afternoon tea, where members could get together to catch up. Those who attended in 2010 may remember that during the meal, people were bobbing up and down, spying old friends and rushing off to speak to them.
 
Therefore the Committee invite you to celebrate this 90th anniversary on the 22nd August 2015 in the Assembly Hall of The Gordon Schools. Enjoy a glass of fizz and a full afternoon tea while catching up with acquaintances.
 
Tickets cost £12.50 per person and can be reserved from our secretary.
 
 

St Andrew's Night Dinner, Brisbane, Australia

Former pupil Leslie Alexander attended the annual St Andrew's Night Dinner in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, along with 360 other guests, at the invitation of another former pupil of The Gordon Schools, John Melvin. John addressed the haggis, as he had done for some years at this annual function in Brisbane. Sadly, John Melvin passed away in Brisbane on 14 April 2013, aged 71 years, after a short illness. John is pictured on the left in the first photograph along with Leslie Alexander (right). John, a Civil Engineer, formerly of Coniecleuch, Huntly, attended The Gordon Schools and left in 1960.

Click on this link to see John Melvin addressing the haggis, on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q5tul4JmoQ 

Leslie Alexander (pictured above) was a pupil at The Gordon Schools until 1968 and progressed to the University of Aberdeen to study medicine. He is an ophthalmologist. Having spent most of his career in the UK, Leslie is currently working in Brisbane.

Corporal Michael Pike

  

Please click on the links to see the articles from the press about the dedication services for Corporal Michael Pike.

Press & Journal 21 05 2012

Huntly Express Front Page 25 05 2012

Huntly Express Inside Page Top Column 25 05 2012

Huntly Express Inside Page Bottom Column 25 05 2012

Huntly Express Inside Page Banner Heading 25 05 2012

Reunion: Class of 1984

Please click on the link to see the article about the class of 1984 from 'The Huntly Express' of Friday 28 September 2012.

Reunion: Class of 1984: 'School Days Revisited' 

Graduations  2013, 2012 and 2011

Please click on the links to see graduation photographs and articles that have appeared recently in 'The Huntly Express'. 

Graduation2013 Daniel Rough

Graduations 2013 Claire Raeburn & Debbie Winton

Graduation 2013 Rory Allardice

Graduation 2013 Emma Gibb

Graduation 2013 Gillian Adam

Graduations 2013 Sarah Anderson and Holly Dawson

Graduation Emma-Jayne Stewart

Graduation 2013 Peter Morrison

Graduation Mairi Thomson January 2013

Graduation Lisa Mitchell January 2013

Graduations Huntly Express 2012 1

Graduations Huntly Express 2012 2

Graduations Huntly Express 2012 3

Graduations Huntly Express 2012 4

Graduations Huntly Express 2012 5

Graduations Huntly Express 2011 1

Graduations Huntly Express 2011 2

Graduations Huntly Express 2011 3

Graduations Huntly Express 2011 4

(Reproduced, courtesy of 'The Huntly Express')

Retiral of five long-serving members of staff

Please click on the links to see the press cuttings from 'The Huntly Express' about the retiral of five long-serving members of staff.

Retirals Huntly Express 1

Retirals Huntly Express 2

Retirals Huntly Express 3

Retirals Huntly Express 4

Reunion Lunch, 2010
‘LET’S DO IT, LET’S MEET AGAIN’

A Reunion Lunch was held on Saturday 21st August 2010, from 12 noon until 4pm. The guest speaker was former pupil of The Gordon Schools and star of ‘Scotland The What?’, Mr George Donald.

Lunch in the Assembly Hall was followed by tours of the school. There was a display of memorabilia and photographs, along with a demonstration of our new website.

This was an excellent opportunity to renew friendships and make more.

Read more about the Social Event.

Reunion Lunch 2010

(Photographs courtesy of 'The Huntly Express')

 

 

 

 

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Reunions Half a World Apart

Two reunions of former pupils took place recently—one reported in The Huntly Express on Friday, June 21, 2019 (with photograph by Eric Cormack, image no. 043993), the other recorded in two photographs and their captions sent by Leslie Alexander from Australia. David Donald and wife Fiona and son Simon with Leslie Alexander (all four Aberdeen medical graduates) met up for an evening in Sydney. David and Fiona, both pathologists, have retired to Sydney, where Simon is an orthopaedic surgeon.
 
Please see the photograph and article in The Huntly Express and photograph one and photograph two sent by Leslie Alexander.

 

Human Stories behind Names on Stained-glass Windows

After much research by Valerie Ross and a great deal of work, her book Carved Stone Painted Glass has been published. It details the stories behind the 144 names of former pupils and teachers on the Memorial Window at The Gordon Schools. 

For further details please see Pat Scott’s article Memorial story told in new book in The Huntly Express, dated 21/12/18. Please see also The Huntly Express, 04/01/19 and 06/11/15 and also the HOME page.

Depute Head Teacher of Gordon Primary School Retires

Mrs Maureen Harvie, latterly acting head teacher of Gordon Primary School, retires after twenty-six years in teaching. She is a graduate of Aberdeen University and “had her final teacher-training placement in the early stages at Gordon Primary in June 1990”.

Please see the article in The Huntly Express (08/04/16) for further details.

Afternoon Tea - August 2015

The reunion tea held in The Gordon Schools' assembly hall on the afternoon of Saturday, August 22nd, brought together more than 180 former pupils and friends and was a joyful and happy event.
 
Pictured below is Nora Morrison, President, with Dr Hugh Brebner, guest of honour and Honorary President of The Gordon Schools' Former Pupils' Association.
 
 
Twenty-eight photographs, made available by courtesy of Mr John Swan, taken during the afternoon may be looked at here.
 
Articles from The Huntly Express, dated 28/08/2015, give further details.

Iona Aiming for the Top

Former pupil of The Gordon Schools, Iona Fyfe, "is in the running for one of Scotland’s top musical awards" (The Huntly Express).

For details please see the articles in The Huntly Express dated 03/02/1710/02/17 and 09/02/18.

Former Pupils Receive Special Recognition 

Former pupil Morven Gordon-Duff (Swan) recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of her Dental Care business in Huntly. She was nominated for the award of Employer of the Year and her colleague Kirsty Rodger for Dental Care Professional Star.
   The award ceremony took place at the Thistle Hotel in Glasgow.
 
Former pupil Lynne Driver (Whyte) "received top accolade at the Inspiring Aberdeenshire awards event" (Pat Scott in The Huntly Express).
 
For details, please click on the names: Morven      Lynne

 

Announcing Class Reunion - October 2015

The event is planned to take place on Saturday, October 24th. Please see the advertisements (The Press and Journal 23/06/15 and The Huntly Express 26/06/15 and 03/07/15).

See below: "Class of 1966/67 Meets for School Reunion".

Margaret Grant, Makar

On Friday, October 16, 2015, The Huntly Express announced the death of local Doric poet and former pupil of The Gordon Schools Margaret Grant (nee McWilliam). She was born in Kinnoir in 1938 and educated at Kinnoir Primary School and The Gordon Schools, Huntly. She was a retired law accountant, a published Doric poet and Huntly's honorary poet laureate.

For further details, please see the article in The Huntly Express.

Class of 1966/67 Meets for School Reunion

The reunion took place on Saturday, October 24th, and Sunday, October 25th, 2015. Please see the article and Peter Conn's appreciation in The Huntly Express from 30/10/15.

 Class of ’68 Plans Reunion

The event is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 7th, 2016, at the Huntly Golf Club.

See the announcement in The Huntly Express (01/04/16).

2016 Graduations

Hannah Johns, degree in Music (The Press and Journal, 15/06/16)
Murray Lyne, North East Scotland College (The Huntly Express, 17/06/16)
Neil Mitchell, University of Strathclyde (The Huntly Express, 05/08/16)
Andrea Watt, first-class honours in Business and Management, University of Glasgow
Gary Barnett, Undergraduate Diploma in Higher Education (Arts and Social Sciences), 26/11/16
Alan Anderson, Cameron Dean, Lewis Lovie, Charles Stewart
, Masters degrees in Engineering, Robert Gordon University (The Huntly Express, 23/12/16)
Kerry-Anne Morrison
, BA Adult Nursing, Robert Gordon University (The Huntly Express, 31/12/16)
 

2017 Graduations

Jodie Young, Edinburgh Napier, first-class honours degree in Business Management (The Huntly Express, 08/09/17)
Gail Angus
, first-class BA (hons), Robert Gordon University, in Law and Management (The Huntly Express, 01/09/17)
Olivia Busson, graduated from Glasgow University’s School of Veterinary Medicine (The Huntly Express, 14/07/17)
Stephanie Jane Benzies, upper-second class honours degree of Master of Arts in English and French, 20/06/17
Jonathan Michael Blagden
, upper-second class honours degree of Master of Chemistry, 21/06/17
Kimberley Jamieson, upper-second class honours degree of Bachelor of Science in Geology and Petroleum Geology, 21/06/17
Alexis Tevendale
, upper-second class honours degree of Bachelor of Science in Computing Science, 21/06/17
Hadley Williams
, upper-second class honours degree of Bachelor of Science in Physics with Geology, 21/06/17
Nicola Claire Smart
, Masters degree in Health Psychology, Aberdeen University (The Huntly Express, 13/01/17)
Charlotte Ann Sim, BA (hons) in Business Management, Sheffield Hallam University (The Huntly Express 27/01/17)
Natalie J. Haefner, first-class honours, Bachelor of Law, Aberdeen University (The Huntly Express, 23/06/17)
 

2018 Graduations

Louise Morrison and Michael Rough - please see the article in The Huntly Express, 30/11/18.
 

2019 Graduations

David Gordon, Morven Knight and Glenn Murison - please see the article in The Huntly Express, 25/10/19.

Marriages 2016

Marriage notices of the undernoted former pupils of The Gordon Schools appeared in the local press on the dates indicated. Please click on the dates to see the notices.

Claire Raeburn and Shaun Scott, The Huntly Express, 29/07/16
Stephanie Greig and David McRae, The Huntly Express, 29/07/16
Natalie Scorer and Iain Barron, The Huntly Express, 14/10/16

Marriages 2017

Michelle Winton and James Cooper, The Huntly Express, 03/11/17
Aileen Gray and Steven Adams
, The Huntly Express, 21/07/17
Louise Tewnion and Barry Clark, The Huntly Express, 20/10/17

Marriages 2018

Mary Millburn-Fryer and Steven Raeburn, The Huntly Express, 28/09/18

 A Look Back to 1991

A sixty-five-minute slot in history for The Gordon Schools: Prime Minister John Major visits in September 1991. See note and picture from The Huntly Express files (02/09/16).

 Former Pupil is World Champion

Textile Design student Michelle Gordon from Forgue achieves world-champion status at the Cowal Highland Gathering at Dunoon.

For details please see the article in The Huntly Express dated 07/09/18.