Page 30 - OM Newsletter 2024-2025

Lifelong friendships
Visitors to Ellerslie reunions often express surprise at the strong turnout from the class of 1968–75.
The reason lies in a promise made on their final day at school - Saturday 12th July 1975 - when the Upper Sixth pledged to reunite at the top of the Worcestershire Beacon on 1st April 2000. EOG Anne Lawton has rehearsed that date for years, charting it alongside holidays and weddings.
As the millennium approached, having not heard any plans, she couldn’t let
the moment pass. Organising events was second nature to her, so with four weeks to go, Anne began tracing all 24 girls from her Upper Sixth cohort.
Thanks to early internet tools like 192.com and the EOGA magazine, Anne was able to find 23 of the 24. Two-thirds remembered the pledge, and four had planned to attend regardless. Anne also invited nine others who had left earlier. The response was extraordinary.
Despite demanding careers and commitments - Olympian Fiona Wentges was training riders for Sydney 2000, Rosy Jamieson (née Boyd) was performing a solo in Durham Cathedral, Caroline Campbell (née Harry Thomas), a London barrister specialising in medical cases was preparing for a legal case the following week, and Amanda Taylor (née Bloom) was due in Canada to represent Astrazeneca at a conference on new cancer drugs - most made the journey (including Amanda who was able to join for just a couple of hours). 28 old girls returned, many with families. 65 picnicked at St Ann’s Well, and 59 climbed the Beacon for a photocall. A ‘final’ school photo was created on the steps of School House and the day ended with dinner at the Foley Arms Hotel in Great Malvern.
This group of ladies reunited again in 2005 to bid farewell to Ellerslie School before its transformation, witnessing a Red Arrows flypast from the Beacon. In 2012, they gathered for a memorial to Caroline Harry Thomas (Head Girl during their time at Ellerslie), commemorated with a tree, plaque and a debating prize in her name.
On 12th July 2025, the group returned to Malvern for a blazing summer reunion (see page 31). Over the years, Anne has tracked down more classmates - some through quite remarkable detective work. She found American twins Brenda and Linda Olin via their father’s radar science career, and one elusive classmate through a garage business memory from a school trip!
As Anne told us: “Reunions take more than logistics - they need encouragement. I rally old friends, offer lifts, and send regular updates. Some need a nudge, others just reassurance. The joy of reconnecting is worth every effort.”
The ladies plan to meet again in 2030. And if history is any guide, they will be there - just as they promised.
ELLERSLIE SCHOOL