Book Now to avoid Disappointment!

We shall be holding our popular Annual Dinner will be held on Friday 2nd February 2007 at the Cavendish Hotel, 81 Jermyn Street, London SW1. Dinner will be served at 7 30pm, but members and their partners or guests are very welcome to gather from 6 30 pm onwards in the Electra Room for drinks, conversation and the sweet sounds of Emma-Jane Thommen, the club's very own sultry singer-songwriter.
We are equally pleased to announce that our Guest Speaker will be the screenwriter Glenn Chandler, creater of STV's Taggart, who will be recalling his days at the High School in the 1960's and taking us behind the scenes of one of the world's longest-running detective series.
Demand for this very special evening is bound to be high. The price of the three course dinner plus coffee and chocolates is £40, so to be sure of your seat, please make your cheque payable to 'The Royal High School Club in London' and send it to Alex Prentice, at 4, Archers Close, Hertford, Herts. SG14 3BD.

We have negotiated a special rate for those who wish to stay at the Cavendish.
Option A: Pay a £50 non-returnable deposit and you can have a double room at £69 per person, per night, including breakfast and VAT. This weekend rate applies fomr Friday through to Sunday.
Option B: With no deposit payable, a double room at £93.50 per night, including breakfast and VAT.
For further details of this attractive offer, please ring Resevations at the Cavendish hotel on 0207 930 2111.
The photograph links to more photos from this year's annual dinner.
For further inforamtion on all aspects of the Annual Dinner contact Alex Prentice on 01992 554854 or Al Senter on 0208 673 6518

Photos from the October Drinks Party

Photos from the October Drinks Party at the Fleming Collection can be viewed at http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/drinksparty2006pic.htm

Photos from October Drinks Party

Photos from October's Drinks Party at the Fleming Collection are now on the website at http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/drinksparty2006pic.htm

The Annual RHSCL Drinks Party on Monday October 9th

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Now that we've reached the end of August, autumn is just around the corner. And with it comes the highlight of the social season: The Annual Royal High School Club in London Drinks Party.

We've decided to bring it forward this year and so the event will take place on Monday October 9th. Once again we've booked The Fleming Collection at 13, Berkeley Street and the fun will get underway promptly at 6.30 pm. For those making their first visit to the Fleming Collection, the nearest underground station is Green Park on the Victoria/Piccadilly/Jubilee lines. All you have to do is come out of the station and walk up Piccadilly towards Piccadiily Circus. Berkeley Street is first left and the gallery is situated about a hundred yards down on the right.

As ever, we've put together a packed programme of attractions. They include:

- An illustrated lecture on the current exhibition, Rascals and Ruins- not a reference to the RHSCL committee but a display of the work of Edinburgh-born painter James Pryde and his Romantic Vision

- A fascinating collection of RHSCL archival material, assembled by archivist Jim Randell

- An eloquent speech of welcome from our President, Simon Card

- A much praised selection of the finest wines

- An appetising selection of sandwiches, canapes and nibbles

- A chance to catch up with old friends and to make some new ones in a stylish and informal setting




Tickets are £20 per head. To make sure of your presence at what is always a night to remember, please make your cheques payable to The Royal High School Club in London and send them to

Alex Prentice
RHSCL
4, Archers Close
Hertford
Hertfordshire
SG14 3BD

For further information

Alex Prentice 01992 554854 or alex.prentice1@btinternet.com
Al Senter 0208 673 6518 or alsenter@yahoo.co.uk

I very much look forward to catching up with you all on October 9th.

With all the very best



Al Senter

40 Years On - Flossie and Arnold

David Robb zooms in on the maths department of 40 years ago http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/rhsdaze09.htm with tales of broken fingers and pawawawellograms.

Where are they now Primary 5a and 7a 1962

New photographs of Miss Roy's primary 5a classes from 1960 http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/wherenow5.htm and 1962 http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/wherenow7.htm plus a new colour photo of Mr Watson's 7a class of 1962 http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/wherenow6.htm are now featured in the Where are they Now pages.
If you want to get in touch with anyone, you can post a message here, or send it to the website.

Photos from Race Day

The photos from Race Day on June 17th are now on the web site. See http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/racedaypic.htm

A little reminiscence from exactly forty years ago.

David Robb has posted an anecdote about how bullies were dealt with in the sixties.
Read on http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/rhsdaze09.htm
If you have any comments add them here.

We went to a pokey wee comprehensive school in west Edinburgh that was always having building work done and fights up the back gate with young 'clerrie derry'.....

Ross Crombie points out our website neglects the 80's and 90's so we've posted his memories as a start to redress the balance. http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/nineties.htm

New Site Map

There is now a Site Map on the website.
Our website has over 80 pages, use the site map to explore the site.

RHSCL Annual Raceday at Sandown Park

Dear High School High Rollers,


Following a very successful dip in the water last year, I am delighted to announce that the first fully-fledged RHSCL Annual Race Day will take place at Sandown Park on Saturday June 17th.

The racecourse is situated on the outskirts of the pleasant Surrey town of Esher and it is easily accessible by road (A3/M25) or by rail. There are frequent services from Waterloo, Clapham Junction and Wimbledon and Esher Station is only ten minutes walk from the racecourse entrance.

There are a number of tempting discounts available for groups of more than 12 people. We could save 20% on a £23 ticket to the Premier Enclosure which offers panoramic views of the racecourse as well as easy access to the paddock. The price also includes a £5 food and drink voucher and a £2 reduction in the price of a placepot bet with the Tote. For the uninitiated, a placepot bet involves you in trying to find horses to finish first, second or third (and sometimes fourth) in each of the races. There are innumerable bars and restaurants where you can either spend your winnings or drown your sorrows and since Irish bookmakers, Paddy Power, are sponsoring the entire day's racing, no doubt there'll be plenty of Guinness available for thirsty punters. For full details of all that Sandown Park can offer, just log on to www.sandown.co.uk

It would be very helpful if you could indicate in a brief e-mail whether or not you'd be up for this event, especially with the Group discount in mind. Partners are, of course, very welcome-and don't forget the family. Children under 16 are admitted free if accompanied by an adult. And I shall once again be giving my exclusive guide to the form in each race. How can you resist?

I look forward to hearing from you whenever you have a quiet moment.

All the very best



Al Senter



PS June 17th does, of course, mark the end of the first week of the World Cup but I don't imagine that would interest many members of the RHSCL-for obvious reasons.

Where are they now Primary 5a 1960?

Ian Gill has sent a photo of primary 5A from 1960.
If you are in the photo, or can identify anyone in it, please contact him through the website.
http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/wherenow5.htm

Emma-Jane Thommen to play at RHSCL Annual Dinner

The RHSCL Committee are very pleased to announce that Emma-Jane Thommen (RHS 1997) has agreed to perform for us again at this years' RHSCL Annual Dinner on Friday 17th March 2006 at The Cavendish Hotel, 81 Jermyn Street, Mayfair. For those who have not seen or heard Emma-Jane play before a treat awaits. Emma-Jane is Scotland's Answer to the X-Factor and is a first-class singer, songwriter and pianist. Please check out her musical talents by visiting her website http://www.emma-janethommen.co.uk/ and listening to her music / buying her CD's!

STOP PRESS

Tickets for the Annual Dinner of the Royal High School Club in London are selling fast and final numbers have to be given to the hotel by a week today, Monday March 13th. For £35 per head, you get a three-course dinner, cabaret from the Royal High's own sultry songstress Emma-Jane Thommen, an after-dinner speech from the Royal High Music Man, John Murray and a chance to catch up with old friends and make some new ones. So, please. don't delay.

Cheques should be made payable to The Royal High School Club in London and sent to the following:

Alex Prentice
4, Archers Close
Hertford
Hertfordshire
SG14 3BD


I look forward to catching up with you then

March Movies

Glenn Chandler who created Taggart was an RHS pupil in the 60's. When at school in 1966 he organised a review along the lines of 'That was the Week It was' and we made a film which was shown at the review.
It was called 'Art de Nigel' and was a spoof on the awful Art Appreciation films that we were shown. It featured Glenn Chandler, Lewis ?????? and Peter Finlay Hammond. The whole review was held for the Aberfan Fund. The review ended with Glenn dressed as Bailie T singing a satirical song to the tune of Edelweiss from the Sound of Music. The three short films, Art de Nigel, Adverts, and Expedition can be viewed at http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/nnrhsmovies.htm .
Also Tourist Town, is the film made on the geography project in 1966. There are some shots of the Bedford Minibus travelling with the doors open, so much for Health and Safety, and Weedy getting out at Bonskeid.

Bruce tells it like it was

We have now published Bruce Skivington's upbeat account of life at the RHS in the late 50's through to the mid sixties. He covers the ATC, Gillespies Girls, the usual suspect - Fifi, Bowie and Somerville to name but a few.
There will also be some fuzzy films made at the time available for download shortly.
The first page is http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/bruce1.htm

Our Site Gets 200 Visits in a Day

In January our site broke all previous records, peaking at 200 visits a day. Total visits leapt from 2908 in December to 4169 in January.
Our friends, the Scots in London proved to be the biggest draw, with their Burns Night tickets selling out within 4 days of going on sale. Photos from the event are now in the site.
It's our Annual Dinner next month, so let's see if we can get the same buzz for that. Last year's dinner was one of the best, let's try to make this year even better.
The full top ten is listed at http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/rhstopten.htm

Coming Soon

We will be publishing Bruce Skivington's recollections of life at the school from 1954 to 1967.
Here is a taster (first published in our Guest Book)

What a wonderful time. Now most of the staff would be arrested if they carried on like the mob of the 50s and 60s.

The wonderful things - James Gillespies girls school, catching up on sleep in Tom Fairlie's class, Weedy Graham's slide shows of his holidays in his Dormobile (yup now own a classic Dormobile), Wee mac personally driving Rommel out of Africa, Big Dave chatting up the secretaries in the US Consulate, finding out later after school that Fred Scott was actually human.
Still feel guilty about the rough time we gave Jim Noble, who never belted me near enough for all the hassle. He must have been in his early 20s.
The completely barking science teachers, years later finding myself working alongside Bert Gristwood and Horsey Shires, schools now are not a patch on the old place.

I spent two years at Castlebrae High (Niddrie) which at that time was third worst school in Europe. Bert Gristwood was the head of PE. He told me some stories about some of the staff which confirmed what we all thought. I spent some time filling in at Firhill where I met Horsey Shires. I introduced myself and told him I had been at Royal High and he seemed to cower.

New on the Site in January 2006

Most noticable, we hope, the site has been given a makeover, with nice new banners at the top of the main pages.
Club President Simon Card OBE stood in the school's mock election sometime in the 1960's. A contemporary account of the event can be found at http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/mockel67.htm .
Final details of our forthcoming Annual Dinner appear on http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/rhsevents.htm . Contact Alex Prentice if you want to go.

Photos from last year's dinner can be viewed by clicking on the photo link on the Home Page. Some former teachers appeared to get quite merry.

Our 3 pages of links to other sites of interest have been updated with new links.

The Scots in London go from strength to strength with their latest event selling out very quickly. Visit them at their new address www.scotsinlondon.com .

Our Top Ten Pages at www.royalhigh.org.uk/rhstopten.htm has also had a makeover. The Scots in London take the number one position.

And finally, as your webmaster is job hunting, there is an updated link to his CV at www.royalhigh.org.uk/webmaster.htm