Once again the sun shone for OC day, again combined with Speech Day, as Cranleigh looked at its glorious best. It was a day tinged with sadness as it also marked the end of Guy Waller’s 17-year headmastership. The formal farewell came during the speeches in the packed Trevor Abbott Sports Centre.
After the speeches, parents, pupils and OCs enjoyed a range of sports matches and exhibitions, including a farewell art exhibition by Peter McNiven, one of three teachers also retiring from the School this year (the others being Robert Clarke and Richard Allon-Smith) with nearly one hundred years’ service between them.
It was a day for the current Cranleigh family to celebrate the privileges of a Cranleigh education with those from many generations who enjoyed its privileges under other headmasters, and it was a great pleasure to welcome back David Emms (1960-1970) and his successor Marc van Hasselt (1970-1984).
There were reunions for those who had left on each decade from 1954 through to 2004; they enjoyed lunch in Hall and then tea on the pavilion balcony where they saw the OCs defeat the School in a Twenty20 match. There were two hockey matches and a netball game as well.
The drinks in the Quad and the chapel service were, as usual, well attended.