STAR LETTER

40 Years On?

Michael Cannon (Class of 1955) and his wife recently visited the Duke of York’s Theatre in London to view a performance of the pantomime, Mother Goose. Starring in the title role was Sir Ian McKellen, who was three years behind Michael at School.

“The moment I saw [Ian] on stage I had a vision of the Great Hall where I had watched him perform in the School play on several occasions, the last one being in 1955. I also had a vivid image of the Hall on Speech Day, with my fellow pupils and me belting out, with gusto, the words of the song Forty Years On. The words of the song have remained in my head not only for 40 years, but for more than 70 years, and I am still counting! As I sat in the Duke of York’s Theatre I quietly hummed the song’s tune and recalled the words from the first verse:

‘Then, it may be, there will often come o’er you, Glimpses of notes like the catch of a songVisions of boyhood shall float them before you, Echoes of dreamland shall bear them along.’

“How relevant to me these words are today and they returned to me as I watched Sir Ian strutting his stuff on stage. His performance was a joy to behold and I marvelled at his brilliance and his energy. Furthermore, during the weekend when we saw him in action, he was on stage for both a matinée and an evening performance on two consecutive days! So ‘70 Years On’ rather than ‘40 Years On’ most certainly applies to Sir Ian as it definitely does to me. I am sure that he must have sung the words of the song while he was a pupil at Bolton School, but does he remember the following text from the fourth verse?

‘Forty years on, growing older and older, Shorter in wind, as in memory long, Feeble of foot, and rheumatic of shoulder, What will it help you that once you were strong?’

“If he ever read the script I can’t imagine that he could ever forget those lines – but in Sir Ian’s case they are seemingly there to be scorned.”

Dr Michael Cannon (1946-1955)

Correction

In the Autumn edition we published a photo taken at the ‘2’ Reunion in October last year. The caption incorrectly identified one of those featured as Carron Paige (née Bland); it was in fact, Jane Wilkinson (née Rothwell). We offer our sincere apologies to both Carron and Jane.

Lifesaving Champions

Clive Nightingale (Class of 1983) spotted in the Autumn 2022 edition the photograph of the School swimming pool taken in 1974 and has identified the Old Boys kneeling on the poolside. They are Chris Lossin (Class of 1977) and Dave Cole (Class of 1978) who had won the National Schools lifesaving championships in Coventry. Standing behind them is Clive’s sister, Alison Nightingale (Class of 1978), and Pauline Baldwin (Class of 1979). Clive recalls that a few years later he entered the same competition with Michael Moore (Class of 1982) and they came third!

The First Viscount Leverhulme

The account of the generosity of the Second Viscount Leverhulme in the Autumn edition prompted Malcolm Howe (Class of 1956) to recall a cherished family memory of the Second Viscount’s father, who was accustomed during his visits to Bolton to address young folk at Blackburn Road Congregational Church.

“Constructed in red sandstone, like Bolton School, it was so richly rebuilt at the expense of himself and his brother in memory of their father, a dedicated Congregationalist, that it was known as Bolton’s Cathedral of Nonconformity My mother, Dora, recollected that he recounted this amusing anecdote during his last visit just before died; so she would have been 16 at that time.

“The First Viscount Leverhulme said he had just returned from London where a taxi driver recognised him and, when proffered a tip, retorted ‘But that is only half what your son gives me, My Lord.’ His Lordship’s response was ‘It is all right for him because he has a very rich father!’ It took a Lancastrian to get the better of a Cockney.”

Mike Worsley, Jonathan Battersby, Nigel Mayers, Jane Wilkinson (née Rothwell), Marcus Smith, David Sharples (all Class of 1982)