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Manor House School, Centenary Picnic & Garden Party Saturday 11th September 2021
again”. Cherry Trees, another local charity who provide short breaks for children and young adults with complex disabilities, hosted their own stall selling beautifully hand made gifts. The afternoon of live music was kicked off by three of the school’s senior girls, Beth and Emily and Asha, who sang and played the guitar, Director of Music Mrs Harman performed songs from the 40s including “Cheek to Cheek” and “A Sentimental Journey”, and Manor House School’s groundsman Rob Smith and his singing partner Bill Boyse, known as “The Decades”, headlined with a number of rousing songs to end the day’s celebrations.
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I know that lady, excuse me a moment!” might have been the most overhead comment during Manor House School’s Centenary Picnic this past September, as teams of old girls and staff spotted each other across the front lawn and embarked on an afternoon of reminiscing. The event, re-scheduled from last September, brought together school families, alumnae, local residents, community groups and Heritage Open day visitors, all in the name of marking 100 years of Manor House School. 4 CHRISTMAS 2021
Amongst the many visitors, Mrs Joan Findlay, Headmistress between 1985 and 1989, settled down to her picnic with another three generations of her family, her daughter Ailsa was a parent governor, her daughter Fritha belongs to the class of 1995, and Fritha’s baby daughter, quietly enjoying the hubbub from her comfort of her pushchair. Fritha and her partner Olaf had not been sure that they would make it to the event, having recently completed their self build home in Sussex, the subject of a Grand Designs episode in its current series on Channel 4.
Meanwhile, in the main house, a guided tour for a group 1966 leavers produced complaints that the walls had moved since they were last at Manor House! They had been most keen to revisit their boarding rooms and stories of games and pranks came flooding back as they moved through the upper floors. Over in the Food Court, the Great Bookham Belles WI were on hand to provide teas, coffees and cakes in exchange for donations towards their chosen local charities, reflecting “it’s good to be able to start fundraising for our causes
Bringing an event of this size together is always a team effort and friends of the school gave their time generously including Dan Smith from DS lighting (@ dslighting952) who was on hand to help with lighting and sound for the day’s performers. Despite the village of Bookham being a hive of activity with other events taking place on the same day, Manor House School was thrilled to welcome just under 800 visitors on the day, a fitting celebration for a momentous birthday. Here’s to the next 100 years! Manor House School is an independent girls’ school (2-16 years) in Bookham, Surrey. Est. in 1920. ‘To Love is to Live.’ primarytimes.co.uk/surrey
