ECSOSA Archives

'The archives' of the School and Association include such things as school magazines, Speech Day programmes, and photographs. Maureen Bealby, Frank Wallder and Beryl Cushion have been particularly active in sorting through the collections and trying to establish some order, and in particular Beryl has put a lot of work in over the last few years and has pretty much completed the cataloguing process.

At the time of writing it isn't clear where the eventual home of the archive will be but it is hoped the school itself will be able to find a permanent home for it and hopefully find a way to draw on the material for educational purposes.

It is hoped that it will be possible for much of the archive material will be converted into 'electronic' formats over time and it can then be made more widely available.

Naturally there are gaps in the collections and it will hopefully become possible to publish the catalogue on the website and appeal for help in locating specific items. A few years back it was noted that more issues of the school magazines have survived than was feared might be the case but Stag magazines and programmes for Speech Day and sports and drama events are a little thin on the ground.

If anyone does have any old material relating to the School and the Association they are asked to keep it safe so it can be saved for posterity. It might well be the only copy of that material left that will ever come to light. Please don't think it has to be really old either as there are likely to be 'missing' items even from the last ten or twenty years.

Peter M Evans appeals

We do have a particular appeal for information. Peter M Evans (1955–61), writing in September 2013, says:

I am helping Beryl Cushion to catalogue and index the OSA archives.

I have started with The Thespians and would welcome sight of any material relating to The Thespians and their productions and particularly anything from the period 1927–1944 inclusive and the years 1947, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1954 and post–1965.

By 'any' material I mean programmes, newspaper cuttings, photographs or reminiscences (if you just want to chat about it then email me your phone number and I would be happy to call you back.)

For photographs and written material photocopies would be fine but any originals will be lovingly cared for and returned if you so wish.

I would actually welcome evidence of anything that relates to OSA and not just The Thespians.

I will be at the Reunion/AGM on 19th October 2013 but failing that I can be emailed and I would be happy to collect any precious items you do not want to entrust to the post providing you live within a day’s 'march' of Woking in Surrey.

Peter also comments that at the time of writing moment Beryl is only making a particular appeal for material relating to the Old Scholar's Association itself rather than the School. He would also like to point out that he should not be confused with Peter L Evans (1951–58).

If you would like to e-mail Peter you may either click on the links to open your e-mail application or if you hover over them you may see his e-mail address displayed (exactly how and where depends on your browser). This does rely on you having JavaScript enabled. We prefer not to display e-mail addresses in full on this website as they are so easily harvested and end up on spam lists.