Tessa Snowdon,
AOSA President 2007-08

When I was asked if I would be the 2007 President my first thought was, what an honour, my second, it’s a ploy to get me back onto the committee! As far as I am aware I am the youngest President in the association’s history and I think it was hoped that having a younger President would encourage the younger end of the Old scholars back, there were a few more here last night than last year, and in the words of Sally Tierney (Weschenfelder) I haven’t laughed so much for years! So hopefully we should have more back next year.

I can’t remember when I decided that I wanted to go to Ayton but I know that after reading all the school books by Enid Blyton, that I wanted to go to boarding school and Ayton was the closest I was going to get without bankrupting my parents.

While I was still in junior school, I had the opportunity to take part in the Friends’ Christmas production in Rosehill, which was The Wizard of Oz. My best friend Heppy (Sessa) and I were munchkins! Not too bad for her cos she’s always been short but I think I was the tallest one there, a case of serious miscasting.

I was in all the productions I could find after that, I was a tart in Godspell and Headmistress in Grease so it’s odd that people remember me as a goose in Bookworms and Bunions and I don’t remember throwing water over Jenny Smith in Oliver as she so unjustly accused me of in the magazine, I wouldn’t do a thing like that! What sticks in my mind from the productions was one we did called ‘The Crimson Coconut’  I was in a scene with Robert Jackson, and he was supposed to say ‘Oh Anna’ or some other such name and lean in as if to kiss me as the stage blacked out. When it came to the performance he did just that but I saw him coming and said ‘oh God’ but the audience heard me and ended up in fits of laughter which was not quite the romantic ending we were hoping for.

Before I started at School Heppy told me that the best house, as in the one that won everything was Swarthmore so she swung it so that she and I were in Swarthmore. I’m not sure where she got her information from or whether it was just the effect of having us in the house but I don’t remember a single occasion when Swarthmore won anything, the years I was there were dominated by Firbank.

My form teacher in first year was Mr. Morgan, he was lovely. I had the opportunity to see him not long before he died, as he was a patient on the ward I was working on. These days it is the custom in hospital to call patients by their first names but I could never call him anything but ‘Sir.’

We were the last year to start school when you had to go in on a Saturday morning, you’d think that whoever timetabled Saturday might make it fun, but no, we had French, maths, and English. The Wednesday afternoons off were great though, we’d go off with Mr. Wright in the old school bus, the one with bench seats and a gas fire, to Billingham forum and spend our time swimming and ice skating. By second year this stopped due to dropping boarder numbers and the introduction of weekly boarders and we went onto a five-day week like everyone else.

I left school in fifth form but after North Yorkshire County Council discovered you could only do A level music at our school, Ripon or Richmond they decided it was cheaper to pay for me to go back to Ayton than send me to Richmond in a taxi every time I had a lesson, which was very kind of them, so I went back for sixth form too.

One of my favourite teachers was Martin Essex, he taught or tried to teach me A level music, I think he despaired of me ever writing a piece of four part harmony correctly, I don’t think I ever did, but he conducted the choir too which gave us the wonderful opportunities of singing in places like Durham and Coventry Cathedrals with other Friends’ schools.

When I left school for the second time I moved over to Windermere for three years, did a variety of jobs then moved to Sunderland, started my Nurse training and met my husband. Ten years and three children later I was asked to join the Old Scholars committee and somehow landed the job of Reunion Co-ordinator, and may I say that the weather was never so unkind to me when I was in charge, I had a lovely time paddling in the marquee yesterday! Eight years on we’re still here, and I’m pleased to say we will be for a few years to come.

Tessa Snowdon(1981-88)

Would you like to see the 2006 Reunion Photo Report? Follow this link
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