Sun shines once more on OC Day

Cricket on Jubilee on OC Day 2014Once 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.