Winding Back The Years

Today my class of 1986 met back at school and will have a busy week ahead with activities and functions planned. This time around I could not make it and for those living in Cape Town it is far easier to attend. One or two are flying in from elsewhere in the world and I am kind of jealous to be missing out.

The photos they sent me today are a reminder of what we had as an education and the setting of the school is simply beautiful. What you see in the above picture is Devils Peak and this is basically the backside of Table Mountain. For those of you that know the famous front on picture of Table Mountain then this is on the backside of the left of that if that makes sense.

My old school is in the suburb of Newlands and this suburb has the highest rainfall in South Africa due to the clouds being caught on this side of the mountain. Oddly enough the other side has far less and the difference in weather is virtually the exact opposite.

The school has not really changed over the last 40 years besides the extra additions like the indoor cricket training facility. This is a government school and not a private school except the old boys are the ones who fund these additions. I could not see the government agreeing to pay for such additions and why the old boys are important to keeping the standards and traditions in place.

Every now and then we have a fund driver for the next project which could be a new building or buying more land which means buying up expensive properties in the area and demolishing them. I noticed one such estate which had been purchased the last time I was there and this equated to another school playing field.

I have not seen government schools with the same type of facilities and my kids definitely got the short straw when I compare their schools and mine. The beauty about having so many different facilities is the chances of finding a sport you are good at are far higher. Any type of talent is nurtured and why having these facilities is that important.

When I was attending the school back in the day I never realized how privileged I was as I knew no better and I have my parents to thank for this. If they had never moved from the UK who knows what kind of education I would have received. In the southern suburbs there are 4 boys schools of similar standards when it comes to facilities and why their is such a big rivalry.

I am not sure what my class of 1986 is going to donate this year, but they will be doing something and it could be a bursary for one student like we did last time we met up 10 years ago. I have promised them I will pop in for a visit later this year as I still remain in contact with my school buddies who I played sport with. These were lifelong connections you make and this is important to remain in touch.

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