Jacky Simpson reflects upon the evolution of the Reunion Weekend.

America, Antarctica, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Greece, Namibia, New Zealand, Tasmania, Turkey, you name it, there’ll be one of us there. Aberdeen  biologists, have been in demand all over the World but still there lingers a touch of the magic of Aberdeen student days and, if a reunion is mentioned, there’s considerable interest. Not that reunions had been mentioned too often and in the case of the Zoo class of 63-67 it had never happened. There had been a couple of attempts but they were confined to the honours class of 13 who were spread around the Globe with some still working. Difficult one that—didn’t happen.
It is sad to think that the ignition sparks for the idea of our reunion came from the untimely, tragic death of a little girl, a still birth, a car crash and a diagnosis of leukaemia but these were the circumstances that led to a chance meeting on the one hand and the acquiring of a long lost address or two on the other. My tiny circle of maintained classmate contact doubled immediately to 6 and after that the ripple effect of memories and ancient address books plus the two edged sword of the internet kicked in and within a very short time the list had reached 300. Not, I hasten to add, that 300 people studied Zoology in that group but the related disciplines of Botany, Agriculture and Forestry were drawn in, as were staff and research students so that, in the end, the time scale spanned the decade.
Well, 300 names was one achievement, 300 sets of contact details quite another. The University did come up with a list of sorts but many of the addresses were out of date.
The first mailing must have been around the order of about 70 and the response was gratifying if well short of total. Each recipient had been asked for more names and addresses and the former flooded in, not always accompanied by the latter.
Ploy number 2 was by recourse to my one remaining Student Guide, a 1966 copy, which, along with the Aberdeen ‘digs’ addresses, also gave home addresses. Another 40 letters to 40 year old addresses swelled the postal sacks reaping a harvest of 3, one letter having reached the family home several months after the death of the remaining parent of the addressee but, crucially, one month or so before the house sale went through, the missive thus reaching the right hands. Another letter, enquiring after someone with an unusual name, caught the imagination of a subsequent householder and he found a relative in the phone book who, fortunately, had no truck with ‘this data protection mullarkey’ and happily handed over the required details. The lady in question was an Arts graduate and didn’t think she would fit in but she had also figured as a member of a couple of trips with the Expeditionary Society to Iran and Afghanistan, alongside several Zoologists, and as each one committed to the proposed reunion and mentioned her name, I passed this on to her with yet another gentle prod to join us so that, in the end, she capitulated...anything for a quiet life, I suppose.
Various names and contacts were picked up off the internet, being prominent academics or having written books or articles of note but in one case I found myself corresponding with several people of the same name and all in the same discipline bracket but not, unfortunately the one I was looking for. She turned up in a very unexpected way. Another member of our group, quite unaware that I was looking for him at the time, was, unhelpfully, out of the country in New Zealand.  He was, by chance, put in touch with, and met ,the sister of our above mentioned classmate, now residing in Namibia, whose e-mail he was able to pass on when he returned home and learned about the reunion.
Another elusive name happened to have been a student girlfriend of my husband’s and he remembered the small Devon village where her family had a holiday cottage to which he had been invited. A letter to the local parish council resulted in contact with a sister who gave us the required address.
Two other sisters, both eligible to attend, lived on a remote Scottish island. A couple of letters addressed to owners of the same name culled from the electoral roll of said island, brought us a letter from their brother, now resident in Ashby de la Zouche, furnishing his sisters’ married names and addresses.
As part of the entertainment for the Main Event Dinner on the Saturday evening, I had a yen to contact the student band of our era, the Misfits.......how?  Yet again ‘hubby’ came up with the goods. His best student mate, now a stalwart burgher of Edinburgh, had taught the son of the lead singer, also a resident of Edinburgh, and might still be in touch with him. Such proved to be the case and when I finally made contact (someone else unhelpfully away on an extended holiday....these retired people!!!...) there was a favourable response, the whole group was eventually found....no urgency you understand....and rehearsals commenced. One particular member of the group proved to be more ‘organisationally aware’ than the others and during one of our several phone conversations it emerged that he had been in his garden one day, attending to some horticultural or arboreal necessities, when a passerby, whom he vaguely knew, approached him saying that she understood the Misfits to be regrouping for an event in Aberdeen. Her husband had been a Zoology student there in the 1960s so my Misfit thoughtfully took the name, the address was local so he looked up the phone number for me and I rang up with the obvious request.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” was the male response, “it’s our Ruby Wedding Anniversary that weekend and we’ll probably be doing something with the family.”
Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all.
Now we had, in our class, two people of the same name, but very different stature so, student like, we nicknamed them Big K****** and Little K******.  Big K****** had ended up doing something interesting in the City. Sadly he died quite young and, in order to remember him on our website (of which more anon), Little K***** and another of our classmates who had roomed with Big K*****, were asked to put together a few words. Big K**** had had twin sisters, unhappily one of those was also dead but our intrepid pair thought that if they could contact the remaining sister, a chat with her might refresh ageing memories. A good idea? Yes... but what was her married name? They knew she still lived in the family farm but couldn’t remember what it was called, wasn’t it somewhere near K******?
“Aha,” quoth I, “I have a K******* contact in my reunion address book, might that be it?” Sure enough it was our Ruby Wedding celebrants who, by this time, had discovered that their family had planned a ‘surprise’ for the weekend after the reunion and they were now more than happy to come to the dinner. They even furnished some extra names and it turned out that weddings had clashed 40 years back and they had missed some of each others’ celebrations so were keen to share the Ruby occasion.
As plans for the weekend progressed and it became obvious that there would be several Botanists, Foresters and Agricultural graduates amongst the welter of Zoologists, I looked towards what we could do of special interest for them. The Aberdeen Agricultural Graduates Association came up trumps with plans for a fantastic day out visiting all sorts of places exhibiting farming and forestry diversification. Learning that the current president of the AAGA had links with China, I asked him if he could find anything out about one of our number I suspected to be now in Beijing. A website link materialised and 26 pages of CV downloaded onto my astonished computer. I only wanted the first ten lines or so which gave me his contact details and I wrote and e-mailed to two addresses. He replied quite quickly explaining that, inexplicably, he had received a letter from the UK, the first in three years to one address and that one of the e-mail addresses he only used for six weeks of each year. He was concerned and grateful to discover that such prolific detail of his life and career was at large on the internet and promptly removed it.
Not one to take indecision, apathy or even outright refusal without a battle, on an entirely unrelated visit to the South, I noticed that the unusual name of the Kent village, where we had booked B&B in an oasthouse, featured in the reunion address book and, what’s more, there had been no response. A recce, on my usual early morning walk, pinpointed the property in question and, at a more acceptable hour, we ventured up the drive of a very fine house with a wonderful garden and fabulous view. Half way up the drive we were hailed by a semi naked man who emerged from behind the hedge he was trimming.
“R****** S******* ?” I enquired, “J***** S****** Aberdeen University reunion ?”
“Oh yes, how did it go?”
“Nowhere yet, it’s next year.”
Much embarrassment ensued and over a coffee a new couple was signed up and addresses of further possibles acquired.
A few months into this mammoth task, my alter ego or Northern Command as he later styled himself, came up with the brainwave of setting up a website. Well....fine....yes....an excellent idea but I couldn’t help and knew nothing about anything connected with websites, I could barely even access them. Not to worry....he would cope.... and did! An absolutely fantastic website was set up....I was appointed assistant webmaster but given strict instructions not to meddle in case I crashed it! Obediently I did nothing more than respond to new additions as well as posting a profile of myself along with a few photos. I surprised myself even doing that.
We did our best to encourage people to post profiles and photos both of student days for the 60s rogues gallery and also more recent ones so that we could be warned of the havoc the intervening 40 years may or may not have wreaked. Quite a number responded with a profile, some of which were lengthy and fascinating, others barely progressing beyond a date of birth and area of abode. Many fewer posted photos but those who did were warmly thanked.
The 20 months or so gestation period for this event were punctuated by a couple of trips from Leeds to Aberdeen to be welcomed by Northern Command and spouse and greatly assisted with the planning and organisation. The third member of our triumvirate, now in the Manchester area, a great supporter of the initial idea and supplier of many names and addresses, also did a recce in Aberdeen for some of the venue and entertainment possibilities. He helped check the forms and letters that went out, managed to restrain my more outlandish suggestions and came to our caravan in Cumbria to help choose the wines and menus only to find, on my second trip North, that they had all been changed in the meantime.
Various alarms and excursions, innumerable changes of mind and decisions, sadly a death or two and several serious diagnoses later found 120 odd of us en route for King’s for the great weekend. Somewhat apprehensively I arranged for our big event to begin with a service in the Chapel, to be taken by one of our former lecturers. The problem with it being specially for us (my first question had been about the possibility of some of us, should we wish, attending the usual Sunday service only to find that there weren’t any during the summer recess) was could I encourage enough people to come to make it worthwhile, especially as some were coming so far that they weren’t sure they’d make it for the welcome buffet, never mind the service. I needn’t have worried, there must have been at least 90 people there and Duncan Heddle couldn’t have better tailored the service to suit the circumstances and the occasion. Even the hymns were well known, old favourites that people belted out with gusto trying to compete with the powerful brand new organ. The queue to inspect the King’s wedding register from the 60s was lengthy and well worth the Chaplaincy Secretary’s time in making both it and herself, as custodian, available on a Friday evening.
Zeste, the venue for the welcome buffet was but a step across the road and the later arrivals joined us there to hear Professor Steve Logan’s address about the progression and expansion of the University since the 60s and the visions for the future before we set about attacking a very acceptable buffet.The enthusiasm after the service and Prof Logan’s address, not to mention eating and drinking, left us but little time for chat and reminiscences as we were only booked in till 10pm and the staff had a job to evict us.
Due to the diversity of disciplines, not to mention the welcome attendance of spouses, some unconnected with the Science Faculty or even the University, there was a variety of activities planned for the Saturday from the coffee morning at Adrian Marshall’s fabulous house and garden opposite King’s followed by a guided walk around Old Aberdeen led by Duncan to the Botany outing to Dinnet Nature Reserve and the Cruickshank gardens led by Neil Bayfield and Gordon Smith, the Agric/Forestry outing to Craibstone, Tillycorthie, Lochter and Bennachie led by Ken Thomson, Ian Edwards and Owen MacPherson and finally, the hugely oversubscribed Zoo trip out to Ocean Lab at Culterty, Newburgh which was  addressed by Phil Bagley on the subject of deep sea exploration and research  after which  Martyn led a fascinating and informative walk around the Ythan Estuary and Forvie Sands.
The walkers arrived back in good time to titivate for the Evening’s junketing but so action packed were the Botany and Agric/Forestry trips that they were hard pressed to be ready in time for the pre-dinner drinks at 6.30pm. These were accompanied by the melodious strains of the Glen Tannar String Quartet and as people arrived many of them brought items for the memorabilia and publications or hobbies display which proved considerable and of great interest.
Parts of the meal were exceptional although I did hear of a complaint about the wine. It wasn’t top of the range, as the meal had been, I acknowledge that but we hadn’t wanted the price of the dinner to go through the roof. A slight problem in the kitchen meant that the speech and band came on rather later than anticipated but their acclaim was none the less for that.
Sir Fred Holliday’s speech was superb as he mulled over the pathways his own life had taken and how they had intertwined with some of ours. The Misfits, who kept us so entertained in the 60s while students themselves, did not disappoint and those of us willing and able joined their entourage on the dance floor. There were some formidable performances from several couples, not mentioning any names, but they had been sitting on the Iran table.
Some people departed that evening, others the next day but a coachload of stalwarts set off up Deeside in the mist and rain. Never one to embark on a journey without the prospect of a cafe in view, I had arranged that our first stop was for coffee at Feugh  Falls near Banchory. An absolutely delightful spot, the weather having guaranteed spectacular falls, for some the camera won out over the coffee, at least at first, but one couple was observed tucking into the most enormous and delicious looking piece of cream filled Victoria Sponge. The rest of us shared a scone!!!
Further progress along South Deeside revealed fabulous scenery, much of it draped in the royal purple of the newly blooming heather. Sailing past the gates of Balmoral, we narrowly missed seeing the Royal Family returning from Crathie Church as we carried on towards Braemar for our lunch booking.
This had been a task in itself as the unsatisfactory and unhelpful manner I had encountered in my dealings with the first choice venue led me to change at the last moment necessitating a second and third general e-mail requesting choice of menu which landed us with an extra couple of bookings and, therefore a larger bus. It had been an ill wind from which we had benefited and we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch despite the downpour outside which, thankfully, cleared in time for us to have a dry half hour wandering around Ballater.
Well, nearly two years of planning later, a successful event, so I am assured, and it’s all over. Still the cards and e-mails keep arriving and it’s lovely to hear from people who seem to have really enjoyed themselves although I was struck by the number who said how apprehensive they had been. Many thanks to them for braving their fears and turning up. I actually heard several comments on what a well preserved bunch we were, how people did not look their age and had not changed massively since student days.
I hope people enjoyed re-meeting former friends and classmates. I know my husband was really pleased to come across  a  husband with whom he had played cricket at University and they recalled the tours they had been on. Having also been at school as well as university in Aberdeen, I was in the fortunate position of having about six people there who had been at school with me, three of them in the same year.
I had a beautiful, leather bound book which I had bought while visiting the Darwin Exhibition at the Natural History Museum earlier this year (my general invitation to join me there had one taker, Dave Mardon, but we thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition and chatting about former classmates). Everyone was invited to sign the book and stick in a small photo of themselves (I’m still hoping that the photo-less people will send me one). This is a wonderful keepsake which may well have further use if we ever have another reunion!!!
 
 
Jacqueline A. Simpson   2009-09-05