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The visit of Her Royal Highness The Princes Margaret TUESDAY AFTERNOON, 18th October, 1960, at approximately 3 p.m. Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret, President of our Homes, stepped from her Rolls Royce to commence her visit to our School. The sun was shining, and by so doing made the perfect setting for us to receive our President, and I am sure her first impressions could only have been of wonderment as she appreciated the wonderful natural surroundings in which our Home is set. The Mayor of Hertford, Councillor F. Herniman, J.P., as senior official of the Borough, received Her Royal Highness, and he in turn then presented the following officials and their wives to Her Royal Highness: The Mayoress of Hertford, Mrs. F. Herniman; The Town Clerk of Hertford, Mr. A. I. Clough, and Mrs. Clough; The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire, Brigadier R. N. Hanbury, G.B.E., T.D., and Mrs. Hanbury; The Chairman of The Hertfordshire County Council, Mr. E. J. Baxter; The Clerk of The Hertfordshire County Council, :Mr. A. Neville Moon, and Mrs. Moon; The Chief Constable of Hertfordshire, Leiutenant-Colonel A. B. Wilcox, O.B.E., and Mrs. Wilcox; Mr. A. G. B. Owen, C.B.E., Chairman of Council of Dr. Barnardo's Homes. Mr. Owen then took over the official duties and presented the following officials of the Homes to Her Royal Highness: The Reverend W. Eugene Charles, MA Member of Council of Dr. Barnardo's Homes; Mr. R. lan Milne, M.A., M.B., B.CH., M.R.C.P., Member of Council, and Mrs. Milne; Mr. E. H. Lucette, M.C., B. A., General Superintendent; Mr. F. J. Potter, F.G.A., General Secretary; Mr. Theodore F. Tucker, Deputy General Superintendent; Dr. C. V. Bloom, B.A., M.B., B.S., Chief Medical Officer; Mr. G. A. Seabrook, F.C.C.S., Deputy General Secretary, Mr. J. E. A. Bazalgette, Chief Executive Officer; Councillor L. B. Keeble, J.P., Chairman of the Goldings Committee, and Mrs. Keeble; Mr. James Maslin, Secretary of the School; Mr. R. F. Wheatley, B.SC., Head master of the School, and Mrs. Wheatley. After the presentations Mr. and Mrs. Wheatley then conducted Her Royal Highness into the main building, where the Princess was invited to sign the Visitors' Book, and was shown the signature of her uncle The Duke of Windsor (then Prince of Wales) when he officially opened the School in November, 1922. The Princess then walked across the courtyard, where the School Army Cadet Unit, under the command of Captain A. P. Culver, formed a Guard of Honour, and behind whom were assembled all boys not on duty, and members of staff and their families. On the new grass lawn outside the new wing were assembled some 300 invited guests, who also had a wonderful view of Her Royal Highness as she walked up the steps and along the approach to the main entrance of the new wing.
Her Royal Highness was then conducted through the whole of the new wing, and then through the new corridor into the old building, through Aberdeen dormitory to the first floor landing and then down the main stairway to the assembly rooms, where the Princess inspected the Exhibition of Work displayed by the Shops, School and Home.
Tea was served at 3.45 p.m., and once more the Princess was able to meet more boys and staff. Our Senior Housemaster and one boy from each house spent some minutes with her during tea. The lucky boys were: Ronald Smith, Peter Beresford, Roy Capon, Terence Whitehead, and Harold Holberry. David Bird, who left us some weeks before, made a special trip back to be presented to Her Royal Highness, as he was the boy who made the coffee table, which was part of the wedding present given to the Princess and Mr Anthony Armstrong Jones.
As one looked round amongst the crowd, one could sense a feeling of happiness and perhaps relief, because everything had gone according to plan, and when so many people have spent so many hours planning; planning, planning, what greater reward can they ask except success, and this had really been a successful occasion. We were all captured by the charm and understanding of the Princess, who carried out her duties with complete efficiency, and we are all agreed that it was the Princess who had the most difficult job to do, facing and talking to so many people she had never seen or heard of before, and showing such knowledgeable interest in trades that she could only have read about before. I am sure we all learned a lot from the example set by our President. Having described, very briefly I am afraid, all that happened at that auspicious Tuesday, let me give you same facts about the new wing. It was built in just over eighteen months, which in itself was quite a feat, when one remembers the amount of earth that had to. be cut out, and the amount af concrete that had to be put in as footings for the building to stand an, as well as the trees that had to be uprooted. The cost has been something over £20,000, apart from all the fittings that had to go into such a building. It is a lot af money, but its purpose warrants every penny spent. Thirty-five boys and several staff will be housed completely in that wing far many years to come. So when somebody writes the notes about MacAndrew House in twenty years' time, he may be able to give same details as to the numbers that have passed through the house since its beginning, then we can really count the cast. The wing has been named MacAndrew in memory of the late Mr. D. J. MacAndrew, who for many years served as a Member af Council and an the Goldings Committee, and was a great friend to. Golding’s boys. In fact a great many of our improvements have been made possible by the generosity of the MacAndrew family, including the building of our Chapel in 1923. One last word of praise, and this time to our gardening department, who. laid out the scrubland next to the new wing in such a short time and to such great effect. The grass, the shrubs, the rose trees and the trailing nasturtiums were all a picture to. behold, and as can be seen from the picture of the new wing in the art supplement they really set the building up. N. T. P. Reproduced in part from The Goldonian Winter 1960 For those of you who are not aware MacAndrew wing is no more. Below the space where MacAndrew wing stood is now an underground car park. |
Outside
the main door the School Captain, Malcolm Stevens, presented Her
Royal Highness with the Golden Key to the MacAndrew Wing, and the
doors opened and Her Royal Highness entered to be greeted by the
Housemaster, Mr. Aldous. Mr. Owen then took the opportunity of
presenting the following people to Her Royal Highness: Mr. H. Hall,
DIPL.ARCH., DIPL.T.P., A.R.I.B.A.,
Chief Architect of Dr. Barnardo's Homes; Mr. W. H. Heard,
representing the contractors who built the wing, Messrs. George Mott
and Sons; Mr. L. Embleton, Deputy Headmaster of the School, and Mrs.
Embleton, Chief Matron of the School.
During
her tour of the Exhibition, the Princess took a great interest in
all she saw, and conversed with all the boys and staff who were on
duty at their respective stands. Mr. H. W. Tempest, head of the
Carpentry Department, presented Her Royal Highness with a table lamp
made in the department by Terry Cooper.
As
Her Royal Highness prepared to depart, John Bassett, one of the
youngest members of the School, presented her with a bouquet, and as
the car carried Her Royal Highness through the archway, the School
Captain led everyone in three lusty cheers, plus many more as
everyone picked up the lead.