Coronation Special – The Visit of Prince Charles, 1999

With the coronation looming on Saturday, we take a look at the visit of the then Prince of Wales to MGS in April 1999. The previous year, Prince Charles had agreed to become the Patron of the Bursary Appeal:

“His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales has accepted the title of Patron of the Manchester Grammar School Foundation Bursary Appeal. We are immensely grateful to the Prince of Wales for his support. In being willing to offer places to boys from some of the most challenging inner-city areas in our country, what MGS is seeking to achieve has already been matched by the efforts of the Prince’s Trust.“

Naturally, a visit was planned for the following year, and a full account was published in Ulula:

“The Prince of Wales, as Patron of the Foundation Bursary Appeal, visited the School on April 15th. Arriving in the Main Quad he was greeted by members of the Lower School before being welcomed by the Chairman of the Governors, Mr. Christopher Kenyon, and the High Master. After moving through the Display Area and the Bookshop, guided by pupils, he was welcomed to Lower School Assembly by the Lower Master, Rodger Alderson, who had taken the Queen round the Pool as Swimming Captain in 1965. Having heard notices and a report of the Under 12 Rugby season he addressed the boys. A visit to the Common Room, where he met Ian Bailey and the Common Room Officers who told him of the Staff’s contribution to the Appeal, was followed by ten minutes in John Shoard’s Fifth Form History lesson. Sitting next to Peter Goves, he took part in a discussion of the problems of peacekeeping from the League of Nations to the present. His next port of call was the Art Halls where he took a keen interest in the Pottery and saw boys of all ages painting and drawing.

But an important object of the visit was for him to meet some of those responsible for both running and supporting the Appeal. In the Library he was entertained by donors, among whom was Alan Garner, who has given the first year’s performance rights to Holly From the Bongs to his old school.

In Main Assembly the Prince, having informed us that his sons had instructed him to “keep it short and be funny,” spoke both of his school days in Australia and of the ability of the media to misinterpret his every doing. He went on:

“I am enormously proud to be associated with this particular Appeal for the Manchester Grammar School. I’ve heard a great deal about the School and the moment I heard what the aims of the Appeal are, I must say I saw the point at once. The School has always emphasised the fact that the education which is provided is for everybody, regardless of background, colour, creed or whatever and the Appeal Jis designed to enable this particular great tradition to continue. I do hope and pray that this Appeal will be a great success. All I can say is that I will do whatever I can to help. I’m here today to be able to wish you well, to offer my congratulations and encouragement to all those involved in organising and leading the Appeal, and to thank all those who’ve already given so much. I look forward to seeing some of you (when I’m old and hobbling about on two sticks), being very important in the future of this country and being a credit not only to this school but to your families and of course to Manchester. This School has produced some very remarkable people and we can ill afford to do without them as a nation, so what you’re learning here is going to be of enormous importance in many ways to the life of our country.”

Having unveiled a plaque, he was thanked by the School Captain who also presented him, for Princes William and Harry, with MGS 1st XI football shirts, signed by the team, as well as a brace of shirts from Manchesters City and United.

After chatting with members of the non-teaching staff in the Quad, he departed for Ducie High School where he toured the school, played the drums and met some of our boys who are involved in joint activities with pupils at Ducie. The Prince impressed all communities within the School with his genuine interest in and commitment to, the aims of the Appeal and his attachment to academic excellence.“

To view a full gallery of images, follow this link: https://www.mgs-life.co.uk/article/visit-of-charles-1999

The Visit of the Queen – Two Experiences

In light of the death of Elizabeth II this week, after seventy years on the throne, we thought we would take a look back to 1965 when the Queen visited MGS. The Visit of the Queen in 1965 rightly induced many pages of description and reflection in Ulula. Sixty-two years on it is interesting to compare the different experiences of those who were there. The “official” account read as follows:

“In the next seventeen pages we give an account of the Royal Visit. It is not a balanced account; some things lend themselves to verbal or pictorial records, others do not. Nor can it deal comprehensively with the reactions of everyone. The occasion was magnificent and stirred even cynical republicans to admissions of enthusiasm, while at the other end of the scale ardent royalists luxuriated in happy sentimentality. Between these extremes most of us put aside any reservations we may have had about pomp and protocol or the time taken from ordinary activities and enjoyed wholeheartedly the mixture of informality and ceremonial, the excellence of all that had been prepared for the Queen to see, and, above all, the grace, charm and interest which Her Majesty bestowed on the whole occasion. For though everything, even the weather, was perfectly prepared, it was her personality, her outgoing and radiant sympathy, which lifted the visit to such an inspiring level.

Her interest, so well shown in many of the photographs, must suffice as an indication of the excellence of what she saw. Whether it was painting in the Art Hall, climbing activities in the Gym, canoeing in the Swimming Bath or lute-making in the Workshop the standard was the same and the reaction of Her Majesty just as enthusiastic and interested. It is this wonderful display of sympathy and enthusiasm to which we have attempted to pay tribute in the few pages concerned with the displays.

After the photographs of the tour of the School we turn to a more formal narrative of the laying of the foundation stone, the lunch in the refectory and the final departure. Much has been omitted: the Queen’s entry down the Main Drive, the presentations, the part of the tour where prefects took over from the High Master and showed Her Majesty the Gym and the Swimming Bath. Some of these are mentioned in the unofficial accounts at the end of this section but comprehensiveness is not our aim. During the tour of the School Her Majesty was accompanied by the Chairman of Governors and the High Master and for part of the time by the School Captain and prefects. Now, on leaving the Workshop, she was rejoined by the whole official party. This consisted of Lord and Lady Derby, the Countess of Euston, Lady in Waiting to the Queen, other members of the Royal entourage and a civic party (including Alderman Chadwick, an Old Mancunian, then Lord Mayor of Manchester).

Thus accompanied Her Majesty went on to the major ceremony of the day. This was the laying of the Foundation Stone for the new Sixth Form Block which is now being erected in the space between the Gymnasium and the Library. This, though performed most gracefully before a large audience of guests and forms chosen by ballot, was perhaps something of an anti-climax. The loudspeakers did not do their job as they should have done and perhaps too the inevitable formality of such a glaringly symbolic operation accorded poorly with the lively personal interest which Her Majesty was able to show during the rest of the visit. Doubtless these things have to be done; nonetheless telling a man in the cab of a motor crane to lower a large stone on to a temporary wall will never have the glamour and drama of smashing a bottle of champagne on the bows of a ship. But still the symbolism was there and that is the essential part of the affair—the building will always be the one for which the Queen laid the foundation stone.

The ceremony completed, the Queen departed via an exhibition in the Library to take sherry with the High Master and the Governors. Then everyone went their several ways to dine, lunch or eat disconsolate sandwiches; which depending on their status or fortune in the ballot. The Governors and some of the official guests were nobly accommodated in the Meals Room. The other guests and the Royal Party joined members of the School for lunch in the Refectory. The menu for this meal was a source of some amusement to the School. It was described as a normal School Dinner; but it did not escape anyone’s notice that there were three courses instead of two and that the efforts of the Kitchen Staff had been very much more extensive than would normally be possible. Nonetheless it was no fancy banquet, merely a very good meal well cooked and well served. Of course it was not a normal School Dinner but it was sufficiently like one for it to have been true to claim that Her Majesty came and shared a meal with the School; as also she shared coffee with a party of masters in the Common Room after the meal. And so to the departure; a presentation of flowers by a temporarily cherubic first-former; a stately procession of noble cars down the drive past the assembled school and a final glimpse of a smiling sovereign prepared to give a special wave to two little girls standing away from the crowd in Old Hall Lane.

That special wave to the little girls was so typical of the immense warmth, interest and skill Her Majesty brought to the occasion. Even to someone as experienced as she a visit of this sort must be taxing but throughout she was no passive spectator but a keen and interested observer. One expects her to be able to cope with the small boy who says “Yes Miss” when asked if he is enjoying his work, but we were not ready for a memory which recognised Christopher Whittaker, who was to explain the gym display, as one of the horn players in the fanfare an hour earlier; or which remembered that Mr Corbett, introduced after lunch, had pulled the cord which unveiled the coat of arms. This is the expertise that comes of devotion. We can only say humbly how grateful we are that she honoured our School with three hours of this noble service of graciousness.“

The following description came from a First former:

“My first impressions of the Historic Day were as I first sighted the school from the pavement of Old Hall Lane. For instead of a mass of builders’ tools, a bright white marquee could be seen. As I approached the marquee I could see a platform covered with a red carpet and a brick covered with a small green tarpaulin on top of two wooden blocks. As I approached still nearer, a brand new motor crane was exposed to view. Entering my form room I was greeted by a deadly hush. Judging from my own form it seemed as though everyone had had his hair cut. Then came the hour of waiting. At last at 10-20 I, with the others in the choir, went into the Memorial Hall. There everyone from governors to cleaners came in, all in their best outfits. As time dragged on Mr Cawthra wandered round the orchestra in nervous fashion waiting for the arrival of the Royal Party. At last the muffled noise of clapping reached our ears, the quiet organ music ceased and the entrance grew nearer. As the first of the procession entered, the people in the hall stood up. There was a touch of tenseness in the air. Then it happened, Her Majesty entered, wearing a gorgeous hat and coat in deep turquoise. The programme continued with a masque specially written for the occasion. Then I hurried back to my form room where we had a “ normal” Latin lesson as the Queen’s party passed. This was followed by another waiting period until the foundation stone was to be laid. On arrival under the marquee we were ushered into our places by some prefects. There we were filmed by the BBC while the ceremony took place. This wasn’t very thrilling and the Queen didn’t even lay the cement. When she blessed the stone there was nothing to be heard as the microphones were badly placed. On our return to Room 12 we had a sandwich lunch while six of our form had a “very” ordinary three course meal in the Refectory. After lunch we were told to play in Birchfields Park. Then at 2 p.m., just three hours after she arrived on her lightning tour of the school, she left in brilliant sunshine.“

To see more photographs of the Queen’s Visit follow this link: https://www.mgs-life.co.uk/article/the-visit-of-the-queen-march-1965?ref=

To read more, follow this link and select Ulula Summer 1965: https://www.mgs-life.co.uk/article/ulula-library?ref=60

Encounters with Royalty

Following on from June’s Platinum Jubilee article, which showcased the visit of the Queen to MGS, this week we will take a look at MGS encounters with royalty.

The first known link we have documented in the archive was in 1863, when it seems that the boys had sent a petition directly to Queen Victoria, requesting an extra week of holiday to celebrate the marriage of Princess Alice to Prince Louis of Hesse. The Queen replied through her secretary George Grey, and his assistant H. Haddington to the Dean of Manchester, granting their request. They also tried their luck further by requesting another week off school to celebrate the Prince of Wales’s 21st birthday. This, however, was rebuffed in a postscript, where it was noted that no holiday had been granted to any other Public school for this reason. To read more about the letter, click here.

Letter from George Grey

The next royal link dates from 1873. We have a letter in the archive from the young future George V to Lord Charles Beresford. The only clue as to an MGS link is the reference to an owl. Read more here

The signature of the future George V

Our first royal visit came in 1920 when the then Prince of Wales (later to be Edward VIII) met boys and staff at Long Millgate, whilst visiting Chethams.

High Master J.L. Paton meeting the Prince of Wales alongside the School Officers in the yard at Long Millgate, 1920

Ulula reported the fleeting visit: “On July 7th the Prince of Wales paid a rapid visit to the Chetham Hospital, and, with others, we assembled in the courtyard to greet him. On coming out of the library he spoke a few friendly words to the Captain before hastening off to the next item on his crowded programme.”

It was another four decades before another royal visit, with Queen visiting in 1965. To read more about this visit, follow these links:

The Queen’s Visit

Photographs of the Visit

Film Footage

The Princess Royal visit the School briefly in 1997, with Ulula reporting “The Princess Royal made a private visit to the school in February and hosted a fund-raising event in the Paton Library for the Princess Royal Trust for Carers. She was welcomed to the School by the High Master and the School Officers.”

The following year, The Prince of Wales visited as part of his patronage of the Bursary Fund. As Ulula noted “To have been visited by the monarch, in 1965, and by both the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal in the last two years, is an achievement for any school.”

Prince Charles in the quad with HM Martin Stephen

During his visit, the Prince of Wales toured the School and met a number of boys, staff and Old Mancunians. He addressed the School community in the Memorial Hall and said:

“I am enormously proud to be associated with this particular Appeal for the Manchester Grammar School. I’ve heard a great deal about the School and the moment I heard what the aims of the Appeal are, I must say I saw the point at once. The School has always emphasised the fact that the education which is provided is for everybody, regardless of background, colour, creed or whatever and the Appeal Jis designed to enable this particular great tradition to continue. I do hope and pray that this Appeal will be a great success. All I can say is that I will do whatever I can to help. I’m here today to be able to wish you well, to offer my congratulations and encouragement to all those involved in organising and leading the Appeal, and to thank all those who’ve already given so much. I look forward to seeing some of you (when I’m old and hobbling about on two sticks), being very important in the future of this country and being a credit not only to this school but to your families and of course to Manchester. This School has produced some very remarkable people and we can ill afford to do without them as a nation, so what you’re learning here is going to be of enormous importance in many ways to the life of our country“

Our final and most recent link to royalty comes in the form of a piece of wedding cake.

Current High Master, Dr. Martin Boulton, attended the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in April 2011, as part of his previous role as Deputy Headmaster at Westminster School. He donated the piece of cake, invitation and order of service to the MGS archive.