Tony – Page 8 – Birkdale Reunion Association

6 May 2017

The Reunion Committee held a meeting last night (5 May 2017).

It was agreed the next Reunion will be held in October 2018. The date for this event is yet to be confirmed; further details will be announced as soon as they become available.

Along with Billy Lamont and Steven Brayshaw, Sue Tinsley has now also decided to step down from the Committee. Thank you to Sue for her help in making arrangements with the Masonic Hall at the last couple of Reunions.

With the departure of three of its team, the Committee is now looking for new prospective members. Anyone interested in the planning of future Reunions should get in touch via the Contact Form on this website.

Billy and Steven will remain on the Committee as observers during this transition period.

2 May 2017

After months of development, the new look Photo Gallery is finally here.

It has taken longer than expected to put it all together partly due to errors with two different photo gallery programs that were tested. They both had to be uninstalled as neither worked well and a third one, the one in use now, was added. This resulted in some information having to be re-submitted; as you can imagine, with almost 700 photos this was not an easy task. Hopefully, everything should be running fine now.

There may be some tiny glitches here and there but these will be corrected moving forward. In the coming weeks new photos will be added to the various albums now that a system is in place. If anyone has any photos they want to share, please send them to info@bshira.co.uk.

12 January 2017

We are sorry to learn former pupil Kenneth Winder has passed away. He left our school in 1982.

Kenneth was apparently found dead on Tuesday morning (10th). The cause of death has been determined to be due to bacterial meningitis with secondary complications from diabetes. His funeral will be held at 12pm on Tuesday 31 January at St Peter’s Cathedral in Lancaster.

Our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this sad time.

Updated: 25 January 2017

4 November 2016

gil-fyles It was announced on 23 October that Mr Fyles had passed away. Today his funeral took place at St Joseph’s Church in Birkdale.

The service was well attended by family, friends, members of the St Vincent de Paul Society and staff from our school. It was nice to see Miss Baron, Mrs Pattison, Mrs Pennington, Mrs Rothwell, Mr Birkby and his wife, Mr Heery and Mr Hosker present.

A committal took place after this service at Liverpool Road Cemetery followed by refreshments at Southport & Birkdale Cricket Club.

25 October 2016

In February it was reported Mr Bancroft had died. Today Mr Birkby sent in news that Mr Bancroft’s wife, Muriel, passed away last week in hospital. Some of you may remember her as Mrs Roberts; she was also a teacher at the school.

23 October 2016

News in today: sadly, Mr Fyles has died. Many pupils will remember him and some may even remember his wife, Mrs Fyles, who worked in the school office.

He had been in hospital for a while then spent some time in a care home before being re-admitted to hospital where he passed away in the early hours of this morning.

Mr Fyles started teaching Geography and History at the school in 1967 but left in 1973 to do peripatetic work. He returned in 1976 to act as Deputy Head. Many will remember him managing the Children’s Fund and dealing with the weekly transport lists. Mr Fyles retired in 1993.

Update 31.10.16: Mr Fyles’ funeral will take place at 12pm on Friday 4 November at St Joseph’s Church on York Road in Birkdale.

9 October 2016

It was good to see many old and new faces at this year’s Reunion held in Southport’s Masonic Hall last night (8 October). The buffet was excellent with a wide range of savouries to enjoy, and this time by popular request there was a choice of dessert for the sweet-lovers amongst us.

The ‘big announcement’ at this event was the departure of Billy Lamont and Steven Brayshaw from the committee. After 20 years of organising the Reunions, they felt it was time to step down and let others take over. They, along with Ronnie Gilbody, Tony Wright, Sue Tinsley and others who have been on the committee, have worked hard over the years to make sure these events are a success. We all send them a very big THANK YOU.

Thank you to everyone who came to make Reunion 2016 a success.

3 September 2016

Reunion 2016 on 8 October is fast approaching us.

Closing date for tickets is Friday 23 September. There will be no tickets sold after this date and no tickets will be available at the door on the night.

A choice of three sweets has been added to the buffet menu at the request of people who attended the last Reunion.

The Reunion Committee looks forward to seeing you at this year’s event. If you are going, have a wonderful evening!

17 August 2016

We are sorry to learn about the death of former pupil David Thomson who left our school in 1967. Davey, as he was known to his family and friends, passed away last Wednesday (10th) after a short battle with lung cancer.

Our thoughts go to Debby, his family and friends.

9 August 2016

[This news item was originally written about travellers moving on to the school field on Monday 8 August but as an update below shows, they left about 10 days later.]

caravans-bshic-1 Since yesterday (8th) travellers have been living in caravans on the school field. Originally they were seen on land next to Royal Birkdale but according to the Southport Visiter the travellers left the site off Waterloo Road over the weekend.

A Granville Road resident told Tony Wright this afternoon the travellers moved from the Royal Birkdale area to Sunshine House, the old school for the blind, then on to the Lancaster Road site. The police have been involved but they say they can’t move the travellers because they’re on private land.

caravans-entry There is no security and there is very easy access on to the grounds. The gate leading to the field looks to have been demolished and the main entrance gate is wide open. Sefton Council needs to do something soon to secure the land and property.

UPDATE 10.08.16: The Visiter reports that a Granville Road resident used her car to try and prevent the travellers moving on to the field. The car was parked in front of the entrance after a convoy of travellers arrived at the gates.

UPDATE 11.08.16: According to On the Spot News, the travellers have been blocked in to stop them getting out. They would need to go to court to get the blocks moved.

UPDATE 20.08.16: Following a back-and-forth battle between the landowner and the travellers, which involved the dumping and removal of concrete blocks and then rubble, notice was served on the travellers requiring them to leave the school site. The Visiter reports they have now left.