It is just about forty days until we meet again on the 30th and 31st October at the Le Strange Arms Hotel and we are of course entering the second half of the first century of the Old Michaelian Association!

I know that many of you are planning to return again and I have no doubt that there will be a number of former pupils who will come back for the first time. This is always particularly interesting, firstly to identify who they are, secondly to see the number of their contemporaries who have returned, and thirdly to find out what on earth they have been doing since they left the School!

These are good and happy weekends, and in recent years we have been blessed with good weather with one year as a notable exception. The stories get bigger and better and rather than lose the history of the School we are in fact gaining each year. The Committee have gone for the same type of format as in previous years which allows a lunch and the AGM in the afternoon followed by a good lead in to dinner and then the opportunity for those who wish to do so to regale the assembled company with a story or two. Last year this proved popular and a suggestion was made that we should open up that occasion also to spouses because they might have a particular and important contribution to make and possibly a completely different interpretation on the original story!

I remember the Headmaster being incandescent with rage because a valuer had suggested to him that he might be able to buy Ingoldisthorpe Rectory from the Church, but had placed on it a figure of £4,000. Clearly he was treated as somebody who knew nothing about values, but it was intriguing to find that one third of that house has recently been on the market at £420,000. Ah well. (see article on page 12 for an update on this, Editor)

I very much look forward to seeing you at the reunion at the end of October.

Simon