The photographs below
show the refurbished notices cabinet in its new position in the College
reception area.
The following is a brief
history of the cabinet and how it comes to be there.
Audrey Leworthy will be remembered, I am sure, by many Old Palmerians.
Miss Leworthly was Head Mistress of Palmer's Girls' School from 1940
to 1962.
In the early nineties the Executive Committee felt it would be useful
to have a cabinet sited in the College to display Association news
and events. It was suggested that a commemorative cabinet in memory
of Miss Leworthy would be appropriate.
Committee member, Steve Foreman (Chairman 1999-2000) informed the
committee that he knew a local tradesman who would be willing to construct
a cabinet to the committee’s design and he (Steve) would oversee
the project. The committee agreed to this arrangement. The completed
cabinet was first installed in the Lower Students Centre in 1993.
The original Girls’ School Assembly Hall had, by then, undergone
a complete refurbishment, which included adding an extra floor, resulting
in the upper and lower students centre.
When, at a later date, the Lower Students Centre was refurbished,
the cabinet was moved to the foyer of the College Sports Hall. As
time passed the Sports Hall foyer was also refurbished and the cabinet
was put into storage. This situation was brought to my attention by
Ruth Hunwick, the Association’s Registration Secretary and Jill
Snelling, (Chairman 1992-95, 2001-02, 2009-10 and 2013-14) who works
in the College.
I spoke to the Principal, Mark Vinall, about this situation and suggested
that if I was willing to refurbish the cabinet would it be possible
to install it again in an appropriate position in the College. He
agreed to this and suggested a site in the reception area.
I transported the cabinet to my workshop (garage) and before I could
start the refurbishment I had to ‘break in’ as a key could
not be found. The refurbishment included scraping off the old varnish,
adjusting the fit of the doors, applying a light oak stain and finishing
with two coats of clear polyurethane varnish and fitting a new lock.
The heading, ‘Old Plamerians’ Association’ at the
top of the cabinet, was done originally with stick-on gold letters.
A number of these letters were damaged, so I arranged for a signwriter
friend to ‘write’ the heading in gold leaf. I also added
two down lighters to illuminate the notices and replaced the door
glass with safety glass to comply with safety regulations. The original
commemorative plaque was in poor condition so a new one was obtained
and is fixed to the bottom rail of the left-hand door.
Over the Christmas holiday 2015/16, and with the help of one of the
caretaking staff, I fixed the cabinet to a wall in the reception area
and connected up the ‘down lighters’.
John Sach
Chairman
October 2016
