Memories of a School in Madrid - Runnymede College in 1971

Remembering Runnymede

This post is an indulgence - it will mean very little to most and something to a handful of people who will never read this blog (with the exception of one). If any old Runnymedians do happen, by some miracle of cyberspace, to read this post, please don't leave without leaving a comment!. Not all of us can make it to the school reunions so this will be in lieu of....

(Photograph from school website)

Even today as I look back on my school years I cannot really identify why Runnymede College Madrid was so special to me. Was it myth or reality? Memory is a strange thing - sometimes memories are evoked by the atmospheric feeling of a certain time of year - others by hearing a song from the past. About once or twice a year memories, so fragmented now, of Runnymede and the people I was with there, come back to haunt me. Distant voices like echoes returning to me through the passage of time. It was a time for friendships and heartache, it was a time of learning and a time of growth, physically, emotionally and culturally.

In September 1970 I moved from Germany to Spain. I was excited about the prospect of going to the new school in Madrid - had my parents stayed in Germany I would have been sent to Boarding School in England. Enrolment in Runnymede therefore was somewhat of a reprieve for me. I was totally besotted with horses in those days - this new School offered horseriding as an extra curricular activity. The other enticement was that it was a Secondary School - because of the differences in school years between Europe and Australia I had repeated Year 6 and was the oldest in my school in Germany - I was looking forward to not being older than everybody else.

Runnymede was located in El Viso, Calle del Arga 9 &13. The photograph above of us all was taken in the grounds of No. 13 in the spring of 1971. At that time, the School consisted of two semidetached houses - No. 13 was the Junior School, No 9 was the Office and Senior School. The science lab and library were located in the basement of No. 13. There was a basketball court at the back of No 13 also. No 11 (in the middle) was a residential house for people with disabilities. We were given a three course meal every day which was served in the dining room of No 9.
I was in lower 3A and Upper3A in my 20 months at Runnymede - our classrooms were converted from what must have originally been bedrooms and living rooms in the houses (and most gracious houses they must have been). On Mondays we would combine with Upper3A for sport at the General Moscardo Gymnasium. Mr Arthur Powell was the Headmaster and he was ably assisted by Mrs Powell - they both hold special places in my memory as they were exceptionally kind to me.

Our lessons were based on the British School curriculum - we had many students from all over the world - particularly from the US. Many of the students were bilingual and could switch from English to Spanish in conversations - this is one skill I never mastered but in my older years have now decided I am determined to do. Saturday mornings were the times we went horse riding - one of the highlights of my week. I initially started at El Trebol and as we became more competent we were moved over to Somosaguas where the horses and facilities were better . A particular memory I have is the “singing” on the horse riding bus - the Mendozas used to bring a battery operated record player so that we could listen to music on the way home - the Beatles were just breaking up in those days - “Let it Be’ was a favourite; George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” and the seemingly never ending “Chirpie Chirpie Cheep Cheep” ......! Then there was the ice skating on Friday nights.

Of lessons - there was Spanish every morning (beginners to fluent speakers); Miss Savage was our form teacher (Lower 3A); Mr Ashworth (Upper 3A); Mr Glyn Jones taught us English and Geography; Mr Ballard, History, Mr Millican, Latin and Art, Mr Owens was the sport teacher and coach for the basketball team. Mr Nelson was our music teacher and also responsible for organising two musical productions - “Trial by Jury” and “Oliver” in my time at the school.

We were a tight knit little community - most of us strangers in a different land. So many have moved on to live in other parts of the world - friends lost over time and distance. The school has moved out to la Moraleja - Manolo (who I used to give piggy back rides to in the playground) is now the Headmaster. It is apparently a thriving school that has tripled in size since 1971. It offers education from Pre-school to Year 13 and I am reminded constantly that time never stands still. For me however, Runnymede College will always be that little school located in El Viso, Arga 13 & 9. I will close by quoting a well known poem that is used by many schools around the world as their pledge - I felt it was very relevant to the Runnymede I remember.

"This is our school.
Let peace dwell here. 
Let the rooms be full of contentment.
Let love abide here-love of one another, love of humankind, love of life itself.
Let us remember that as many hands build a house, So many hearts make a school."

Author Unknown

May the spirit of Runnymede College Madrid continue to live on in our hearts and in our memories.

SOMOSAGUAS 1971
Following are some old photographs of horse riding at Somosaguas November 1971. It was an extremely cold Saturday morning.

Mr Arthur Powell giving directions to the riders.

Observing riders....I think.... from left to right...Mrs Powell, Manolo Powell, Michael Bake, Mr Arthur Powell far right.

This was me.

UPDATE 2005 - More memorabilia - Monday Sports at General Moscardo

Thank you to every person who has placed a comment in the section below. As mentioned above, my class (L111A - 1977) along with U111A (some of the 1976 school leavers) were combined for a session of gym/PE at the General Moscardo Gymnasium. I have since unearthed some ancient exercise books of mine from that era and discovered the class lists for 1970/1971 for U111A and L111A. (Apologies for spelling mistakes - they were written by 12 year olds).

Lower 3 A Boys: Stephen Ainslie, Michael Bartos, John Garcia, Jerry Gustov, Joseph Holliday, Eddie LLorca, Rossa McDermott, David Milburn. Girls: Alexandra Bake, Jane Bartos, Lorraine Brown, Cheryl Carmelitano, Annie Eder, Laurie Hanselman, Alison Law, Marley Lunshof, Aileen McKenzie, Pauline Nelson, Jenny Shaw, Claire Wilkinson.

Upper 3 A Boys: Jonathan Arnold, Michael John Bake, Luis Cisneros, Ian Purkis, Manolo Powell, Paul Rodriguez, Paul Sire. Girls: Ingrid Anderson, Christina Brown, Eva Burgoyne, Elizabeth C, Maria Eder, Sylvia Evans, Vicky Gillan, Buti Larres, Esther Marfy, Fiona McArthur, Michelle Menard, Ester Marfy, Anna Morris, Maryse Stam, Sally Webb, Jane Wilkinson.

Junior Sports Champion of the Year - Boy: Ian Purkis

Junior Sports Champion of the Year - Girl: Michele Menard

Update August 2005
Following is a snippet of the INFAMOUS Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep played on the horse riding bus in 1970/71.

Update 2006: Would anyone be interested in attending an "OR" Meet Up in the Southern Hemisphere? An Antipodean Reunion in Sydney, Australia perhaps? Please leave a message if you might be interested...We are still receiving approximately 4 visitors per day to this post and 39 people have left comments. It would be great to make it to 50. The messages you leave may well be found by old friends

Comments

[Pamela Dulanto]

Hello there! Although I was at Runnymede much later (from 1983 to 1990) I still share some of your memories! We were at Arga (9,11 and 13) and the layout was pretty much the same as previous entries have described. I had completely forgotten Moscardo, but yes, we did go there (although later substituted with La Elipa), and I especially remember Charlie's jazz ballet classes there. Jesus, the cook, always making sure we cleaned our plates and Julia Powell braving "the elements" of a boisterous school dining room, shouting at the top of her voice and with her inimitable accent - "stop it! be quiet!!". Beltran (who was mentally handicapped) who loved to hang around outside the school gates and who would run to the Panaderia (during school hours) and fetch us those lovely donuts, cuernos and assorted chucherias. That lovely panaderia or "la pana" as we called it, with the lovely couple who ran it and lived in the back room, always so warm on a cold winter's morning. Also the chap who would drive in his van full of sweets at the end of the day and the scrabbles to get to the back of the van before anyone else, to bag the best chuches - God knows how the poor chap managed to keep us all at bay -or indeed to make any profit at all with hands coming from everywhere, grabbing any old sweet and making a run for it!
The ping pong tables at the back of number 9 (I think), the library, so tiny and yet so stuffed full of books!, the silence room where the doctor used to do the check-ups and which had a copy of the Magna Carta hanging from the wall, the library office with the old typing machine, the lab with its basement windows out of which I used to stare when I was bored because my experiments had failed), the teachers! Arthur Powell, Manolo Powell, Mr Ballard, Miss Rutter, Mr Pairadeau, Mrs Tribe, Miss McGough, Miss Simcox,Mrs Rodriguez, Mr Key, Mr Riches, Mr Peterson, Mrs Robertson (who could freeze you on the spot such was her terrifying stare! but who taught me how to Scottish Dance with her old tape player - how we loved to reel on the Arga roof-tops!), Miss Halbert, Mr Vallely, Mr Scales, Mme Arto, Melle Legros (who used all those great visual aids to teach us French - I still use her fool-proof methods for putting my accents in the right place!), Mr Sowden and his trademark van which he parked outside the school, Charlie ( I will never forget that amazing acrobatic show which he choreographed so brilliantly and which we rolled out in the middle of a Midsummer Night's dream to the utter amazement of every parent who was at the theatre!), Miss Comiskey, Mr Comiskey (and all the sporting activities particularly those dreaded Cross-country events in El Pardo), Mr Bennett, for whom I will put in a good word! as he started me on the road to loving the classics (despite him giving me my one and only detention for chatting to Katia Stalker at the back of the class!) and who used to give us the easiest Latin 5-question tests at the beginning of each class (on the back of some tiny pieces of ripped paper) - does anyone else remember the Latin booklets we used to do in numerical order and, particularly, the one about the Roman baths, which kept us all in infantile stitches because there were some drawings of naked bathers on the front cover? How Mr Bennett must have tired of going through the same drill with every new First Form! And all those other teachers whose faces and voices I can still see and hear clearly but whose names I have momentarily forgotten! Thank you.
Well, I hope Mr Pairadeau and Mr Sowden aren't reading as my syntax and punctuation has been appalling for this message, but they are my thoughts as they popped into my head!
Thank you to the Powells and to all the teachers at Runnymede for all those precious memories!

Pamela Dulanto

[Phil Cundall]

It is so long ago, I don't see myself in the picture - but I think I always avoid cameras. I see one recognizable name - Rossa has posted here - seems I remember an ongoing battle with D. Milbourn and yourself - sometimes I wonder what has happened with so many from that long ago. Seems I have the great memories of Saturday mornings at Somasaguas - made less painful by the wine and angulas...makes those falls so much easier!
If anybody has any idea who I am, drop me a line sometime - but 34 years later, most of us get too old to write.
...Phil...

[cat]

does anyone know how i can get a list of contact details of those who were in my year at runneymede 1993-1996

[ROBERTO OBERTI]

Dear Jenny,
May I compliment you on what really is a trip down memory lane. I was a pupil at RC between '74 & '77
and whilst the odd casual visit to the website evokes some memories, your mention of Eloy the bus-driver and Jesus the cook really took me back. One of Eloy's co-drivers I believe was called Wenceslao and his bus had a single seat right at the front and I remember there was always a rush as soon as the bell went to try and get to that seat. I didn't always make it. I read in one of the other postings about Beltran fetching dognuts and churros. On a similar note I remember how
me and many of my fellow pupils from L-111-U
(Mr Utting's class) would go to meet a man at the front gate selling churros for 5 ptas a go ! They were so tasty. My memories of Moscardo are not so happy. There were 2 P.E. instructors, one of which drove a type of jeep, and it was he that would make us run round that square track around the perimeter of the basketball court just after lunch and eventually giving me bad
stomach cramps. No doubt there are those that would arugue it was probably the churros playing up but I doubt it. One of the more happier times, mainly because we were away from Madrid,(just kidding) was the 1975 school trip to Merida. If my memory serves, Mr Abernethy (Latin teacher) when writing his piece about the trip for the '75 year book, quoted one of his pupils whom I think was Mathew Jenson as saying:
"It was a swell trip" Kind of sums it up.
Well that's just a brief account of some of my memories of those years. Once again Jenny, whom I've never met but along with the above contributors feel that I kind of know, thanks for your look back which made me take the time.

[Jenny]

I have updated this post to include some old class lists from 1970/71 (written by 12 year olds). Some of the people from that time have come across this post and left comments - thank you to everyone for touching base here. Keep the comments coming.

[John Garcia]

Hello. Remember me? I do remember you. With you I saw my first photocopy. It was a picture of you and your family in Germany. I've been wanting to contact you since I saw your page, but time, in my case, is little. I have however forgotten that you enjoyed horses and went riding at Somosaguas. I have to say that at that time I cared little about that sport. I also have to say that my grand dad Roy was co-founder of the Somosaguas club. Well as the years have gone by, my professional aims were directed to horses. At first, races (I owned 3 race horses at the Madrid racetrack) and then i diverted to show jumping. As for today, I teach riding and jumping at a club in Madrid called "Caño Quebrado". My 3 sons, Stephen 17,(for Stephen Ainslie, off course), Kevin 15 and Michael 14 (for Michael Ainslie) are my best show jumpers and are all champs in one category or another. From now on, I promise to horse-chat with you once in a while. Will also send pictures of all my horses. Lots of kisses, JOHN

[Niall McDermott]

No idea how I happened on this sight but found myself reading the whole thing...intriguing...even saw where I got an honorable mention from my older brother....he must have been in same class as a Menard...Mrs. Menard did in fact teach me...it was at Numont....my older brother and I would walk from Calle Orense (where we lived at the time)up to Numont. Anyway, I never did go to Runneymede...did the entrance test while in my last year in St. Micheals...but went back to shcool in Ireland instead to prepare for the 6 years of boarding school that was ahead of me. Get back to Madrid on a semi regular basis as now based in the US...have resumed contact with a few of my St Michaels school mates who went on to Runneymede. Richard Coates was a good mate of mine, Paco Arango, Ken Mcarthur.. a few more...if any recall me and wish to get in touch..by all means. Life was good in those days.

[Stacey Goodwin]

OMG !!!! I don't believe it!!!
I was thinking about my school days at Runny today and decided to look up the web site and see if there were any photos I was there 69 to early 71 I should be in that photo but maybe I left just before I can't place you Jenny strange I am Aussie too name Stacey Goodwin my Dad was with the embassy at the time not to mention his next posting was Koln Germany.
I had so much fun at that school I can remember laughing most of the time, I thought I was in the upper 5 when i left at the age of 13.
I was slightly in love with Mr Mulligan [sic] blush [he of the corduroy jacket and romantic beard].....he was so kind to me, and Miguel do you remember me I had a big crush on you, I think there were only 5 boys in my class and I had a crush on all of you I still have the photos of you all standing together all macho like on the brink of manhood it's a classic as Nadia is in it too she was a bit of a tom boy and after a few knock out fights with me because she called me "Dumbo" on account of my sticky out ears she became a good friend.
Does anyone remember camping? ....I went on the first school camp and it was so much fun we were up all night taking pegs out of the boys tents in the freezing cold poor boys I can still see them in deep distress in the middle of the night, my lollies got wet in my rucksack and a song was promptly made up for the school concert called "Stacey's lost her pills and there stuck in the wrong compartment" very embarrassing to say the least.
I remember an American girl her Father worked for NASA anyone remember her name?
PLEASE contact me I would love to hear from anyone who remembers me
take care and thank you all for the memories
Stacey

[Jenny]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks so much for adding a comment to this weblog. I almost took the post off the internet some months ago but thought better of it....interesting that this time of year seems to stir up memories of old times.

I think my dad was posted to the Embassy just as you were leaving Madrid...my Dad was your Dad's successor. If you are the Stacey I'm thinking of, we overlapped by a couple of weeks in Madrid and stayed at the Hilton at the same time - you guys were moving out and we were trying to find somewhere to live. (We got into some strife by knocking on hotel doors and then running away but got caught by someone who chased us and we had to hide behind some curtains in the hallway). That was September 1970. Did you have a younger brother? I think you must have spent a few weeks at the school before leaving and Eloy (or was it the other bus driver..?Jaime?) used to pick us up in the minibus at the hotel and take us to school for that short period of time. It was all so new to me starting school in a strange city! I thought you went back to Perth for a while but I may have got that wrong. Did you live in an older apartment in Madrid before moving? (I seem to remember a rather terrifying housekeeper...but my memory may be playing tricks).

Thanks again for writing and if I have any of those memories right, let me know. (maybe we should organise an Old Runny get together in Aus one day!

Regards

Jenny

[Tommy Montgomery]

Jenny,

As one of the six Montgomery's who passed through Runnymede in the seventies, I thank you for such a nice recollection of Calle Arga adventures. You managed to stir the cobwebs off my memory banks and bring up the names of people long forgotten.

With my 25th reunion fast approaching I have recently engaged in contacting friends I had not heard from in many years, your 'indulgence' has helped make those connections the richer.

Comments to other posts:

Mr. Sanchez was in charge of sports. He did indeed drive a jeep Roberto, which he 'invited' me to ride the day he caught me trying to play hooky from extracurricular sports- Basketball and trampoline (M-W) and Swimming (T-Th). He also ran weeklong basketball and mountain climbing camps somewhere in HOT Extremadura.

Though I never went, there were also some ski trips with Mr Poweell to the Pyrenees.

Roberto, do you remember the pregnant cat who Mr Utting let sit on our the sun drenched desks during class? I can't remember what ever happened to the kittens born in the basement of Arga 13, but I remember the lesson of being kind to animals to this day.

[Edwin French]

Tommy!

I sat in the last row and the cat was always on my desk, taking the morning sun.

After all these years, how do you all remember so many details, remarkable.

Unfortunately my family left Spain and I wasn't able to finish school at Runnymede. though I do have the fondest memories of my time there.

Best regards to all.
Edwin French

P.S. I gues I'll have to get a password to visit the RC website ;-)

[Ken McArthur]

Niall, what a blast from the past! My sister, Fiona, forwarded me your post. I remember Richard Coates and Paco Arango but have not been in touch with them since leaving Runnymede in 1973 or thereabouts. I also remember Joel Bradley, George Cheechak, Robert and was Michael(?)Castellano, Richard Luff, Dimitri Porcel etc from St Michaels. I think I even remember some of the girls' names too: ...was it Alicia Rodriguez or Orona d'Aragon?, Donna Tarn, Fatimah someone... my memory fails me. I'm sure with a bit more thought I could recall more. Life certainly was good in those days... I have been working/living in Shanghai for the last 3 years and will be here for another 7 months or so. Haven't been back to Spain since the late 1970's - crazy huh? I also spent some time at boarding school in London in 1977 and 1978 before completing school/uni' in Australia. It would be good to catch up one day. Would love to know what you guys have been doing for the last 33 years!

[Anna Claró]

Hi! I went to Runnymede from Sept. 1969 to 1971 when we moved to Barcelona. Was really friendly with Yael Oren who I remember fondly and have often regretted having lost contact...would be great to see some of my classmates again..I also remember Patricia Kelly . It is a great school...

[Joff Henley]

Jenny - a great post. Sadly I was before your time - I was at Runnymede from 1967 (or thereabouts) to 1968 before leaving Madrid and going to boarding school in Devon (Kelly College). My memories are hazy but individual things stand out ... often such schoolboy experiences as are too embarassing to relate! I wonder if anyone else on this site was at the school around the same time? "Friends Reunited" is very thin on content for Runnymede...

I would be glad to hear from any old schoolmates still kicking around!

[Sheyda Ardalan]

Jenny, this was such a treat! I went to Runnymede from 1970 to 1972, a short two years, but like you, I have never forgotten those years. My younger sister, Neda, was probably a year above you in the lower school. My older sister, Sheerin, was in the 6th form. I was in the upper school (fifth form) and remember both Stacey Goodwin and Miguel Rivas Micoud! Stacey left within months of my arrival and Miguel within a year. He used to get into so much trouble! I had never seen such red hair in my life! I was in Trial by Jury, worked on the set of Oliver, and made a poster for My Fair Lady (but did we actually put on that play?). I loved Spain and Runnymede was a good school. Thanks for the memories. Those songs, the bus ride to the stables on Saturdays, especially when the leaves were turning and the world seemed like on fire, and the Mendoza sisters and their battery operated record player… We never imagined such things as iPods! And oh, boy, that song, "Chirpie Chirpie Cheep Cheep"!!! The best one was “My Sweet Lord”. I must have listened to that song a million times a day…. Miss Harper was one of the best teachers I ever had. Mr. Legg was our English teacher, and of course, there was Mr. Glyn Jones (geography), Mr. Nelson (and Mrs. Nelson) for music, Mr. Owen (PE), Mr. Ballard (history), Mr. Millican (art), and the science teacher...

I remember one day a group of us stood by the corner of Calle Arga and unscrewed the street sign. We would each take a shot at turning the screws since we didn't have a screwdriver and our fingers would hurt real bad. We were so worried that we would get caught by Mr. Powell and then all hell would break loose! When the sign was finally undone, Christopher Roberts stuck it under his jacket and took it home. Lucky guy!

We used to go to the Swedish School dances as we didn't have any at Runnymede. All the kids were smoking pot. Thus began our teenage years.....

[Niall McDermott]

Ken,

Great to see your reply...sent you an email....look me up and lets catch up ...33 years is way too long....all the best.... Niall McDermott

[Caroline "Bubblz" Ainslie]

Hi, I was in Runnymede from 73 (LIIIA) to 78(UVA), My brothers Michael and Stephen also attended.
My brother sent me the link to Mulumbimba Moments and my memory is lousy! BUT I have been trying to contact people for a reunion with little success would love to hear from anyine in my class. I am in touch with Kerry Rhoden, Donna Tarn, Maria da Cunha, Annette Cronin, Nick Merigo and Mark Hall. I have also heard from Yvonne Menard and Larry Call and Dominique Hubble

I am in London. I am a professional clown (no, it's not a joke!), balloon artist and magician!

Who'd have thought!

Looking forward to getting in touch with loads more people!

Bubblz (aka Caroline Ainslie)
www.magicclowns.com

[Ingrid Anderson]

Just a quick post to say how glad I am that you keep this up Jenny. The class of 76 had a reunion in July 2006 which I just missed out on. I was in Europe but couldn't stay the extra few days. Perhaps your idea of a Southern Hemisphere get together one year?

[Ingrid Anderson]

Just a quick post to say how glad I am that you keep this up Jenny. The class of 76 had a reunion in July 2006 which I just missed out on. I was in Europe but couldn't stay the extra few days. Perhaps your idea of a Southern Hemisphere get together one year?

[Jenny]

Thanks Ingrid,
I think we should seriously think of trying a meet up in the Southern Hemisphere. I have been working on persuading two of our old OR friends who live in California to come for a visit...one has been just as persuasive in attempting to get us over there..... Surely we can work something out!

[Manolo Powell]

Remember it is the 40th anniversary this year.

[Jenny]

Manolo. would you be able to email me the details of the 40th anniversary so that I can put the info in to the main body of this post? Thanks.

[Manolo Powell]

Will do; we are sending an e-mail to all Old Runnymedians later today. Basically we are looking for feed-back from alumni before finalising arrangements.

[Roberto Oberti]

It's been sometime since my last visit to the site but it was nice to see that a couple of other former class mates (Tommy & Edwin) still remember something from those
L-111-U days. I don't know about anyone else but I'm a big fan of the Spanish TV series "Cuentame Como Paso" (for those of you not in the know, it cronicles the lives of the Alcantara family from Madrid during the late 60s and & early 70s) and being of a certain age I can relate to a lot of the sights and sounds featured in the series. We're currently reliving 1974, the year I joined RC.

keep up the good work Jenny and hope to read more stories in the non to dstant future.

Roberto Oberti
Nov.2006

[Nuria Stisin]

Although my sister (Abigail) and I went to Runnymede later than most of the people who have written up to now we both have great memories and amazing stories from school years.
Do you remember West Side Story with Jo O'Curneen , Sara Fernandez-Ashton, Margerite Riches, Dany Eisen and all the rest of us? Dancing, singing and living one of the best "stories of childhood" I can remember.
those are some of the best times at school.
Skiing trips, P.E. with Mr. Sanchez and Carlos (with whom I met a few years ago in the Polideportivo at Alcobendas)and Mr.Comiskey.
Cross - country "club" at retiro with Enrique Mora.
Ms. Balashova , Ms.Comiskey, Mr. & Mrs. Rustage..... what about Ms.Dilworth and Mr. Jotsham, Mr.Ballard?

anyone can update about our teachers?

lots of kisses,

Nuria Stisin