Seniors’ Day 2018

24 September 2018 - All

A gin workshop and tours of the bunker were just some of the activities on offer for Seniors who returned to Wycombe Abbey for Seniors’ Day on Sunday 23 September.

With every decade was represented from the 1940s to 2000s, and some returning to the School for the first time in 40 years, 100 Seniors reunited for lunch in Big School, and an afternoon of activities, finishing up with tea and gin in Fisher Library.

Kathy Caton (C179), Founder of Brighton Gin, led a workshop, sharing stories of the challenges and joys of her running a gin company, as well as her role as a gin script consultant for BBC Radio 4’s The Archers.

Also popular were tours of the School’s Cold War-era nuclear bunker. Many Seniors had no idea that it existed whilst they were at school. Others knew of it only as an area strictly out of bounds. This was an opportunity for a fascinating visit, with guides from Subterranea Britannica providing an historical account of the bunker and its role  in the Cold War, and before that in World War II, when the School was requisitioned by the US Army and served as the headquarters of the Eighth Air Force. One Senior remarked, “To see the extent and size of the bunker and to learn of its function was nothing short of amazing!”