IN 1970, King’s Ely admitted girls for the first time in its 1,000 year history.

To celebrate 50 years of girls being educated at King’s (well, 51 years now but we were unable to celebrate properly last year due to Covid-19 lockdowns!), we hosted a wonderful event recently where some of the first girls to join the school were invited back to take a trip down memory lane.

We were delighted to welcome back Gaye Hayes (nee Corcoran), Jocelyn Howell, Marilyn Small (nee Reid), Lisa Casey (nee Allpress), and Cheryl Warin.

Jocelyn, Marilyn, Gaye, Lisa and Cheryl were given tours of the school and campus, where they were able to reminisce about their days at King’s – and see how much has changed since they left, including the purchase and renovation of the Old Palace.

Our Archivist, Elizabeth Stazicker, organised a wonderful display of archives and press cuttings from when girls were first admitted, which was followed by tea and scones in the garden at Queen’s Hall, which is the home of our Principal, John Attwater, and his family. The event concluded with Evensong at Ely Cathedral.

Other guests at the event included partners of the “first girls”; Hubert Ward, who was Headmaster at King’s from 1970 until the early 1990s and his wife; former teachers Bridget Pope and Angela Humphries; Mr and Mrs Attwater; several members of the Old Eleans Committee, including Kim Charter, Mark Wilkinson, Roy Wood, Mark Southwell, Marc Hawes and Rosie Holliday; and Heads of School, Ted Pepper and Eleanor MacGillivray.

What a lovely afternoon it was – thank you all so much for coming!

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