Jump to content

Inverness Royal Academy of Olde


Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, dougiedanger said:

I'm curious: are there any other sad sacks on the board who live still in the fading 50-year-old memories of a humdrum educational institution, presented as some splendid hybrid of Eton meets Hogwart's meets the Trinity Tiddlers, but which in truth was a tawdry, provincial outpost peopled by intellectual mediocrities and founded in part by money drained from the sweat of Caribbean slaves?

If so, we'd love to hear from you.

Ah! So longstanding rumours of the death of the Inverness High School chip on the shoulder have been greatly exaggerated!

But to answer your question - there's only IHE and myself left now. The rest were scared away by rough Tecky boys from the top of Laurel Avenue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, bughtmaster said:

You Kaddy boys didn't take much scaring did you,  a few shadows was usually enough !!

I'll tell you this BM.... back in the 60s the whole of Dalneigh was scared of the top of Laurel Avenue and not just of the gentleman currently enjoying Her Majesty's hospitality!:lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, dougiedanger said:

I'm curious: are there any other sad sacks on the board who live still in the fading 50-year-old memories of a humdrum educational institution, presented as some splendid hybrid of Eton meets Hogwart's meets the Trinity Tiddlers, but which in truth was a tawdry, provincial outpost peopled by intellectual mediocrities and founded in part by money drained from the sweat of Caribbean slaves?

If so, we'd love to hear from you.

Last time I witnessed envy on this scale was when I was in a communal shower.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess when an older fogie like SP looks back  in time to the days of greatness lingering in his mind for the Academy when he was there, he is left with only good memories and good thoughts of how glorious it all was except that at the time he probably didn't quite see it in that light.

One look at the main hall filled with such tawdry furniture and what seems like a  total denigration of that once hallowed space (am I seeing right or have  the sides of the space been covered in cheap wooden frescos or what?) once completed in my mind's eye by rector DJ's presence in all his dignified majesty ,  just fills me with sadness and disbelief. So much so that all I can think of is  "let's get on to the next thread". What a mess--the ambience has been destroyed completely and any beauty lingering in either the mind or memory instantly starts to evaporate, even remembering that with age comes only memories of how much larger and grander the place may once have been -- more than it actually was in truth. This is not about the physical aspects of the space but the feelings which it once indelibly printed into the young brain and how we felt then as opposed to what we are forced to accept as brutal realism now. And nobody cares ...the final straw.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Scarlet Pimple said:

I guess when an older fogie like SP looks back  in time to the days of greatness lingering in his mind for the Academy when he was there, he is left with only good memories and good thoughts of how glorious it all was except that at the time he probably didn't quite see it in that light.

One look at the main hall filled with such tawdry furniture and what seems like a  total denigration of that once hallowed space (am I seeing right or have  the sides of the space been covered in cheap wooden frescos or what?) once completed in my mind's eye by rector DJ's presence in all his dignified majesty ,  just fills me with sadness and disbelief. So much so that all I can think of is  "let's get on to the next thread". What a mess--the ambience has been destroyed completely and any beauty lingering in either the mind or memory instantly starts to evaporate, even remembering that with age comes only memories of how much larger and grander the place may once have been -- more than it actually was in truth. This is not about the physical aspects of the space but the feelings which it once indelibly printed into the young brain and how we felt then as opposed to what we are forced to accept as brutal realism now. And nobody cares ...the final straw.

 

Scarlet... if you come back to Inverness in the foreseeable future, don't even go up the Crown! If you feel saddened in the above terms about the interior, what it looks like outside would make you a whole lot worse!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
  • 1 month later...

Preview

 

Inverness Royal Academy has a long tradition of Christmas or summer dances and entertainments which stretches back to the early part of the nineteenth century when they were often called 'At Homes'. The earliest recorded event was a dance held in the Northern Meeting Rooms in 1809. The Inverness Journal report of the event says: 'In the evening the young gentlemen attending the Academy gave an elegant ball in the Northern Meeting Rooms. The display of innocent gaiety and the attractions of the youthful group, which consisted of nearly 300, were extremely interesting; but too few parents came to witness the blameless mirth and endearing graces of their offspring; a scene of all others the most gratifying to parental affection.'

Other events often took the form of concerts, to be followed by a dance, once younger pupils had been sent home. Once the Academy had moved from Academy Street to its new building in the Crown district in 1895, these events were held in the central hall of the school. In the 1950s they were held in the girls' gymnasium in what had been the primary department of the school. A new extension was opened in 1960 which contained a proper hall with a dining hall attached. Events were then held there. The present Royal Academy still holds Christmas dances, following several weeks of tuition provided by the Physical Education staff. Particularly for the fifth and sixth year pupils these are very formal events, with almost all boys wearing kilts and girls in evening dresses.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

 

The display of innocent gaiety and the attractions of the youthful group, which consisted of nearly 300, were extremely interesting; but too few parents came to witness the blameless mirth and endearing graces of their offspring; a scene of all others the most gratifying to parental affection.'

 

Somebody is, of course, taking the **** here.:lol: Royal Academy dances.... "innocent gaiety"...."blameless mirth"......yer jokeen mun!!!

I believe that photo is of the 1954 school dance. There's something at the back of my mind telling me that the toothy guy at the front went on to have something to do with Frasers the Auctioneers and the guy in the black jacket may have become an estate agent in the US.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

IHE that photo of the girls and boys  under your 17,035 'th  posting  of December 6th  2016 has just stunned me.

The boy on the bottom of  the picture with a huge smile on his face and his left hand on the shoulder of the big lad in front of him, well I swear that was Hamish Smith, one of my boyhood pals who lived on Ardross Street as I remember. He was nicknamed "Smeesh".  I think his father was an Accountant?

Can anyone confirm my thoughts here? And any other information such as current address, telephone number etc

Strangely I don't recognise any other pupil in that photo  Would love to find out names . though to jog my memories. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, IBM said:

The demolition has started on the old huts at the rear this week.

Not before time!! They are an eyesore but ironically it's the manky brown one on the left, which was put up years after the other ones which are early 60s, that is the worst of the lot. I think it was Hut 38 where I did Higher and Sixth Year Studies Physics and Andrew Halkett then Jim Wilson would both go and hide in their walk-in cupboards if they spotted Maude coming across the playground in their direction.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. : Terms of Use : Guidelines : Privacy Policy