A group of five school friends, who met when they were aged 4 at primary school and went on to secondary school together are still in touch and close friends 65 years later, despite living and working all over the country over the years. The group meet at Yorkshire Sculpture Park every year for a reunion and this year they are celebrating the group’s youngest members 70th birthday.
Caroline Velvick talkt to James Hardisty from the Yorkshire Post about why they still meet up.
Caroline Velvick talkt to James Hardisty from the Yorkshire Post about why they still meet up.
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00:00We all met at school in 19, well actually not 1954.
00:051959 we started meeting.
00:07Yes, 1959 we started meeting because we were, started school together,
00:13well three of us started school together.
00:15Jane, Clare and I started Polham Hall School in Darlington in 1954,
00:22no no, 1959, keep me right, when we were four years old.
00:28And Angela came when you were?
00:31Eight.
00:32Eight?
00:33Two eight it was.
00:34Emmy came when you were?
00:35Six or seven.
00:36Six or seven.
00:37So we've been together and friends for all that period of time
00:42and we went through junior school at Polham Hall Darlington
00:47all the way through to the secondary school.
00:50So we left together, we did all our secondary education together,
00:55we were in the same class for all those years and we left at 18.
01:02So we have a huge bond of friendship because of our school days
01:06and we've got a lot of interweaving.
01:10Three of us are farmer's daughters, three of us went into teaching,
01:15two went to Liverpool to study, two went to Hertfordshire to study
01:21but we've always remained in contact.
01:24We've always sent each other birthday cards and Christmas cards
01:28and then of course when we eventually came to live in the north,
01:33after Clare has lived in Wales and Angela and Emmy in the south,
01:40then we got married and had our families and we realised
01:44we were within about an hour's drive of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
01:50So we've been meeting there for a long time.
01:54A total line of friendship.
01:57We meet up here firstly because it's a wonderful place to be.
02:04It's fabulous because we can chat and be in the cafe for a long time,
02:10nobody's taking us outside.
02:12Six hours.
02:13Yeah, six hours we can, yeah, I think so.
02:16And also it's just an inspirational park.
02:20We're so fortunate to be able to come to Yorkshire to use the facilities.
02:26It really is inspirational.
02:29We're celebrating James, but she's the baby of us all
02:34and we're ladies of a certain age so we've got a zero behind our number now.
02:41So we just thought we need to celebrate some way
02:45and then I got in contact with Debra thinking it's a nice little story,
02:50not thinking that we would attract such a lot of interest,
02:53but it is a very, from my point of view, I think I might start to cry now.
03:01We absolutely adore coming to the Sculpture Park.
03:05The access is so easy, the exhibitions are always inspirational,
03:09of course the shop is superb and we love going,
03:14we're looking forward today to going to the Western Restaurant,
03:17which is very superior, I must say.
03:20And everything about the Yorkshire Sculpture Park is just perfect for us
03:25and we really do feel quite privileged to be able to come.
03:29We have three or four coffees, which is great,
03:32and then we always like to have a wander
03:35because it's good to stretch your legs after coffee
03:37and we like to go to the Underground Gallery.
03:40We even remember the Underground Gallery being built
03:44because we've been here for such a long time.
03:47And then it's always lovely to see the exhibitions
03:50and it gives us another dimension.
03:54It takes me back to my art days with Miss Paul.