Moving into the 21st century

The Rye Old Scholars’ Association (ROSA) has recently moved into the 21st century by launching its website – www.ryeoldscholars.org.uk.

ROSA, a non-profit making association, was formed in 1938 by local legend William Dunlop.

Membership is open to former pupils of all the senior schools in Rye, past and present: Rye Grammar School, Rye County Secondary Modern School, Thomas Peacocke Comprehensive School, Rye College and Rye Studio School. An annual subscription to cover our costs is not much more than the price of a pint, many of which are consumed at ROSA social events.

To continue with the drink theme, it is probably the most longstanding old scholars association in the world, well the country anyway. If you haven’t joined us yet, and were at one (or more) of the membership schools, please do. Details on how to join are on the website.

ROSA organises reunions, social occasions, an annual lunch, fun days – there is a Bat &Trap event on Rye Cricket Salts this year on July 23 (look out for the posters) – and members get an annual bulletin with features, memories, news, etc.

Former pupils come from all over the world to attend our events and it is fantastic to be able to meet up with long-lost friends – and even former colleagues who may not have been friends at the time. At our 1960s reunion in 2015 we had well over 100 there. We are planning another 60s event next year.

The reunions are held at the Milligan Theatre (aka school hall) at Rye College.

As well as allowing us to keep members up to date with news of friends and events on a day-to- day basis, the website contains a wealth of photos and reminiscences, starting at 1896 and going up to the present day. Currently we have photos of landmarks in the schools’ histories, sports over the years, school plays, educational visits and much more.

The site is very much a work in progress and we know that there’s a lot of material out there of school memories: pictures, school magazines, even school reports. It would be wonderful if these could be shared on the site.

To find out how, again just visit the website. We look forward to welcoming you.

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