It's obvious that most Old Woolverstonians have deep feelings for the school. This is only natural for the place where our young minds and bodies were formed in an unusually close, comradely, intense and stimulating - and sometimes painful - community.

But there is another very concrete reason why our nostalgia is more than usually strong - the extraordinary variety of sporting and cultural opportunities which were made available to us. I say "made available", because it didn't happen by accident, but was down to the dedication, inspiration and perspiration of generations of schoolmasters. Almost every year of the school's existence saw plays, concerts, operas and reviews, quite apart from the sporting events. This gave every boy the opportunity to develop his natural talents to the full, so that many became talented stage performers as well as excellent sportsmen.

These activities gave us the chance to work, play and learn together in the pursuit of excellence. We learned the value of teamwork, of practice, of dedication, of project management, even if we didn't know the term. Very often, with lots of help, we did achieve excellence, and the memory has stayed with us all these decades.

These and the sports pages are a tribute to the teachers and pupils who helped create this special Woolverstone tradition.