FAIRFIELD OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION

NEWSLETTER SPRING 2017

Headteacher’s Update

To coincide with our launch of Pledges, I decided to commit to my own Pledge. This was a lifetime ambition to undertake one of the most famous and challenging walks in the world; the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru. This is a walk which combines beautiful mountain scenery, lush cloud-forest, subtropical jungle and, of course, a stunning mix of Inca paving stones, ruins and tunnels. I went with two friends from my school days, Stephen (a marathon runner) and Mark (a regular triathlete). I knew it was going to be tough: one to complete the walk; two to keep up with them! Tough physically and mentally.

To prepare I spent time from January to July in training. I worked with a personal trainer three times a week and once a week practised by doing a ten mile walk wearing my dreaded companion, my 10kg torture, sorry, training vest. Although this was very challenging, I knew it was what I had to do to complete the trek and to stand a chance of keeping up with my old school friends.

We left Heathrow airport in London on Sunday 31st of July at about 10pm. From there we travelled to Bogota in Columbia, from there to Lima in Peru, and from there to Cusco in Peru. All in all, the travelling took about 18 hours. On arrival in Cusco we were met by our rep who gave us many tips, the primary ones being related to altitude sickness. In extreme cases this can result in fatigue, serious illness or even death.

On the Monday evening we met with our guide, Burly, who talked us through the trek and the equipment we were allowed (only 8kg) and expected to take. He explained how we would be picked up at 7am on Tuesday morning and we would be returning to our hotel in Cusco on Sunday evening. We were travelling to the start of the trail on Tuesday evening, where we would camp, and we would be starting the Trail on the Wednesday morning. Every night until Saturday would be spent camping.

On Wednesday morning, we began the trek at about 7am. We had two international companions from America, both experienced marathon runners and trekkers. Their last trek was the Grand Canyon and now they were looking for something more challenging. At this stage my degree of trepidation increased significantly!

The trek itself was hugely challenging but equally rewarding. Between Wednesday and Saturday we covered about 50 miles. Conditions were basic and extreme. Because we were at high altitude at night the temperature dropped to about minus ten degrees. During the daytime it was as hot as thirty degrees with the occasional torrential downpour of rain. Terrain was rough and tough. It was up and downhill all the way. At the peak it was about 4200 metres high. The highest peak in England is Scafell Pike (978m). The scenery was truly amazing.

The Inca Trail and Machu Picchu are massive tourist attractions in Peru. According to our guide, Machu Picchu is open 365 days a year. This puts pressure on the environment. Consequently, every walker on the Trail requires a pass and we made sure the company we used to book our tour subscribed to a sustainable tourism charter which helps ensure tourists, like us, could access an amazing place while at the same time minimise the threat to and pressures on the environment.

Machu Picchu was recognised in recent years as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide internet poll and it is easy to see why. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca Emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often mistakenly referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas" it is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was not known to the Spanish during the colonial period and remained unknown to the outside world until American historian Hiram Bingham brought it to international attention in 1911. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. It has been estimated that it attracts 400,000 visitors per year.

We arrived at Machu Picchu on Saturday afternoon and returned for a full tour on the Sunday following a well-earned night in a hotel in a local town on the Saturday night. Following the tour, we then caught a train back to Cusco on Sunday afternoon and I flew back to London on the Monday afternoon, eventually making it back to Manchester by Wednesday night.

As part of my Pledge I committed to raising money for charity. Girls, staff, parents, the Fairfield Old Girls Association (FOGA), family and friends all gave very generously to the nominated causes: Breast Cancer Research and When You Wish Upon A Star. We also donated £250 to a Fairfield Old Girl, Rebecca Barlow-Noone, who has been volunteering in the Dominican Republic, helping educate children and adults about managing diabetes. In total we raised nearly £3,000. Thank you to everyone who contributed in every way. You really have helped to make a difference.

What is my next challenge you might be asking? Well, Mount Kilimanjaro and Basecamp Everest have been mentioned but there is nothing in the calendar yet. Not yet anyway…

Brendan Hesketh

Committee News

At present the committee is comprised of eight members, following the sad loss of Barbara Fletcher towards the end of last year.

Joyce Eves, Midge Morton, Diana Cavanagh, Beverley Moores, Linda Fraser, Julia Eves, Pat Osowu and Helen Weston.

If you were present at the AGM in 2016, you may recall that our long standing secretary Joyce Eves was hoping to retire from her post as the workload was just too great. In response to this, we decided to trial a new system which shared out responsibilities more evenly across the group.

Joyce is to continue as General Secretary. As such she will be the first point of contact for members. She will continue to organise the Autumn reunion and the SpringAGM by sending out invitations and collating the responses. She will also draw up the agenda, minute the proceedings and arrange their distribution to members.

Diana Cavanagh will act as chair at the AGM.

The Treasurer will liaise very closely with the General Secretary and be responsible for maintaining the database of members and keeping account of funds. Beverley Moores is willing to continue in this role. To assist her in her duties, members are kindly requested to pay the annual subscription of £3 at or before the AGM in April.As it is not always possible to come to the meeting, members are encouraged to arrange to pay by standing order or BACS transfer. If you are able to do this, please arrange for the money to be paid in by May 1st. Pru Slater has kindly offered to assist Beverley as required.

The Reunion team will take charge of providing refreshments at both the AGM and the Autumn meeting. Julia Eves will continue in this role assisted by her daughters Rebecca and Erin along with their friend Natasha. Linda Fraser will continue to organise the Bring and Buy for the Autumn meeting.

The Archives group will take responsibility for changing the displays in school. They will also be in charge of collecting items and storing them safely. Midge (Doreen) Morton and Joyce Eves will continue in this role, joined by Pat Osowu and Lorraine Withers.

Helen Weston is to take charge of the Newsletter. She will collate all items for inclusion and be responsible for its production and distribution. As this is sent out to members in March, the deadline for news is early February. Those members who have supplied an e-mail address will receive it electronically. Please do consider this option as printing and postage costs are very high these days. There is also an Old Girls section on the school website, which Helen will keep updated. Deb Ives has offered to help by setting up a Facebook page. This is not exclusively for members of FOGA but is proving popular, especially with the younger generation!

The Old Girls are now represented on Fairfield's Governing Body by Sharman Birtles, Anne McGarry and Helen Weston. All three are also members of the Pupil Issues Panel in addition to serving on other committees.

SHARMAN BIRTLES JP DL

The Office of High Sheriff

If you attended the reunion last October, you may recall that Sharman Birtles addressed the meeting.However, time was against us so her talk was curtailed. You can still read about it though! What follows is an in depth look at the role of the High Sheriff……….

The History of the Sheriff

The Office of High Sheriff is the oldest secular office in the United Kingdom after the Crown, extending back to Saxon times. The exact date of origin is unknown but it has existed for over 1,000 years and certainly since the shires were formed. The word ‘Sheriff’ derives from the term ‘Shire-Reeve’ or the Anglo-Saxon ‘Seir-Gerefa’ and the office probably derived from the Kings Reeve also known as the ‘High Reeve’. It began as a Saxon office and it is understood that some Sheriffs led contingents at the Battle of Hastings.During the 11th and 12th centuries the Sheriff’s powers were very extensive.

For example;

  • They sat in judgement in cases in the monthly Court of the Hundreds (a sub-unit of theShire)
  • They had law enforcement powers and could raise the ‘Hue & Cry’ in pursuit of felons within their Shire
  • They could summon and command the ‘Posse Comitatus’ – the power to enlist the whole or part of the Shire in the service of the Sovereign (strangely this has never been repealed so I could have raised a Posse – sadly I didn’t know enough people withhorses!)
  • They collected taxes and levies and all dues on Crown lands on behalf of theCrown
  • They were in charge of Crown properties in theShire
  • They were also the principal representatives and agents for the Crown and were very powerful men within theShire
  • Also from 1254 the Sheriff supervised the election to Parliament of two Knights of theShire

It is little known that of the 63 Clauses in the Magna Carta of 1215 no fewer than 27 relate to the role of the Sheriff.

It is no surprise, given the potential for corruption and favour, that some Sheriffs let these powers go to their heads and behaved badly, as witnessed by the well-documented antics of the Sheriff of Nottingham! However, the Sheriff’s powers were steadily eroded over succeeding centuries. For example, Henry 1 organised the Exchequer to take over tax collections and also to audit the Sheriff’s accounts and Henry 11 introduced thesystem ofitinerant justices from which evolved the Assizes. The Sheriff was responsible for issuing writs, having the Court well-run, the prisoners and juries suitably prepared and then executing the sentences which were pronounced.

It was also the Sheriff’s responsibility to ensure the safety and comfort of the Judges. This is the origin of the High Sheriff’s present day duty to care for the well-being of High Court Judges. Then in the middle of the 13th Century Coroners and Justices of the Peace were created.

In the Tudor era Henry V111 created the office of Lord Lieutenant, whose task was to serve as personal representative of the Sovereign in each county or shire. This was probably because the monarch did not trust the High Sheriffs and needed someone to keep an eye on them!

By the acts of 1856 and 1865 all the Sheriff’s powers concerning police and prisons passed to the Prison Commissioners and Local Constabulary; and under an act of 1883 the care of Crown property was transferred to the Crown Commissioners.

The Sheriffs Act of 1887 consolidated the Law relating to the Office of High Sheriff and this Act remains in force to this day. It should be reiterated that the Office should be held for one year only, that a Sheriff who was also a Magistrate should not sit during his year of office and also confirmed the historic process of nomination and selection by the Sovereign.

By the late nineteenth century the High Sheriff’s historic powers had been largely removed and the roletoday is essentially symbolic andceremonial.

Of particular interest to Fairfield Girls is the fact that the first female Sheriff was in Lincolnshire, Dame Nicola de la Haye, in 1216 but she only lasted for 5 months. It was four centuries later in 1653 before the next female was appointed, Lady Anne Clifford of Westmoreland, and yet another three centuries before the third femaleheld the position in

1967 in the County of Gloucestershire.In 1972 the role was re-titled as High Sheriff in order to indicate that they are the Sovereign’s Sheriffs.

The modern role is

  • To lend support to The Royal Family, the Judiciary, the Police other law enforcement agencies, the Emergency Services, Local Authorities and all recognised Church and Faith Groups
  • To entertain visiting High Court Judges
  • To support, encourage & give a platform to the Voluntary Sector
  • To promote good citizenship
  • To support the Lord Lieutenant on Royal visits and on other occasions as appropriate

How does it happen?

Three years in advance (so for me in December 2012) I received an amazing phone call, completely out of the blue, which was to have life changing repercussions. The caller was known to me,otherwiseIwould have thought the whole thing a joke when he said to me that a Committee, of which he was Chair, wanted to put my name before Her Majesty the Queen with a view to me becoming High Sheriff of Greater Manchester for 2015/2016 and did I have any comment to make! As you can imagine I was flabbergasted as I knew very little about the ancient office and had never thought of myself as someone who might be approached for such a prestigiousrole.

We talked for a while and he pointed out that, whilst our conversation was highly confidential, I obviously would need to discussit with my husbandGrahame, not least because the role of High Sheriff is totally self-funding and mustn’t be a financial burden to anyone else.

After great consideration Grahame and I agreed that this was an offer I couldn’t refuse and so all the wheels were put in motion. The complete confidentiality was to remain until March 2015, six weeks before my Installation at Dukinfield Town Hall.This is because in the County Palatine of the Duchy of Lancaster, which consists of Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire, the names of the three chosen ‘High Sheriffs in nomination’ are kept a strict secret until the ‘pricking ceremony’ takes place. As you can imagine this can be very stressful for the candidates as the results are revealed only about six weeks before his or her installation and the preparation for office takes about 12 months.

In March of each year the roll-call of the High Sheriffs in nomination, called the ‘Lites’, is submitted to the Queen in Council who then ‘pricks’ the first names of the vellum scroll with a silver bodkin and thus appoints the High Sheriffs for the ensuing year. The pricked names are then published in the London Gazette and also in The Times and Daily Telegraph. Those appointed receive their Warrants of Appointment from the Privy Council by post.

An explanation for pricking through the vellum was that the choice of High Sheriff was not always a welcome honour. A mark or tick with a pen could easily be erased with a knife but a hole in the vellum could never be repaired or removed. It was not always a welcome honour as in the past some powerful individuals nominated their rivals as High Sheriff solely in order to bankrupt them. That this was possible was a surprise to me when I first heard of my appointment but, as mentioned earlier, the role is completely self-funding so as my year progressed I came to fullyunderstand!

I should point out that I was the 42nd High Sheriff of Greater Manchester, being the 8thwoman and only the second ever to come from Tameside, the first being aman.

Uniform

In the Duchy counties male High Sheriffs wear a Deputy Lieutenant’s Uniform which is quite military in style. Lady High Sheriffs wear a suitable outfit that is on similar lines to that of Court Dress and must follow five guidelines:

  • the outfit must be of a sobercolour
  • steel-cut buttons should beused
  • a lace jabot and lace cuffs should beincluded
  • shoes must have courtbuckles
  • the hat should include an ostrichfeather

Additionally worn is a badge of office which includes the Shrievalty coat of arms showing two crossed swords, one sharp and one blunt which represents justice with mercy.


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