An 83-year-old woman with cherished memories of a school trip has made a nostalgic return to a North Yorkshire outdoor education centre – almost seven decades after she last visited.
Many may still perceive a school residential break as just another mini-holiday or a way of having a break from lessons, however for Margaret Mosley, the 24-day stay enabled her to engage in new activities completely pushing her out of her comfort zone, make new friends and sparking a life-long passion of nature, particularly birds.
Margaret, who lives in Redcar, has made a special 120-mile round trip to Bewerley Park Outdoor Education Centre in Harrogate, accompanied by her husband Douglas, 88, and their daughter, Louise Dale.
Bewerley Park, which is situated in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, offers residential and day courses with a range of adventure and outdoor activities including caving, canoeing, hill walking and rock climbing.
Margaret was last at the centre in 1954 aged just 14. At the time, she was a pupil at Woodlands Secondary Modern School based in what was then the mining village of Woodlands, near Doncaster.
Flicking through carefully crafted diary entries made during her stay, Margaret beamed as she recalled gazing upwards and discovering “colourful” and charismatic birds igniting and forever nurturing her love for bird watching.
“It was a magical discovery as coming from a mining village, I had only ever seen black sparrows or crows so to see multi-coloured birds was beautiful,” she said. “It was the first time I had been away from home for so long and in those days, we had no telephones to call our parents. We were all homesick and had to write letters to our parents to keep in touch with them.”
She added: “Every nook and corner of Bewerley Park holds poignant memories for me. “Our stay flew by as we embarked on adventure after adventure, be it exploring Brimham Rocks, Stump Cross Caverns, Fountains Abbey or the surrounding woodland. We had no cameras in those days so couldn’t take any pictures, I had to sketch everything from spiders to rocks and sculptures in my notebook. One of my fondest memories is visiting the oldest sweet shop in Pateley Bridge and buying aniseed balls and dolly mixtures.”
A proposed £4.2 million investment to redevelop and modernise Bewerley Park and East Barnby outdoor education centre in Whitby was given the go-ahead in November last year by members of the authority’s executive. A range of improvements are planned to enhance the appeal of the two centres for generations to come.
Executive member for education, learning and skills, Cllr Annabel Wilkinson, said: “We were delighted to welcome Margaret. It’s heart-warming to hear that one of her most significant and happiest childhood memories is her residential trip to Bewerley Park. It’s also lovely to hear that the trip ignited her passion for the outdoors, especially bird watching and to this day she remains a keen bird enthusiast.”
Speaking after her most recent visit, Margaret, said: “It was so lovely to be back again after almost 70 years as I didn’t think I would ever have the opportunity to return. My first impression was that the site was bigger than I remembered, but it still looked familiar and brought back memories of the feeling of excitement at seeing all the open space and fresh air which was so different from my home at the time near Doncaster.
“I am so pleased to hear of the commitment to invest in the site so that it can provide future generations with the opportunities and experiences that I valued so much.”