Manchester Association of Cambridge University Women plant trees at local schools #Newnham150
“To commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Newnham, MACUW decided to offer a tree each to two former direct grant girls’ schools in the City of Manchester; both have been associated with Newnham from their earliest days, Manchester High School for Girls (1874) and Withington Girls’ School (1890) and the mainstay of MACUW when it was, until the arrival of New Hall in 1954 of the Girton and Newnham Association of Old Students. We hold our AGM currently at Withington. Their second head was a Newnhamite. Mrs Sidgwick visited Manchester twice in 1899 and was entertained to tea in the library of MHSG by young Newnhamite staff. Interestingly the High School sent 22 to Newnham in the 1880s and 90s, and 6 to Girton.
“Both Heads were very enthusiastic. MHSG wanted a tree with purple because of Mrs Pankhurst who sent her three daughters there. The site was carefully chosen and the gardener made the final choice out of three. We acquired an Acer Bloodgood. The spadework was done beforehand by the school gardener and we had an unveiling ceremony. In both cases I spoke first to give the context and I said something , especially in the High School’s case, about the early association with Newnham. We had refreshments before or after the unveiling and then MACUW went off to lunch. The unveiling at the High School was done by the Deputy Head, a Girtonian, as it happened. The Acer was planted in half term on Friday 29 October. Both plaques were in stainless steel completely.
Withington had a different approach and though there were fewer members of MACUW present at the unveiling on 25 November there was splendid representation from the school – Mrs Haslam, the Head, a representation from teachers who ran the Eco Club or were alumnae of Cambridge, two governors and girls from the Eco club who had chosen the tree from a list: they voted for a Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ to go in front of the school. Again it was an unveiling, this time by one of the Eco club and there were speeches all round.
“In all this I have been helped by Helen Wright (NC 1962), my predecessor as rep on the Roll Committee. The RHS gave us Ladybrook Nursery in Cheshire as a source of the trees. We are grateful to the generous supporters within our group who made this all possible. It has been very rewarding for all who participated – we have an enthusiastic core. Both schools said how delighted and honoured they were to be involved. The events at both schools have been commemorated with a stainless steel plaque.”
The tree planting project is gaining attention around the world – Emeritus Professor Mary Garson (NC 1971) at the University of Queensland, Australia tweeted how much she enjoyed hearing about the WGS planting as she started her educational journey there in 1961, and started her university life at Newnham.