We are always delighted to welcome back our Old Cumnorians to school, but a recent OC visit was special in many ways, coinciding with beginning the task of cataloguing the school’s archives so these can be shared and displayed for many years to come.
Chris Kennard (Class of 1971) got in touch to arrange to bring his father, Robin Kennard (Class of 1939) to view the school’s very first honours board which lists the scholarship destinations for Cumnor pupils from 1932 to 1939.
At this time, the school was in Croydon (where it was founded in 1931) and therefore Robin was a pupil at the very start of what is now Cumnor House Sussex.
This first honours board includes Robin’s name – he secured a scholarship to Canford (valued at £40 in 1939) and Chris was also awarded a scholarship, featuring on the 1969-1973 honours board for his place at Tonbridge.
What made this visit particularly poignant was that the next day – Saturday 2nd November – Robin (who lives locally in Forest Row with his wife of 70 years) celebrated his 99th birthday, surrounded by family and friends.
These included another OC, Colin Kennard (Class of 1943), who is Robin’s younger brother and who turned 95 in September.
The Kennards’ links with Cumnor don’t stop there – Robin and Colin’s late cousin Michael Kennard was in the same year as Colin and Colin’s son Richard also came to Cumnor (Class of 1983).
In years past, Robin was a regular attendee at the annual OC cricket match, along with contemporaries John Berkley and Harley Sherlock (now both sadly deceased). Robin was an outstanding cricketer as a pupil and in the archives, we found a photo of him alongside his other 1st XI team mates from 1939. Another point of sporting note is that Robin held Cumnor’s high jump record from 1939 until 1961.
Chris returned to Cumnor in the summers of 1976, 1977 and 1978 as a gapper, supporting teaching, sports and also serving as a groundsman.
We asked Chris to share his thoughts about Cumnor today; he praised the transformation of the educational and sporting infrastructure.
You can still feel the warmth from its original heart as a big family house; it was and remains a place where you are made to feel that you belong.
Chris also encouraged current pupils to embrace every opportunity.
Try everything and don’t be afraid to fail; you’ll only have this chance once.
If you have any items that you think should form part of the Cumnor House Sussex archives, please email oldcumnorians@cumnor.co.uk.
