Dingwall Academy's Class of '53 has storybook surprise for teacher as major milestone marked
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Former Dingwall Academy pupils who started first year in 1953 have spent the last four months getting in touch across the world to celebrate achieving a big milestone in life – 80 years old.
As Covid restrictions prevented a physical reunion Kerr Inkson, now living in New Zealand, ably assisted by locally based Isabel MacMaster, organised the project of getting in touch with former classmates.
From a class of forty three some thirty four classmates have written their life stories, some long, some short, and shared them around. Some have moved abroad, some worked around Britain with most staying local to Ross-shire. Interestingly many have come back to Ross-shire to work and retire. They have done a huge range of careers and all kept the experiences of their time in Dingwall Academy as an inspiration in their lives.
A big part of that inspiration was the teaching staff. The only surviving member of staff that taught them is Ian MacNab who taught Geography. Ian now lives on the family farm at Kildun, Dingwall.
A small group of former pupils met with Ian recently to present him with the stories and pictures they have gathered. They were presented in a beautiful handcrafted binder made by Rosalie Furlong. The binder depicted the green of the land, the Northern Lights, the swallows which fly the nest but always come back, and the winding path that life takes all set on a background of MacNab tartan.
An interesting and engaging couple of hours were spent reminiscing about teachers, events, trips, mischief, and looking at photographs. The names of many former teachers cropped up with stories about long forgotten incidents.
All present said Ian Macnab was an enthusiastic teacher who brought geography to life for them, opened their understanding of what they were seeing around them and how the landscape dictated agriculture and industry. Mr Macnab’s name crops up in many of their classmates’ stories as being an influence in their lives, even for some who did not study Geography. Ian spoke at their last reunion in Inverness where he reflected on them as a class he had enjoyed teaching and how many had kept in touch, something he appreciated greatly.
Not to let a teacher off the hook they have challenged Ian to write his life story so they can pass it onto their classmates.
