This summer we remember the day when Stoneleigh village underwent a massive change: fifty years ago, on July 23rd 1976, the school closed its doors for the last time. By June that year, everyone was beginning to feel the sadness of losing such an important part of village life. The vicar, Reverend Neville Beamer, wrote an article in the June Stoneleigh & Ashow News called "The Curtain Falls". On July 11th there was a Thanksgiving Service at church, when the vicar spoke more about the loss of the school. The late David Thorley recorded Reverend Beamer's sermon, which gives us an important insight into this moment in our collective history. After giving thanks for all those who had been associated with the school in its more than two-hundred-year existence, he wondered what would become of the building: might it be somewhere to host village organisations, art classes, holiday homes for city folk? After an Open Day on July 13th, with an exhibition and performances by the children, the school closed on July 23rd, about 230 years since first opening. Back row, l-r: Mrs Palmer, Mrs Malone, Mr Black, Mrs Clarke, Mrs Lovell, Miss Thorley. Middle row, l-r: Andrew Wrist, Hailey Kenningdale, Shelley Powell, Susan Beecham, Jackie Glover, Ian Allison, John ?, Jill Ball, Lorna Nicholson. Front row, l-r: Scott Simpson, Sandra Wrist, Martin Wrist, Anne Ball, Adrian Shaw, Wendy Bayliss, Michael Shaw. How different things must have seemed when the new term began. Not only were children travelling out of the village, but "the village seems dead" wrote the vicar in the October magazine, regretting that children's voices were no longer to be heard in the playground. The building was finally sold ten years later in 1986, paving the way for smart new housing and apartments. My book "Back to School", a history of the school, sold out very quickly after publication in 2019 but a small booklet giving a shorter version is available in the Leigh Chapel, for just £3. Visit the School Gallery to see many more photographs of Stoneleigh School, its staff, and former pupils. You can also visit the Leigh Chapel in Stoneleigh Church, open daily from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm, where you can view the original school desk along with other artefacts and displays telling the story of the school and the village. Our next meeting, following our summer break, will take place on Tuesday, September 22nd. Douglas Faulconbridge traces his life's journey from his birthplace at the Mill House on the River Sowe in Alderman's Green to the point where the River Sowe joins the River Avon at Stoneleigh, where he has lived for the past five years. The meeting begins at 7:30pm in Stoneleigh Village Hall. New members are welcome. Non-members pay £3, which includes refreshments. While waiting for our next meeting, why not check out the article 'Charterhouse monks caught up in rebellion', written by one of our members for Historic Coventry Trust? The July/August edition of the Stoneleigh and Ashow News is now available. The minutes of the June meeting are also available.