MEMORIES of the famous St Andrew's School at Malton have been revived with the 100th birthday of its legendary head, Gwen Allen.

The esteem in which she is held by former pupils was evidenced by several of them travelling to Dorset, where she now lives in a nursing home, to take part in the celebrations, which included a party attended by more than 100 people.

Miss Allen was on the staff of St Andrew's for 40 years, retiring in 1968 after 23 years as its head. It closed in July 1983 because of falling rolls, but a number of its former teachers still live in the Malton area, among them Molly Kennedy and Barbara Allaker.

Many former pupils still remember Miss Allen with affection.

Among those who went to her celebration party was Mrs Rosemary (Romey) Willis. "She was remarkably well and looking very elegant and bonny. She enjoyed hearing our news - she was in great form."

The visit of the ex-pupils, who included Mrs Willis's sister, Marjorie Thompson, and Jennifer Capstick, had been kept as a big surprise for Miss Allen.

Among the hundreds of cards she received was a giant one of 2ft by 18 inches specially made by Susan Maud (nee Rivis), of Rillington, a former pupil and accomplished artist who recreated the school badge and motto, Vivamus Recte - Let Us Live Uprightly - on the front of the card, embellished with ribbons in the school's colours of maroon and navy.

Champagne corks popped as Miss Allen and her former fellow teachers and pupils chatted about the old days of St Andrew's, which was founded in 1904 in Bridlington as Devonshire House by Frances Duggleby, of Broughton, when she acquired a school which was on the verge of closure. She went on to be its head for 40 years and became renowned as an enterprising figure in the education field in Ryedale.

The school was evacuated to Malton in 1940, to take the children away from the threat of coastal air raids, and it changed its name to St Andrew's. Then it had just nine boarders and three day scholars. Miss Allen saw numbers rise to 250 by the 1960s.

Over the years, there have been many re-unions, some attracting as many as 150 old pupils, which Miss Allen attended.

The school was described as "a saga begun in great faith and continued with devotion and unconquerable spirit".

As well as being a prominent educationalist in the Malton area, Miss Allen was a popular local church preacher, furthering the ethos of St Andrew's as a Christian school, said Mrs Allaker, who was head of the art department.

"Many of her former pupils are leaders in the public life of Ryedale. A number of them were from farming families and married farmers."

Miss Allen also founded the Soroptimists in Malton, which is this year celebrating its golden jubilee, with Mrs Capstick as its president.

A silver jubilee service for St Andrew's was held in York Minster, recalls former pupil Margaret Woodings (nee Byass), who later became matron of St Andrew's.

"In the early days, Miss Allen coped unaided with all the secretarial work and accounts as well as teaching full-time. In the holidays, she would make curtains and bedspreads as well as decorating rooms. She was devoted to St Andrew's."

Miss Allen's specialist subject was geography and she enjoyed a lifetime of travelling. She took pupils on school trips abroad long before they were an accepted part of school life, said Miss Kennedy, a lifelong friend and stalwart of the school, who was among the guests at the birthday party. Her name is as synonymous with St Andrew's as that of the Snow and Gourlay families, say former pupils.

Mrs Nancy Snow, Mrs Willis's mother, ran the family drapery business on a site at Butcher Corner, Malton, demolished several years ago to improve traffic flows through the town.

One of the school's best-known former pupils is Susanne Burden, who became a stage and television actress starring in such series as The Vet, You Me and It, Soldier, Soldier, and Between The Lines.

Updated: 11:35 Wednesday, January 07, 2004