Gallery: 20 years of events, disasters and developments at Powis Academy
From the devastating Powis Academy fire to wonderful shows full of youthful talent, here are 16 of the best photos from our archives.
1985 – From left, Catherine Kane, Wendy Barber, Alison Haldane and Nicola Tait take part in the dress rehearsal for Powis Academy’s production of The Greatest Show on Earth.
Serving its community from 1939 to 1988, Powis Academy educated pupils for almost 50 years.
St Machar Academy, as the school stands currently, has continued that mission with new challenges such as the introduction of the digital age, new curriculums and even the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lockdown introduced online learning, with children across the world suddenly finding themselves stuck at home and being taught from living rooms and dining tables instead of in classrooms.
Large-scale upheaval shapes school communities, such as the Powis Academy cohort impacted by the 1982 school fire.
Flames towered 60ft above the school, causing £500,000 worth of damage to the building.
The old Astoria Cinema organ was also destroyed, which was a blow to pupils who had painstakingly restored it.
But the loss wasn’t sorely material, with Powis’s much-lauded shows and events also at risk.
Thankfully, the community was able to bounce back with a resilience which has been passed down to pupils, both past and present.
We’ve dug out 16 archive photos of Powis Academy from 1972 onward, through the good times and the bad. Can you spot any familiar faces?
1972 –Phase 1 of the expansion of the school, a three-storey block facing Bedford Avenue.
1972 –The Powis Academy team which drew up a report on housing standards – from left, Brian Mutch, Sandra Mullen, Malcolm McLennan, Linda Fullerton and Ronald Middleton with the Rev Alan Falconer.
1981 –Powis Academy staff with a booklet they produced arguing for the retention of the school. Back row, from left, are James Beedie, David Donaldson, Brian McLaren, Alex Riddell, and Wolf Moser. Front, Colin MacKenzie, Kenneth Laing and Doris Meston
1981 –Discussing a booklet aimed at saving Powis from the axe are, from left, Denis Longino, principal teacher of art, Brian Anderson, principal teacher of physical education, Kenneth Laing, deputy head, and Margaret Laing, principal teacher of guidance.
1982 – Producer Jill Innes and Gavin Davidson, members of the Powis Academy cast of The King and I, who were to take the stage at His Majesty’s Theatre.
1982 – The academy managed to put on its annual carol concert despite a recent fire which badly damaged the school. Pupils from Sunnybank, Causewayend, Kittybrewster and Woodside schools also took part.
1982 – Smoke rises from the ashes of the assembly hall after fire ripped through the building.
1982 – Powis Academy pupils were building a landboat to enter the Great Aberdeen Land-Boat Race. Working on it are technical education teacher George Sim with, from left, Karl Fisher, Leonard Parkinson and Ian Armstrong.
1984 –The female production team rehearsing Half a Sixpence with Powis Academy pupils. From left, Anne Grant (with Cuddles the cat), Jill Innes, Sylvia Pirie, Beryl Gowland, Fiona Carter and Grace Allanach.
1984 – All smiles from two of the principals in Half a Sixpence, Ronnie Middleton and Joanne Fraser, in September 1984.
1984 –Principals in the cast of Powis Academy’s show Half a Sixpence at HMT are given a trip round the centre of Aberdeen in Aberdeen District’s landau.
1985 – From left, Catherine Kane, Wendy Barber, Alison Haldane and Nicola Tait take part in the dress rehearsal for Powis Academy’s production of The Greatest Show on Earth.
1987 –The Powis Academy junior girls choir who took part in a variety concert for the Powis Academy Parents Association.
1987 –Members of Free The Spirit, the school’s pop group, from left, Dawn Riddoch, Wendy Barber, Mairi Gillanders, Janine Ross, Cara Sinclair and Jill Bruce.
1988 –Rock band Free The Spirit, from Powis Academy, were in the final of the TSB Rock School Competition, to be held in Glasgow. From left: Dawn Riddoch, Wendy Barber, Kerry Craig, Marie Gillanders, Jill Bruce, Cara Sinclair and Melanie Calder.
1992 –Former pupil Andrea Reith (nee Fyfe) and history teacher Colin Mckenzie have a natter about the old days at Powis Academy.
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Gallery: 20 years of events, disasters and developments at Powis Academy
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