Editor:
I was pleased to read the story, “Swan Valley wines an easy alternative to Margaret River’s” in the Coast Reporter of Oct. 13. The story took me back to my days at Guildford.
I was born in Perth, Western Australia, and attended Guildford Gram-mar School from 1946 to 1954. As boarders, we cheerfully referred to the school as Guildford Grammar Prison. But all joking aside, we (my two brothers and I) had some great times there.
One of our hijinks was to sneak out of the dorms at night with my friends, run down to the Swan River, about 30 metres across at that point, and swim across to steal grapes from the vineyard on the other side. We never got caught, but we did have some close calls.
Guildford Grammar School is famous because it contains a Gothic-style chapel, built to hold the 400 boys and staff, but in every respect a miniature Gothic cathedral. The funds for the construction of this beautiful building were donated by an Englishman, who had never seen the school. The chapel was completed in 1914. I sung in the choir there for six years, first as a boy soprano and later as a tenor.
Yes, the village of Guildford, about two kilometres from the school, was in those days a charming little village, as it is today. We often went there with our pocket money to buy treats.
As an adult I have been back to Guildford many times and I can attest the various Swan Valley wines are excellent, and much less expensive than Margaret River wines, which I have also sampled many times, both at Margaret River and in other cities around the world.
Frank Brown, Gibsons
