The space available only permits a brief synopsis of our activities for 1947. The year has seen a vigorous revival of our activities, three Continental visits being undertaken and successfully accomplished. Two were under the general arrangements of the E.S.S.T.T. to whom we owe a great deal for their pioneer work in collective travel for English schoolboys. Twenty boys and two masters visited Brunnen at Easter and had a very enjoyable and interesting holiday. A simiar party invaded Belgium at the end of July, headquarters being at Bruges fr five days and Brussels for three days. We greatly appreciated the vigorous and uncompromising action of our new Divisional Education Officer, Mr. A. G. Field, who quickly secured an improvement in the unsatisfactory accomodation which had been arranged for us by a Belgian organisation. That our time is fully occupied is shown by our eight-day programme, which included visits to Ypres, Ostend, Blankenberghe, Ghent, Waterloo and Malines.
The big occasion for us was, however, the August visit to Switzerland, for which we teamed up with Chiswick county School to make a party of 92. Our headquarters on this tour was the Sternen Hotel, Fluelen, where our hosts, M. and Mme. Sigrist, spared no effort to make us happy, comfortable, and well-fed. Visits were arranged by foot, lake-steamer, railway, coach and mountain railway to Lucerne, Brunnen, Seelisberg, Rigi, Andermatt, Furka Pass and the Rhone Glacier, whilst the memorable journey by the Gotthard Railway to Lugano through magnificent, ever-changing scenery will long remain a high-light in our reminiscences.
I would like here to welcome to the ranks of the H.C.S Travellers, Mr. C. Smith, who joined the staff just over a year ago. His unrivalled knowledge of railways and their time-tables, his unruffled composure and happy gift of facile relationships with every typ of railway official, were considerable factors in the smooth organisation of our journeys.
Happy comradeship with the Chiswick boys and their masters, Messrs. Lunson and Howard Williams, and the general high standard of deportment and co-operation shown by all the boys made this the happiest holiday I have ever experienced.
Harry Webb
Source: The Gaytonian, December 1947