Reading it again, some twenty years after it had been originally published, triggered vivid memories of my time at the school. Amongst other gems it contained reports on the various clubs and activities, the season's sporting results, the years's leavers and joiners and the individual House reports. It even contained poems and drawing by classmates. The very fact that 'The Yorkist' was predominantly written by the pupils of the school, although there is clearly some assistance from a number of staff members, means that, for me, it captured the memory of the place in a way, that no other document, conversation, or reunion had ever done before. I was therefore keen to share what I had found with as many of my contemporary school friend as I could. There would have been seven separate 'years' at the school at the time it was published in 1978, however I also felt that the document might be of interest to old boys of other eras too.
Pupils of The Duke of York's, by it's very nature (we were all son's of soldiers) are spread throughout the world, therefore publishing the document on the Internet seemed to be the ideal way of sharing my find with other ex-dukies. There are numerous ex-pupils on the Internet and many of us communicate with each other via email on a regular basis. However, to the best of my knowledge the school does not itself have a 'virtual museum' or any form of home page where this could be published. The largest formal organisation for old boys; 'The Duke of York's Old Boys Association' is currently struggling to grasp the possibilities and potential of the Internet as a medium for communicating information.
Regrettably then, I have no alternative to publish the document here on my own web pages. I sincerer hope that once a more 'centralised' web site is established that these pages may be included. I have no doubt in my mind that such a web site will be established, and it could be argued that it is forming now albeit in a fragmented and informal way. For those who are sceptical about such things, I hope that this document is food for thought.
'The Yorkist' can be found at http://www.jabberwocky.co.uk/yorkist.html.