So how do you say goodbye to something that is more than two hundred years old?

Well that was what some of the staff, students, past students and friends did today at Didsbury.

The college of education has been there on this site for a long time and before that it was the site of the Methodist theological college and before that a school for young ladies.

All of which means that the place has had something to do with education since 1812 and its passing should be marked in a significant way.

Now I don’t know how the MMU will officially call time on the school of Education in Didsbury but today there was a gentle and very pleasant picnic which said goodbye in a very human way.

There were no pompous speeches from the great and good, just a few songs, a cake and presentations for those people who were leaving and not making the journey to the new building in Hulme.

It was quite a gathering including plenty who are still on the "books" and more than a few who walked through its doors almost a full half century ago.

I should know I rolled up in the September of 1972 and apart from one visit have not been back in 42 years.

But there were those who could claim to have been here in the 1960s and so the event was very much about memories, memories of being a student five decades ago and of the different theories of how to train teachers that have surfaced during that time.

For me and I have to confess I can’t remember a lot, mine were very specific.  They included a tutorial in the admin block, the odd visit to the library and the shame of almost failing the AV course.

I only did the year post grad and if I am honest did not invest the same time or emotion as friends who did the full three and four year courses but a bit of me still mourns the passing of the institution from Didsbury.

That said education is one of those areas where the past is easily lost in the present.

After all every year a cohort of students leaves to be replaced by another and staff move on, so I shall not over dwell on the passing over the college, instead I shall ponder on the sites future, and think about the schools new home in Hulme.

Listening to the conversations around the the picnic that was uppermost in people's minds.

So while there were the affectionate stories of past events and individuals there was also plenty about what it would be like to be on the new campus within a short bus ride of the city centre.

And one member of staff had set himself the task of recording the different sounds of the college grounds in Didsbury with those of Hulme.

Now that should be an interesting project and fascinating legacy for those who will never know the present site.

And I know that the Univeristy have asked a former member of staff to produce a history of the  the college which will be a must to read.

Pictures; the Goodbye Picnic June 25th 2014 from the collection of Andrew Simpson