Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's Newport play appearance
David Cameron has been dogged by a university picture of himself at the Bullingdon Club – and now an image has emerged including a young Jeremy Corbyn in a guise he may well rather forget.
The faded photograph reveals his page boy past – but, alas, without that trademark beard the young lad cannot be recognised from the crowd in this July 1960 picture taken of children in the cast of 'The Wishing Well' at Castle House School in Newport. So you'll have to play your own game of Where's Jeremy.
He was 11 at the time and played the part of a page, and rubbed shoulders with other characters like Patrick The Dwarf (played by Charles Wynn), Fairy of the Wishing Well (Margaret Watson-Jones), and assorted gipsies, fairies, woodcutters, and gnomes.
Mr Corbyn's role has been uncovered by Newport local historian Malcolm Miles, who has a copy of the original programme and also wrote a history of the school in the 1990s.
"A recent interview with Jeremy Corbyn revealed his attendance at Castle House School, Newport, a private school for ages five to 11," said Malcolm.
"Previously Merevale College for young ladies, it had been reopened in 1944 by Miss Zellah Pitchford as a preparatory school with her as headmistress. Every year some form of public event was held and on July 22, 1960, it was a garden party with a play by pupils called 'The Wishing Well' followed by tea and sports.
"Many of the pupils in the play are from families still well-known in Newport today but one stands out – it is Jeremy Corbyn who took the role of a page in a fantasy of gipsies, fairies, woodcutters and gnomes."
Our picture of the cast is taken directly from the following week's Newport and Market Drayton Advertiser (has anyone still got an original picture?), which had a report of the day's proceedings.
