This week marks a bittersweet time in the history of Bow School, as pupils prepare to move from the Bow site to that of the Choristers. Tuesday saw the students have their own farewell, where they were able to try on some old Bow caps and examine some photos from the Archives; Sunday will see various Old Bowites congregate for one last cricket game on the field, and a forty-year-old time capsule will be unearthed. In many ways, however, the deeper amalgamation between Bow and Choristers has been something that both schools have been contemplating for a while, as in 1937 a merger between the two schools was seriously considered.

The Headmaster at Bow from 1934 to 1937 was Geoffrey La Trobe Foster, but the ground itself was let to Edith Bramwell, the sister of Bow founder William Bramwell; Edith had had a financial interest in Bow from the very beginning, putting up the capital to purchase the land and buildings. She was a formidable woman, called a "Super-Matron" by one of her students; she was the secretary of the Durham branch of the R.S.P.C.A., and the treasurer of the Durham Division Women's Conservative and Unionist Association. After her brother's death in 1917, she inherited the Bow lands, although retreated to allow day-to-day handling of the school to her tenant Foster. Foster rented Bow was rented at a cost of £200 per annum, which included the use of the playing fields owned by the University. Communication between the two broke down, however, with a line in Bow School: A Centenary Record (1985) providing a tantalising glimpse as to why this might be the case: "In the following year [1936] Foster had an unfortunate misunderstanding with Miss Bramwell over a matter of principle. As a result of she began to encourage parents to send their sons to Dunelm instead of to Bow." Dunelm School was the new School founded by Millie Lodge on 38 South Street; a year later Lodge would be the Headmistress of Bow. 

With the future of Bow uncertain and rumours abounding that it would need to be sold, the Dean and Chapter put together a proposal for a new school that would would see the Bow School site becoming home to a newly enlarged Chorister school. The new Headmaster of the school would be Chorister Headmaster Canon Ganderton, who was "the only master in the two schools who is qualified academically". Compensation was offered to Mr. Foster, "who has had an uphill fight both as regards finance and in restoring the confidence of parents in Bow School generally". As Foster had sunk £2500 of his own money into the school, while his assistant Mr Toulmin had given £1000, it was suggested that a sum of £1500 be provided to Foster and £500 to Toulmin in compensation. Reading between the lines, the breakdown in communication between Edith Bramwell and George Foster is evident: "It has apparently been difficult on occasions (runs the memorandum) to induce Miss Bramwell to fulfil her obligations as landlord in the matter of maintenance and repairs." Further on there is mention of Foster's "goodwill", "which seems, despite his pluck and energy, to be 'a wasted asset'"

Canon Ganderton had been anxious about the small size of the Chorister School for a while, and was anxious to expand it as much as he could. Buying Bow School, however, was not the solution he wanted. Canon Ganderton wrote a letter to the Clerk to the Chapter on the 3rd June 1937 in answer to this proposal. In it, Ganderton admits to "certain misgivings" about the scheme, arguing that "amalgamating successfully two quite independent schools under their own headmasters, with their own traditions and ways of doing things" would be too difficult. One of the issues Ganderton seized on was that the dining room at Bow was, at the time, used as for both eating and teaching—something Ganderton called "the dining-room-cum-class-room arrangement." For lunch, the desks were moved away to make way for tables to be laid. While this was suitable for the 23 boys attending Bow per year, the Chorister-Bow merger would see a school of 47. 

Ganderton also commented on the lack of a playground, especially if the field would not be fit to play on in winter. Ganderton does mention "a rather small playroom in the basement", likely referring to the space that used to be the swimming bath. Instead of Bow, Ganderton proposed an alternative: to move the Chorister School into the building of St. Mary's College. "It would be near at hand and still in the College, with considerable ground space, as well as plenty of accommodation for a large number of boys and staff, without any of the complications involved in the other scheme". 

A report submitted to a Mr. C.F. Battiscombe by accountant J.M. Herring on the 14th June 1937 outlined the predicted running expenses that the Bow-Chorister school would cost. The list of expenses included items such as Coal & Coke, Games Requisites, the cost of a Telephone, Text Books, "Doctor, Chemist Etc. (Choristers)" and Repairs & Renewals, and came to £1935- about £114,198 in today's money. 

Ultimately, the Dean and Chapter did not buy Bow; another bid by Durham School headmaster Canon Luce in May 1937 was also unsuccessful. Instead, Millie Lodge bought Bow School, and amalgamated both her own Dunelm School and Bow under one banner. It is no exaggeration that her time as Headmistress, as well as that of her nephew and successor Charlie Adamson, shaped Bow for much of the post-war period. 

Ganderton's suggestion that the School move into the St. Mary's College building had to wait for the space to become available, which had to wait until Easter 1953. By this point, numbers had increased dramatically, reaching 100 in 1955. The introduction of non-Chorister day boys and boarders had taken place a few years earlier, in 1948. 

It is interesting to reflect on 'what might have been'. What would have happened if the Chorister School had taken over the Bow site in 1937? In many ways we are seeing the reverse in 2025, with Bow merging with Choristers, but moving in the opposite direction. The three schools- Durham, Bow, and Choristers- have long had a history of mergers, moves and amalgamations.