It was back to Farnham Castle for the 77th Annual Dinner of the Association. Opinions divide somewhat on the relative merits of meeting at the college to enjoy the experience of being in the old grounds of FGS versus the undoubted comfort and grandeur of the castle. Our old school has many historical attachments to Farnham Castle, given the fact that important benefactors of the school were Bishops of Winchester such as Bishop Morley (visible in the centre portrait on the far wall in the above photograph) and Bishop Horne (who donated important property that seems to have been the origin of the capital used to buy the land of FGS).

The 88 old boys who dined at this dinner all seemed extremely satisfied with the event. The accolade for the longest journey went to Norman Paget, who had come from the USA to be present. It was sadly noted that, perhaps for the first time ever, there were no masters present at this dinner.

However, the event ran as smoothly as any previous dinner thanks to some good planning by key people such as Secretary Roger Edgell and organiser Cyril Trust. The food was good and delightfully served by the castle caterers. Light entertainment by the Ladies Choir In Accord was enormously appreciated.

Gerald LeVey proposed a toast to The School and spoke of the benefit he had gained from his attendance at FGS and the great pride he had when, with shortages after the war, he eventually got his first school cap (which he donned during the speech). John Travers proposed a toast to The Association and said how indebted everyone was to the work that had taken place over many decades to keep the OFA alive. It still thrived and members were still joining as they discovered the association was still active, often via the website.

President Brian Williams replied to the toasts and thanked the many people who help to keep the association going today. Clive Beal, as toastmaster, started the loving cup on its journey round the hall and then introduced John Crotty as the old boy who would make the roll call of the years. This ceremony revealed Terry Tidd as our most senior old boy present, having started at the school in 1935.

A lusty singing of the School Song marked the end of the evening and a homeward journey for everyone with the sense of well-being that we experience when we emerge from an evening of thoroughly enjoyed nostalgia.

Ian Sargeant
22 March, 2009

Attendees

88 Diners

Beal C	Daniels BJ	Jones RJD	Pritchard SG
Bennett R	Edgell RG	King W	Rayer AJ
Blowfield P	Elkins K	Le Vey G	Read P
Bond M	Fairclough C	Lucas D	Roe D
Bone B	Fisher JM	Luckhurst R	Sargeant I
Booker MD	Fitch C	Luff W	Saunders J
Bowtell R	Ford P	Matthews JR	Seignot MD
Buckell D	Frampton RA	Mayne EP	Short R
Buer E	Gatfield A	McCabe N	Sturt M
Chitty D	Golding R	Mehta M	Tidd T
Clarke J	Greentree D	Mentzel K	Timmins NT
Cleminson RS	Grimes D	Mortimer K	Torode H
Coakes D	Groves H	Munday J	Travers J
Cockle J	Hall BA	Mylles P	Trust C
Coleby MV	Hewes GHA	Nash C	Upfold H
Constantine M	Hewes RH	Nunn D	Vick JL
Cooke J	Homewood T	Owen M	Walsh WP
Cope JA	Horner MJ	Paget ND	Welland Jones R
Cope P	Hughes DP	Peace J	Wilkinson JR
Crotty J	Hunt GV	Phillips D	Williams BR
Cutler D	Huntingford P	Phillips RM	Wingent MA
Da Costa M	Jeffreys M	Philpott B	Withall T

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