The 83^rd dinner of the Old Farnhamians’ Association took place at the Legacy Hogs Back Hotel on 21 March 2015 attended by over 80 members in an atmosphere of cordiality and extreme good humour. Not a spring chicken amongst them, but a guest of honour who was one of the youngest present. Youth may have become a fading memory, but vitality was a current condition of all present. Lively discourse, perfect recall of distant events at school and bon homie in copious helpings was aided by an excellent meal and appropriate beverages.

Starting by remembering those old boys and staff who had passed away since the last annual dinner, there was thereafter only a slight change to a well-entrenched order of events. We avoided the confusion of having the roll call at the same time as the loving cup is passed round in order that everyone could see who precisely had joined or departed the school in what year.

The guest of honour was Mike Potter CBE, Principal of Guildford College Group and thereby Principal of Farnham College. The President welcomed him to the meal as someone with a totally compatible pedigree to that of the members; he had gone to a grammar school in Staffordshire then moved to a newly established Sixth Form College to do his A Levels. His father had been a languages teacher in a different grammar school. After university he had had a distinguished career in the Royal Navy as a submariner and seen service in the Falklands and the Cold War before moving into an educational role within the Royal Navy. Mike was presented with an OFA tie and cuff links and welcomed as an honorary member for the duration of his appointment. He warmly thanked the members and indicated his pleasure to be joining them in the gathering. He was proud of the achievements of Farnham College which would continue to seek the best levels possible of academic attainment in the tradition of the old school.

The speeches were made by Bob Golding (1961 – 68) (The School), Jim Peace (1952 – 58) (The Association) and current President Ian Sargeant (1955 – 62) in reply. Humour, reminiscence and reflection were the themes and they were well received.

There were special thanks to those heavily involved in the organisation of the OFA and the event closed with the usual lusty singing of the school song followed by the national anthem.

Ian Sargeant
Wednesday, 08 April, 2015

Attending

Andrews G	Frampton RA	Luff WJ	Sargeant I
Andrews T	Gatfield A	Matthews AR	Sherwood JH
Batchelor H	Golding R	Matthews JR	Shipton RM
Beal C	Hall BA	Mayne EP	Spink AR
Bennett R	Hall M	McManamon DG	Slyfield CCS
Bone B	Hewes RH	Mentzel K	Steadman P
Bowtell D	Hibberd J	Mortimer K	Stenning R
Bowtell R	Homewood T	Mylles P	Sturt M
Buckell D	Honey GH	Nash C	Travers J
Cooke J	Hooker GL	Neave JJ	Torode H
Cranswick PI	Horner MJ	Peace J	Trust C
Crotty J	Hughes DP	Pesterfield JE	Upfold H
Cutler D	Innes Rev J	Phillips D	Watts M
Dawson MW	Jeffreys M	Phillips RM	Walsh WP
Edgell DJ	Kite RJ	Philpott B	Welland Jones R
Edgell RG	Lampard DE	Polglaze D	Williams BR
Elkins K	Le Vey GF	Pollard DR	Withall T
Elsmore D	Linney S	Potter M	Wingent MA
Fisher JM	Lord RA	Read PC	Wood N
Ford P	Luckhurst R	Sansom F	Wood R

Recordings of speeches on MP3 files:
Bob Golding, Jim Peace and Ian Sargeant

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Left to Right: Jim Peace, Hugh Bachelor, Ian Sargeant (Current OFA President), Bob Golding,
Michael Potter CBE (Principal of Guildford College Group) and Rev John Innes

More photos

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