Past Event Reports

Some of these evenings atract a huge gathering, others a smaller one. This was the latter... but I cannot remember laughing so hard and so long!

The Old Brightonian USA group goes from strength to strength! The second annual dinner was held in late March at the beautiful Lotos Club on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

We were fortunate with a glorious spring day, indeed St David's Day, for our 7th Vice-Presidents Luncheon, hosted by Peter Miller (C. 1945-49) at The Army & Navy Club.

The now annual Old Brightonians Oxbridge Dinner for our current and recent Oxbridge undergraduates was held on a beautiful spring evening at Pembroke College, Cambridge last Friday 24th Feb.

There are certain places that are heavy with the memory of those that have gone before. Half echoes of the past, like voices heard down a corridor, far off but still present.

Brighton Drinks at the Pub du Vin was wonderfully attended last week, and a convivial evening was had by all. A large party went on to have curry, which seems to be a developing theme of late! There were so many OBs crowded into the bar, that we didn't quite catch everyone's name, but we did promise to organise another evening soon, so watch this space.

The great risk of turning up early or on-time for these gatherings is that you are inevitably faced with the prospect of some time alone at the bar looking pretty sad… or worse still being stuck with some frightful character whose company quickly becomes tedious.

The Sgt. Major Chris O’Connell Memorial took place on a freezing January afternoon, but the warmth of feeling amongst the Old Brightonians who came to celebrate Chris’s life staved off the cold. Two former Headmasters were in attendance, Bill Blackshaw and John Leach, and Brighton College was represented by various staff including Deputy-Head John Weeks, Elizabeth Cody and Common Room President Steve Radojcic.

Le Café Anglais proved a spectacular setting for the Pioneers Club London Luncheon where Old Brightonians gathered together on Thursday 8th December. Friends were reunited for our gathering, and many a peel of laughter was to be heard over the wonderful array of photographs brought in.

Even before the final bars of the first night performance had been played by the quite magnificent 34 piece orchestra, which had been carefully assembled by Mr Carter and inspirationally led by our brilliant Musical Director Mr Chenery, the audience had started to applaud and cheer in response to a production overflowing with talent and exuberant energy.

Old Brightonians, including previous members of the Common Room and other ex-Brighton College staff, pupils, masters and parents came together for a moving Remembrance Service on Sunday 13th November.

More than 1000 staff and pupils of Brighton College, its prep and pre-prep schools filled the College's historic quadrangle to join with the nation in observing silence at 11.00am on Friday 11th November 2011.

The Ebury has recently become our bar of choice being so close to Victoria Station, rather charmingly planted in the leafy streets of Belgravia, Pimlico, and so terribly convenient for our London and Brighton OBs. It does have one particular problem though, in that it has a namesake around the corner, and hence some of our OBs went on a little tour of drinking establishments before finding the correct Ebury. However, this didn’t dampen our evening on Thursday 10th November, and the eclectic range of OBs that find their way to the London Drinks had a suitably good time.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather for the Brighton College Golf Day Friday 30th September 2011. With a back drop of the beautiful Albourne Countryside, Old Brightonians and parents headed to the fairway for a day at Singing Hills Golf Course.

Wednesday 28th September saw all Brighton College pupils and staff engage in over 100 community service projects in and around Brighton, as they set out to help their local area as part of the College's fourth annual "Make a Difference Day." Whether clearing Coldean Woods together with Brighton and Hove Urban Rangers or undertaking maintenance at St Dunstan's centre for blind ex-servicemen and women; marching and collecting in support of Breast Cancer Awareness or clearing scrub with the National Trust Downland Restoration Project at Devil's Dyke; baking cakes for the elderly, sorting stock for the Martlets Hospice charity shops or, indeed, picking litter from the beaches and roads of Kemp Town; more than 800 pupils worked in the community to support a huge range of projects across the city and local area.

OBs enjoyed a beautiful morning at Gravetye Manor Gardens on Friday 16th September with inspiring Head Gardener Tom Coward.

The first City & Finance networking drinks went off well last week although apologies must be extended to the OBs that we lost along the way, as the venue (Rocket, City) was bursting at the seams on a busy Thursday evening.

The College hosted a fund-raising event on Sunday 11th September for the Sam Griffiths Foundation, which has been set up in memory of Sam Griffiths (School, 2005-8) who died in January 2009.

Twelve of us gathered on a beautiful summer morning to be given a most interesting tour of the Ridgeview Estate Winery at Ditchling. After an introduction by Matt Stragnell, the vineyard manager, to the vines which cover some 8 hectares growing Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes we were given a tour of the whole process by which the ‘Champagne’ is produced. The stainless steel grape storage tanks and champagne press were of particular interest, as was the bottling line.

A small but entertaining gathering of Old Brightonians welcomed Simon Smith at London drinks last week at The Ebury, Pimlico Road. OBs young and not quite so young joined to celebrate Simon’s inaugural event as a fellow Old Brightonian. To mark his 38 years of teaching at the College, he was presented with Pelican cufflinks and the honorary Pelican lapel badge by past OB President David Gold (S. 1986-91). Messages of good will were passed on from those who couldn’t make it, and a good time was had by all!

Thursday night saw the Graduation Service and Ceremony for Brighton College Upper Sixth Leavers – the formal event to mark their departure from the College, in advance of the informal festivities of the Leavers’ Ball at the Hilton Metropole on Friday evening. Family, friends and staff crowded into the Chapel to celebrate the achievements of each and every member of the Upper Sixth, punctuated with some humorous and engaging reminiscence, provided by Theo Bunce and Emma Langmead.

Twenty years is quite a long time, especially when the current Y13's at our alma mater were two years of age when we left in 1991. Time is a very odd concept and what it does to you, either through the graceful ageing process or the fact that going back to Brighton last Saturday made us all feel as if it was just yesterday we left... and what a day we had!

Old Brightonians 103 for 3, lost to Oundle Rovers 104 for 3. Despite the drought of the early summer, the day of the first round of the Cricketer Cup dawned with rain, that wet sort of rain that continues all day. Undaunted by the wet conditions, eleven Old Brightonians travelled to Oundle for the fixture. It was decided by both teams that only a ten over match in the rain was possible, not ideal but a better alternative to replaying the game the following weekend.

Although the weather disrupted the planned croquet on the lawn, it certainly did not dampen spirits at yesterday's Head Master's Garden Party.

The Long Room at Lord's Cricket Ground was the spectacular setting for the College's Gala Dinner Saturday 14th May, to help raise funds for the New Ground Pavilion.

Well what a wonderful time our Pioneers had in the Chapel Music Room, or Room D, or as it is now known it the Hordern Room after OB Michael Hordern (C. 1925-30).

Congratulations to all musicians who took part in the college's Festival Concert on Wednesday 4 May in St George's Church, Kemptown.

In what was probably the second most anticipated event of Royal Wedding week, the front quad was decked out in red, white and blue on Thursday 28th April to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

On a beautiful, early spring evening in the middle of March, 20 OBs and their partners gathered together in the beautiful Lotos Club, just a few blocks away from New York’s Central Park, to mark the re-birth of the “USA Friends of Brighton College”.

An enthralling evening of sporting knowledge and prowess was possibly being held somewhere on Thursday 3rd March, but at the Brighton College Sports Quiz the name of the game was definitely fun and fundraising.  Ian Braid kicked off the evening showcasing the fantastic work of SportsAid, joint recipient of the evening’s proceeds, who offer financial support to talented young sportsmen and women at the beginning of their careers.  John Inverdale was magnificent as quizmaster, encouraging competitive spirit and berating those underhand or rather under-table tactics being employed by certain teams.

The Fellows’ Dining Room at Balliol College, Oxford was the venue for this year’s Oxbridge Dinner on Friday 25th February.

The sun shone gloriously through the windows of the library of The Army & Navy Club, lending delightful views of St James’ Square below as we gathered for the sixth annual Vice-Presidents’ Luncheon.

What an evening! Far and away the most successful and well attended London gathering we’ve had so far; several folk had come “out of the woodwork” for the first time in very many years!

I arrived at my last annual dinner ‘in charge’ on an extremely cold evening thankful that, at least, we had no snow. After a short panic attack about missing table decorations, which turned up elsewhere in the school, I joined a packed Café de Paris for pre-dinner drinks before we repaired to a slightly chilly Dining Hall for dinner.

Never one to miss out on a free meal, it was with great enthusiasm that I responded in the affirmative to the Head Master’s invitation to dinner on Friday 27th August, and with considerable bounce in my step that I boarded a train out of Clapham Junction towards the mighty City of Brighton and on to the hillside Principality of Kemp Town.

The fifth annual Vice Presidents’ lunch saw us return to the Army and Navy Club, and once again we are very grateful to Peter Miller (C. 1945-49 ) for hosting the occasion and allowing us to enjoy the fine catering and premises of the club.

It’s been a while since our last London Drinks – almost 2 years, in fact. For these first Drinks of 2010 we had returned to a favourite old haunt of the Association’s London members; The International Bar on St. Martin’s Lane. Unfortunately it appears that it may also be our last time here; the place is to close within a month – a piece of information made privy to Jack Bremer (BCJS 1990-94) before some of the bar staff (much to his and one unfortunate girl’s great embarrassment / shock).

This year’s dinner was a very well attended affair held in a warm and dry Dining Hall while the rain and wind lashed outside.

This notwithstanding the Diners enjoyed a wonderful speech from Old Brightonian Chris Terrill (A. 1965-70); a genuinely warm and heartfelt account of his time at the College whilst acknowledging that things have generally changed for the better for current pupils. It was good to see that he’d brought props, and these included his old boater... which seemed to still fit!

21 of the 48 current OB undergraduates at Oxford and Cambridge joined the Head Master and  senior staff for a dinner at Clare College on Saturday 21st November 2009. The excellent food and wine, the magnificent setting of the panelled hall and the grace sung by Clare’s choral scholars showed Cambridge life at its most beguiling.

The chapel was full to capacity for Service of Music and Readings for Remembrance Sunday. Parents, pupils, and many Old Brightonians came to listen to the roll call of those who died in World War 2, to observe the Silence and to hear the choir sing the Faure Requiem. The readings, which concentrated on the disabling effects of war, ranged from Wilfred Owen to a soldier engaged in Afghanistan. Any parent who was unable to attend, but would like a copy of the service booklet, should contact the Deputies' PA, Louise Moore.

On 27 September 1859 the first service was held in the college chapel (smaller then than it is now); and on Friday 2nd October 2009 a service was held to commemorate its 150th anniversary.

On Saturday 5 September forty or so young OBs, from the Seldon years (1997-2005) returned to the College for an informal reunion. Anthony and Joanna Seldon dropped by to greet them and several members of staff from the same era.

A select gathering of New York based OBs met up at the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel on Saturday 1st August. The College was represented by the President, the Headmaster, Richard Cairns, and the Second Master, Simon Smith.

The Association welcomed it's newest members on Sunday 21st June following the traditional Graduation Ceremony in the College Chapel.

For over 30 years a few members of the 1956 & 1957 Brighton College XV’s have been meeting in London for a pre-Christmas “luncheon” to talk about old times. We started in 1968 with Graham Appleton (D) 1953- 57, Harry Bourne (D) 1954-58, Brian Piepenstock (D) 1953-58, Nigel Clarkson (A) & the late Mike Bowen (D) 1953-58. We have met at several London restaurants & clubs, Nigel being a Lloyds Shipping Broker knows the better locations in the City.

On Wednesday 11 March twenty or so OBs and other guests met for the annual Vice Presidents? Lunch at the Carlton Club. This was a new venue for the occasion and came courtesy of Andrew Symonds, to whom we are all grateful...

The Association was delighted that this year's special guest speaker was Dr. David Bull, broadcaster (appearing regularly on "The Wright Stuff", "Radio Five Live", "Most Haunted", and "Richard & Judy") and Conservative candidate for Brighton Pavilion at the next general election, and diners were treated to an account of his rich and varied career to date.

Stockholm in July, sits quietly, confidently and cleanly, amongst its cobbled medieval streets. The great pine wilderness on its doorstep stretches into the distance, as far as the Baltic archipelagos. The warmth of a Scandinavian summer gently envelopes its green and pleasant shores like the slowly lapping waves of the fjords; gone are thoughts of chilling winds and thick white powder - the ground is as hard as granite, this is the dry season and it’s perfect for tournament rugby!