Old Lawrentian News 2010/11

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OL DINNER - NOVEMBER 6, 2010 OL DINNER - NOVEMBER 6, 2010 Yet another great evening in the school dining hall and undoubtedly the highlight of the year. We were lucky to secure the services of a superb guest speaker in Humphrey Hawksley (Grange 1972), the BBC’s foreign correspondent and commentator on world affairs. This was his first visit back to the College in 38 years and he clearly thoroughly enjoyed returning to the old school. Attendance was excellent with 116 OLs and guests attending, including 23 OLs from 1980 who were celebrating their 30- year reunion. See page 15. In fact, many OLs made a huge effort to attend, travelling in from Australia, Jordan and Zambia. What a celebration it turned out to be with festivities finishing in the early hours! The evening started with a nostalgic tour of the school at 6pm, taking in the impressive new Sports Centre, followed by a Champagne reception in the front hall / new Costa café area. Dinner was held in the Dining Hall and, after grace by the Reverend Robin Garden, we sat down to an excellent meal, washed down with some fine wine and the usual barrel of Fullers London pride! As President, I welcomed distinguished guests Bob Gray (Lodge 1967), John Isaac (Tower 1955), Chris Throndsen (Tower 1953), John Vernon (Lodge 1976), Ellis Gill (Grange 1971) and Philip Stunt (Lodge 1953). I gave particular thanks to the new OL secretary, Kerry Brown, for her contribution to the evening’s organisation, and to Lawrence Page (Newlands 1955) for organising the wine. Marie Winter (nee Blair, Bellerby 1980) received special thanks for organising the 1980 year-group reunion. It was good to see a table full of Courtenay boys from the 50s and 60s. In fact, the oldest ‘old boy’ was Peter Mantle who left an incredible 59 years ago! It is hoped to have another large contingency of Courtenay boys at 2011’s OL Dinner as Dave Masters and Tony Singer (1961) are hoping to reunite as many Courtenay leavers from the first half of of the 1960s as possible - for an ‘approximate 50-year celebration’. The evening finished with a rousing rendition of the school song led by the OL resident opera singer, Joe Cornwell. Nick Marchant, President 10 11
HUMPHREY HAWKSLEY’S MEMORIES Humphrey Hawksley gave a wonderfully appropriate and amusing speech at November’s OL Dinner, sharing his memories of St Lawrence. A full version of his speech can be found on the OL website www.olsociety.co.uk. Here is a taster to whet your appetite! Talking about the senior school houses - Courtenay, Grange, Lodge, Manor, Tower, and for day boys, Newlands, he said: “Now, many of you may argue with my take on it, and I will brace myself. But here goes. At the top was Tower. It was a magnet for the rich, the privileged, the aristocracy of St Lawrence. After Tower, there was Lodge. I suppose you could say if Tower was the aristocracy, then Lodge was the nouveau-riche. Next came Manor, wedged uneasily between the more gentile houses and those yet to come. Manor sat up there in the Balcony of this dining hall and it carried with it an air of cosmopolitan exoticism. Newlands, the day house, was partly a conglomeration of all of us - but mostly not. They were the local boys, the sons of Kent’s business and commerce. Grange - my house. Suffice to say that Grange had the finest and most intelligent pupils, brilliant on both the playing fields and in the classroom. We were generous, caring, adventurous. Thoroughly good people. Our housemaster was the incredibly tall, yet serene, Harold Clifford, an exceptionally wise man and even now I miss his guiding hand. Courtenay was rough. Courtenay were the button men of St Lawrence. With Courtenay you kept your head down or lived on your wits. Courtenay, for the most part, was a no-go area and only a fool would walk through the corridors of Courtenay at night and expect to emerge unscathed.” 12
Page 1 and 2: St Lawrence College Ramsgate, Kent
Page 3 and 4: PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE • Top, we a
Page 5: HEADMASTER’S UPDATE remains stron
Page 9 and 10: 1980’S REUNION THANK YOU FOR THE
Page 11 and 12: PRAYER FELLOWSHIP The OL Prayer Fel
Page 13 and 14: MEMORIES OF COURTEENHALL Northampto
Page 15 and 16: FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS FAMILY ANNOUNC
Page 17 and 18: FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS under the watc
Page 19 and 20: BARON RICHARD DANNATT R ichard Dann
Page 21 and 22: OL ARCHIVIST ANDREW BROWN My roots
Page 23 and 24: We were pleased to welcome Richard
Page 25 and 26: professional this would have earned

Old Lawrentian News 2010/11

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