Attention: You are using an outdated browser, device or you do not have the latest version of JavaScript downloaded and so this website may not work as expected. Please download the latest software or switch device to avoid further issues.

News > OT Events & Reunions > School House Class of 1982 Enjoy Reunion Lunch 40 years on

School House Class of 1982 Enjoy Reunion Lunch 40 years on

Jeremy Scott (ScH 78-82) fills us in on this brilliant mini reunion:

By Jeremy Scott (ScH 78-82) 

In the photo from left to right: Jeremy Scott, Graham Mackenzie, James Curry, Giles Ellerton, Barney Mayhew, Richard Warren, Henry Pollard, Ben Welsh, James Blake.

After a good lunch with Ben Welsh last year, we realized this summer we would have left school 40 years ago and set about rounding up our house year for a lunch. There were 18 of us in the year. Sadly we knew 2 of us had passed away, Rob Cave in 2014 and Andy Chapman in 2015. Ben and I were in contact with a few of the others and we set to work.

The end result was that on 10 June, 9 of us sat down at the Garrick club for a reunion lunch. Of the remaining 16, there is no trace of Giles Hardy, Pete Offord, Andrew Peacock or Chris Rennie. Although one of us thought that Pete had also died shortly after leaving school and we knew that Andrew wanted to be a dentist, and we found a practice in Norwich that has a partner called Andrew Peacock, which remains inconclusive despite enquiries.

We were already in contact with David Minchin, Henry Pollard, Graham Mackenzie who in turn rendered contact with Giles Ellerton, Richard Warren and Barney Mayhew. The OT society was in contact with James Blake and I found James Curry on an internet search. One of the others found Geoff Sykes (who left in 1980 after O levels) and lives in Singapore, and Simon Smith turned up living in Thailand.

Simon joined us and was passed round the table on Skype, Geoff could not make it and neither could David Minchin who had a last minute work intervention. So, Jeremy Scott, Ben Welsh, Henry Pollard, Richard Warren, James Curry, Barney Mayhew, Giles Ellerton, James Blake and Graham Mackenzie all enjoyed a long lunch and catch up.

What struck me was the diverse lives we all lead. Being 57 or 58 we were all at or near the top of our chosen careers, and several of us were looking at retiring. Many of us had had a life of more than one career path, and we were all very comfortable in our skin. We were all bar 1 married, although one of us was a widower, only 1 of us had (step) grandchildren, collectively our children ranged from 31 to 13.

We all recalled happy times at School House, when it was the top floor of the main building and some ghosts were laid to rest. Some hitherto unknown nefarious acts were also admitted to. The years were rolled back and it was just like having lunch with old friends, which is not surprising given the power of living in very close proximity to each other over a formative 5 year period in one’s youth.

I cant think why we did not do it earlier, and we will not wait as long for the next one!

If you would like to get reunited with your year group, please don't hesitate to contact the Tonbridge Society Office and we can help find people for you! Please do update us with photos and a write-up after the event for our OT News pages. 

Share Your Story

Do you have a story to share?
Contact a member of our team.

Click here to email us
with your idea

Or, call us on:
+44 (0) 1732 304253

image

CONTACT US

Tonbridge Society Office

Email us

 +44 (0) 1732 304253

Charity Registration Number 1099162

This website is powered by
ToucanTech