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OBA NEWSLETTER 2003
LETTER FROM THE HON. SECRETARY
Dear Old Brutonians,
I should like to devote the main part of this letter to Richard Smyth, the Headmaster, who leaves us in the
summer to take up his new post at St Peter’s, York. Richard is the fourth Headmaster whose departure from the
School I have marked in one way or another, and I can’t say I greatly care for the experience. In each case, they
have been friends and mentors, and it’s never pleasurable saying goodbye, or even au revoir, to your friends.
Furthermore, as colleagues, they have been people that one has come to feel confident and at ease with.
I have much to thank Richard for on a personal level: from the moment he arrived, he supported me in my
work as a magistrate and viewed the whole venture with enthusiasm. He always had a heartening and
positive answer when I found myself entertaining doubts about my role in the School, and when I decided to
move to my present house, he gave enormous help – way beyond the call of a headmaster’s duty – to ensure
that everything went smoothly. My two [sic] School retirement parties, over which Richard presided, were more
generous than I expected or could have deserved.
As an Association, we also owe a great debt to Richard. He has always been determined that Old
Brutonians should have the warmest of welcomes on their return to the School. He instituted the now wellestablished
and highly successful idea of inviting selected years back to the Commemoration celebrations. In
league with Keith Loney, he established the practice of a free Bruton Dinner and accommodation for Old
Brutonians who had entered the Senior School ten years (or a multiple of ten years) previously. When I
suggested, shortly after becoming Hon. Secretary, that the Association really needed a proper base in the
School for its office, he lost no time in providing a suitable room in Plox House, a move that has subsequently
allowed us to develop our activities considerably and with greater efficiency. Furthermore, where the
Governors’ co-operation has been necessary to an OBA project, he has vigorously represented our interests at
their meetings.
A properly comprehensive appreciation of all that Richard has done for the School (and, indeed, all that
Nicole has done for the School) since he arrived in Bruton, in January 1993, will undoubtedly appear in The
Dolphin later this year, and I hope that we may be able to publish that in the 2005 Newsletter. It will tell of the
tremendous vision that Richard has shown in the development of the School as it looks towards its 500 th
anniversary and of the unflagging energy that has enabled him to make that vision a reality. In the
meantime, I would simply reiterate that we, as an Association, are all greatly in Richard’s debt, and I trust that
Old Brutonians will come in their droves to this year’s Bruton Dinner in the Memorial Hall on Saturday, June
26 th to demonstrate their gratitude and regard. The occasion deserves to be as spectacular as we can make it.
Finally, I should like to mention another Honorary Old Brutonian, John Neal, my predecessor as
housemaster of New House and as editor of the OBA Newsletter. For some time now, John has been unwell and
confined to hospital. Although his illness is, thankfully, not life-threatening, he is, at the moment, more or less
chair-bound, and I am sure he would welcome visits or letters from old friends and former pupils. For the
foreseeable future, John will be in hospital, until he is fit enough for an operation on his knees that should give
him more mobility. Please write to him at his home address (56 Westfield, Bruton, BA10 0BT), from where
letters will be collected by John’s brother, Peter.
My very best wishes to you all.
David Hindley
6 OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2004