golf - Jules Akel

104 w e l l i ng ton y e a r b oo k 2 0 07 − 2 0 0 8w e l l i ng ton y e a r b oo k 2 0 07 − 2 0 0 8 105overseas gathered to celebrate the great anniversary.On 25th June the Garden Opera, under their benevolentow Chairman David Walton, gave a performance ofDonizetti’s last comedy, Don Pasquale in the College(formerly Common Room) Garden. Earlier on the sameday Rory Bremner returned to College to greatly entertaina full house for a one hour performance.An Apsley Reunion Picnic was held at College on 6thJuly. This was much enjoyed by those Apsley ows whoattended, some with husbands and children, and is to berepeated next year.The ow Cricket Week was held again on Turf between7th and 12th July. Also three ows played for the winningteam, Valley End, in the Village Cricket Final at Lord’s on8th September. The Valley End team is chaired by anotherow, James Young.The third bi-annual owrfc Rugby 10s competitionwas held on Farm Field on 30th August. This producedeven fiercer competition than usual and was eventually wonby a strong team, “Lookers Legends”, captained by WillLooker [Bl 1996–2001].Thanks to the ow Master of the Pewterers’ LiveryCompany, Peter Gibbs, some 65 ows attended an eveningreception at the Pewterers’ Hall in the City on 19thSeptember. The Master addressed those present, describingthe recent achievements and plans for the future, includingthe linked Wellington Academy in Wiltshire.We are having a big drive this year to make more contactwith the young ows. Chris Potter, has been organizingand visiting gatherings at Cambridge, Newcastle, Durham,Nottingham, Oxford, Bristol and Leeds universities withmore trips to follow. In November there will be a gathering ofthe 2003 leavers in London and generally we are introducinga number of less formal functions for the younger ows.As College approaches its 150th year, the ow office, the Development office and the WellingtonCollege Association are working together closelyto keep all Wellington constituencies informed aboutpresent activities and future plans.Anthony Bruce, in his last address to the agm in Octoberas Chairman of the ow Society, reported on another busyyear. Charles Baker has succeed Anthony as Chairmans e c r e ta ry’s reportVery sadly 2008 has seen the untimely death of anumber of younger ows. The memorial service for LadyPamela Gatehouse, widow of our dearly loved formerPresident Bob, was a moving occasion.By way of contrast, on 3rd June this year, PeggyCrickway, who as Peggy D’Arch Smith was matron at theBenson from the 1950s until she retired in 1972, celebratedher 100th birthday at her home in Bembridge, Isle of Wight.Very many Benson ows sent her cards and she held longand lively telephone conversations with both the Masterand the ow Chairman !conclusionMy huge thanks to Chris Potter, who becomes an evenbetter ow Secretary with each succeeding year and tohis superb assistant Kay Mitchell, who has kept the officeworking efficiently, at times under great pressure, this lastyear especially. Thanks also to all members of the Society’sGeneral and e&f Committees, with special thanks againto Nigel Howard-Jones as Hon. Treasurer, John Goodeve-Docker as Chairman of the ow Sports Committee andPeter Hunt for continuing to host our e&f meetings at hisLondon office. Peter retires from the General Committeeat this agm and I cannot thank him enough for all that hehas done for the Society over very many years,Now, after some seven years, I am delighted to behanding over a thriving ow Society to my successor asChairman, Charles Baker. A keen ow, sportsman andlawyer, Charles has already served ows well, as a longstanding General Committee and e&f Committee memberand latterly as Vice Chairman. I wish him all possible successas he takes the ow Society on to the next exciting stage, asCollege enters its 150th year.and Anthony now succeeds David Somerset as President.David, a veritable pillar of the Society, has very sadly decidedto stand down through ill health after a total of 20 yearsservice in the roles of first Chairman and then President.We owe him more than we can ever repay. In addition weare delighted to record that Peter Hunt and Nigel Howard-Jones have been elected Vice Presidents of the Society.Events in 2008 have included the Apsley Reunionwednesday 4th february . ow property reception in londonthursday 26th february . ow sports clubs dinner at queen’s clubsaturday 25th april . . . ow gaudy 1975 to 1985 vintagesaturday 23rd may . . . speech dayfriday 12th june . . . . garden opera at college—“the barber of seville”thursday 18th june . . . waterloo day—countrywide reunionssunday 28th june . . . . ow apsley reunion picnicsaturday 4th july . . . . ow society jubilee dinner at st george’s hill golf clubthursday 24th sept . . . service at st paul’s cathedral to celebrate 150thsaturday 10th october . ow society reunion and agmfriday 20th november . . ow leavers of 1999 gathering in londonIn addition the Master, Development Director and ow Secretarywill be making a series of overseas visits as part of the 150th celebrations17th–28th february . . . jubilee visit to ows/parents in hong kong, new zealand, australia & singapore24th–29th march . . . . jubilee visit to ows/parents in l.a., toronto & new york27th may–6th june . . . jubilee visit to ows /parents in far east (bangkok, malaysia, tokyo, beijing)12th–20th september . . jubilee visit to ows/parents in europe26th–29th october. . . jubilee visit to ows/parents in the gulf (dubai, abu dhabi)Details of all these events can be found on the website www.owsociety.com, for which no password is needed,or from the secretary on 01344 44 4069 or by e-mail to owsoc@wellingtoncollege.org.ukPicnic, thanks to Fiona Haywood [Ap], the Leavers of 2003gathering in London, thanks to Hugo Shephard, Charlie Huntand Facebook, and an ow Scotland Reunion in Edinburgh,thanks to Paul Heward.A survey of former members of Apsley revealed theastonishing, but not unexpected, breadth and variety oflives being led, with many juggling families and careers.Apsley diplomats, soldiers, lawyers, bankers, economists,politicians, doctors, entrepreneurs, etc. have some verygood stories to tell and we look forward to seeing moreand more of them back at Wellington.This year there have been two evenings in which apanel of ows have come to College to talk with the boysand girls; a “City” event and a “Law” event. They haveproved very popular and were enjoyed by both sides andmore of such evenings are envisaged. Rory Bremner andPaul Leonard Morgan came back to run workshops in theCollege Artsfest in June, and ows are warmly invited tocontribute to Artsfest 2009. Finally, David Walton broughtthe Garden Opera company to the College garden. Pleaseforthcoming events2009now put in your diaries the date 12th June 2009 for thecompany production at Wellington of The Barber of Seville.At the time of the Year Book going to press, the booklaunches in London and at Wellington for Patrick Mileham’sWellington, the First 150 Years are imminent and furtherdetails of the book are published elsewhere in this volume.I know how indebted Patrick is to the many ows ofall vintages who have contributed to the book and the owoffice has enjoyed plenty of banter on a myriad of associatedtopics. We do appreciate all ’phone calls, e-mails, letters andvisits from ows during the year and there are a surprisingnumber of archive queries, spanning the full 150 years, eachweek. You will be pleased to hear that Patrick’s work onhis book has accelerated the process of bringing togetherthe presently scattered College archives.As ever the ow office strives to locate missing addresses,both postal and e-mail, of ows as they move ever onwardsand upwards and the 150th is a handy time to ask for help fromthose who know ows and whose addresses we may not have.The Dinner on 4th July 2009 at St George’s Hill Golf