OLD DERBEIAN SOCIETY
Report from the 55th London Dinner 2009
Close to the Ritz, backing onto Green Park and near Buckingham Palace, the prestigious Royal Over-Seas League once again provided a fitting venue for the Old Derbeian Society's Annual London Dinner.
On Saturday 9 May 2009, fifteen OD's dined in the League's Rutland Room, courtesy of Peter Smith's seamless organisation, to mark the 55th year of the Society's London Dinner since Derby School's 1954 quatercentenary. Godfrey Webster said grace and the President, Alan Lockyer, proposed the toasts.
By any token, the occasion was a huge success: the talk was animated and interesting; stories were told; friendships and incidents recalled; old photographs perused all whilst enjoying excellent food and drink. Over coffee and cheese it was, however, asked whether the London Dinner should be discontinued, say after 2011 the year of the Society's Centenary, so that it could close on a "high" rather than withering away by attrition. The debate will continue, but the OD's leaving the Royal Over-Seas League were a happy party after an outstanding and memorable evening.
The OD's present spanned a remarkable 38 years of attendance at Derby School as shown in the list below.
Old Derbeians Attending
J Bower 38-43
J H Booth 42-49
N L Chapple 42-48
A F Cowling 28-35
W E G Ellis 33-44
A G Lockyer 46-53
K R Mansell 52-60
B W Newcombe 60-66
P J Smedley 47-54
G S Smith 42-48
P A Smith 58-66
J B Sturgeon 55-63
G Webster 47-54
A R Thomas 45-53
D V White 47-52
Report by K R Mansell
(1952 - 1960)
Committee Member, Old Derbeian Society
