Cumbria (West) Branch Dinner February 2025, Armathwaite Hall, Nr Keswick, Cumbria St Beghian Society Social Gathering 2025.   This was once again held in the magnificent Armathwaite Hall on 28th February 2025. After another very successful Dinner in February 2024, I should like to extend my thanks to Simon Steele (FS 85-89), the Manager at Armathwaite Hall, and also to Leeann Lennox-Burrough, Sales & Marketing Executive, for making both this and previous dinners possible and for all the hard work they have put in so that this evening runs safely and smoothly. A big thank you to all the staff who worked so tirelessly behind the scenes to look after the 98 guests present.
	Simon Steele (R) and brother Jonathan Steele (L)
The evening began with a champagne reception with live music from Victoria Davies (L94-99) (aka Miss Dee). We then sat down to a sumptuous meal with both red and white wine on the tables. The dinner menu in the Broadwater Suite, Armathwaite Hall was as follows:
Starter Roast butternut squash and parmesan soup. (v) (gfa) Tempura langoustine tails, lemon & garlic aioli, balsamic, rocket Chicken liver parfait, Estate spiced plum chutney, brioche Burrella, tomato and avocado salad, basil oil (vegan) (gf) Main Braised Estate beef brisket, honey roast carrot, mash, Dijon mushroom sauce. (gf) Pan roasted pheasant breast, chive mash, chorizo, pea and baby onion jus Plaice fillets, crushed new potatoes, kale, broccoli, butter sauce (gf) Winter vegetable, goats’ cheese and sage wellington, tomato confit, fondant potato (v) Dessert Chocolate truffle torte, orange gel, milk chocolate ice cream Crème brulee, passionfruit macarons. (gf) Peach melba sundae, raspberry, vanilla ice cream Cheese board, water biscuits, fruits & chutney (gfa) Tea and Coffee
Those Present on the night were: Officials of the Society – Darryl Davies (FS 62-68)(President) & Pat Davies (Staff 91-01), David Lord (SH 60-65) (Treasurer) & Fiona Lord (Staff 93-07), Pam Rumney (Secretary). Alumni – Steve Crossley-Smith (SH 47-52) & Pat Crossley-Smith, Lawrance Park (SH 48-51) & Allyson Vernon, James Brindle (G 49-53), Tim Brown (G 53-58), Edward Thompson (F 54-59), Dacre Watson (SH 56-62) & Ann Watson, Richard Lockwood (FS 59-64) & Sally Hopkinson, Paul Haywood (SH 60-65), Nick Curry (SH 60-66) & Viv Curry, John West (SH 61-64), Anthony Dearden (FS 62-66), Peter Lever (62-66) & Jane Lever, David Rowlands (G 62-68), Julian Wood (SH 63-66) & Judith Wood, Tim Mackay (FS 68-73), David Paul (FN/AC 71-76) & Vashti Ragoonanan, Richard Ward (FN 74-77), Ken Rangecroft (FN 74-78), Stephen Pickthall (FN 7478), Steve Hardman (Staff 75-86) & Helen Hardman (Staff 75-86), Dougal Reed (FN 75-80) & Sarah Ambrosial, Andy Haile (SH 76-83) & Jane Dyer (Staff), Roy Calvin (SH 79-83) & Sara Calvin (nee Gough) (L/G 77-84), John Boag (FS 78-82), Peter Harper (78-82), Mark Preston (G), Rob Stewart (SH 79-83) & Dympna Stewart, Rosheen Ryan (nee Parker) (L/G 80-82), Howard Graham (FS 80-87), Stuart Lancaster (FN/AC 80-88), Matthew Reay (SH 82-89) & Louise Reay, Jonathan Steele (FS 82-87), Siobhan Mulrooney (nee Parker) (L 83-86), Paul Mawson (FS 83-90) & Melanie Sharpe, Craig Melrose (F 83-90), Jon Milburn (FS 83-90), Gill Venus (nee Lowrey) (G 83-90), Matthew Hodgson (SH 83-90), Jeremy Tiffen (F 84-89) & Rebecca Tiffen (nee King) (L 86-88), Simon Steele (FS 85-89), Chris Johnston (SH 85-92) & Anne-Louise Johnston (nee Crookdake) (L86-93), Jacqueline Teggin (nee Green) (G 86-91), Andrea Thompson (L/G 86-91), Claudia Staechmann (nee Brown) (G 87-91), Jill Johnson (nee Bunting), Richard Postlethwaite (AC 87-92) & Negin Postlethwaite, Richard de la Riviere (AC 88-95), Amelia Warne (nee McWilliam) (G/L 88-95), Alastair Lord (SH 90-95), Victoria Davies (L 94-99), Laurence Gribble (SH 02-09), Oscar Hendry Pickup (SH 08-15), Tom Wright (G 11-15) and Jake Gildert (12-14). Current members of Staff and Partners - Andrew Keep (Headmaster), Laurence Gribble (Deputy Head), David Norbury, Chloe Small & Rob Small, Corrine Alexander & Nick Gribble, Helen Bertram & Jamie Bertram, Brad Simpson, Vanessa Johnson & John Johnson, Becky Bell & Adam Bell, Wendy Dootson, Duncan Gray, Lee Shackley &Rebecca Bell. Friends of the School - Louise Harvey & Stuart Burns, and Nancie Stone. We were delighted to welcome Mr Andrew Keep, acting- Headmaster, who gave us an update on the current situation at St Bees School. Andrew retires at the end of this academic year and I should like to thank him for his support to the Society. This was followed by a speech from the President of the Society, Darryl Davies, who outlined his plans for the year.
Darryl Davies	Stuart Burns with Stuart Lancaster & Howard Graham, plus England Rugby Union shirt.
After the meal, there was an auction for an England Rugby Union shirt autographed by Marcus Smith. It was brought to the dinner by Howard Graham and presented by Stuart Lancaster, the former England head coach. The winner of the shirt was Stuart Burns, who paid £1,000!!! Thanks must also go to Pam Rumney, Secretary of the Society, who has been a great help to me in organising this Dinner, sorting out the programme, printing all the place settings and setting up the memorabilia displays, which seemed very popular. We look forward to seeing you all again next year when the dinner will take place on February 27th, 2026, at Armathwaite Hall. To book a place, contact Darryl at darryl.davies1@btopenworld.com. Further details in Forthcoming Dates section here. Further photos from the 2025 Cumbria Dinner may be seen here.

 

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