From Our President

Darryl Davies (FS 62-68)

I have attended a number of OSB events this past year, starting in September when I attended a gathering at Grange-over-Sands Golf Club organised by Carter Croft (FN 60-65) and Paul Haywood (SH 60-65), designed to involve OSBs from the Barrow area.
 
In November I was at the North East Dinner held at Newcastle Golf Club and dedicated to the memory of Bill Dove (FN 57-60). Bill’s daughter Amanda was present and she was presented with a framed 1st X1 cap in memory of Bill’s outstanding fifty years of service as Secretary of the Branch.

February saw the Armathwaite Gathering where 98 people were in attendance. There was a mixture of OSBs and staff, and we were delighted to welcome Stuart Lancaster (FN/AC 80-88) the former England rugby union manager. Attendees’ ages ranged from 91 to 25! As part of the evening an auction was held for an England rugby shirt signed by Marcus Smith and a winning bid of £1,000 was received.

I then made the long journey up to London for a dinner at the Civil Service Club, well organised by Martin Birkett (SH 83-90) and Graeme Bagnall (SH 85-91). Here I met many of the pupils I used to teach and also many of the U15 County Shield winning rugby team of 1987.

As President of the Society my aims are to involve more females and to get younger people involved in our proceedings if I can. With that in mind, we have had two meetings with a small group of OSBs at the Melbreak Hotel in Workington; one in October 2024 and one in March this year. A number of ideas were put forward and we have already implemented some of them, for example, an Instagram page and the Newsletter. The first edition of the Newsletter came out in April, and another is planned for the autumn. We intend to have another meeting of the Melbreak Group later in the year. If anyone would be happy to get involved, I would love to hear from you.

St Beghians’ Day this year was a great success despite the weather, and many OSBs were present. The AGM was well attended and my thanks go to Andew Keep, the acting Head, for his presentation on the school; my thanks also to Tom Wright (G 11-15) and Adrian Peckitt (FS 72-77) for giving an informative presentation on the state of OSB golf and a call for more youngsters to use the course at the school.

After a very enjoyable lunch, which saw the Foundation Hall packed, OSBs reminisced in the salad room over the memorabilia on display or listened to music in the quad followed by a barbecue.

In conclusion I should like to give a big thank you to Pam Rumney, the Society’s Secretary. I could not have managed without her this year. She is a great asset to the Society.

I am happy with my first year as President of the Society and am looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.

 

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The St Beghian Society    
St Bees School,    St Bees,    Cumbria,    CA27 0DS.

         Tel: (01946) 828093      Email: osb@stbeesschool.co.uk      Web: www.st-beghian-society.co.uk