Having spent 25 years or more as King's Secretary of the OA Club during
my 36 years on the teaching staff at King's, I was both delighted and
honoured to be Guest of Honour at the recent Forties & Fifties Lunch,
held at the RAF Club in Piccadilly.
he lunch, chaired by Sir Roger
Birch and organised by Colin
Bulloch (F56) was a very pleasant
occasion during which old
friends swapped stories of days
gone by, some having met for the
first time since leaving school well
over 50 years ago. Many others,
of course, were regular attenders
at similar lunches and knew each
other very well, but the stories
and reminiscences flowed nevertheless.
he headmaster, Richard Biggs, gave a brief résumé of the excellent state
in which the School found itself and this was echoed, in a less official manner by the Director of Development Leisa
Lavender, who had also provided a number of photographic archives beautifully presented by the School Archivist Alison
Mason. Comments like "Look at you with hair!" or "Did Popsy Townsend really swim between North and South Island?"
abounded, and the whole exhibition was a welcome addition to the excellent meal.
More stories were exchanged later in the afternoon over tea in the Lounge overlooking Piccadilly, when one or two wives
joined in, having had a profitable few hours of retail therapy. John Coombs (W51) produced a collection of old photos,
a couple of which, interestingly, depicted the parade of cadets and scouts on Taunton's Castle Green in celebration of the
Opening of the Festival of Britain in 1951. Looking particularly smart on parade was Sgt Major Walter Gooderham (Sarge),
about whom, at the lunch, I read out a verse that I had written for the OA Dinner in 1981, the year 'Sarge' retired.
his was an occasion not to be missed and I look forward to next year's gathering, not as Chief Guest, but as an Honorary
Member of the OA Club.
Ben Sykes, Staff (1963-1999)
40s and 50s Lunch
Many thanks to all those 1940s and 1950s leavers who have responded to the Headmaster's letter requesting memories of
your time at King's and details of your life after you left the school. We are still gratefully receiving responses to this project,
but are also now looking for a volunteer who would be interested in assisting us with collating all of these memories into a
booklet which can be kept in the Archive and also made available to participants in the project.
For further information on what this project would entail, please contact Leisa Lavender in the OA Club Office:
lmlavender@kings-taunton.co.ukgs-taunton.co.uk" target="_blank" title="Visit kings-taunton.co.uk">kings-taunton.co.uk or 01823 328238.
40s and 50s Leavers Memory Project
John Cole and organiser Colin Bulloch
James Platt-Higgins, Richard Osborn
and Peter Champion
Barry Brown, Tom Chippendale and
guest of honour Ben Sykes
John Coombs and Michael Hirst