Alumni Lunches

BRISTOL LUNCH

The Headmaster and Al MacEwen from the Bradfield Society office were pleased to host our biennial lunch in Bristol once again at the River Station restaurant on the city’s Quayside.

This year we hosted a whole range of alumni of all ages. Some had been before such as Tony Elgood (F 66-71), Ian Wills (A 60-65), Alistair Roy (H 67-71), Tim Lewis (F 56- 61) and Olivia Garran (I 90-92) and for others it was their first-time including Candy Jiang (I 06-08), Ken She (H 03- 07) and Oliver Johnston (C 88-91).

The group enjoyed another great lunch and a fun get-together. We always love getting your lovely feedback; “Excellent occasion, as always, and very interesting to hear what is going on at Bradfield.”

“It is always hugely enjoyable to meet fellow OBs and, whilst at my age the generation gap is considerable, the commonality of our privilege at having had an education at Bradfield is a bond that spans our age differences.”

MANCHESTER LUNCH

Browns in Manchester was a new venue for the Northwest of England Regional Lunch held on Friday 10 November 2023. Housed in an awe-inspiring Edwardian baroque building and former banking hall that was once the ‘Athenaeum’, Browns is one of the city’s most popular watering holes. The lunch this year was hosted by Al MacEwen, Director of Development and six alumni were able to attend. Those attending were Rupert Behrendt (E 55-60), Richard Anson (A 66-70), Jon Goddard (C 92-97), Bolanle Lamikanra (J 10-12), Mark Shtanov (F 06-11) and Patrick Wilson (G 75-80). They came from far and wide across the Northwest from Kirkby Lonsdale, Barnsley and Leeds as well as the Manchester area.

Al brought the group up to date with news from the College; the opportunities and the challenges and the substantial changes that have taken place in recent years. It was an excellent forum to enable alumni to connect with the College without having to make the long journey down to Bradfield.

TEMPUS FUGIT LUNCH

This year the Combined Tempus Fugit and Junior Tempus Fugit Lunch was held on Thursday 2 November 2023 in the College Dining Hall. Since combining the biennial lunch events in 2021 to now include everyone over the age of 60 years attending together, the event has been extremely popular with our guests. With Storm Ciaran passing through the evening before sadly a few guests from the south coast of England were unable to attend but many brave souls travelled on the morning of the event, found the roads quiet and very much enjoyed the lunch.

Some guests chose to arrive early for a tour of the College campus, including Christopher Garrod (A 64-68) and David Munn (B 62-67); it was their first visit for many years since leaving the College.

The oldest guests at Tempus Fugit this year were Colin Shaw Stewart (A 46-51), Stephen Skurray (E 46-50), Chris Lee (G 45-50), Geoffrey Beccle (G 47-50), Stephen Farr (G 48-52), John Micklethwait (E 49-53) and David Wright (E 48-53) many of whom attend our London and Tempus Fugit lunches regularly.

The youngest guests at their first Junior Tempus Fugit included Mark Taylor (F 77-82), Keven Bentley (F 72-76), William Fawcett (C 75-80), Matt Van Grutten (F 72-75), twins Richard (H 74-79) and Mark Chapman (H 74-79), Simon Lee (G 74-79), Simon Rigby (G 71-75), Russell Fowler (C 75-80), Martin Bowes (A 66-70), Tony Elgood (G 66-71) and the first Bradfield girl Belinda Boyd (nee Somerset H1976) who joined to take her school examinations alongside her brother in 1976.

We looked forward to a few bands of brothers attending the lunch, one important trio the Bellan brothers who were Hillsiders – David (F 51-56), Peter (F 52-56) and Leslie (F 56-60) – planned to attend together at College this year, but sadly we were still missing Peter on the day due to illness.

Everyone enjoyed pre-lunch drinks in Big School before the lunch in Hall and were shown a video run through of the St Andrew’s Project which was in its final weeks before return to the College for the final fittings to be installed.

Before the lunch, Andrew Lenox-Conyngham (A 57-62) kindly read the College Latin Grace as a memorable throwback for the assembled guests. The meal was prepared and served by the College catering team Head Chef, Darren Roberts and the catering staff led by Paul Farley on the day. The food looked as good as it tasted; pan-seared locally sourced venison loin with a Venison ‘faggot’ followed by citrus cheesecake. Peter Workman (C 54-57) commented “It was a very special occasion and very rare that I take photos of my plates of food!”

Other comments about the day were very complimentary including “another memorable occasion”, “a delicious lunch” and James Lazarus (C 69-74) said “As ever it was great to catch up with old contemporaries and reminisce amongst ourselves as to how much has changed, for the better I should add, at Bradfield since “our day!” We hope that everyone will consider coming back to Bradfield again before the next Tempus Fugit Lunch which will fall in the 175th anniversary year of the founding of the College which will be in 2025.

WINCHESTER LUNCH

Six years since our first Winchester Lunch back in 2017 we had a most wonderful gathering this year at Brasserie Blanc in Winchester on Friday 8 March 2024. 31 Bradfieldians attended spread over many generations from the Class of 1950 to the Class of 2000; 50 years of Bradfieldians all at one lunch in Winchester is quite an achievement.

The restaurant provided a wonderful three-course menu this year including Cheese Souffle to start, Applewood Smoked Pork Ribeye or Herb-crusted Lamb Roulade for main course and Black Cherry and Dark Chocolate Mousse for dessert. Everyone enjoyed the food tremendously and some said that they thought the choice of venue was first class.

The most senior table included Peter Short (G 47-50), Michael Seymour (H 54-60), Robert Cooper (C 57-62), Peter Chrismas (E 58-63) and Jonathan Clark (A 58-62). Paul Huxley (E 60-66) joined the lunch for the first time, alongside Henry Wilson (B 59-64), Gus Ullstein (H 60-65), Nicholas Smith (G 65-69, Tom Espley (A 69-74) and regular guest Chris Jenkins (B 63-68). The Class of 1975 had a good turnout too with Tim Gardner (F 70-75), Richard Kinder (G 70-75) and Chris Bentley (F 71-75) on a table with Julian Spencer (D 70-74), James Croser (H 71-76), Jonathan Jesty (E 72-76), Mark Butler (F 73-77) and B House contemporaries Tim Farmiloe and Russell Kelly (B 73-78). Those Bradfieldians from the 1980s and 1990s included Hillsiders Edward Boydell (F 77-82), Derek Smith (F 77-82) and Andrew Sellick (F 79-93), contemporaries Christopher Bailey (F 82-87) and Tom Mallinson (A 82-87) who are also bringing a 1987 table to the London Lunch, friends James Polansky (B 88-93) and Aaron Stewart (A 88-93) and our youngest Bradfieldian guest Will Barrett (F 95-2000).

Guests as always enjoyed catching up with old friends and were interested to hear from the Headmaster Chris Stevens who spoke eloquently about the College today to the assembled group after the lunch. Chris Jenkins even noted wistfully the pleasure he felt in meeting contemporaries of his own offspring at the lunch and said ‘And so it goes on … generation to generation’.

LONDON’S CALLING!

The final event of the College calendar year is the ‘Annual Bradfieldian London Lunch’ which will take place on Friday 17 May 2024. We are returning to the private Lansdowne Club in Mayfair where we will be hosting a three-course lunch with drinks from 12 noon in the beautiful surroundings of the Grade 2 listed Ballroom. Tickets cost £75 for alumni over the age of 30 and £40 for alumni 30 and under and are available on the Bradfield Society website or from the office. Why not book yourself or get a table of 10 together and please get in contact if you have lost touch with anyone and want help inviting them to the lunch too? Guests at last year’s lunch described it as a ‘fun lunch’ and ‘great to catch up with so many Bradfieldians together all in one place’. Last year impromptu post lunch drinks occurred in Mayfair as guests continued to enjoy their time together.

CALLING ALL 1994 LEAVERS

The Class of 1994 are organising a 30 year Reunion on Saturday 1 June 2024. The event will start with a Tour of the College and Drinks Reception at 4:30pm and move to The Old Boot Inn at Stanford Dingley at 7pm for a BBQ supper. If you would like to join them, please register on the Bradfield Society website and we hope to see you at the Class of ’94 Reunion.