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2019 NEWS & INFO
2018 REUNION DINNER ATTENDEES
Seventy OWCs and guests enjoyed a marvellous evening’s reunion at the school last October. Full list and years at WCS is;
IAN ADAM (1963-
REUNION DINNER OCTOBER 2018
To celebrate 110 years since the formation of OWCA a dinner was held at the school on Friday 19th October. Over 70 Old Boys and guests attended this hugely enjoyable occasion. Pictures are now available to view in the galleries section. A report of the evening will appear shortly.
2018 REUNION DINNER
OWCA Celebration Dinner 2018
at Westminster City School on
Friday 19th October 2018 at 6.00 pm for 7.30 pm
Believe it or not, our Association is 110 years old this year! To mark this occasion, we have decided to hold a Celebration Dinner at the School.
This will be a lot more expensive than having it elsewhere but the Committee feels that, with our numbers diminishing as the years pass and, being realistic, this could well be the the last event of its kind.
These events are primarily for Old Boys to meet up with friends to have a few drinks and a good dinner in a relaxed atmosphere. However, as we had so many wives and partners joined us for the summer lunch last year, please feel free to bring them along as well. Why not book a table of 8 or 10 for your group and send Ian the relevant details along with your payment?
To reflect the more informal nature of the Dinner, we are planning to keep toasts and speeches to a minimum. We will be inviting Peter Broughton, the new Headteacher of the School and he will, no doubt, wish to tell us all about its current activities.
The Dinner will be 3 courses followed by cheese and biscuits then tea or coffee. We have kept the price at £40 per person. However this will entail a subsidy from the OWCA’s very limited funds. There is provision on the Booking Form so any contributions which you can make towards the Dinner costs would be much appreciated by the Committee.
Please bring your friends from School and the OWCFC with you as well as your friends, wives and partners. We do hope you will be able to join us for a relaxed dinner and renew many of your old School friendships. If you know of any other Old Boys who might be interested in attending, please send Bob Blanchett [fortior@me.com] their email address and we will be happy to contact them. All these details will also be posted on our website at www.owca.org.uk.
We hope very much to see you at the Dinner. In order to make the event viable, the School requires a minimum number of diners. It is essential therefore that we receive confirmed bookings no later than 12th October.
Please complete the BOOKING FORM HERE and post it with your cheque or email it to our Treasurer, Ian Milne and send your payment electronically -
IN MEMORIAM
DAVID BAILIN (1938-
David Bailin (WCS 1949-
David was an outstanding scholar at the School. He was also an accomplished musician, played the violin in the School orchestra, performed as solo pianist at School concerts. He was not particularly keen on team sports but was a strong chess player. (He did take up rowing when at university). Outside of School he was in the Boy Scouts.
From Westminster City he went to Cambridge to read Mathematics at Gonville and Gaius, where he gained his PhD. During his final year at Cambridge he won a Fulbright Scholarship to Princeton, New Jersey. During his time there he was active in the Civil Rights movement. He remained a lifelong proponent of social justice. His post-
In 1965 David was appointed lecturer in the Physics Department at the University of Sussex, where he met his future wife -
In addition to his academic pursuits, David had a wide variety of interests, which his many friends can attest to. He travelled extensively in Europe, North America, the Far East and Australia. For a time he and Anjali had a second home in Assam. He was a regular at OWCA Annual Dinners. He will be sorely missed by his former classmates and all others that knew him.
From Alek Vilčinskas (WCS 1949-
RUSSELL WHITE
The following message has been received from Greg White. I am sorry to inform you of the death of my brother Russell White (WCS 1969-
I attended from '75 to '82 so we had many shared memories of WCS… Carl Bontoft, Barlow's idiosyncrasies, and countless others that I will miss remembering with him.
David Bailin
NEWS FROM JOCK HELM IN AUSTRALIA
Jock Helm (at WCS 1939 to 1945) has been in touch from Australia with the following news regarding Tony Betteridge;
Dear OWCA -
I was at the school from 1939 to 1945 and was one of those evacuees who had 6 years at the school without ever having a lesson in Palace Street. My classmates included Bunny, Tony (Dicky) Richards and Alan Godsave. I do not know of any others of my year except John Perris, Peter Symons and Paul Clayton who are still alive which is hardly surprising as we are all now 90 years less young! Sad to hear of the loss of Mitcham, spent a lot of happy days there. However my best wishes to you and those who keep OWCA going.Cheers Jock.
Our picture shows a prefect's line up from 1945. Jock Helm is middle row 4th from the left. J (Tony) Betteridge Front row second from left. Two other OWCA legends are also in the picture 'Fanny' Wright Back row first from left and 'Bunny' Bunton Back row fourth from left.
PETER BROUGHTON IS NEW HEAD
The Governing body of WCS have announced that Peter Broughton has been appointed Headteacher of WCS.
Peter Broughton joins WCS from St. Saviour’s and St. Olave’s Church of England School where he was Deputy Head.
He grew up and was educated in Guildford and read Theology and Philosophy at St. Andrew’s University where he gained a Master of Theology degree in 1999. He started his teaching career in Japan and has over 15 years’ experience teaching in London State Schools.
Commenting on his appointment to WCS, Peter said, “I am delighted to be joining Westminster City School at an exciting time in its development and look forward to working with staff, parents and governors to provide a world-
The Governors are also grateful to Ms Solani for taking on the role of Acting Headteacher for the autumn term of 2017 which ensured continuity and stability for the school community.
Peter is the 15th Head of WCS since the school was opened at the present Palace Street site.
Complete list is;
1877 – 1906 R GOFFIN; 1906 – 1930 DR.STEVENS; 1931 – 1950 J.DENT; 1950 – 1955 R.FEARN; 1955 – 1966 Dr. G. SHUTT; 1966 – 1972 S. ALDER; 1972 – 1984 J. WHITE; 1984 – 1988 D. GARVIE; 1988 – 1992 J. NOAKES; 1992 – 1995 M. BILLINGHAM; 1995 – 1998 J. HARDING; 1998 – 2002 J. TANTON; 2002 – 2013 D. MALONEY; 2014 – 2017 J. WILSON; 2018 – P. BROUGHTON.
© 2019 Old Westminster Citizens Association (all rights reserved) pages by NetStyle
PETER GORDON HONOURED
Film producer Peter Gordon entered WCS in the mid 1960s and became a much respected producer and director of film documentaries. In 1991 he led a Yorkshire TV undercover camera team to East Timor, investigating Indonesia's occupation of that country and its independence movement.
What they filmed sparked world outrage and changed the course of that countries’ history. Peter’s cameraman captured footage of the Santa Cruz cemetery massacre in the capital Dili, where more than 250 pro independence protesters were said to be killed. The footage was hidden and smuggled out to Australia.
The documentary ‘Bloodshot: The massacre of East Timor’ was first aired on ITV in 1993 and went on to win numerous international awards. It revealed for the first time the scale of the killing by the occupying Indonesians.
He was finally awarded the ultimate recognition in May 2017 from East Timor for his work, receiving the Order of Timor Leste in Dili from the President Taur Matan Ruak. It was for his ' contribution toward Peace for the Timorese and Humanity’.
Timor Leste (East Timor) became Independent in 2002.
OWCA CELEBRATION LUNCH SATURDAY 22nd APRIL 2017
It was decided to change the format of the Annual Reunion event for this year and go for a more informal occasion with a Saturday lunch at a Central London Hotel. Old Boys were also encouraged to invite wives, girlfriends and partners to join them for the lunch. The result was that about fifty six Old Boys, friends and guests including twelve accompanying ladies gathered at the Royal National Hotel to reminisce about past ‘golden’ days and enjoy a few drinks before sitting down to lunch.
There were no speeches this year just a brief welcome from chairman Bob Blanchett that included the cause for a real celebration when Bob requested that the Old Boy who was about to get married in June should make himself known. Jock Henderson rose to his feet reluctantly to rousing cheers and hearty congratulations from all those present, particularly as his fiancée Cindy was by his side. Following the excellent lunch a large group of us went to the main bar to watch the cup semi-
Many thanks to all who supported the lunch by attending (full list below) with many making additional donations, which meant we were able to invite guests. Likewise thanks to Len Pullen,Marc Maitland, Terry Forester, Colin Bowen and Ray Turley who were not able to attend but still made a financial contribution. Pictures of thus hugely enjoyable occasion are now in the gallery.
OWCA will run a reunion event in 2018 provided there is sufficient support but the format, location and date has yet to be decided.
Attenders;
Ian Adam, Phil Barthropp, Peter Baseley, Bob Blanchett, Leo Brooks, Rob Bryant, Terry Densham, Chris Densham, Javid Djahili, Peter Donovan, Derek Duchemin, Christine, Duchemin, Mike Gee, Arthur Gray, Brian Halfacre, Chris Hare, Denise Hare, Bill Heath, Jock Henderson, Cindy Daubney, Jim Jelley, Stephen Johnson, Emma Johnstone, Bethany Johnstone, Wak Kani, Brian Key, T. Jim Laker, Janet Laker, John Lawrence, Bill Mahoney, Shirley Mahoney, David Maloney, Ian Milne, Harris Mir, Chandra Mutucamarana, Tony Norris, Pauline Norris, Rev. John Peart, Sharon Peart, Alan Reid, Derek Rogers, Dreena Rogers, Mike Sackett, Peter Saunders, Charles Smith, Pam Smith, Peter Solari, Phil Spalding, Helen Taylor, Paul Sparks, Jim Stewart, Peter Sutton, Andy Wallace, David White, Doug Wordingham, Sheila Wordingham.
STEPHEN HUMPHREY
We seem to posting far too many obituaries these days. Sad news has reached us that much respected historian Stephen Humphrey died on November 30th 2016.
Born near the Elephant and Castle in 1952, Stephen attended WCS from 1963 – 1970. He was the author of eight books on the history of Southwark and worked for the Borough at Southwark’s Local History Library for over 30 years before retiring in 2010.
He continued to write and lecture on the borough’s history and had a column in the South London Press. He was also involved in numerous historical societies, projects and commemorative steering groups. His acclaimed book on the History of the Elephant and Castle, was published following 25 years research. His knowledge of that part of London was quite unique. Stephen was given the freedom of the Borough, along with actor Michael Caine, in 2012.
A regular attendee at OWCA reunion dinners, Stephen was an extraordinarily popular figure and many hundreds of people attended his funeral on 19th January at St. George’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Southwark.
MARC MAITLAND STEAMS OFF
Barrister Marc Maitland (at WCS 1976 – 84) has served the OWCA well as association secretary and as a Trustee. He recently sold his home in Hazlebury Road, Fulham and moved north to Rippingdale, Nr. Bourne Lincolnshire.
In his spare time, Marc is a transport and, in particular, railway enthusiast. He also possesses a fine model railway. So, we imagine he has realised a dream by buying his own railway station home complete with track and steam engine. The Great Northern Railway station was built in 1872 but closed during the Beeching era in the early 1960s.
The station has been converted to living accommodation but still has many original features including track, engine sheds and a 1924 locomotive. The property was listed as one of the most unusual to be sold in 2016. So we wish Marc well and hope he doesn’t go off the rails! Our pictures show the station and Marc on the footplate of his real life engine.
OWCA CELEBRATION LUNCH 2017
OWCA Celebration Lunch 2017
at Royal National Hotel, Bloomsbury, London WC1 on
Saturday 22nd April 2017 at 12.00 pm for 1.00 pm
Instead of having our usual formal Annual Dinner at the School on a weekday, this year we have scheduled an informal lunch on a Saturday at a central London hotel. Whilst the school is a nostalgic venue, the additional cost that we would have to bear has become prohibitive. What’s more, for a change, we would like to welcome friends, wives and partners to the lunch as well. We have also chosen a later date when London will be a bit warmer!
JOCK HENDERSON WEDS
As revealed in the reunion lunch report, Jock Henderson will be marrying his long term partner Cindy Daubney on 8th July at Hammersmith Registry office at 11.30am.
Maybe Cindy will convince him to finally hang up his boots! Delighted for them both and wish them every happiness. Denise Hare took this great picture of them at the lunch.
NORMAN ‘BUNNY’ BUNTON (updated post)
It is with great sadness that we report that Norman ‘Bunny’ Bunton died on Thursday 5th October.
He was 89. Bunny made an extraordinary contribution to OWCA, The Football Club and the school over some 65 years.
Norman’s funeral was held on Wednesday 25th October at Beckenham Crematorium.
Norman ‘Bunny’ Bunton 1950
Norman ‘Bunny’ Bunton 2014
Well over 100 family and friends attended to give Bunny a fitting send off. Many OWCs and SAL past players were at the funeral reflecting the the great respect and friendships Bunny enjoyed.
During the service a section was allocated for memories from OWCA. A lovely reception was held afterwards at the Bromley Court Hotel hosted by Bunny’s wife Anne and his son Chris and daughter Carol. There several ‘Bunny’s Rounds’ were downed and memories of him abounded. We are sure Bunny would have approved.
A photographic tribute to Bunny will appear soon on the site – meanwhile his story is related in the memorable OWCs and news archive pages of this site.
2017 NEWS & INFO
2018 ANNUAL REUNION DINNER NOW CONFIRMED
The date for the 2018 OWCA reunion dinner has now been confirmed for Friday 19th October at the school. Further details will be posted soon – please make a note for your diary. We will be welcoming the new head and hope this also ushers in a new era of interaction between the old boys and the school. Let’s make it a bumper occasion!
We are delighted to report that despite the demise of OWCFC the vets are still flying the football flag.
We have received this update from their manager Jim Perrin.
The OWCFC Veterans won their second Old Boys Cup game after penalty shoot out. Following the earlier 3-
Next game v Old Wilsonians on Sunday 9th December K.O 10.30am at Hayes Hill. for a place in semi-
VETS MARCH ON IN THE CUP
2018 NEWS & INFO
REUNION NEWS
A group of Old Boys who attended the school from 1968-
Their next gathering is on Saturday June 15th from 1,30pm at The Windsor Castle (formerly The Cardinal) which is in St Francis St behind Westminster Cathedral. They would be pleased to welcome any Old Boys and staff who were at the school in that period.
Further details can be obtained from Richard Nabarro nabbo_123@hotmail.com (underscore between o and 1)
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