Abingdon School

We were delighted to welcome so many OAs back to School for the 2011 OA Open Afternoon and OA Club Annual Dinner.  The main afternoon attraction was the annual 1st XV fixture against Radley College, taking place this year at home.  Dozens of OAs returned to School to cheer the Abingdon 1st XV on to their resounding 27-13 victory against our biggest local rivals.  (Please see the main Abingdon School website for a full match report and photographs.)

After the game, tea was served in the Hospitality Suite of the new Sports Centre, still a novelty for many who hadn’t visited the School since its opening in 2008.  Many OAs from across the years also took the opportunity to so on a tour of the site as it is today with a volunteer guide from amongst the current boarders.

Following an afternoon of high spirits and glorious sunshine, over 50 OAs rallied themselves, along with partners and members of Common Room (both past and present), for the Annual Dinner - to reminisce and to celebrate Abingdon’s long-standing tradition of rugby.  We welcomed Jon Gabitass (governor and former Second Master) as guest-of-honour along with other former rugby coaches David Crawford, Stuart Hamilton and Steven Page plus Chris Biggs, Keith and Audrey Hasnip and Bill and Angela Potter.  We were also joined by current Common Room members Andrew Hall, Andrew Broadbent, Peter Coke and the riotously popular Jeff Drummond-Hay.  (A full copy of the guest list is still available.)

After dinner, guests were taken on a whistle-stop tour of the History of Abingdon Rugby with short floor speeches by 1st XV players spanning seven decades, beginning with Basil Margrave (1947) and finishing with Max Wood (2007).  Our thanks to all our speakers for sharing their fond memories and hilarious anecdotes of life on the rugby pitch and off.  Many thanks also to Sarah Wearne, the School’s Archivist, for compiling the slideshow of archive photographs, depicting rugby at Abingdon over the years.  (OAs are welcome to download this presentation as a pdf.)  We were very pleased to host mini-reunions for the teams of 1979, 1982 and 1989. ‘Team photos’ were taken at the end of the evening, though not uploaded to this photo gallery, are available electronically from the OA Office.

Thank you to everyone who attended this event and made it such a splendid occasion.  If you would be interested in getting your former team mates together to repeat the experience in a few years’ time, then please contact us in the OA Office.

The Sky Tower Restaurant

Sunday 2 October 2011 & Tuesday 4 October 2011

Auckland, New Zealand

To coincide with the 2011 Rugby World Cup taking place in New Zealand, Richard Bampton (1961) organised an ‘Antipodean Reunion’ on behalf of the OA Club.

After England’s win against Scotland in the pool stages of the competition, Richard invited all ‘Antipodean OAs’ to his home (20 mins drive north of Auckland) on Sunday 2 October for a barbecue.  This was followed up with a dinner at the Auckland Sky Tower restaurant on Tuesday 4 October 2011.

Anyone interested in participating in a future OA event in the Antipodes should contact Richard directly by e-mail to express their interest.

Abingdon School

Twenty years on, the ‘class of’ 1991 returned to Abingdon to see how much the School and their former class mates had changed.

A group of 38 OAs plus partners gathered for a tour of the site followed by a drinks reception and formal dinner.  The party numbered over 50 and also included several members of staff, past and present: Bill and Angela Potter, Munna Mitra, Ian and Jenny Fishpool, Nick Revill and Andrew Broadbent.  During their tour of the Sports Centre the group were also delighted to encounter Jeff Drummond-Hay.  We were also pleased to welcome, unusually for an OA reunion, an ex-head boy of Pangbourne College.  Alex Tate, who joined Abingdon as Housemaster of Crescent and teacher of History in September 2011, was a direct contemporary of these 1991 leavers and remembers many names and faces from encounters both on and off the sports field.  (A full guest list is available to download.)

A wonderful sense of cameraderie pervaded the atmosphere of the whole event.  Every stage of the evening was characterised by lively chatter and fond remembrances. Ian Fishpool, who led the tour, confessed it had been a struggle to keep the party moving around the site, since each momentary pause gave rise to another round of reminiscences.

Our thanks go to Pete Mildenhall (1991) for initiating and co-ordinating the function (all the way from Australia where he and his family are now living).  We owe a big thank you also to Ian Fishpool for leading the tour and for his kind words after dinner.  The show was, however, undoubtedly stolen by the booming voice and sparkling wit of the Reverend Munna Mitra, who really did bring the house down with his very touching but incredibly humorous stroll down memory lane.

We hope that you enjoy viewing the photographs from this event.  We are very grateful to Zong Hao Tan (upper sixth), who came along as photographer for the night.  Full-sized version of these pictures are available from the OA Office.

This has been by far the most successful year group reunion the OA Club has seen for some time and we would very much like the formula replicated for future year groups.  All we need now is a volunteer to marshall the troops from 1992…

Of his achievement Nathaniel said, “It was a real plus point to have even made the side against Yorkshire so taking five wickets really put the icing on the cake. I’ve worked really hard since arriving at Durham and look forward to testing myself against more professional opposition.”

Nathaniel, who played his cricket alongside fellow OA, Joshua Smith (2010), who has also made the Durham side, praised the role the School had in his development: “The seven seasons of cricket I spent at Abingdon really gave me the opportunities and platform to develop my game.”

Nathaniel and Joshua are now both in the squad for Durham’s next game vs Loughborough UCCE in the MCC universities championship on 13 June 2011.