TRAFALGAR DAY LUNCH - 2005

A warm welcome by the Headmaster and Mrs England greeted us as we assembled in the library for the pre-lunch drinks.

Volunteer cadets of the School Combined Cadet Force took visitors on guided tours of the school and then paraded for inspection. They provided just the right naval touch for such an occasion and their smartness was warmly applauded.

Lunch was served in Westmont, reviving for many, memories of school days long ago. The seating arrangements for so many diners were a miracle of organisation and the roast beef menu, splendidly prepared and served by Stella and her team, fully matched the occasion.

As the wine flowed the dining room resonated with the familiar banter of a Ryde reunion. Rarely at the school has there been such a gathering of one-time head prefects, prefects, actors, musicians, sportsmen, sixth form girls and senior CCF Cadets at one time!

Our Chairman, Stephen Keen, expressed the thanks of all of us to our hosts, especially to Nick and Sue England and to the domestic staff, with congratulations to Joan Robinson for her successful planning and coordination of the event.

I had recently stepped down as President of the ORA. Following kind tributes by Stephen Keen and Edward Class, Jean and I were presented with a very fine crystal claret jug with the inscription: To Keith and Jean with great affection: The ORA with Ryde School 16.10.05. In my response of thanks for this immensely generous gift, I referred to the strong partnership which now exists between the School and the Association, to the outstanding leadership of the Chairman and his committee, and to the wide-reaching improvements in administration under the Association Secretary.

Then it was time for Trafalgar. In this bicentenary of the battle and the death of the Lord Nelson, we paid our own tribute with the toast to the „Immortal Memory‟.

In a way it seemed appropriate that two hundred years after his death Nelson‟s memory should be honoured by us at Ryde School, within sight of Portsmouth, where England‟s greatest naval hero embarked for the last time in September 1805.

The memory of the Trafalgar Lunch 2005 will, I am sure, stay with us for a long time. Jean and I would like to record our deepest gratitude for all the affection and kindness shown to us on this very special occasion.

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28 Years On! Imagine the scene. It was at an old Rydeians‟ Reunion, the wine had been flowing and David Weatherston and I were reminiscing about days long gone - I was slim and fit and David‟s red hair had no grey highlights!

Inevitably, the conversation was about rugby and in particular the team of 1976, which under David‟s tutorship saw one of the most successful phases of rugby in Ryde School in those long gone halcyon years. During the conversation, David happened to mention that the picture that had been commissioned by the school, to mark the success of the seven-a-side team in the Brockenhurst Sevens, was still hanging in the gymnasium. To say I was surprised was an understatement! I found it difficult to believe that this 28 year old painting by Johnny Caldwell still existed, let alone was still on display.

David very kindly arranged for the gymnasium to be opened to allow us to g and see the picture after the lunch celebrations and take some photographs of us all with the painting. The result along with the original team photo is above for your amusement. I would not say that time had been overly kind to us, with the exception of Chris who agreed to wear his glasses as a concession to growing older! Amazingly, it is 28 years since the photo that inspired the painting was taken. Although we all feel young at heart, it is sobering to note that Mark and Chris‟s

children now attend Ryde School and earlier that day Fifo and I were shown around by Chris‟s eldest son Corporal Charlie Hawker!

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Thanks for your recent email regarding Trafalgar Day lunch. I will try to come, but have now reached the 65 mark and its attendant issues - fortunately not health. Yes, Ian Tucker was born September 14th, 1940, during an air-raid, „Battle of Britain‟ they called it, in a closet in a London hospital (in the basement of course).

I am never sure what is of interest, having in mind my contemporaries are around my age and must also have stories to tell. Some must certainly have been evacuated, as I was at 18months old. I attended my first boarding school in Eastbourne, when I was 5 to 7 years old.

My dad was in the rescue service (ARP) and pulled people, dead or alive, from bombed buildings. I suppose we forget that many ORs are now of tender years.

I remember my first week at Ryde in the summer 1954, when the air-raid siren (as I thought) went off and I almost dived for cover under the desk. „Manny‟ Mansfield who sat behind me reassured me it was just the Ryde Fire station alarm (they used the all clear siren). I thought war was starting and me a million miles from home. Just shows how long these things can play on your mind.

I was looking at my family tree and have discovered relatives who served with Wellington in the Peninsular War, so I feel Trafalgar Day has a personal relationship. Scott McKee, (my maternal great, great, great Grandfather) was born around 1791, at Anahilt, Co Down in what is now Northern Ireland. Aged 18 years, he served under the Duke of Wellington, as a private in the 3rd Battalion of the 27th Regiment of Foot, fighting to remove the French Army and Napoleon from Spain. Scott was injured in 1813 and this led to the amputation of his leg, after which he was invalided out of the Army, as an outpatient of the Royal Chelsea Hospital, in 1815. Thomas Mahon (paternal great, great, great, great Grandfather) was born in County Carlow, Ireland in 1788.

He enlisted in 1804 with the 12th Lancers, Horse-guards, (12th Light Dragoons) and served in both the Peninsular War and at Waterloo in 1815. He was discharged from the army, old & worn out, in 1827.

His son, John, was my great, great grandfather. I am sure many can find similar examples; these have made Charlie Chesterton‟s history stories, which we either endured or enjoyed, so much more meaningful.