70th AGM and Dinner – 22 March 2024

The 70th AGM and Dinner of the OPU London branch was held at The Army and Navy Club on Friday 22 March 2024 with Tony Richardson taking the chair as President. 27 OPs and guests attended, an increase on last year and a positive step along the way to numbers returning to pre COVID levels of 40+.

The evening was a great success with the audible buzz of conversions enlivened by animated discourse between members from widely differing eras and viewpoints (1940s (just) to 2020s) discussing an equally wide variety of topics (but of course, including Wilde, Beckett and Lyte) adding to the occasion.

The President opened proceedings in the Wellington Room by welcoming the party from Enniskillen Royal Grammar School: Principal, Elizabeth Armstrong; the School’s Head Boy, Eamon Greene; Head Girl, Darcey Crawford; and the London branch Bursary Prize winner, Cameron Smith. The enthusiastic contribution (as ever) of the Principal, Elizabeth Armstrong and the current pupils to the general social intercourse was greatly appreciated. It was also noted amongst the many decades spanning the assembly the presence of a rowing eight reunion from the ‘80s (see below) that added greatly to the craic. 

To ensure we ran to time, WynnAnderson (U, 1966-70) oversaw the running of the meeting agenda, first, dealing efficiently with the reports of the officers and the re-elections of Timothy Gardiner (U, 1991-01, Treasurer; Ian Burn (L,1961-69, Secretary; and Ron Walker (C, 1965-71, Assistant Secretary before moving to the presentation of the Bursary Prize and other matters. 

A sad note was the remembrance, led by Ian Sanderson (1950 – 58 L), of past President Robin Preston (U, 1954-61), a keen supporter of the London Branch, who had died after illness in the autumn. Ian noted that, at Robin’s funeral, tales of his youth in Enniskillen, especially of his time at Portora, and at Sidney Sussex college were recalled.

The Bursary Prize certificate and cheque was then presented to Cameron Smith by Tony Richardson OPU London Branch President.  Cameron, in thanking the Branch, provided us with a lively summary of his background, involvement in School life and future plans.

Head Boy, Eamon Greene and Head Girl, Darcey Crawford followed with a polished and entertaining joint oration on the varied activities and achievements at the School during the past year.

Moving to other matters, Tony Richardson, as President, highlighted his enthusiasm for an Autumn Evening Event with a location, timing and format that would provide wider accessibility, especially for younger working members. 

A similar lunch-based format for those who lunch had been held successfully in Chelsea at the end of June last year (even drawing in some remote OPs who happened to be in London at the time) and will be repeated this year. Any suggestions, thoughts, or indeed assistance, on either event would be welcome. 

Finally, members were reminded of the sponsorship request for the forthcoming book ‘Portora Rugby Club 1874-2016, Enniskillen Royal Rugby Club 2016-2024’ being produced by Robert Northridge to celebrate 150 years of rugby at the School. 

The assembly moved to the Library where dinner was served after Muir Coburn, our most senior member and in the absence of any bishops, said Grace. Following an excellent meal the President, speaking on the importance of education, proposed a toast to the Health of the School. He was then followed by the Principal, Elizabeth Armstrong, who, after a very positive picture of the school year, also spoke of progress on the new school building programme and stressed the importance of ongoing collaboration between the School and London Branch, before proposing a toast to the Health of the OPU London Branch.

Finally, with the formalities fully completed, the assembly retired back to The Wellington Room to continue conversations with their friends and new acquaintances and where, importantly, arrangements had been put in place for the bar to stay open to 11.59PM. 

The party of oarsmen who had gathered as a reunion, revisiting rowing memories from the 1980s comprised, (Maurice Monteith (U, 1982-89), Blythe Crawford (C,1982-89), Alan Guy (C, 1982-89), Nicholas McKee (M 1983-90), Joe Jellie (L, 1983-90) and Jonathan Williams (M, 1989-89). 

Perhaps other teams/crews/group might consider the dinner as a suitable place to have a mini-reunion?

Once again, the OPU London branch Dinner was a resounding success. Further information on next year’s dinner and other OPU (London branch) activities is posted on our website: www.billburn.webmate.me/OPULondon/Welcome.html.