Beeston Fields Golf Club was the delightful venue for the delicious 126th Old Nottinghamians' Society Lunch on Thursday 18th January. Bill Oldham (1944-54), organiser extraordinaire, had received 85 bookings; about 80 ONs managed to avoid the Aussie 'flu and arrived in the bar from 12 o'clock. The President being in court in London, Deputy President Stephen Wightman (1973-83) welcomed everyone to the dining room. The diners stood for a few moments' silence in memory of those fellow Members who had passed away since the last occasion at Beeston Fields Golf Club:
Raymond Buckland (1944-49), John Neville Brown (1947-54), Derek Barnard Whitehorn (1932-38), Gavin Wynford-Jones (1968-75), Julian Edward Hamilton (1947-53), Michael Djon (1952-57), Lorraine Thurgood (former staff), John Dale (1945-52), Jonathan McCartney (1996-2001), Andrew Ormanroyd (1957-64), Jim Knight (former staff), Kenneth Shelton Green (1933-39), Harold Gray (1933-37), Terrence Matthews (1945-53) and Richard Moore (1940-45).
John Fee (1950-55) kindly said grace. Gary Dunkley's Beeston Fields Golf Club staff then served a tasty steak & ale pie, chips & garden peas, followed by a very tasty sticky toffee pudding, caramel sauce & vanilla ice cream. Over coffee & after dinner mints the Deputy President outlined recent events:
The Old Nottinghamians’ Curry Club had enjoyed a very good evening at The Red Fort in Soho last October;
The Society website had been launched to much acclaim. Huge thanks were due to Andy Sullivan (1976-83) for all his hard work. If they had not already done so, Members were invited to register on the website and encourage their ON contacts to do likewise;
At the conclusion of the EGM in November the meeting had voted unanimously to adopt the new Society Constitution and that decision had been ratified by all those voting in the referendum;
At the AGM Philip Turton had been re-elected to serve for a second term as President. Among many other achievements in his first term, he had been the author of ‘The Nottinghamian – Revived’ magazine, which had also been very well received by ONs. Members wishing to write something for their fellow ONs were encouraged to submit their copy to the President or Secretary;
Sports news: on Saturday 16th December ON teams had won the cross-country, lost the netball, but won the rugby in the matches against the School. All of our teams were congratulated;
The ONs’ Christmas Show at The Maze had raised £2,128 for the Renal & Transplant Unit at Nottingham City Hospital. The Unit had decided to spend the money on 7 televisions and 2 iPads for their dialysis patients. Musicians including recent School leavers Sam Brown, Joe McNamara, Rielly Newbold, Harry Smith, Isaac Troughton and Will Underwood had all performed brilliantly on the night. Thanks were also due to ONs Alex Noble and Charlie Burley, aka April Towers, who had played a terrific set to headline the show.
The Deputy President then provided the following dates for Members' diaries:
Saturday 3rd February – Old Nottinghamians’ Manchester Curry Night – the Society’s man in the North West, David Ellcock, invites fellow ONs to the tried and tested Mowgli Street Food restaurant in Manchester;
Saturday 10th February – a Memorial Dinner for Dr Dennis Witcombe at St Peter’s College, Oxford – enquiries to the Development Office at the School;
Saturday 24th March 2018 – the President’s Annual Dinner in the splendid environment of the Grand Ballroom at the Council House - invitations will be sent out soon for the Society's flagship event in the heart of our City – partners and guests very welcome to attend;
Saturday 14th April – a performance of Blackadder Goes Forth in The Space at Nottingham Girls’ High School – tickets only £7.50 each are available from the Secretary, Julian Bower;
Saturday 28th April – ON Oxford Undergraduates’ Dinner at Lincoln College – this event has been brought back into being and organised by Oxford ON undergraduates, who asked the Society to assist them in restoring the occasion - recent leavers Harry Cro, Grace McConachie, Raghav Sudarshan and Isaac Troughton invite ONs to join them for a fun event;
Thursday 17th May & 20th September 2018 – 127th and 128th Beeston Fields Golf Club Lunches;
Last Thursday of every month – Early Doors at The Bell Inn from 5.30pm – next get-together Thursday 25th January – all ONs welcome.
The Deputy President thanked Bill Oldham, who received a warm ovation. The workers were excused, whilst others stayed on to chat until after 3 o'clock.
Many thanks to Geri Thomas (former staff 1958-77, 1983-2000) for taking all of the photos seen here - bar one!
