Report on OW Reunion in London on 16th July at the Enterprise Pub

Our host - Nick Hill

Generously hosted by Nick Hill, in his magnificent pub in Holborn, The Enterprise, July 16th saw a fantastic reunion of Old Wits whose leaving dates were from '87 and before. People started arriving from late afternoon and the "evening" went on until about 3.30am - obviously there was a lot to catch up from the 25 years+ since many of us had seen each other!






Without rambling on too much, I would like to use the words of Paul Higgins, who was at the reunion even though he has lived in Canada for a number of years, as I think he sums up the feeling that we all had about the night perfectly. He sent the following message through Facebook on August 1st:
". ..Have only had intermittent Internet access since the reunion but now I am back in Canada I wanted to say what a great evening it was. Thanks to all who helped organise it and to everyone who turned up and made it such a blast. And a special thanks to Nick, who must have felt as though a bunch of long lost relatives had descended upon him, eaten all his food and drunk him dry!
I don't know how everyone else felt afterwards, but for me it was a mixture of elation at having seen you all again, tinged with a bit of sadness that those KES days were all so long ago and that we see each other so infrequently these days. The evening confirmed for me that there is something unique about the friendships formed in a boarding school and whether you loved or loathed the KES experience, the special meaning associated with the relationships we forged down in Witley stays with you for life ."

John Pridmore makes his speech

What made the evening particularly special for many of us was the Jasper, who most of us remembered has having been our beloved chaplain for the entirety of our time at KES, also came along. We also made time to remember those who unfortunately are no longer with us for various reasons and I think this hightened the feeling for us that these reunions are so important.



Jasper sent a very touching message to us all shortly after the event:
"Thank-you, Nick, for hosting a wonderful evening – and, it sounds, a wonderful night!
Thank-you, all of you, for your overwhelmingly warm welcome and, Kacey, for the generosity of your kind words. I am touched to tears. I count the friendship of the young – which you all still are! – an immeasurable privilege and blessing.
Forgive my fading memory – it happens when you were born in the year Edward VIII abdicated.
Go well and God bless
Jasper"

Here's to the next one, and may we encourage more to come along next time. I don't believe we have fixed a date yet, but will post it as soon as I know of one.

Kind regards,

Jane Monnery (Harms as I was at school!)

Jane Monnery