2013 WHOBA Reunion on Saturday, 17th August at the RHYC in Woolverstone Marina

Welcome to this year's reunion, at which it gives us once again immense pleasure to welcome a number of former masters as our guests. I am sure you will agree that the event would not be complete without a few words of introduction. Actually, I had a cunning plan for my speech. I was going to write it out and send it in advance by mail. That would have had multiple advantages. You wouldn't have had to listen to it or indeed even read it but it would nevertheless have been preserved for the archives. Unfortunately, I did not have time to organise this - what a shame!

Well, this is the 10th year of these particular reunions originally inspired by Peter Brown, who in 2002 put a post on the WHOBA site to the effect that after a long period of detachment he had been thinking a lot about the school in recent years, which was a feeling shared by Mike Bysh and me. And so we organised the reunion of 2003, which was so enjoyable that we decided to repeat it but stage it on a barge, and so the first barge cruise took place in 2004. As those who have attended many if not most of our reunions will know, these barge cruises have been very pleasant, with a fair number of Old Boys and former masters attending, many more than once.

In fact, though we started by meeting to remember the school we are now almost at the point where we are having reunions to remember the reunions. I remember in particular one barge cruise when it was Merlin Channon's 80th birthday. It was an absolutely glorious summer's day as we sailed gracefully down the river, with magnificent views of the school and unspoilt riverbanks. Philip Mann was there that year and made a little speech on board in celebration. Everything was perfect and it was one of those moments that stays in the memory for ever.

Not all has gone so smoothly. The first barge cruise we organised involved a miscalculation, so that Derek and Juliet were left standing rather mournfully on the quayside, since the barge insurance was limited to 50 passengers. I was very sorry about that and rather angry at not having sacrificed myself and thus become an instant hero .... However, we made up for it the following year when we got Derek safely on board.

I have a theme for my final remarks - heroes. Some of my biggest heroes are here today. First of course, there are Merlin Channon and Barry Salmon. I remember thinking even as a naive runt of 11 - and not being a real musician as such -"I wonder if in the rest of my lifetime I will ever be involved in such wonderful musical creation?" And somewhat sadly, I haven't been. The school put on amazing productions, and of course we remember Leslie Johnstone, Patrick Hutton and many others who were also deeply involved - not least Ben Turner and Ernie Green doing the sets, all assisted by gangs of boys in a real team effort.

Then of course there is Derek Thornbery, not only my English teacher for several years but also cricket coach and musical colleague. I remember sitting in the school orchestra alongside Derek while Barry was trying to deal with a recalcitrant trombonist .... we had been stuck there waiting for some minutes when Derek turned to me and said: "They also serve who sit and wait.", which I later realized was quite funny. Then there was the clause analysis in English: I can't tell you how useful that has been!! But of course Derek's crowning glory was the magnificent Orwell House Orchestra, less important for the orchestra per se than for the inspiration it gave to so many boys to take up an instrument.

Sadly, some of my other master heroes of previous reunions have left us, in particular Malcolm Poole, Ben Turner and of course more recently Jim Hyde, whom we met at the first reunion in 2003. To me they are all unforgettable heroes whose inspiring dedication changed our lives. Then of course founding reunion-member Old Boy Jim Atkinson sadly passed away just a short time after retiring as British Ambassador to the Congo.

But there are some other former boys here today who are also my heroes. There is Peter Brown, who is - and you may not know this - world famous in the toy industry and has won multiple awards for a long career in the business. I keep waiting to hear he has been given a knighthood for services to British business, but they seem to prefer celebrities and civil service jobsworths most of the time! "Business"? Yes, WHS provided the country not only with actors, writers, musicians and sportsmen but also businessmen essential to the creation of wealth for the government of the day to waste. And then of course Peter has been the guiding inspiration behind the reunions as well as the crucial "man on the ground" up here in Ipswich, living as he does in Nacton, from where - as he reminded me the other day - he can gaze across the river at the old school.

Mike Bysh is another one. Two years above me in another house, he was not only as cool and suave as he is now but also just as kind. One day in the fourth form - I think it was a national holiday - I had an extremely rare and thus important date in Ipswich and was about to leave to get the bus when I bumped into Mike in the corridor linking Halls and Johnston's. Having ascertained where I was going he asked me: "But you're not going in THAT coat, surely?" As it happens, I was, though I later realized it looked like something Lonnie Donegan's dustman father might have worn. And blow me if Mike didn't spontaneously offer to lent me his posh and snazzy coat, an amazing act of generosity from someone I hardly knew. The coat itself was a great success, even if the wearer himself wasn't.

Mike of course is yet another businessman, as is Jim Beverley of Beverley Steel. Not many people create their own successful companies in their own name and so Jim has done jolly well indeed! Besides, he sends me funny jokes and photos and so also qualifies as a hero - as indeed does David Holmes, previously employed in numerous fields including the NHS and now a retired champion of multiple good causes.

Then there is Terry Stancliffe, the super-boffin of our year whose relative genius went hand-in-hand with great modesty, humility and a calm and measured demeanour. I would like to say to Terry now that I regret not having cultivated his friendship more at school, being myself rather sucked up into the macho sporting set. That was my loss - especially as I am sure he could have helped me considerably in exams! Terry was in fact one of my heroes at school, though I perhaps didn't realize it at the time and I am quite certain that HE didn't!

Fred Moughton over there is I think the second oldest Old Boy here after Ron Vizard - despite looking like one of the youngest - and has been to every single reunion. Such a staunch supporter of these dos is an undoubted hero, especially as he organises the finances with such calm efficiency. Thanks Fred for the support over these years. Ron and his charming lady have been to almost every reunion since 2003, which merits a hero reward for stamina if nothing else.

Ted Gentry is over there ... Once known as "Rusty" thanks to his flaming red hair, Ted is our local WHS artist, though best-remembered at school as a stylish fly-half just after the Bill Coutts era. Anyone with such a permanently-sunny disposition and smile is worthy of the hero status, so welcome to the group Ted.

Finally, we welcome this year a couple of complete newbies. Firstly, there is Ceri Howell - the jet-setting CEO of an engineering company in Canada and a member of course of the famous WHS Howell dynasty - two of whom won Exhibitions to Oxford, which surely deserves the hero tag. Also with us is John "Fred" Walmsley, the heroic long-distance runner. Now retired, he had a long and brilliant career in Sydney, Australia as a Professor of Mediaeval History. We certainly didn't realize at school that John was brainy as well as athletic!

Well done all you heroes, and it just remains to wish you "Bon appetit" and remind you of our cunning plan to change places after each course to maximise the information interchange ......

Thank you so much for your continuing support of these annual reunions over the years, with which we certainly would not have persevered without your enthusiastic participation.

Chris SNUGGS