Events

Peter Nightingale (Class of 1961; Former Boys’ Division Staff), David Seddon (Class of 1971) Mike Aldington (Class of 1971), Paul Shannon (Former Boys’ Division Staff) Marcus Taylor, Claire Keat, NinaJayne Birley, Annabel Gratton (all Class of 2001)

Michael Potter, Scott Hamer, Kulwant Singh, William Nuttall (all Class of 1991) Zia Ullah, Daniel Norris, Michael Potter, Steven Furlong, Simon Ellam, William Nuttall, Philip Owen, Mark Conn (all Class of 1991)

Mark Brown, Nick Collins, John Hardwick, Nick Sharrock, Andrew Roe, David Seddon, Henry Jones, David Aldington, Peter Walker, Bob Higson (all Class of 1971) Stephen Spielmann, Anthony Smith, Marcus Taylor, Alex Wotherspoon, James Brodie, Gareth Shires, Sarfaraz Munshi (all Class of 2001) Class of 1991

Saleem Hafizullah, Nigel Clarke, David Dance, Simon Marsden, Martin Bishop, Duncan Cameron, Paul Watson, Andrew Mangham, John Barben (all Class of 1981)

Simon Hodson, Scott Hamer, Neil Handley, Steven Furlong, Andrew Dunn, Michael Potter, Greg Matthews, Phil Owen, Simon Ellam (all Class of 1991)

Brian Darbyshire (Class of 1965), Rob Dobson (Class of 1982)

John Markland (Class of 1966), Stefan Horsman (1988-1995), Roy Battersby (Class of 1961), Brian Darbyshire (Class of 1965) Roy Battersby, Malcolm Horner (Class of 1960), Beverley Horner, Peter Nightingale (Class of 1961), David Jenner (Class of 1960), Peter Raine (Class of 1960), Rob Blagg (Class of 1961) Brian Darbyshire, Stuart Brooks (Class of 1966)

Benjamin Fletcher (Class of 2020), Thom Noneley (Class of 2016)

The annual Alumni Cumbria Lunch took place once again at the beautiful Lindeth Howe Hotel in Windermere. Old Boys and Old Girls enjoyed a delicious lunch in stunning surroundings, with chatting and reminiscing carrying on throughout the afternoon.

David Jenner (Class of 1960), Mary Harper (née Monks, Class of 1954), Janet Ward (née Mitchell, Class of 1964) Peter Nightingale (Class of 1961), Laura Henthorn (née Carless, Class of 1977), Roy Battersby (Class of 1961)

Head of Boys’ Division Nic Ford, Stephen Broughton (Class of 1970) Rik (Class of 1977) Deborah Thwaites David Jenner (Class of 1960), Roy Battersby (Class of 1961) Peter (Class of 1971) and Lesley Acton, Laura Henthorn (née Carless, Class of 1977)

Christian Stapleton and Alastair Harris Tom Nally with his brother, Matt (Class of 2020)

Anthony Johnson Zayd Ascroft Thomas Britton Hamzah Chariwala Shaon Sen

Old Boys and Old Girls of every vintage – from 1950s leavers to a member of the Class of 2021 - travelled from across the United States to join Philip Britton and Laura Firth at the Alumni New York Dinner at the Harvard Club in September.

Viral Kapadia, Angeli Kapadia (née Vadera, Class of 2007), Paul Pennington (Class of 1997) and Mike Faulkner (Class of 2001)

Philip Britton (Head of Foundation), Steven Foulkes (Class of 1970) and Linda Foulkes Jerry Federlein, Jan Slimming, Nancy Federlein (née Smith, Class of 1962), Allan Slimming (Class of 1974)

Sheila Riley (Class of 1955) and Rob Bewick (Class of 1978) Tom Simpson, Thea Simpson, Paul Pennington, Natalie Pennington, Robert Bewick, Philip Britton, Michael Faulkner, Allan Slimming, Jan Slimming, Viral Kapdia, Angeli Kapadia, Steven Foulkes, Linda Foulkes, Jerry Federlein, Nancy Federlein, Sheila Riley, Laura Firth

Old Boys and Old Girls from the classes of 1952, 1962, 1972, 1982, 1992, 2002 and 2012 enjoyed a trip down memory down when they returned to School in October.

Colin Chambers (Former Boys’ Division Staff) and Rob Dobson (Class of 1982) Peter Tonge (Class of 1952) and Ernie Marsh (former Boys’ Division Staff)

William Jones, Jack Shaw, Joshua Polding, Mohammed Patel, Haroon Akhtar (Class of 2012) Antony Fisher, Mike Roberts, Paul Greenwood, Chris Pendlebury, Mike Ratcliffe, Tom Rigby, Mike Haslam (Class of 1972) Mike Worsley, Jonathan Battersby, Nigel Mayers, Carron Paige (née Bland), Marcus Smith, David Sharples (all Class of 1982)

Mike Ratcliffe, Antony Fisher, Tom Rigby, Chris Pendlebury (Class of 1972)

Dean Gormley, Mark Todd, Raj Apte (Class of 1992) Mohammed Patel, Zeyed Limbada, Haroon Akhtar, Adil Bhutawala (all Class of 2012)

Andrew Smith, Chris Thorpe, Nick Livesey (Class of 1992) Pretesh Mistry, Alistair Henderson, Nicholas Lawley, Richard Thatcher (Class of 2002)

Andy Bispham, Jonny Lea, Rick Harper (Class of 1982)

There had to be a celebration – a hundred years (plus two); several thousand players; innumerable matches on innumerable pitches across Lancashire and the North-West and beyond – all under the aegis of the Old Boltonians Football Club.

Doubly delayed through Covid, a myriad of commemorative memorial ideas were eventually distilled down to just one day back at the alma mater … and what a triumph this proved to be. Four matches, embodying the current range of OBAFC activity blended with alumnae reliving times past, were played on what some present still called the New Level. The sun shone from a perfect blue sky – this seemed somehow appropriate and made spectating through rose-coloured glasses all the better. Winter days in the winds of Turton, the Mancunian mud, the Blackburnian blizzards were banished from memory in favour of glorious goals, terrific and terrifying tackles, spectacular saves and perfect penalties. The newest aspect of the club, Boltonian Ladies, started proceedings alongside the in-house team of current players. The First team played Bolton Borough, a recently formed team emanating from BWFC’s work in the community – to highlight a possible strand going forward for the School and club linked to the university and Wanderers. For many, the playing highlight was the Legends match. Kev Taylor brought together Phil Riding to manage the Raiders versus Neil Thomasson’s Tornados, in which some three dozen past players across the decades played at a quite wonderful standard. Mike Hancock and Dave Lee in their seventies were the doyens, Dave topping his performance with only the second-ever penalty of his career which started on the self-same Levels for School in the Sixties. Dave Freeborn, Matt Dewhurst, Tim Entwistle, Andy Beardsworth and Tom Whittaker scored in the Raiders’ 5-2 win. but that is almost not The Point.

Well over a hundred players and spectators enjoyed the superb sunny weather, the beers, iconic Carrs Pasties, but mostly the memories, the reminiscences, the banter. We had mums and dads, sons and daughters, former players sadly no longer able to venture forth onto the pitch, but talking a great game, former School and Bolts managers still able to spin subtleties of strategy (still beyond many of us). We had new connections and old acquaintances, alarming levels of skill, crunching tackles, memories, some clear as a bell, some embellished through the fogs of time, but above all, from ladies through current male players to alumnae from at least 50 of the club’s 100 years, the evidence of the strong links of friendship that the game generates. Those forged at School and the club showed themselves to be so wonderfully deep and well nigh eternal.

Teams from glories past, present and future

We all variously toasted OBAFC as the afternoon became the evening and, indeed, in the case of certain casino visitors, the early hours, and looked forward to the next celebration – perhaps a decade rather than a century hence! Martin Wadsworth (Boys’ Division Staff, 1974-2006; OBAFC 1978-present)

Wednesday 30th November Tillotson Lecture Friday 2nd December Old Boys’ Association Annual Dinner Wednesday 14th December Christmas Festival Bolton School, 7pm Arts Centre, Bolton School, 6.45pm Bolton School/Online, 7.30pm

Friday 3rd February Alumni Cambridge Dinner Friday 10th February Joint Old Boys’ and Old Girls’ Lunch Friday 3rd March London Dinner Saturday 22nd April ‘3’ Class Reunion Sidney Sussex College, 7pm Bolton School, 12 noon Armourers’ Hall, 7pm Bolton School, 11.30am-4.30pm

Friday 28th April Alumni Scotland Dinner

St Leonard’s Hall, Edinburgh, 7pm Monday 15th May Old Boys’ Lunch and AGM Bolton School, 12 noon Wednesday 7th June Former Staff (Boys’ and Girls’ Divisions) Lunch Bolton School, 12 noon Friday 16th June Cumbria Lunch Lindeth Howe Hotel, 12 noon Monday 26th June Recent Leavers’ (Class of 2022) Reunion Bolton School, 3pm-5pm Thursday 29th June Boys’ Division Prizegiving Great Hall/Online, time TBC June TBC MCC Match Bolton School, time TBC To reserve your ticket for any of our Alumni events, please call the Development Office on 01204 434718, email development@boltonschool.org or visit the ‘Former Pupils’ section of the School website (www.boltonschool.org) where you can book online.