President’s Message

2021 has been a tough year for everyone one way or another. But in spite of Covid, your OB Council has not been idle. There has been a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes, and once restrictions were lifted, we were of course very happy to be able to restart activities and events again.

Our events

Our events started at last in September – beginning with a very successful Derek Whitehead Fives Day. So lovely to see the generations mixing as Prep School pupils played with an array of OBs, who have a growing Fives Club membership and have thrived in the latter months of lockdown when only outdoor sports could be played. We have enjoyed catching up on our reunions – the 10-, 11-, 20- and 21-year reunions took place in the Michaelmas term, making up for those postponed in 2020.

Our Questionnaire

In the summer we reached out in order to hear your views. Lockdown was the perfect time to get this out. A lot of work went into its preparation and analysis, so thank you to all who took the time to respond. It has been very helpful to see what we are doing right and where we can improve. (See the report summarised later in the magazine and on the Connections website).

The key message that we wanted to convey is that we are here for you, all former pupils of Berkhamsted School, and if there is a group who would like to set up a club, arrange a trip or a reunion, we are here to help you. All you need to do is contact us at TOB offi ce. We now have more than 7,000 Old Berkhamstedians on our database, spanning several generations. It is never going to be possible to please everyone all the time, but we will try our best!

Our Website

Connections is growing and evolving all the time. Only launched in April 2020, at the start of lockdown, we now have more than 2,000 OBs signed up. It helps us to communicate with you and for you to communicate with each other. With improved systems it is much easier to identify where OBs are and we are in the process of setting up and supporting more regional groups, both in the UK and abroad.

Our Clubs

It has been a tough year for our sports clubs, but those that have been able to play have made the most of opportunities. With the help of Connections we are expanding our clubs to include many more, and not just sport. In fact, many of you told us in our Questionnaire that you want more arts, music and drama to be provided, and we are working on this.

We have also introduced networks for certain industries, universities, entrepreneurs and more. Please take a look if you haven’t recently, as the website is evolving and updated weekly, if not daily in term time! And if you are one of our members who has not yet signed up, you can do this at any time. Just contact the offi ce for help or use the link shown on the back cover of the magazine.

Our Mentors

Huge thanks to those OBs who have off ered services to other OBs and to the current Sixth Form as OB mentors. Several have given ‘Enrichment lectures’ to the current Sixth Form by Zoom – starting in lockdown and continuing due to their

success – sharing their expertise and experience in a wide range of fields. If this is something you might be interested in contributing to, please contact the office.

TOB Trust

TOB Trust is the charitable arm of The Old Berkhamstedians, and it continues to support the School in different ways – contributing to the School’s Anniversary Bursary Fund, working with Afghan refugees in Hertfordshire, and with Sixth Form Travel Grants; though sadly, owing to Covid, the latter have been much reduced in the last couple of years.

Memorials

Many of you were very sorry that the Memorial Service for John Davison could not take place back in March 2020. However, we are delighted to announce that we have rescheduled this for Saturday 2nd April 2022, on Castle Campus. Please see the website for further details.

In September we were sad to learn of the death of Mary Rose Farley (Bateman). She was the last living Headmistress of Berkhamsted School for Girls. Her memorial is planned for Sunday 3rd April 2022 at Kings Campus.

TOB Council

Our Council of 18 members is divided into different groups with different responsibilities, working closely with our administrators, Vicky Rees (Hon) and Sarah Cox (Hon), to oversee and organise the ever-increasing number of activities we offer.

Mike Horton (Sw ’64) is to be congratulated on his perseverance in procuring the impressive new railings that have at last been installed around the Remembrance Garden on Castle Campus. It has been a long process, not least because of the planning permission required and delays owing to Covid. The Old Berkhamstedians funded these railings and on 14th November 2021, as part of Remembrance Sunday events, the new plaques commemorating this were unveiled. The railings are a reminder to all visitors to the School of the significance of the gardens they surround.

Another development on the Gravel Quad has been the felling of the Acacia Tree, which had stood there for more than 100 years. With a significant contribution from a bequest by Doreen Russell (NS ’42), we have funded a replacement acacia tree. Given the association with Armistice Day, the last tree planted in 1919 in memory of those lost in WWI, it seemed appropriate to coordinate the planting and plaque unveiling to take place on 14th November as well. We are now working on new wooden seating around the new tree, which we hope to install in early 2022.

Our newest Council member David Dodds (SJ ’75) suggested that we might preserve some of the old wood. There was plenty that was not rotten and, with the help of the School, this has been stored up at Haresfoot. Our own wood turner, Keith Goddard (Ad ’62), is producing the most wonderful bowls, plates and keyrings from the wood of this 100-yearold tree. These creations, each one unique, will be available for sale at OB events in 2022, proceeds going towards selected memorial charities.

TOB Council had its first face-to-face meeting in September after a series of Zoom meetings. It was so good to meet in person at last. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone on the Council for their help and support with all the projects and planning that has taken place in the past year.

Zoe Cavell, our Secretary, and I, with the support of the whole Council, have been working hard updating the Articles of Association for both TOB Ltd and TOBT Ltd together with an independent legal advisor. These updates will be presented at the AGM in March 2022.

TOB Office

Final thanks go to Vicky Rees and Sarah Cox for all their hard work running our events and website at the same time as supporting us all. Brigitta Case (Norris) (NS ’80) President