Down to London on Wednesday for the annual dinner of the London and south-east-based Old Mancunians. It used to be the case that the venue changed each year for the sake of variety, but this year we were again at the Oxford and Cambridge Club, which has looked after us well in the past. The food and wine are good, and the surroundings, combined with a relatively informal dress code, produce a memorable but relaxing evening, attracting 60-plus guests.
This year's Chairman, Fred Wheeler, introduced his successor, Lee Gabbie, who proposed the toast to our Founder, Hugh Oldham. Then our special guest, actor Robert Powell, gave an extremely amusing account of his life in drama from his days in the second form, later Classical Sixth at MGS, to the present time. Like (Sir) Nicholas Hytner, who spoke at last year's dinner, Robert explained how plays at school allowed him to discover the person he was. For him, as for many, this was in an activity outside the school curriculum, which in those days involved reading plenty of literary texts but not being examined on them. He shares our excitement at the development of facilities for drama at MGS and has kindly offered to present a one-man show in the rebuilt theatre in the autumn. The High Master rounded off the speeches with a brief (yes, really, seven minutes) account of highlights of the last year.
It was good to see the age-spread of the guests - the youngest two or three are still undergraduates at the London universities, the oldest two or three joined MGS in the mid-1930s. All walks of life seemed to be represented: I sat between a retired professor of medicine and a special needs teacher, and opposite an investment banker, a commercial aviation expert and a management consultant.
Back to Manchester to catch up on plans for our big Reunion on 8 May for pupils who joined MGS pre-1950. It's exciting to know that people are coming from as far away as New Zealand and California. Thank goodness the planes are flying again.
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