|
|
OMs qualify for Grafton Morrish finals
The team of Ben Wesgate, James (“big Moggs”)
Morgan, Duncan Farron, Rob Simpson, James Stock and Tom Light
qualified on Saturday 9th May 2009 in
the unseasonal Easterly gales(!). Congratulations to all of them.
Particular thanks to James Stock for stepping into the breach
at the last moment.
In their own mystical words: -
“ we did feel we left a few points out there in the qualifier and were
disappointed not to have walked it … Ben lays the blame in a dodgey course
planner - I blame his putting stroke”
“ There was an issue with the course planner, stupid thing didn't give
distances from the neighboring fairways, schoolboy oversight if you ask me.”
“ That’s enough ribbing of Mrs Westgate's putting, I'm the poor … who'll
be fielding the 4 foot returns next time! Sort out some clubhead speed then we'll
talk about putting!!!”
“ Do we know what the rules of this competition are? As I recall last time
we qualified (September 1935 I think!!)”
The finals take place over the weekend of 24-27th September in North West Norfolk
(Brancaster and Hunstanton).
Anyone interested in a supporter’s golfing tour to that part of the world
over that weekend (to play some golf on neighbouring courses and make sure the
team get to bed early and don’t drink too much) please get in touch.
Gareth Wilson
|
Review of Old Monmothian Club
- 2009 Review Committee
The Club executive has appointed a small group to undertake
a review of the operation of the Club and the suitability
of the Club constitution to pursue
the Club’s objectives in the 21st century.
We are asked to represent a broad range of age and special
interest groups among OMs, including OMs who are not currently
active in the Club.
In order to do this, we need your input. We would value comments (however major
or minor) from any Old Monmothian on how you would like to see the Club run,
what you would like to see the Club do and/or how you would like to see it
done. Comments could be general or relate to a special interest you have e.g.
sporting, music, recent school leaver etc. What would you like to see the Club
do for you? What should it do for others?
It should come as no surprise to hear that we are looking
at the use of technology and particularly the internet
to improve communication and participation
among OMs. We would welcome ideas in this area – including how we might
communicate as this review progresses.
Please send any comments you may have to oldmonmothians@monmouthschool.org and/or to Gareth.Wilson2@btinternet.com. In order to ensure your views are
taken into account, please get in touch by 10 May 2009 or as soon thereafter
as possible. If you would like to participate further in the process, or
would like any further information, please also let us know. (We are looking,
in particular, for someone who left school between about 1995-2003, to join
the review committee.)
Please note: this message has been sent direct to all OMs
for whom the Club has a current email address. However,
this
represents only about 20% of OMs.
We have postal addresses for many more, but the cost of using postal addresses
would be prohibitive. Please pass the message on to any of your contemporaries
(use any social networking sites etc.) and encourage them to let the Club
have current email addresses. Please also watch this space for updates.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Brian Margrett, John Pearman, Gareth Wilson, Jamie
Burn, Ray Blight & Calum Kinloch
|
OM Rowing
There is an informal reunion of rowing OMs planned
for the weekend of this year's Monmouth Regatta (23rd and
24th May).
Alternatively, bring your own rowing club and row in their
colours - just let us know if you are coming so that we can
let commentary teams etc. know and I and Nick Hartland can
include you in newspaper reports etc.
Duncan Lovett (OM) will be playing with his band in Monmouth
RC's bar on Saturday night.
James Knight Captain Old Monmothians Boat Club
|
For all OM Golfers from Hackers to Pros.
Old Monmothian Golf
Golf Day – 12.00 Friday 19 June 2009
at the Rolls of Monmouth
The message below has been sent to all OMs who have
expressed an interest in playing some OM Golf. If you
would like to play on 19 June and/or be added
to the distribution list, please let me know.
Thank you very much everyone who has been in touch about the golf. I don’t
have an exact number, but we have well over thirty who have said they wish
to play on 19th June and a number of others who cannot make the date, but have
expressed interest generally in some OM Golf.
Our field for 19th June looks like spanning an age range of almost 60 years,
with Henry, the current head boy, threatening to bring at least a four ball
from those who will have finished A levels only days before. I won’t
mention by name any who were at school during the war (or indeed, which war)
and still have handicaps considerably lower than mine, but will be very pleased
to see them.
Most imaginative excuse for not being able to make the
19th “I’m
having lunch at Highgrove”. Is that a good excuse?
The award for longest journey is probably sewn up by Rich McCrone (1971-78),
travelling from Perth – not the one in Scotland. He’s probably
got a few other things to do.
Logistics - Time, Cost etc,
Realistically, I am hoping the field will be about 50, but this is not enough
to justify booking the course for the day. I have therefore booked tee
times from 12.00 – 13.00 (1st and 10th).
Standard cost will be about £60 for the day, including
a round of golf (£42), plus about £15 for those who wish to have
a meal afterwards and I should think we can manage bacon rolls and coffee
before we start.
Student costs. We are fortunate in having a number of OMs
(and honorary OMs) who are members of the Rolls and by judicious use of their
right to sign in guests, I would hope to reduce the cost of the golf for
those still at school or University (or somewhere in between) by at least
50%. The final cost will depend on the numbers falling into this category.
Can those who fall into this category please let me know.
Accommodation. Please get in touch if you need help with
accommodation. Anyone interested in getting together a golfing party for
the weekend, my be interested to know that there is a (recently refurbished)
cottage for rent available on the course
Payment. I will need to collect some money from you in the
next couple of weeks. This will serve as a means of finalising the numbers.
Could you please, therefore, send me a cheque for £30 to confirm your
participation. You can make this out to the Old Monmothian Club if you wish,
but it would be easier if you made it out to me.
Grafton Morrish
We have now managed to put together a strong team (average handicap – well,
I understand some of them usually get shots, but some may have to give them)
to enter the Grafton Morrish public schools scratch competition – our
first entry for some years. Keith Madsen remains the man in charge.
Finally – keep spreading the word
I would stress, again, that only 20% of OMs actually received an email notice
of this event (and I understand some of these were gobbledegook). You may think
that these would be concentrated among the younger OMs, but not so. For example,
the Club only has email address for 6 OMs who left in 2006. Please spread the
word if you have the means to do so. I am hoping to get the numbers up further
this year and further still in future years.
As usual, any thoughts welcome. I would particularly welcome your thoughts
on: -
1. would a Saturday be a better day for the OM Golf day – at a slightly
higher cost?
2. what would be the best date? e.g. after the end of school/university term.
3. should we try to combine or co-ordinate an annual golf day at the Rolls
with other OM events?
Best wishes to you all
Gareth Wilson
|
OM Day 2008
This years OM Day took place on Saturday 3rd May. A total of 80
persons attended on the day made up of 48 OM’s and their guests.
Conducted tours of the school commenced at 10am followed by a Chapel
service at 11.15am. Everyone was welcomed by the President and
Headmaster during when meeting up over coffee in the Library (The Old
School Hall).
Lunch was provided in the Blake theatre following a drinks reception
in the Blake foyer. The President detailed the activities of the Club
and our plans for the future before offering a toast to the School. The
Headmaster responded and outlined the Schools achievements in the past
year. He also provided details of progress on the new Grange and Sports
Pavilion. He confirmed that it is intended to officially open the
Pavilion with a Rugby game between The Crawshays and an Old Monmothian
side in November 2008.
It is hoped that at next years OM Day we will have lunch in the
Pavilion and enjoy the facilities of the Sports Centre as well as
watching a cricket match. This should encourage younger OM’s to
attend with their families.
Many thanks to the Headmaster for inviting us and to the Catering
staff for providing such a splendid lunch.
|
Boat Naming Ceremony
 
On Saturday 17th May 2008, Monmouth School Rowing Club held
a boat naming ceremony to officially launch the new boats
in their fleet. The Club made a major financial contribution
towards the 1st VIII, which was
named "Old Monmothians".
In his short speech Roger Atkins evoked the memory
of all those past Monmothians who have been fortunate
to enjoy the experience of rowing at Monmouth
School. It was noted that the Monmouth Schools stand alone
now in being the only schools in the Haberdashers group
to offer rowing as part of the curriculum.
|
Keith JARRETT (59-66)
Do you have a story to tell about Keith Jarrett? If you
were at Monmouth School between 1959 and 1966 with the rugby
legend, then Chris ‘Corgi’ Morgan (58-65) would love to hear
from you.
He is writing Keith’s life story, centred around that astonishing
day in April, 1967, when KSJ scored 19 points on his Wales debut against
England only a couple of weeks after playing for the school in the Rosslyn
Park public school sevens tournament.
Keith, 60 on May 18, says:
"Chris is beavering away in the hope
that we can publish the book during the 2009 Six Nations
Championship. We seem to have covered every facet of my life
and career, with my time
at Monmouth taking up a sizeable proportion."
Chris, who has retired after 35 years on the sports desk
of the Sun newspaper, said:
"It staggers me that no one has
ever written the full story in the 41 years since that
game.
It has to be one of the most amazing debuts in sporting history
yet there is no book to mark a truly amazing and historical
achievement.
So far we have received wonderful co-operation, even from
eight of the England team beaten 34-21 that day. They were all prepared
to talk about what it was like being humiliated by a kid straight out
of school.
Colin McFadyean even went as far as to say he was thinking
of writing his own life story and already had the title – The Man
Who Kicked The Ball To Jarrett.
The book will also carry interviews with school coach Rod
Sealy and others on how the Jarrett story unfolded towards
that debut. Team-mates Nick Evans and Rhyddian Jones have comical anecdotes
to tell
about Keith and I hope to include stories from anyone who
responds to this article.
I am doing the book purely to record an old school pal’s meteoric
rise to stardom with Monmouth School, Newport, Wales, the
British Lions and Barrow rugby league club.
Keith’s career was tragically cut short by a stroke at the age
of 24. The mind boggles at what he could have achieved if
fate had allowed him another four or five years to reach
his peak.
As long as we print just two copies I will be happy – one for Keith
and one for the Monmouth School archives.
We, of course, hope that it sells well because Keith and
I are giving all the profits to charity."
If you have a yarn and/or photograph concerning Keith,
either from his school days or afterwards, please get in touch
with Corgi as soon as possible by emailing him on chrismorgan13@btconnect.com
or ringing 01277 214742 or 07974 749881.
|
ANNUAL NEWSLETTER
A printed copy of the annual newsletter goes out to all OMs who are
on the current mailing list. To
download a pdf copy of the 2008 newsletter, click on the
link below.
OM
Club Newsletter 2008
|
OM webALUMNUS
Over 600 OMs have now registered on the webALUMNUS site. To register,
click on the webALUMNUS link below. On entering the site,
click on "New,
never registered before?" and fill in the questionnaire provided.
Old
Monmothian webALUMNUS
|
STANDING ORDERS
All the activities of the Club, which includes the running of the OM
WEBalumnus site (£9,000.00
per annum) together with various applications from the School(tours,
etc.) are funded mainly by the Standing Orders set up by 812 Members (out
of some 2,680 OMs).
The Club could make much more significant contributions if those non Standing
Order payers signed up for say £20 per half year. It would
also mean that they would receive a regular copy of the Monmothian
Magazine.
Members are reminded of the qualifications for receiving the Monmothian Magazine, in that the following categories
apply. The Magazine will only be sent to the following:
- Standing Order Payers
- Cash Payers
- Junior Members (School leavers who have left within 7 years)
- Former Headmasters
- Honorary Members
The financial help from Members who have set up Standing Orders for the
benefit of the Club has again proved invaluable over the
past financial year and has enabled us to look favorably upon
the various applications
received during this year.
Standing Order forms are available on this web site, click on
the link below. Alternatively, members can set up their Standing
Order online if they have internet banking. Please ensure the
reference includes your
surname, initials and years at
school so that we can match your details.
|
CLUB ADMINISTRATOR
For any general queries, please contact Gail Thomas, our Club Administrator who works at Monmouth School.
|
|
