50 YEAR REUNION

In July 1967 about eighty Beaumont boys drove down the drive for the last time, the remaining few still at the school departing for the final time.  They were leaving a school that would no longer ring to the sound of breaking voices, newly deeper baritones, running feet and laughter.  No longer would the school colours be seen playing rugby on the pitches on Runnymede, nor on the river as the crews paddled up through the lock to row in the Home Park beneath the shadow of Windsor Castle.

Fifty years later, twenty nine of the senior sixth form year from 1967 gathered with some of their wives for a 50th Anniversary reunion dinner at Beaumont Estate.

 Boys, as they still call themselves, travelled from Australia, America and Europe, and some even from as far as Surrey.  In 1957, six boys arrived at St John’s Beaumont Prep School and were the only members of Prep for the first year.  Three of that number were at the reunion.

 Time fell away and the group gathered as though fifty years had not intervened in the friendships that were forged half a century ago.  Perhaps being that last complete year group formed a special bond.  Who knows why, but all the group agreed that a special bond exists.  Life experiences were exchanged, grandchildren talked about, wives introduced – some seeking an explanation of their husbands.

Beaumont Estate were kind and gracious hosts, providing a delicious meal and wines eaten and drunk in the Hampton Room, known to the boys as the Lower Line Refectory.  A hugely appreciated touch was the production by the hotel of a cake with the school crest on it.

The gathering was an outstanding success and at breakfast in the morning discussions abounded about a rematch, and plans were laid.  The bond of friendship runs deep, perhaps reflecting a remarkable five years, and in some cases ten, so long ago when those same boys left to join in the social revolution that overwhelmed the old order.