This is what the Southern Section get up to.

Minutes written by John Sheard, St. Joseph’s College Old Boys Association (London).

Autumn reunion 2022

The following regulars of the London Chapter of St. Joseph’s OBA had their autumn reunion on Thursday 17th November – Peter Ellwood, Michael Tyrer, Howard Yates, John Higham, John Sheard and our colonial friend Brian Kiely who underwent the traditional Christian Brothers' introduction to the vicissitudes of life at St. Kilda’s College, Melbourne.

We decided to meet in the coffee bar of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and as Sheard was the first to arrive he was surprised to find the place virtually deserted – at 10.00 am. Ten minutes later folk started to arrive but by 11.00 am. (our designated meeting time) the place was swarming! We learnt later that the Friends of the ROH were celebrating their diamond anniversary and the dress rehearsal of a ballet was about start. Yates’ train from Liverpool didn’t arrive at Euston until 11.05 so it was about 11.30 before Howard turned up.

We had originally decided to take a conducted tour of Lincoln’s Inn but were told that these tours were fully booked until March so, by way of a compromise, Tyrer led us to Lincoln’s Inn Chapel where we came across a plaque marking the spot where the first bomb fell on London from a Zeppelin at 9.25 pm. on 13th October 1915! Shrapnel marks are still evident on all the surrounding walls. We then admired the wonderful stained glass in the chapel and a brand new Porsche GT3 Touring parked outside!

A rather convoluted stroll around remarkably quiet back streets brought us to Fleet Street where we headed for the old, pre Wapping, newspaper headquarters district and lunch at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, Samuel Johnson's favourite haunt. Not a particularly memorable meal during which the subject of the live stream of Chris Pownall’s rather unusual requiem Mass was discussed. A great pity that the parish priest appeared to be more concerned about clearing the debris that had fallen on and around the altar than conducting Chris’ Mass in a more appropriate manner. Maybe someone could have brandished the dustpan and brush before the mourners arrived and there were no real eulogies for such a wonderful old friend. This was particularly true as Chris had been a parishioner at St. Albans, Macclesfield for virtually his whole life.
 

                                                                    
A concessionary bus ride to Trafalgar Square followed (they still all come together) and a rather wet stroll down Villiers Street took us to, guess what? Gordon’s Wine Bar, the oldest in London town, established in 1890. Wine is taken in what appears to be a very deep, dark, dripping underground cavern with the constant rumble of the Northern Line beneath the floor but the bar is, in fact, just below street level.

That folks was about the extent of this reunion and the thought occurs that maybe we overindulge in them - just once a year would perhaps be a good idea. Certainly not as late in the year as this time so perhaps the next meeting in the spring (a river cruise to Hampton Court & train back to town?) would attract a few more OBs or we should re-visit the idea of taking the Eurostar to Lille for an overnight stay? Your thoughts please.

In closing I would just repeat my usual request for others to contact me (johnrsheard@hotmail.com) if they would like to join us. As two of our regular OBs travel from ‘up North’ please don’t think that this is a very select gathering.

Spring reunion 2022

The following regulars of the London Chapter of St. Joseph’s OBA had their spring reunion on Tuesday 3rd May – Chris Eaves, Peter Ellwood, John Sheard, Michael Tyrer, Kevin McGuinness and a new recruit, Frank Alston (1954-61). Chris Pownall was uppermost in our thoughts and prayers as we had recently heard that he was in the final stages of prostate cancer.

This time it was suggested that we explore the re-vitalised Kings Cross/St. Pancras area so we met in one of the coffee bars of the British Library on the Euston Road. As usual Tyrer, with his encyclopaedic knowledge of London, then led us to many interesting places and as we were within spitting distance of one of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta (created at Runnymede on 15th June 1215) that’s where we started. I think this was the first time that most of us had seen this amazing document. It’s written on sheepskin parchment, in a documentary script, by a single scribe. The Latin text is in continuous prose — the division into separate clauses is a later phenomenon — but there are additions in the lower margin, denoting passages which were either omitted in error by the scribe or represent last minute revisions. Of the surviving four copies, this document alone is written in landscape format; King John’s seal is no longer attached, but a central slit at the foot apparently shows where the seal-tag was located. The British Library itself is an amazing building comprised of over 100 million red bricks and would require very many hours to explore entirely.

The St. Pancras Hotel was our next stop and it occupies much of the former Midland Grand Hotel designed by George Gilbert Scott which opened in 1873 and closed in 1935. These days the hotel is, of course, part of St. Pancras station which is the London terminus of the Eurostar high speed train to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. Whilst we were there Tyrer led us to the ‘Meeting Place’ statue & frieze. It’s a 9m tall bronze statue of a couple's embrace and then on to the statue of poet laureate John Betjeman who led the campaign to save the station from demolition & redevelopment in the 1960s.

Next stop was the lobby of the Francis Crick Institute, the biggest single biomedical laboratory in Europe which opened in 2016 at a cost of some £600 million. Francis Crick, James Watson and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology in 1962 as they were the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA. This is obviously a very secure building so the lobby was as far as we could get but the head of security very kindly gave us a short lecture on the history of the place.

We then wandered down Charrington Street which nowadays is all that’s left of the district’s earlier history of an area of disrepute – trade is now apparently carried out from a selection of parked cars rather than in the rather impressive row of Huguenot houses!

A visit to St. Pancras Old Church was next and a real eye-opener for most of us as it is a very high Anglo-Catholic church and almost impossible to differentiate from our knowledge and experiences of a Roman Catholic Church even down to the tabernacle and sacristy candle! It is believed by many to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England.

A wander through the St. Pancras Basin of the Regents Canal brought us to Granary Square from which we noted a couple of old gas holders that had been converted into some very up market apartments. A penthouse had just been sold for nearly £8 million apparently!

A rather long lunch was then enjoyed at the Lighterman Restaurant, helped down by the very generous offer of a couple of bottles of wine from the ‘new boy’ Frank Alston. Eaves then produced his school cap!

The time had come for some of us to wend our ways so a glimpse of the Google headquarters; which is the first, wholly owned and designed Google building outside the US saw close of play for the day.

NEXT TIME. Being in close proximity to the Eurostar trains we all thought that an overnight visit to Lille would be a splendid idea and so Tyrer agreed to research this – probably for late September or early October.

We would always welcome other OBs so if you would like to join us get in touch with John Sheard (johnrsheard@hotmail.com) and I’ll add your name to the list.

Reunion 3/11/21.
Because of fears of Covid infection in London our last reunion was at a pub (how unusual!) near Jct. 10 of the M25 in May this year. However, it was decided to take the risk of meeting in town again this time and so as a river trip to Greenwich had been suggested we decided to meet at the Nero Espresso Bar which is attached to Portcullis House, just off Parliament Square. This would then be convenient for Westminster Pier. That was OK but the coffee bar was rather small (standing only) and the coffee element hadn’t been picked up by a couple of guys who were waiting, round the corner, outside the main entrance to Portcullis House – more of this later!

The group finally comprised Peter Ellwood, Michael Fenech, John Higham, Kevin McGuiness, Mike Tyrer & John Sheard at which point the prospect of a couple of hours on the water seemed a little too chilly and so we trouped around the corner into Whitehall in order to catch a bus to the Imperial War Museum where we knew that we could all sit around a table in their café and form a plan for the day.

This plan was pretty straight forward – stay where we were for a couple of hours and have a good look around. Truly amazing when on entry one is presented with an excellent display of a Mk IA Spitfire, a V2 rocket, an Ohka Kamikaze aircraft and a Harrier jump-jet. The recently opened WW1, WW2 and Holocaust Galleries are really well set out and had not been seen by any of us before. So much to see one could spend a whole day there – lest we forget!

A basic lunch was taken in the café after which Fenech left us as he had a mission to the church of St Barnabas in Pimlico which is high C of E with an agreement with an orthodox Melkite group of some 95 members whereby they hold their services at St. Barnabas.

From the IWM Tyrer led us over to nearby St. George’s Cathedral in Southwark which is the Mother Church of the Southwark Diocese and was originally designed by Pugin although it was severely bomb damaged in the Second World War.

It was time for a drink! Consequently Tyrer led us up Waterloo Road to the Duke of Sussex a gastro pub with some very fine ales. During this perambulation McGuiness received a text from Chris Walsh. He asked whether the reunion had been cancelled as he had waited outside Portcullis House for over half an hour but nobody had turned up! Sorry Chris we were around the corner!

During the afternoon possible venues for future reunions were discussed and we came up with:-
1. The Kings Cross area – apparently much improved of late & the British Library.
2. The National Archives & Kew Gardens - and most adventurous of all,
3. A day trip on Eurostar to Lille. – 1hr. 22mins each way!
4. Don’t forget the river cruise!
If any of these options particularly appeal please let John Sheard know (johnrsheard@hotmail.com)

That’s all folks – here’s to the next time.

Reunion 19/05/21.
Due to Covid the Southern Section of the OBA hadn’t met since October 2019 although Mike Tyrer did arrange a Zoom meeting earlier this year. As Coronavirus is still with us but step three of lockdown had just come into effect we decided to meet in a pub (now there’s a surprise) and as Peter Ellwood would be coming from the Watford area and Mike Tyrer from Tunbridge Wells we decided on a pub that I knew near Jct. 10 of the M25.

In addition to the two above mentioned Michael Fenech and I came from Farnham and a ‘new boy’ from Maidstone, Jim McGrahan’s son Simon, who started in 1963, joined us at the Black Swan in Ockham.

We normally try to incorporate a little culture into these get-togethers but there ain’t too much of it in this neck of Surrey so we contented ourselves with getting to know Simon and tales of his father, who I think everyone agreed, was their favourite master at Holy Joe’s.

Tyrer had researched a river trip to Greenwich for the reunion that should have taken place in 2020 so it’s hoped to be able to do that in the autumn this year so if any other OBs would like to join us they would be very welcome. The current Southern Section is very 1950s orientated and as a couple of our regulars often make quite long journeys please don’t think easy access to London is a requirement. Just get in touch with me (johnrsheard@hotmail.com) and I’ll add your name to the list.

Reunion 29/10/19.
The following regulars of the London Chapter of St. Joseph’s OBA had their autumn reunion on Tuesday 29th October – Chris Eaves, Peter Ellwood, Michael Fenech, John Higham, John Sheard, Michael Tyrer and Howard Yates. We were pleased to be joined by a friend of Tyrers, Brian Kiely, who hails from Melbourne, Australia and who had the dubious honour of being educated by the Irish Christian Brothers at St. Kilda’s College in Melbourne.

We all met for coffee on the fifth floor of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in order to escape the hoards of schoolchildren that we had encountered in the ground floor coffee shop on our last visit. We intended to return to Joe Allen’s for lunch but we had a change of plan and so made our way to the IET (Institution of Engineering & Technology) in Savoy Place where we were all guests of Ellwood.

Culture now intervened and Tyrer led us via a No. 11 bus to the Guildhall (where London began – according to their booklet). First stop was the Great Hall, which dates from 1411 and where they were preparing for the ‘Silent Ceremony’ of swearing in the new Lord Mayor of London on 8th November. Next, to the Roman Amphitheatre which is under the Guildhall Yard, then the Guildhall Art Gallery. The church of St. Lawrence Jewry is the official church of the City of London Corporation and was rebuilt by Wren after the Great Fire. Believe it or not but another church was next on our route and as we heard the chimes of Bow Bells we felt compelled to visit their source, St. Mary le Bow which has been on this site in Cheapside for nearly a thousand years.

Regular readers of this piece will be amazed that we had not yet found a watering hole – and it was getting dark! Fear not, Tyrer led us to Ye Olde Watling in the street of the same name. At this stage we disagreed about the route of this famous Roman road. Mike thought that it ran due north to Scotland and Sheard was convinced that it ran to Holyhead – they were both wrong! On checking St. Google it seems that it ran from Dover via London and St. Albans and then on to Wroxeter!

One by one we all left for home but not before we were joined by Yates’ daughter Stephanie. It is a fact that we have now met her twice – always in a pub!

The suggestion that our next reunion, in the spring, will be to take a river boat to Greenwich where there is plenty to see – the Prime Meridian, National Maritime Museum, Cutty Sark etc. and no doubt an odd pub or two.

We would welcome other OBs so if you would like to join us get in touch with John Sheard (johnrsheard@hotmail.com) and I’ll add your name to the list.
 

Reunion 23/05/19.
The London Chapter of St. Joseph’s OBA, which was set up in 2015, had its late Spring reunion on Thursday 23rd May (Euro election day!) and we were joined by two “new” OBs – Michael Fenech (the only border in our midst) 1950-55 & 1958-61 (he left to become a CB then changed his mind!) and Kevin McGuinness 1961-69. In addition our party consisted of John Higham, Chris Eaves, Pete Ellwood, Tom (Lord) McNally, Howard Yates & John Sheard.

Most of us met for coffee at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden where it was almost impossible to hear each other as the place was constantly assailed by hundreds of young schoolchildren awaiting a special matinee performance of I don’t know what! We then returned to a previous venue choice for lunch, Joe Allen’s, which has moved into the basement of the Strand Palace Hotel, just off the Strand. Here we were joined by Eaves, whose train from Preston had been delayed and McNally.

After lunch Tom had to return to Westminster and Kevin to a previous engagement but the rest of us went on a walkabout which included a visit to the museum in the Grand Lodge of the Freemasons in Gt. Queen Street as Fenech is an enthusiastic member and was keen to show us around.

It was a pretty warm day in town so liquid refreshment was obviously essential at this stage so we tried to elbow our way into the Punch & Judy pub which overlooks the cobbled street artist’s area at one end of the old market buildings. Unfortunately this place was heaving so our alternative choice was the Lamb & Flag in Rose Street. This is a traditional Georgian pub, the former haunt of Charles Dickens and once known for bare-knuckle fights! However, Higham insisted that we were there solely for religious reasons - the lamb being Agnus Dei with the flag being a Christian cross c/f Proud Preston! Yates had arranged to meet his daughter about 5 o’clock but as we had only just reached the pub Stephanie was persuaded to join us all there. Only time for one pint as some of us had to get home so we parted with regret and agreed to repeat the exercise in the Autumn.

Any other OBs are very welcome to join us – it’s obviously not necessary to live within easy reach of London – Chris Eaves travels from Colne and Howard Yates from Crosby. Just get in touch with John Sheard (johnrsheard@hotmail.com) and I’ll add your name to the list.

Reunion 1/10/18.
The London Chapter of St. Joseph’s Old Boys Association, comprising Pete Ellwood, John Higham, Tom (Lord) McNally, Mike Tyrer, & John Sheard, met again on 1st October on what proved to be a lovely warm, sunny day. It was only a couple of weeks since Tom’s OBA lunch in the House of Lords so numbers were a little down.

Our usual meeting point is Starbucks Cafe near the Embankment tube station and after whiling away a good half hour there we sauntered along to Joe Allen’s Restaurant which is just off The Strand, opposite the Savoy. There we met Tom and enjoyed a very good two course lunch which was enlivened by Mike’s tales of his recent pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella (the Camino).

Unfortunately Tom then had to get back to Westminster so the four of us made our way to Covent Garden and the Royal Opera House to inspect the recently completed ‘Open Up’ project. This was truly amazing experience. EM Barry’s original 1858 building has been enhanced by the conversion of the old Flower Market into a wonderful atrium with access to a roof terrace which overlooks the original Covent Garden and gives one an unusual perspective of the London skyline.

Next was a visit to the National Gallery on the way to which we remarked how quiet this part of London was. Not only did the traffic seem light but it appeared that the usual crush of tourists was absent. On reaching Trafalgar Square we discovered why – they were all there, and in the Gallery! However, we fought our way through several rooms of Constables, Monets, Turners, van Goghs, Canalettos etc. etc. fantastic! Then it was out into the Square to see the Fourth plinth which currently displays Rakowttz’s recreation of a sculpture, Lamassu, which was destroyed by ISIS in 2005. This one is made out of 10,500 tins of Iraqi date syrup!

Our last stop was the roof garden/bar of the Trafalgar Hotel which we decided would make a better meeting point than Starbucks for subsequent reunions – provided it’s available.

Our next reunion will be in the Spring and any OBs from no matter which years will be very welcome to join us. Drop me a line johnrsheard@hotmail.com and I’ll add your name to the list.

Reunion 26/04/18.
The London Chapter of St. Joseph’s Old Boys Association, comprising Mike Tyrer, John Higham, Chris Eaves, Pete Ellwood, Howard Yates & John Sheard, met again on 26th April. Unfortunately Tom (Lord) McNally was unable to join us due to Parliamentary business.
We met, as usual, near the Embankment tube station and after a leisurely coffee strolled through a wonderful display of tulips and other spring flowers in Embankment Gardens to Somerset House. Once again we were Pete‘s guests for lunch at the Institute of Engineering & Technology which is next to the Savoy Hotel and overlooks the river.

After lunch it was but a short stroll up Savoy Street, across the Strand to Covent Garden where, again at Pete’s invitation we spent an hour or so at the London Transport Museum.

Anyone who has read these reports before will realise that alcohol was now becoming necessary so we repaired to the Nag’s Head in Floral Street for a couple of pints. In September Mike intends to walk the Camino de Santiago and as Stanford’s map shop was just around the corner, in Long Acre, he was the first to leave us.

Compared to previous reunions this one seemed to be over quite early but as Chris had to catch the 7.30 train from Euston we all took that as our cue to wend our ways.

There is no doubt that we are all keen to continue with these London reunions and more Old Boys, from whatever period, would be very welcome to join us. A pattern of Spring and Autumn meetings has evolved so why not drop me a line (johnrsheard@hotmail.com) and I’ll add your name to the list of interested parties. We think that our next reunion will be in late September but timing might depend on the take up for Tom’s lunch in the House of Lords. We thought that a river cruise to Greenwich might be a good idea.

Reunion 11/10/17.
The latest (4th) London reunion took place on Wednesday 11th October 2017 and was attended by the following Old Boys (from the classes of the 50s and early 60s):- Chris Eaves, John Higham, Mike Tyrer, Peter Ellwood, Howard Yates & John Sheard.

We met by the Embankment tube station and lunched, as guests of Peter Ellwood, at the Institute of Engineering & Technology. Post-lunch tours are usually led by Mike as he is an occasional volunteer guide to London and this time we wandered up Savoy Hill and visited the Queens Chapel of the Savoy which is hidden away just behind the famous hotel. Since time immemorial the Savoy Chapel has been part of the central London estate of the Duchy of Lancaster, and therefore the private chapel of Her Majesty the Queen in right of her Duchy of Lancaster.

After crossing the Strand we walked through the old Covent Garden Market to visit Corpus Christi church in Maiden Lane, the spiritual home of the Catholic Stage Guild (CaAPA) and the Latin Mass Society. Cardinal Vincent Nichols has recently requested the complete restoration of Corpus Christi and the work has begun.

Just over the road is Rules, the oldest restaurant in London, established by Thomas Rule in 1798, but currently undergoing major engineering works which we were told had to be completed by the weekend!

Although we like to incorporate a reasonable amount of culture in these tours I’m afraid the lure of recounting our school days in a convivial manner is too great and so we soon found our way to the Salisbury pub in St. Martin’s Lane, noted for its particularly fine late Victorian interior!

After too short a time sadly our numbers diminished as other priorities took precedence over another pint and so just three of us were left to wander off to our various stations at about 6.30.

Thanks, as usual to Pete and Mike for their input and we agreed to repeat the exercise again in the spring. Maybe next time we shall head for South Kensington so that lunch could be followed by either the Science, Natural History or V&A museums.

Talking of which we thought that we ought to invite other Old Boys, not necessarily from our years, who have easy access to London, to join us. If that is you, just drop me a line (johnrsheard@hotmail.com) and I’ll add your name to the list of interested parties. As I have said before the annual reunion dinner and Mass for deceased Old Boys in Blackpool is the main event of the OB’s year and we have no wish to form a renegade group but these London meetings have proved to be very enjoyable for those living within easy reach of the capital. Newcomers would be very welcome.

In the meantime a very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all OBs.

Reunion 27/04/17.
The following six Old Boys (from the classes of the 50s & early 60s) form the nucleus of the London Chapter of St. Joseph’s Old Boys Association: - Tom (Lord) McNally, Mike Tyrer, John Higham, Chris Eaves, Pete Ellwood & John Sheard with occasional appearances from Rob Shawcross. Howard Yates came down from the wilds of the Wirral and was very welcome this time. There are now sixteen OBs who have asked to be kept “in the loop”.

Obviously the annual reunion dinner and Mass for deceased Old Boys in Blackpool is the main event of the OB’s year and we have no wish to form a renegade group but these London meetings (four so far) have proved to be very enjoyable for those living within easy reach of the capital. Newcomers are always welcome – just drop me a line (johnrsheard@hotmail.com) and I’ll add your name to the list of interested parties.

Our most recent reunion took place on April 27th when we met outside the Embankment tube station. At John Higham’s invitation we then took coffee at the Civil Service Club which is just around the corner and then we made for lunch as guests of Pete Ellwood at the Institute of Engineering Technology.

Unfortunately Tom McNally had to leave us after lunch but everyone else was led by Mike Tyrer (he’s an occasional London guide) to the Royal Courts of Justice via the Strand and St. Clement Danes. In one of the courts that was sitting we were asked to leave the public gallery as there wasn’t enough space for us to sit and standing is verboten! Lincoln’s Inn, via Carey (Queer) Street was the next port of call and outside the chapel in the Old Square a plaque marks the spot where a bomb fell from a Zeppelin at 9.45 pm. in October 1914. Shrapnel damage is still very obvious on the surrounding walls. Next stop was by the Land Registry building that doubled up as the Halcyon Hotel in the recent TV series. On a walk through Lincoln’s Inn Fields Mike Tyrer was accosted by a group of Belgian teenagers. Their project was to invite a Brit to read a few lines of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet (Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou?) which they could record! Look out for Mike’s excellent performance on You Tube!

Alcohol was now becoming a necessity so Mike & Pete led us to the Lamb & Flag in Covent Garden via Drury Lane and Long Acre. This was a favourite watering hole of Charles Dickens and was known for bare knuckle fights. After a very enjoyable hour or so we all wended our separate ways home with the intention of holding our next reunion in the autumn – probably before the clocks go back on 28th October so get in touch if you would like to join us.

Reunion 09/11/16.
The following Old Boys (from the classes of the 50s & early 60s) form the nucleus of the London Chapter of St. Joseph’s Old Boys Association:- Mike Tyrer, John Higham, Chris Eaves, Pete Ellwood & John Sheard with occasional appearances from Tom (Lord) McNally & Rob Shawcross. However, there are now fifteen OBs who have asked to be kept “in the loop”.

Obviously the annual reunion dinner and Mass for deceased Old Boys in Blackpool is the main event of the OB’s year and we have no wish to form a renegade group but these London meetings (three so far) have proved to be very enjoyable for those living within easy reach of the capital. Newcomers would be very welcome – just drop me a line (johnrsheard@hotmail.com) and I’ll add your name to the list of interested parties.

Our most recent reunion took place on November 9th when we met outside the Embankment tube station and wandered through Victoria Embankment Gardens to lunch at the IET (Institution of Engineering & Technology) as guests of Pete Ellwood. A very enjoyable lunch at a reasonable cost (for this part of London – it’s next door to the Savoy!).
Mike Tyrer is now an occasional guide to London so, after lunch, he led us on a tour of:-
1 - Somerset House where we viewed the Nelson circular staircase and the ice rink which was due to open on 17th November.
2 - Kings College Chapel where we enjoyed an undergraduate choir practice. This chapel was designed by George Gilbert Scott and damaged by bombing during WWII, restored in 1948 and refurbished in 2001.
3 - A short walk down the Strand and Fleet Street passing the Royal Courts of Justice to the wonderful “other world” charm of Middle Temple. Temple Church was built by the Knights Templar and consecrated in 1185. As it features in Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code they now charge £5 entry in order to control the flocks of tourists (in November?).
4 – Mike then led us to Gordon’s Wine bar (London’s oldest – established in 1890) which occupies the cellars of Kipling House which was the home of Samuel Pepys in the 1680’s and Rudyard Kipling in the 1890’s. This was at about 4.00 pm. – we eventually left for home about 8.15!
Many thanks to Pete & Mike for their input this time – really looking forward to the next reunion which will probably be in the spring so get in touch if you would like to join us. In the meantime a very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all OBs.