We are delighted to report that the annual OB v School Sports Weekend which took place Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th March, was a great success. Around 70 OBs returned to the School over the weekend of sporting activities which included Squash, Rifle Shooting, Fives, Rowing and Football. Many thanks to them all, and to the boys and staff involved, for a wonderful weekend of events. It was a shame that we had to cancel the hockey due to bad weather.
Will Montgomery (Staff) reported on the squash:
“Thank you all so much for your involvement this afternoon or interest in the match (even if you have been unable to play this year). A cracking afternoon of squash saw 27 matches played between Bedford School players and The Old Bedfordians. This was then followed up with a variety of challenge games to renew old rivalries. The Old Bedfordians rushed out to a 9/0 lead before being clawed back throughout the afternoon….
The final score saw the OBs claim the victory 15/12 overall.
A huge thank you to those who came back or got in touch. It is always an incredible treat to have you here and to hear what you are all up to. You were generous with your time and it was wonderful to see you all on court. The pupils were taught a number of lessons but a big thank you to the Bedford School boys as well for your enthusiasm for the event. We are really excited about having a group of you enjoying the game and look forward to seeing how you develop over the next year or two.
All the very best and it seems my call to play more squash over watching the rugby was a sound one!
We hope to see you all next year if you are able to make it.”
Ally Satchwill (01-12) reported on the rowing:
“A very cold sub-zero afternoon down at the boathouse faced the OB rowers and the School first eight for the annual match between the two eights. After the usual ‘warm up’ and toast to the Boat Club, the first of the two OB eights took to the water. Notably, Dean Abraham, racing against his son, both matched up in the 3 seats of the boats, a fantastic achievement on both parts! Despite the best efforts of the OB eight, the first eight stormed to victory by a length in the first race.
The OBs did have a few tricks up their sleeves in the shape of some ‘younger athletes’, however, even this eight did not have the legs to beat the impressive School eight, clearly hindered by the clash with the swan too! We shall have to regroup and start our training now…”
In other sports, a fun afternoon was had by OBs and current boys with the shooting and fives taking place on the Saturday. The School did a great job and managed to beat the OBs in the shooting whilst the OBs won against the School, with a score of 203 to 75, in the fives.
Julian Hilton-Johnson (79-82) reported on the rifle shooting:
“The annual .22 target rifle shooting match between the School and OBs follows the familiar Country Life format of group, rapid, snap followed by a 5 bull target at 25 yards. The big difference this year was the Anschutz match rifles we were using, the old No. 8s having been withdrawn after decades of faithful service. Quite a change and, with sights that adjust in the opposite direction to the No. 8s, there was inevitably some confusion among the OBs who had become set in their ways over many years!
Sight complications aside, the shooting went well with the rapid proving the most challenging section for the OBs. Ben Chowdhary from the OBs put in a commendable “possible” on the 5 bull (ie the highest score possible, 100 out of 100). Overall, the highest scoring OB was Will Young with 187 and, from the School, Dan Lumley-Wood with 188.
The quality of shooting by the School continues to improve and is becoming really impressive – so much so that the School was ultimately victorious with a total score of 1441 against the OBs 1404. It was also encouraging that the 9 OBs shooting included 4 that had recently left the School. We hope soon to welcome more members of the School rifle club and recent OBs to the frequent Bedfordians Rifle Club fullbore matches at Bisley.”
The following day, despite inclement weather conditions, the OB’s fielded two teams against the School with OB victories against the 1st XI and 2nd XI. Overall, it was a great day for football with a fantastic turnout! A special thank you to former staff, Colin Baker, who, despite the extremely chilly weather conditions, joined us for the presentation of the Baker Walker Cup.