Former members of Pemberley gathered in their former boarding House for the much-anticipated Pemberley Club resurrection dinner. The Club was first formed by David Evans (46-51) and Clive Eckert (46-52) and was open to all boarders at Pemberley House during the house mastership of Jack Clarke (42-57). The first meetings were at David’s London flat and always took place at the end of the Christmas term. Later on, the meetings became so popular they were moved to the Crown Hotel in Brewer Street, London. Sadly, the Club went into decline before being resurrected by William Bradford (50-55) and then Anthony Bevan (52-57) who frequently arranged for members to meet up at the annual OB Club ‘At Home’ in July.
Nick Dudley (49-59) worked with Anthony to arrange three London formal lunches and kept up the interest in the Club. The lunches were held in 2008 as the ‘Not the Last Pemberley Club meeting’, in 2010 at the Oxford and Cambridge Club, to celebrate the 60th Anniversary, and in 2015, at the East India Club, to celebrate the 65th Anniversary.
And so it was that Bev Marshall, of the OB Club Office, had the idea of organising another dinner, this time to be held in Pemberley House itself and open to all those who had lived in the House. Over forty members signed up, with an age range of 22 to 90. After a short tour of the House, Henry Taylor (Housemaster) welcomed everyone with a short speech, in which he emphasised what it meant to be a member of the Pemberley community with the belief that every boy in the House should be happy and successful, in that order and that a strong boarding ethos was fundamental to achieving this result. He joked that he loved to hear the fond memories and reminiscences of past members, although perhaps some confessions were not for a Housemaster’s ears!
The meal itself was themed around the House, with Pemberley Pie (Steak and Guinness Pie) for the main course and Crescent Coconut Panna Cotta for pudding.
Director of the Club, Hugh Maltby (73-83), raised a toast to the Pemberley Club and read a short piece from Anthony, who unfortunately couldn’t be present. Anthony noted that following a very successful London lunch in 2010, it had been noted in the Ousel that, “You can take the boy out of Pemberley, but you can’t take Pemberley out of the boy”, something as true today as it was when the Club was formed. Hugh also commented that he hoped those present would keep the Club going and that perhaps other boarding houses would follow the lead of Pemberley and set up their own Clubs.
After dinner, the reminiscences went on long into the night with the different age groups exchanging stories, until the lights were finally out at midnight – without the need for Henry to give out any conduct warnings!
We are keen to hear from any Old Bedfordians who would like to organise a similar reunion. Please get in touch with us at obclub@bedfordschool.org.uk
