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Julie and Clive got to the terrace outside Festival Hall at South Bank a little early and by the time Christine and I were arriving it had started to rain (in London, middle week of June, ugh). So Julie sent text to say they had moved inside.

I caught Julie at the bar and offered to carry drinks over to the table as she paid (I offered to do that also but she let me wait until later :-) but she refused to tell me exactly where Clive was sitting, insisting that I should go see if I recognised him after 38 years... in a massive hall that was jam packed with hundreds of people having a Friday evening drink or listening to a concert in the centre of the hall.

Well, guess what, I walked straight to him! Hasn't changed a bit!

That was the start of a very very enjoyable evening. Clive and I gave each other our past 38 years in a nutshell, amidst reminiscences of Hector Simpson's Latin classes and moving in and out of the "slums" or sitting on the front bench of Popeye's Chemistry class with Julie and wondering who was being asked the question... not too mention clandestine love notes that used to float around involving these two class mates (not me though!).

Rodney then arrived as we ordered another two bottles of the Pinot Grigio and caught up with him. Nice iPad :-). It's amazing how short a time 38 years can seem.

Of course, of prime importance to Clive was resolution of the third form History exam debacle, where he claimed I illegally pipped him at the post to first place in the form with 87% against his 84%, having gained that extra 3% from him as the answer to a question I hadn't completed myself! Needless to say, I don't mind sharing first place, and we have reached a confidential agreement on the matter and it may be publicised that Clive Noblett did achieve joint first place in the 1972 classof76 summer History exam with 84%. It's important.

We retired to a nearby restaurant. It was Julie's birthday so we let her choose her favourite steak house, which proved to be a good choice for us all. Rodney's Nora joined us shortly after that and to a shared mix of starters and sweets and delicious steak, we all thoroughly enjoyed the craic together over another bottle of white and one of red (at least).

Unfortunate that we couldn't have stayed longer as we were not short of things to talk about. I can assure all members of the class that some of your old classmates have had some very interesting jobs and been involved with some very important people. But then, you'll need to come along to dinner to find out more :-).

I'm really looking forward to the next one!

George

(PS sorry about the lousy quality of the photos, only had phone with us, a Nikon next time maybe).