Caught in the act: The OBA’s hon secretary Chris Laming snaffles some carbs at a lunch stop during the Demelza 101, a charity cycle ride from Sittingbourne to Paris in aid of the Sittingbourne based Demelza Hospice Care for Children charity. One hundred riders took part for the one cause and between them raised more than £200,000.
We have been contacted by James (Jim) Connelly, who now lives in Canada, asking for anyone who remembers him to get in touch. He says "Greetings from Canada. I was briefly a pupil at BGS (Form 1 East) in 1953-54 before my family moved away. Like many in the school in those days, I travelled each day by train from Sheerness, a journey which yielded immense scope for mischief of various sorts. If anyone from those days remembers me, I would be delighted to hear from them." If you would like to get in touch with James, please email him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Graham Barnes mentioned the journey from the Island to school at the 2011 Annual Dinner - see a transcript of his speech starting on page 15 of the 2011 Website Digest. If you would like to share your stories of the journey to and from the island, send them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Sadly, Alan Jacobs – “Jake” to most of his friends and many of his pupils – died on 9th March, aged 89. He was one of a now-diminishing band of Old Boys whose formative years at Borden were spent under the headship of W.A.C. Claydon.
This photograph of the Borden Grammar School team who won the Kent Schools 220 yards Relay Championship in 1945 was sent in by Ken George (1937-1945) who was an outstanding sprinter at School. At London University, he clocked 10.1 for the 100 yards, and 23.2 for the 220, which was some going in those days. He once raced against the Usain Bolt of the post-War era, the Jamaican E. McDonald Bailey. Unfortunately, he lost!
Back row, l to r : Geoff Holland, Frank Horlock (the Old Salt), Peter Kitcatt
Front row : John Allard, Ken George, Bill Allard
We are sorry to announce the untimely death of Christian Smith, who was at Borden from 1991 to 1993, following an accident while he was taking part in a charitable cycle ride. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
More than 60 Old Bordenians met on 22 March at UK Paper clubhouse in Sittingbourne for the 2014 annual reunion dinner of the Association.
Additional photos from the occasion are included below - click on each of the "thumbnails" to expand to full screen.
Old Boys will come together for an evening of convivial enjoyment on Saturday 22 March 2014 for the annual OBA dinner, taking place at UK Paper Clubhouse in Avenue of Remembrance, Sittingbourne. Tickets are £22.50. This year’s guest speaker is Leslie Olive, a former BGS music master who is now a professional conductor of some of the UK’s leading orchestras. We shall also be joined for the first time by Jonathan Hopkins, our new President and head teacher at Borden Grammar School. Download the attached dinner invitation for full details and ticket application instructions. Click here for OBA Dinner Invitation 2014
We have again produced an easily accessible and printable copy of all the articles posted on the website over the past year, similar to the Maroon, which was discontinued in 2009. It includes all material suitable for printed format from January 2013 to December 2013. To access the digest, click this link: Website Digest 2013
David Palmer
OBA Website
It is with great sadness that we have to announce the passing away of our former President and school headmaster, Harold Vafeas, on 25th January 2014, after a long struggle against cancer. The funeral took place on Friday 7th February 2014 at 3pm at Holy Trinity Church, Margate and was attended by many OBA Committee members, Governors, Teaching staff past and present , as well as several boys from Year 13.
A Memorial Service was held in Holy Trinity Church, Sittingbourne, on Tuesday 1 April 2014 to celebrate Harold's life. Graham Barnes gave a tribute from the Old Bordenian Association.
My great grand-daughter is now into her second year at “big school”. She will be six in a few weeks' time. The other day, she came home after an art lesson, and told her mother excitedly that they had learned all about Van Gogh – about his self-mutilation, his friendship with Cézanne, the way his moods influenced his choice of colours, and so on – and they had all been invited to choose one of his paintings to copy. This is at a normal Church of England Primary School, not some sort of private establishment for precocious or abnormally gifted children. Crickey! I doubt whether I had even heard of Van Gogh until I was in my Forties!
Comment received from Greg Barry, re "We will remember them....". To see full article and comment, click here.
The annual Old Bordenian Remembrance gathering took place at the School at 11a.m. on Saturday 9th November 2013. In the past, it has been held in the School vestibule beneath the Honours Boards which record the names of Old Boys who died on active service in both World Wars and other conflicts. However, this year – because of the numbers attending – it took place in the Old Hall, appropriately beneath the plaque which records the Association's gift of the turret clock in memory of WWII casualties.
I (Andrew "Bill" Bailey) have kept in touch with quite a few OB's who left school in 1964 and, with the approach of the 50th anniversary of our release into an unsuspecting world, have lately made a concerted effort to round up as many of my former colleagues.
