On Monday 24th March, Derek Blooman's Birthday, family and friends gathered at the Ship Inn, Axmouth, to celebrate with Derek.

Nigel French writes:

Derek Bloomans 90th

When James Hilton wrote Goodbye Mr Chips in 1934, just before Derek was born, he could have been forgiven for not knowing that Derek would emulate Mr Chips, and more, in his long tenure and affiliation with Allhallows. It was always difficult to judge what Derek saw as his priorities: his Pupils, the School, Chudleigh House, the Faculty, The OH Club, History or Cricket. In truth, they all were, and his warmth, kindness and professionalism shone on them all equally.

When I started organising his 90^th Birthday party, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of OH’s who recited just how Derek had caused them to fall in love with History to the extent that they now have large libraries of Historical Books published on eras that Derek first exposed to them. One OH also revealed that he is writing his own book on an historical period, to which Derek opened his eyes!

The private dining room at The Ship Inn in Axmouth provided a perfect setting with excellent food and wines. The renditions of Happy Birthday and For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow had undertones of choral practices in the Chapel, in the dungeons of our old school.

Thanks are due to Tor Berry for organising and presenting to Derek a framed Cricket Shirt signed by a number of OH’s.

To David Woollatt for getting all the printed matter co-ordinated and the email addresses of many OH’s and his general help in organising the day.

To those who came, a huge thank you, to those who could not be there but donated towards our gift of a new state of the art 50” TV with Alexa to help Derek find his programmes within the subscriptions we gave him to Sky Sports, Netflix, Amazon Prime, The History Channel and Discovery plus……thank you for your generosity

But most of all thanks to Derek for being himself, doing all that he did for the school, its pupils, The OH club and so much more.

Nigel French. March 24^th 2025

Photographs by David Woollatt and Geroge Hayter.

We recently received these wonderful photographs from John Jerome (Headmaster's House in 1961, Chudleigh 1962 - 66).

John has spent a fantastic 55 years at his family business, Edgar Jerome Aldershot’s oldest traditional gentleman’s outfitter and quality school wear, which recently celebrated an impressive 102 years in the heart of Aldershot.

John shared with us: “Still working in my 55th year at my business. Sun shone on a very happy day.”

Thank you, John, for sharing these with us. We wish you many more successful years ahead.

The OH Club is often called upon to assist with research into the lives of former pupils, and we recently received an interesting inquiry from the Institute of Historical Research. They are researching Cyril Longhurst (11879 - 1948), an OH who played a significant role in organising Captain Scott's first expedition to Antarctica. Cyril was also a key figure in the OH Club, being the President of the Club in the 1920s. Cyril attended Allhallows in Honiton from 1889 to 1896, and the institute is particularly interested in his time at school, what life would have been like for him, and his achievements.

As a Club, we're fortunate to have excellent records that we can reference, helping us continue to uncover and share these valuable historical stories. It's always rewarding to contribute to preserving the history of our former students!

During this research into Cyril's time at Allhallows, we came across a captivating account that sheds light on what school life would have been like for pupils before the turn of the century. In the 1870s, the Headmaster was Rev. Thomas Izod.

This remarkable first-hand account, shared by pupil J.E. Case, offers insight into the challenges faced by students at the time. While the narrative is difficult, it is very much a reflection of its era. One particularly intriguing story involves pupils setting off an explosion in their school desks, which resonates with a similar tale from another public school, Weymouth College, in the 1930s, where students engaged in similar mischievous antics. It’s a fascinating glimpse into life at Allhallows in Honiton.

You can see the document by  J.E. Case here.