Old Hardyeans will gather in Dorchester on Thursday 15 December at the Colliton Club for their traditional Christmas lunch.
As usual, the invitation includes former scholars of the Green School [Dorchester Grammar School for Girls] and the Secondary Modern School, as well as students of the modern Thomas Hardye School, under the wider auspices of the Hardyeans Club.
“Reunions are particularly happy occasions at Christmas and we would like to welcome Old Hardyeans- and other ex-students- to our Christmas lunch on 15 December, a chance to meet contemporaries in the most convivial atmosphere of the Colliton Club,” says Old Hardyeans Secretary Michel Hooper-Immins. “I left Hardye’s School 51 years ago in 1965, but many of the friendships made a half century ago are still going strong. Peter Foster and I sat together at Hardye’s for many years and today we are still firm friends- we were successively Presidents of the Old Hardyeans. Our Christmas lunch at the Colliton Club will renew many old friendships and we would like to hear from those who have not yet joined the old boys association- founded as the Old Grammarians 111 years ago in 1905.”
The cost of the three-course dinner is £20 including wine. Wives and partners will be very welcome. Menu and further information at: www.hardyeansclub.com Enquiries to Hardyeans Club Treasurer Alan Brown at 01202 535034 or email: [email protected]
Founded 111 years in 1905 as the Old Grammarians, the Old Hardyeans- also known as the Hardyeans Club- is one of the most successful old school associations in the county, bringing together the old boys of Dorchester Grammar School and Hardye’s School, plus ex-students of the modern Thomas Hardye School. In the times of Queen Elizabeth I, it was Thomas Hardye [with a final “e”] described as a Yeoman of Frampton, who endowed Dorchester Grammar School in 1569. Hardye’s [shopping] Arcade today stands on the site. The Grammar School moved to Culliford Road in 1928- renamed Hardye’s School from 1954. The new Thomas Hardye School in Queens Avenue opened in 1992, encompassing the best traditions of the two previous schools- but admitting girls for the first time since 1569! Writer Thomas Hardy OM, who lived at nearby Max Gate, laid the foundation stone of Hardye’s School in 1927. He was no relation to Thomas Hardye, founder of the school, nor of Admiral Thomas Masterman Hardy!
