11am, Friday 17^th April:  PANIC! It is the morning of the Class of 2004 Reunion and I am having a crisis. The friend that volunteered to drive to London and back is ill. 

 

3pm: My friend has decided, against all the odds, that she would rather go in spite of feeling terrible. I should point out that she has been looking forward to this Reunion for an extremely long time and missing it would make her very upset. Fifteen minutes later, we are in her car, speeding on our way to London. Her handbag is stuffed full of pill packets.

 

5pm: We are stuck in rush hour traffic and have travelled about seven miles in 40 minutes. Stonehenge is up ahead…as is an absolutely enormous queue of cars. But, looking on the bright side, this traffic jam does give us both the opportunity to put on our make-up!

 

8pm: We have finally arrived at the Hotel Russell! Albeit an hour late. The ironic thing is, although our trip up was extremely eventful and took a lot longer than planned, as I later discover, some of the OMs from the Class of 2004 have travelled a lot further, in some cases flying in from New York and Australia (via the Middle East) to be at the hotel this evening. If nothing else, this clearly demonstrates the great affection felt by many for their Millfield experience, for the people they met and the connections they forged. 

 

 

The first thing I notice as we step through the hotel doors is the noise of everyone gathering in the main room. Despite the fact that only 90 OMs had booked places a week before the event, and the room capacity was 200, the room on the night is almost full. 

 

The atmosphere as we shed our coats and step into the room is exuberant. Old friends hug each other and take photos. Lively conversations tinkle with laughter. Teeth flash in frequent smiles. Girls admire outfits. An initial awkwardness in greeting friends with whom you have lost contact. At this point, my friend has perked up considerably, even managing a glass of wine. The evening is going well, to everyone’s considerable delight.

 

About half an hour after we arrive, OM Society Chairman, Rod Speed, jumps up on to the soapbox, to make a short speech and to introduce the new Headmaster. Easier said than done. In a roomful of over 170 OMs, many of whom haven’t seen each other for years, trying to catch everyone’s attention is nigh on impossible. In the end, John Davies, OM Society Secretary, resorts to banging on a champagne cooler to silence our high-spirited year group. This seems to work and a few minutes later, the Headmaster is playfully cajoling everyone about Australia’s superiority over the UK when it comes to sporting matters, cricket in particular. Unsurprisingly he is met with an amount of cheerful heckling! 

 

 

Everyone then moves into the dining room, where the hotel staff have put on a sumptuous buffet. Cue the convivial mix of food, friendship and frivolity long into the night. 

 

On moving my way around the room, I notice a common theme in conversations: how much have people from the Class of 2004 actually changed? Opinions on this subject vary – from thinking none of us had changed much and that the same personalities were evident, to believing that the five years life experience at university, on gap years and in employment had altered everyone’s outlook on life. 

In the end, the Class of 2004 Reunion achieved exactly what it set out to do. Bringing together a group of diverse people united by Millfield stimulated all manner of memories of the School and reminded all present exactly what it was that made Millfield so special to us all.