On a gloriously sunny albeit rather windy day in July, a whole host of staff, friends and Old Hazlegrovians gathered on the front lawn to wish Michael Illingworth well in his retirement after 40 years at Hazlegrove.

Yvonne Fawbert had very kindly assembled a fabulous band consisting entirely of former pupils and staff which entertained everyone on arrival.  This culminated in wonderful performances from Tom Harvey signing “Cry Me a River” and Sam Hughes singing “My Way”!

The tables in the marquee were laden with a spectacular spread for lunch, thanks to the outstanding efforts of the catering team – especially with the event taking place hot on the heels of Speech Day!

It was wonderful to see so many old pupils and staff as well as Michael and Sally and their family.  There was of course plenty of reminiscing about old times and some great speeches from the Headmaster, from former head Stephen Flemmington, from Michael’s brother Lt Colonel Richard Illingworth and of course from Michael himself, refraining from reproducing his A-Z of Hazlegrove from Speech Day!  Recent Old Hazlegrovian, current King’s Bruton pupil Miles Yeandel also presented Michael with a special plaque he had made commemorating Michael’s year of service.

The afternoon was rounded off with tea back out on the lawn and an amazing aerial acrobatic display and fly-past courtesy of parent Chris Gotke.

Huge thanks go to Sharon Newton for her monumental effort in organising the event, to Yvonne Fawbert and the band members, to the catering staff and to Chris Gotke and to everyone else involved for all making it such a memorable day.

There are lots of photos for you to enjoy Flickr and a wonderful video of Michael which was kindly put together by Sukey Fenwick – unfortunately it was too bright to show this video at the lunch but it was much appreciated at Speech Day!