DHSB Alumni Newsletter
17th July 2026
Good evening,
I hope you are well. As we finish up this academic year I’d like to reflect on the great year the Alumni Association has had. The highlight of course was commemorating the 130th Anniversary of DHSB! What a fantastic afternoon we had celebrating this milestone birthday - 150 former students and staff came together at DHSB on the 28th March. At the start of the week I was anxiously checking the weather forecast - rain for Saturday! An unfounded worry though because as the day got closer, so the forecast got brighter! Come the actual day, we had lovely sunshine - always a bonus! See link to photo album further down.
Alumni came from far and wide! The Cayman Islands to Millbridge! Some friends hadn’t seen each other for over 50 years! We were delighted to welcome back former staff members Ted Attewell, Martyn Moon, Ron Faulkner, Dave Jones, Linda Witchell, Sandy Bowden and the legend that is John Bowden! John is one of our alumni too. A joyous afternoon was had - lots of chatting, reminiscing and laughter.
After getting a drink (no surprise - our own locally brewed IPA Colonnade was our top seller!) and being welcomed by headteacher, and barman for the afternoon, Dan Roberts, everyone enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch, prepared by DHSB Refuel chefs, Lee, Linda and Shane, before making their way to our Edgcumbe Theatre to be entertained by the Junior Choir, which was followed by Mr Riggs’ interesting talk on ‘The History of DHSB.’ Mr Riggs attended DHSB himself so he is extremely well qualified to tell us all about it!
School tours were next - this was the highlight for many! Terry Blackler (started at DHSB in 1948) couldn’t resist proclaiming on a class whiteboard ‘T C Blackler was educated here and burnt his finger in an A Level Chemistry exam in 1956!’ Terry remembers the buildings being adapted from a hospital to a school whilst he was here. When he was late for school one day, he had to write out 25 times, ‘Punctuality is a virtue which I must endeavour to cultivate’ - this is indelibly etched in his memory!
Our oldest visitor was Jim Carnell, at 96 years young! It was a family affair as Jim came with his two daughters, one of whom, Joanne, attended Sixth Form at DHSB and his son-in-law Grenville Hillman who also attended DHSB. Jim was delighted to spot himself in one of our whole school panoramic photographs. He brought along a photo to show us too - the 1945/46 2nd XV Rugby team - Jim is sitting in the front row, on the left hand side, next to the teacher.
Some proudly wore their DHSB hats, ties and scarves! Peter Fielding wore his father-in-law’s 1930s scarf - I had never seen one before and it was a personal favourite. Tony Otter brought along his French vocabulary book and talked about the teachers he remembered - some more fondly than others 😀
Bill Higginson, Year 10, was our roving reporter for the afternoon - he chatted to various alumni researching a piece for the annual School Magazine. It is such an interesting article that I am including a link to it here for you to read too:
My thanks to Bill for coming into school on a Saturday to fulfil this.
My colleague Paul Scott, Head of Computer Science and Leader of Careers & PSHE, was delighted to meet alumnus Steven Cutler. He says ‘It is always incredibly inspiring to see how the foundations laid here at DHSB shape the future of technology. Old Boy Steve Cutler’s remarkable career - spanning the evolution from punched-card batch processing to the pioneering of early forensic data and intelligence systems for the Metropolitan Police - reminds our current students that the logical, analytical skills they are building today can lay the groundwork for the innovations of tomorrow.
We're working on a Case Study, all about Steve's career, as part of the Gatsby 4 work in Computer Science in 2026/27.’
Mr Scott also had the great idea of leaving questions on the table - questions from our current students to our former students. It has made for very interesting reading! Click below to read some of the answers: (if you cannot see your answers it is only because we have not completed it yet - they will all be added)
Questions from Current Students to Former Students
We’d love to read more so please feel free to submit the below form - you can answer as many, or as few, questions as you like:
All too soon the afternoon was over and everyone left - many to local pubs, such as The Millbridge and The Lounge, who had a bit of a boost that day!
Take a look at our photo album to get a flavour of the afternoon:
See you in 2031 for our 135th Anniversary Event!
I was also delighted to host a reunion of 2006 leavers which Harrison Nash had approached me about. Ian Miller, Andrew Walker, Dominic Wu, Craig Britzman, James Goss, Chris Hodgett and Harry Andrews, along with Harrison, had a great afternoon touring the school and sharing memories. They were marking 20 years since leaving DHSB and some of them had not seen each other in all that time. Double House Points awarded to Harry for coming to both reunion events! I thought a nostalgic lunch was in order - it had to be a pasty and pink finger from Brimbles!
An added bonus was Miss Davidson serendipitously coming by - just as I was lining them up for a photo 🙂. Harry brought along his fantastic 2006 Yearbook to look at and the 2000 and 2004 whole school photos were studied closely!
During their time there were many changes at DHSB: a large Sports Hall was built, lunch went from being served in a dining hall (which no longer exists, in an area now part of our Astroturf), to the construction of Gibbons Refectory (now Refuel), and the replacement of the old Air Training Corps hut with a new squadron drill hall ‘Ingle.’ The Jervis building was extended for the benefit of Music and an exercise suite was established in the basement of E Block, in the former Music Room. A new bridge to the entrance of E Block was also added, leading to the reception area and the school library.
My visitors were surprised to see the changes in F Block, their Common Room and now the Sixth Form Centre. They told me that when they were here, all they had was a piano and chairs down either side of the room, with nothing else - not even tables. They managed to procure, from various sources, a television, DVD player, pool table and a table football game! They even held a ‘crazy tie’ day to raise money for Christmas decorations!
The chairs laid out on opposite sides was deliberate - Year 12 on one side, and Year 13 on the other - with absolutely no mixing 🙂
They just missed out on the refurbishment of the Sixth Form Centre - it was ready for business in the autumn of 2006 - adding a new outside staircase, a mezzanine floor, kitchenette (now Refuel 6) and an open-out stage. And I believe the sixth formers do indeed mix nowadays 🙂
See below for some great photos of the afternoon:
2006 Leavers Reunion photo album
They told me that there used to be two graves in the school grounds, does anyone else know anything about this?
If you would like your own year/class reunion at the school, or would just like to visit, please get in touch - alumni@dhsb.org
My third group of visitors were Plymouth Tree People - they were very interested in our ….. trees 🙂. It was part of the annual Plymouth Urban Tree Festival. Local historian Richard Fisher told the assembled group all about the history of the military hospital. He had certainly done his homework!
I was delighted to see three alumni in the group: Peter Fielding (1955-72 - he of the above 1930s scarf 🙂), Chris Hunt and Dave Curnow. Chris and Dave started as Peter was leaving in 1972!
It was lovely to meet Jane Farnborough who was also part of the group. She was a Science Technician at DHSB from 1998 until retiring in 2020. Jane was thrilled to find one of her bird boxes was still on a tree - she explained how she had made it from a microscope box!
Martyn Butt told me all about his dad Denis, who started at DHSB in 1944 - spending his first year in Penzance as the school had been evacuated there in 1941. Martyn recalls his father telling him about the boys racing frogs in Penzance, and lowering notes on pieces of string from their windows, to girls passing by down below 😀. Denis was a Plant Pathologist and was awarded an OBE in 1993. He sadly passed away in 2019. I’m currently reading Denis’ memoirs and enjoying learning more about his DHSB days.
Head of Computer Science and Leader of Careers & PHSE, Paul Scott, proudly told us how DHSB has been awarded the Gold Green Tree School Award by the Woodland Trust and how we are now working towards the Platinum Green Tree School Award - two points towards this were gained with our group photo holding our award!
Plymouth Tree People visit photo album
This has been was a sad week for DHSB, we have said farewell to four very longstanding teachers - Mr Adams (Deputy Headteacher and Teacher of Science), Mr Riggs (Teacher of History), Mr Orkney (P.E. Teacher and former Head of P.E.) and Mr Espinosa (Teacher of Chemistry). Together they have taught at DHSB for a staggering 125 years! We wish them very long and happy retirements.
A big thank you to everyone who has sent me letters, emails and memoribillia throughout the year. I enjoy hearing your DHSB memories so much - please keep them coming.
If you would like to join our Alumni Association please complete the form below:
Membership costs £10 a year and you will receive a copy of the annual School Magazine produced by the students. The next edition will be published in September.
Well that is all from me for now.
Hope you have a lovely summer!
With my very best wishes,
Beverley Kinsella
Alumni Engagement & Archives
(Aerial photo credit Stephen Johnson)