We are very sorry to notify you of the passing of Bryan who was at the School from 1950 until 1956.

Bryan sadly passed away on Christmas Eve 2024.

We are conscious that some people who knew Bryan during his time at the School may not be in contact with us and we would be very grateful if you could pass on this information to those that you know.

As is usual practice, we would like to place an obituary for Bryan in the 2024-25 OI Journal. If you know of any stories or memories which you can pass on to us so we can put them together for the publication we would be most grateful. Please address any contributions to me through oldipswichians@ipswich.school

Sally Webber
OI Chair

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Bryan attended Ipswich School roughly the same time as myself. He sadly passed away in a Cambridge hospice on Christmas Eve, following a short stay in Addenbrookes Hospital.  He leaves a widow, Alex and three daughters.  Bryan was a farmer at Padney, a hamlet near Wicken, Ely, right up until his death at age 85. He had inherited this farm from his father, including a herd of cows and expanded a bit with his own acquisitions. He managed to sell the cows immediately after the last foot and mouth outbreak, to a Cumbrian farmer, with a huge sigh of relief!  

Bryan was a boarder with myself and Francis Jefferies, in the Gleaves  (Prep Headmaster) house in 1951, and after two terms moved to the Glovers for boarding until he left the School in 1957. 

I'm not sure that Bryan actually joined the OI Club, but he certainly came to some reunions with Alex where we met up. We tried to keep in touch with him on a very irregular basis at one or two Cambridgeshire pubs. Alan Cutting (OI 1948-59) joined us on these occasions, along with a few others. Bryan liked to recall an occasion when he was a boarder and got fed up one weekend, got on his bike and pedalled the 50+ miles home to Padney, to return to the School the next day. I understand that Tom Glover wasn't too amused as Bryan just bunked off without telling anyone.  I suspect that resulted in having his trousers dusted down!

Hally Hardie (OI 1949-58)

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Bryan was one of my best friends at Ipswich School.  He took me on a number of occasions to his parents farm in Soham. We had such fun with an old car which we would drive around the farm. So sad to hear of his death.

Derek Ruffle (OI 1952-57)

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Bryan's funeral will take place on Monday 20th January in the Wicken Church.  The church is at the eastern end of Wicken village on the A1123 and very close to the speed restriction signs.  The timing for the ceremony has not been finalised as yet, but somewhere around 1100hrs is being talked about.  After the ceremony it is planned to meet up at the Red Lion Inn, High Street, Soham. 

Hally Hardie (OI 1949-58)