Catching up from Canada

It was lovely to see OV Luke Johnson (Br 08-13), who recently visited King’s, especially as he had been unable to make his Ten-Year Reunion in March.

Luke is currently living in Canada and was on a trip to the UK with his partner, Sasha, to meet with OV friends and show Sasha some of his old “stomping grounds” before they headed on to Switzerland.

First stop was the Science block, where Luke spent many hours working for his Physics A-level while at school. He was delighted to bump into Dr David Haddock (Hon OV), who is back at King’s covering for a poorly colleague; they had a lovely chat, reminiscing about Luke’s schooldays, and he was stunned to see the lab where he had spent so much time still looking so familiar.

The John Moore Theatre was next, and Luke thought the refurbished seats looked excellent. He remembered with great fondness his time in Les Mis, when he was in the U6. The Theatre is currently undergoing further redevelopment, as, for both environmental and practical reasons, the lighting infrastructure is being upgraded to facilitate greater use of LED fixtures.

Luke had very happy memories of his time in the Annett Building. Having studied A-level Maths and Further Maths, there were many days when he would simply be moving from one classroom to another, with time in the Maths Library in-between, so it had very much been a “home from home”.

Good timing meant that Luke bumped into Graham Gunther (Hon OV) in the Music School (formerly Castle House), as Mr Gunther had taught Luke when he was at King’s. During his time here, Luke had played the violin and was also a committed member of the choir.

Reaching Choir House, Luke remembered being taught English by Richard Davies (Hon OV), and was pleased to learn Mr Davies is both still at King’s and teaching in the same classroom. Moving into the depths of Choir House, Luke found his Bright House Form Room, which held many happy memories. In there we also found House photos not only from Luke’s final year at King’s but also from when he was much younger, much to both his and Sasha’s delight.

In College Hall, Luke shared his memories of many concerts. In particular, he recalled that the parents used to sit in the main hall, while the musicians were seated in the minstrels’ gallery while they waited to perform. The feeling of having to walk the length of the hall, being watched by all the parents, before reaching the stage and commencing had not left him!

Commenting on the tour, Luke added, “I am a bit overwhelmed by the tour and seeing everything, but it was also great to have so many memories revived.”

Following their visit to King’s, Luke and Sasha were off to the King Charles’ pub to catch up with some OV friends. Luke added, “I’ve missed the pies and the wing-backed chairs!”