The Orieladelphians: 50 years of friendship and a love for Oriel

If you go into the Music Room on Staircase 15 and walk over to the window that looks out on to Third Quad you can see on the right-hand side wall, a small brass plaque. It bears the inscription: “This room was dedicated to the making of music by the generosity of the Orieladelphians, a group of friends who were undergraduates together in the early 1970s.”

 So, who were — and are — the Orieladelphians?

In 1971 and 1972 a number of us came up to Oriel and became friends. We were a pretty diverse bunch. Our degree courses covered Classics, Mathematics, Medicine, Modern History, Modern Languages, Physics and PPE. Our subsequent careers embraced the law, medicine, the priesthood both Anglican and Roman Catholic, scientific research, accountancy, teaching, analytics, management of British ports and French railways, software development, engineering, renewable energy and more. But what this decidedly eclectic lot had in common was the enjoyment of each other`s company, and a love of Oriel.

Our range of degree courses meant that we would graduate at various times between 1974 and 1976. In 1974 some of us did graduate, and that set us thinking. We all wanted to stay in touch, but we knew that in the ordinary course of life inevitably some smaller numbers would stay in contact with each other but the cohesiveness of the group would be lost. This, of course, was way before the days of email, mobile phones and social media.

We therefore resolved to institute a mechanism which would guarantee that we did stay in touch. We decided to create a society whose only rule was that you had to commit to returning to Oriel for a grand black tie dinner every year – only some overwhelming supervening event could be regarded as an excuse.

The society needed a name. We regarded ourselves as a band of brothers, and one of our classicists pointed out that “adelphos” is the Greek for “brother”. And so our Oriel brotherhood – The Orieladelphians – was born.

But how many to have in the society? With the insouciance of youth we decided on 13, but because of an organisational muddle 14 invitations were issued and accepted. However, it was not long before one member dropped out and the numbers settled at 13 as originally intended.

Our first dinner was held on 7 March 1975 in the MacGregor Room. We have held an annual dinner ever since with the exception of the Covid-hit 2020 – when we held a black tie Zoom dinner, to the bemusement of our wives but to our great pleasure. Covid also interrupted the extra dinners inaugurated in 2009 to which friends and family are invited, but hopefully they will resume once the East Range renovation is concluded.

As the years went by and our friendship deepened we came to appreciate all the more how much Oriel had given us in so many ways. We therefore resolved to give something back. All sorts of ideas came and went, but it was in the course of discussions initially with the then Provost, Ernest Nicholson, and his successor Sir Derek Morris that we came up with the answer.

Despite our diversity, one thing we all shared was a love of music, in whatever form, together with a recognition of its importance in life. But Oriel`s provision for music was, shall we say, sub-optimal. There was the choir, the organ, and an organ scholar; but instrumental music had never had a permanent home since 1326.

What there was consisted of a rotating number of unused rooms one of which was allocated each year on an ad hoc basis. When we came up, the room was a Stygian dungeon in the depths of Oriel Street with no window, smooth concrete walls, and the acoustics of an underground station. There was a piano in there and the walls were lined with columns of egg boxes held together with string in a failed attempt to dampen the echo and reduce the complaints: more complaints produced more egg boxes. And so, we decided to raise the money necessary to endow the beautiful room on Staircase 15 as a permanent home for music in Oriel; and we are thrilled by the extensive use to which it is put.

The Music Room was officially opened in 2008 with a celebratory dinner in the SCR. We and our wives had the pleasure of the company of the incumbent Provost, Sir Derek Morris, and Lady Morris; Ernest and Hazel Nicholson; and three of the College staff who had looked after us magnificently for so many years: the Domestic Bursar Gill Hawkins, and Asefay’s predecessors as College Butler, Syd Barrett and his son, Richard. The evening began with a clarinet and piano recital by one of our members together with Dr David Maw, Fellow and Tutor in Music, as the rest of us sipped champagne and thought how much better this was than the egg boxes. As a finishing touch, the unique clock you can see on the mantelpiece in the Music Room was made by hand by one of our number in his spare time.

Last year (2024) we made a further endowment in order to encourage excellence in instrumental music. The Orieladelphians Music Awards are open to all members of College, playing any instrument in competitive recital. We congratulate a first-year Music student on being the first winner of an award earlier this year and look forward to many more awards being made over the years.

Time of course takes its toll and over the years four members have died. On 11 April 2025 the rest of us held our 50th dinner, having between us only ever missed four dinners. It concluded as always with three toasts: ‘The King, Our Visitor’; ‘Floreat Oriel’; and ‘Absent Friends’. The poignancy of the last is always increased by the fact that, however many of us are present, the table is always laid for 13: our absent friends are always with us.

Every year we catch up, congratulate or commiserate, and put the world to rights, bound by the ties of our affection for each other and for the College to which we owe so much. Long may we continue – and Floreat Oriel!

Written by Neil Davey KC (1971)

The Orieladephians are Christopher Sykes (1971), Peter Becque (1972), Kevin Smith (1971), Neil Davey KC (1971), Thomas Davies (1971), Dr Ashley Crichton (1971), Dr Stephen Harper (1971), Ranulph Poole (1971), Rev Paul Arnold (1971), Peter Cook (1971), John Edmed (1971), Fr. Bernard Green (1971), Robert Kenward (1972).

Photo: Christopher Sykes (1971), Peter Becque (1972), Kevin Smith (1971), Neil Davey KC (1971), Thomas Davies (1971), Dr Ashley Crichton (1971), Dr Stephen Harper (1971), Ranulph Poole (1971), Rev Paul Arnold (1971) (left to right)