Earlier this month, an OKS shared a Flickr album with the Development Team containing over 1,000 photos of King’s in the 1980s. The images - spanning plays, rowing, and personal moments - offer a vivid snapshot of the school during that decade.

We would love to know which OKS is behind this impressive collection. Please get in touch if you are the owner!

We have picked a few of our favourite photos:

The Queen Mother Visits King’s – 1981

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother visited King’s on 24 June 1981. It was her fourth visit, with her first being in 1946. Her Majesty arrived on Blore’s by helicopter and was present at lunch in the Main Dining Hall. During her visit, she opened the new Luxmoore House and named the new house-to-be Mitchinson’s. After tea, she attended Evensong in the Cathedral before flying back to London for an evening engagement.

The visit was well documented in The Cantuarian, August 1981:

All went as planned. Those being presented bobbed and bowed, some, as instructed, even managing to keep their eyes raised wile inclining the head – no easy feat except perhaps for drinking camel. The Queen Mother unveiled the splendid commemorative sundial, declared Luxmoore open, and asked for three days’ holiday ‘if the Headmaster saw fit’

You can read the full report on page 171 here. (Log in required) 

Oklahoma! Production - 1983 

The School play in 1983 was Oklahoma! which was directed by Andrew Dobbin (Common Room 1978-2000). 

The main cast included: Felicity Unwin, Brad Cohen, Teresa Wilkinson, Stevan Martin, Omar Madha, Huw Beaugié, Mark Evans, David Miller, Rexford Darko and Charlotte Bishop. A review in The Cantuarian reads:

"The spoken lines were delivered by all in the most convincing of mid-Western accents, indeed, so convincing, clarity was occasionally sacrificed to dialect. It was a relief, however, to discover that the accents did not, as so often, peter out towards the end of lines and during song. [...] Mr Dobbin is to be congratulated on catching the rollicking flavour of this musical and giving both audience and performers alike a highly enjoyable evening."

- Martin Amherst Lock 

Read the full play review on page 35 here.

Rowing Blazers

This photo of the rowing team donning their blazers appears to have been taken at Henley. OKS will be pleased to know that these rowing blazers look exactly the same today. We'd love to know more about this photo - who is in it and what year it was taken. If you know, please get in touch! 

Take a look at the album here and be sure to share with your OKS contemporaries: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kingsphotos80s/

View our selection of photos from the 1980s below.