Devonport High School For Boys - Alumni & Archives

Rest in Peace Charlie ❤️. I posted about Charlie’s 100th birthday a few months ago which you may remember seeing. It is with great sadness, I’m sorry # to say that he passed away earlier this month. Such was the affection for Charlie that even Plymouth Argyle paid their respects during last Saturday’s football match. Our condolences to Charlie’s family and friends at this very sad time. #

On Saturday I was delighted to welcome back some of our 2006 leavers - Harrison Nash, Ian Miller, Andrew Walker, Dominic Wu, Craig Britzman, James Goss, Christ Hodgett and Harry Andrews. The sun shone and they had a great time touring the school, reminiscing and sharing memories. It was the first time some of them had seen each other for 20 years! We got our steps in touring six blocks and earned our nostalgic lunch! A delicious 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!
A lot happened during their years at DHSB - a large multi-role Sports Hall was built (a space finally large enough to hold whole school assemblies), lunch went from being served in a dining hall (which no longer exists, in an area now part of our astroturf) to the construction and opening of Gibbons refectory (renamed 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. A new bridge leading to the entrance of E Block was also added, leading to the reception area and school library.

My visitors were surprised to see the changes in F Block, their Common Room, now the Sixth Form Centre. They told me that when they were there, all they had was a piano, chairs down one side, and the opposite side, 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 😀

I was told there used to be two graves in the school, does anyone else know anything about this?

A big thank you to Harrison for approaching me to host his reunion and a big thank you to my colleague Paul Scott for coming along to help. And double House points awarded to Harry as he came to the recent 130th Anniversary too!

If you would like your own year/class reunion at the school please get in touch - [email protected]

My manifestation has paid off! Looking forward to welcoming our alumni back to school tomorrow! Safe travels everyone 😀

It was a beautiful day at DHSB today! I’m manifesting good weather for the 130th Anniversary Event 😀. Just over a week to go! It’s not too late to buy a ticket but be quick! Link here:
https://www.dhsbalumni.com/product-page/dhsb-130th-anniversary-celebration-event

It’s Alumni Newsletter time! Only TWO weeks to go until our 130th Anniversary Event - it’s not too late to get a ticket but be quick! I’m looking forward to meeting you. Details of the event, and more, here!
Grab a cuppa and have a read!

DHSB Alumni Newsletter DHSB Alumni Newsletter

Happy 130th Birthday DHSB! Today is Founder’s Day - on this day in 1896 Alonzo J Rider finally fulfilled his long held dream of owning his own school. He’d purchased a defunct school at the top of Albert Rd for £5000, just before Christmas in 1895, and only three short weeks later he welcomed his first students. The rest is history as they say!

We will be celebrating this milestone with a reunion event, for all former pupils and staff, at 12.30pm on the 28th March. Please join us! Tickets include a delicious buffet lunch, an opportunity to tour the school and a talk by former DHSB student and now DHSB History teacher, Dave Riggs. Full details and tickets here:

https://www.dhsbalumni.com/product-page/dhsb-130th-anniversary-celebration-event

A big thank you to everyone who has already bought tickets. You are coming from Norfolk, Surrey, Yorkshire, Weymouth, Lancashire, Essex, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, County Durham, Middlesex, Cardiff, London, Kent, Sussex, Merseyside and Plymouth!

Photos show our original school on Albert Road (demolished approximately 25 years ago, apartments stand there now), our founder Alonzo J Rider and photos from our 125th anniversary event to give you a flavour of what to expect - including our own DHSB IPA 😄
Please share!

As we approach our 130th anniversary on Friday, the Herald has kindly printed a piece I wrote about the Doc, our sixth headteacher, from 1953-74, in today’s edition. My thanks to Chris Robinson too.

Every Christmas I look forward to going to the panto at the Theatre Royal - this year it was doubly exciting as, for the second year in a row, two of our alumni were involved. It was fantastic from start to finish - Samuel Holmes shone as ‘The Spirit of Bow Bells’ and Duncan Waugh is the talented Musical Director. It was a pleasure to meet them both after the show - oh yes it was 😄. Tomorrow is the last day so you will have to be quick if you want to catch it.
Happy New Year!

We are excited to invite you to our DHSB@130 Celebration Event on the 28th of March 2026, from 12.30pm to 5.30pm. This event marks 130 years of our school's history and enduring legacy. Tickets cost £20.00 and are now on sale. Price includes a delicious buffet lunch and the opportunity to look around your school. Former student and now staff member, Dave Riggs will be giving a talk relating to the history of DHSB too. We will have a bar and you will be able to celebrate with our own DHSB IPA ‘Colonnade!’ Open to all alumni and former staff members. We hope you can join us and please spread the word!

More details and tickets here:

https://www.dhsbalumni.com/shop

Happy 100th Birthday Charlie! Please join us in wishing alumnus Charlie Trevethan birthday wishes for today. He attended DHSB, after passing the scholarship, in its original location at the top of Albert Road. I had the pleasure of meeting Charlie for the first time in 2023. If I had to describe him in one word, it would be ‘POSITIVE!’ A few minutes in Charlie’s company is truly a tonic!

Charlie recalls having lessons in the church (because the school needed more space) and having lessons on Saturday mornings. He told me that maths was his best subject and that he can still count in French and German, which he demonstrated, as well as giving me a rendition of ‘Frère Jacques!’

Charlie enjoyed his time at DHSB. At 18, he was drafted into the army, serving with the Devonshire Regiment during the war - his first stop was Scotland, finishing in India fighting the Japanese. He only had leave once during his three and a half years in service.

In 1947, he returned to the UK on the HMT Empire Windrush. Charlie told me that as soon as he reached Devon the air felt and smelt different! He went on to work at Farley’s (rusks) for 35 years, taking early retirement at the age of 60.

After family, the love of Charlie’s life is Plymouth Argyle! He has been an avid supporter since the 1931/32 season - when, along with several friends, they would nip through the turnstiles to get in. Charlie sends the team a card and gift every Christmas so I think he has redeemed himself! He thinks he is possibly the only person alive who saw Jack Leslie play for Argyle. He had a special invitation to the unveiling of the Jack Leslie statue at Home Park, where he was delighted to meet Jack’s granddaughters and some of the team. Charlie didn’t hold back when chatting with Argyle’s
then manager, Steven Schumacher - he told him that he didn’t think they should be playing out from the back!

Charlie says, ‘if you can spread a little joy as you go along then it’s a life worth living.’ I don’t think we can argue with that. Let’s all ‘Be More Charlie!’

Delving into our archives from 1925, I can see that the Debating Society discussed ‘that Art rather than Science has civilised the World (Art won by a narrow margin of one vote!), the London branch of the Old Boys’ Association endeavoured to raise funds for 200 children ‘in one of the poorer parts of London’, it was the 10th anniversary of the Cadet Corps (affiliated to the 5th (Prince of Wales’s) Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment), we were encouraged to ‘lend our whole hearted support to any effort to establish a degree-conferring University in the South-West’ and Mr W Curtain qualified to manage a coal mine!

At the 1925 Speech Day event, guest of honour, Brigadier-General The Lord St. Levan, CB., CVO., distributed the prizes and gave the advice ‘to work hard, play hard and play fair, and stick to it always.’ He felt that if this was kept to it would keep up the character and reputation ’that has been so well earned by the Devonport High School.’

Headmaster Mr Treseder MA also reported that ‘the boys are, generally speaking, keen and happy in work and play. The Prefects carry out their duties with zeal and devotion, and the staff are efficient, hard-working and loyal.’ I am proud to say these values are still at the core of DHSB, 100 years later.

They will never be forgotten. Every year we honour those DHSB lost by having a special assembly and reading out their names.
This year was extra special as three of our students, Oliver Elford, Lewis Dickens and Luke Madgett, were invited to attend the Western Front Association's Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph on the 11th November to lay a wreath.
Oliver Elford, Year 10, was awarded joint second prize in The Malcolm Doolin Memorial Award for Local History Research which led to this invitation. He completed a research project on the DHSB Old Boys who died during WW1. The students laid their wreath at Victoria Station for the Unknown Warrior at 8.32pm on the 10th November and then on Tuesday, the 11th, at 11.02am, they laid it on the Cenotaph.
The judges were particularly impressed by the way Oliver’s project set the Devonport casualties within an excellent overview of the war and then delved deeper in to some of the stories behind the names.

If you would like to read Oliver's fantastic entry, follow this link:

https://90d6c336-4ece-4980-861f-9e3c9eb1b63d.usrfiles.com/ugd/90d6c3_16a2366169724ec39bbb59307f88ee42.pdf

My thanks to the Alumni Association which partly funded the trip to London.

Alumni can you help please? Here is a request from Paul Scott, our Leader of Careers at DHSB. Any questions, please email [email protected]

📢 Calling all local employers!

Could you inspire the next generation? 💼🌟

Devonport High School for Boys is looking for local companies and organisations to host Work Experience placements for our amazing Year 10 students this November (24–28 Nov 2025).🗓️

We have 180 students with diverse interests - from engineering and law to media, design, healthcare, finance, tech and more! ⚙️🧑‍⚖️🎨🧑‍💻💰

If your organisation can offer a 2-5 day placement that gives a young person insight into your world of work, we’d love to hear from you.

✅ It’s simple
✅ Paperwork is all online (via Unifrog)
✅ And it could make a lasting impact on a future employee 🚀

📥 Register your interest here:

https://go.dhsb.org/registerforwex

Let’s work together to create meaningful opportunities for Plymouth’s young people! 💙