“No one but an erratic fox-hunter such as I am, a fox-hunter I mean, whose lot is it has been to wander from one pack of hounds to another – can understand the melancholy feeling which a man has when he intrudes himself, unknown by anyone, among an entirely new set of sportsmen.”

So spoke Anthony Trollope through his short story “The Castles of Connor”.

So felt I when I looked around the packs of hounds offering themselves in General Synod. Fortunately I was whipped-in by Archdeacon Richard Atkinson who recognised an errant fox-hunter or, at least, a lost soul. Within the space of a few pints, I was signed up for OSG and the rest, they say, is history. Not many GS members can lay claim to rescuing the Archbishop of York from the wrong supper engagement or being accompanied to a quiz night by a blow-up doll! Explaining the latter to the beloved was not easy.

It seems to me to that OSG should be cherished for what it has done for “openness” in debate as much as for what it can continue to do as providing an oasis of calm between the war-like tribes. For those who arrive at GS for the first time, assuming that they know little of the political blood-letting they are about to witness, OSG can be an opportunity to gather breath and survey the battlefield, as an alternative to joining everything, just in case (like freshers’ week). Over the years, OSG will have seen the emergence of strong and well organised “political parties” but has been able to welcome both ends of the spectrum, witness David Houlding and Christina Rees, arriving for supper after spending most of the day in the back of a London taxi.

Not to be under-valued should be the late night Saturday events – just that bit of relaxation needed after a hard day of debate – when OSG has put on a succession of successful events and made money for worthwhile causes. I’ve been privileged to organise a few (battling behind the scenes to get rooms ready which at 9.30pm look like battlefields after earlier fringe events – and not just bishops’ book signings) and finding devious ways of introducing “snacks” which the University thought-police frown on and evading the gross charges for sound equipment. (Will they read this?) Wrestling Janet Atkinson and Shirley-Ann for the last red-wine dregs makes it all worth while. (NB: S-A is tee total these days!)

OSG should soldier on as a non-political, child-friendly, oasis of calm, valued by many who are not members but turn up from time-to-time. A group which might find it is needed more than ever in a possibly difficult future.

Roy Thompson : Secretary OSG