On 3 June, an audience of around 200 gathered in Romsey Abbey to enjoy Bryan Taphouse as the guest on Desert Island Discs, an event organised by the Friends of Romsey Abbey and hosted by Dick Hewett.
By chance, the date was the occasion of Bryan’s 74th birthday. He was born and grew up in Bath. Whilst he admitted to not being a great academic at school, he did excel at sport. His initial and unsuccessful debut into the world of work was in an architect’s practice where he was not delighted at being used as an office boy so he moved into clothes retailing ultimately working for Austin Reed. He was also a drummer in a band.
On New Year’s Eve 1972/3 he met Jackie and the next day they agreed to marry which they did in September of 1973.
In 1976 Bryan was selling fabric and in the 1990s he started his own business selling skirts, subsequently setting up a new company in 2013 which is run by the family.
Bryan and Jackie were encouraged to start a house group by the head of Romsey Abbey Primary School and that began their long association with the Abbey. Brian was ordained in 1998.
Despite health set backs, Bryan has continued to live his life to the full having been President of Rotary three times and was the prime mover in starting ‘Carols in the Square’.
The music chosen by Bryan ranged across ‘Smile’ by Nat King Cole, John Lennon’s ‘In my life’, to Ed Sheeran’s ‘The Joker and the Queen’ as well as Cold Play’s version of ‘Viva la Vida’. When questioned, Bryan revealed that he felt his greatest achievement was having the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others, reflected in the song ‘That’s what friends are for’.
Apart from the Bible and the Complete Works of Shakespeare, Bryan selected Bear Grylls’ Survival Guide to take to his desert island and confirmed ‘Smile’ as his favourite music.
The evening was rounded off by the presentation by Liz Wagner of a birthday cake for Bryan, complete with candles, which was shared amongst the audience.
Thanks to Ken Gibson for photos