Sir Bracewell Smith, former Keighley science teacher turned hotelier who became Lord Mayor of London in 1946-1947, stands in tail coat with Lady Smith towards the right, talking to Old Keighlians at Mansion House.

In 1946, former pupils and staff of the Keighley’s Boys’ Grammar School founded a branch of the Old Keighlians Association for members living in or near London. They included such prestigious Keighley names as Frank Whitaker, editor of Country Life, Wilson Midgley, editor of John o’ London’s Weekly, and Norman Robson, London editor of Westminster Press Provincial Newspapers Ltd.

Sir Bracewell is talking to retired structural engineer F E Dury and Colonel G E Rhodes, senior engineering inspector to the Ministry of Health. A young bespectacled Asa Briggs soon to be an eminent historian, sips his cocktail to the left of Lady Smith.