What do pop singer Curt Smith, athlete and physician Roger Bannister, actor Andrew Lincoln, the Bishop of Colchester and MEP Graham Watson all have in common?

The answer is that they all attended what is now Beechen Cliff School in Bath.

You could add to the list Dad's Army actor Arnold Ridley, football manager Paul Tisdale, Nobel prize winner Sir Richard J Roberts, mountaineer Thomas Moores, physicist Donald Millard, Olympic gold medallist Jason Gardener footballer and company director Jason Dodd, Somerset cricketer Herbert (Bertie) Buse and too many more to mention.

All these people are celebrated in a new book that was launched at the Old Sulians' Association dinner at Bath Cricket Club last weekend and which will be stocked by most local bookshops.

The editorial team responsible for drawing together all the information about past students for Basement to Beechen Cliff was led by Terry Light and included former headteacher Roy Ludlow, the late Len Dyer, who died in May, Alex Wood, Richard Wood and Terry Hardick.

Mr Light says that the book shows the broad spectrum of successful men who went to what is now Beechen Cliff School and the careers they had in the church, the sciences, entertainment, sport, education, politics and elsewhere.

The book charts the history of Beechen Cliff School since its creation in 1896 as the Bath City Secondary School.

It then had two changes of name, the Bath Secondary Boys' School and the City of Bath Boys' School before the amalgamation with Oldfield Boys' School led to the formation of the new Beechen Cliff.

But the main thrust of the book is to chart the success stories of famous past students from, as one might say, Sir Roger at one end, who was the first man in history to run the mile in under four minutes. to Sir John Sawers the new head of MI6.

The bits in between read like a who's who of almost every profession you can think of.

Andrew Davies is the current headteacher at the school and has written a foreword which poses the question of just why so many young men have left Beechen Cliff to reach the top in their chosen careers?

He says that the range of professions entered by old boys reflects the diversity and depth of opportunities provided by the school.

He also points out that the governing body and successive headmasters have focused on the role of Beechen Cliff in providing an education which creates a well rounded boy who will be able to compete comfortably with the best pupils of the independent schools.