Old Radleian 2014

the

Old Radleian 2014

Front cover: The middle-sized black monkey, a hand-coloured engraving by George Edwards in 1761 (© Mary Evans Picture Library) George Edwards had to part with the monkey ‘for want of convenient room’. The monkey was given to a ‘right honourable Lord in Essex who had a menagery’ – this was probably a member of the Howard family. Their descendant, Charles (“Jack”) Howard, 20th Earl of Suffolk and 13th Earl of Berkshire, was at Radley from 1921 to 1923. He is most famous for being responsible for rescuing a team of French nuclear scientists and their stock of ‘heavy’ water from France to England in the face of the imminent French defeat in 1940. Charles Howard was a bomb disposal expert who died together with his secretary and his chauffeur as he attempted to defuse a bomb in May 1941.

Back cover: Jo Asser

the

Old Radleian 2014

Contents 2

Letter from the Warden

ARTICLES 4

Letters from the Front

24 Sir Patrick Nairne

24

34

30 Boat Race 1843 & Henley 1868 34 Alan Thornhill 44 Jo Asser – Starred Up 48 George H Lewis 60 OR NEW BOOKS, CDs & DVDs

44

48

Andrew Strauss (1990)

Christopher Sandford (1970)

Cyrus Massoudi (1994)

Francis Young (1966)

Peter Raby (1952)

Hugh Lupton (1966)

Harry Lewis (1989)

John Rosling (1978)

Sir Andrew Motion (1966)

James Lovegrove (1979)

Clive Stafford Smith (1973)

Chris Neale (1990)

Robert King (1974)

Harry Bicket (1974)

Jeremy Birchall (1967)

67 GAZETTE 82 LETTERS 87 OBITUARIES 112 SPORT

4

Cricket, Cross-Country, Rugby,

Golf, Football, Sailing, Rowing

126 NEWS & NOTES the old radleian 2014

1

Letter from John Moule, the Warden

The Warden, John Moule

2

the old radleian 2014

Dear ORs, As I settle into my new role, it occurs to me that whilst all Old Radleians know a little about me, perhaps they do not know much and on the principle that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, I thought I would take this opportunity to fill in a few of the gaps.

My experience of Radley was relatively limited until appointment. I recall attending a training course here and being sufficiently bored (it was merely hosted and not run by the College, I hasten to add) that I spent much of the afternoon staring out of a window and counting the number of golfers who placed their tee shots at the 8th into the pond, and rather enjoying it when they did. Little did I know that I would be a potential – no doubt regular – victim of the hazard in years to come.

As one might imagine, beating Radley is a prize scalp for a school sports coach . . . in seven years of coaching Stowe cricket sides, my teams managed but one win.

But in my first contest here, umpiring, had I given a palpably adjacent LBW decision off the final ball of the game, my first side would have triumphed. I regret the decision still; at least my arrival has helped me to exorcise the ghost.

I started my teaching career at Dean Close in Cheltenham, after an education at a state comprehensive in Telford followed by a History degree at Oxford. I rather fell into the profession; I certainly had no long-term intentions within it at the outset but I loved it from the very first term. Five years teaching History and Politics there took me on to be Head of History at Stowe and I was then a Housemaster (Walpole House) for five years. Stowe was a great place to live and work and my family and I (Diana and three children: Emily, Ben and Rachael) loved the environment and community of a full boarding school: hence our delight at coming to Radley.

In January 2006, I became Vice Master (Senior Deputy Head) at Bedford and took over as Head Master in 2008. I enjoyed my time there very much; I can honestly say that very few roles would have interested me beyond it . . . but it is a real honour to have been asked by Council to succeed Angus and, wrench

though it was to leave Bedford, it has been a delight to get to know the College both before and since starting.

I have somewhat worried early visitors to my office by the array of biographies on my shelves, simply because it looks as if I am obsessed by Mrs Thatcher and Adolf Hitler. Political biography is a real love, as is all current affairs (I morphed a little from a History teacher into a Politics and History teacher). Other reading pursuits range from theology to crime novels; but if I am honest, I am happiest with a P. G. Wodehouse novel. Theatre is also a passion and I have loved directing plays in all schools I have worked, ranging in style from Ayckbourn to Ibsen. I am delighted to have reached the stage of life where I can pretend to have been good at sport: I talk a good game and have an obsessive love of armchair (and live) viewing. And with that eighth hole in mind . . . I play golf badly.

of the right direction as I get to know and understand the culture and ethos of the College more over time. But it is also quite simple. Three things need to be true: the core standards and values should not change; we should continue to embrace and welcome the very widest definition of the Radley community as fundamental to what we are and do; and we should seek to ensure that Radleians are thoroughly prepared to face the challenging – and changing – world that lies beyond school. Diana and I look forward to working with you all in continuing to celebrate and maintain the fine tradition that is a Radley education.

I am understandably asked what my ‘vision’ for Radley is. In one sense, of course, it will take time to develop a sense the old radleian 2014

3

LETTERS from the front Letters from the Front

4

the old radleian 2014

During the First World War approximately 1,200 Old Radleians, masters and staff joined the fighting forces. 219 ORs, 7 masters and 8 staff lost their lives.

Over 250 decorations were won.

Š IWM

tt hh ee oo ll dd rr aa dd ll ee ii aa nn 22 00 11 44

55

Getty Images

Letters from the Front

29th April 1917: Scottish troops advancing in the attack near Arras, during the Battle of the Somme. British troops suffered record loss of life on the first day of the battle with 57,470 casualties.

Letters published in the Radleian Magazine from serving Old Radleians (usually unnamed) December 1914: Oct. 25 – I expect that by the time this reaches you, you will have seen some of the regiment mentioned in the casualty list. We had quite a hot fight advancing against an entrenched village, and the 52nd did very well. We pushed ahead in the morning and got a fair position about 300 yards from them, and dug ourselves in under fire. We were shrapnelled rather heavily. My trench was under a hedge, a beautiful range mark, so every Deutscher in the district had a go at it. On the second day they made another attack on us, and we counted over 700 of their dead in front of us. Their method is to sleep until one o’clock; then shell and rifle fire, gradually putting in more and more as it gets dusk, when their infantry comes on, sometimes silently, sometimes making a great noise and shouting ‘Don’t shoot, we’re English,’ or ‘We’ve had enough.’ They had a white flag up in front of me one morning. The reason why losses are heavy is because the country is so very thick – but ‘you cannot make omelettes without breaking eggs.’

The villages literally seem to run into one another, and the average farm appears to be about 20 acres. It is good in one way, one can get straw and water easily.

We were relieved after three days, and at present I am sitting in a trench in a pine wood ‘in support.’ We have just relieved the Scots Guards. It is well hidden, and we only get chance bullets and a very 6

the old radleian 2014

occasional shell. About an hour and a half ago one hit the ground just in front of my trench, i.e., about five feet from my ear. I am glad that it was not a ‘Jack Johnson,’ or I should doubtless be giving someone the trouble of collecting bits of me and putting them under ground.

The big howitzer shells are interesting beasts, and if they really find a trench or a battery there is not much hope for it.

The other day they put 18 on 20 yards of trench, but I moved the men when number two arrived, and I only lost two. I cannot think what the idea was; it seemed rather wasteful, I thought, but I was glad they were not dealt round evenly. They give one rather a headache when they burst near.

There was some very hot scrapping here yesterday: it is a big wood, and some Deutschers broke in, so they had to be charged out. There are now about 100 out in front of us – in a ditch where they cannot get forward or back, – so I suppose that tonight we shall have the pleasure of ‘walking them up,’ as the actual front line must stay in its trench. We are getting rather hot at night-fighting, and I think we puzzle the Deutschers. Most regiments, if they are shot at, get up and reply, and pandemonium reigns; then the big guns wake up, and everything is noisy and uncomfortable. We let them shoot and lie ‘doggo’ – with, of course, one man in four to look out – then suddenly we fire three rounds per man ‘rapid’, in case anyone really is in front of us, and then stop completely. I find the Deutscher generally takes the hint that we are ready for him, and shuts up, unless they are

making a genuine attack. I have never yet heard of one of their massed attacks getting right into us, and I really don’t believe it possible against unshaken troops, but they go on pouring in men.

I have not had my boots off for a week, so of course I have not shaved, neither have I even washed my hands and face for five days; not that my ways are becoming unclean, but because there has literally not been a chance. However, one day we will be halted near a stream, and then – ‘Am Tag’. We are indescribably filthy, for life in a trench is dirty naturally, and I have just had a bucketful of sand put over me by that infernal shell – also it made the top half of a fair-sized pine tree fall in on us.

However, it has made a very pleasant smell where the bits cut the wood, and the sun is shining, and my “funk-pit” is dry, so I am quite happy. I have had two hours’ sleep, for we are all rather beginning to suffer from want of that. I am very well, but the never-ending racket and strain, night and day, is rather telling on some people. We rather hoped for a rest after our fight the other day, but there are lots of regiments who have had a worse time and are still going on, so I suppose we shall have to.

Even when one is resting there are always odd shells and stray bullets to be reckoned with, and ‘Jack Johnson’ seems to possess seven-leagued boots.

I have made lots of dog friends here, for every deserted house has a wretched tyke locked up in it, and other beasts too. We loose all we can. There is a little Dachsund now with the ammunition cart, but I dare not adopt her, for her German master was slain, and two successive English ones, so that she seems a bit unlucky.

Roger Viollet/Getty Images

English trench on the French front Nov. 5. – The neighbourhood Lunniss named (Ypres) is the right one. We are about 5 miles S.E. of that town . . . The trees are all knocked about and broken by shell fire. The ground is clay and very wet, the trench all mud. About 80 yards towards the top of the hill you glimpse patches of fresh earth – the German trench. Between us the ground is absolutely grey with the dead of their 126th Regiment. There are patches of foxy brown – their cow-skin packs, with the hair left on the leather.

In our trench, men in a state of filth you at home can’t imagine, colour of clothes indistinguishable, hair long and beards unkempt, faces and hands foul. Outside in the fields it is warm, and the sun is out, but here it is damp and cold, every coat, etc., is wet from a soaking night, and apparently will stay wet for some time yet.

Shells go over all the time, but up to date have troubled us little. I think their own men are too close to allow them to go for us, but every now and then a low one hits the trees and bursts all over the wood. But in spite of all, the men are very cheerful

and confident, and full of contempt for the Deutscher. They are well supplied with food and tobacco, but all want a wash and a hot meal. However, we all know we have a job before us to do first.

We were just relieving the Grenadiers when they made their attack two days ago. It was just dark, with a little moon.

They made two rushes, and only one man got into the trench, but 10 yards or less outside they are strewn thick in every sort of attitude. We sneak out and collect wounded at night, and have brought in a lot of unfortunate devils that way. Of course one can’t go far, or in large parties, because they open fire if they see or hear us. The men who are sent out always bring in a pack or two, and every­one has a bed of German overcoats (we have no straw here). The regiment is evidently fairly fresh up, for their packs are full of new things – tremendously appreciated by our grubby fellows, needless to say. They have all treated themselves to new under­clothes, and very badly some of them wanted

them. I don’t know what we can do about burying these people, at present it is impossible owing to fire. In the actual rush our own losses were nil, though we had a man or two hit in the preliminary firing.

We’ve about wiped out that regiment. I suppose they failed to realize our numbers and exact position, for the trench bends about and a lot of them were enfiladed.

Personally I am fit, though filthy and sleepy. I have a touch of rheumatism in my back and knees, in fact few of us are free from it, Another great trouble is that one’s hands are full of little scratches, and these get filled with mud and go rather nasty, but I am keeping mine fairly well with my beloved vaseline.

There are lots of pretty little goats about, set free by our men from deserted houses.

A sweet little grey kid fell into my trench the other night when I was asleep, and gave me an awful start. Then, when I looked up, having settled the goat, I saw a man standing on the edge of the trench, peering down with a bayonet held the old radleian 2014

7

Letters from the Front

out ready. In my confused state I really thought he was a Deutscher, and was just going to shoot him with my pistol when he spoke – it was a sentry come to see what all the noise was about. There are lots of big fat Belgian tame hares about the place too, and any amount of cattle, poultry, etc. – a sure sign that our men are well fed and don’t pillage.

Nov. 20 – Rest at last! after being shot at for 29 days! We have come back where we can only hear the guns. The last few days before we were relieved we were perfectly miserable. We were with the 6th Brigade when relief started, and the order was ‘reform Brigades before relief,’ so back we trekked by night to our old place, 5th Brigade. The roads were literally kneedeep in mud; fortunately there were no shells, but ‘carry-over’ bullets kept coming over, and we lost some men. We got to our pitch at 2 a.m. – wet, dirty, and frightfully cold, and then when morning came we found the supplies had got bogged on the road. It was a perfectly dreadful day, all the trenches had 4 to 6 inches of water in them. The Deutschers shelled various people, but left our particular bit alone, they only sniped viciously all day. That night we were relieved, and marched back by night to the town which was being heavily shelled. However, we were again lucky. We got there at 4 a.m., and as all the inhabitants had fled, we took possession of a house (the men were in big warehouses) and slept like the dead.

We were waked at 11 a.m. to hear that our machine guns were to go back to the trenches at once, and we were to follow in an hour. Imagine our feelings! However, we were spared, and that night I had a great bath in a dentist’s house, which had been half wrecked by a shell. The shells kept coming all that night, but missed us, luckily. It is great cheek of the Germans, for they levied money on the town six weeks ago on the condition that it should not be shelled.

Next morning we trekked back here, about 10 miles from our lines, and it has snowed and frozen ever since, while we have laughed at it.

I ran into weeks’ arrears of parcels and letters. It was nice to get into clean clothes; I’ve burnt the old, and so got even with my little friends. We were not a very inspiring sight when we marched in – everyone filthy, ragged, and unkempt, and half 8

the old radleian 2014

asleep as they walked. There is no doubt we all want a rest and a big refit, and we are likely to get a fortnight, if all is well, and there are rumours of five days’ leave for officers so you may see me . . . We have got a very ‘comfy’ house, just inside France, for the Mess, and it was quite a wonderful sight to see a tablecloth again.

Both Generals Haking and Munro have been here, and both had very high praise for the 52nd, and indeed I think the regiment has earned it. Evidently things are well in hand, or we should not get leave . . . When we got in here I just went to sleep with all my equipment on.

Since then I have had a lot of odd jobs, e.g. interviewing the Mother Superior of a Convent about sticking 150 dirty scarecrows into her place among the orphelines and nuns; she did not seem to mind a bit. Also superintending the distribution of presents – such stacks – they have been accumulating for weeks – people at home are good to the troops, but I wish they would send us men. However, we must not grouse, for they have begun to do so at last.

Nov. 10 – Just got yours of Nov. 2, in an old barn, where we are putting in a day’s sleep. Of course we are still in easy reach of the Deutscher guns, and only this morning they went for a battery half a mile behind us, but they leave us in peace, so really we are not under fire, the first time for 18 days. Sleep in straw just heavenly after 19 nights running in the trenches. I have had my hair cut, and a shave, and a partial wash, and feel better.

They left us in some peace after my last letter except for some shells. I think that we rather put the fear of God into the infantry opposite us, for though they hung on only 100 yards in front, they did not do much. I had the narrowest escape yet yesterday. It was raining, and I had just got up to stretch (there had been no shells for half-an-hour), when a shrapnel hit the tree in front of me. It deafened me, and a bit cut my face; it felt hot, but that was all. I really thought that the Kaiser had got me, but, as one soon discovers here, a miss is as good as several miles.

The fighting continues severe. You in England will be amazed when you hear the full losses, but the Deutschers lose more in their massed attacks, and losses seem to make no difference to our men.

They are truly magnificent in the way they cheerfully carry on in spite of everything.

Here they are dirty, ragged, and frequently lousy, but simply full of an unconquerable spirit. If K’s Army do a quarter as well they will be splendid. It is going obviously to be a question of the side which has the last reserve pulling it off. It will be us all right, I know, but one wishes our Army was a bit bigger, and we could have more frequent reliefs. The letters we have looted off the German dead were full of woe and despair, and had the most deluded ideas of how things were going. They are marvellously equipped infantry, but slow. I don’t think the pattern of their kit is better than ours, but the material is, though it is rather heavy, and the cloth they wear is excellent.

Their rifle is less liable to jam than ours, but they cannot use it, and I don’t know why they carry a bayonet at all.

November 1914 Part of a letter from J.L. Rennie, Black Watch: The next four days were very wet, and the roads got into an awful state. We crossed the Aisne on Sunday, 13th, and came in for the usual ‘Angelus’ of shell fire at six o’clock, which, however, did not touch us.

I was on outpost that night for the second night running, and it rained hard, and we all got soaked to the skin. Next morning it was still raining, and then began the battle of the Aisne. We had a great time of it with rifle fire and Jack Johnsons or Black Marias, the big high explosive howitzer shells. I got hit through the arm about 12 o’clock, and got into the dressing station about four that afternoon, 14th. We passed a very pleasant night, and at 6 a.m. were shelled out of the house by Jack Johnsons and had no time to take anything. We had to walk six miles, and then got taken down 14 miles in motor lorries, a most pleasant journey. Then we had 34 hours in the train to Angers where we arrived at 3 a.m. on 17th and were put into a very comfortable hospital.

December 1914 We reprint the following from The Times: Second Lieutenant Harold William Ferguson Barton, of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, who was reported ‘missing’ on October 18, was killed near Lille about that date, aged 21 years. The news of his death has been received by his mother from a German Officer, who wrote on the back of a letter as follows:

Getty Images

Dear Mrs. Barton, Your son fell on the field of honour against our regiment.

I admired his courage after a very hard struggle against us. Your son will be buried near Castle Warneton, near Lille.

(Signed) Ewald, Lieutenant Feldart, Regt.

No. 7.

November 2015 Extract from a letter from an OR: . . . We are back in billets now, however, and for the moment our troubles are over.

Their farewell hit at us was the exploding of a huge mine. It was a most horrible business. I was on duty at the time, and at about four o’clock in the morning, while it was still dark, there was a tremendous quake, and only about 100 yards away there burst from the earth an enormous flame. Our Company Commander and I rushed round to a spot opposite that from which it had gone up, climbed out, and crawled up to the top of the crater.

It was far and away the largest I have seen – about 50 yards across and the same number of feet deep. One of our listening posts had disappeared; we listened but could hear nothing, and probably they were killed instantly. It blew in two of our mine-shafts and imprisoned nine miners.

We heard them thumping, so set to work as hard as we could to get them out. At about eight o’clock the knocking ceased, and about half-an-hour afterwards we got through to them. They were all dead then.

October 1916 I should just like to say a word or two about the German trenches, their methods of construction and their appearance. In the first place the German trenches are usually on higher ground than our own; you very soon realise this in wet weather when water pumped out of their trenches runs into your own.

Their methods of building a trench are very different from ours. I remember my first impression of a German trench. It looked exactly like an irregular pile of sandbags thrown up anyhow, varying in height and colour all along the line. Their sandbags vary in colour very much, some being black or red and others being green; but I think the majority are of that light shade, buff, peculiar to bogs. Their idea of colouring their sandbags is a decidedly good one, as it makes it most difficult for us to spot their “loop-holes” [narrow

A heavy shell exploding during the Battle of the Somme vertical slits between the sandbags for shooting or looking through – sometimes these were slits cut in thick metal plates which were put between sandbags]. Unlike our loop-holes, theirs are generally near the ground level, which makes them even more difficult to see. Like us they have barbed wire out in front of their lines. Having on several occasions studied this closely I know it is much stronger than the kind we use, and the barbs are very much longer and occur more frequently. . . . I remember a rather amusing incident that happened the night we were relieved. My Company Commander, generally known as “the Skipper,” was

operating one of those prehistoric engines of war, supplied by our War Office, known as a trench mortar. He had had several shots but all had gone too far. He therefore wished to reduce the range, the only method being to lessen the propelling charge of powder. This he did, but unfortunately reduced it so much that when the mortar was fired the bomb shot some way up the barrel and then fell back into the base of the mortar, the fuse being lighted meanwhile. We just managed to throw ourselves into the nearest” dugout” when the thing exploded. Besides damaging a few rifles no harm was done.

We hurled the remains of the mortar into the German trench, where they were greeted with much applause. the old radleian 2014

9

Letters from the Front

From The Radleian October 1916:

From The Radleian December 1915: On Monday, November 29th, the Corps attended a Parade Service in connection with the presentation of two Motor Ambulances by Old Radleians to the R.A.M.C. for service at the Front in Flanders.

It is interesting to hear that one of the Radley motor ambulances has been seen in use at the Front – but we hope without all the writing they had upon them when here, or what a mark for the Boches!

Š IWM

On Saturday, November 27 1915, the two Motor Ambulances were driven down here for the inspection of the School. We thought they looked very serviceable, but were inclined to think that the inscriptions might have been a little less like advertisements.

Stretcher bearers struggle in mud to carry a wounded man to safety near Boesinghe in August 1917 10

the old radleian 2014

Š IWM Š IWM

Above: Aerial pictures showing Passchendaele after and before the allied offensive in 1917 Below: A line of troops on their way to relieve the front line near Hooge, 1917

the old radleian 2014

11

Letters from the Front

The Raikes brothers at Treberfydd, the family home, in 1924 – Back row: Wilfrid and David Front row: Geoffrey, Lawrence and Robert (Bobbie) 12

the old radleian 2014

the raikes brothers Robert Taunton Raikes who came to Radley in 1853, aged 10, and left in 1862, had six sons who came to Radley. The first, Freddie was born in 1872 but his mother, Sophia, died soon after his birth. Robert Taunton Raikes remarried in 1878. With his second wife, Rosa, he had five sons who came to Radley: Lawrence was born in 1882, Geoffrey in 1884, Robert (Bobbie) in 1885, Wilfrid in 1892 and David in 1897.

Letters from Wilfrid Tim Raikes (1947) writes about his father, Wilfrid Taunton Raikes (1906) and his experiences during the First World War: My father’s instructions to join the Expeditionary Force as a 2nd Lt. in the South Wales Borderers were dated 30 December, and by the first week of January 1915 he was in France. His first letter home was written on his mother’s birthday, 8 January, and ends, “Goodnight Old Lady, I shall be as good as sitting on the edge of your bed tonight. I always get there about 10.30 till 11.00 each night when I know you’re thinking of us”.

This close relationship with his mother continued throughout the war, as it did between Rosa and all her five sons who were fighting in France, or in Bobby’s case in the Navy. Generally they all wrote to her each week, and she replied to all their letters.

Here are extracts from some of Wilfrid’s letters:

Devastation 20 January 1915 (his first letter from the front) What strikes one most is the awful devastation. The village where our trenches are is nothing but a heap of ruins & all the ground is covered with rubble & bits of bedstead etc. The only inhabitants one sees except the troops are an occasional stray dog & a few cats that still haunt the ruins. In one house of which there is nothing but the four walls left there is a flock of fantail pigeons, which

fly aimlessly around the house all day & every time they settle a shot puts them up again. It reminds me very much of the fantails at Treberfydd [the family home] when we have been shooting round the house. In that house I have built up a platform for my M.G.[Machine Gun] Personally I have a softish job at present as I live for the most part at Battn. HQ. This consists of a little room left in one of the houses & it actually has a wooden ceiling to it, though there is no roof above that. In here the CO, the adjutant and myself live. So far I have slept there but of course there are times when I shall have to sleep in the trenches. At present I usually go up the last thing at night & early in the morning, wading through the communication trenches.

Of course we are never dry while up in the trenches & the only thing to do is to keep warm. If you happen to come across anything like waterproof boots that cd keep you dry up to the knee they wd be very valuable out here, but I don’t know if you can get them. Some people have got something of the sort. Also one cannot have too many socks, really thick & long to put on dry in the evenings. If you send me out some I can send back others in the same parcel to get washed. This applies also to shirts & other garments of a washable nature. Most people here have some such arrangement. But of course brown paper & string are only obtainable in that way.

Action 28 January 1915 My dearest mother At last I have got another chance of writing you a line – at least I can start though I never know when I shall be interrupted. We have had a very exciting time since I wrote last & I have not had any time to write or do anything. I think the “liveliness” was probably due to the Kaiser’s birthday. Last Sunday was marked by rather heavier shelling than usual, but nothing more. Then on Monday they started bombarding us very heavily in

the early morning and having to a certain extent demolished our trenches etc started to attack. It was part of a general movement but I don’t think they got any change out of it. At any rate not out of our own brigade.

They did succeed in getting in at one point on our right & reached the village, but were pushed out again easily & our line was left unbroken everywhere. Our losses were nothing compared to theirs. They must have lost hundreds & we took a good many prisoners. It was a most exciting day. A scrap of that sort is better than the dull monotony of trench work with occasional casualties from snipers – except the bombardment in the early morning. I cannot say I enjoyed that & I don’t see how anybody could. That lasted about an hour before the attack. I had both my guns put out of action at different times, but only temporarily & they did some useful work before that. Unfortunately I lost five of my section during the morning.

The place we hold is rather an important spot, as the village is on a salient on high ground. There was not a bad description of the place in The Times of about a week or 10 days ago at the time when there was the rumour that we had advanced at La Basee.

Our village is on the line between that place & another important town. There, that’s as near as I dare go & you may be able to discover our position from that if this is not censored! Anyhow, it is rather an important place & they didn’t get it & that’s all that really matters. Also I’ve had my first taste of anything that deserves the name of “action”.

Since then there have been occasional small scraps of no particular interest & most of the time has been spent in repairing our trenches & generally strengthening the position. It has been bitterly cold though more or less dry. Really we only feel cold in the trenches at night & then we keep ourselves warm by charcoal fires etc. Of course everyone has been a bit “jumpy” since the attack & also there has been an enormous lot of work to do, so we have not had too much sleep. The night after the attack I was up all night trying to repair one of the guns which had a rifle the old radleian 2014

13

Letters from the Front

bullet through, & the next night I had to build new emplacements because they had of course spotted our others & it was impossible to use them. In fact I had not till today (Friday) taken off any clothes or boots or washed since Sunday morning.

And I haven’t had my boots off yet!

The Men 28 January 1915 The most remarkable thing out here is the British & especially the Welsh tommy. Our men were splendid during the attack on Monday & are longing for the Germans to try it again. Then all day in the trenches in cold or wet they grumble away with the most complete cheerfulness. They’ll do anything for you & would share their small cup of hot soup with a German for the asking. I really think they are perfectly marvellous & that seems to me our great strength. This war is a fearful test of endurance for both sides, [The next dozen or so words have been censored] . . . on men. But our fellows show exactly the same spirit through everything & that cannot be beaten.

In the trenches officers & men are of course brought a lot together & you learn a lot that you would never otherwise suspect.

Some of the men you would expect least from, turn out towers of strength under fire. They will greet a “coal-box” which has just knocked them down & possibly buried them with a flow of language that might shock the over-scrupulous but which has the effect of restoring confidence & making men laugh who would otherewise have been a bit shaken.

It’s an extraordinary thing. Every day out here is a revelation – some new sensation & new experience full of interest & often excitement. There’s nothing like a little real excitement for bucking you up, and the moment it’s over the relaxation is complete & we contrive to enjoy ourselves pretty thoroughly in a thousand ridiculous ways.

We all treat the thing as a jest except when there is “Something Doing”. Anyhow, it’s a great experience & I wouldn’t have missed it for worlds. I find the bottom of a trench when it’s freezing hard is more comfortable than my bed at the North British & much more cheerful beside a charcoal fire with a crowd of capital men round you to keep you company. And all the time that feeling – prevalent in all our family I think – that I am not “missing anything”.

14

the old radleian 2014

Souvenirs – Apple & Plum 1 February 1915 My dearest mother Thank you so much for your letter of the 28th which I have just got. I was afraid you would be anxious when you heard of the scrap out here but you will of course have got my last letter by now which was written after it. Yes, we were pretty much in the thick of it here & as you have seen in the papers our little village is what they were after, but they didn’t get it. We have just seen the newspaper accounts of it & smiled considerably at the versions as put forward by “our special correspondent at the front”, written for the most part I should think in Fleet Street. They hopelessly confuse the attacks on two different parts of the line. I should love to tell you the story, but of course that is not allowed. Some day I will be able to do so. Anyhow I think our little bit of the show was quite satisfactory. No German ever got inside our trench and our losses were very small. The prisoners we took seemed very pleased at being taken & cheerfully parted with helmets, badges etc. right & left as “souvenirs”.

Since then we have not had any more scrapping where we are but there have been small shows on both sides & a good deal of what the papers call “artillery activity”. That sounds all right & quiet but it’s a bit of a bore when the activity is centred round you. However it has done very little damage except knocked down the few remaining walls of this village & thereby given us a lot of loose material for building more fortifications, barricades etc. We are daily expecting to be relieved from here as we have been in the trenches eighteen days instead of a fortnight. But I think we shall have another 3 or 4 days & then go right back somewhere for a bit. We are quite comfy here so far as that goes, but it is a bit of an effort to be closely in touch with them for any length of time, especially during a week of activity like last week. But I know I shall hate it if we are back for long.

Some day of course I shall get leave & that will be priceless. I am afraid it won’t be just yet as there are a good many who have been out much longer & they will go first, but my turn will come. It is awfully nice to think that that is possible. It’s not like fighting out in Timbuctoo or somewhere from where you couldn’t get back & letters

would take weeks. Getting letters so soon after they are written makes one feel very near, I think. I am looking forward to the Mince Pies, they will be a priceless addition to our larder & as I am responsible for the HQ messing it is very convenient. The last lot was much appreciated, especially the caramels in the tin box. Another thing that would be very nice is jam or if possible some of that West India Honey. We get jam out here as rations. It is plum & apple which sounds delicious & probably would be if one met it by chance in ordinary life. But we get absolutely nothing else, although the cook occasionally remarks facetiously that we have got apple & plum instead. I have had the parcel of underclothes & was enormously relieved to get them. Not having seen my valise I had had no change!

Washing 14 February 1915 . . . I am sending home a bundle of washing of various sorts, but most of what I was wearing at Givenchy I thought it better to destroy!

22 February 1915 All the washing that I sent home has been returned to me. They say the transport cannot compete with these demands on it. Of course they are quite right. It would be an awful business if everybody sent their washing home. But it is a nuisance, as of course here it is untouched. I expect I can get it done in the village.

Action 12 March 1915 There is so much to say I hardly know where to begin, but I will go back to the last few days in the trenches before we were relieved. Nothing happened of any interest until we suddenly discovered that the Germans had cut away some of their barbed wire. Well of course that made us think, as there seemed no reason for it unless they meant to attack us. So we stood by that night with rather more than usual interest. Then in the middle of the night someone on our left let off a Machine Gun & then it spread like wildfire. It turned out to be nothing, but added to the day’s amusement a bit. Then the next day at about 3 in the afternoon

Part of a letter from Wilfrid Raikes to his mother, February/March 1915

28 February 1915 You should have seen the lunch that I & the other subalterns up in the breastwork had today. A canteen of soup made out of the soup-squares you sent, then a dish of lamb & green peas also from home, ending up with that Bivouac cocoa which came from home too & which is delicious. Some meal for a trench, as I think you’ll agree. In a way it was a pity that the lamb & peas arrived after the Battn. mess had broken up, but on the whole I can’t say that I

big guns started off & there was heavy firing on our right & left & after a bit they started putting a few shells over our way which did no harm, but of course we thought again that there was a big show on. However it died down about 5 pm when we discovered that we had started it in order to give them a scare & keep them quiet while the French did something on

personally am sorry as it is such splendid stuff to take up to trenches & is delicious.

We have a very comfy little dug-out up here – at least it’s not a dug-out because it’s all above ground & made of sandbags. The breastwork goes something like this: [see sketch] The dug-out is about 6 feet long & 5 feet high with a little settee of sandbags running round inside. [see sketch] March 3 Again another interruption in this letter.

I am sorry but these things are not always

our left. We had not heard before because the wire up the trench had been broken.

It all seemed quiet so that night I handed over to Master & went back to the billet for a night’s rest . . . I’d just turned in at 10.45 when I was woken by more firing.

I waited a bit to see what it was & as it continued I set off to go up again to the

in my control & this time I couldn’t help it. No one is allowed to go up to the trench except at night because the road up is in full view of the Boches & is sniped a good deal – so when you go up you have nothing but telephone communications with the rest. I had to leave my dug-out just when the Company was being relieved & the brute in the dug-out with me took this note book in mistake for his. When I got back he’d gone & I couldn’t get hold of him.

trench. When I got up there I discovered it was another put up show & the message had gone straight up to the trench & I hadn’t got it till I got up there. I was sick. However I turned into bed again with some relish. I say bed because in that particular house there was one of those spring mattresses on the floor & with an air pillow & a blanket it made the old radleian 2014

15

Letters from the Front

a really comfortable bed, although of course I had to keep boots etc on all the time. The next day passed peacefully in pouring rain & that night we were relieved & came back into Divisional Reserve. The next day was spent in the usual rifle & kit inspections, replacing deficiences & so on & in the afternoon I got into B to do a little shopping for the mess & got an excellent hot bath. This was the first proper hot bath – in a big bath – I have had since I left Havre! This & a complete change of underclothes made me feel a very different person.

When I got back I thought there was something on foot by the general atmosphere at Headquarters. Then at dinner we heard that the Battn. was to be ready to move at 10 mins notice any time after 6.0 a.m. next morning.

Finally, later in the evening, we heard that we were going to get a move next day. We in Divisional Reserves were to stand to arms all day & be ready to go anywhere at a moment’s notice. Of course we were awfully excited & were told the general idea of the scheme. Of the actual show Lawrence will be able to tell you more than I can. We have done nothing but stand to arms every day from 5.30 a.m. & hold ourselves ready to move anywhere at any moment to support anybody. By the time you get this you will of course know much more about the operations than we know here or that we should be allowed to write.

We have not yet seen English papers on the subject. However it all seems very satisfactory & extremely successful. I wish we had been right up somewhere instead of in reserve as we are all longing to have a dig at them. I have never in my life felt any sensation like that of listening to our bombardment before the attack that morning. It started at 7 or soon after & went on till about 8.30 & was continued in a lesser degree most of the day – I don’t know if Lawrence was taking part in it or not. But it was something magnificent – & awful. How different it must have felt when they had the advantage in “Heavies”. I shall never forget that noise, though we only heard heavies above the long steady roar. We know very little news of the general situation, except that immediately in front of us. But we do know that things are going well there & that those who know are pleased & are not merely saying so.

16

the old radleian 2014

That, the strong French pressure all along their line, the new Russian pressure in the east, the forcing of the Dardanelles & the general shortage of things inside Germany, will begin to open the eyes of people a bit & as Germany is only bluffing them, you can’t tell what the effect may be. I don’t believe it will last very long because the German people will soon realise what the German Government must know now – that they are beaten. Perhaps their fleet will come out & be destroyed before they finally climb down, but the climbing down has got to take place. Of course it will take a good deal to push them out of Germany but it can be done with sufficient men, & when we get them it will be.

Larks 3 April 1915 (Written after a spell of leave) . . . Ever since I got back it has been the most lovely weather, quite a hot sun & that glorious spring feeling in the air. Even out here in these strange surroundings that feeling of spring is very present & nothing can counteract the suggestion of peace that it brings. Just in front of my dug-out behind the trench there was a little patch of grass – almost the only bit of grass anywhere about – & Master & I lay flat on our backs on it & basked in a real hot sun. It seemed so extraordinary to be lying there, just as one might on the tennis court at Treberfydd. It was easy to imagine I was there, for I could only see the sky & that looks just the same everywhere. Of course it was spoilt by the noise a bit as firing was going on all the time, but above that there was a couple of larks singing for all they were worth, quite unconcerned with the way men were spoiling the day.

Garden 20 April 1915 (Tuesday) I’m so sorry not to have got this off before but I have been up in this front place all the time & have had no chance of getting it down. However it will go off tonight. It is now possible to to get up & down by day as they have built a sort of screen & you can get up behind it without being seen. We are to be relieved on Friday night I believe. Just by my dug-out now I have got a capital little garden! I will send some of my flowers when I get a chance. I have got primroses, polyanthus, daisies & one hyacinth which I got from an adjacent garden. It is really a topping spot & this afternoon I had a tea party. I have raised a small table & 2 chairs from a house near here & there is a lovely grass ledge where others can sit round the table, (see sketch).

The breastworks are of course sandbags but covered with earth they can be turned into a sort of Rock Garden! I am getting some to grow on top. It is not much of a drawing but it gives you some idea, so you see you mustn’t think of me in “those horrible trenches” but in a very high class spring garden. The men have written M.G. Section 24th REGT outside, by sticking empty cartridge cases into the sandbags. Colonel Trower came round this morning & asked after Geoffrey [another elder brother] & everyone at home. He was very cheery. Well, dearest mother, I must stop if I am going to get this off tonight.

Very best love, Your most loving son, Wilfrid Raikes

Weather 18 April 1915 My thoughts are nearly always at Treberfydd this lovely weather. Today is one of those days without a breath of wind in which the lake looks like glass. What a waste of spring & fine weather it does seem, doesn’t it? However the spring is just as welcome under any circumstances. That joy no man taketh from us. But it is really extraordinary to hear the birds – especially larks – singing here all day apparently utterly oblivious of the rival noise that we are making.

Right: part of the letter above

the old radleian 2014

17

Letters from the Front

Action again 6 May 1915 I am not a whit less optimistic of the result or duration of the war on account of this new German offensive. We all knew & hoped it was coming. What have they gained? – a few miles of land which is no use to them, for there is no danger of them breaking through, & the further they go in the north the easier to cut them off from the south. We knew they were about to use their last reserves. They have staked everything by using them all & they have undoubtedly failed. When we strike we shall not fail. A push of a mile or so anywhere is nothing to them unless they break through; it is much more to us.

23 May 1915 Still no time to write except just a line to thank you so much for your sweet & sympathetic letter. Yes, we have been through a good deal lately & big things are happening out here. When I last wrote we were in trenches 20 yards from the Germans. We were there for 8 days & it was a bit of a strain, requiring almost constant watching etc. We could not be shelled as we were too close to the Germans. That was something, but they made up for it with Bombs & trenchmortars to which we replied – a sort of miniature artillery duel carried on by the occupants of the front lines. There was also the rather trying anxiety about mines but nothing happened, & in due course we were relieved on Thursday evening & went back to a village about a mile behind. [Mining was carried out by tunnelling out in front, under the enemy trenches]. The next morning we heard that the brigade were moving up to trenches again & at eleven o’clock we moved off.

We are not at present actually in trenches – at least only one company is & the rest of us are living in dug-outs & ruined houses just behind the trenches. We shall probably move up to to trenches to relieve another Battn. in the Brigade in a day or two. We have not had 24 hours consecutive rest since May 8 but we have also not taken part in any fighting. We are, I should think, in about the noisiest part of the whole line. There is constant fighting just north & south of us & our own guns are deafening all day & night too. What is being accomplished is 18

the old radleian 2014

something really great, though measured in miles it seems so insignificant. What a gain of 100 yards really means can I think only be understood properly after you’ve tried it. The place is a network of trenches with wire entanglements & the gain of each trench is a big thing & holding onto it against counter attacks makes the battle absolutely continuous. But every day we are getting the upper hand & everywhere the Germans are getting “jumpy”. They make night like day now with almost continuous lights. It is wonderful to be out here through it all, but it is a great disappointment not to have taken part in the successful move.

Flies & Revolver Letter undated, but envelope postmarked “Bwlch 10 Jun 15” I am afraid it’s long since I wrote, but I think I have got a chance at last. We are back in trenches again now & have been in for 4 days after a 6 day rest. It was rather a restless rest as we were moving about most of the time & got shelled a bit in the intervals, but it was something after a practically continuous 3 weeks spell. Three days ago we came back into the same trenches at C & have had rather a warm time since we got in, as we have been steadily shelled & bombed most days. We have not lost many considering, but rather more than one expects in ordinary trench work. Salmon got hit again last night, but not badly, a bit of shell on the back of the head, but I don’t think he will have to go back. Most damage has been to the trenches, but it is rather unpleasant.

The weather is lovely, at least I should think it was outside, but really [one] only sees a patch of blue sky from the bottom of a trench & knows that it is very hot.

The sun pours down into the trenches all day & you can hardly bear your hand on the sides. And the flies!! I used rather to like the buzz of flies etc because it was so typical of heat & summer. Now I feel a far greater personal hatred towards the fly than any Bosche. They are all over the place in swarms & buzz so loud you can’t hear shells coming. I kill hundreds every day without having to move to do it. They seem to love my head. If mud was the word that summed up trench impressions in the winter, FLIES is the right word now. They are giving us some special

stuff to squirt about the trenches but my personal belief is that the flies like it & come & bring their friends.

It was awfully good of the old man to rush off & get me a revolver & periscope at once like he did. I was very surprised when the revolver turned up last night by the same post as his letter. I was just wondering what I should do about it, when I open a parcel & find a beauty.

Please tell him it is a better one than my other as it is smaller & easier to handle.

The periscope has not arrived yet. I never saw my revolver after the catastrophe, so I imagine it must have been blown over towards the German lines & as I could only look for it at night I was not very likely to find it. It is not advisable to strike matches or flash lights out there . . .

Entertainment 13 June 1915, My dearest mother, I have just had another precious letter from you & am now sitting down to answer it in a lovely garden. I am sitting on a garden seat in a pergola & the garden is a mass of roses, pinks & Sweet Williams.

It is a lovely spot & a lovely day & one might be in England, except for a steady rumble of big guns about 5 miles away. In fact the conditions are just right for a chat.

It is extraordinary the contrasts one gets out here. We come straight from the trenches into the lap of luxury. Here we have a beautiful house with a garden, comfortable beds, baths & everything you could hope for. I have just finished a large plateful of strawberries. It reminds me very much of being in Billets with the Merton VIII at Henley. Just about this time of year & with some of the best companions in the world.

There is a fine theatre here where we have concerts every night, got up in the Brigade. It is amazing the talent that is revealed & shows clearly how all sorts are represented in the army out here. In last night’s show there was hardly any “turn” that could be called “amateur”. I am not exaggerating when I say that I have never anywhere seen a better Variety Entertainment. This regiment produced a really marvellous pianist – a private, [and] a professional & quite first class conjuror who did the most marvellous things with a pack of cards I’ve ever seen. He was a

Extracts from letters from Lawrence Raikes to his wife, Marion On his voyage from India to France in 1914 his regiment was split between four ships.

Lawrence travelled with some of his men together with the horses, mules, waggons, mule carts and ammunition.

21 October It is not all fun travelling with animals – we are amazed by a perfect plague of flies which seem to get worse every day.

Then the smell of 227 mules and horses confined in a small space is continuous and all pervading. The lower decks where most of them are cannot be flushed out with the hosepipe, as there is nowhere for the water to run away to, it has to be swept out by hand. One of the hatches communicating with the mule deck is just in front of my cabin and continuous effluvia streams up, coming in through my window and is then directed by the fan straight onto my face!

This morning during exercise the ship began to roll rather heavily and poor old Absalom came down but fortunately he only grazed his hocks a bit. Another horse got his leg caught between the pipes on the deck and nearly broke it, so I had to stop the exercise.

I shall be thankful when this voyage is over and we can get to work in earnest.

The captain thinks we may get a bit of a blow in the Gulf of Aden and if we do we shall inevitably lose some horses.

The routine for the animals was: 6 a.m. water and feed – 6.30 first lot of mules and all horses file out to exercise 7.0

RN Submarine Museum

corporal. Several splendid singers & a clog dancer who must be famous. It is a proper theatre with lots of scenery & lights etc & there were plenty of costumes available for each turn. Nobody would have realised to watch the show that it had been got up at 2 days notice unrehearsed & that the performers were just drawn from a Brigade on Active Service. In the middle of one song by a sergeant in the Sappers the lights all went out for some reason.

He extemporised a verse on the subject & I never realised till afterwards that it was not intentional.

Submarine E54 commanded by Robert (Bobbie) Raikes in 1916 when she sank the German mine-laying submarine UC 10, and in 1917 when she sank the German submarine U 81. second lot of mules 7.30 third ditto.

8 o’clock 4th ditto till 8.30. I generally see this group in pyjamas and then return to shave and bath. 9 o’clock we have breakfast and the men get on grooming and hand scrubbing legs until 9.30 or 10. At 9.30 horses are watered and fed and at 10.15 mules the same. At 10.30 I make my rounds of inspection with the captain, doctor etc and afterwards see any sick animals, malefactors etc. At 12.30 horses are watered and fed again.

At 3.30 horses and mules are watered and fed. At 4.30 I get the horses out for an hour or more exercise in the place where the mules are exercised in the morning.

At 7 p.m. the mules have their 4th and last feed and at 8 p.m. the horses have their 5th and last feed.

22 October These flies get worse and worse. I have never seen anything like them. At meal times the table cloth and the food are black with them and if I was squeamish about that sort of thing I should starve. It has been drizzling all today. I think rain at sea is almost more cheerless than rain on land. We had a great excitement this morning, a man fell overboard from the “Clan Macphee”. Several ships stopped or went astern or turned round and the result was considerable confusion in the convoy and a very good chance of a collision. The man was picked up after about 15 minutes and I reckon he was very lucky because this morning early I saw a large shark quite close to this ship and I expect there are a lot of them

following the convoy for the horses and mules that die. We are all right on this ship so far, in fact all the horses and mules are very fit.

Three brothers meet before the Battle of Cambrai, November 1917 From The Story of the 29th Division While the headquarters of the S.W.B. [South Wales Borderers] were waiting in our front line for the signal for the division to advance, an interesting family gathering took place. The commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel G. T. Raikes, was examining the country in front when he was joined by his brother, Captain W. T. Raikes, the divisional machine-gun officer. They had not been long discussing the situation when a tank arrived and disgorged yet another brother, Captain D. T. Raikes, commanding a section of the tanks supporting the division in the attack, and the council of war was thus increased to three. Some family!

One of the brothers said: “The Old Lady would be horrified to see us up here together, a perfect target for a German machine gun”.

the old radleian 2014

19

Letters from the Front

The Raikes Family in World War I The list of medals is restricted to the DSO and MC. It does not include the Croix de Guerre, Legion d’Honneur or the Star, War and Victory medals.

where he rowed in his college eight. He took his degree in 1895, and was admitted a solicitor (in partnership with his father) in 1900. In the same year he married Harriet Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Arrow Kempe, and leaves two sons and three daughters. Though considerably over military age, he offered his services, and in the autumn of 1915, he obtained a commission, and volunteered for active service. In February, 1916, he was seconded for service with the Machine-Gun Corps, and after eight month’s training he was sent with his company to the front, where he arrived early last December.

There was something really heroic and yet typically English in F. M. Raikes’s offering his life for his country at an age when he might have stayed at home. “He had high ideals and a love of the beautiful in form and character, in nature and art and literature.” Again, “he joyed in physical effort which taxed his resourcefulness and endurance – if it involved hardship so much the better.” ‘I should like to find myself in a tight corner,’ he said on one occasion. One of his friends writes, ‘Never was anyone so full of the spirit of right living and right enjoyment as he.’ Radley has a right to be proud of such a son.

Lawrence Taunton Raikes b 1882

He served with the Royal Artillery 1916 Wounded at Ypres 1916 DSO He was Mentioned in Despatches two times.

Geoffrey Taunton Raikes b 1884

Frederick Monro Raikes

The Radleian, March 24 1917

Freddie was 42 at the start of WWI and practising as a Solicitor. He was beyond the age at which he could be expected to fight, yet he volunteered to do so, became a Lieutenant in the Machine Gun Corps and was killed in Mesopotamia in February 1917.

Second Lieutenant Frederick Monro Raikes (Radley, 1885-1891), South Wales Borderers, who was killed on February 22, was the eldest son of Mr. R. T. Raikes, of Treberfydd, Brecknockshire, and a grandson of the late Dr. Henry Monro.

Born in 1872, he was educated at Radley and Corpus Christi College, Oxford,

b 1872

20

the old radleian 2014

He served with the South Wales Borderers 1916 DSO He led forward his reserve under very great difficulty with the greatest coolness and courage. After dark he personally supervised the withdrawal of his wounded.

1918 Bar to DSO Under very difficult conditions he organised the defence of his line against a strong enemy counter-attack. On a latter occasion he led his battalion headquarters to the attack, and thereby checked the advance of the enemy averting what might have become a very serious situation. Throughout the operations he ceaselessly exposed himself to heavy shell and machine-gun fire, and by his example of fearlessness and energy did much to stimulate the morale of his men.

1918 2nd Bar to DSO For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in command of the remnants of two brigades, formed as one battalion. Though both flanks had gone he held on, encouraging his men and repelling frequent enemy attacks. When the situation was critical he inspired his men by his brilliant example, and it was due to his absolute disregard of danger, capacity for command, and powers of organization that the line held to the last.

He was Mentioned in Despatches five times.

During World War II he was recalled to be General Officer Commanding 38 (Welsh) Division of the Territorial Army.

Robert Henry Taunton Raikes b 1885

He served in the Royal Navy and was commanding the submarine E 54 on 21 August 1916 when she sank the German mine-laying submarine UC 10, and on 1 May 1917 when she sank the submarine U 81.

When war broke out in 1939 he had just been appointed Vice-Admiral Commanding the Reserve Fleet, in succession to Vice-Admiral Sir Max Horton. In December, 1939, he again succeeded that officer as Vice-Admiral Commanding the Northern Patrol, operating between the Shetlands, Iceland, and Norway. In August, 1940, he became Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic Station, and held the command until late in 1941. He was placed on the retired list in October, 1942, after promotion to Admiral, but continued to serve during the rest of the war as Flag Officer-inCharge at Aberdeen.

Wilfrid Taunton Raikes b 1892

He served with the South Wales Borderers and The Machine Gun Corps 1918 MC Whilst in charge of the divisional machine guns, he, time after time, went through the heaviest barrages to visit his guns, and it was entirely due to his personal supervision of the organization of the machine-gun defence that the enemy were so successfully checked. Throughout the operations he rendered invaluable service, and displayed untiring energy, courage and endurance.

1918 Bar to MC The excellent work done by the machinegun companies was principally owing to personal reconnaissances made by this officer under heavy machine-gun and shell fire. He showed great energy and determination.

1916 DSO

1918 DSO

1917 Bar to DSO

He was Mentioned in Despatches three times.

He was Mentioned in Despatches.

David Taunton Raikes b 1897

He served with the South Wales Borderers and The Tank Corps 1917 MC He personally led his tanks to their objective under heavy shell and machinegun fire, and, when his tank received a direct hit, which killed the Commander and wounded most of the crew, he went forward on foot with the remaining tanks and directed a successful attack upon hostile machine-guns. Finally, when three of his four tanks were placed out of action, he organized a party and salved all the Lewis guns under very heavy fire.

1918 DSO He directed his tanks in an attack with utter disregard of danger, continually going about on foot giving orders in full view of the enemy and exposed to heavy fire. On the following day he directed nine other tanks in addition to his own in the attack, and set a magnificent example of courage and contempt of danger throughout.

1919 Bar to MC This officer closely followed the advance on foot, horseback, and bicycle as he found the means, redirecting his Tanks as the situation demanded. Throughout the week’s operations he was continually reconnoitring in the front area, frequently under heavy fire of every description.

He was Mentioned in Despatches three times.

2015 Old Radleian

The next Old Radleian magazine will celebrate the extraordinary bravery of more ORs including Captain Oswald Austin Reid (at Radley 1910-1913) who won the V.C. in Mesopotamia in 1917.

the old radleian 2014

21

Letters from the Front

22

the old radleian 2014

© IWM

tt hh ee oo ll dd rr aa dd ll ee ii aa nn 22 00 11 44

23 23

Sir Patrick Nairne

Tributes to

sir patrick nairne GCB, MC, PC

Topfoto/UPP

Radley 1935-1940 The tributes were given at the Service of Thanksgiving, in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford, on 17 October 2013.

Sandy Nairne: Gathered here in the University Church, we are in the most appropriate place to honour my father, Patrick Nairne. Oxford was a significant strand in his life, from student days at University College before and after the war … to becoming Master at St Catherine’s. The university also represented intellectual purpose, including his resolute Christian faith, notable for its continuing spiritual exploration. When he stood here on 19 November 1989 to give the University Sermon on the subject of ‘pride’, he said: “We should never take pride in our humility, and we should always be humble in our pride”. Whatever pride he took in his own life – in his great energy, intelligence and dedication – it was matched by the pride he felt in the achievements of others.

In the wonderful letters written since June to my mother, Penny, and to myself and my sisters and brothers – Kathy, Fiona, James, Andrew and Margaret – we were moved by the many affectionate memories from all parts of his life. One summed up many others: “Your father was a man of integrity, vision and great panache … His was clearly a race well rowed”. … This fine life started with a fine father, LieutenantColonel Charles Sylvester Nairne, both soldier and watercolour painter, and a fine mother, Edith Dalmahoy Kemp, who combined an occasionally dour Scots manner with singing in the church choir and taking part in local amateur dramatics. Looking back, my father acknowledged an over-riding cohesion, 24

the old radleian 2014

although as he put it: “There was little or no money to spare – no scope for spoiling the young. The loud bark when required of a retired colonel, but quiet firmness rather than sharp bite … Tea at Plover Hill was a symbol of family stability – punctually every day at 4.30pm”.

In that house on the Downs near Winchester they brought up four sons: Sandy, Patrick, James (who is here today) and David. When tragically Sandy died of peritonitis as a teenager, Patrick became the eldest son. He had boarded first at Hordle House, but after winning a scholarship to Radley College he was offered an education of life-long value, and life-long friendships such as with Peter Way (who is also here today). By the time this bright attentive student was awarded an Exhibition to read Classics at Univ … it was already the War. By the end of which, still only 24, he had served with great bravery and distinction as a Seaforth Highlander (like his father, and his brother James), won the Military Cross at Francofonte in Sicily in July 1943, and been wounded twice. Part of a generation of gallant young heroes, he returned to Univ after the war, switched from Classics to Modern History, and surprised himself, after what he called a ‘tough’ viva, in being awarded a First.

By the summer of 1947 amidst great uncertainty about what career he should follow (and not yet knowing that several years of Tuberculosis were looming) a crucial encounter with an English Literature student at Lady Margaret Hall had taken place.

My father took November to be a month of particular significance. Perhaps the onset of winter gave more emphasis to his energetic ability to find happiness when the world was looking less sunny.

November 1947 had great importance.

His diary entry for Sunday 23 simply states: “What CAN I write? At 3 o’clock in the afternoon in Cornbury Park I asked Penny to marry me. She said ‘Yes’ … I can only slowly appreciate how my life is enriched.”

From their wedding ceremony in September the next year, at St Andrew’s church in North Oxford, Penny’s love and support for him extended for more than 64 years. At Hammersmith Terrace, South Lodge, St Catherine’s,

Yew Tee and Tulip Tree, they remained attentive to a growing family – ending up with the exact number to dance an eightsome reel – and later attentive to our partners, and our children – always showing as Kathy puts it: “a mixture of thoughtful and practical advice with love, support, appreciation and encouragement”. “Parenthood” my father advised “is a subtle condition requiring the exercise of understanding, sympathy and forbearance.” My mother and he oversaw six of us with brilliant equity of attention mixed with general liberality and generosity (so different from the strictures of his own childhood) … and an over-arching encouragement towards a creative life.

Alongside his career in the Civil Service other interests developed. My father’s youthful passion for golf was sadly unfulfilled – although still expressed in the occasional imaginary swing of a club in the kitchen after Sunday lunch. However, knowing his father’s own collection of hand-writing and influenced by two Admiralty colleagues, Alfred Fairbank (founder of the Society for Italic Handwriting) and Arthur Osley, he developed a characteristic italic script, effective for annotating memoranda (in a pre-computer age) and giving his own drafts a particular flair. As my sister Fiona, herself a calligrapher, rightly comments: “Handwriting was a way of expressing himself artistically every day”.

Following his father’s lead, watercolour painting became a serious pursuit. Hobby would never have been the right word for the continuing challenge of painting outdoors, mostly amidst the shifting British weather. “Not enough light” was a familiar cry on holiday mornings.

But whether tackling the purple-mauve Welsh mountains, the umber hues of Spanish hills, or more frequently the sails of the Redwing fleet off Bembridge in the Isle of Wight, laying wet on wet, and squeezing Payne’s Grey, Hooker’s Green or Prussian Blue out onto his folding metal palette, this was the perfect complement to a demanding public and family life. And his paintings are good – good enough to be included in London gallery exhibitions. After finishing a work it was only my father who would make a disparaging remark; explaining: “I am always hopeful that the next painting will achieve what I am seeking”. While

travelling together on a defence tour in the later 1960s, the then Defence Secretary Denis Healey expressed affable impatience when his Principal Private Secretary, Patrick Nairne, would be wanting to finish a watercolour sketch while Healey himself had some time ago taken all the photographs that interested him.

Other elements of my father’s love of art included visiting exhibitions, supporting other artists in the Association of Civil Service Art Clubs, serving on the Board of Royal College of Art, exhibiting in various art societies, both in Charlbury and here in Oxford (and I should mention that my brother Andrew has arranged for a few watercolours to be on view today at Univ after the Service). He also enjoyed puzzling over the concepts and challenges of contemporary art, and as Chair of the Advisory Board of Modern Art Oxford he actively wanted to encourage the appreciation of new art.

His strong visual sense was matched by listening to music (Mozart or Schubert might be playing in the drawing room), an interest in theatre expressed as a Trustee of the Oxford School of Drama, and a life-long love of reading, whether novels

by R. C. Hutchinson or Anthony Powell, biography, or histories, including those by his life-long friend Jan Morris, which overlapped with his own fascination with place. It is hard to know how he found time for such reading. However, he also enjoyed the particular pleasure of listening to published diaries or letters read out-loud by my mother while another watercolour progressed.

It is almost impossible to convey his wit and humour – sometimes just a raised eyebrow, or a wry riposte such as ‘Hands off that Ham’ or ‘Liberty Hall’, if something excessive was asked for at home. In a letter he refers to having “a detached sense of the ridiculous” and a laugh or smile was always close by. This remained the case during his last ten years of pain, when he showed again his great bravery. Constantly sociable, constantly interested in the lives of others. “What will you be busy with next week?” was not mere social repartee, but a genuine enquiry. Whether helping host an event as President of the Seamen’s Hospital Society or as Chancellor of the University of Essex … or sitting with one of us after tea – he wanted to know. the old radleian 2014

25

Sir Patrick Nairne

What then are the key elements of such a life lived to the full? A devoted husband, a fine public servant, a talented painter, an energetic maker of change, an inspiring example to children, grand-children and innumerable colleagues, and a great spirit … still with us all. [The Nairne family motto: Spes Ultra – Hope Beyond.]

Sir Andrew Motion: I met Sandy on his first day at Radley College forty-eight years ago and he immediately became my best friend and has remained so ever since. My own family were country people (despite the fact that my father, a brewer, worked in London) and they did country things: walking, riding horses, that sort of stuff.

I loved my life, my home life anyway, and I loved my parents. But they were not – well, they were not much given to the life of the mind. My mother read a bit but my father used to say he’d read half a book in his life. We never went to the theatre, or art galleries. Ballet we thought was a kind of gymnastic perversion. And we didn’t talk much either, except to affirm things we already knew. Debate? Forget it. Discussion? No thanks. Little boys, in particular, were meant to be seen and not heard – as I was often reminded.

From this you can easily imagine that when I first went to stay with Sandy in South Lodge, in the summer holidays of 1966 when I was thirteen rising fourteen, I found myself in a completely strange world. It wasn’t exactly in the countryside for one thing – and that was a big difference. At home the pub down the road was full of farmers. In Surrey you might see the Moody Blues propping up the bar. Everyone in the house felt connected with this wider world. Everyone knew what was going on.

Everyone talked all the time. Everyone had an opinion. Everyone thought cultural things were part of everyday life.

To say it struck me with the force of revelation is a serious understatement.

It astonished me. And so did the family astonish me. There were so many of them! Margaret, who I think was only 5 or 6 years old then, twinkling in the shadows with all the confidence of the beloved last-born. Andrew and James like miniature tornadoes, swirling round and towards and away from one another.

26

the old radleian 2014

Sandy being Sandy, which is a subject for another day. Fiona almost unbelievably glamorous, sitting in her softly-lit bedroom listening to bands like Curved Air and reading – what? – reading Dag Hammarskjold, of course; Kathy rather at one remove, being older and wiser; Penny keeping order, or asking questions, or giving orders, or cooking, and always (it seemed to me) living in a paperweight snowstorm of articles she was clipping from the newspapers and dispatching to all corners of the family.

And Pat. I see him now as I saw him first, at what must have been Sunday lunch, round a crowded table, with the sun shining in, and the window behind him giving a half-view of the garden of South Lodge – a garden terribly flattened and polished by the children’s charging feet.

He’s smiling: that amused three-quarters smile. He’s listening and observing, as if he finds all this kerfuffle loveable and necessary but at the same time extraordinary and slightly farcical. His eyes are twinkling. He’s laughing – that sudden and unexpected-sounding bark of laughter.

And he’s talking. He’s talking to me. He’s commending me for having noticed there are new flowers in a little vase in the middle of the dining table – they’ve been changed since breakfast. Goodness knows why I’ve said something about this – but never mind; he’s making me feel good about it. Making me feel it’s clever to notice things, in fact, and that’s a new thing for me.

So of course I become bolder and start chatting to him – there’s obviously no rule here about being seen and not heard.

Forty-seven years later I can’t remember what we talked about. But I do remember how the conversation ended, before we all went belting off to do the next thing.

Pat told me I should always ask the third question. The third question? What was that? Was it something to do with girls?

I realised pretty soon that Pat was still taking about paying attention. He was saying that in all our dealings with others we must be curious and committed to life; he was saying ‘take an interest’; he was saying ‘push on beyond the predictable’; he was saying ‘sound things

out’; he was saying ‘don’t let anything be alien to you’; he was saying ‘get involved’; he was ‘saying ‘life is rich – embrace it, quiz it, develop it, test it, enjoy it’.

In the years to come, I discovered that what I’d heard that Sunday was the essence of Pat. His kindly attention to me was a proof of his great interest in everyone he came across; of his wish to encourage; of the way he matched cleverness with warm feelings; of his seriousness – which never lost its connection with his equally strong sense of the absurd. All in all, he knew better than most what it means to pay attention – as a Civil Servant, as a painter, as a sociable man, as a family man: he knew that by paying attention we see into the life of things.

I’ve spent all my own life feeling indebted and grateful to him – for this initiating conversation and many other things beside. The comfort we find in his loss, if there is one, is seeing the qualities he so nobly embodied being diversified with such loveable effect in Penny, and their children, and their children’s children.

Lord Wilson of Dinton: Patrick Dalmahoy Nairne was a great public servant all his life.

A brave soldier in the War, he moved from military to civil service in 1947.

The Civil Service Commission, no doubt mindful of his army background, sent him to the Admiralty. After a year he gave his impressions in a letter which I quote.

“First, one must be prepared to work intellectually hard for very long hours – and by ‘hard’ I of course mean with maximum possible ‘output’ in return for the hours at one’s desk”. His use of ‘output’ was advanced. It was not often used by civil servants of themselves until the management reforms of the 80s. And, my goodness, he did work hard.

“Secondly, the joy of the work must be found in the variety of intellectual problems set.” Deep, intelligent curiosity was the mark of the man.

“Thirdly, . . . there is plenty of scope in the lowest ranks of the administrative class for responsibility and initiative.” As in

the war, so in the Civil Service, he was up there in the front-line reconnoitring the problems so that his Ministers would not fall into enemy hands.

His Ministers were grateful. In 1959, Lord Carrington ‘arrived back from Australia to become First Lord of the Admiralty to be met at Heathrow by Pat who was the best, most understanding and competent private secretary I’ve ever had’.

Five years later he was private secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence, Denis Healey. They hit it off. In Denis Healey’s words, he was ‘brilliant, helpful and multitalented’. “Unfailing courtesy and a pretty wit made him a joy to work with; he well described Sir John Grandy as ‘a goodlooking wild boar’ and when I escaped his care for an hour in Hong Kong he asked innocently if I had been ‘to see a fellow called Bunbury’. ” Promotion came in 1973 when he became Second Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office, Head of the European Unit and the Civil Contingencies Unit.

Within months he was pitched into blackouts and 3-day working. This was the first time I came across his name, though he was far senior to me. I was in the Department of Energy, responsible for energy policy. Senior officials would return from the Cabinet Office reporting what Nairne had said: crisp, authoritative guidance.

In 1975, after master-minding the national referendum on membership of the EEC, he was promoted to Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health and Social Security. His new Secretary of State, Barbara Castle, wrote in her diary that Denis Healey ‘raves about him’. He won her trust too.

He impressed his civil servants. One, Alice Perkins, thought that he was the embodiment of the civil servant she wanted to be. Another, Michael Partridge, says that he was an extremely kind, courteous and organised man of whom he never heard anyone say anything derogatory.

It was a formidable, probably impossible, assignment. In Pat’s own words, ‘I was sentenced to five-and-a-half years at the Elephant’. He never grumbled but I can recall my own permanent secretary, Ken Couzens, saying what a dreadful job being

permanent secretary of DHSS was, and how well Pat grappled with it despite being harassed by long hours of preparation for the Public Accounts Committee. Pat Nairne himself estimated that at least a quarter of his time had to be devoted to the PAC. It was a hard slog. Looking back in 1983, Pat said that the permanent secretary “may often be 12 hours in the department, with only a quarter of that time in his own office; and, after showing the Departmental flag at some official function in the evening, he will frequently slog away at his papers at home until after midnight. It is not a more exacting job than that of the Secretary of State, but it can last for a longer period of years…’

He did the job exceptionally well and emerged with a glowing reputation.

Was he the model for Sir Humphrey in ‘Yes, Minister’? I do not know. But he had the right turn of phrase. He once said to Denis Healey: ‘I could not fail to disagree with you less, Secretary of State’.

He was passionate about the Civil Service.

In an article published shortly after his retirement he remarked that over the previous decade there had been a slump in the morale of the Civil Service. He went on to say that at a time when it was fashionable to denigrate civil servants, Government Ministers had to do more than insert an occasional passage of praise in their speeches. The key to good morale, he said, lay in the promotion of partnership between Ministers and officials, and a spirit of mutual confidence.

His words resonate today.

On retirement, he returned to Oxford to become Master of Saint Catherine’s College, as well as an honorary Fellow at his old College, University College, to which he was devoted. He was an inspired choice to succeed Alan Bullock. His tact, gentle diplomacy and administrative skills were what the College needed and he felt immediately at home. He nurtured new traditions, launched its 25th Anniversary Appeal, took an interest in the research of his Fellows and relished his contact with the young.

He found time to be on the Franks committee on the Falklands. Denis Healey asserts that Pat himself drafted the final

paragraphs of the report which exonerated the Government. And he served as a government monitor in Hong Kong, assessing local reaction to the agreement to hand over Hong Kong to China.

After retiring from Saint Catherine’s he became Chancellor of the University of Essex. Sir Martin Harris, a new and inexperienced Vice-Chancellor in 1987, remembers “his genuine interest and wise counsel, always supportive, never intrusive.”

He became involved in the complex discussions leading up to the setting up of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, and became its first chairman in 1992. This was a seriously important achievement.

He assembled a world-class Council including such figures as Onora O’Neill and John Gurdon, the Nobel prizewinner. Under his leadership they established a high reputation with reports on genetic screening, human tissue and xenotransplantation. He remained interested in the Council’s work to the last.

As a trustee of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation for 14 years he was intensely interested in social affairs and played a central role in steering the Foundation’s research programme. In their words ‘he was incredibly influential.’ Housing and homelessness, parenthood, inequality in the distribution of wealth: all were addressed in his time.

There were many other commitments, ranging from the Board of Central Television and VSO to the National Maritime Museum. I must mention one: his membership of the Governing Body of Radley, his old school, for which he retained a deep affection. He gave generously of his wise advice for 23 years and spearheaded the building of an Arts Centre. It gave me deep pleasure to discover his friendship with Peter Way who coached me for Cambridge.

How does one remember this talented Renaissance man who shone in so many spheres?

He had great charm and tact and a gift for friendship.

He had a genuine curiosity and interest in other people, and was good at listening carefully without interruption. the old radleian 2014

27

Sir Patrick Nairne

can be . . . it is still there, provoking in me gloomy thoughts about the Vanity of Human Wishes, all Flesh being Grass and all that. I am often shocked that serenity should be so skin-deep. Blister my knee and the spectre of death marches at my side; give me a touch of flu and malignant melancholia shrivels my smile. I laugh at such weakness (and when pushed to it, conceal it); but why should it exist? I feel myself to be a very happy man, blessed ten thousand times.

And yet always in one’s spiritual veins there runs this dark bitter stream of pessimism. Perhaps it is essential, if one is to reach out a finger length towards attaining a state of grace. I would also argue that it is necessary nourishment for a state of happiness.

A watercolour of Radley by Sir Patrick Nairne He was a man of great integrity, serious without being earnest, drawn to the most difficult problems. His lecture about the National Health Service to the Royal Society of Medicine in 1988 was another statement which resonates today. “I very much doubt whether the NHS should stand for any more major changes of organisation or structure. In my own experience it is a mistake to assume that organisational reform is an easy, or the best, cure for policy problems.” Since then there have been at least four major reorganisations. Those were wise words.

He knew how to win an argument with courtesy. He once said to a distinguished academic in a meeting: “Coming from anyone else Charles, I would have thought that a foolish comment but, from you, I know there must be more than meets the eye. However, after giving it more thought, I fear I must disagree”.

He understood the importance of a happy family life. After chairing a selection panel at the Joseph Rowntree Trust, he remarked of the successful candidate: “He is very impressive in every respect. But he needs a couple of teenage children to make sure he does not get too pompous.”

In short, he was a lovely man. We offer our sympathy to his family in their loss.

And we feel very lucky to have known 28

the old radleian 2014

someone so exceptional and talented who made such an extensive contribution as a public servant and was such a good friend. He was a remarkable and outstanding figure in his time.

From the Service sheet: PDN letter to his daughter, Fiona Greenwood 1994: It is an intellectual and emotional deprivation to be untouched by a spiritual or religious dimension to life. I have become increasingly conscious of the mystery of it all. I do not try to define or describe in my mind the God to whom I pray. I believe in the reality of Jesus Christ and I have a conviction of Christ in one’s being – a power of love and support on which one can draw through prayer. I regard Christian faith as a matter of will, to be sustained by trying to live by it. I have always warmed to some words in Evelyn Waugh’s diary for 3 January 1954: “Church again. My prayer is now only ‘Here I am again. Show me what to do.

Help me to do it’”.

Any contemporary of ours will be an odd fellow if he genuinely overflows with buoyant Browning; wars are admirable at teaching a man not to expect too much from the future.

Set off on an August Bank Holiday resigned to pouring rain all afternoon and one will gladly put up with a few grey clouds. The soundest basis of contentment and happiness is the unblinking recognition that all is not Right with the world and never shall be, world without end. But there . . . (except of course for unprovoked aggression from fascist fish bones), we are both well and in what BBC war reporters used to rejoice in calling Good Heart.

Extract from a talk given to the Association of Physicians, 1983: My last word is an expression of confident hope. The NHS remains the greatest public enterprise of this century nurtured in a dedication to equal care and developed with a blend of humanity, invention and academic distinction, which has no equal.

PDN letter to Christopher Fyfe, 1949:

In my own gloomier moments in my office at the Elephant and Castle, I used to recall the opening words of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities – a fair description, you may agree, of the spirit and climate of our National Health Service today in all its many parts:

I got a fishbone stuck in my throat at supper this evening. How irritating this

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was

Tom Phillips

the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way . . .”

Even if you cannot claim to be going direct to Heaven – your work together can rightly be regarded as a spring of hope in a season of light. Long may you all flourish!

A letter which Patrick particularly liked and sent to his grandchildren. He referred to the fact that The Revd Sydney Smith was: “The kind of positive, witty, buoyant character I would like to be but, I fear, am not”.

Advice to Lady Georgiana February 16th, 1820 Dear Lady Georgiana, Nobody has suffered more from low spirits than I have done – so I feel for you.

1st. Live as well as you dare.

2nd. Go into the shower-bath with a small quantity of water at a temperature low enough to give you a slight sensation of cold, 75° or 80°.

3rd. Amusing books.

4th. Short views of human life – not further than dinner or tea.

5th. Be as busy as you can.

6th. See as much as you can of those friends who respect and like you.

7th. And of those acquaintances who amuse you.

8th. Make no secret of low spirits to your friends, but talk of them freely – they are always worse for dignified concealment.

9th. Attend to the effects tea and coffee produce upon you.

10th. Compare your lot with that of other people.

11th. Don’t expect too much from human life – a sorry business at the best.

12th. Avoid poetry, dramatic representations (except comedy), music, serious novels, melancholy, sentimental people, and everything likely to excite feeling or emotion, not ending in active benevolence.

A portrait of Sir Patrick Nairne by Tom Phillips which hangs in St Catherine’s College, Oxford 13th. Do good, and endeavour to please everybody of every degree.

14th. Be as much as you can in the open air without fatigue.

15th. Make the room where you commonly sit, gay and pleasant.

16th. Struggle by little and little against idleness.

17th. Don’t be too severe upon yourself, or underrate yourself, but do yourself justice.

18th. Keep good blazing fires.

19th. Be firm and constant in the exercise of rational religion.

20th. Believe me, dear Lady Georgiana, Very truly yours, Sydney Smith

the old radleian 2014

29

One Man Short

BOAT RACE 1843 oxford win with only seven oarsmen & HENLEY 1868 cox jumps overboard

W. B. (“Guts”) Woodgate who rowed in the Radley eight of 1858, and for Oxford in 1862 and 1863, arranged for the cox of his Brasenose Four to jump overboard at Henley in 1868. The story has been told before in a previous edition of this magazine but not by the cox, Fred Weatherly, who could not swim. He also tells of the 1843 Boat Race. No Radley oarsmen were involved in that Boat Race – it would be another four years before Radley was founded.

From Piano and Gown, the memoirs of Fred. E. Weatherly (published 1926)

Henley, 1843 and 1868 The length of the memory of those old boys reminds me of what Thompson of Trinity told me of the Henley of 1843.

30

the old radleian 2014

Thompson was curate of Portishead when my father started in practice.

He was a great friend and became my godfather. When I went up to Oxford, and told him of my doings on the river, he told me one of his experiences.

The Oxford and Cambridge race in the summer of 1843 [not an official University Boat Race – crews from both Oxford and Cambridge had entered the same event at Henley] was rowed at Henley, a far more suitable time and place than Putney in March as it has always seemed to me, and never more so than this year (1925) when the race proved a fiasco. It has always seemed so absurd that men should be trained to row on quiet river reaches, where you feather low with scarcely a ripple to disturb the feather, and then suddenly

be launched upon a river where the March winds make regular waves and where weight and strength and choice of station are more potent factors than skilful oarsmanship.

The time for the great event had arrived, the crew were seated, the word “forward, all” was given, when FletcherMenzies fainted. He was rowing stroke.

The crew tumbled out and carried him to the Red Lion and got back to the bank with a substitute. But by the Rules of the Regatta a substitute was not allowed because the crew had already rowed a trial heat against Eton. So the Oxford crew was rearranged: Thompson kept his place at four; Bow’s thwart was left empty, and with seven oars they beat Cambridge. As Dean Hole says in his Memories:

The Radley VIII of 1858 at Henley. W. B. Woodgate is second from the left in the back row.

W. B. Woodgate at Oxford in 1863 (left), wearing his customary hat (centre) and with H. M. Evans, OR and Radley coach (right) the old radleian 2014

31

One Man Short

Had they been the Seven against Thebes, or the Seven Champions of Christendom or the Seven Bishops who stepped out of the boat at the Tower, they could not have been cheered more heartily.

Dean Hole gives the names and seats of the oarsmen and Thompson is four.

I believe my godfather’s version is correct.

Not because he was my godfather, but because he had kept his oar, and because Dean Hole’s account supports him.

Tuckwell’s version of the story, however, leaves out Thompson altogether.

That, however, was not the only case when a boat short of one of its crew won a race at Henley. In 1868 the first coxswainless race was rowed in England.

The year was to me a memorable one for it is associated with my two favourite occupations, the river and song writing. It was the year of my first published song.

I had already steered my College boat at Oxford, but in 1868 I made my first appearance at Henley – which I hoped might lead to the higher honour of steering the ‘Varsity Eight.

[Note from the editor: In Paris in 1867 there was an international regatta. Of the seven four-oared crews competing, one was from Saint John, New Brunswick and two were English crews. Also competing was Woodgate in the single sculls. The crew from Saint John was victorious but raced without a coxswain while all the other crews contained a coxswain.

Woodgate, meanwhile won his sculling race and left Paris with some notes and drawings of the Saint John boat in his pocket and maybe a plan for the 1868 Henley.]

Brasenose had a coxswainless four built for the express purpose of testing the capacity of that kind of craft, then not known in England. The boat was built in a public yard and the crew trained in public, and our entry for Henley was an event of very great interest in the rowing world. Our entry was accepted and no objection raised by the Stewards.

The crew was in training at Henley under W. B. Woodgate, who was then an acknowledged oarsman of great skill and with a command of picturesque, not to say violent, language. It always struck me as strange that strong-tongued though 32

the old radleian 2014

he was on the river bank, in court he was the mildest-mannered man that ever addressed judge and jury.

The crew consisted of Champneys (who rowed bow) and Woodgate (two), who did the steering by a pedal and wire attached to the rudder ; Rumsey (three), and Crofts, stroke.

Two days before the race the stewards passed a special rule: No boat shall start without a cox.

That could be evaded by taking a cox to the start and dropping him after the word “Go.” And accordingly I was wired for. I remember that wire to this day and the place where I received it. I was at my window looking across the Bristol Channel at the Welsh Mountains, just finishing the first of my songs that was ever set to music, “A message o’er the sea.”

My dear old friend, Joseph L. Roeckel, set it; indeed it was at his suggestion and with help and guidance from him – a man not only of great musical skill but of a refined literary taste – that I took to writing songs.

It was he who directed my reading and told me of the great German song writers – Heine, Uhland, Wilhelm Müller.

On that particular day the “Message o’er the sea” sank into absolute unimportance compared with the message of the wire. I packed and started for Henley immediately, leaving my dear devoted mother to collect and preserve the scraps of paper on which I was writing my verses. I did not know for what I was wanted. I knew our boat was at Henley, and the telegram came from Henley and was signed “Woodgate.” And no one ever started to take up the post of Viceroy of India with greater pride and speculation than I did.

Arriving at the Red Lion, I was told what I had to do. I was to squat on the dummy seat of our boat at the start, and at the word “Go,” go overboard, quietly, so as not to rock the boat. I could not swim a stroke, and by way of encouragement I was told that the river was fifteen feet deep at the starting place. However, with the aid of a fatherly waterman I managed to learn in the few hours at my disposal to swim a few strokes, and I practised the jumping overboard from a chair at the hotel.

We drew the centre station and there was no doubt as to the depth of the water there! I had run down to the start alongside our boat and there was considerable difficulty in putting me aboard and getting out to our position, for the seat on which I squatted was so placed that stroke could not move his oar. He, however, “held” the boat while the rest of the crew paddled her out. I confided in the man in the punt, who held our rudder till the word “Go” should be given, that I could not swim, and as my heart was in my mouth I felt it distinctly thumping when I slid down into the weeds at the bottom of the river. However, my capacity for struggling in the most adverse circumstances which has never deserted me in my long life did not desert me then, and with the help of the man in the punt I was soon safely on board and put ashore.

Woodgate told me afterwards that the boat did not even quiver when I went over, so my practice from the Red Lion chair had been to some purpose.

The result of the race was announced in the Standard the next morning as follows: Henley : The Ladies’ Plate: Brasenose won by eight lengths, but was disqualified for having thrown their cox overboard!

This was the first tidings my mother received about me since I had left home, and I believe her sobbing remark was : “Disqualified indeed, they ought to be tried for attempting to murder the poor dear boy.”

Champneys (now Sir Francis, the wellknown physician and obstetrician) writes me that he scales to-day precisely the same weight (eleven stone) as in the race at Henley. Woodgate died some years ago [1920], the same quaintly dressed old bird to the last. Crofts is also dead. Rumsey I cannot trace.

• • • The following year the Stewards offered a Presentation Cup for Coxswainless Fours and this was won by the Oxford Radleian Club, the first cup to be won by Radleians at Henley.

The cox of the crew, F. E. Weatherly, became a Barrister and also wrote the words for many popular ballads including Danny Boy, Roses of Picardy and the hymn The Holy City.

W. B. Woodgate, the ‘quaintly dressed old bird’

the old radleian 2014

33

Alan Thornill

alan thornhill Radley 1935-1939

Alan creating a portrait head of Nicholas Wollaston, novelist 34

the old radleian 2014

Born in West London in 1921, I was reared between 1925 and 1936 at Fittleworth in rural West Sussex.

In 1935 I went to my second spell of boarding school, at Radley and then, just after the outbreak of WW2 in 1939 to New College, Oxford.

Late in 1940 I enlisted as a private in the Gloucestershire Regiment, eventually becoming an officer in a cavalry regiment, and for a time I served as aide-de-camp to the fiery intellectual General who had been responsible for mapping the Western Desert during the inter-war years. Major General Sir Percy Hobart had now been charged with overseeing the development of special devices for use in the forthcoming Invasion of France, preparations for which were then the main focus of the war effort in the UK.

So in 1949 I spent a year in the pottery at Camberwell School of Art under Dick Kendal and Nora Bradon followed by a year at Farnham under Henry Hammond and Paul Barron.

At Camberwell I met the painter Sheila Denning. We married and moved in 1951 to Eastcombe near Stroud in Gloucestershire where in 1955 and 1957 our two daughters Anna and Teresa were born. In 1963 the marriage was dissolved.

In 1976 my son Philip Bittner was born.

Hearing through a friend, Roger James, of the work of Wilhelm Reich I travelled to Norway where one of Reich’s former trainees was in practice. I spent 6 months in Oslo doing odd jobs, learning Norwegian and undergoing Reichian Therapy. The main result of this period was the decision to return to London and try working creatively with my hands.

After sampling at several art departments various materials with which I might choose to work, the briefest encounter with clay produced in me a clear decision that this was the medium I was looking for.

Since 1957 I had been teaching pottery, part-time, at Kingston School of Art. However, as a result of changes brought about by the Summerson Committee’s report on Art Education, pottery at Kingston was dispensed with and in 1961 I was made redundant.

For the next two and a half years, from 1961, I did an evening and night job as a French-speaking telephone operator at the Continental Telephone Exchange near St Paul’s. This enabled me to continue with work in my newly contrived studio by day. By 1968 I had accumulated enough work for my first one-man show at the Drian Galleries, near Marble Arch.

Eventually returning at my own request to normal duties, I took part as a liaison officer in the D-Day landings in Normandy.

Later, while back in the UK recovering from an injury, the annihilation bombing of Dresden took place. In protest against this form of warfare, I became a conscientious objector. I was released from further service and having done 4 years in the army was free to return to Oxford, for two more years of study from 1946-48.

After obtaining a reasonably respectable degree but uncertain about my future direction, I decided to spend a shoe-string year in Italy, living in Florence, teaching part-time at the university of Pisa and travelling about the country, looking at its treasures. I came to realise that I was in a state of bafflement and impasse regarding my future, but with a clear realisation that academic pursuits were not for me.

Having begun to feel frustrated by the repetitiveness involved in the making and selling of pots, and helped by a friend, Jack Greaves, I had already started to gravitate towards sculpture. In 1959 we moved as a family to London, having found in Putney a property which included a semi-derelict outbuilding that could be made into a studio.

In 1965 I obtained a job, under the umbrella of Barking Regional College, at Rushlake Green in East London. Here I devised a course entitled Claywork which broadened the scope of the activities on offer to the students, many of whom were engineering apprentices on dayrelease. This course was supported by a pamphlet which I had written describing my procedures and pointing to the potential use of clay in art education.

Dennis Silk, Warden of Radley 1968-1991

I set up Hawkley Pottery in Eastcome which in due course became a supplier to Heals and to the seminal Sloane Street crafts shop founded by Henry Rothschild, Primavera. My pottery came to be included on the Council of Industrial Design’s ‘Index of Good Design’ and pieces went to the Council’s exhibitions abroad in Hamburg and Helsinki. My work was shown regularly at the annual shows of the Guild of Gloucestershire Craftsmen at Painswick, and ceramic jewellery found its way to Mary Quant’s trendy shop in the Kings Road, Chelsea.

In 1967 I was invited by the Art Advisor to the London Borough of Redbridge to run a short course for teachers.

Maurice Barratt afterwards wrote: “You successfully encouraged us to approach the clay as if for the first time. In this way the clay was able to speak to us and create fresh avenues for exploration…

You made us all reconsider our attitudes during a very limited period of time.”

Of my three-year period of teaching in the Barking area my senior lecturer, Trevor Lakin Hall ARCA, wrote: “Alan has used the flexibility of clay to promote creative thinking that has become a basic feature of our education. The recent exhibition which he presented showing work by these students elicited wide and enthusiastic acclaim.” the old radleian 2014

35

Alan Thornill

Bond – Terracotta Bronze part of the Jerwood Collection on display at Ragley Hall in Warwickshire

36

the old radleian 2014

Totem (or Heads and Bodies) – Clay (Terracotta) Bronze

the old radleian 2014

37

Alan Thornill

Mother & Child

38

the old radleian 2014

This show attracted a visit from Hampstead

by Joanna Field/Marion Milner, the wellknown psychoanalyst and author of On Not Being Able to Paint, who wrote of my “insight into the nature of art and obvious skill in communicating his vision and enthusiasm.” There occurred too a brief but warmly confirming correspondence with the psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott.

Teaching in the Barking area involved a long early morning journey right through London from west to east. In 1970 I took a job in Adult Education at Morley College, nearer home, in Lambeth. I started with just an evening class, but with a foot in the door, the commitment expanded quite quickly to two full days a week.

Eventually my courses changed from Pottery to Claywork to Sculpture, at the newly acquired Pelham Hall annexe nearby.

This job was to last for 17 years until my retirement in 1987.

During this period and until 1991, in my Putney studio, and sometimes working alongside my students in the College, I was to produce, amongst other smaller works and portrait heads, 16 sizeable pieces of sculpture. All these sculptures were made in clay using methods devised to dispense with internal armatures. Firing in a kiln was thus made possible, and the elimination of the casting process, as well as freedom to make radical changes as the work progressed.

This method stemmed from the search for other less technical advantages. For instance it became possible to make pieces without having a prior idea as a starting point; instead using a process of improvisation. This was a practical response to temperamental propensities towards immediacy, adventure and the unforeseen. How do I know what I want until I see what I do?

Rather than from glimpses of other sculptors’ work, encouragement to proceed in this direction came from experiments that were going on in other media and fields of activity; for instance Roddy Maude-Roxby and Ben Benison’s Theatre Machine whose performances or antics, discovered in the cavernous back room of a pub in north London, explored the delights of immediacy for both doer and viewer.

Equally the verbal procedures, mask-work and physical games of Ed Berman-inspired Interaction workshops at Oval House, with

Kiss (Embrace) their multiplicity of wheezes to dissolve the habitual stand-offishness of the young when scenting any whiff of authority. In the field of dance there were Rosemary Butcher’s Contact Improvisation classes which I was allowed to observe. There were also performances by outstanding but modest cutting-edge dancers like Julien Hamilton and Maedee Dupres and the astonishing mover’s magic of the (mostly medical student) American company Pilobolus to be seen at Sadlers Wells. These experiences fed into and fuelled my efforts to achieve equivalent freedom in making and unpredictability of outcome in my own work.

Part of this unpredictability found expression in my offer to make a gift to the people of Wandsworth, the group of eight large sculptures now forming the Putney Sculpture Trail, inaugurated in 2008.

At the conclusion of my time at Morley on reaching retirement age, I was invited

by Rosemary Barnett FRBS, founder head of the recently formed Frink School of Sculpture based in Stoke on Trent, to become a Trustee, an invitation which I felt honoured to accept. I was also asked to do some part-time teaching. The school clientele were all full-time would-be

sculptors from various backgrounds and the school provided fellowship, tuition, experience and stimulus relating to a commonly shared interest and activity – a rare situation. That it lacked support from the artworld did not deter would-be candidates wishing indeed to avoid the supposedly all-pervading phenomenon of conceptualism in the established Art Schools of the country. The atmosphere was congenial and studious – the teaching varied, reputable and enjoyable.

I continued to participate until the long journey became an insuperable obstacle.

Sadly the exceptional school which many students enjoyed and benefitted from has now vanished without trace or adequate recognition for its admirable and dedicated Founder Rosemary Barnett.

Arguably more independent schools of this kind would be beneficial to students wanting freedom from the rigidity of current trends, whatever they happen to be at the time.

My final appearance at the Frink School was marked by a wonderful surprise feast in the school’s yard. It was for me a sad but happy moment to find myself saying goodbye to so many of whom I continued on page 41 the old radleian 2014

39

Alan Thornill

St Mary’s Mill with Latil Lodge

Gateway near Tarleton 40

the old radleian 2014

Visitation

from page 39 had grown paternally fond and with whom I maintain good ongoing contact.

Teaching, especially at the Frink, was a great experience for me and hopefully for many, reciprocal. I need forgiveness for not being the best of correspondents.

Putney Embankment from Sea Scouts Boat

Self-portrait with Straw Hat (Comatose) the old radleian 2014

41

Alan Thornill

The Putney Sculpture Trail The Trail was completed in 2008 but had started when Alan Thornhill donated ‘Load’ to Putney some 20 years earlier.

Above: Exodus (in Leaders Gardens) Right: Load (near Thai Square) Below: The Turning Point (corner of Putney High Street and Putney Bridge Road) Below right: Horizontal Ambiguity (opposite the Duke’s Head in Thames Place)

42

the old radleian 2014

Above: Punch & Judy (Putney Wharf, slipway) Above centre: Pygmalion (Wandsworth Park, East gate) Above right: Nexus (Wandsworth Park, southside, mid gate) Right: Fall (Putney Wharf, East) Below: Motherfigure More details can be found by searching online for Putney Sculpture Trail

the old radleian 2014

43

Starred Up

jo asser

Radley 1977-1982 44

the old radleian 2014

ŠRichard Saker for The Observer

From The Observer 9 March 2014

‘If I move he’ll attack’: mastering rage in prisoners Jonathan Asser used to struggle with his extreme rage until he learned to master it – and discovered a skill for calming violent prisoners. His experience led to a film and best-newcomer award at the London Film Festival “You fucking pussy!” Errol yells at me in his first group. He’s been putting pressure on Dwayne, who I can feel is about to kick off, so I’ve intervened to bring Errol’s focus on to me. “You fucking motherfucking prick!”

Errol’s pacing veers closer and closer to me with each pass. He points at me.

“I will fucking fuck you up right now!”

I’m scared, but it isn’t fear that holds my attention. It’s shame. I’m totally and utterly focussed on the excruciating feeling of exposure throbbing through me as Errol heaps disrespect on me in front of the group. And I know, from years of experience working in the heat of the moment with the most dangerous men in HMP Wandsworth, that we can get through this.

I could sense when Dwayne’s feeling of disrespect – of his rising shame – was going to make him blow. Now, as those explosive muscles bunch under his blue prison sweatshirt, it’s “shame awareness” that continues to tell me how to work with Errol.

I don’t look directly at him, and I don’t say anything, both of which at this moment would push him over the edge. Instead I communicate by sitting with my shoulders open and directly facing him, which shows I’m giving him my full attention and taking the risk he poses very seriously, while also showing the rest of the group I have the confidence to manage his risk.

Every nuance of my body language is critical right now.

There are three locked steel gates and two doors between me and the nearest member of staff, yet my finger never creeps toward the alarm button on my radio.

I’m still sitting on the biro-stabbed foam of my chair, both my feet planted on the vinyl

floor. I’m doing something no other solo officer, governor or civilian at this level of escalation with Errol in this prison would do. I’m controlling my fight-orflight response; I’m offering Errol a highstatus alternative to violence.

Then Errol does something else: he walks behind me. My fear spikes, but I don’t turn round. He goes silent. I keep looking forward. I can’t lapse even a millimetre into any kind of involuntary, fear-conditioned reaction, or he will attack. I stay with my shame. Other members of the group can see my fear, but they’re also seeing that it doesn’t control my behaviour. For the benefit of Errol, who’s unable to see my face right now and read the fear in my eyes, I let him know about it by using words.

“Errol, I want you to know that I’m frightened and I would really appreciate it, please, if you’d walk back round into my fucking field of vision.” The other members of the group, by watching and waiting in a relaxed but alert way, are backing me by staying out of their own fight-or-flight response. Our bond of trust is intact, and protecting that bond is what motivates me to manage this level of risk.

You see, the options are: a) violence, which transforms the feeling of shame and exposure into one of apparently potent self-confidence and force; b) running away – less desirable, especially in prison, because it comes across as weak and therefore makes you more vulnerable further down the line; or c) staying with the shame, feeling it and being fully in touch with it. By taking this last option, I’m able to hold my ground with Errol instead of backing off, calling for assistance, outnumbering him, and subjecting him to physical control and restraint.

It tends only to take being involved in one of these sessions for a member of the group’s shame awareness to be activated and for him to begin to read escalations earlier and more accurately in real time, which renders shame and disrespect less threatening, which gives him the confidence and the skills to begin to work differently with his fight-or-flight response. And with prisoners of this level, that could mean fewer victims. It might even save lives.

From my earliest memories, aged four, I felt as if I didn’t exist and that I wasn’t human. Despite my complete physical and emotional rejection of my mother, neither my mother nor my father seemed to notice. The best thing was my father’s rage, which though terrifying did make me feel alive. Escalation was something I needed and craved.

I was sent to my first boarding establishment, the Dragon School, at eight.

My mother picked me up at the end of my first term. She had my brother, a year younger, with whom I now have a close relationship, in the back of the car. I got in the passenger seat. My brother made a comment. I can’t remember what it was – perhaps him just simply breaking the silence was enough – and, based on my past aggressive behaviour, my mother’s instinctive reaction was to throw her body across the inside of the car to protect him from me.

But I hadn’t moved. I stared at her as if she were mad. Boarding had worked.

Not only was my brother now safe, but my ongoing hatred for my mother had, within minutes of walking away from both my parents without saying goodbye, completely disappeared. I was cured.

A new outlet for my feelings emerged though: killing animals. Blood sports became a way for me to achieve a sense of power and control.

This was something I also achieved at Radley College, my second boarding school, aged 14, where I was part of a gang involved in targeting and physically bullying weaker boys. Eventually I was caught and punished, which was crucial to making the most vulnerable in the boarding house feel safer. But I had no empathy whatsoever for my victims, and nobody in authority felt it important to find out why. I wonder whether that attitude shifted when Roderick Newall, a friend of mine from the same boarding house, killed his parents a few years after we left.

I managed to maintain the outer shell I had constructed around my deadened self all the way through university. Within two months of being outside a total institution, however, violently self-attacking thoughts first struck. A year saturated in shame and fear passed before I told a school friend about what was going on. the old radleian 2014

45

Starred Up

He didn’t get it. Next, I told my parents.

They didn’t get it either. Then I told my GP, who had me assessed by a psychiatrist and then placed with a psychoanalytic psychotherapist whom I was to see for years between one and five sessions a week. In between sessions, I turned to writing. A performance poetry character, a predatory psychopath, started to develop, and I got small gigs upstairs in pubs, or in arty cafés.

My therapist asked me what would happen if I allowed myself to feel anger in the sessions. I replied immediately that I’d kill her. She continued to see me privately in her own home, installed an alarm button, and chose to manage the risk rather than break the therapeutic alliance we had formed. Then, in 1998, through a friend from university who had gone into the prison service, I was invited in to Feltham Young Offender Institution to give a creative writing workshop. As the series of gates clanged shut behind, as the cellblocks loomed, as a prisoner shouted out a probingly hostile comment to me through the mesh on the exercise yard, I felt I was home. I knew I was equipped with what it took to thrive here. Awash with anxiety, bewilderment and fear in the outside world, I had found a new brick mother, a new total institution that could once again make things simple and safe.

The emotion I felt was akin to love.

In general, most prisoners comply with the regime and present few behavioural problems. A visible minority direct their aggression inwards, however, manifesting in various forms of physical self-harm, like cutting. For both these groups – the compliant majority and the physically self-harming minority – there are programmes on offer to help them progress. There is a third group, though, another minority, who direct their aggression not at the self, but at others through bullying, threats, fights and assaults.

Apart from punishment and segregation, nothing else is normally offered in response to the violence committed against others by these often brutalised and institutionalised inmates. The problem with a reactive approach, however, is it does nothing to get to the root of the behaviour and nothing to help give these people the skills to deal non-violently with future conflicts which, 46

the old radleian 2014

by concentrating dangerous people, the prison environment itself helps create.

With no mediation, disputes fester, build and inevitably end up in the community after release. Prison creates this risk, yet nothing is done about it.

There are nationally accredited offending behaviour programmes in prison designed to reduce violence, but normal practice is that prisoners currently being violent are not allowed on such programmes; the acute emotional charges that cause violence are also not allowed. There’s an obvious credibility gap: courses designed to tackle violence outside sessions demonstrate no ability to tackle both the prisoners and the emotional triggers that might cause violence inside sessions.

The offender, sometimes on camera, is often invited to speculate on what he might do after he’s released if he happens to be faced with an invented scenario, say another man talking to his girlfriend.

Because prisoners are under no emotional pressure, they can easily work out the “right” answers; those who have done the course can even share the “right” answers with other prisoners before they enrol. Owing to the fact that release can be dependent on completion of such courses, it could be argued they may do more harm than good by pressurising coerced individuals into telling lies to gain freedom, which may inadvertently train prisoners how better to avoid detection once they’re out.

It was during the creative writing workshop at Feltham that I found I was interested in listening to prisoners and helping them interact. I started working in the prison’s education department, running discussion groups on topics chosen by the prisoners themselves.

Sometimes it got heated. Less violent prisoners found it wasn’t for them and opted for other “lessons”. More violent prisoners, particularly those further up the gang hierarchy for whom the protection of status was paramount, appreciated the chance to express themselves without having to look over their shoulders. My agenda was not to change the way others thought or felt, it was not to rehabilitate – it was to connect.

When funding stopped in Feltham, I found a similar position at Wandsworth.

My personal therapy gave me the tools

to work with others, and the fact I was myself institutionalised and alienated made it possible and meaningful for me then to make links with those who had also been brought up mostly in institutions. With the exception of psychotic prisoners being treated through the healthcare department, every violent incident I have ever come across in prison could be traced back to shame and the feeling of being disrespected.

Conventional programmes working outside the heat of the moment studiously avoid the crucial shame trigger. I worked with it every day. I came up with the name Shame/Violence Intervention (SVI) to describe my approach.

As well as running larger groups, the idea was to use the segregation unit to mediate between prisoners who’d been in conflict and from there reintegrate them safely back on to the prison wings from which they’d been ejected. Staff victims of assault or threatening behaviour also took part in these sessions. Some of the participants, like Leon Brown and Basil Abdul-Latif, ended up working alongside me in the segregation unit. Wayne Armstrong helped me after release to run probation groups for high-risk offenders. While the small groups in the segregation unit tended to focus on recent prison violence, the discussion in larger groups on the wing could be free-ranging, taking in topics including race, sex, religion and family relationships.

While I’d dropped the performance poetry soon after beginning my prison work, I’d continued writing for the page.

I got published and a fellow poet, MarieLouise Hogan, suggested I might like to have a go at screen writing. I found that I enjoyed the process, which helped me unwind outside the intensity of SVI sessions, and I began enrolling on Arvon screenwriting courses to learn more about the craft and get feedback from the tutors.

I plugged away for six years on my first feature script, a prison drama called Starred Up. Then one of the tutors, AL Kennedy, showed it to a producer and I was stunned when director David Mackenzie got in touch to say he’d like to develop the screenplay with me and make it into his next movie. The fictional prison backdrop we eventually settled on expressed how I felt about the way SVI was stopped.

Getty Images

In October 2010, I notified Wandsworth of a visit counter-terrorism officials wanted to make to my sessions. Because these officials were concerned about a possible link between gang culture and radicalisation, a concern reinforced last year by the shocking murder of Lee Rigby, they wanted to experience SVI for themselves to make an initial assessment about how/if it could/ should be supported. The day after I had notified the prison of their visit, however, following 12 years’ uninterrupted deployment, the Wandsworth security governor promptly suspended the group.

The head of offender safety then withdrew my access to the prison.

I was asked to return weeks later for a couple of hours, not to work with prisoners, some of whom I later found out no longer felt safe in Wandsworth, but to attend a meeting chaired by the Wandsworth deputy governor, where I was introduced to a National Offender Management Service (NOMS) representative at London area level who had, in my absence, to my astonishment, despite the fact that I was at that time delivering it for free, terminated SVI altogether.

I managed to negotiate at that meeting a small number of conclusive SVI groups, one of which was attended by the counter-terrorism officials, who said that their visit had been “extremely inspiring”.

One of the officials then met with the governor to see if there was anything that could be done to save the programme, but it was to no avail.

I still don’t know why they closed it – the administrative reasons given don’t add up. I received letters from supporters including from the vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Penal Affairs, the chief executive of Victim Support, and the London area manager of Crimestoppers, who, unlike those involved in the closure, had all visited the SVI group in the past. SVI had won a national award for innovation, had an endorsing independent evaluation, and participants’ recorded violent incidents dropped outside sessions. Despite targeting prisoners excluded from other programmes because of their violence, some of it with each other, there was never a single contact violent incident in any SVI session throughout the time

Jo Asser with Clare Stewart, BFI Head of Cinema and Festivals, and director David Mackenzie (OR, 1979) it ran, and never a single contact violent incident between sessions involving active SVI participants.

Let’s go back to the start, to Errol, still out of sight, but the detonation of shame pulsing through my body starts to ease.

My experience tells me this means the threat Errol poses is subsiding also. Steve relaxes in his chair.

Marvin rolls a cigarette, sticks it behind his ear in preparation for the journey back to the wings. My shame level subsides further. We wait. Errol walks back into my

view. It’s still critical. He lingers. Any hint of triumph from me and he could attack.

Errol hesitates and gauges my neutral reaction, made possible by the fact that I am tracking my shame all the way as it diminishes. I am staying with it even as the pressure comes off. Errol sits back down in the circle. Dwayne nods Errol an acknowledgement. Errol nods back, looks at me. I hold his gaze. “That’s amazing work, Errol. Impressive.” His face becomes stone; my shame starts to creep, then Errol breaks into a smile. “Yeah, but as for you, bruv, fucking insane.” the old radleian 2014

47

George H Lewis

george h lewis

48

the old radleian 2014

Radley 1987-1992 Artist & Photographer tt hh ee oo ll dd rr aa dd ll ee ii aa nn 22 00 11 44

49 49

George H Lewis

Fall of Man Series – Printed onto Metal Since my time at Radley, I have been able to undertake many different and fulfilling projects. My artistic career began in earnest upon my move to the Middle East in 2007 when I was able to use my knowledge and passion for international politics (which I studied at university) and blend it with my artistic sensibilities through visual and creative media. Initially I had painting exhibitions in Oman and Kuwait. I was asked to do a number of paintings for the Royal Court of the Sultan 50

the old radleian 2014

of Oman who has a number of my works in his Royal Collection. Sheikh Nahyan of Abu Dhabi has been my sponsor in the UAE for the past four years where I have had a show every year under his auspices.

I was working in the Middle East as an artist between 2007 and 2011.

I was, and still am, fascinated by this region that is so largely misunderstood in the western world. I began to develop a fascination with the concept of the “other”

and it’s antidote: empathy. My art delves into misunderstood spaces of the “other” and seeks to redefine it, which reveals the truth about all human beings: that we are are far more alike than we are different.

I have deepened my studies of the “other” across the globe. In Bhutan, a small Himalayan kingdom and only Vijrayana Buddhist country in the world, I created artwork that sought to illuminate the intricacies of a nation that has not yet

President Obasanjo of Nigeria – Oil on canvas

the old radleian 2014

51

George H Lewis

A New Sheikhdom – Kuwait 2010 been transformed by modern technology.

I published a photographic book on Bhutan earlier this year.

I am currently based out of New York City having moved here with my wife and two children in 2011. In my studio in Chelsea, Manhattan, I have continued to create artwork that intends to expose and remedy societal dissonances.

In one series, I document the “taboos” within various interactions between members of the same or different faiths.

I have also begun an experimental collection titled The Fall of Man, which seeks to highlight the destruction of the Sacred Feminine and how the reductive masculine energies of our global civilization if they continue unfettered and unchecked will bring about our extinction. I am interested in the grand narrative because if we cannot talk about who we are and where are we going then we are not fully human.

After all the journey is more important than the destination as both the Buddha 52

the old radleian 2014

and the Christ said. Within this Fall of Man collection, aesthetically I nod back towards the Renaissance and Mannerist periods evoking Caravaggio with my use of chiaroscuro as well as symbolism. In another series, Gender and Sexuality in the Middle East I have been dissecting the clash between recent, necessary global female empowerment and some traditional, patriarchal customs. Sexual and gender orientation is a cultural construct, I explore this especially in the Middle East, where there are similar customs to English boarding schools.

While the content of my work may vary, it is aligned by the intent to arouse an intellectual, emotional, and above all spiritual awakening in the viewing audience, drawing them closer through a shared sense of empathy. I seek to waken the viewer up from his slumber.

I have been lucky enough to have found happiness and success in my career. I have been featured in exhibitions across the globe, and established a growing collector base across the Americas, Europe, and

the Middle East. Alongside my personal work, I have also had the opportunity to paint various global leaders and heads of state, including the President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo; Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd; Archbishop Frank Griswold and most recently Pippa Middleton. I am also heavily involved in multiple intercultural and interfaith business projects, and regularly hold workshops and lectures that aim to spread the message behind my artwork of empathy and understanding for people outside our own respective traditions.

As Karen Armstrong says “Honour the stranger”.

Currently, I have just set up The Salon Project: www.thesalonproject.org where we create safe spaces for people to come together across difference and find community. I also work closely with the Center for Ethnic Racial and Religious Understanding (CERRU) in New York, to devise investment and development strategies with a crosscultural and interfaith emphasis. As the

Creative Director of the Ibrahim Family Foundation, I have also been involved in creating international interfaith programs for students across America and the Middle East.

with the material world, thereby transcending to the spiritual realm of the Divine (Divine comes from Sanskrit, meaning self illumination; we are all divine).

My lifework has been to inspire an interconnectivity among us all, and I hope that I am able to catalyze the transformation I feel is so necessary for the progression of our society into a new spiritual paradigm.

Some thoughts on art and its purpose:

In recent times, art has become consumed by market forces: arbitrage and parking money, has seemed more important than any form of genuine revelation. The market has hitherto reigned supreme, stripping artwork of its aesthetic and forcing it to become reactionary and, at times, repulsive. I feel we have slightly been put to sleep; in short, Nihilism.

For most of human history Art was a direct revelation, a way for mankind to connect with the Cosmos and with herself. The role of the artist was always to reveal the sacred. It helped explain who we were, what we were doing and where we were going. It danced between the masculine and feminine energies – or between the Dionysian and Apollonian, as Nietzsche called it.

It sought to link the emotional world

As the French existentialist Albert Camus stated in The Rebel, only two worlds are, in the final analysis, feasible for the human mind to exist within: the world of rebellion and the world of the Sacred. Humanity can no longer bear to maintain the now somewhat ancient, repetitive, exhausted modes of rebellion. This must mean, by process of elimination, we are beginning to return towards the world of the Sacred.

I believe that art, as with life itself, is all about intention. We need to be asking ourselves “What is our intention? What is the intention of our current civilization?”

This modern delineation which separates artwork from its original intentions and sacred nature necessitates a fundamental shift. My recently launched project, The Salon Project will seek to create a safe space for people to really build up relationships and trust one another within a community based around intention. Here artists will sit alongside business leaders, politicians will sit alongside entrepreneurs, and religiously affiliated people will sit alongside secular humanists. For if we get the intention right, energetically speaking, then all types of relationships will naturally follow – whether business or personal. We can then seriously begin to explore universality in diversity, and overcome the current zeitgeist in which we see things in terms of duality (a battle between the individual and collective) and instead reimagine our world as a collaborative work of art. continued on page 55

Nature or Nurture – Saudi Arabia 2010 the old radleian 2014

53

George H Lewis

Gravity Defied

Sara and Sara – Central Park, New York 54

the old radleian 2014

from page 53 Art, today, can prepare the ground for that paradigm shift – an increasing understanding of consciousness that is so hugely necessary. It can help to heal the culturally imposed divide between humanity, nature, and the cosmos. We are all one.

George H Lewis

Who’s Happy Now – Chromogenic print onto sintra

Below: Everest from 37,000 feet

the old radleian 2014

55

George H Lewis

Eternal Knowledge – The Paro Sage

56

the old radleian 2014

Divine Connection – The Whirling Dervish

the old radleian 2014

57

George H Lewis

58

the old radleian 2014

The Breath of the Dragon tt hh ee oo ll dd rr aa dd ll ee ii aa nn 22 00 11 44

59 59

New Books, CDs & DVDs from ORs& DVDs from ORs New Books, CDs Lord’s – A Celebration in Pictures Andrew Strauss (1990) Phillimore ISBN-10: 0992726603 ISBN-13: 978-0992726607 Lord’s Cricket Ground, known as Lord’s throughout the world, is universally referred to as the Home of Cricket. It is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the headquarters of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board, and the European Cricket Council. Cricket has been played on this, the third Lord’s Ground, for 200 years, the first match being between M.C.C. and Hertfordshire on 22nd June 1814. The oldest fixture to survive to the present day is the annual match between Eton and Harrow, which started at the original Lord’s Ground in 1805 and was first played on the present Ground in July 1818.

The Ground was developed through the 19th century, and now has a capacity of 28,500.

Its centrepiece is the splendid Victorian Pavilion, built by Thomas Verity in 1889-90, which houses the famous Long Room, “the most evocative four walls in world cricket” with paintings of great cricketers. In the dressing rooms are the Honours Boards, on which are recorded the names of those who have scored a century or taken five wickets in an innings during a Test Match at Lord’s.

To mark the Bicentenary of the present Ground in 2014, Andrew Strauss has compiled a visual record, based on the vast archive of Getty Images (including the acclaimed work of Patrick Eagar) and the photographic collections of M.C.C. Many of these pictures have rarely been seen before, and some have never been published until now. Together with contemporary images from the photographer, James Finlay, Andrew’s collection of photographs forms a magnificent pictorial celebration of Lord’s Ground over two centuries.

The foreword is by H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh, and the preface by J.M. Brearley.

The Final Over: The Cricketers of Summer 1914 Christopher Sandford (1970) The History Press ISBN-10: 0750959665 ISBN-13: 978-0750959667 August 1914 brought an end to the ‘Golden Age’ of English cricket. At least 210 professional cricketers (out of a total of 278 registered) signed up to fight, of whom 34 were killed. Cricket stands as both a statistical, and very human, representation of the price paid in British blood as a whole. The sun-baked atmosphere of English society’s last carefree weeks is graced by some of the Corinthian greats of their day, like Lord Lionel Tennyson and the polymath C.B. Fry, brought alive through the words of their own

Australian First World War recruitment poster letters and diaries, both on the sports fields of England and in the bloody trenches of France. There is the unassuming cricketer-lawyer Robert Jesson, who writes of the ‘great adventure’ of the Gallipoli campaign where he fought heroically in the carnage and muck, only to be later shot dead by an enemy sniper. This is the very personal story of how some of the greatest characters ever known in English sport performed some of their greatest feats against the ticking clock of events in Europe, and the moving, sometimes tragic, always gripping story of how they met the ‘great adventure’.

From The Daily Telegraph

by Tom Rowley, 27 Jul 2014 On the bank holiday evening of Monday August 3 1914, Lionel Tennyson dreamt of victory. Not in a corner of a foreign field, but on the finely-trimmed grass at Lord’s.

The 24-year-old, grandson of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, had begun playing Test cricket a year

60

the old radleian 2014

earlier but had yet to score a matchwinning century for his country.

That night, from his bed in a smart corner of London, he achieved that feat, and the crowd was suitably effusive. In fact, their applause refused to die down.

Tennyson awoke, realising the noise was actually that of the night porter thumping on the door to deliver an urgent telegram. By eight o’clock the next morning, Tennyson was at barracks in Colchester, preparing to resist the German invasion of Belgium, which began that day.

Across the country, cricketers were changing out of their whites and into uniform. Of 278 professional cricketers in England that summer, 210 signed up to fight. By the end of the war, nearly a sixth were dead, and obituaries replaced match reports in Wisden.

As well as Tennyson, another three of the England team served on the front line, with several more staffing munitions factories on the home front.

New Books, CDs & DVDs from ORs Now, a century later, a historian has traced the war service of each of these cricketers. In a new book, The Final Over: The Cricketers of Summer 1914, Christopher Sandford has published for the first time the diaries Tennyson kept on the Western Front and the letters sent home from the trenches by many cricketers.

A century ago, play continued long after Britain’s declaration of war on August 4. Three weeks later, W.G. Grace, arguably the greatest English cricketer, wrote to The Sportsman encouraging more cricketers to enlist.

“The time has arrived when the county cricket season should be closed,” he wrote. “It is not fitting at a time like this that able-bodied men should be playing day after day, and pleasure seekers look on.

“There are so many who are young and able, and still hanging back. I should like to see all firstclass cricketers of suitable age set a good example, and come to the aid of their country without delay in its hour of need.”

Many heeded his call. Matches were abruptly cancelled while one county side missed a victory by five runs when their captain was called up. At the Oval on August 4, Arthur Carr, the Nottinghamshire captain, received a telegram recalling him to his regiment as he batted. “I’ll have one more over,” he insisted.

Mr Sandford said: “There is such an abrupt contrast between that Corinthian world and the horrors of the trenches.

“I don’t know as glaring an example of the idyllic and the horrific aspects of English life being so closely intertwined.”

The War Office recognised the propaganda value, realising countless young men would be keen for the cachet of serving alongside well-known sportsmen.

“Enlist in the sportsmen’s 1,000,” read one poster, which ended: “Play up, play up and play the game”.

In another, “Cricketers on active

service”, each soldier was shown in their flannels on the pitch.

Even so, once on the front line, the cricketers received no special treatment. Tennyson was one of the first to be deployed. He had been a member of the last pre-war England team, which returned from a successful tour of South Africa in March 1914. At their final supper in Cape Town, Johnny Douglas, the captain, had said that when they moved on from cricket they would either run bars (being “already proficient in that area”) or become “professional travellers or tourists of some kind”.

Just six months later, Tennyson’s career was interrupted for a rather less convivial overseas trip. On August 24 he was dispatched to Le Havre with the Rifle Brigade.

He recounted the abrupt arrival in his self-titled “Diary of the Great European War”, which he maintained in his schoolboy scrawl. “Told to march down hill at once to the station and push off to the front as fast as we could,” he wrote. “The English had had a severe defeat and heavy casualties and we were wanted in the firing line as soon as possible.”

Over the next four years he was wounded three times and twice mentioned in dispatches. “The bits of men, clothes, rifles etc in the trenches, men dead and dying, are better left unthought of,” he wrote.

Although he was left with only one good hand, he went on to captain the England team. Others were not so lucky.

Major Booth, one of Tennyson’s England team-mates, caused some confusion in the 15th (Service) Battalion, the West Yorkshire Regiment, due to the difference between his Christian name and his rank – he was, in fact, a second lieutenant. Together with 20,000 British soldiers, Booth was killed on the first day of the Somme offensive in July 1916, struck by enemy fire as he went over the top.

As he lay dying, he was comforted

by Abe Waddington, another Yorkshire cricketer, who had been

hit by shrapnel. Booth’s body was not recovered for nine months.

It was finally identified by the MCC-engraved cigarette case in his pocket.

Another of their team-mates, Colin Blythe, also died. Blythe had previously played for both England and Kent and spent much of the war playing regimental cricket.

In 1916 his 19-year-old brother Sidney, serving with the Hampshire Regiment, fell at the Somme. Almost immediately, Blythe volunteered for the front line in his place. “You can speculate on whether it was an act of penance or whether he wanted to honour his brother,” said Mr Sandford.

Just a year later, Blythe, too, fell, at Passchendaele. Just as the Third Battle of Ypres was coming to an end, a burst of shrapnel fell behind British lines, killing Blythe and two others. A bat and a cricket ball lie next to Blythe’s grave, at a nearby military cemetery, and his wallet, damaged by shrapnel, is kept by the Kent County Club.

Not every England player had such an honourable war record.

Jack Hobbs, who had played for his country since 1908, was less keen to represent it on the fields of France and Belgium. Unlike his team-mates, he did not volunteer to fight when Belgium was invaded, saying later that he had failed to realise “how serious the war would be”.

Although he worked in a munitions factory in London, he remained on the staff at Surrey and was widely criticised for avoiding the front line. His critics were given further ammunition when he began to play weekend cricket in the Bradford League for a team called Idle. “For a while, he was Britain’s least-loved sporting hero,” said Mr Sandford.

Hobbs was conscripted in 1916, when he became a mechanic in the Royal Flying Corps, but he was stationed in the Home Counties and continued to play in charity matches for the rest of the war.

Harold & Jack Christopher Sandford (1970) Prometheus Books ISBN-10: 1616149353 ISBN-13: 978-1616149352 Acclaimed biographer Christopher Sandford tells the engrossing story of the unlikely friendship between British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and President John F. Kennedy, a crucial political and personal relationship during the most dangerous days of the Cold War. This is the story of the many-layered relationship between two iconic leaders of the mid-twentieth century – Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and American President John F. Kennedy. Based on previously unquoted papers and private letters between both the leaders themselves and their families, more than half of which are available for the first time, critically acclaimed biographer Christopher Sandford reveals a host of new insights into the ways these two very different men managed to bring order out of chaos in an age of precarious nuclear balance.

The author delves into the manoeuverings behind the scenes of major political events: dealing with the disastrous Bay of Pigs episode in Cuba, responding to the provocative Soviet act of building the Berlin Wall, the tense backand-forth consultations during the Cuban missile crisis, and the serious disagreement between the two allies over the Skybolt nuclear deterrent, which almost caused a major rift in US-British relations.

the old radleian 2014

61

New Books, CDs & DVDs from ORs

Land of the Turquoise Mountains Journeys Across Iran

Zero - Eddie Zero’s Debut Novel

Oscar Wilde in Context

Norfolk Folk Tales

Francis Young (1966) Grosvenor House Publishing

Edited by Peter Raby (1952) and Kerry Powell

Hugh Lupton (1966)

Cyrus Massoudi (1994) I.B.Tauris (30 Sep 2014)

ISBN-10: 1781487014

Cambridge University Press

ISBN-10: 0752479423

ISBN-10: 1848856377

ISBN-13: 978-1781487013

ISBN-10: 1107016134

ISBN-13: 978-0752479422

ISBN-13: 978-1107016132

ISBN-13: 978-1848856370 For Cyrus Massoudi, a young British-born Iranian, the country his parents were forced to flee thirty years ago was a place wholly unknown to him. Wanting to make sense of his roots and piece together the divided, divisive and deeply contradictory puzzle that is contemporary Iran, he embarked on a series of journeys that spanned hundreds of miles and thousands of years through the many ebbs and flows of Iranian history. From the border with Turkey to that of Turkmenistan, from the Caspian basin down to the Persian Gulf, his journeys took him from the mythological first kings of Iran, to the Elamite kingdom, the eras of Cyrus and Darius, the glory of the Sasanians, the shock of the Islamic Arab conquests and the later Mongols, Safavids and on to Khomeini, Ahmadinejad and beyond.

Eddie Zero is not your usual hero.

He is a successful professional drummer from the 90s whose four interests in life are blondes, Mozart, marijuana and cricket.

This, his first novel, takes us from Barbados to a Bedouin encampment in the Jordanian desert, via Beirut and Swindon!

You will find, amongst some beautiful women, turtles, transvestites, paedophiles, camels and drug taking. Eddie does not know how to use a gun or hit someone. He refers to himself as a wimp. He loves life, most of the time, and this novel will make you laugh, be shocked and maybe cry.

Land of the Turquoise Mountains reveals a world beyond the propaganda-driven, media- fuelled image of fractious, flag-burning fundamentalism, and provides a compelling glimpse both into the heart of a deeply misunderstood nation and into what it is to seek out and discover one’s heritage.

62

The History Press

the old radleian 2014

Oscar Wilde was a courageous individualist whose pathbreaking life and work were shaped in the crucible of his time and place, deeply marked by the controversies of his era.

This collection of concise and illuminating articles reveals the complex relationship between Wilde’s work and ideas and contemporary contexts including Victorian feminism, aestheticism and socialism.

Kerry Powell is the author of Acting Wilde (2009), preceded

by Oscar Wilde and the Theatre of the 1890s and Women and Victorian Theatre. He edited The Cambridge Companion to Victorian and Edwardian Theatre and is Professor of English at Miami University.

Peter Raby is the author of Oscar Wilde and the editor of The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde and The Cambridge Companion to Harold Pinter.

Among his other books are biographies of Harriet Smithson Berlioz, Samuel Butler and Alfred Russel Wallace. He is a Fellow Emeritus of Homerton College, Cambridge.

Norfolk is steeped in story.

Whether we are treading fields, fens, beaches or streets, the landscape is pregnant with secret histories. The collective imagination of countless generations has populated the county with ghosts, saints, witches, pharisees, giants and supernatural beasts. Stories have evolved around historical characters, with Horatio Nelson, Oliver Cromwell, Anne Boleyn, Tom Paine and King Edmund becoming larger than life in folk-memory. This book is a celebration of the deep connection between a place and its people.

For thirty years Hugh Lupton has been a central figure in the British storytelling revival. He tells myths, legends and folk-tales from many cultures, but his particular passion is for the hidden layers of the English landscape and the stories and ballads that give voice to them. He has written poetry, several collections of folktales, and one novel, The Ballad of John Clare. He lives in Norfolk.

New Books, CDs & DVDs from ORs

Demeter and Persephone

The Mark of Man

The Secrets of the Seven Alchemists

The New World

Hugh Lupton (1966)

Harrry Lewis (1989)

John Rosling (1978)

Sir Andrew Motion (1966)

The Barefoot Books

Mirador Publishing

Harriman House Publishing

Jonathan Cape (9 October 2014)

ISBN-10: 1846868343

ISBN-10: 1910104825

ISBN-10: 085719402X

ISBN-10: 0224097946

ISBN-13: 978-1846868344

ISBN-13: 978-1910104828

ISBN-13: 978-0857194022

ISBN-13: 978-0224097949

Orpheus and Eurydice

Hal, a Forty, knows when he is going to die. In fact through a cruel genetic twist, so does everybody else; for all 22nd Century humans are born branded with a mark demonstrating their organic timeline. If one has forty rings, one dies at forty. As with all humans, Hal has learned to accept his fate, until he falls in love with Ama, a Ninety. In the search for a cure to The Mark, Laozi Veda, the head of the Vedas Corporation, coerces Ama into leaving Hal and sends her on a secret mission with a team of ‘specialists’ to the distant planet of Kepler. A year later Hal, loveless and careworn, receives an unexpected offer to travel under a different guise to the same place. He arrives to find an outwardly peaceful society but soon after conditions change and the planet becomes an extremely dangerous place for them all.

With fascinating new insights into complex societies, The Mark of Man, is science fiction at its best – giving us the ‘what if ’ question with unwavering commitment and invention. From alien idles to terrorist uprisings, this book will echo through the portals of time to give fresh insight into the human condition.

John Rosling is a serial entrepreneur with an itch. Ever since he set up an e-greeting card business in almost the same month as Moonpig and saw that business boom into a AGBP120m success story whilst his own ended in ignominious insolvency, he has been itching to understand exactly what it is that sets some entrepreneurial businesses on a path to greatness whilst most stay merely good. Over a twenty-year entrepreneurial career as business owner, CEO, mentor, lecturer and author he finally thinks he has the answer.

Jim and Natty are shipwrecked on the coast of Texas, blown off course on their way home from Treasure Island. But they have stolen something they should have left well alone, something that will haunt them until what was taken has been returned.

Hugh Lupton (1966) The Barefoot Books ISBN-10: 1846867843 ISBN-13: 978-1846867842

Theseus and the Minotaur Hugh Lupton (1966) The Barefoot Books ISBN-10: 1846867827 ISBN-13: 978-1846867828

John started his career with Unilever in the UK and Japan before moving to Diageo. Since leaving the corporate world he has established and run numerous small businesses, most recently as CEO of international business performance company Shirlaws. John speaks widely on business and entrepreneurial subjects and lectures on entrepreneurship at leading business schools. He was runner up 2012 IoD Director of the Year and is author of the popular guide for CEOs More Money, More Time, Less Stress. He lives a semiaquatic life in Hampshire with his wife and three children. Seven outstanding entrepreneurs and leaders reveal the secrets of building a successful business.

On their journey they encounter Native American tribes, a wandering group of European Circus performers, deracinated warriors, eccentric pioneers, some landscapes of great serenity and others of terrible savagery, until, at last, they reach the mighty Mississippi.

The New World is an adventure story, a race across America, a Western, a travelogue, a love story and a lament for an indigenous culture in the years before its destruction.

Andrew Motion has achieved that singular thing – a story that is both very moving and very exciting, and always written with a remarkable clear beauty.

the old radleian 2014

63

New Books, CDs & DVDs from ORs

Getty Images

Sherlock Holmes – The Stuff of Nightmares

Sherlock Holmes – Gods of War

The Injustice System: A Murder in Miami and a Trial Gone Wrong

James Lovegrove (1979)

James Lovegrove (1979)

Titan Books

Titan Books

Penguin Books

ISBN-10: 1781165416

ISBN-10: 1781165432

ISBN-10: 0143124161

ISBN-13: 978-1781165416

ISBN-13: 978-1781165430

ISBN-13: 978-0143124160

It’s the autumn of 1890, and a spate of bombings has hit London. Sherlock Holmes believes Professor Moriarty is behind the campaign of terror, but to what end? At the same time, a bizarrely garbed figure has been spotted on the rooftops of the capital.

Known only by the name Baron Cauchemar, he appears to be a scourge of crime and villainy. But is he truly the force for good that he seems?

1913. The clouds of war are gathering and Europe is in turmoil. A body is discovered on the shore below Beachy Head, just a mile from Sherlock Holmes’s retirement cottage. Suicide, or murder? As Holmes and Watson investigate, they uncover a conspiracy with shocking ramifications: men who welcome the idea of a world war are seeking divine aid to make it a reality.

Not only is the case itself, and the legal injustice surrounding it, mindblowing, but Mr. Smith gives the best, most detailed explanation of how the system is almost rigged to ensure injustice. He breaks it down, with chapters about the prosecutors, the judge, the jury, the key witnesses, the defense lawyer, the forensic experts, so that the reader can see, each step of the way, where the system goes wrong.

Clive Stafford Smith (1973)

British Sports Book Awards 2014 Brough Scott, one of three ORs shortlisted at the British Sports Book Awards 2014, won the Horse Racing Book of the Year for his biography Henry Cecil Trainer of Genius. Scott, who made his name as a jockey, riding more than one hundred winners, before becoming a radio and TV presenter and award-winning journalist, was highly praised by the judges for his insightful portrait of Cecil, arguably the greatest trainer of his generation. Scott’s book was also shortlisted for the Autobiography & Biography of the Year, the same category in which Andrew Strauss was nominated for his autobiography Driving Ambition.

Jimmy Connors The Outsider won the category. Since he retired from playing cricket, Strauss has shown a flair for writing with his regular contributions for The Sunday Times.

Jon Henderson was the third OR to be shortlisted, for the Football Book of the Year, for his biography The Wizard: The Life of Stanley Matthews, the first independent account of one of the English game’s most remarkable players.

Henderson’s book, which was also chosen as a sports book of the year

by The Guardian, finished behind the winner, The Nowhere Men by Michael Calvin.

The awards dinner was held at Lord’s Cricket Ground in May 2014

64

the old radleian 2014

New Books, CDs & DVDs from ORs

CDs

Weather to Fly The Swingle Singers including Chris Neale (1990) World Village (Download) ASIN: B00E6KV8TM The Swingle Singers are thrilled to release Weather To Fly, the group’s first full-length album since 2009. An electrifying set that reflects the excitement of their current show, Weather To Fly captures the best of the group’s a cappella repertoire.

Based in London and touring on four continents in 2013, The Swingle Singers have assembled some of their favourite music from home and abroad. All-vocal arrangements of songs from Turkey, Spain and Argentina sit alongside reimagined British pop from Elbow, Florence Welch and The Beatles.

For half a century, The Swingle Singers have pushed the boundaries of what the human voice can achieve. Celebrating their 50th anniversary in the 2013-14 season, today’s young and gifted Swingle Singers represent the group’s evolution from baroque jazz pioneers to contemporary a cappella phenomenon. The group’s history is a remarkable tale of renewal. In 1963, American-born Ward Swingle assembled a group of Parisian session singers to sing Bach’s keyboard music. The resulting album, Jazz Sebastian Bach, launched The Swingle Singers to fame. Over five decades the group has sustained a level of international popularity beyond its founder’s wildest dreams, with each new singer bringing something fresh to the Swingle sound.

Purcell: Ten Sonatas in Four Parts

Handel Arias

The King’s Consort

Consort

Robert King (1974)

Harry Bicket (1974)

Vivat (CD & Download)

Hyperion

ASIN: B00JJ09S5K

ASIN: B00M2D7NDA

The King’s Consort holds a worldwide reputation as leading performers of Purcell. The international performer line-up includes Italian-Dutch violinist Cecilia Bernardini, Gramophone award-winning German viol player Susanne Heinrich, Welsh violinist Huw Daniel, and English organist Robert King and the orbo player Lynda Sayce. Purcell’s extraordinarily inventive, highly individual music combines Italian vigour, French elegance and delicious English melancholy with harmonic daring, extraordinary contrapuntal technique and unique melodic inventiveness.

Hyperion is delighted to present a tour de force from the supreme mezzo-soprano of today, Alice Coote, accompanied by The English Concert and Harry Bicket, making their Hyperion debut. Coote performs a selection of Handel’s greatest arias from opera and oratorio, employing an extraordinary range of vocal and dramatic colour, tone and emotion to produce triumphant and moving interpretations of these masterpieces.

Reviews: . . . all show Purcell at his most ingenious, the counterpoint combining cerebral device and eartickling charm in equal measure.

Stephen Pettitt, Sunday Times,

. . . superbly played . . . Purcell’s inventiveness is consistent throughout the programme, and its spirit is alive in these performances.

Geoffrey Norris, Daily Telegraph This recording is worth hearing for the amazing crunchy harmonies at the end of track six alone! . . .Violinists Cecilia Bernardini and Huw Daniel are expert in all the counterpoint, and the continuo group is poised and fresh.

Nicholas Kenyon, Observer

Yantra: A Journey Through Timelessness

Alice Coote and The English

Every piece is a highlight.

Handel’s Italian operas are represented by his first two Covent Garden operas, Alcina and the great tragedy Ariodante, and also Radamisto and Giulio Cesare in Egitto (perhaps Handel’s most popular opera today). Handel’s English oratorio Hercules contains music of utter beauty. Written to a libretto by Thomas Broughton based on Sophocles’ Trachiniae, it is a drama of sombre magnificence.

At its centre is the tragic figure of Hercules’ wife Dejanira, a role to rival Saul as a study in the corrosive power of jealousy.

Little is known about the ‘Miss Robinson’ who created the part.

But the music that Handel wrote for her suggests that she must have been a fine singing actress.

Alice Coote’s powers in this direction are unrivalled today.

Eugenia Georgieva (Bulgarian soprano), Vamshikrishna Vishnudas (Indian baritone) and Jeremy Birchall (1967, English bass) Indigo Fusion Records (Download) ASIN: B00LJ44IUO Yantra is the unusual project of three singers from very different backgrounds, united by their passion of unaccompanied human voice. Born from an experimental session for BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction in 2009, Yantra’s vocal focal point is the intersection of seemingly incompatible and incomparable singing traditions.

Combining the purity of a cappella with modern multitracking recording techniques, their rich vocal fusion explores the spiritual and folkloric music from the traditional and ancient musical heritage of Bulgaria, India and England.

Yantra were special guests on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction with Verity Sharp in May 2009 and The Choir with Aled Jones in October 2012.

Very frisky collaboration for Late Junction! Excellent. Orlando Gough, composer.

I was listening to The Choir on R3 on Sunday and nearly drove into a ditch because I was so excited and mesmerised by your sound.

I LOVE IT! Julia Draper, writer. www.yantramusic.net

the old radleian 2014

65

New Books, CDs & DVDs from ORs HALSGROVE TITLE INFORMATION

traditions and games that make the Thirty Years On! independent school system so unique.

A private view of Format: Hardback, 144 pages, Now, 238x258mm, public schools some thirty years later, the

profusely illustrated inimages colour throughout depict a bygone time having Mark Draisey (not an OR) Price: £19.99 been taken just before a universal Halsgrove movement to improve boarding ISBN: 978 0 85704 211 8 accommodation, sports and Imprint: Halsgrove Limited ISBN-10: teaching facilities at the majority Published: October 2014 ISBN-13: 978-0857042118 of independent schools. So I am (to be published in October 2014) sure that many of your members will find the book a fascinating trip Mark Draisey writes: down memory lane, as well as an Halsgrove Publishing, House, Ryelands Business Park, Bagley I am delighted to at lastHalsgrove announce opportunity to glimpse insideRoad, rival Wellington,ofSomerset TA21of 9PZ Tel: 01823 653777 Fax: 01823 216796 the publication a collection establishments. www.halsgrove.com colour photographs I took at 25 of e-mail: sales@halsgrove.com our great public schools back in ‘Thirty Years On! A private view of the late 1980s forming the largest Public Schools is a hardback book such study. I was generously of 144 pages of colour photos and granted unrivalled access to each priced at £19.99. of the schools, including Radley, The full set of photos can be viewed to photograph the everyday life, at www.markdraisey.com

66

the old radleian 2014

Gazette

Gazette

Received with thanks From Richard Medrington (1969), prints by Margaret Holman of Radley and photographs of his father, Stan Medrington (1932) playing in the 1st XV of 1936.

Radley v St. Paul’s, 1936 – Radley won 11-0 In Radley colours (left to right): C.H.M. Beckwith, S.L.C. Medrington, K. Butler Smith, A.J.C. Kennedy, J.M. Kershaw, M.G. Heath, Hon. H.R. Grosvenor

Radley v King’s School, Parramatta, Australia, 1936 – Radley won 10-3 In Radley colours (left to right): J.M. Kershaw, P.H.S. Cooper. D.T.M. Birks, M.A. Hamilton, S.L.C. Medrington, J.G. Mackarness, G.E.F. Wethered, B.G. Ball Greene, Hon. H.R. Grosvenor, K.D. Warren the old radleian 2014

67

Gazette

Help needed Please check this list of the Captains of Rugby since 1914. If you spot any errors let Jock Mullard know before the names appear on Honours Boards in the New Pavilion. (Jock.Mullard@radley.org.uk or by post to Radley College, Abingdon, OX14 2HR)

1914 1915 1916 1917 1918

R.D.H. Bucknall D.T. Raikes & A.F. Blyth E. Giles V.P. Vickerman E.J.N. Wallis

1949 1950 1951 1952 1953

R.M. Van Oss R.J. Moore F.B.O. Harris C.E.B.L. Carr J.S.M. Scott

1984 1985 1986 1987 1988

A.N.G. Fox C.M.A. Sheasby P.D.S. Manson A.M.K. Wylie R.J.A. Wates

1919 1920 1921 1922 1923

H.G.C. Mallaby D.E. Green M.D.N. Wyatt A.E. Blair A.Y. Johnson

1954 1955 1956 1957 1958

B.S. Tanner F.T.A. Hole N.J. Redmayne J.F. Fuller-Sessions P.V. Hervey

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993

B.S.G. MacDowel H.W. McCowen A.M. Balding N.R.T. Hiscocks W.T. Wootton

1924 1925 1926 1927 1928

W. Dockar-Drysdale H.E. Fox-Davies J.S. Ross G.C.A. Adams P.J. Gibbs

1959 1960 1961 1962 1963

P.W.D. St V. de Sausmarez R.J.A. Thomas R.A. Walker T.C. Grove J.J.L. Henderson

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

D.S. Wilson C.R.N. Jennings E.C.W. Lethbridge H.J. Reynolds P.R.J. Mann

1929 1930 1931 1932 1933

W.H. Vestey H.P. Dinwiddy H.P. Dinwiddy C.A.C. de Boinville A.P.G. McDowell

1964 1965 1966 1967 1968

M.H.L. Lewis A.C. McCallum S.E. Wilkinson C.R.L. Lomer D.R.D’A. Willis & J.P. Sergeant

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

M.R. Messum A.M.N. Jennings R.M. Bridge J.V.R. Hay J.R.I. MacDonald

1934 1935 1936 1937 1938

J.C. Philpot R.G. Peach A.U.M. Campbell A.U.M. Campbell J.E. Davies

1969 1970 1971 1972 1973

D.R.D’A. Willis M.E. Hodgson L.C. McLean H.M.J. Pope S.E. Stubbs

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

J.D. Brownlee C.W.M. Oakes W.T. Hill D.G.M. Lumby J.E.S. Hibbs

1939 1940 1941 1942 1943

D. Twiston-Davies A.J. Round J.P.W. Sawtell W.P.V. Wakley I.D.W. Sawtell

1974 1975 1976 1977 1978

R.J. Stead P.A.T. Cantlay T.M. Rivett J.G. Merison M.J. Lindsell

1944 1945 1946 1947 1948

D.E.S. Barton C.G. Burgess A.J.R. Raynes D.B. Craig O.J. Horrocks

1979 1980 1981 1982 1983

T.H. Bartlett M.J.W. Rushton G.D.R. Hughes T.G.R. Marvin W.M. Dwerryhouse

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

C.J.M. Goodwin D.S. Brownlee O.H. Wynne-Griffith T.J.A. Swift T.H. West H.J. Ryan

68

the old radleian 2014

Gazette

From Dr Jeremy Meyrick (1949), a collection of his father’s school photographs from 1915 to 1920 including the 1917 1st XV below.

The Mansion

Radley College Union

The Radleian October 1868

Radleian May 1962

A query was inserted in the “Radleian” a short time ago as to the date at which Radley House was built. The following passage from a book in the Library gives the answer. It is called Reliquiae Hearnianae, or Extracts from the Diaries of Thomas Hearne, by Philip Bliss, vol. ii. p. 668. “July 1st, 1727. Thence (from Norcot) I walked to Abingdon, from Abingdon I walked to Radley or Rodley, where Sir John Stonehouse hath built a new brick house, but ‘tis nothing near so pleasant nor snug as the old large house, most of which (they say) is to be pulled down. The inside and the gardens, &c., of the new house are not quite finished. An old woman told me that Sir John and his lady are very charitable to the poor, though I had heard the contrary from others.” When the future historian of Radley College commences his work, here he will find material ready to his hand.

The second meeting for the first time was a humorous debate, in which Brigitte Bardot (P.D. Wietzel), General de Gaulle (D.L. Morkill), John Osborne (S.L.D. Williams), Lord Snowdon (N.G.P. West) and an Old Radleian (M.Q. Morland) were the five candidates for survival on a one-man raft. With a true Radleian disregard for title, sex, talent and greatness the House condemned Snowdon, Bardot, Osborne and De Gaulle to a watery grave saving somewhat surprisingly the Old Radleian.

the old radleian 2014

69

Gazette

Discovered by Jake Wilson (1991) in the British Library, photographs of Radley from an album compiled by Lord Charles Thomas Montagu Douglas Scott (1852) Š The British Library Board Add 89038/1/,p.20v and p.21r

70

the old radleian 2014

Gazette

the old radleian 2014

71

Gazette

Getty Images

Poem by Harold Monro (1892) is set to music

An oil lamp burns next to the ‘Grave of the Unknown Warrior’ at the candlelight vigil in Westminster Abbey on 4th August

The candlelit service at Westminster Abbey on 4th August to honour the centenary of the moment Britain entered the First World War, included a new choral work commissioned from David Matthews, whose maternal grandfather died in the last months of the war. James O’Donnell, organist and choir master, said his setting of a despairing 1914 poem by Harold Monro (Old Radleian, 1892-1896) To what God shall we chant our songs of battle, “leaves you standing on the edge of abyss”.

To what God Shall we chant Our songs of Battle?

Oh, to whom shall a song of battle be chanted?

If you had only recognised on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

Oh, to whom shall a song of battle be chanted?

From the Order of Service:

To what God Shall we chant Our songs of Battle?

David Matthews (b 1943) commissioned for this service by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Oh, to whom shall a song of battle be chanted?

Not to our lord of the hosts on his ancient throne, Drowsing the ages out in Heaven alone.

The celestial choirs are mute, the angels have fled: Word is gone forth abroad that our lord is dead.

Is it nothing to you, all you that pass by? Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow.

The full text of the poem is given opposite

TO WHAT GOD SHALL WE CHANT OUR SONGS OF BATTLE?

72

the old radleian 2014

Harold Monro (1879–1932) from The Poets are Waiting Lamentations 1: 12 St Luke 19: 42

Gazette

THE POETS ARE WAITING Š William Roberts Society

by Harold Monro (1879-1932)

Harold Monro

by Jacob Kramer, 1923

To what God Shall we chant Our songs of Battle?

To what God Shall we chant Our songs of Battle?

The professional poets Are measuring their thoughts For felicitous sonnets; They try them and fit them Like honest tailors Cutting materials For fashion-plate suits.

Hefty barbarians, Roaring for war, Are breaking upon us; Clouds of their cavalry, Waves of their infantry, Mountains of guns.

Winged they are coming, Plated and mailed, Snorting their jargon.

Oh to whom shall a song of battle be chanted?

The unprofessional Little singers, Most intellectual, Merry with gossip, Heavy with cunning, Whose tedious brains are draped In sultry palls of hair, Reclining as usual On armchairs and sofas, Are grinning and gossiping, Cake at their elbows – They will not write us verses for the time; Their storms are brewed in teacups and their wars Are fought in sneers or little blots of ink.

Not to our lord of the hosts on his ancient throne, Drowsing the ages out in Heaven The celestial choirs are mute, the angels have fled: Word is gone forth abroad that our lord is dead.

To what God shall we chant Our songs Of battle?

the old radleian 2014

73

Roger Shaw

Gazette

Gaudy 2014 - Farewell to Angus McPhail (a full appreciation will be in the 2014 Radleian magazine)

At the final assembly in the new theatre Alex Johnston, the Senior Prefect, presents Angus McPhail, the retiring Warden, with a picture by Arthur Laidlaw Speech at Gaudy by Alex Johnston, Senior Prefect: Dons, boys, Warden: I would just like to take this opportunity to say a few words in recognition of the last time that Mr McPhail has addressed the College, standing on this very stage and in this very theatre.

Indeed, Mr McPhail persuaded the Council all those years ago to build this theatre in the first place, so it is most fitting that we, as a College, should celebrate his 14 years as Warden of Radley in this building.

But, this amazing space is just one part of Mr McPhail’s legacy. Since 2000, Radley has gained a Real Tennis court, the New Pavilion now offers stunning, panoramic views over the pitches, and Clock Tower Court has created a new central hub for the school. However, it would be wrong to focus solely on the material developments.

I know that Mr McPhail would not want me to offer a gushing tribute on this occasion, but, this moment cannot pass without all of us celebrating his considerable 74

the old radleian 2014

achievements that have seen Radley move from strength to strength, to become a kinder and more understanding place; a place where everybody’s talents and capabilities are celebrated and embraced, and where individuals are truly respected.

Yet, at the same time, he has also succeeded in preserving the values and traditions of Radley, and what it means to be a Radleian. To feel happy and secure in this school is something that so many of us enjoy, and it is Warden McPhail’s leadership that has promoted and inspired a shared sense of pride, fairness, and mutual respect in Radley. All this is testament to Mr McPhail’s 14 years as Warden, and we sincerely hope that Mr McPhail, like all of us, can leave here with a real sense of pride in what he has achieved, and with many strong friendships and happy memories that will last a lifetime. Sir, I would like to present, this painting to you on behalf of all the boys at Radley, as a token of our thanks and respect, and with the best wishes for a long, happy and wholly fulfilling retirement.

Above: Angus McPhail speaks in front of the Cricket Pavilion Below: The picture by Arthur Laidlaw

Radley Video

Gazette

Roger Shaw

Above from the Quadcopter: Parents start to arrive for Gaudy Below: The gathering to hear Angus McPhail’s farewell speech at the Cricket Pavilion

the old radleian 2014

75

Gazette

Wardens of Radley

Numbers at Radley

The Rev. R. C. Singleton (Founder)

1847-1851

1940 367

The Rev. W. B. Heathcote

1851-1852

1945 398

The Rev. W. Sewell (Founder)

1853-1861

1950 419

The Very Rev. R. W. Norman

1861-1866

1955 436

The Rev. W. Wood

1866-1870

1960 470

The Rev. C. Martin

1871-1879

1965 484

The Rev. R. J. Wilson

1880-1888

1970 474

The Rev. H. L. Thompson

1889-1896

1975 528

The Rev. T. Field

1897-1913

1980 585

The Very Rev. E. G. Selwyn

1913-1918

1985 587

The Rev. Canon A. Fox

1918-1924

1990 613

The Rev. Canon W. H. Ferguson

1925-1937

1995 616

The Rev. J. C. Vaughan Wilkes

1937-1954

2000 629

W. M. M. Milligan, MBE

1954-1968

2005 629

D. R. W. Silk, CBE

1968-1991

2010 678

R. M. Morgan

1991-2000

2012 688

A. W. McPhail

2000-2014

J. S. Moule

2014-

2014 688

2013 682

Socials A

Ryder’s (2008), Rathbone’s (2003), Wesson’s (1995), Nye’s (1991), Johnson’s (1984), Pound’s (1973), Way’s (1963), Stewart-Morgan’s (1951), Paton’s (1936), Macpherson’s (1915), Vidal’s (1914), Wharton’s (1879)

B

Greed’s (2003), Holroyd’s (1993), Spens’s (1984), Dowding’s (1973), Langdale’s (1968), Fisher’s (1953), Eason’s (1938), Nugee’s (1924), Stone’s (1895), Titherington’s (1891), Vincent’s (1879)

C

Sparks’s (2006), Shaw’s (2004), Jones’s (1996), Derham’s (1990), Featherstone’s (1984), LeRoy’s (1978), Morgan’s (1969), Batten’s (1964), Thompson’s (1950), Cocks’s (1935), Hellard’s (1924), Barmby’s (1909), Evans’s (1879)

D

Crump’s (2011), Holden’s (2000), Bamforth’s (1996), Wylie’s (1985), Hirst’s (1978), Flint’s (1971), Stuart’s (1960), Gardiner’s (1945), Watkins’s (1937), Stevenson’s (1916), Pott’s (1915), Simpkinson’s (1895), Raikes’s (1879)

E

Lawson’s (2012), King’s (2008), Beasley’s (2003), Hopkins’s (1989), Aird’s (1974), Goldsmith’s (1958), Llewellyn Jones’s (1948), Hope’s (1926), Newman’s (1921), Moss-Blundell’s (1918), Birt’s (1914), Kirkby’s (1879)

F

McChesney’s (2004), Davenport’s (1994), Hastings’s (1985), Hudson’s (1970), Taylor’s (1965), Crowson’s (1950), Southam’s (1938), Hedgecock’s (1919), Davies’s (1911-1915), Croome’s (1892), Orlebar’s (1889), Hobson’s (1887), Dalton’s (1879)

G

Jackson’s (2011), Matthews’s (2010), Hammond’s (1998), Gamble’s (1993), Waller’s (1988), Doulton’s (1979), Stoughton-Harris’s (1967), King’s (1953), Morgan’s (1936), Boyd’s (1930), Wilson-Green’s (1919), Bryans’s (1884), Kindersley’s (1882), Horsburgh’s (1881)

H

May’s (2012), Edwards’s (2001), Barker’s (1989), Usherwood’s (1974), Birks’s (1962), Waye’s (1948), Brown’s (1945), Smale’s (1919-1940), Lowe’s (1909)

J

Langton’s (2013), Hindley’s (2008)

K

Murphy’s (2008)

76

the old radleian 2014

Gazette Some Radley Events of the last year

Above: The Newcastle Student Dinner – there was also a Student Dinner at Bristol but the venue was, apparently, too dark for photographs Below: The Centenary match against Sherborne on 13th September – Bob Reeves, Immediate Past President of the RFU, meets the teams

the old radleian 2014

77

Gazette

Above: The Centenary match against Sherborne on 13th September – Sherborne won 26-7 Bottom right: The Sherborne captain receives the Centenary Cup from Bob Reeves – the cup was presented by the Radleian Society 78

the old radleian 2014

Gazette

Top: The OR teams for the Rugby Centenary celebrations on 20th September Centre left: Chris Sheasby (1980) playing for one of the OR teams – Chris won seven caps for England and also played in the England Sevens squad that won the Sevens World Cup in 1993 – Centre right: Richard Greed addresses the ORs Bottom: A try in the OR match on 20th September – one OR team beat the other OR team by 21 points to 20 the old radleian 2014

79

Gazette

Part of the OR Rugby Centenary celebrations on 20th September – Radley beat St Paul’s 14-11 80

the old radleian 2014

Gazette

Above: The Grenadier Guards parade before the service to ‘Lay Up’ their Colours in Radley Chapel on 21st September Below left: Bearskins and weapons under guard during the service – Below right: The Colours in the antechapel

the old radleian 2014

81

Letters Letters

The Old Radleian 2013 From Major General Robin Grist, CB, OBE (1954):

Derrick Ashcroft In the 1950s Derrick Ashcroft was the form master for the lowest Fifth of which I was a member. I think he is best described as an ‘inspirational bully’. He had a stick about 4 feet long with a 3 inch nail in the end with which he would prowl the classroom and would strike the desk of any boy whom he considered idle.

When this happened the nail had to be levered out of the desk! Our classroom was in what were then called the new labs and were tiered. There were three or four desks on the same level as Derrick’s and within easy reach of the stick so the boys he considered needed the most ‘encouragement’ were sat there. The effect of this was that most of us worked harder than ever before. No one had ever forced me to work previously and almost inevitably I discovered that I could achieve much more than I had been used to.

His inspiration was that on our first day Derrick explained that History was not on our curriculum, presumably because it was thought we needed more time on the other subjects. He went on to say that if we were prepared to do the extra work he would put in the time to teach us History for O Level. We all recognised that his ambition was that we should succeed and I think we all accepted the challenge. I and I am sure many others passed.

Derrick’s approach would probably appal today’s parents but I think mine approved and they were right. He had a far greater impact on me than any other Radley don and I owe much of any success I have had in my life to his influence.

He left Radley to pursue other business challenges in which he was generally highly successful, initially in Britain but then in America. For a time they owned Bishopstrow House, near Warminster, which is now the Regional HQ of the National Trust. I kept in touch as one of his sisters married a brother officer in the regiment. When I was the Military Attaché in Washington my wife and I stayed with Derrick and Barbara on their ranch in New Mexico. It was quite a surprise to realise how much he relished the life of 82

the old radleian 2014

a rancher as he rode about the range. I assumed this was just another challenge, which he would master and move on but I was wrong; they loved the life and he remained there until he died, although when I last saw him a couple of years ago he was still producing innovative ideas for new projects and talking about Radley.”

From Peter Waterfield (1942)

Charles Wrinch I always enjoy the Old Radleian and am grateful for the work you put in to send it to us all. This time my attention was caught, among many more serious items, by Martin Blake’s recollections of those hilarious songs with which Charles Wrinch used to entertain us so brilliantly at the Dons’ Plays. May I add my own treasured memories?

I think he’s spot on with ‘Himas’as’, though I remember it as ‘Imasas’, but the second line must surely be ‘never no more to roam’ to rhyme with ‘home’.

My memory of the inimitable ‘Moscow’ goes as follows: I’ve just come back from Moscow.

You must go to Moscow; It’s a land where they grow bolshevism, And you get cold feet and rheumatism, Young Olga (surely not Iva) Petrevoski She met me in her droshky She said ‘You’re rather poshki’ And very, very soon Olga Petrovoski used to squatski on my knee Did we care ajotski? we did notski, no, not we; Oh, my baby doll she was a proper bolshie And to tell the truth she put me in a whirl.

Every nightski my poor noseski would be frozeski, Frozeski to the noseski of my pretty little bolshie girl.

Beneath the Russian moonski, we’d meetski and spoonski.

And the wolves around would howlevitch And prowlevitch and growlevitch.

‘My husband, Petrovoski’ she said ‘Oh my goshki ‘He is so very wigglevitch and his whiskers, oh they ticklevitch’.

He said ‘with this knifeski, I will take your lifeski, ‘less you pay me well

and then you go to hell’.

So I paid him truly 20,000 roubles (my memory of the sum) Twenty thousand roubles – English money eighteen pence.

I know very well this isn’t perfect, and, like Martin Blake, I’d be very glad to hear of a more authentic version. Is there no MS extant?

Another silly idea has come to my ancient and fast-failing mind: …you should add the Guinea-pig song, which is in my memory as I have often sung it myself at appropriate (and sometimes inappropriate) times. It’s very short: How can a guinea-pig show he’s pleased, when he hasn’t got a tail to wag?

All other animals, you will find, have got a little tail stuck on behind.

If they’d only put a tail on a guinea-pig, and finish off a decent job, The price of a guinea-pig would go right up From a guinea to thirty bob.

From Robert Stock (1950)

The Island I am sure you have received many letters about your article in the Old Radleian but perhaps my own memory adds something to the story.

I began at Radley in 1949, C Social, in the last term or so of Theo Cocks, followed by ‘Rutsh’ Thompson, and, at least at first, was an unhappy child – a toughness was required in those days and I lacked it in contrast to my peers who seemed to adapt so well.

Having no enthusiasm for cricket (the days of Teddy Dexter) I chose to be a wetbob and found rowing on the Thames to be a great restorer of the soul. Even greater was the solace found when I discovered the ‘island’ in inverted commas because it then played an important part in my life. Actually it has done so even over the ensuing 60-odd years.

I suppose, naively, I believed then and have, without much thought, done so since, that the island was my own discovery and had never been visited until I came along.

Letters

Created from Ordnance Survey County Series 1:2500 maps first published 1875-1899. Original scale 1:2,500.

© Cassini Publishing Ltd. This product contains third party data: © and database right Landmark Information Group (All rights reserved 2010).60797

1875-1899 - County Series 1:2500

An Ordnance Survey Map dated 1875 to 1899 showing a large pool in the Island, perhaps part of an earlier channel of the river

In my time it was in the shape of a horseshoe although from the outside it was visible only as an overgrown thicket emerging from the water.

On the downstream side, though, I somehow found that the interior could be penetrated and inside was a pool of water with enough room to turn a fenny easily. I would stay there resting on my oars and almost dozing in the heat and humidity of the enclosed space.

Sunlight did penetrate but the overall feeling was rather like a Monet painted with a subdued palette, lit with shafts of sunlight. There were many dragonflies and a kingfisher which never seemed bothered by his visitor and just carried on with whatever he did.

Over the years I’ve always thought of the island as my own, one of those special places we all have but seldom talk about.

Mine was very important.

You can probably imagine my shock on reading your article at having to share

the island with unknown numbers of people over many centuries. Obviously things never stay the same but ‘my’ island bears no resemblance to any of the photographs – there was no sign of a bridge or other foundations of any kind in my time, perhaps because of neglect and changing water levels.

I never dishonoured the island by smoking or drinking, reserving my Manikins (cigars, horrible) for the woods at the far end of the playing fields. I’ve often gone back in my mind to the island but I wonder, now that I’ve read your article, whether it will quite mean the same. I shall read it again soon and see if my fond nostalgia can be reignited.

I hope that, as long as Radleians are rowing, the island will give the same kind of peace that I enjoyed, to other boys who occasionally need a refuge.

From Peter Fullerton (1943) I really enjoyed your article “Behind the Island” in the Old Radleian. You found out such a lot about the history of the island, the cottage, and the bridge.

When we were in “Fennies” (1943-48) we used to scull round the Nuneham side of the island and under the old bridge, and up into the lagoon inside the island which in those days had a narrow channel into it. It is now blocked with branches and weed. There used to be some white water lilies in the lagoon, sweet smelling, and no doubt planted there years ago when the cottage was inhabited.

My father (OR 1907-11) remembered the Cottage well from his rowing days and told me about the teas which were served there.

I did not know that the teas survived until the 1920s.

I read with interest about Nuneham lock, the history of which has disappeared from all Thames guide books nowadays. As there the old radleian 2014

83

Letters

The Island in about 1880 – is there a channel near the punt above leading to the centre of the Island?

Floods in January 2014 84

the old radleian 2014

Letters

The Senior Squad rowing on the fields during the floods – don’t forget to shut the gate behind you.

was a flash lock and a weir near the bridge, I assume there must have been another weir in what is now the main channel on the Berks side. Did you come across any mention of that? I think Nuneham lock was abolished when the first pound lock was built at Abingdon, raising the level of the river on the Nuneham reach.

I walked the grounds of Nuneham Park last summer. The estate is now owned by the University but leased to Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University. The estate is not open to the public but if you go Nuneham House the receptionist will give you a pass to walk anywhere in the estate, including the fine Church of All Saints, rebuilt in 1764 by the third Viscount Harcourt.

The photos of the floods in the ORBC News of 16 January are startling, especially the pictures of boys in pairs rowing across the fields. The floods look even higher than those of 1947 which followed the big freeze that winter. The river froze over and a friend and I cycled up the river from the boathouse to 5th Gate. How mad we were!

2nd message:

From Martin Blake (1942)

There seems to me to be evidence both in the text and in the photographs that there were two islands at Nuneham.

The text on page 41 (column 3) says “the wooden bridge which connects the islands (plural) with the mainland”. The photos of the plates on pages 39 and 40 seem to show three streams, one under the bridge, one in the middle and one of what is now the mainstream. This suggests that the lagoon in the present island was in fact originally a stream flowing through that island, which may have silted up at the upstream end and become a lagoon. My theory is that this process continued and that the channel into the lagoon from the downstream end, which was useable by small boats in the 1950s, is now virtually blocked.

The Ryder Family

The island connected to the mainland by the bridge was probably gardened (as described in the article on page 41) with wild roses and clematis. While the second island, cut off from either bank, may have remained wild and covered in trees.

One might claim that two of the most remarkable people of the 20th Century, who founded and left a legacy of charitable institutions famous throughout the world, were Leonard Cheshire and Sue Ryder. They were married in 1959 and bore two children, one of whom was a contemporary and friend of my daughter at Bristol University. Both were connected with Radley through relations; Scotty Cheshire who captained the cricket XI in 1946 and was in Pups Study with me was Leonard’s first cousin, and Sue Ryder’s three elder brothers were all at Radley with my elder brothers between the wars.

My Benedictine friend over sixty years, Dom Jobert OSB of Solesmes Abbey in France, which Leonard visited a number of times after the war, told me in 1959: “Leonard Cheshire is a saint and he is about to marry another saint called Sue Ryder and one day the Church will canonise them as Sts Mr and Mrs Cheshire.”

Both in fact became life peers, and their cause has not yet opened . . . but who knows? the old radleian 2014

85

David Steen/Associated Newspapers/REX

Letters

light it throws on Leonard Cheshire who never wrote his autobiography. It can be obtained cheaply from St Katherine’s, Parmoor, Henley on Thames RG9 6NN (a Sue Ryder house).

A letter to The Times

From Andrew Hamilton(1958): and, in an email, Andrew Hamilton writes: I’ve taken the liberty of sending, as an attachment, a copy of Saturday’s Letters to the Editor in The Times.

I only do as as my father, who was at Radley during the stewardship of Adam Fox, much enjoyed his time at the school and indeed made many lifelong friends including the then Warden!

Leonard Cheshire with his wife, Sue Ryder, and their one-year-old son, Jeromy in 1961 Sue was the youngest child of a family of four, and her father had lost his first wife leaving him with five children, so the family numbered nine. The father owned a fairly large estate in Yorkshire near Leeds, and had a second property in Suffolk. From an early age she became deeply conscious of the vast difference in wealth between her family and the slum dwellers of Leeds who in the thirties lived in appalling conditions. Twenty years ago she wrote her autobiography entitled Child of My Love, in which she showed how much her family cared for the down and out, eg “Tramps and the homeless were not simply turned away with money. They were invited to have a hot meal, a bath, and when they wanted it a bed for the night; each was looked upon as an individual, a person with dignity. We children were always interested to know why they had resorted to the life they led.” Thus was the founder of the Ryder Homes formed from early childhood.

Clearly Sue had a remarkable mother, daughter of a clergyman, in whose house in Suffolk Sue and Leonard lived their entire married life and was the headquarters of the Ryder Foundation. Her book gives a 86

the old radleian 2014

fascinating insight into life between the two wars from the point of view of a landowning family who were deeply aware of the hardships suffered by the majority of the population. In the course of time they gave up the house in Yorkshire and moved permanently to Suffolk. She says how close she was to her three brothers, John, Michael and Stephen; life was comfortable but hard in the large Georgian country house at Thurlow, and she remarks: “scrubbing remains my favourite physical work.” She learned to help in the dairy and the kitchen – the staff were well fed and looked after but paid very little – and there was riding, parties and dances, music and charades. It was a youth not dissimilar from my own, until overshadowed by the war. Sue’s mother was an AngloCatholic and both her parents with the family attended regularly Great Thurlow Church where a plaque reads ‘In loving memory of Charles Foster Ryder, a constant worshipper in this House of God, Lord of the Manor of Little Thurlow.’

Sue’s autobiography is a lengthy work of more than six hundred pages, and a fascinating bit of social history. It is of course particularly interesting in the

He was certainly not alone in making such a selfless act. However, it had an extra dimension; on 6 June my mother was 5 months pregnant with me and he set off for Juno Beach in the knowledge that he might never have returned. He was a man who conducted his life with the utmost integrity. He was a wonderful father to me and my sister having brought us up with a very clearly defined moral compass.

I think this kind of behaviour is one of the many values that Radley upholds and long may it do so.

Obituaries

Obituaries

Coles On 27.8.2013 Charles Leslie Coles, OBE, VRD (a, 1931-1934). At Radley he was an Exhibitioner and winner of the Storrs French Prize. He spent a large amount of time at College Pond, showing his early interest in nature which led to his career.

With the full support of Warden Ferguson he started the first jazz band at Radley.

The tribute from his service: Charles was a wonderful man who led a fascinating life and in this tribute drawn from a variety of family sources we get an insight into his world.

Charles Leslie Coles was born in Australia on June 20 1917 to Fanny Gladys and Leslie Coles and was an only son. He spent his early years in southern India, where his father was a director of a cotton business.

He was then educated in France and at Radley. From an early age Charles was fascinated by wildlife and the sea. His nickname at Radley was “Minnow” Coles because he was down at college pond all the time.

Charles was destined for Cambridge, but when his father lost his money in the slump he spent a year doing commercial studies at Regent Street Polytechnic before, in 1936, finding work in the publicity department of ICI. It was there that he fortuitously met Major Eley, who was researching grey partridges. This meeting would lead later to Charles’ life work studying game which brought together his fascination with wildlife and paid employment. However, there was a lot more to take place before this would happen.

Charles was passionate about the sea and joined the RNVR as a midshipman in 1937, and on the outbreak of war was sent to the 1st MTB Flotilla in Malta. “Forty knots on a moonlit night – who’d be in the infantry?” he later observed. For a few months in 1940 he was liaison officer to the Royal Norwegian Navy MTB flotilla, rescuing Dutch officers from the Hook of Holland, landing agents in Belgium, and taking part in Operation Lucid, Churchill’s scheme to use fireships to destroy the German invasion barges in northern France. This was dangerous and skilful work and required courage and coolness in equal measures.

Charles returned to the Mediterranean as commander of MTB 216. In early 1941, forced to take shelter behind the island of Gavdo, south of Crete, he ran out of food for his crew and had to shoot two wild kid goats. At first his men were horrified at

Charles Coles the idea of eating goat, but they soon came round when he presented them with his own concoction of goat cutlets, minced liver and kidneys, and ground-up ship’s biscuits.

In May 1941, his boat MTB 216 was destroyed during a German air raid on Suda Bay, Crete, and Charles was one of the last to embark in the destroyer HMS Kandahar.

After a period as liaison officer in a Yugoslav MTB, he was given command of MTB 262 (10th Flotilla), a fast American-built boat in which he served off North Africa.

In June 1942 he was operating out of Tobruk when Rommel attacked the garrison.

On June 20 (his 25th birthday) Charles was in the port waiting for his boat to be fitted with new propellers when he was told that the divers detailed to do the work were on

the sick list. Undeterred, he put on a diving suit, with brass helmet and weighted boots, and did the work himself.

When MTB 262 came under shellfire, the boat’s aerial was sliced in half and Charles was knocked off his feet and deafened.

Eventually the evacuation order was given, and Charles watched as a motor launch, sailing past him towards the harbour boom, took a direct hit: “One second I was looking at the boat: the number painted on the bow, the officers standing rigidly on the bridge, the crew on the two-pounder. And then suddenly she was gone, and there was nothing but a patch of oil spreading out over the water, a small area of wreckage, and an officer’s cap floating on the surface like a floral tribute after a committal at sea.” the old radleian 2014

87

Obituaries Having successfully escaped from Tobruk, Charles was laying mines off Tunisia when his boat suffered a battery failure. Unable to start the engines, he was forced to abandon ship and tried to row to the African coast.

Sadly he was captured and taken prisoner.

He was interned in POW camps in Italy and then transported to Germany, cheekily getting out when the train stopped to raid fields of tomatoes. This was a tough time but Charles in his usual way rose above it learning Italian and German and later adding Spanish and French to his linguistic expertise.

After being liberated he was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander and appointed to Naval Intelligence and was finally demobbed at the end of 1946, and resumed his work with Major Eley.

He met the lovely Wendy when she was out for a ride and she thought he was a rather forward young gamekeeper. Meeting him later at a dinner party he impressed her not with his great charm and story telling but with his Italian silk shirt though she disliked his hairy ginger tweed jacket. Despite this sartorial faux pas Charles won Wendy’s heart and they married in London at Holy Trinity Brompton on 21st August 1948 and then took the train to France for their honeymoon.

They lived in Rockbourne and then moved to Lynchmoor in 1960 where they have many happy memories. Blessed with Julian and Sarah, the family relished the time they spent with their busy father who encouraged them in sailing and watersports and shared his enthusiasm for wildlife especially insects, butterflies and birds eggs. Their house was a welcoming place for black labs and cats.

Back at work Charles and Major Eley were studying diseases in grey partridges looking at the effect of pesticides, insecticides and farming practises and their results influenced manufacturers and farmers improving the management and maintenance of game. From 1960 to 1981 Charles was Director General of the Game Conservancy Trust (now the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust) with the Duke of Edinburgh as President, the author Peter Fleming as Chairman, and Charles Coles as Director.

During his career Charles made numerous documentary films about game and wildlife, and participated in more than 200 radio and television programmes, among them The Living World; Wild World; and Country Questions. He lectured in many countries, and wrote or edited a number of books. In 1958 he invented, with Nigel Gray, the first Game Fair and he played an active role in the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation. This work was recognised when he was appointed OBE in 1984.

88

the old radleian 2014

Charles Coles sketched by a French POW the day they were liberated from their Polish camp near Lubeck on 2nd May 1945, hence his caption: “Le sourire de la liberation”.

Charles was an excellent raconteur and had a wide range of interests, including the arts and music – he was a fan of jazz, and played the flute and the tenor saxophone.

Charles was a man of many parts and I know that he will be greatly missed by all who knew, loved and admired him.

James On 18.5.2014 Edward (Ted) Leonard James, (g, 1932-1937). After Radley where he was a Prefect and winner of the P.T. Instructor’s Cup, he went up to Queens’ College, Cambridge in 1937. He was commissioned into the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI), 5th Battalion, 43rd Division in June 1939 where he remained until 1943. In 1944 he joined the The Royal Wilts 5th Regiment and was demobilised, as a Major, in March 1946. After the war he worked for Tate & Lyle until his retirement in 1986. In 1943 he married Sheila Florence, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G.L. Jordan and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Caroline, all of whom survive him.

Somerset-Leeke On 3.4.2014 Nigel Lewis Henry Somerset-Leeke, (c, 1932-1936).

Marilyn McAllen writes: He passed away peacefully at the grand age of 95. He had a long and interesting life and was born just a few weeks after the Signing of the Armistice in 1918.

His time at Radley was spent as a wetbob, leader of the choir and chapel organist.

In 1937 he was inducted into Morris Motors at Cowley at a salary of 15 shillings per week!

By 1940 he had joined the junior service, the Royal Air Force, and gained his wings at the RAF College Cranwell. In 1943 he joined his first operational squadron flying photo reconnaissance Spitfires and Mustangs. He always felt he was lucky to survive the war flying an unarmed aircraft.

Once hostilities were over, Nigel returned to Morris/Nuffield and stayed with them untll 1958 when he joined Citroen UK at Slough as Sales Director. He ‘retired’ In the 1970s and, needing something constructive to do, took up piano tuning.

This he continued until amazingly some 10 years ago.

In 1996, having sold his small boat, he realised his lifelong ambition and bought a 1970s Bentley and certainly enjoyed arriving with a flourish at Radley for the occasional OR day visits.

His funeral was in April and for his final journey, he arrived in a Rolls Royce hearse (a Bentley one was unfortunately not available).

He will be greatly missed.

LLoyd On 16.8.2013 The Revd. Robert James Clifford LLoyd, (f, 1933-1935). He went up to Selwyn College, Cambridge 1938 and served in the ranks with the Royal Artillery and The Queen’s Royal Regiment during the 1939-45 war. In 1946 he went to Lincoln Theological College and took Holy Orders in 1947. He held curacies at Clapham, High Wycombe, and Hampstead and was Chaplain to the Forces (T.A.). He was Vicar of Wellington with West Buckland and Nynehead, Somerset from 1955 to 1966, Rural Dean of Wellington from 1959 to 1966, Rector of Chartham, Kent from 1966 to 1981 and Rural Dean of West Bridge from 1975 to 1981.

In 2009 he reported: Getting older and older but keeping well. Gave up taking services at 88 but thriving on roots laid down long ago at Radley.

In 2011: Still in fair health in my 93rd year. Nearly 80 years since I came to Radley, in a different world. But it was an education equipping me for life and I am deeply grateful.

From David Humphreys (1936): I have known Robert and his wife Pamela, for very many years both through the Canterbury Diocese and socially. We also had a common friend in my old study companion, the late Nigel Mitchison,

Obituaries whose parish of Wootton was looked after

by Robert during a long interregnum.

To my mind Robert represented many of the finest qualities which we were accustomed to find at Radley and which have stood behind us through life. For many years after retirement Robert made himself available to churches where there was either an interregnum, including my neighbour, St John’s, Barham, or the desire for services, particularly of Holy Communion using the book of Common Prayer which older or more traditional church members needed. A quiet service with little flourish but much contemplation and prayer. Many times did members of St John’s say to me; “Robert Lloyd is taking the service next week”, expressing great pleasure.

Robert was a true listener and unassuming in his demeanour, with a keen sense of humour. Although my house is situated outside the City of Canterbury I know that Robert was a devoted member of the Cathedral family and, well into his eighties, was presiding at a regular midday communion service in the delightful chapel of the Grey Friars in the centre of the city. Robert was also a keen walker up to a ripe old age and lover of the country around Chartham where he was Rector for many years. Robert and his very lively wife, Pamela, kept open house in their home in Canterbury. Robert was a lover of music, but perhaps that is as expected from a Radleian. Here was a true Christian!

From The Church Times: The Dean of Canterbury writes: The Revd Robert LLoyd, who died on 16 August, aged 94, lived long enough to celebrate his 75th anniversary as a Friend of Canterbury Cathedral. His accurate and amazing memory was a point of reference for everyone who loved church music and, particularly, cathedral music.

At his funeral, his son Mark spoke of his father as one from “a bygone age of good conduct, strong values, modesty in one’s achievements, courtesy and gratitude for what life gave”.

Robert brought those qualities to his long years of ministry as a parish priest, and retained them in his equally long years of retirement, enjoying the life and worship of Canterbury Cathedral.

He was brought up by his grandparents, after the premature death of his mother, at Olantigh, near Wye, in Kent, and learnt there to love the countryside, gaining an encyclopaedic knowledge of

The Revd. Robert LLoyd birds, butterflies, and flowers, but also of church music. These interests, together with his passion for cricket, never left him.

His greatest passion, though, was for his priesthood, particularly his ministry as a parish priest, faithfully carried out from his priestly ordination in 1948 till his retirement in 1992.

He had been educated at Radley College, and Selwyn College, Cambridge, where he read History, and trained for ordination at Lincoln Theological College; but his training was interrupted by his years of service during the war. Very recently, a collection of his wartime letters were discovered, describing the horrors of entering Berlin after it had been captured by the Russians in 1945. He was an intensely private man, and kept such experiences quietly within him.

In 1950, while serving as curate at Holy Trinity, Clapham, he fell in love with, and married, one of the students at the deaconess college on Clapham Common, Gilmore House, for whom he had to pay one third of a year’s stipend for the fact that she was now to be a wife and not a deaconess. Later in life, he was to become Pamela’s biggest supporter, as she became one of the first women to be a priest in the Church of England.

For Robert and Pamela, it was always a shared ministry, and their passion clearly communicated itself to their family; for two

of Robert’s sons, Nigel and Jonathan, are now priests, and he was thrilled also to have a daughter-in-law, Jane, who is also ordained.

Robert’s long ministry took him from Clapham to curacies at High Wycombe and Hampstead, but it was in his years as Vicar of Wellington in Somerset, from 1955 to 1966, and as Rector of Chartham in Kent, from 1966 to 1981, that he exercised the ministry of a parish priest with such total dedication and faithfulness, undergirded by his strong traditional spirituality, based on the daily Office.

In these parishes, he and his family were greatly loved, and that ministry was to continue after his retirement in Chartham, when he became an honorary curate of Elham with Denton and Wootton, again in the diocese of Canterbury, and near to the cathedral that he loved, with all its music.

He was, in fact, for long years a Friend of the cathedrals of Canterbury, York, Winchester, and Salisbury, and a foundermember of the Friends of Cathedral Music.

One could never catch him out in any fact or piece of information about characters whom he had known in the world of cathedral music throughout the 20th century, and happily that memory, and his ability to tell amusing anecdotes about many composers, clergy and cathedral organists, stayed with him right to the end.

He was a constant letter-writer, and his handwriting on an envelope was always recognisable, so that one knew one was to be treated to several stories relating to the last conversation that one had had with him. It was his rule to write at least one letter to someone every day, and, if gathered, these would be an archive of English church music, at least from 1930 to the present day.

Robert’s health had been failing, but by grace he was given a happy extension through this beautiful summer, when the flowers and birds he loved were in evidence in such profusion, when the English cricket team, captained by an ex-cathedral chorister, won the Ashes, when he celebrated his 75 years as a Friend of the cathedral, and also became a greatgrandfather for the first time, and met his new great-grand-daughter, Keira, with great joy.

Dressed in the black shirt and white collar of the generation of priests to which he belonged, he was in his place in the cathedral on the Sunday before he died.

He will be sorely missed. Nevertheless, the ministry of the LLoyd family will continue to serve the Church of England, which Robert loved so much, to its great benefit. the old radleian 2014

89

Obituaries

Michael and Anne Wynne-Willson

Wynne-Willson On 12.11.2013 Michael Foxton Wynne-Willson, AFC (b, 19331936).

Michael was born in London on September 13, 1919. His arrival was described a severe shock to his mother, as she was 45 at the time. At Radley he was in the Cricket and Hockey 1st XIs of 1936. He was awarded an English Speaking Union Scholarship to St. George’s School, Newport, Rhode Island, for one year. On arrival, it is rumoured that on meeting his future Headmaster, he announced that he was there to broaden his mind and not his education. Mr. Merrick, his Headmaster and great friend for life, conceded that he never once let him down!

Michael Wynne-Willson at Radley 90

the old radleian 2014

Back in England in 1937 with war clouds forming. Jackie Chambers, a girl Michael met while at school in America, visited him in England. Marriage was discussed in Paris, but with war imminent and innumerable other and important reasons, not to mention lack of funds, Jackie caught the last boat back to the USA, the Manhattan, from Le Havre.

Michael joined the RAF on his 20th birthday, hoping to become a pilot. As there were no planes in which to train everyone, he was sent to an aerodrome far north in Scotland to peel potatoes in the Officers’ Mess.

From 1939 to 1946 there were few dull moments with night-fighter squadrons and experimental work in single and twinengine aircraft and with earliest airborne radar. He suffered his only war wound when he was shot in the head by a boy who thought Michael was a fox in the grass!

Michael went through Gunnery Officer training on Spitfires and then was sent to RAF Station Greenwood, Nova Scotia, Canada, to instruct training instructors in the firing of rockets from Mosquito aircraft.

Unfortunately no Mosquito aircraft capable of carrying rockets were available!

Michael and Jackie Chambers were married in Middleburg, Virginia, on May 6, 1944 with large attendance of brother officers from Greenwood. There followed a spell with the RAF’s Night-Fighter Interception Unit and Central Fighter Establishment.

After demobilisation Michael started work with British European Airways as an Airport Manager trainee. All went well but Jackie had some medical problems so, in 1948, they decided to go to the USA to live.

On arrival in New York Michael became a brush salesman for Kent of London before moving to Boston to sell British cars. Later he and Jackie moved to Hamilton, Massachusetts where they bought a house with eight acres of land and made marmalade and assorted products.

After a time in radio Michael then became a TV reporter in the US and UK. He used to take a mobile broadcasting studio to major events on the East coast.

Michael and Jackie adopted two children but, in 1967, Jackie lost her battle with cancer.

For a number of years Michael soldiered on in Hamilton, as father to Mark and Wendy, while turning himself into a fully-fledged PR man for, of all things, both the New England Aquarium, and a local bank. It was not long before he met Anne Patterson, a striking and effervescent young lady from Brookline, and they married in 1970.

Michael and Anne became organizers of numerous exotic tours – the couple managed to travel champagne-class “on a beer income” through Africa, Egypt, Jordan, the Far East, and even Antarctica.

Michael was Founder and President of Castles, Cottages & Flats from 1985 to 1992 and owner of The Appraisers’ Registry in Westwood, Massachusetts.

He wrote two books of memoirs: Before I Forget published in 2001 and Before I Forget . . . Again, published in 2003.

Driver On 25.5.2014 Robert Collier Driver, (a, 1934-1939). Immediately after Radley he joined the R.A.F.V.R. becoming a pilot but he was shot down and was a P.O.W. in Germany. On his release he went to the College of Estate Management and qualified as a Chartered Surveyor, working with Matthews & Son in London before becoming Assistant Estate Surveyor with the Crown Estate Commissioners from 1953. After he retired he was ‘much concerned with St. David’s Cathedral and the Church in Wales’.

Garnett On 9.6.2014 Edward Whitehead Garnett, TD (f, 1934-1937). After a brief period working for textile manufacturers in Yorkshire, he joined the Royal Artillery in 1939. He became a Major and was mentioned in despatches. Later he became a J.P. and was awarded the Territorial Decoration. He was a member of The General Synod from 1980 to 1990. In 1991 he published The Calverley Murders (1605), A Yorkshire Tragedy.

Obituaries Richardson On 30.10.2011 (Roland James) Faber Richardson, (c, 1937-1941).

After Radley he was a Naval Architectural Student with Cammell Laird & Co. Later he became a Director of J. Boanson & Son Ltd., decorators, Egglescliffe Estates Ltd. and E.C. Burton Ltd., builders and contractors. He retired in 1987.

Troup On 19.12.2013 Dr John Duncan Gordon Troup, (d, 1938-1942). He qualified at St. Thomas’ Hospital before becoming a Surgeon Lieutenant in the Royal Navy from 1950 to 1955. After a Ph.D. at London University in 1968 he became Director of the Spinal Research Unit at the Institute of Orthopaedics from 1970 to 1974. Among his many medical posts he was: Hon. Consultant Physician at the Department of Rheumatology and Rehabilitation at the Royal Free Hospital from 1978 to 1981, Hon. Senior Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool from 1975 to 1992 and Consultant and Visiting Professor at the Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki from 1978 to 1989. He was the first J.W. Frymoyer Visiting Professor at Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at the University of Vermont in 1988. He was awarded a D.Sc. (Med.) at University of London in 1989.

In 1992 he became Hon. Senior Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen. He was given the Volvo Award for Low Back Pain Research in the Clinical Sciences in 1987 and 1990. He was the author of many medical publications. His brother, Donald Troup, was at Radley.

Cochrane On 17.6.2013 (Hugh) Ben(jamin) (d, 1939-1943). At Radley he was a School Prefect, rowed in the 2nd VIII in 1941, the lst VIII in 1942 and 1943 and was unbeaten in College Sculls throughout his career at Radley. He was a keen follower of the Beagles since their formation and became Master for the 1942/43 season. On leaving Radley he went on a sixth month Royal Engineers Short Course at Queens’ College, Cambridge where he rowed for Cambridge in the 1944 Boat Race. After primary and corps training he was commissioned into the Queen Victoria’s Own Madras Sappers & Miners. He served with various units both in India and Singapore until 1947 when he returned to Queens’ to complete his degree course. He started his engineering career with Civil Engineering Consultants in Westminster and, after seven years, he joined a company in the North designing and constructing reactor pressure vessels for the nuclear power industry both in the UK and abroad. In 1964 he transferred to the

The 1944 Boat Race on the Ouse between Ely and Littleport. Ben Cochrane (1939) and John Scott (1938) rowed for Cambridge. David Jamison (1938) and Michael Brooks (1937) were in the Oxford crew which won by three-quarters of a length.

Central Electricity Generating Board where he concentrated on the safety of reactor pressure vessels, both steel and pre-stressed concrete, in all the Board’s Power Stations.

He was a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of both the Institutions of Civil Engineers and Mechanical Engineers. He retired in 1988. His two brothers were at Radley, his elder brother being killed in action in 1943 whilst serving in the Royal Air Force as a fighter pilot.

Curtiss On 14.9.2013 Air Marshal Sir John Bagot Curtiss, KCB, KBE, FRAeS, RAF (c, 1939-1940). After Radley he went on to Wanganui Collegiate School in New Zealand before returning to Radley for one term in 1942.

Born in 1924, John Bagot Curtiss was of Antipodean background, his mother a New Zealander, his father an Australian engineer who brought his wife over to England in 1914 when he joined the Royal Flying Corps. Living comfortably on income from business interests in New Zealand, the family stayed on after the war. Curtiss opted for the military at an early age. His first choice was the navy but having failed to get into Dartmouth (he was let down by his weakness in Latin, in those days mysteriously judged to be a prerequisite for commanding a battleship) he went to Radley where he thrived on a games culture.

From The Times: The first RAF navigator to reach the rank of Air Marshal whose career culminated with planning the air campaign in the Falklands War Though he could hardly have guessed it at the time, the military career of John Curtiss took a turn for the better when he was passed over for pilots’ training. Not easily deflated and set on a long term future with the RAF, he perfected his skills as a backseat flyer, opting for the navigation route to high command. Starting with bombing raids over Germany, his forty years’ service culminated with planning the air campaign in the Falklands War.

Air Marshal Sir John Curtiss the old radleian 2014

91

PA

Obituaries

Air Marshal Sir John Curtiss (second from right) with other service chiefs at the Navy’s HQ at Northwood during the Falklands campaign His schooling was interrupted in 1939 when it was decided that the family should return to New Zealand. The likelihood of another war was a particular worry for Curtiss senior, by now a chronic asthmatic, who could not survive the gas attacks that were widely anticipated. There was also a fear of being cut off from the means of livelihood.

The move was not popular with his eldest son who followed the news from home with intense eagerness to be part of the action.

It was not until 1942 that his wish was answered but since he was not yet 18, his entry into the RAF had to be via a brief return to Radley where he was put up for a university short course. Predictably, most of his time at Worcester College was spent with the Oxford University Air Squadron.

When serious training began in April 1943, Curtiss took to flying easily, thoroughly enjoying nothing more than Tiger Moth aerobatics, the excitement enhanced by the open cockpit.

His disappointment at failing to join the pilot elite was soon forgotten in his enthusiasm for navigation. Shortly after the D-Day landings, Curtiss joined 578 Squadron for daylight attacks on retreating German forces and on V1 and V2 Flying Bomb sites in Northern France and Holland.

The hazards were not all enemy inspired.

The stacking of planes as they jockeyed for position on the bombing run held the risk of flying under another aircraft just as its bomb doors opened. Curtiss long remembered when his Halifax was hit by a 1000lb. It entered the top and left at the bottom of the fuselage leaving a large hole and a powerful draught.

92

the old radleian 2014

But his closest brush with disaster was on a routine training flight. A fire spread to the fuel tanks on the port wing. The order came to bail out. On his descent Curtiss watched his aircraft falling towards the ground, trailing fire and smoke. He and the wireless operator were the only survivors. After a cursory medical, Curtiss returned to flying and it was nine years before he discovered that in landing awkwardly in a ploughed field, he had cracked his spine.

The war over, Curtiss was transferred to Transport Command to ferry troops back from India and Singapore. In June 1946 he married Peggy Bowie, a teenage sweetheart he had met en route to New Zealand and had not seen again for over five years. With a permanent commission, Curtiss was moved to Abingdon where his next mission was to be part of the Berlin Airlift, that incredible Anglo-American initiative when, from June 1948 to May 1949, the Soviet land blockade of the city was defeated by the air delivery of 2.3 million tons of essential supplies. On record days around 1,400 aircraft, close on one a minute, were landing and taking off in West Berlin. Based at Wunstorf, near Hannover, Curtiss was soon flying four or five trips a day, fifty minutes each way with thirty minutes on the ground for unloading.

After the winding down of the Airlift, flying jobs were hard to come by. Curtiss found himself running a succession of training programmes which were not to his liking. A transfer to Fighter Command put him back on course for staff college and promotion to Squadron Leader. Determined to stay in the front line of the RAF and

to compete for high rank at a time when pilots held nearly all the top jobs, Curtiss was soon to take command of operations at RAF Wittering where aircraft were equipped with Blue Steel missiles targeted against the Soviet Union. In 1966 he was appointed Station Commander. Two years later, promoted to Group Captain, he was transferred to Bruggen in Germany, one of the RAF’s premier operational stations while the Cold War was at its height. Further promotions took him to Air Vice Marshal and to the Ministry of Defence as the RAF’s Director General for Organisation.

Subsequently, he was commandant of the RAF Staff College before landing a threestar job leading No 18 Group, the old Coastal Command. A knighthood followed.

And there his career might have ended had it not been for the Falklands War. Curtiss was part of the five man command team led by Admiral John Fieldhouse. As the Task Force set out for the South Atlantic, an airbase was established on Ascension Island, off the coast of Africa. Since this still left 4000 miles to cover to reach the Falklands, aircraft had to be adapted to midair refuelling achieved by what Curtiss described as “Heath Robinson piece of engineering”. It nonetheless served its purpose which was to launch the longest distance bombing raids ever attempted.

As a result the runway at Port Stanley was put out of action and the Task Force experienced fewer Argentinian air attacks than anticipated.

Retirement as the first RAF navigator to reach the rank of Air Marshal did not leave Curtiss inactive for very long. In 1986 he was appointed Chief Executive of the Society of British Aerospace Companies, a job which entailed planning the Farnborough Air Show. But it was as chairman of governors at Canford School that he recorded the unlikeliest triumph of his later life. From the days when it was a private mansion, Canford contained what were thought to be copies of two ancient Assyrian friezes. As it turned out, one of them was an original. Taking it upon himself to reject offers of up to one million, Curtiss persuaded his colleagues to agree to a Christie’s auction. The frieze sold for £7.7 million, a sum that allowed for scholarships and bursaries, educational activities in India and Africa, a new sports centre and a new theatre.

Links with the RAF were maintained with a variety of professional and charitable associations. At 83, with two artificial hips, Curtiss supported a charity appeal by performing a sky dive, his second

Obituaries Beale On 25.12.2013 Richard Eric Beale, (f, 1940-1943). He served with the Parachute Regiment during the 1939-1945 war becoming a Lieutenant. He studied agriculture at Cirencester and bought a dairy farm in Gloucestershire. He farmed until he retired, handing over the farm to his son.

Adeley On 27.12.2013 John Michael Adeley, TD (a, 1942-1946). He was a Prefect and played in the lst XV of 1946. He became a Chartered Land Agent with John German & Son of Ramsbury, Wiltshire and was a Partner from 1960. He retired in 1975 and had a dairy farm in Dorset. He was in the Territorial Army in the North Irish Horse from 1950 to 1959, and then the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, the Royal Yeomanry and the Royal Wessex Yeomanry between 1959 and 1974. He was a Major and awarded the T.D. His brother, Peter, was at Radley.

English On 19.12.2013 Marcus Frederick Honywood English, JP. (g, 1942-1946). After National Service he went up to Pembroke College, Cambridge where he studied Land Economy. He rowed in a University Trial VIII in 1950 and for his college in the Ladies’ Plate at Henley in 1950, 1951 and 1952. He won the Marlow Eights in 1951. He joined the profession of Chartered Surveyors and practised with Fountain Forestry of Wells in Somerset from 1957 to 1963. He was a Partner of Body Son and Fleury from 1963 to 1966 in Plymouth and London and then a Partner/Director of Berry Bros and Legge, Kettering from 1969.

He retired as a consultant in 1993.

Walker On 17.10.2013 Derrick Sydney Walker, TD (e, 1942-1947). He was a Prefect and played in the Hockey XI of 1946.

In 2008 Air Marshal Sir John Curtiss raised £4000 in a sponsored parachute jump for the Oakhaven Hospice Trust in Lymington. experience in parachuting in 65 years. Keen to have another go he was, as he put it, “grounded” by his family.

He is survived by his wife Peggy, three sons and one daughter.

John Bagot Curtiss was born on December 6 1924. He died on September 14, 2013, aged 89.

Lang On 9.9.2013 Richard Alexander Lang, (b, 1939-1944). At Radley he was an Exhibitioner and multiple winner of the Latin Prose Prize. On leaving he joined the Royal Artillery as a Bombardier. After the War he went up to Pembroke College, Cambridge and then became a schoolmaster.

Sons, Simon and Nicholas, were at Radley.

His father-in-law, Charles Croft, his brother-in-law, Charlie Croft, and his cousins, Timothy and Ian Walker, were at Radley. His grandson, James Skinner, started at Radley in September 2013. For many years he was on the Radleian Society Committee and served as Chairman.

The tribute by Charlie Croft (1969, his brother-in-law): I knew Derrick longer than my father. I was eight and soon to learn that he would become my brother-in-law. I don’t think I knew what that really meant, but I soon the old radleian 2014

93

Obituaries

Derrick Walker realised it would be a relationship that I was very lucky and privileged to have.

His interest and support of everything I did was fantastic and an enormous help and inspiration.

Derrick was a gentleman and being in his company helped teach me what was right and what was expected of decent people.

Brought up in Gerrards Cross; educated at Radley; Major in the Honourable Artillery Company; member of Lloyds and member of the MCC. These are things that could distance one from the norm, but in Derrick’s case – most definitely not. He was a genius at making those around him feel at ease and welcome.

His education at Radley remained very dear to him. He achieved the office of Second Prefect in 1947, which coincided with the school’s centenary year, celebrated by a visit from the Queen, then Princess Elizabeth.

I am certain he was the perfect host to Her Majesty – as he continued to be all his life.

He was on the Radleian Society Committee and came very close to being elected President of the Radley Rangers (the old boys’ cricket club). This was not due to his cricketing ability, but down to the fact that he was a great supporter and had an ability to welcome and encourage young players. But above all he was seen and acknowledged as a thoroughly decent man.

94

the old radleian 2014

Derrick was a good sportsman, representing Buckinghamshire at hockey, a talented runner and a very sound golfer. As was always the case these were performed in an efficient but gentle and fair manner. He was not a long striker of the golf ball – he thought big hitters were just showing off!

I cannot recall a list of sports’ injuries except on one occasion when he returned in good shape from a Lloyds’ Golf Day having played a gruelling 36 holes in the hot summer sunshine. He went to pour himself a gin and tonic and put his back out opening the bottle of tonic water.

As we know, he had a great love of cricket. He was a member of the MCC and always present for the Lords’ Test. I enjoyed many a serious and of course sober day in his company at HQ in St John’s Wood.

It is for this reason that a number of us are wearing the famous egg and bacon tie today as a reminder of those fun days.

I hope you have now bagged the best seat for this winter’s Ashes’ tour with Christopher Martin-Jenkins giving you a personal commentary.

Derrick was a very keen and good amateur photographer, always keeping the photo albums up to date along with a scattering of lovely photographs around the house of family and friends, which always perfectly captured the moment whenever or whatever the occasion.

The theatre and especially musicals were a great love and he was an avid telly watcher.

The latest gadgetry was a top priority and was installed as soon as available. He was one of the very few people who used a video recorder to full advantage and among his favourites was Dad’s Army, which was most apt as the similarity between the character of Sergeant Wilson (John Le Mesurier) and Derrick was uncanny.

Derrick would be the first to admit he was never a captain of industry nor did he have ambitions to be one. However he commanded the most enormous respect and all of us looked up to him. He knew what was right and what was wrong.

A very generous man, a first class host and he loved a party. I did not need university to teach me how to party till 3 in the morning – I had Derrick as my tutor – Professor of Fun, a legendary Head of Department!

Throughout his entire career at Sedgewicks – the only company he ever worked for – that’s loyalty for you – he will be remembered by so many new recruits for his kindness and ability to make them feel at home from day one. The Walker induction course was memorable and the joining instructions very simple – the Jamaica Inn at 12.30 sharp for Beck’s Beers and a toasted sandwich. For some the induction carried on for 20 years!

Derrick adored his family – Jill, Sarah, Simon and Nick and of course his grandchildren – Imy, James, Molly and Eve. My own children enjoyed the same relationship with him because he made them feel so comfortable in his presence. He was always interested in the young and wanted to share in their achievements and successes.

It must have been marvellous for Jill and the kids to know they had a husband and a Dad who everybody loved.

Affectionately known as ‘Del’ to his family – a more inappropriate recipient of such an abbreviation is hard to imagine, but he loved it.

A special mention must go to Jill. It is absolutely due to her continuous care and on many occasions nursing – which is best described as ‘old fashioned matron’ – that we were able to enjoy the privilege of Derrick’s company as long as we did – thank you so much.

I know that Jill would like to say a special thank you to all her marvellous neighbours in the village and kind friends who were so helpful and supportive throughout the last five years.

Derrick, when we meet again, I will bring the Gordons and the tonic – you make sure you have plenty of ice and lemon.

Obituaries A very big thank you Derrick from us all – you were a gentleman and a wonderful friend.

Chamberlain In late 2013 or early 2014 David Hugo de Bohun Chamberlain, (c, 1943-1948). At Radley he was a Prefect. He became Vice Chairman of the Ulster, North Down and Ards Hospital Trust.

Kinkead On 29.1.2014 Randal Hembry Kinkead, (g, 1943-1947). He went up to Trinity College, Dublin and later to Goldsmith’s, University of London. He became a teacher and an actor on TV and in Rep. with the Perth Theatre Company in Scotland. Between 1981 and 1992 he was Principal Lecturer at Paddington College which changed to City of Westminster College, and finally an Education Consultant specialising in health care in-service administration training.

Wilson On 31.5.2014 Walter Osborne Wilson, (d, 1943-1948). His brothers, John and Edward, were at Radley.

From the address by his brother, Edward: I am grateful to Mary, Caroline, Wendy and Jill for inviting me to say a few words about their beloved father, who was my eldest brother and my sister Mary’s younger sibling.

I want to start by paying tribute to my sister, Mary, and her husband Bill for making the journey over from London today. Mary had a hip replacement only a few weeks ago but she was determined to be here! And here she is!!

And there are some who have travelled long distances, Jesper Jensen from Denmark and Richard Wilson from America, and there are many people who have come from lots of other places to be here today… which is, I think, a mark of how highly Walter was regarded.

I also want on behalf of all the family to thank the Reverend Percy Patterson for so kindly agreeing to officiate at this service.

As you may know Tullylish parish is vacant at present, but Percy is a lifelong friend of Walter’s and their association goes back to the time when Walter first started attending this church, sixty one years ago.

Most people have many facets or aspects to their lives and Walter lived a particularly rich, varied and fulfilling life, in the best sense of those words, but I wanted just to focus on three aspects of Walter’s life: his hobbies, his business life and of course primarily on his family life.

So starting with hobbies!

I won’t delve into his love of gardening, or enthusiastic but sporadic and occasionally successful forays into the world of golf.

You see, the thing is that Walter was a born engineer at heart, and that was always an abiding and passionate interest for him.

In his youth he started with motor bikes, which he built and rebuilt. He was born in the depths of rural Gloucestershire where there were (at that time!) plenty of quiet roads to whizz around on at high speed.

So falling off or ending up in the ditch was quite a frequent occurrence! What is really amazing is that the long arm of the law managed to spot him when he had three people on his bike at one time. When I was relating this to Mary she said she was there at the time and actually there were four of them on the bike when they were nabbed. I think he was fined 10 shillings.

His mechanical expertise was honed during National Service in the Royal Tank Regiment soon after the last war. I suppose if you can take a Centurion Tank apart and put it back together again as he did, anything else in the mechanical world might seem a doddle!

Part of his National Service was in Germany where he was stationed near the horrific death camp at Belsen. I know that was an abiding and dreadful memory for him.

Considering his passion for bikes and cars it is perhaps surprising that Walter failed his driving test the first time round, when he drove through a red traffic light in Gloucester, something I was always able to rib him about when I passed first time, but I have to confess that was in Banbridge in an era when Banbridge hadn’t heard of silly things like traffic lights or pedestrian crossings.

And of course many of you will know that Walter built up in more recent years what is probably a unique collection of veteran and vintage Rolls Royces, all varieties of the model known as the Silver Ghost. This was, for its time, and probably ever since, the embodiment of the Rolls and Royce principle that everything in their cars should be constructed to the highest possible engineering standards, with all key parts duplicated where necessary to avoid breakdowns.

What you might not know is that Walter took all his cars apart himself and painstakingly re-built them. Sometimes he built cars from scratch, starting with a few crates of parts and these might take years to complete. Sometimes he needed the ingenious creation of new parts by Lester Frizell, Richard Stewart, Jim Black

Walter Wilson in his 20s and others here today. Walter amply demonstrated his seemingly infinite skill and patience in putting all these jigsaws together.

Not only did he build cars but he and my brother, John, rallied them in many parts of the world including, would you believe, Australia and South Africa, where they travelled for many thousands of miles for up to 10 hours a day at times in a 1908 Rolls Royce. It makes me tired even thinking about what the pair of them managed to do when they were the age that I am now!

No mechanical challenge would defeat Walter for long and he excelled with fixing watches, clocks and all manner of mechanical devices.

So, this knowledge and skill transferred naturally into the world of work. Walter and John were trained in Galashiels in Scotland in the esoteric arts of building and runnng weaving machines (looms) and kindred textile equipment and Walter brought these skills to Ulster Carpets with great enthusiasm and dedication in the early 1950s.

At that time Ulster Carpets was a tiny minnow, one of perhaps one hundred and fifty companies around the world making similar products. It is a tribute to Walter’s business acumen and of course lots of other qualities including his flair for colour and design, along with that of my late brother, John, and of the late Tom Peattie that together they built a business over the next 40 years, while they were in charge, which is now probably one of the world’s largest producers of woven carpet.

He continued to visit the factory in Portadown right up to the last few weeks of his life and one of the things which gave him the greatest pleasure and happiness was the old radleian 2014

95

Obituaries From his daughter, Caroline Somerville:

The Duchess of Kent with Walter Wilson at Ulster Carpets in 1989 knowing that our late sister Annabel’s son, Nicholas, the eldest grandson of the founder of the business, is running the company so capably, and leading it into ever greater levels of achievement.

It was a special joy for all of us and for Walter too that he was able to join us for a gala evening only a few weeks ago to celebrate 75 years in business. We have a lovely photo of him smiling happily as he cut the cake in front of the 550 friends and colleagues he had worked with over so many years. That is a wonderful memory which we will treasure.

People at Ulster Carpets have been telling me about their own memories of Walter. Some of them relate that he could be impatient of unnecessary delay (that is perhaps a tactful way of putting it!) In reality we all jumped to it!

But the essential message coming from everyone is of their deep respect for a kind, thoughtful, honourable man. To me that is a perfect description of him.

A kind thoughtful, honourable and gentle man.

I am conscious that I am maybe encroaching rather too much on your time ladies and gentlemen, but let me finish with a few words about what for Walter was by far the most important part of his life, his family.

He was blessed with a wonderful wife, Alys, and they had five marvellous children, the four girls, Mary, Caroline, Wendy and Jill here today and a son, Robert, who

96

the old radleian 2014

tragically was killed in a car accident aged 18. This was a terrible blow for all the family but on top of that Alys died very suddenly a few years later, leaving Walter utterly bereft.

That was more than twenty years ago, but in a way which was and still is an example to us all, with the support of his daughters, he managed to rebuild his life, as ever showing those qualities of grit and determination we associate him with. He had the great joy of the arrival of twelve grandchildren over the years, and I think I am right in saying that every single one of them has managed to travel from all arts and parts to be here today.

For Walter, family life was the centre of his universe and he was so fortunate that his daughters and their families have been able to support him so well in the last year or so when his health began to fail.

Perhaps the best tribute I can pay to Mary, Caroline, Wendy and Jill is to relate to you that Walter’s dread, as he expressed it to me, was to be put into a nursing or residential home. Not only did they manage to ensure he could continue to live in his own lovely home, with his beloved family nearby all the time, but, very, very specially, that their father was able to spend the last full day of his life in the house he had lived in for more than 50 years, with his family around him.

Now Walter is gone from us but thankfully we can and should celebrate a life well lived and the joyful memories we have of him will live long in our hearts.

Walter Osborne Wilson, Honorary President of Ulster Carpets, has died in hospital at the age of 84 after a short illness. He had been suffering from cancer for some time, but still managed to spend many mornings in the factory up until April this year. His interest in the business never waned and he very much supported the leadership of his nephew Nick Coburn, managing director, and of his brother Edward Wilson, chairman.

For many years Walter worked closely with his brothers John and Edward, all as joint managing directors, and with Tom Peattie, who was general manager. He was known as Mr Walter, to distinguish him from his brothers, who were titled Mr John and Mr Edward, as Mr Wilson would apply to all three. He began work as managing director at Ulster Carpets when he was 24 years old in 1954. On the death of his father in 1962 he became chairman and he held this post until earlier this year when he stepped down and was appointed Honorary President. He managed the carpet side of the business until his semi-retirement in 1992, after which time he continued to chair meetings and help in decision making. The responsibility which he took on at 24 did not easily fall away and his mind was always on the business, most especially recently on the building work to be undertaken this year.

Walter was born in Churchdown, Gloucestershire, the eldest son of his parents Jean Elizabeth and George Walter Wilson, who founded Ulster Carpets in 1938. He was the second of five siblings, of whom his younger brother John and younger sister Annabel predeceased him. His devoted elder sister Mary Warre travelled from London to be present and his youngest brother Edward gave a tribute at the funeral. The funeral, attended by around 500, including his goddaughter Philippa Warre, was held at All Saint’s Tullylish Church of Ireland on Tuesday 3rd June. His family took part in the funeral, with his two eldest daughters giving a tribute and saying prayers and his two eldest grandsons, Rory and Aaron, reading the lessons.

Walter attended Radley College, Oxfordshire and was conscripted into the army after the war. During his National Service in the Royal Tank Regiment he was stationed in Germany near the horrific death camp at Belsen, which was an abiding and dreadful memory for him. After the army, Walter trained with his brother John in textile manufacturing in Galashiels in Scotland, now the School for Textiles and

Obituaries Design, a part of Heriot-Watt University. He brought these skills to Ulster Carpets, which was then perhaps one of 150 companies around the world making similar products.

It is a tribute to Walter’s business acumen, his flair for colour and design, along with his late brother John and the late Tom Peattie, that together they built a business over the next 40 years which is now one of the world’s largest producers of woven carpet.

Walter had a great interest in engineering and began to tinker with clocks and engines at an early age. He took apart his first clock at the age of six and much to his mother’s dismay was not quite able to put it fully back together again. He spent many hours in his teens building and rebuilding motorbikes and riding around at speed the then quieter roads of rural Gloucestershire. His mechanical skill came into use in the Royal Tank Regiment and then latterly in Ulster Carpets, where he took a great interest in the weaving machinery (looms).

His greatest fascination was with veteran and vintage cars, particularly the Rolls Royce model called the Silver Ghost, and he spent many years working on them. He made parts for the engines himself and many evenings were passed happily in the garage, rebuilding the engines of cars as old as 1908. He took part in rallies, including the London-Brighton Veteran Car Run, in which he drove a 1901 Delin. He rallied in both South Africa and Australia with his brother John, to whom he was very close.

They drove for many miles to Ayers Rock in central Australia in a 1908 Silver Ghost Rolls Royce, probably the oldest car to have ever made it that far.

His interest in engines extended to boats and he spent many family holidays at Lough Erne, out on the water. When at home, if he wasn’t in the garage, he would be in the garden, tending his tomatoes and his geraniums, which he loved to plant out every year.

A Justice of the Peace for over 20 years, Walter also supported the local community as President of the Portadown Festival Association and as President of the Portadown Male Voice Choir. He enjoyed attending the plays and concerts held locally in Portadown and in Armagh. He was involved in fund raising for charities and was joint chairman of the Barnardo’s Centenary Appeal in 1999. He was a longterm supporter of Belfast Bible College.

Above all, Walter was a great family man. He was blessed with a wonderful wife Alys, whom he married in 1963, and 5 children, Mary, Caroline, Wendy, Jill and Robert. Tragically, Robert was killed in a car accident at the age of 18. This was a terrible blow for all the family, but on top of that, Alys died very suddenly of a stroke just over three years later, in 1995, leaving Walter utterly bereft. With the support of his daughters he managed to rebuild his life, as ever showing those qualities of grit and determination with which many associate him. He had the great joy of the arrival of 12 grandchildren, of whom he was very proud. He was close to all of his grandchildren and was very much cherished and appreciated by them as a strong and loving role model for life. His daughters loved him dearly and supported him during the decline in his health over

the past year. He was very appreciative of the fact that he was able to live at home for the majority of this time.

A man of faith, it sustained him during times of bereavement and he held always to his belief in the infinite mercy of God. He had attended All Saint’s Tullylish since the 1950s, where he was a member of the Select Vestry for 40 years and where he enjoyed reading the lesson on many occasions, even up until last year.

It is a testament to Walter’s resilience and determination to support the company his father founded that he was able to attend the Gala Evening in Armagh in February, in celebration of 75 years in business for Ulster Carpets. He took part in the festivities, cutting the cake and greeting some of the 550 friends and colleagues with whom he had worked and been associated over so many years.

He was a kind, thoughtful and honourable gentle man, who led with a quiet authority. He loved and was loved very much by his family and friends. He is survived by his daughters Mary, Caroline, Wendy and Jill, by his 12 grandchildren and by his sister Mary Warre and his brother Edward Wilson.

Hunt On 16.1.2014 John Maitland Hunt, (f, 1945-1949). He went up to Wadham College, Oxford and, after graduation,became a schoolmaster.

He was at Stowe School from 1958 to 1970 and then Headmaster of Roedean from 1971 to 1984. He was Chairman, Board of Managers, Common Entrance Examination for Girls’ Schools from 1974 to 1981.

From The Roedean School Magazine, 1984 (when he retired):

Walter Wilson with his son, Robert, in a 1924 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, which he converted from a hearse

I was pleased to be asked to contribute to the magazine by writing about John and Sarah Hunt.

When they arrived at Roedean in 1971 it was amidst much publicity. Headmasters of girls’ schools were rare then and those of us who had been on the staff with the two previous Headmistresses wondered what we were in for. We need not have worried. Mr. Hunt seemed to understand the school very quickly. He was pleased to find it an academic place and intended to maintain and raise standards; this indeed he has done. He knew that Roedean has so much to offer to all. It gives to the very able just what they need and for the less able it is a place to grow in stature and to find their own niche in life. He gave the old radleian 2014

97

Obituaries hostess, and many staff and friends of the school will long remember her wonderful parties. I have always felt completely welcome in her house and know that I could turn to her at any time for the odd bracelet. earring or even bath!

In conclusion, I should like to wish John and Sarah, their family, Jonathan and Richard, and John’s mother, Mrs. Eileen Hunt, who gave the school so much interest and support, all possible health and happiness in their new life. Roedean is indeed grateful to them all.

Miss B. A. Philpott (Deputy Head at Roedean, 1972-1981) Raynes On 3.1.2014 Dr Richard (Dick) Hollings Raynes, (b, 1946-1951). He studied medicine at St. Thomas’ Hospital and then the Institute of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and became a Medical Practitioner. His brother, Anthony, was at Radley.

Waddington On 20.8.2013 Richard John Waddington, (h, 1946-1952). He was an Exhibitioner, Honorary Scholar, Prefect and winner of the History Prize. He won a Scholarship to St. John’s College, Oxford and then worked with I.C.I. from 1957.

He was Marketing Manager for the Electricity Council from 1970 to 1989.

His brother James and his nephew William were at Radley.

John Hunt time and understanding to all his pupils and to his staff no less. He was always approachable, never out of temper and at his best in a crisis.

I was privileged to work with John first as Head of the Mathematics Department and then, during the last nine years of my time at the school, as the deputy. During that time I got to know him very well and was in a unique position to understand how much he has done for the school and how great was his concern for its welfare.

It is easy to make a list of concrete things which have happened in his 13 years as Headmaster. There was the opening of Lawrence House which was viewed initially with misgivings by many but which has proved itself by attracting new sixth formers and by keeping up the numbers in this part of the school – something not easy to do nowadays. There has also been the new Home Economics Department, the Science Project Centre, the extension of the Studio facilities and the Squash Courts.

98

the old radleian 2014

To my mind one of the first and most successful innovations was the Tutorial system for the sixth form, which has given the girls continuity and has meant the personal interest of a member of staff throughout their A level course.

During the past three years I have had first-hand experience of how you feel when one person or another passes the buck and it comes to rest on your desk! Such situations test one’s patience and stamina to the full.

John is a kind and most compassionate man and always ready to step in and to help anyone in difficulties. The darkest days could be lightened by his sense of humour and his powers of mimicry – he could be any one of his staff at the drop of a hat!

The Chapel and all things connected with it have always been close to his heart, and he and Sarah have worked tirelessly to promote this aspect of the life of the school; for this many have been grateful.

I cannot think of Sarah without remembering her outstanding skill as a

Cooper On 29.11.2013 Leonard (Leo) Cooper, (e, 1947-1952). He was Second Prefect, in the Cricket XIs of 1951 and 1952, the Rugby XVs of 1950, 1951 and 1952 and the Hockey XI of 1952. His brother, John, was at Radley.

From The Daily Telegraph: Leo Cooper was a publisher who specialised in works by such writers as ‘Loopy’ Kennard and ‘Honky’ Henniker Leo Cooper, who has died aged 79, made his mark as a publisher of military books and included on his list Sir George “Loopy” Kennard and Brigadier “Honky” Henniker ; none of his authors, however, was remotely as successful as his wife, Jilly, to whom he was married for more than 50 years.

A well-built, soldierly figure with a fine Wellingtonian nose, he was a convivial publisher of the old school, a pillar of the Garrick Club and an enthusiastic amateur cricketer. After learning the ropes at some distinguished publishing houses, he eventually set up on his own; but it became increasingly hard for small, independent

Leo Cooper firms to survive, and after various changes of ownership Cooper eventually retired from the business in 2002.

His own achievements were, inevitably, overshadowed by those of his wife, who began her career in books with How To Stay Married (1969). Despite the very public revelations of his affair with a married woman in the 1990s, the Coopers remained devoted to one another – a high-profile and popular couple in media circles.

Leonard Cooper was born in Yorkshire on March 25 1934, the eldest of three children. His father, also Leonard Cooper, had been invalided out of the Army and wrote novels and biographies, including a life of RS Surtees, the great hunting novelist.

Cooper’s first memory was of peering up from his pram at the Graf Zeppelin droning slowly overhead.

Leo’s childhood was difficult – his father drank, and he was caught in the ensuing crossfire – but his schooldays were entirely pleasurable. At his prep school he learned to play the piano with one hand – the other was busy fending off the advances of the music master – and at Radley he took charge of the military band and distinguished himself on the rugby and cricket fields. He was capped at cricket for the Yorkshire schoolboys; in later life he smashed Denis Compton for six with such vigour that he toppled a spectator sitting in a wheelchair into a nearby pond.

He did his National Service in Kenya, obtaining a commission despite being deaf in one ear, and was attached to the 70th East African Brigade. The Mau Mau troubles

were then at their height – on one occasion 26 bodies were lined up outside his camp, all of them shot through the head. He loved the country, and acquired a lifelong interest in regimental lore and traditions which he later put to good use as a publisher.

Shortly after his return from Kenya, Cooper married his housemaster’s daughter, Diana, but she left him soon after the birth of their daughter; the break-up of their marriage was described by his aunt, Lettice Cooper, in her novel The Double Heart (1968). Shortly afterwards he met Jilly Sallitt at a dinner party in London. They had known each other as children in Yorkshire, and she had been impressed by the way he hurled a raspberry jelly at a tiresome girl at a party. They were married in 1961.

With a family to keep, Cooper decided to look for a job in publishing. He turned for advice to his literary aunts Lettice and Barbara, who worked for John Lehmann at the London Magazine. In due course he found a berth checking invoices at Longmans. The firm was run on pleasingly old-fashioned lines. “I am very glad that you take an interest in the books,” Mark Longman told his new recruit, “but whatever you do don’t talk to me about them when there are other people around. You see, I don’t actually read them.”

Willy Longman’s only known contribution was to organise the All England Croquet Tournament at Hurlingham; a defrocked clergyman snoozed behind his desk; the publicity manager was an ex-boxer who had earlier been the transport manager in a laundry.

Cooper then moved to André Deutsch, whom he found mean, tyrannical and devious. Most unforgivably of all – or so Cooper later claimed – Deutsch deliberately spun out a meeting one Saturday morning, so making his employee late for a match in which he was captaining the Honourable Artillery Company against MCC. From there he went on to Hamish Hamilton, as publicity manager.

Cooper did not hit it off with Hamilton, whom he considered a snob.

Hamilton, Cooper suggested, changed the photographs on his piano according to who was coming to dinner. One day Sir Malcolm Sargent rang in to say that he was “quietly slipping away”. Hamilton was too busy to take his call, so Cooper took it instead. By the time Hamilton got around to phoning him back, the great conductor was dead.

While at Hamish Hamilton, Cooper had started Famous Regiments, a series of regimental histories edited by General Sir Brian Horrocks, and he took them with him when, in 1968, he set up Leo Cooper Ltd, specialising in books on military history. His most distinguished publication was the Marquess of Anglesey’s eightvolume history of the British cavalry, while Ronald Lewin’s Slim: the Standard Bearer won the WH Smith Award; other authors included David Smiley, John Terraine, Brigadier “Mad Mike” Calvert, Charles Carrington, Sir George “Loopy” Kennard, Douglas Sutherland, Michael Glover, John Winton and Brigadier “Honky” Henniker .

John Walters/Daily Mail/REX

Adrian Sherratt/REX

Obituaries

Jilly and Leo Cooper the old radleian 2014

99

Harrison On 19.10.2013 John Noel Christopher Harrison, (g, 1947-1950).

From The Guardian: Actor and singer of The Windmills of Your Mind, a huge 1960s hit that won an Oscar Noel Harrison, who has died aged 79 following a heart attack, was the son of the actor Sir Rex Harrison and followed his famous father into show business. He pursued a varied career on stage and in film and television, but it was as a musician that he achieved his moment in the spotlight. In 1968 he recorded the song The Windmills of Your Mind for the soundtrack of the Steve McQueen/Faye Dunaway film The Thomas Crown Affair and it became a top 10 hit in the UK the following year.

“Recording Windmills wasn’t a very significant moment,” he recalled. “It was just a job that I got paid $500 for, no big deal.

The composer, Michel Legrand, came to my home and helped me learn it, then we went into the studio and recorded it, and I thought no more about it.” It went on to win an Oscar for best original song. (Coincidentally, Talk to the Animals, the song sung by Rex Harrison in Doctor Dolittle, had won the Oscar the previous year.)

“People love Windmills” said Noel, “and it’s great to have a classic like that on my books.” His pleasure was marred only slightly by the fact that he could not perform it at the Oscar ceremony because he was in Britain filming Take a Girl Like You (1970).

100

the old radleian 2014

John Knoote/Associated Newp/REX

another minor hit with Leonard Cohen’s song Suzanne. He also toured with Sonny & Cher and the Beach Boys. However, while his career flourished, his marriage was disintegrating, and Sara returned to Britain with their three children. In 1972 Harrison, beguiled by the back-to-the-land spirit of the era, left Los Angeles for Nova Scotia, Canada, with his second wife, Maggie. There they built their own house and lived on home-grown fruit and vegetables.

Noel Harrison Noel was born in London to Rex Harrison and his first wife, Collette Thomas; they divorced when he was eight. He attended private schools, including Radley College, Oxfordshire, and when he was 16 his mother invited him to live with her in Klosters, Switzerland. He jumped at the chance, which allowed him to develop his gifts as a skier. He became a member of the British ski team and competed at the Winter Olympics in Norway in 1952 and Italy in 1956.

After completing his national service in the army, Harrison concentrated on learning the guitar and in his 20s made a living travelling around Europe playing in bars and clubs. In 1958 he was given a slot on the BBC TV programme Tonight, on which he would sing calypso-style songs about current news events.

In 1965 he left for the US with his first wife, Sara, working on both coasts as a nightclub entertainer. He scored a minor hit with his version of the Charles Aznavour song A Young Girl (of Sixteen), which also featured on his first studio album, Noel Harrison, released in 1966. Then he landed a leading role in the TV series The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., playing Mark Slate opposite Stefanie Powers as April Dancer, though the show lasted for only one season.

Harrison’s high profile earned him a recording deal with Reprise, for whom he made three albums, Collage (1967), Santa Monica Pier (1968) and The Great Electric Experiment is Over (1969), and notched

Rex Harrison with his son, Noel, in 1960 Moviestore/REX

Life as a small, independent publisher was a hazardous business, however. In 1970 the firm merged with the long-established firm of Seeley Service, which was in turn bought by Frederick Warne in 1979 after the company went into receivership. This proved a wretched experience, but in 1982 he moved under the happier umbrella of Secker & Warburg, then part of the Heinemann Group.

In 1990 the firm was sold to the Barnsley Chronicle and renamed Pen & Sword Books.

Cooper stayed with them for a while before retiring from publishing.

In the 1980s the Coopers – Leo, Jilly and their adopted son and daughter – left Putney for The Chantry, an old manor house in Gloucestershire complete with tennis court and pets’ cemetery. Cooper was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2001; his memoirs, All My Friends Will Buy It (subtitled A Bottlefield Tour) were published in 2005.

His wife and children survive him.

Leo Cooper, born March 25 1934, died November 29 2013

Harry Goodwin/REX

Obituaries

Noel Harrison (top right) in the TV series The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. with Leo G. Carroll (bottom left), Randy Kirby and Stefanie Powers

Obituaries He now earned a living from hosting a music show on CBC, Take Time, and took several stage roles in touring musicals including Camelot, The Sound of Music and Man of La Mancha. He even played Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, which had been an Oscar-winning film role for his father. “I went to see my dad in New York and I said ‘I really need the money, so how do you feel about it?’ He said ‘Oh why not? Everybody else is doing it.’” In the 80s he also staged a one-man musical, Adieu Jacques, based on the songs of Jacques Brel.

He ventured into screenwriting, penning episodes of two ‘erotic’ TV series, Emmanuelle, Queen of the Galaxy and The Adventures of Justine, before returning to Britain in 2003 with his third wife, Lori.

They originally planned a short visit to his stepdaughter, Zoe, who was running a cafe in Ashburton, Devon, but liked it so much they decided to stay. Harrison played gigs in village halls across Devon and in 2011 performed at the Glastonbury festival. He released two new albums, Hold Back Time (2003) and From the Sublime to the Ridiculous (2010), and his three Reprise albums were reissued in 2011.

He is survived by Lori and five children from his first two marriages, which both ended in divorce.

Hopcraft On 9.11.2013 The Revd.

Jonathan Richard Hopcraft, (f, 19471952). At Radley he won the Adam Fox Essay Prize.

His brother Peter writes: After studying Classics in the sixth form at Radley, Jonathan was sent to Cyprus to do his National Service and then back to Oxford where he took a degree in History at Oriel College. He then changed camp and went on to Westcott House Cambridge where he studied Theology and was later ordained.

Jonathan did valuable missionary work in Northern and Southern Rhodesia, where he married, and later pastoral duties in Antigua in the West Indies before taking up ministries in Lincolnshire and Wolverhampton. He retired in later life to Chelmsford. He was tragically struck down with Parkinson’s Disease in the last ten years of his life. He leaves behind Jane his wife and two adult children. He was one of three brothers to attend Radley and was the second son of Edward Hopcraft, OR.

Robert Kinnison at the controls of his train Kinnison On 16.12.2013 Robert Oliver Kinnison, (a, 1949-1953). He became a nurseryman and owned Avon Valley Nurseries in Fordingbridge. Part of the Pick Your Own site was some distance from the car park so he introduced half a mile of 7¼ inch railway as an entertaining way to transport the pickers. His brothers, J. and P.C. Kinnison, were at Radley.

Layland On 19.7.2013 John Robert Muir Layland, (d, 1949-1954). Robert became Managing Director of Holden & Hartley, in the motor trade before setting up his own business, a Cheshire car dealership, Robert Layland Garages. He was also a master of the hunt and racehorse trainer. His brother, R.M.Layland, was at Radley.

campaigners, The Walton Society, and was elected for two successive terms, standing down in 2013. He battled the early stages of Alzheimer’s and suffered a severe stroke on 7 June 2014. He joins his two sons who died previously. A gentle and caring man, he will be much missed by his wife and two daughters.

Forward On 8.1.2014 Graham Charles Forward, (g, 1951-1956). He did his National Service in Malaya.

Phelps-Penry On 7.6.2014 Thomas Edward Lawrence Phelps-Penry, (a, 1949-1953). At Radley he won the Storrs Oral French Prize.

His brother, Alexander, was at Radley.

From his daughter Camilla Phelps: Born 19th May 1935, Tom attended Radley in the post-war years. He went on to do National Service in the Royal Navy and to study languages at Worcester College Oxford. He worked in business export for many years before spending the last 20 years of his working life as a teacher of Modern Languages, finally retiring from his position at St. George’s College, Weybridge. He then went on to become a Surrey County County Councillor for local independent

Tom Phelps-Penry the old radleian 2014

101

Obituaries Waddilove On 8.3.2014 James Rodney Waddilove, (h, 1952-1957). At Radley he won the Junior Declamation Prize in 1952 and the Athletics Middle Mile Cup in 1955. He was a member of the Athletics and Cross Country teams. He became a Chartered Surveyor. His brother, John, was at Radley.

Curteis On 13.9.2013 (Commander) John Mascall Darby Curteis, OStJ, RD, FCA, DL, RNR (f, 1954-1959). For many years he was Auditor for the Radley War Memorial Committee.

The address given by his closest friend: In 1938 when war was imminent Captain Sir Gerald Curteis who had retired from the Navy two years previously, was recalled to service and posted to the Fleet at Scapa Flow in the Hebrides. Thinking that Sevenoaks was vulnerable to bomb attacks, his wife and two daughters followed him to Inverness and it was there that John was born in 1941. Hence his membership of the Cardiff Caledonian Society. Ironically they returned to Sevenoaks in 1944 and the house was hit by a doodlebug when they were all inside. Fortunately all survived.

In due course John was educated at a Prep School in Sevenoaks and later Radley College. He had hoped to follow in his father’s footsteps but his eyesight did not meet the Navy’s requirements and so he settled for accountancy as a career – but drawn to the sea he was able to join what is now the Logistics Branch of the RNR in HMS President, moored at the Thames Embankment in London as a Writer in 1961 and commissioned Sub Lieutenant a year later.

He joined the firm now known as Ernst & Young, who were expanding, and in 1968 John was given the choice of moving to Cardiff or Edinburgh or Jamaica.

Surprisingly but happily he chose Cardiff to help with their merger with Phillips & Trump to look after their South Wales clients, and he became a partner in 1972. In 1968 he also transferred from London RNR to HMS Cambria, the S Wales Division, where many of us here today first met him to begin 45 years of warm friendship. Now a Lieutenant he was required to go to sea at least once a year for a fortnight’s training in our minesweeper, HMS St David.

In 1969 the ship visited Guernsey in the Channel Isles on a never to be forgotten visit. Safely berthed alongside the jetty the Officer of the Day was enjoying a gin and tonic in a deckchair on the upper deck (as

102

the old radleian 2014

one does) when a driver of a fork lift truck lost control and smashed into the ship’s side to the amusement of all and the surprise and relief of John (for he was Officer of the Day) that in no way could he be held responsible.

But the visit was more memorable to us as it was at the ship’s traditional cocktail party that John met Miss Fiona Pexton, a local girl and reluctant guest as the previous visit of another ship had been pretty dull. Nothing could be dull if John was around and they agreed a dinner date the next evening. So began a love story.

They married the next year and in due course had their three children, Sarah, Annabel and Robert, settling in St Fagans, before moving in recent years to St Hilary.

John continued with the RNR going to sea regularly. One memorable time was being in one of four minesweepers who sailed to Canada to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, where as Squadron Supply Officer he was responsible for organising the official parties. They could not have chosen a more appropriate person to do this welcome task. The visit was a great success and enduring friendships were established with our Canadian cousins, one of whom flew over to attend the funeral.

He became Commanding Officer of HMS Cambria in 1988, retiring in 1992.

This left him free to follow other interests, especially charities and other organisations. Being a Chartered Accountant he was in heavy demand as Treasurer – too many for me to name but seven in total – together with numerous Chairmanships and Presidencies. Two of especial importance to him were KGFS (obviously) which gives to other nautical charities and of which he was a former Chairman for Cardiff (and Vice President at the time of his death) and NSPCC. He was Treasurer of NSPCC’s Cardiff Branch for 27 years and when Fiona became Branch Chairman he took delight in referring to her at meetings as Madam Chairman because he knew it would annoy her. In fact John was immensely proud of Fiona’s achievement in this splendid charity.

There will be a retiring collection at the end of this service for these two charities.

For his services he was appointed DL in 1991, was Vice Lord Lieutenant 2003/11, High Sheriff of South Glamorgan 1993/94 and a Freeman of the City of London.

During his year as Master of the Worshipful Company of Feltmakers, he organised a weekend visit of the Liverymen and partners to Cardiff so he could show off the many delights of our city. He became Master of the Welsh Livery Guild, Chairman of

the Mission to Seafarers (whose Wales Chairman, the Bishop of Swansea & Brecon is with us today). The list goes on.

He enjoyed the theatre and frequently went to Glyndebourne which was very close to the other family home, Highlands. He still found time for sport : a member of MCC, the story goes that whilst fielding in a cricket match (not actually at Lord’s!) it began to rain so John put up an umbrella and continued in his place, putting the brolly down to receive a catch and then putting it up again. A competent golfer and fisherman.

He once was asked to pose for a photograph standing in a river landing a large salmon.

It had been bought in a fishmongers but the result was the front cover of an AA Book, later used to advertise a brand of whisky and many other goods. John always rued that he had not claimed copyright instead of the £10 modelling fee offered by the photographer.

Although other parts of the UK had claims on him, and his name is of French extraction, John considered himself a converted Welshman. In fact a Major General Curteis lived in Crickhowell and he had ancestors connected with Ruperra Castle, hence John’s Presidency of its Preservation Trust. As his nephew Tim said “his roots were in Sussex but his heart was in Wales.” Robert tells the story of going to the Arms Park in 2005 for a crucial game against Ireland, during which John quietly uttered the occasional “bravo” or “Oh no” whilst Robert was making emotive outbursts. The game was very close until a line break by Shanklin helped Morgan score the decisive try. Wales had won the Grand Slam. The stadium erupted, Robert too was cock-a-hoop but was amazed to see his normally decorous father hugging a total stranger, shouting ecstatically.

But for all his activities his main unalterable love was for Fiona and the family. The arrival of four grandchildren in the last four and a half years gave him great pleasure and he loved being with them and reading to them.

We have lost an officer and a gentleman, who loved parties, was always cheerful, with a great sense of humour (but some terrible jokes, redeemed by a huge chortle), he never said a bad word about anyone, and whose very presence could light up a room.

Duty was the governing fact in his decision making but it need not be without fun.

As Sarah said in her tribute: “he had a huge capacity for love he adored his grandchildren and all the family, he loved his dogs and all animals, he respected the countryside and nature, he loved his life and was content with it. He was a truly happy

Obituaries and contented person. As Hamlet says of his father “he was a man, take him all in all, I shall not look upon his like again” These sentiments are repeated or reflected in the innumerable letters, cards and messages sent to Fiona. They and your presence in such large numbers today are a great comfort to her, to Sarah, Annabel and Robert, to John’s sisters, Geraldine and D’Esterre, and to all the extended family in this great loss, which is immeasurable. We extend our love to them all. I am confident that this committed Christian, a former Church Warden of St Hilary has already been greeted in the afterlife with the words of St Matthew “Well done thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

Sweatman On 7.7.2013 Geoffrey Allen Robert Sweatman, (g, 1954-1959). He played for the Cricket XI in 1958 and the Rackets team of 1958 and 1959. His brothers, Michael and Andrew, and his son, Peter, were at Radley.

A tribute by Peter Sweatman: “Larger than Life” At 9.26pm on Sunday 7th July a London paper read “Andy Murray won Wimbledon, the British and Irish Lions beat Australia in rugby, and Britain’s Chris Froome took the lead in the Tour de France. Even the weather drew cheers, with temperatures reaching 30 for the first time this year.” and within hours Dad had passed away. Everything which had to be done was done and Geoff was at peace.

We come to mourn our loss and to celebrate his life.

My father lived larger than life. He was happy and optimistic. Things were fun or to be made fun of. Life was full of opportunities to be lived and he lived them with a big heart and an all encompassing embrace.

Our emails and letterboxes have been filled with your memories of Dad, the “padding for the funeral” as he quipped from his hospital bed.

In a few minutes and phrases, I will try to do the impossible: make Geoffrey Alain Robert Sweatman fit into the space provided.

So what characterised this man who loved, and was loved by, so many of us?

Charisma. He simply had buckets of it.

Born in Kenya in Europe’s darkest hour on 26th December 1940, this source of light had the power to just sweep you up and along with him. Did he have the fastest boat

in the harbour? Did the ancient valves on his Quad stereo produce the best sound?

Was Menorca the best place to swim in the world and did the beach bar cook the best steaks? I had thought I was the son in film “Big Fish” and now realize that what mattered is how he made us feel and the fun we had with him at the time.

He was a good sport, and a talented sportsman. He ran, he rucked, he played racquets – and squash and tennis, real and regular. He wielded a cricket bat, a golf club and a hockey stick all with equal aplomb. He rode “Baron” – a giant horse – in the Chidd, Lec and Cow Hunt. He was a competitive “all rounder”, enjoying the game on the field and the team’s social life off it. When I asked how he came to play at Twickenham in the Sevens for London Irish in 1963, he simply said “well, they just came recruiting at the Queen’s Elm and I said, I was a quarter Irish, and liked Irish stout, and I was in”.

Of course, he had a wonderful sense of humour. His first spell in hospital felt like the 1979 sitcom Only When I Laugh where the patients have fun and only keep still when the doctors are around. We left him in casualty the first night, with just mild complaints and mutterings, and the next morning he had befriended all the other patients and the staff (he had his list of the good, the bad and, well, the others) and all he said upon seeing us the next morning was “that guy Gerald who was over there, what a lovely chap, I feel so sorry for him, Lurgashall cricket eleven and they don’t even know why he’s in here”. There is a beautiful moment captured on my cousin Sebastian’s 30th birthday party video where Dad and Jane have come to the US, as a surprise. It’s fancy dress and Dad is dressed as an Egyptian in full gallibaya (long white shirt), big false beard, Mubarak sunglasses and fez. He keeps pestering Seb who is greeting guests who arrive in a Stowe pub, as if he’s selling a carpet and mumbling things in Arabic. For an eternity, Seb is politely ignoring this bizarre and pestering Arab until Dad removes the beard and sun glasses and Seb nearly bursts into tears in surprise.

Generosity. Where do I begin? He was a big man, he had time, he had compassion, he had empathy. He opened his homes and his heart to all of his and Jane’s friends and mine, Sophie’s, Claire’s, George’s . . . we are a big family, and you are all members . . .

He had an irrepressible confidence.

Not convinced by university, one of young Geoff ’s first jobs was serving petrol at the BP filling station on Park Lane. One day a Twiggy-like girl drove in in a smart new

Austin-Healey. Surprised and impressed, Geoff, the pump attendant, said “Nice car.

How did you get the money to buy it?”. The “Twiggy” said that she was an advertising sales-person and the next day Dad had cast aside his BP overalls to launch the business which became Alain Charles Publishing.

Very recently, in reflective mood, Dad had called me and said “All you need in business is confidence . . . the rest will come”.

I’d say “Confidence and luck”: The kind of entrepreneur’s luck created by setting off on a journey when you can’t see its end and trusting to just your wits and charm en route. Dad was lucky in business to partner with Derek Fordham and lucky in life to find such incredible partners like my mother and Jane.

He was an exceptional judge of character.

He surrounded himself with good people and had little patience for the superficial.

He was wise and had strong gut feelings – emanating from a sizeable gut ! Clair’s eldest, Charlie, christened her grand-dad “Bump” as she balanced precariously on that significant stomach as a tiny two-year old.

I will always remember being picked up in Beijing in 1988 by the delicate and chauffeur driven Ms. Ang – a senior Chinese official – who had once met my parents on a business trip and then, years later, gone fully out of her way to spend a day with the son of this great man (and his friend) to drive us to the Great Wall and back.

Geoff had a huge appetite for life. There were no half-measures. Even in his “half pint club” the objective was to order a pint, drink it to its lowest possible point and then ask for “just a half ” in the same mug to compete to see how much “extra” would be served.

His glass was never half-empty, in fact it was never half-filled either! Geoff loved his “boys’ toys” which of course were all new and the rage in the late 1980s, and somehow still going. He was full-on or moving on, and with him it was “you snooze, you lose” – especially at meal times.

Dad was Original. He simply didn’t care what anyone else thought. He wore crazy flowery hats, loud Caribbean shirts and Menorca sandals – everywhere. He drove a 1972 Land-Rover, a 1980s Range-Rover and a 1987 Bentley. For years we roped a 12 man zodiac to the roof of the Landrover and drove down onto the beach at Santo Tomas, through the people, to launch it. He snored during the opera at Glyndebourne and Covent Garden. He sang Elvis as “Mr Geoffrey” in public places all around the world. He launched a magazine called Everything has a Value (which failed) and Media International (which succeeded). He the old radleian 2014

103

Obituaries

To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to – ‘tis a consummation devoutly to be wish’d.

To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: there’s the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there’s the respect that makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, the oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, the pangs of despised love, the law’s delay, the insolence of office and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes,When he himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin?

Who would fardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary life, but the dread of something after death, the undiscover’d country from whose bourn no traveller returns puzzles the will and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of?

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied-o’er with the pale cast of thought, and enterprises of great pith and moment, with this regard – their currents turn awry and lose the name of action.

Unlike Hamlet, my father was not afraid of death – we were just afraid to lose him.

We’ve lost someone who made life more colourful and fun.

We can honour and celebrate his memory by seizing the day and doing something “for Geoff ” that makes us and him smile.

Chaffyn-Grove (Troyte-Bullock) On 26.5.2014 Charles Hugh Chaffyn-Grove, (f, 1956-1961).

104

the old radleian 2014

Getty Images

ran East Africa Safaris. At dinner parties which didn’t allow smoking he’d take a Cuban cigar, and often a friend, and go smoke in the car. He’d take payment in “barter”, meaning that he’d always have bizarre “free” hotel rooms from advertiser clients where we travelled across the world.

He sold Ad space in the first ever inflight magazine – the Swiss Air Gazette. Sophie and I were for ever getting calls which began with the classic words “I’ve been thinking and have just come-up with a new business idea for you . . .”

He went his own way, bravely and on his own terms. Dad was always in control.

Even in recent months he never let the disease take over, he just negotiated with it in ever smaller and smaller spaces.

Hugo Clifford-Brown on a coaching course in the nets at Sussex in 1956

Peter Balston

Clifford-Brown On 29.7.2013 Hugo Nicholas Clifford-Brown, (g, 1957-1962).

He won the Intermediate Piano Prize in 1959. He was a member of the Athletics Teams of 1961 and 1962. He loved his time at Radley and went on to Grenoble University for two years and then to the College of Law, Chancery Lane from 1962 to 1964 and at City College, London from 1966 to 1968. After he qualified he realised he wanted to be an optician and studied for a further four years.

He loved skiing and met his wife on the slopes in Klosters. Their two children were introduced to skiing at an early age.

He had his own company for many years, held other directorships, was a Freeman of the City of London and a JP. His brother, Hilary Clifford-Brown, was at Radley. He had suffered from cancer for 11 years.

his farm into woodlands and wetlands, changing the landscape of that part of Aberdeenshire for ever. Birds and wildlife have flourished and some rare sightings of unusual birds attracted considerable media attention. His conservation work was recognised when he became one of the earliest recipients of the Green Butterfly Award. He was also involved in many local charitable organisations, including setting up an arthritis care club.

Sadly, Peter was diagnosed with cancer in 2013 and though initial treatment appeared to work well, it returned aggressively in early 2014 and he died shortly thereafter with all his family around him. His father Hugh and brother David were at Radley.

Balston On 25.3.2014 Peter John Hugh Balston, (b, 1957-1962). On leaving Radley Peter joined the family paper making business in Kent, W&R Balston Ltd, manufacturers of Whatman drawing and scientific papers. In 1968 he married Kathy (neé Thomas) with whom he had 5 children and 7¾ grandchildren by the time of his death. His heart however was always in farming, and so in 1973 he bought a pig farm in Aberdeenshire, moving and expanding in 1978 to a mixed farm nearby.

His lifelong passion was in conservation, particularly forestry and wildlife. An accident on the farm that reduced his mobility some years later provided the perfect excuse for him to turn much of

Buxton On 18.8.2013 Dr Robin (Roger) Allan Heinekey Buxton, (d, 1958-1963).

He was in the Shooting Eights of 1962 and 1963 and the excellent 3rd VIII of 1963 which won at Oxford City and Reading Regattas and was victorious in the West Cup at the 3rd VIIIs & Colts Regatta at Pangbourne. He went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States and then on to York University in Ontario, Canada, gaining his Ph.D. in 1972. He was a Project Engineer at CAE Electronics Ltd., Montreal from 1973 to 1982, Engineering manager at Moniteq Ltd., Toronto) from 1982 to 1991 and Technical Director at Ariel Geomatics Inc., Toronto from 1995.

His father, Adam, and his brother, Mark, were at Radley.

Obituaries

Roger Buxton

From the Markham Economist & Sun: Roger Buxton was a key figure in putting the Markham Speed Skating Club on the map. But heading into a new season, the club will have a big void to fill after the longtime volunteer, who served as club President for the last 15 years and was a board member of the Ontario Speed Skating Association, died Saturday. He was 68.

It was believed Mr Buxton died after suffering a heart attack while pursuing his love of skating in Scarborough.

Club members and friends recalled his passion for the sport of speed skating.

This was evident in his efforts to raise its profile through the club’s Friday evening skating sessions at Mount Joy Arena and hosting an annual provincial short track indoor meet at Angus Glen Community Centre over the last few years.

“Roger’s dedication and passion for the sport and in particular his enthusiasm for introducing young people to it was something words can hardly describe,” said Neil Mitchell, whose son Cameron was a club member. “The level of encouragement he would provide to young people and their parents to try the sport and to participate was truly unbelievable.

“He was an unrelenting advocate for the sport of short track speed skating within Markham, across the province and throughout the country. As a family we were direct recipients of the fruits of Roger’s passion. He introduced us to a sport which has been a pure enjoyment for our family and we would be one of many who have had such an experience.

“Roger’s passing is certainly a blow to many. He will be missed.”

The way Mr. Buxton operated the club also had a positive effect among club members, added Rhonda Mulcahy.

“When Roger ran his meet in Markham our entire family would go to help him run it. Even when we weren’t racing. Simply because it was Roger. He was just that sort of person,” she said. “When I told my kids that Roger had passed away they were very sad. Our youngest Keegan said ‘I loved that guy’. Understandably so as Roger was loved by many.

“He was a wonderful man who dedicated countless hours to the sport of short track speed skating. His enthusiasm never waned and we cannot say enough about how much he will be missed.”

Economist & Sun photographer Sjoerd Witteveen, a Thornhill resident and friend of Mr. Buxton, said he was well respected within the speed skating community.

“He was a nice person and did a lot to put the club on the map. He was the driving force,” Witteveen said. “It’s a great loss for the club.”

From online: Roger was well known in the Remote Sensing community for his ability in dealing with complicated imagery. He was chair of the Ontario Association of Remote Sensing (OARS). His love of speed skating was evident and he had been Chair of the Markham Speed Skating Club since 1994.

He introduced speed skating to over 500 children in local schools for which, in 2005, he was awarded Speed Skating Canada’s National Outstanding Administrator’s Award. Roger was the Secretary of the Parkinson’s Support Group. For over a decade, Roger and Judy have trained police forces throughout Ontario in assisting those with Parkinson’s disease. For this work, they were awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal.

They were a most venturesome couple, both of them being pilots, dedicated hikers and skaters. Roger was also an excellent oarsman, photographer and published writer. They were especially fond of the Arctic where he photographed extensively.

Roger will be remembered for his kindness, his integrity and his love of science.

Morgan On 16.1.2014 Simon Anthony Clement Morgan, (f, 1959-1960). He was a member of the swimming team and the shooting VIII. He was recruited to the HAC while on a Battery weekend camp on Salisbury Plain as a Radley cadet. He went

up to Trinity College, Dublin in 1961 and studied French, English and Economics. He was a founder member of the T.C.D. Rifle and Pistol Club. He became a Member of the Institute of Public Relations and held various consultancy directorships. His father, C.Y. Morgan, taught at Radley from 1928 to 1952, was Tutor of G Social from 1936 to 1952 and Sub Warden from 1938 to 1952.

His brother, Ben Morgan, was at Radley.

The tribute by Rob van Mesdag: I feel privileged to have been invited by Liz to speak about Simon for he and I have known one another for only 20 years, but we did become good friends.

We first met one Sunday in 1992 or 1993 during mass in this church – my church, I live nearby – I had with me my history professor from the University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dr. McDowell who was my house guest that weekend.

After the service, over coffee at the back of church, I noticed Dr. McDowell recognising a smart looking gentleman in a dark suit, approaching him and starting what looked like an amicable conversation.

My surprise got the better of me and as I approached both men Dr. McDowell said “he’s from Trinity College too.” So there we were all three of us from Trinity: Dr. McDowell, Simon and myself.

I now began to see Simon either here in church or around about in Fulham and the same goes for my friend Michaele, who also got to know Simon well. She and I would meet Simon in the street, in shops nearby or would see him enjoying a coffee outside one of the many Fulham cafes.

We had Simon for tea with us in our little garden, invited him to our usual preChristmas drinks parties to which once or twice Simon brought along his lovely daughter Cordelia, then only 6 or 7, and indeed Simon celebrated New Year’s Eve with us several times when also our good friend Dr. McDowell would be staying with us – both men solving the world’s problems with their animated conversation.

Inquisitive as I am about Trinity graduates, I wondered what Simon had done in Trinity, academically, sports-wise, which were his social or perhaps “socialite” activities.. And so I began to query various fellow graduates, preferably of Simon’s vintage – Simon graduated in 1966 –I am 14 years his senior – and invariably I would be told: “Oohh.. he was a most flamboyant chap, always smartly dressed for every occasion, for every party” and Liz, his sister went into greater detail the other day, telling the old radleian 2014

105

Obituaries

Simon Morgan me: “he was always impeccably dressed in a dark suit with a scarlet lining, carrying an ebony cane with a silver knob – where he got the money from to buy such a thing I shall never know.”

Simon’s schooldays in the early 1950s were spent at Michaelhouse, in Natal Province, South Africa where his father was Rector (Headmaster). When his father died in 1960 Simon’s mother took her children, Simon included, to the United Kingdom where Simon was sent to Radley to prepare for University: Trinity Dublin as it turned out to be.

His first job after gaining his Bachelor of Arts degree was a traineeship with Wills tobacco in Bristol followed by similar spell at Cadbury’s.

During these first years of standing on his own feet Simon must have wanted to add some solid meaning to his life and so he joined the Honorary Artillery Company, appreciating its discipline, striving towards fitness and ceremonial duties, and necessitating of course a change from his gentlemanly attire to army fatigues, so enjoying miles and miles of exhausting marches across rough and wild country in day and night time. He also succeeded in becoming an excellent shot and won prizes at various army shooting competitions.

When he married Sarah Cooper in 1985 – Cordelia was born three years later – Simon was working in advertising, specialising in financial public relations from which he must have learnt the art of speaking clearly and eloquently: a gift from which years later this very church came to benefit every time Simon read one of the lessons at this lectern during our services.

I now take you back to this church, back to the early 1990s, when parishioners had begun to notice that Simon, as he

106

the old radleian 2014

came up to this rostrum, was getting unsteady on his feet and one soon realised or heard that the poor man was suffering from Multiple Sclerosis.

Of course his nearest family knew, Michaele and I realised it whenever Simon came to our home and every time I drove him back to the front door of his flat I wondered whether he would be able to manage his stairs.

And so the day came when he could no longer live independently and as if a shot had been fired Simon’s life changed radically: sitting in a chair in a nursing home chosen by Liz after arduous searching – and knowing he that he would never recover. Yet he never complained; never protested; never cried.

Not to Michaele and me; not to anyone, I think.

This must have been the start of a life when it became of the utmost importance to him to have his almost daily telephone conversations with his dear mother – a joy and relief which lasted until she died.

And similarly he received great support from his sister Liz, visiting him or keeping in contact from Bristol or Wales.

This must have been when he yearned for visits from friends – and some did come and see him – and he always welcomed Michaele and myself with a cheer when we made our Saturday visits. We usually brought chocolates in a cellophane bag which somehow Simon, in spite of his rheumatic fingers, was able to open and consume.

This must have been when the staff of the Georgian House rose to the challenges of their profession: to care for their patients even if one of them, Simon in this case, might insist on sitting in bright sunshine in his wheelchair on the terrace while being told not to expose himself to the sun too much – pretty well ignored if you ask me.

Simon was always so happy when members of the clergy of this church came to see him – all of them did – enabling him to take communion or just chat – particularly whenever Archbishop Makhulu from South Africa would come to see him, enabling Simon to try out his Afrikaans language or whatever little he remembered of it. His Afrikaans was pretty ropey if you ask me.

And this was when Simon – knowing that Michaele and I were on our way to visit him – would shout a cheerful “Yeees” when we knocked on the door of his room before entering.

What a man!

Armitage On 12.10.2013 Edward Philip Armitage, (c, 1961-1965). He went up to Reading University to study Estate Management and became a Surveyor. He worked for a number of firms including Chesters and later surveyed houses in France for British buyers. He died in Bordeaux Hospital after suffering from liver cancer. His father, J.O. Armitage, was at Radley.

Sillavan On 6.10.2013 James Austin Sillavan, (a, 1964-1969). He rowed in the 1st VIIIs of 1968 and 1969. His brother, Robert, was at Radley.

From The Guardian:

By Peter Lydon (his collaborator) Cartoonist whose work was published across the British press The cartoonist James Sillavan, who has died aged 63 of a heart attack, was a regular contributor to the Guardian, showing his ability to take a complex article and distil it into a witty visual nugget. His clever, funny and beautiful illustrations graced the comment pages in particular, and on the education pages he was greatly appreciated by the columnist Ted Wragg.

Jim’s first forays in cartooning began in the mid-1980s, with a magazine he called the Pier, put together single-handedly for friends and acquaintances in Clapham, south London, where he lived. They met monthly for breakfast with music, poetry

James Sillavan

Obituaries

A cartoon (with some recognisable buildings) by James Sillavan for an article about Public Schools in the Guardian in 2013 and guest speakers in various local venues such as Teatime and Tearooms Des Artistes.

That was how he and I first met and began a collaboration that turned out hundreds of cartoons and strips for various publications. His day job at the time was on the art desk of the Daily Express, where his duties included “correcting small errors with Giles cartoons”. Our first strip, Trousers, was about the grazing and mating habits of two white male slackers in Clapham – so far so autobiographical. The listings magazine City Limits ran it for four years and published a collection in book form.

Two things made the strip stand out: Jim’s use of recognisable London locations, and his unique use of perspective, which gave many of the frames a fish-eye quality. It was a style that he said had come to him – however improbably – on a particularly emotional visit to his parents, reflecting his state of mind at the time.

Jim was born in Wilmslow, Cheshire.

He attended Radley College in Oxfordshire and went on to Manchester School of Art (now a faculty of Manchester Metropolitan University), where he studied advertising.

After spending a year travelling and working in central and south America, he did layout work on various London-based magazines, and became art editor on the teenage magazine Pink.

The magazine art director Simon Esterson was a fan of Trousers. He commissioned our second strip, DD Corp, whose Dale Deker was a Robert Maxwell-type industrialist, for the architecture and design magazine Blueprint.

Then, for Sight and Sound, we fashioned a cigar-chomping movie mogul in Jerry on Line

1, followed by Extras, featuring figures on the fringes of the movie-lot action. By that time, we were frequent contributors to Esquire, under the banner Apropos of Nothing. In 1991, Jim succeeded Barry Fantoni as diary cartoonist on the Times.

In spite of all this activity, Jim always felt rather conflicted by being a cartoonist.

He was a perfectionist and brutal self-critic: while the results were always worth it, he found the ever-present deadline oppressive.

To a great extent, he was an artist who became a cartoonist by chance, rather than design.

In 1994, he turned his back on cartooning and moved to Paris. There he met Dorina Bindea, a concert pianist, who became his partner.

He pursued his artistic aims and experimented with photography, some of his work being shown in the Collected Exhibition (1997) at the Photographers’ Gallery in central London and receiving a nomination for the Deutsche Börse photography prize.

In this medium, too, he displayed a distinctive voice and wit.

In the late 90s he moved back to London and, with the help of his friend and frequent collaborator Pete Bishop, eventually settled in Bethnal Green in the East End, an area he loved. A restless seeker, throughout his life Jim explored different spiritual practices with absolute commitment, and none more so than chi gung, the aligning of breath, movement and meditation that became his daily practice.

By 1999, Esterson was design director at the Guardian, and began to commission regular cartoon work. Jim took the opportunity to reinvent himself under the moniker JAS, from his initials.

This opened the door to a steady flow of work from several sources, including the Daily Telegraph (where for five years from 2003 he was the second political cartoonist alongside Nicholas Garland), the Tablet, the Economist (and from 2009 its website home page), the Observer, the Financial Times and the Times Literary Supplement. As Jim’s style matured, he at last embraced the idea that he was a cartoonist – and a very good one.

He is survived by Dorina and a brother and sister.

James Austin Sillavan, cartoonist, born 4 March 1950; died 6 October 2013

From James Sillavan and his collaborator Peter Lydon the old radleian 2014

107

Obituaries practising in Winchester for many years.

His long relationship with Rev. David Earl culminated in a civil partnership on 24 June 2006. He used his skills in voluntary work in Uganda and the Philippines providing schooling and shelter for young people. In the UK he led much of the work for the Winchester night shelter. He also brought faiths together through the Southampton interfaith network. A Memorial Service was held at Romsey Abbey on 23 June 2014 attended by family, professional contacts and many friends and faith contacts in Hampshire. Tony’s father, Richard, and his brother, John, were at Radley.

FitzPatrick On 9.12.2013 William Russell Stewart FitzPatrick, (h, 1973-1978). His brother, Robert, writes:

A James Sillivan cartoon from the Daily Telegraph, 2006 From the notes in Line by Line published in 1993: At the same time [in the 1980s], he made his first short film, a soundless ‘brief encounter’ story filmed entirely on the London tube system. The death of his father in 1986 led Sillavan to reassess his own life. He began the journey of conversion to Roman Catholicism, left his secure and lucrative job and turned freelance as a cartoonist.

. . . James Sillavan has achieved some renown as a painter working in a variety of media.

Since 1987 he has concentrated on acrylic painting, especially vast room-size canvases, and had several London exhibitions . . .

Ross-Hurst On 7.3.2014 in Antigua, Edward Arthur Ross-Hurst, (e, 1965-1969).

He was in the Hockey XI of 1969 and joined the Lloyds Insurance Market becoming an Insurance Broker. From 1986 he was an Independent financial adviser. His father was Lt. Col. K.W. Ross-Hurst, Radley Bursar from 1952 to 1968. His brother, Rupert, was at Radley.

From the Whitwell Players online site: There are some people whose very presence makes everything around them seem somehow better and more worthwhile. Ed Ross-Hurst was, in all senses, larger than life – a whirlwind of laughter and good cheer who always left a room (and those who occupied it) in better shape than he found it.

His death last week, whilst on holiday, is hard to assimilate. Many groups and

108

the old radleian 2014

societies in and around Whitwell lay some sort of claim to Ed – he was that kind of man. For the Players, he was one of our most ardent ‘members’, supporters and friends. Often found behind the bar (or in front of it), he came to personify everything that was good about what we did.

Pantomimes were louder with him in the audience. We sold more raffle tickets when he was front of house. It took longer to get a drink because he knew virtually everybody and, as a raconteur of some repute, would spend ages regaling people with the latest (and often spurious) stories from the village.

His work in so many areas of parish life is simply unquantifiable. Whether he was press-ganging people into entering a team for the Parish Challenge, donning his cricket whites for what he always claimed were short stints at the wicket for the cricket club or offering his time to organise a bar for the School PTA – a school in which, it should be noted, he had no parental interest, Ed would go out of his way to help if he could.

A room was always a better place with Ed in it and Whitwell, and its many community organisations, will be a poorer place for his passing. He was a dear friend whom we shall all miss greatly.

Our thoughts, prayers and sympathy are with Sue and their family at this difficult time.

Petersen On 6.5.2014 Anthony (Tony) Edward James Petersen, FSVA (h, 19671972). Tony went to Bristol Polytechnic (now University of the West of England) and qualified as a Chartered Surveyor,

Will died of a very unexpected heart attack whilst jogging across Green Park, leaving Julia and their children Emily and Harry (who is at Radley).

Will had a great gift of making friends wherever he went and at his funeral there were many old friends from school and university, from his time in Kenya and from his work.

Post Radley Will took a year in Northern Australia as a boundary rider.

At Exeter he acquired a “Desmond” in Biology and a very large circle of friends.

He started working in the City, but was temperamentally unsuited to that way of life. He passed his Chartered Accountancy exams and joined Peats to work in Kenya.

He had a wonderful few years there with audits in then exotic places, such as Mauritius, and a rather arduous camel safari in the Lake Turkana area all interspersed with polo and exploring the Rift Valley.

Having nearly lost a foot in a motorbike accident he came home and joined Dewynters in their finance group, eventually becoming the CFO. He remained at Dewynters until shortly before he died.

At the time Dewynters produced much of the marketing for London based arts and entertainment, including many of the West End musicals. Increasingly this association brought out the hidden artist in Will and he spent more and more time with his canvases and ceramics. His main artistic themes were based on his childhood experiences of living in Arabia, then still an essentially medieval country but with a few modern accessories.

Though Will and Julia spent most of their time in London, Will’s real heart was in the country. They bought a small farm in North Wiltshire where he enjoyed

Obituaries building a walled garden and painting. He got intense pleasure from watching the success of his children in whatever they did, but most especially in their sports. He would have enjoyed their future. He will be much missed by us all.

Hinchliff On 18.10.2013 Benjamin (Ben) John Hinchliff, (f, 1980-1984). He was one of the top scholars at Radley. He had prominent roles on the stage and became editor of The Radleian. He won a scholarship to read English at St John’s, Oxford where he gained a First. After qualifying as a Barrister he joined One Brick Court Chambers in 1993. In 2002 he left the practice to return to the North and run the family farm.

Aboyowa Harriman Agbamuche

Honorary Members Ashcroft On 13.1.2014 Lawrence Derrick Ashcroft, (Radley Common Room 19531959).

From The Radleian, February 1960: No man is indispensable. But some men are more indispensable than others, and L.D.A. was one of these.

Damian Ireland-Smith Ireland-Smith On 28.12.2013 Damian James Ireland-Smith, (g, 1995-1998).

Harriman Agbamuche On 20.8.2012 Maxwell Ashikodi Aboyowa Harriman Agbamuche, (b, 2000-2004). He died after a motor accident on Ikoyi road, Lagos.

He had been studying in London and had just returned to Nigeria for national youth service programme, set up by the Nigerian government to involve the country’s graduates in the development of the country.

Derrick Ashcroft came to Radley in September, 1953, a year after going down from Magdalen, Oxford. During that year, he had discovered he did not like business, married a very charming wife, and taught for half a term at Rugby. Once at Radley, his multiplicity of talents was soon in evidence, and there were few aspects of College life in which he did not take a part.

His main interest lay, clearly, in the College games, and the rugger in particular.

He assisted W.G.S.M. in running the 1st XV for his first four seasons, and for the last three these roles have been reversed. None of the seasons in which L.D.A. was in charge was a vintage year in terms of results, but Radley rugger owes a tremendous debt to his shrewdness, perseverance and enthusiasm. For any XV coached by him was always likely to play above its own potential. When presented with mediocre talent, he seemed able to turn out at least an adequate side, full of courage and spirit: when presented with

average talent, he would weld them into a more than competent side. This process was always assisted by the very considerable loyalty shown to him by members of his XVs. His last season was a very good example of all this. Two heavy defeats early on were followed by a gritting of the teeth which ended with the crowning and convincing victory over Uppingham in the mud. No leaving present can have given greater pleasure than this.

L.D.A.’s heart was never in the cricket in quite the same way, but he bore the extra burden for the last two seasons with equal skill and enthusiasm. Ironically enough, the success that he would dearly have loved on the rugger field followed him relentlessly with the Cricket XI. An unbeaten XI in 1958 was followed in 1959 by a side which beat Stowe, Sherborne, Eastbourne and St. Edward’s and lost only to the MCC. The Radley traditions of attacking stroke-play and of offence, whenever possible, in all departments of the game, have been splendidly maintained.

His other College activities he pursued with the same drive and energy. As an officer in the C.C.F., he commanded an R.A. Section with independence and initiative, and was the main author of the Assault Course. He was Sub-Tutor at Waye’s Social. He was President of the Philatelic Society.

One of his most enterprising achievements was the foundation and administration of the Common Room Cellar, a continual source of pleasure to his colleagues. His most enterprising feat of all was the organisation and execution of a great Trans-American tour, largely financed by leading industrial concerns, in the summer holidays of 1958, in which he conducted six Radleians on a whirlwind tour of the U.S.A. and Canada, covering over 10,000 miles in eight weeks.

Besides his rugger and cricket, he played other games with tremendous elan – golf, rackets, fives, hockey (exceedingly dangerous to play against, moderately dangerous to play with), even soccer, which he once admitted was “not a bad game”.

Few knew of the variety of nonCollege activities he pursued, amongst others as a prison visitor, as an officer in the Berkshire Yeomanry, and as Secretary of the Territorial Army R.F.C. In the classroom, perhaps more than in any other sphere, his effectiveness was seen to its best advantage. First in the old radleian 2014

109

Obituaries the Fourths and then in his Fifth form, he developed a system of teaching which left its mark on all boys for several terms and on some for the rest of their time at Radley.

In fact, a kind of local freemasonry arose amongst old members of his forms. He was ruthlessly efficient at making the idle boy work and, incidentally, persuading them through ‘O’ Level. He never tolerated fools gladly, but his bark was worse than his bite, and he had an instinct and sensitive feeling for the boy who was unhappy or not making the grade. With boys and adults alike, an impetuous but basically very generous nature sometimes had its stormy passages, but in the end was always appreciated.

Radley will sorely miss the Ashcrofts.

We will miss those plus-fours, we will miss Rex (the Black Devil), we will miss the practical jokes, above all we will miss a certain transatlantic twang which has become very much part of the place. To Barbara and Derrick and their family we extend our warmest thanks for all they have done at Radley and our very best wishes for their happiness and success in their next enterprise. All of us who know them can have little doubt that they will be entirely happy and successful.

Derrick is survived by his wife Barbara, two sisters Claire and Patricia, five children and nine grandchildren.

There is a letter on page 82 from Major General Robin Grist, CB, OBE (1954) about his time in Derrick Ashcroft’s form.

Buckle On 21.12.2013 Beryl Buckle who worked tirelessly in Shop from January 1954 to March 1996.

Beryl Buckle 110

the old radleian 2014

John Homewood Homewood On 27.2.14 John Homewood, aged 84, for many years farmer at Peachcroft.

From The Poultry Site: John Homewood, an Oxfordshire farmer who developed a reputation as being ahead of his time in many aspects of farming, has died unexpectedly aged 84.

Mr Homewood’s vision of the future of farming helped to shape the growth of buying groups and grain marketing, while he also influenced the resurgence of traditional turkeys and geese for Christmas.

The son of a carnation grower at Hampton, he studied horticulture at Reading University where he met his future wife Nancy whose family were farming at Peachcroft Farm at Radley.

In the 1960s, he saw the need for farmers to strengthen their hand in purchasing supplies and he was a founder member of Abingdon Farmers buying group, now part of the Orion Farming Group.

He was a great believer in cooperation in grain storage and marketing, becoming involved in founding Thames Valley Farmers which is now through mergers the national Openfield group.

His father-in-law, Charles Taylor, began producing Christmas turkeys in the 1930s.

By the 1980s, the traditional, hand-plucked turkey was facing stiff competition from cheaper frozen birds and Mr Homewood was one of the founders of the Traditional Farmfresh Turkey Association, which gained one of the UK’s first European protected food marks.

His wife started rearing geese in the early 1980s at a time when production was

at an all-time low ebb. With support from her husband, she became a founder of British Goose Producers, which has put the goose back on to the Christmas dinner table. Three times, they hosted its annual farm walk.

Mr Homewood was also a local branch chairman of the National Farmers’ Union and also chairman of Drayton and District Farming Club.

His life-long interest in horticulture led to production of strawberries, asparagus and a range of vegetables sold through the farm shop, which has become a popular venue for collecting Christmas poultry.

In recent years, he became an enthusiastic collector of the local blue and white pottery, seen in the Abingdon Museum as well as during an exhibition on the farm last year. He was due to give a talk on the pottery on the day he died.

He is survived by his widow, five children and eight grandchildren.

Hopkins On 17.2.2014 Michael John Stewart Hopkins. Mike joined the

Modern Languages Department at Radley in 1980, was Tutor of E Social from 1989 to 2003 and then Senior Master from 2003 to 2012. He was appointed Sub Warden in 2012. A full obituary will be in The Radleian.

Mike Hopkins

Obituaries

Michael Melluish, OBE Melluish On 8.2.2014 Michael Edward Lovelace Melluish, OBE, Member of the Council from 1982 - 2004, Chairman 1992 to 2004. His son, Simon (Sam), was at Radley.

From The Radleian, 2004: Michael Melluish already knew Radley well when he was appointed to Council in 1982.

His son, Simon (usually known as Sam), had been a distinctive member of B Social where Michael’s old cricketing friend, Alan Dowding, was Tutor. He had also known Dennis Silk since Cambridge days.

Michael brought to the Council his expertise as a Director of Singer and Friedlander, the merchant bankers, and a warmth of personality that was infectious.

It was no surprise (he had been Chairman of the General Purposes Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Council from 1988) when he became Chairman of Council, succeeding David Rae Smith in 1992.

His time as Chairman (1992-2004) was a period of ongoing development on the Radley campus, and the building works included the outstanding circular academic building, Queen’s Court, opened by the Queen in 1997. Other projects were the Richard Morgan Library, the David Rae Smith Building, the renovation of Chapel and the restoration of Common Room and the Mansion Rooms after the fire. He was also responsible for the planning of the new Theatre and the Sports Pavilion.

Michael got things done by consensus.

He was effective at meetings and a great communicator, but above all his affection for Radley shone through in all he did.

His generosity was endless and embraced a wide Radley acquaintance. He was also a loyal supporter of school events: concerts, plays and sports occasions.

Throughout Dennis Silk’s Wardenship, relations between Common Room and Council had become increasingly relaxed. Michael, with his friendliness and openness, continued this process. Indeed, on one of his first visits to Common Room he allowed himself to be levitated several feet off the ground by a junior Languages don, who happened to share with him the privilege of being an Old Rossallian. On his retirement from Council, Common Room invited him up to their now splendid rooms to say goodbye.

Michael also brought Council’s wives onto the Radley scene and Anna, his own wife, was the ideal person to ensure the success of this innovation. Council dinners became very special occasions where Council wives, senior members of Common Room, or those about to retire were invited with their ladies to the summer Council dinner and warmly entertained. Biennial dinners for all Common Room with Council were also a big success. Michael was an excellent host of these occasions, and a master of the apparently off the cuff but beautifully prepared speech which happily included references to everyone present.

Moving the school forward after the era of Dennis Silk and Micky Jones was a considerable challenge. Future historians of Radley will assess the magnitude of this Chairman’s achievement and his tremendous commitment to every area of life here. One thing will not be in any doubt at all: his care and concern and success in finding a new Warden when Richard Morgan retired in 2000. We can only say ‘Thank you’ and wish Michael and Anna Melluish all the best for the future.

Hamish Aird Michael Melluish served as President of the MCC in 1991/92, at a time when this role also included the Presidency of ICC. He attended Cambridge University, and was a regular in the university side as wicket-keeper throughout his three years as a student from 1954 to 1956. He played one County Championship match for Middlesex in 1957, and regularly represented MCC, captaining the Club on a tour to the Netherlands and Denmark in 1963.

Bert and Doris Robinson He was elected as a Member of the MCC in 1956, and served on the Committee between 1974 until 2002, with only a few short breaks in between. He also served as Treasurer, and was an Honorary Life VicePresident. Until April last year, he had also been a Trustee of the MCC Foundation.

Michael was a great supporter of Cambridge rugby, was involved in facilitating the Bowring Sponsorship which lasted 25 years and certainly contributed to the resurrection of the Varsity Match during the late 1960s and 1970s. Michael was a Director of the Merchant Bank Singer Friedlander who paid for the CURFC floodlights which enabled the club to play evening matches at a time when the major clubs became increasingly reluctant to travel to Cambridge to play mid-week.

He was awarded an OBE in the 1999 Queen’s Birthday honours for his services to cricket.

Robinson On 30.5.2014 Doris Robinson, aged 94, widow of Bert Robinson.

Richard Morgan, in his address at Bert’s Thanksgiving Service in 2010, said of Bert: What were the qualities that he possessed?

The first has to be his steadfast loyalty – above all, loyalty to Doris in a wonderful marriage of sixty-six years. In youth and old age, in war and peace, in good days and not so good days, Bert and Doris were together.

Whatever happened over the years, there was Doris to come home to at the end of each day. Doris was the rock of Bert’s life. the old radleian 2014

111

Sport Sport

Rangers Played 19, Won 7, Lost 5, Drawn 5, Cancelled or abandoned 3 The review One of the many joys of cricket – and of writing this review for the 25th time - is tapping the emotions that lie behind the dry numbers in the scorebook. Last year the stats drove me into a towering rage, which I couldn’t prevent from spilling onto these pages. Several things were

missing from the season’s tally: players, especially those who were in form by virtue of having made the effort to play regularly – we were scratching around for last minute bodies almost every weekend; innings totals over 200 runs – just two; hundreds – precisely none; and, above all, enough wins – only 4 out of 16 attempts. I laid the blame on too few Rangers playing too little cricket, and I am delighted to report that the message

sunk in with the result I had hoped for: in particular the match managers, led by our Cricketer Cup captain, set the tone in contributing over half of the batting and bowling performances listed below.

There were a few days to forget, but fewer than last year and offset by more worth remembering.

I am therefore pleased to lay before you the results of 2014’s campaign:

Rangers Results MCC

L

MCC 222

Rangers 109

Stoop 3-30, West 69*

Jesters

W

Rangers 181

Jesters 179

H Bailey 73, J Dalrymple 6-59

Bradfield Waifs

Drawn

Rangers 265

Waifs 122-7

West 78, J Dalrymple 55

St Edward’s Martyrs

L

Teddies 160

Rangers 130

Wright 4-34

Sherborne Pilgrims

W

Rangers 194

Pilgrims 76

H Bailey 52, Cave 3-28, Hunter 3-21,

J Dalrymple 3-3

Guards CC

W

Rangers 244-5

Guards 117

Low 112, J Dalrymple 3-44, Catchpole 3-10

Whitgift (Cricketer Cup 1)

W

Whitgift 131

Rangers 133-2

Fairhead 3-23, Butler 3-28, J Dalrymple 75*

Romany

W

Rangers 150

Romany 140

Wright 4-37

Oundle Rovers (Cricketer II)

L

Rangers 179

Rovers 180-6

Wright 3-28

HAC

Rained off

HAC 246

Rangers 108-6

A Gubbins 3-34, Payne 3-35

Oxford Downs

D

Rangers 273-8

Downs 242-7

H Bailey 78, M Bailey 67

Shopwyke Strollers

D

Rangers 281-8

Strollers 261-9

Gill 72, Wright 5-69

I Zingari

L

Rangers 239-5

IZ 243-8

W Gubbins 100*,W Langton 3-29,

(H Freyne 66* for IZ)

Apricots

Edwards 54, G Grace 53*, Cook-Y 6-29,

W

Rangers 199-5

Apricots 134

(H Bailey 60* for Apricots)

Marlborough Blues (CM-J Trophy) D

W Gubbins 100*, T Freyne 54 retired ill,

Rangers 285-3

Blues 243-8

Gloucester Gypsies

Rained off

Gypsies 298-4

Rangers 74-8

Yorkshire Gents

L

YGs 165-6 & 198-7

Rangers 206-5 & 107

Hurlingham

D

Hurlingham 236-9

Rangers 153-9

Hampshire Hogs

W

Hogs 204

Rangers 207-4

112

the old radleian 2014

McLaren 63

D Wynne-Griffith 100*, M Fawcett 55*

West 5-17 & 66, D Wynne-Griffith 84*

© Illustrated London News/Mary Evans

Sport

Photograph showing the pitch and pavilion of Lord’s Cricket Ground, during the ground’s use as a farm for rearing geese in World War I. With only five geese visible on the cricket ‘square’, it seems likely that the majority of the flock were kept at the Nursery end of the ground.

Some match reports: Cricketer Cup We assembled a strong side for yet another away fixture, this time to Whitgift, and despatched them without too much bother. Our two most successful bowlers were Fred Fairhead on debut and Simon Butler making a most welcome return.

Their opening bowlers did well to pin down two first class batsmen – Nick Gubbins, also for his first game, and captain Jamie Dalrymple – but their change bowlers were savaged by JD, who will probably be kicked out of the offspinners’ union for the battering he gave their tweaker.

Team: N Gubbins, J Dalrymple (Capt), Butler, West, H Bailey, S Dalrymple, Coles, W Gubbins, Fairhead, Cave, C Stoop.

Round two took us to Oundle with a slightly depleted team, but one that was nearly good enough. Batting was difficult and slow in the morning, but a patient 40 from Dallers Senior and more lusty versions from Junior and Alex Low (yet

another debutant) took us to 179. Was this enough? It certainly looked to be when we had them 56-6. But they were seen home by one Greg Smith, whom we found as impossible to dismiss as had India the previous day, when he made an unbeaten hundred for Leicestershire.

Team: W Gubbins, J Dalrymple (capt), West, Fairhead, Low, S Dalrymple, C Stoop, Coles, H Freyne, Cave, Wright.

Despite failing to reach the quarter finals again, the Rangers should share a sense of progress. Jamie Dalrymple leads our campaign with enormous enthusiasm and a sense of fun, whilst taking every opportunity to impart knowledge gleaned from a decade of county and international cricket. Most importantly, he is determined that our pursuit of Cup success doesn’t divide the club, and all players should feel encouraged that, if they press their case successfully in the warm-up games, they stand an equal chance of selection.

Apricots George Grace writes: We were put in to bat for 40 rain-affected overs and declared at 199-5. Rowland Edwards

on debut made a 50 at a run every other ball, which is a marked improvement of strike rate compared to his school days!

Acceleration came from a very brisk 30 from Matt Bailey and G Grace with a 50.

Apricots got off to a flyer with Vaughan and White terrified of pitching it up, but George Cooke-Yarborough came on first change to offer flight, guile and control – a fine combination for a ragging leggie.

He will take the headlines and his cap for his 6 wickets. Yet Angus Lambert deserves as much credit at the other end for 9 unchanged overs that offered a more than decent pace and control and most importantly a lifter from a length that got rid of Jos North for a duck, which broke the back of their chase. Not bad for a fella who played in the fourth XI in his final year. We bowled them out with half an hour to spare, so all being even would have been 40 overs a side.

The groundsmen deserve a lot of credit for the pitch, which was a beauty despite some heavy showers in the morning before the game, and for the speed with which they got the covers on and off when required. the old radleian 2014

113

Sport

two Hensons; we bowled a pair of legspinners in tandem – twice; we had two Fawcetts bowling at a third; and the top half of the batting order was left-handed, the rest were normal. How can you halve 11? Easy! Persuade Coles to bat lefthanded and play a few reverse-sweeps; and we had a double retirement, probably the first-ever in Rangers history: Mungo Fawcett on 55 and David Wynne-Griffith after finally fulfilling his promise with a maiden Rangers hundred. The amusement derived from these activities went a long way towards compensating for losing the match. This shouldn’t have happened, after declaring our first innings with a 40 run lead, but the usual culprit was to blame – inverting the batting order via late-night spoof, and I am sure we won’t learn our lesson on future tours.

The winning Rangers Cricketer Cup team leaving the field at Whitgift The pitch even offered some turn for those that can which was perhaps the downfall of Jack Hibbs on debut: he edged Jos North (who opened the bowling with himself) to slip, expecting some turn that of course never came.

Guards Fred Moynan: The inaugural Rangers vs Guards CC game came about through a strong Radley presence in the Household Division and promises to be a staple fixture for many years to come. Played at Burton Court, that wonderful Chelsea ground, on the Thursday before Trooping the Colour it was a magnificent day. Hugo Codrington and Charlie Williams dashed from Horseguards Parade after the Colonel’s Review and just about made it in time for the start. It was a strong Rangers side: J Dalrymple made the Guards nervous and Cave was to open the bowling.

A chanceless century from Alex Low, a young and very promising Ranger, showed up the old and bold (and ex-first class). Set a score of 250-4 declared, the Guards were never really in contention and so Moynan decided to bring on Catchpole to make it more of a game. Alas! He picked up three wickets and ended the game in short order.

The Welsh Guards supplied meat and a few beers for a BBQ and fun was had by all. It was a risk playing the game on a Thursday but thanks to those taking half-days and indeed, those who were at “meetings”, it is a fixture that will likely endure.

114

the old radleian 2014

Oxford Downs Henry Bailey: Reduced to 40 overs a side due to miscommunication – they said they would like to play this format another year. We surprised ourselves by successfully fielding a full side despite the demands of our Cricketer Cup players on the same day at Oundle.

I won the toss and batted and opened with Henry Wakefield. Mills looked extremely classy before a top edge to short fine leg.

My brother Matthew came in when he was on about 40 and, [according to his modest skipper’s report – Ed] batted much more free-flowingly before he was caught on the cover boundary. There were a few nice contributors lower down also. They almost chased our score despite good work from Wakers behind the stumps and good bowling from Vaughan and Stanton.

Otherwise it was a batsman’s pitch . . .

Yorkshire Gentlemen The Yorkshire Tour celebrated its 20th anniversary with the theme of “Twins”, which was enthusiastically embraced with the Saturday night costumes (photographic evidence available on the Rangers website). In the same vein, your correspondent indulged himself by captaining the two days with a keen interest in symmetry that might have been undetected by those looking for statistics of a more purely cricketing nature: we opened the first innings with two Wynne-Griffiths and the second with

Hurlingham A decidedly ramshackle Rangers side slowly assembled for the last of the season’s three new London fixtures: 3 ringers, 1 debutant and a number playing their first game of the season – ominous since it was nearly September. Despite having few fit bowlers, we put them in to bat. This was for the sound tactical reason of making the game last longer.

But we surprised ourselves by successfully containing them on what is famously a bowlers’ graveyard. Their captain, Tim Francis of this parish, seemed so determined to score a par 300 that he batted for nearly 60 overs, a somewhat contentious decision in light of the er, light that was going to fade rapidly from about 6:30. In the end he declared, deafened by chuntering from his fellow Rangers, at 236-9, allowing us only 45 overs in reply.

Needless to say, we blew up early, rallied strongly and blew up again, leaving the casualty list to fight the rearguard action: Charlie Campbell’s back had gone in the third over of his spell, so he couldn’t hit the ball; once he was out the game almost totally stopped, as Furn and yours truly, with one good knee between us, literally stood our ground, while Catchpole anxiously looked on, having retired hurt with a dislocated shoulder. We extracted a piquant revenge for the ungenerous declaration by grinding the life out of the last few overs, during which the only movement was from the bowlers since the batsmen couldn’t run, so didn’t, and gave the fielders no cause to either. We look forward to extracting a more productive revenge next year.

Sport

Hampshire Hogs The season ended with a clinical win that surprised seasoned Rangers-watchers. In the days leading up to the game, to a chorus of “here we go again”, the top-order galacticos lined up by DW-G dropped out one by one.

This left him only three recognized batsmen and no ‘keeper. The big surprise was that this lop-sided team performed exactly as it should have on paper: we used 9 bowlers in bowling the Hogs out for 204, and the 3 batsmen on whom our hopes rested scored 90% of the runs required, led by the skipper’s 84*. He will sleep easily over the winter, having scored 185 not out in his last two RR innings.

Where are they now?

One of the saddest tasks is to identify Rangers who have been pillars of the club in the past, but who have faded this season – hopefully only temporarily: from the 1970s, although your correspondent freakishly and (maybe selfishly?) soldiers on. James Eadie has this year disappeared from the team sheets, although he swears he has not retired. Nobody who left Radley

in the 1980s had played for some time, so it is a pleasure to see JAG Fawcett back in action, spurred on by his son starting his RR career whilst still in the school eleven. And we musn’t forget that David Peck made it to the dinner. But now players from the 1990s are suddenly a rare breed. The 1991 and 1994-5 XIs have produced many superlative Rangers, and it is a great sadness that their last troopers (Tetley, Shuttleworth, Twelfthers, Bunsen, Hutton, Dearden, C Goldsmith), all of whom played a fair bit last year, were all but totally absent. And some historic stalwarts are clinging onto the season’s aggregate team sheet by their fingernails or, more precisely, by having played only once: Stanton, a Furness-Smith, Buchanan, Chaplin-Rogers, Francis, Campbell, Laggers, Duffell, Clements, OH Langton, the Freyne bros and Mills. Chaps, please come back and play more!

circus act but left-handers, are there in force and bringing along their peers. And Pete “Jonny” Wright is now a regular, desperate to prove his father right that he is an all rounder rather than just an injuryprone bowler.

Most appearances: Coles (9), Wright & Henson R (7), Catchpole, J Dalrymple, D Wynne-Griffith, W Gubbins, MacLaren, Stoop, West (6), Catchpole, Cave, Raffles (5).

However, new blood flows. Suddenly Charlie Stoop and George Coles, heroes of the late noughties, are playing almost every game. The Wingo brothers, not a

In 2013 only 4 played more than 5 games (and 3 of them were over 40, so don’t really count!). So this statistic represents a major step forward in increasing the core of the club, whilst recognising that we don’t want it to be a clique. It’s a fine balance, but with over 80 Rangers (plus a few Ringers) turning out for at least one game, I hope we can be regarded as inclusive. Between themselves the match managers have played in every Radley XI between 1997 and 2011, so every fit and active Ranger should find at least one fixture that is attractive because of their affinity with its captain. I look forward to seeing you again next year.

this relationship, forged by competitive cricket and real ale, for almost 30 years and an annual match between the Dons and the pub was deemed an appropriate manner in which to remember him. An impressive trophy, made from an old beer

handle was crafted by Will Matthews, was won by the Radley dons, who scored a clinical 283 in 35 overs. Aldworth battled to 140 before being bowled out. It was felt that Hoppo would never have let sentiment get in the way of victory!

The Hoppo Cup

On Sunday 29th June 2014, the Radley dons hosted The Bell Inn, Aldworth for the inaugural Hoppo Cup, in memory of Mike Hopkins. Aldworth CC have played against boys from Radley since 1946 and continue to do so today. Hoppo headed

the old radleian 2014

115

Sport

Cross-Country The OR Cross-Country Match March 12th 2014

Recruiting ORs for a tough Cross-Country (XC) run around Radley in early March is never necessarily an easy task. Jim Hill (C) and Ben Pollard revived this fixture in 2011, after it had lain dormant since about 1994. A year’s notice was provided to a select band of potential runners, ahead of the 2014 race. We are very glad to say that a small band of diehards committed and ran without nary a flinch, in the face of the fear and terror that school steeplechases instilled in many a soul. Some notable absentees were variously stationed in Afghanistan, Spain, New York and the Czech Republic and understandably there were a few last minute withdrawals, but, nonetheless, the ORs did manage to field a creditable 7 runners on the day.

So, what glorious fortune was ours that the day turned out just beautiful. It was quite warm, perhaps 10˚C and the sun shone, the grass was perfectly striped and the finishing funnel flags fluttered red and white in the wind. We were definitely back at Radley, after all these years. The going was good to firm as the endless winter rains had abated, and the warm sunshine had even dried out the furrows and ruts for us; the fates shone kindly indeed.

There was a little confusion pre-race when our solid, agreed-upon plan for a 2 or 3-loop course suddenly and unexpectedly morphed into some kind of relay format. However, after some discussion amongst the ORs, this new proposal was happily reversed, and a 3 lap loop totalling 4.5 miles was agreed upon.

It commenced at the traditional place near the cricket pavilion, heading past B Social towards Mansion, before taking a sharp right down the hill by college pond, before running up Cheesers, across the back of the golf course, down into the new playing fields and back along the eastern aspect of the first hole of the golf course, which was looking especially well-tended.

The 7 hardy ORs lined up on the start against the superb athlete that is international ultramarathon runner Paul Fernandez (PMF, Biology teacher) and assorted Radley runners, including boys from the XC team. The total running time 116

the old radleian 2014

Most of the team of the first four runners from each team would be summed, and the lesser of either time declared for the winning team.

The ORs had contributed a pot of money towards the design and creation of the Cuthbertson-Derham Radley Oak Trophy, a fine, engraved clear-glass award, replete with oak leaf and acorn cluster, which had received the personal blessing of both Michael Cuthbertson (MJC) and Patrick Derham (PSJD). This prize was inaugurated to honour their tremendous contributions as head coaches of the XC club during the glory years of Radley XC that culminated in 5 unbeaten years for the 1st VIII (1989 to 1993).

These were handsomely accompanied by ultimate victory in both the Knole Run (the Southern Independent Schools Championships) and the Midland and Northern Independent Schools Championships in both 1992 and 1993, effectively rendering Radley the top independent school XC club in the country. Quite an achievement.

The Oak element of the trophy was included to symbolise the well-known toughness, durability, resilience and heartiness of Oak, which mirror the qualities of character required to run in high-level XC races. It also honours the venerable Radley Oak tree under which many of us ORs remember dashing on our way to victory; it dates all the way back to the 1500s.

So, there we were, lined up on the start: Chris Tufnell (1982, 1st VIII XC 1986/87); Rob Clegg (1984, 1st VIII Rower & 1st XV Rugby; Tom Horsey (1985, School Steeplechase enthusiast 1985 to 1990); Ben Pollard (1986, 1st VIII XC 1989/1990 & 1990/1991 (Vice-Captain)); Simon Robson-Brown (1986, 1st VIII Rower, 1989/1990 & 1990/1991); Jamie Turner (1987, 1st VIII XC 1990/1991 & Captain 1991/1992, first of the two all-conquering teams); Justin Mandeville (1988, 1st VIII XC 1992/1993; second of the two allconquering teams).

And so, after the countdown, off we went.

It was expected that PMF would blaze into a lead, and sure enough, he zoomed off into the distance like the international athlete that he is. However, the ORs’ Tufnell kept him in sight for at least the first of the three 1.5 mile laps.

After the first lap, Pollard and Turner were neck and neck behind a posse of Radleians who were showing no signs of letting the older boys into the competition. Tufnell was still ahead of this group, chasing PMF, and the rest of the boys and ORs were beginning to spread out a little as we headed up Cheesers for the second time.

Pollard made his move along the top of the golf course, effecting a diagonal bisection of the space between three Radley runners, before pushing off hard, hoping to score a crushing psychological blow, as he moved

Sport

And so after handshakes, congratulations and amid various signs of delight, pain and exhaustion, the ORs headed off to spruce up for the day’s highlight of beans, chips and sausages in Hall.

Here, Rob King (RAK), who had kindly arranged the Radley-end of things, arrived with the results, which PMF checked and then announced the results: the boys’ cumulative time being 01:56:27. A dramatic pause followed, as we all wondered what would transpire. Amidst a sort of hush, the ORs’ time was then read out at 01:55:27, meaning the ORs had done it again and scraped a victory, by the very brief margin of 60 seconds . . . or just 15 seconds per runner.

And such are the fine margins by which running races can be won or lost.

The start into 3rd place. After a further 200 metres or so, however, he began to wonder if he had bolted too early and realised he simply had to keep going and pushing, trying to gain further ground. There was no letting up in the pace now until the finish line . . . 3 miles to go. Being re-overtaken by an overtakee was not acceptable.

A little further back in the field Turner, Clegg and Robson-Brown were all running very well, showing strength and guile in their efforts, gradually picking off the opposition who were showing some curious changes in pace. Turner recalled the well-drilled PSJD adage of ‘push off the top of the hill’ to gain a crucial mental advantage of rapidly gained yards over your adversaries, just when most runners are glad to have reached flatter or downhill terrain and tend to remain steady-paced, at best.

Horsey, the team stalwart and most successful recruiter of runners for the day, soldiered on valiantly in the afternoon warmth.

Time wound on, and soon the first runners were finishing.

PMF was sadly the only don able to turn out to race, but he deservedly came home in first place in a super time of 25:02. As the final lap drew on, it became clear that Tufnell (27:28) was streaks ahead of all the other competing runners, albeit far behind PMF.

Pollard (28:04) came home third, helping the ORs to a very good early position, but he was quickly followed by two boys (28:19; 28:33) and then there was almost a minute’s gap before a third boy entered the finishing funnel (29:24). The ORs now found themselves in quite a match, with 2nd and 3rd places vs 4th, 5th and 6th, but of course none of us knew what the cumulative timings were at this stage, realising that finishing positions did not count towards the final result.

A strong run from Turner (29:30) brought him home as the third OR finisher, in 7th place, just six seconds behind the third Radley boy. He had been training hard for triathlons and certainly showed signs of his fine running ability here.

Two more boys crossed the line not too long after, including their final scoring runner (30:11), and those athletes who had finished, and were recovering their breath, understood there was quite a close contest being played out.

The ORs’ fourth scorer, Rob Clegg (30:25) came in behind the boys’ final scorer and over the next six or seven minutes, the remaining ORs and boys all crossed the finishing line. Robson-Brown completed in a strong 31:17; Mandeville in a decent 32:50 and Horsey in a brave and solid 36:12. He commented afterwards that it had never seemed so far 25 years ago, during the Steeplechase. Which is because it wasn’t! Today we’d run an extra ¾ mile.

The engraved trophy that the ORs had designed was then presented to the team captain, Pollard, by RAK. It was generally agreed that the trophy should remain at Radley and the intention was stated to contest it on an annual basis. It was also agreed to add the ORs’ 2013 victory to the trophy too, meaning they were suddenly two-nil up! Tom Horsey kindly agreed to arrange for the engraving to be done.

After a hearty meal and chat and thanks all round, the ORs retired briefly to the Fox Inn at Boars Hill for a catch-up on old times and new, before heading their various ways.

All in all, it was a memorable occasion, and it’s fair to say that the dons and ORs are keen to continue this each year on the second Thursday in March. We would encourage any ORs, of any ability, to join in, not least to help tackle the issue (for some people) of middle-aged spread!

Please get in touch with the ORs to make yourself available for selection in 2015 and beyond. We have set up an email address: oldradleianXC@gmail.com With much gratitude from the ORs to Radley, the dons and boys for hosting such an enjoyable event, and particularly Anthony Williams (AJAW), Rob King and Paul Fernandez.

This fixture is an annual event and we actively encourage any ORs of any ability to take part. Please e-mail: oldradleianxc@ gmail to join in. The next race will be held on Thursday March 12th 2015 at Radley.

The ORs (ed. Benedict Pollard) the old radleian 2014

117

Sport

ŠThe National Army Museum / Mary Evans Picture Library

Serpents Rugby

Recruitment Poster 1915 After a strong start, topping Surrey League 3 with two wins, scoring 80 points against 62, it only took a few knocks for our squad to dry up and by Christmas we had hit the three strike limit and were out of the league.

Although it has been easy to raise a team for the Centenary celebrations, sadly there

118

the old radleian 2014

is no longer sufficient enthusiasm to produce a regular team for the Serpents.

If you would like to raise a team please contact: Patrick McMeekin patchmcmeekin@hotmail.com 07796 448334

Sport

Golf – Annual Results Autumn Meeting at Royal St. George’s Golf Club, October 2013 Scratch Cup

Winner

Adam Leetham

73

Runner-Up

Tom Etridge

74

Handicap

Winner

Adam Leetham

38 points

Runner-Up

Rupert Ashby

36 points

Veterans

Winner

Will Bailey

33 points

(over 55)

Runner-Up

Robert Shotton

32 points

Captain’s Prize Foursomes: James Rogers Memorial Trophy

Winners

William Libby & Richard Porter

39 points

Runners-Up

Angus Chilvers & Robin Eliot

36 points

2013 Winner

Tom Etridge

70 & 74 = 144

The Birkmyre Salver

Spring Meeting at Denham Golf Club April 2014 Scratch Cup

Winner

Will Bailey

73

Runner-Up

Simon Peck

76

Handicap

Winner

Francis Murray

39 points

Runner-Up

Will Bailey

37 points

Veterans (over 55)

Winner

Francis Murray

39 points

Runner-Up

Will Bailey

37 points

Bruce Cup (under 35)

Winner

George Grace

29 points

Foursomes

Winners

Hugh Wolley & Philip Godden

39 points

Runners-Up

Richard Norton & Robert Finlayson

37 points

Philip Godden beat Nick Wright

4/3

Robin Turner Matchplay Trophy at Knole Park

Final

Halford Hewitt Radley beat Taunton (4-1) and Haileybury (4-1) but lost to Tonbridge (3-2).

Hugh Mackeown (1955) became the first Old Radleian to play 100 Halford Hewitt matches.

Bernard Darwin Radley lost to Clifton.

Senior Darwin Radley beat Marlborough but lost to the eventual winners, Tonbridge.

Full reports of the Halford Hewitt and the Bernard Darwin can be found at www.radley.org.uk/ORGolf.aspx the old radleian 2014

119

westernfrontphotography.com/Mary Evans

Sport

Football

A recent picture of the Loos football which the London Irish Rifles kicked across No Mans Land on Sept 25th 1915 as they attacked the German positions in the town of Loos.

2013/2014 was a season of change of the ORs. Much of the main-stay of the team over the past five years have found themselves regularly unavailable on Saturday mornings, and so it was a chance to bring in some new younger faces into the squad, all of whom performed admirably throughout the season, particularly towards the end, when relegation became a genuine possibility.

The season started in September, with a very impressive draw away at newly relegated King’s College Wimbledon, thanks to a fabulous strike from James Francis. Wimbledon ended the season

London Irish Loos Football This is the football which the London Irish Rifles kicked across No Mans Land on Sept 25th 1915 as they attacked enemy positions in the town of Loos.

The following description was written by Patrick MacGill who achieved fame after the war as a poet and writer and who was a stretcher bearer during the battle.

Ahead the clouds of smoke, sluggish low-lying fog, and fumes of bursting shells, thick in volume, receded towards 120

the old radleian 2014

arch-rivals Aldenham, with Harry Nicholls and James Liddell on the score sheet.

The season rather petered out towards the end, but by this point we were safely clear of the relegation zone. We finished in 8th place, which given the early struggles was a good effort and gives us something to build on for next season.

In terms of individuals, Harry Nicholls was, as ever, at the heart of most good things throughout the season, and he chipped in with his fair share of goals.

James Liddell and Albie Shale, both led the line well, and at the back Ben Gibson, Tommy Hodgson, Mike Rolt and Tobi Ogunsanya were excellent, and other mentions must go to Henry Taylour, Ed Hodgson, Rory MacInnes and Max Peile.

After a poor start, the team showed resilience to come from two goals down against the Wykehamists to salvage a draw, before a thumping 6-2 win over King’s Scholars. The season continued to improve with the two highlights being a 4-1 win at home to Westminster, followed by a sensational 5-0 away win against

After two seasons in charge, Ben Gibson and I are handing over the Captaincy and Secretary roles to Ed Hodgson and Henry Taylour who we are very confident are going to be able to continue to bring through the younger players and increasing the quality of the team. If anyone would like to get involved in the new season please do not hesitate to get in touch with either of them (Ed Hodgson: ebghodgson@gmail.com). Finally I would like to thank Ben, who for the last two years has kept the club financially on the straight and narrow and dealt with all manner of organisational issues. Everyone at the club is hugely grateful to him for everything he has done.

Tom Maxwell

the German trenches, and formed a striking background for the soldiers who were marching up a low slope towards the enemy’s parapet, which the smoke still hid from view. There was no haste in the forward move, every step was taken with regimental precision, and twice on the way across the Irish boys halted for a moment to correct their alignment. Only at a point on the right there was some confusion and a little irregularity. Were the men wavering? No fear! The boys on the right were dribbling the elusive football towards the German trench.

By the German barbed wire entanglements were the shambles of war. Here our men were seen by the enemy for the first time.

Up till then the foe had fired erratically through the oncoming curtain of smoke but . . . the Irish were now met with harrying rifle fire, deadly petrol bombs and hand grenades. Here I came across dead, dying and sorely wounded; lives maimed and finished. . . . Here, too, I saw, bullet-riddled, against of the spider webs known as chevaux de frise, a limp lump of pliable leather, the football which the boys had kicked across the field.

unbeaten, with this one of only two draws, in a season which culminated with them winning the title by 17 points.

Sadly we were not able to push on from this result and lost the next three games heavily, and then exited the Arthur Dunn Cup to Brentwood.

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Sport

Sailing

World War I broke out during Cowes Week in 1914. This picture shows ‘Meteor’ (belonging to Kaiser Wilhelm II) and ‘White Heather’ (belonging to Mr Myles Kennedy) at sea during the Cowes Regatta in the years before 1914, possibly 1906.

Future events: SeaView, Sunday 22 September Duke of Wellington Trophy v Old Wykehamists, James Rickards Cup v Radley College.

Arrow Trophy, Cowes, 4 & 5 October

Officers Andrew Collins (Admiral) Alexis Dogilewski (Commodore) alexis@dogilewski.com Julian Facer (Vice Commodore) John Wylie (Rear Commodore) Simon Palmer (Hon. Treasurer) simonhpalmer@yahoo.co.uk In March, on Farmoor Reservoir and in winds gusting to 47 knots, the two teams from Radley, one of current boys and the other an OR crew beat the two teams from St Edward’s.

Above: The ORSA crew, captained by Piers Hugh Smith (2008), crewed by Jules Facer (1982) and James Dodd. the old radleian 2014

121

Sport

Mariners Rowing

The Mariners Four racing against Sydney Rowing Club in the Wyfolds at Henley

Members of the 2005 1st VIII, Paddy Montgomery, Dave Atkinson, Will Portal and Chris Hobbs with their coach, Donald Legget, at Henley 122

the old radleian 2014

Sport

The Mariners Party at Henley – wearing the boater in the centre of the picture is John Petersen who rowed for Radley reaching the Final of the Ladies’ Plate in 1953. Philip Chauncy, (below left) a fellow member of the 1953 crew and a member of the 1952 crew which won the Princess Elizabeth, was also at the party

Squeeze Wendin being thanked by Mariners’ President Henry Morris (with beard) for her superb orchestration of catering for boys and supporters at this summer’s regattas. Flowers were also presented to Louise Varney who with relatively little notice stepped to provide food for the successful Mariners’ drinks party at Henley. the old radleian 2014

123

Sport

Mariners Charitable Trust During the last year the Radley Mariners Charitable Trust has given grants to: Radley College Boat Club to help fund rowing trips and training camps, Maidenhead Rowing Club for development of Junior Rowing and purchase of boats and Great Marlow School to help purchase a Four.

Henley Tickets Donald worked his usual magic to distribute the Henley tickets given

by Mariners and friends. He was able to provide the Radley parents and supporters with almost all the tickets they needed. Donations from those who received tickets have resulted in another £4,000 being raised for the Harry Mahon Cancer Research Trust. The money is used to purchase state of the art machines for the diagnosis of, and research into, cancer at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. This year’s donations mean that a gentleMACS Dissociator has been ordered which turns tissues into single cell suspensions for analysis.

Rowing in various crews at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships (IRAs) on 31 May/1 June at Mercer Lake, New Jersey: Tom George (2008, Princeton), Charlie Shaw (2007, Princeton), Arthur Sants (2007, Dartmouth), Alex George (2006, Yale) and Ollie Wynne-Griffith (2007, Yale)

Internationals Tom George (2008) rowed at 4 and Ollie Wynne-Griffith (2007) stroked the GB Under 23 Eight at the 2014 World Rowing Under 23 Championships at Varese, Italy in July. The crew came 6th with an astonishing time of 5:37 for 2000 metres. 5:37 deserved better than 6th!

Jamie Gossage (2006) rowed for England and won the Men’s Lightweight Double at the Home International in Ireland.

James Tufnell (2007) was third in the Men’s Pair. They both row for Durham and with all the news of ORs racing in America they thought they should let the current RCBC rowers know that there are still some Mariners racing in the UK and the US is not the only viable rowing option after Radley!

124

the old radleian 2014

Jamie Gossage (2006) and James Tufnell (2007) raced for the England Senior Team at the Home Internationals Regatta in Ireland in July

© Peter Spurrier/Intersport-Images

Sport

Above: Charlie Elwes (second from left and with one more year to go at Radley) with the GB Junior Coxed Four which won Silver at the World Junior Rowing Championships in Hamburg in August. The other crew members were Thomas Digby (Abingdon), Chetan Chauhan-Sims (Emanuel), Charles Thurston (Eton) and Hugo Marsh (cox) (St Edward’s). The crew was coached by John Gearing.

Below: The Coxed Four winning their heat with Charlie Elwes at bow.

the old radleian 2014

125

News & Notes News & Notes These are published in year order with an occasional alteration to accommodate pictures

enjoyable week discussing my work with a wide variety of people with a lot of useful thoughts. The main difficulty producing the work is finding models for my nude paintings – students are the best source as they need to be flexible for the wide range of poses.

John Berney-Ficklin (1946) Janet and I have just celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary with all of our family in Palm Desert, California, where we have lived for the past 16 years in retirement. Daughter Karen lives in nearby La Quinta with her husband Brian and children Emily and Nolan, and our son Todd also lives in Palm Desert. It was Nolan’s 3rd birthday the day after our anniversary. We love the weather which never went below 70˚F this past winter but is forecast for 115˚F later this week! [End of July] John Scott (1948) I have donated my Tile Collection to the The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust at Coalbrookdale, Telford, Shropshire, TF8 7DQ (tel: 01952 435900) and exhort readers to visit Ironbridge.

The collection will be on view from May 2014. Over the next year or so I am selling my largish collection c.1830 to c1940 of Decorative Art: furniture, glass, sculpture, art nouveau, art deco, arts and crafts, aesthetic movement. Anyone particularly interested should write to me with their phone number through the Radleian Society Office if they would like to view the collection.

George Metcalfe (1950) 2014 celebrated 450th anniversary of Christopher Marlowe’s birth here in Canterbury where my wife, Lillian, and I now live. Chairman: Marlowe Society. Deputy Chairman: The Whitefriars Club.

Anthony Pearce-Smith (1950) Still acting with Stamford’s Shakespeare and Shoestring Theatre Companies – we took Brenton’s Anne Boleyn to the Minack in July. Still playing gently deteriorating tennis and golf; recording books for the blind; wild life wardening and nursing along my very small wholesale business.

Ross Anson (1951) Having retired thrice I am again back in harness on the board of Bob Morgan (BM) Security Ltd in Nairobi.

Michael Bawtree (1951) I have spent much of the year working as a board member of the local historical society in this rural but university town of Wolfville, Nova Scotia, where I live. The society was 126

the old radleian 2014

I have finished my non executive director role with an oil exploration company in Italy. This should give more time to develop my painting. I play regular tennis and a bit of golf and have regular massage but need additional exercise to slow the muscle deterioration – as a week on the beach with three grandchildren in Cornwall emphasises! Work with a charity keeps the brain exercised and is useful in getting me to London to keep up with the art galleries etc.

Tony Heath (1950) For the second year running I held, in early May, a solo exhibition of my paintings and drawings at the Bankside Gallery which is close to the Tate Modern Gallery in London.

It is ideally placed on the South Bank riverwalk so the footfall in the gallery is high; around 400 a day at weekends. I have booked the gallery for the same week next year.

I had 65 works needed to fill the gallery – quite a challenge. It was the most successful of my three exhibitions in London with 21 sales taking £15,000 with prices ranging from £300 to £1,800.

Perhaps I should charge more?! It is a very

somewhat moribund, and I suggested in late 2012 that we should commemorate in 2014 the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War, but particularly its effect on the locality, nestled in what is called the Annapolis Valley, so far from Sarajevo and from Europe’s many casus belli. It has gone well. We have bulletins going up in shop windows and distributed by a newsboy giving news of the events in Europe as they occurred, leading up to the declaration of war in August. We have signs picturing the Town’s significant places as they were in 1914, like the post office and the station (now the town library). We are showing films and sponsoring talks. And this weekend we have just finished performing a staged poetry reading called ‘The Pity of War’ (at my old Festival Theatre), which I directed

and performed in. Unfortunately I fell on stage at a rehearsal last Wednesday and ruptured my Achilles tendon, so had to appear for the performance in a wheelchair. Many thought this added to the effect of the show. I hope to be in the UK in September, but for now I am in a cast and cannot leave the house without help, nor drive. A tiresome business.

Tom Morkill (1952) was awarded an MBE in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to Education as a School Governor at Dame Alice Owen’s School, Potters Bar for many years.

Rupert Turner (1956) Our youngest daughter who recently left the Royal Army Medical Corps and is married to a Welsh Guards Captain, produced our fifth

News & Notes grandchild. Now seven months old he eats more than I do! My wife and I now spend almost half the year at our house in the Scottish Highlands gardening, trying to catch salmon and stalking the odd stag.

Two of our four grandsons are entered for Radley, while one of my nephews (from my brother Jonathan’s second marriage) is, all being well, coming to Radley from the USA in two years time. We will be acting in “loco parentis” for some of the time.

Lee Taylor (1957) I have been selected again this year to represent Australia in the World Super-Seniors Team Tennis Championships in Turkey and have been named Captain of the 70+ team.

Miles Morland (1957) I set up the catchily-named Miles Morland Foundation (www.milesmorlandfoundation.com) in 2013 with the main purpose of encouraging writing in Africa. I’ve been fortunate in that I have made more money than I need through investing in Africa, having founded Blakeney Management in 1991 and DPI in 2007, two of the biggest foreign investors in Africa. MMF sponsors literary festivals in Africa; in 2014 we will be doing that in Nigeria, Somalia, Morocco and Kenya. We support other Africa-related cultural initiatives: the Caine Prize for African Literature, the African Film Festival in London.

And we offer three £18,000 Writing Scholarships a year to enable Africans to write books. There is a torrent of good writing coming out of Africa. Please let us know if you have any relevant ideas for us, but please not non-writing things.

We have no interest in gap-year projects in Keen-yah. I’ve also got a book coming out, probably in August 2015. Bloomsbury will publish it, provisional title Cobra in the Bath. Hope you buy it. It is a book of Adventures and will give you a laugh.

Bloomsbury published my last book The Man Who Broke Out Of The Bank which, to my astonishment, reached no 5 on the best seller list.

Competing on the International Tennis Federation Seniors circuit, I am currently ranked No.1 in Australia and No.7 in the World.

How fortunate am I to be fit and healthy enough to still be competing in the sport that has been a lifelong passion! I well remember playing on the courts by the Armoury when tennis was very much a secondary sport. But it was fun!

Christopher Blackwall (1958) In 1980, as the Executive Director of US Rowing, he started the first U.S. rowing club solely for people with disabilities, the Philadelphia Rowing Program for the Disabled (PRPD).

Other programs were starting up all over the world, and in 1993, adaptive rowing was included for the first time as an exhibition event at the FISA World Rowing Junior Championships in Finland and then again in 1999 at the World Rowing Championships in St. Catharines, Ontario. In 2002, the FISA world championships began to include adaptive rowing in the regular program.

The sport gained momentum in 2005, when the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) voted to include adaptive rowing in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. Achieving this major milestone spurred the growth of adaptive rowing worldwide. There are now 26 countries competing at the international level.

Peers Carter (1960) After 36 years (and building numbers from 17 to 300) my wife Susan and I have finally found a suitable buyer for our prep school and day nursery, Bronte School and Bronte Nursery. We still have our school brokerage, the School Transfer Company. One of our partners just happens to be an Old Radleian, Alex Stanford-Tuck.

Not of the finest quality, but here is a photo of Jeremy Fraser (1959) and myself, Hugh Wolley (1970), dressed as Arac (JF) and Scynthius (HW) two of Princess Ida’s three stupid brothers, in the Gilbert & Sullivan of the same name, performed for one night only by the D’Oyly Tartes of Suffolk, performed on 27 June 2014 at High Hall Nettlestead, home of Mr and Mrs Mark Nicholls, parents of William Nicholls (1999). the old radleian 2014

127

© Bregenzer Festspiele/Karl Forster

© Bregenzer Festspiele/Anja Köhler

News & Notes

128

the old radleian 2014

Above: The set for The Magic Flute at the Bregenzer Festpiele.

Left: During the opening ceremony in the Festspielhaus, Heinz Fischer, the Head of State, conferred the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art (First Class) on David Pountney Below: The poster

News & Notes David Pontney, CBE (1961) from The Sunday Times, 10 August 2014: DER FLIEGENDE ENGLANDER is not a rediscovered Ur-version of Wagner’s Flying Dutchman, originally set off the coast of Scotland, but a lavish coffeetable tome devoted to David Pountney’s 11-year stewardship, 2004-2014, of the Bregenzer Festspiele. He has been involved with this Austrian festival, more populist and less government-funded than deluxe Salzburg, for almost two decades since his predecessor, Alfred Wopmann, commissioned his spectacular, gamechanging open-air productions of The Flying Dutchman, Beethoven’s Fidelio and Verdi’s Nabucco on the 7,000-seat lakeside stage. This is the same venue that later gained international exposure when it featured in Quantum of Solace.

The Austrian government has just awarded Pountney its Cross of Honour for Sciences and Art, First Class, for his two decades of work here: compare and contrast his paltry CBE for twice as many years in leading artistic roles with Scottish Opera, English National Opera and Welsh National Opera, of which he is the current general director. The arts, especially classical music, are politically important in Austria.

It is appropriate that Pountney’s last year as Intendant should see him basking in popular and critical acclaim for his marvellously inventive and visually entrancing staging of Mozart’s The Magic Flute on the “floating” – but very securely anchored – stage. He can be forgiven for commissioning himself for this production, new last year. The original plan was to stage Jerome Kern’s Show Boat, but box-office receipts for Keith Warner’s acclaimed staging of Giordano’s Andrea Chénier (2011-12) fell so short that a surefire box-office hit was needed to wipe out the deficit.

Bregenz works on a mixed economy: the state funding is spent on the more esoteric concerts and operas in the indoor, 1,800seat Festspielhaus, but the open-air show is expected to pay for itself – preferably even to make a profit on the €9m (£7.1m) investment. Pountney’s successor, Elisabeth Sobotka, is taking no risks – next year’s popular title is Puccini’s Turandot, and no expense will be spared to plonk a spectacular “Forbidden City” in the lake.

My first Magic Flute was a low-budget, yet ingenious, production by the 26-year-old Pountney in his early Scottish Opera years.

That was as simple and economical as this Bregenz version is technically complex and lavish, but his essential view of the piece has hardly changed. He clearly prizes it more for its entertainment value and as an opportunity for scenic wizardry than for its philosophical thought. But that’s a sensible approach for this venue, where nuance generally goes unnoticed, and for this audience. The 29 performances, until August 25, are all but sold out (nearly 203,000 tickets).

Pountney’s regular designers, Johan Engels (set) and Marie-Jeanne Lecca, have created a quirky, children’s book fantasy world dominated by three monstrous horned dragons, linked by walkways, whose eyes light up; toothy maws breathe fire and brimstone when Tamino (Rainer Trost) and Papageno (Markus Brück) penetrate Sarastro’s here quite unpriestly realm.

There’s a hint of War Horse in the puppet work of Mark Down and Nick Barnes’s Blind Summit Theatre – the Three Ladies sing off stage while larger-than-

life puppets appear on horseback – and echoes of Bond films in Ran Arthur Braun’s choreography for acrobatic abseiling extras.

The inflatable frond-forest from which the Birdcatcher emerges revolves to reveal the lunar and solar realms of the Queen (Kathryn Lewek) and Sarastro (Alfred Reiter) at the summit of Engels’s enchanted island. Tamino and Pamina (Gisela Stille) arrive by water – he on a huge floating golden hand, she atop a bejewelled swimming tortoise. Her abduction by Sarastro is staged during the overture as a battle between the forces of darkness and light, with firecrackers and pyrotechnics. It’s a production to delight children from the age of 9 to 90, me included.

The musical standard is high. Hartmut Keil conducts a fleet and transparent Wiener Symphoniker, sheltered from the rain in the Festspielhaus and relayed though hi-fi speakers. My cast would not have disgraced Glyndebourne or Salzburg, especially Lewek’s Queen, both of whose arias were fireworks displays of their own. the old radleian 2014

129

News & Notes Chip Somers (1961) Having founded the drug rehab and charity, Focus12, in 1997 Chip is now in private practice in Harley Street, providing psychotherapy for a wide range of topics but especially substance and alcohol misuse.

John Gammage (1962) 2015 will mark my 40th great year in the oilfield and probably a suitable point at which to hang up my hardhat. We will also be melding our horse rescue foundation into a much larger national organization and downsizing to a country retreat between Houston and San Antonio.

ORs meet in the Philippines: Robin Bridge (1956) and Mark Jarratt (1985)

Lorne Smith (1962) Lorne Smith’s FineGolf campaign for the running golf game has had an article published in Europe’s leading specialist turfcare magazine ‘Pitchcare’ titled “A return to the running game”. It can be accessed at www.finegolf.co.uk/what-is-fine-golf/ the-running-game

Professor Chris Bulstrode (1963) who spent many years in charge of the Emergency Department of the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, was interviewed by the BBC before he travelled to Gaza in early August as part of the Department for International

allied and Taliban. He went to help in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. He is passionate about aid work and more so about training. He and his wife run an international training programme – over 20,000 doctors have been through one of their courses.

130

the old radleian 2014

Development’s International Emergency Trauma team to help treat those affected by the crisis. He has worked in Gaza before and also spent seven months in Afghanistan with the Army where he completed about 40 foot patrols, and saw countless patients, both

News & Notes

Alexander Downer (1964) has been appointed Australian High Commissioner to London. He was Australia’s longest-

serving Foreign Affairs Minister, from 1996 to 2007. Until recently he has been United Nations Special Adviser to the

Secretary-General on Cyprus. His father was Australian High Commissioner to London from 1963 to 1972. the old radleian 2014

131

News & Notes

Jamie Dodwell (1964) and Christopher Mackarness (1964) meeting for the first time since leaving Radley in the 1960s – venue: Rhapsody’s Bar, Lusaka, Zambia

Jeremy Birchall (1967) released his debut album by Yantra, A Journey through Timelessness, in July. See CDs and Downloads and www.yantramusic.net 132

the old radleian 2014

Sir Colin Davis

John Bridcut (1965) Two of his new films have recently been screened by BBC Four. Britten’s Endgame launched the BBC’s celebration of the Benjamin Britten Centenary in November 2013, while Requiem explored the history of one of music’s most powerful and enduring forms.

John is an award-winning film maker, with a string of varied documentaries to his name, ranging from politics to contemporary history to the arts.

His latest award at the 27e Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels at Biarritz in January was for Colin Davis In His Own Words, a tribute to the British conductor who died in April 2013 at the age of 85. The Britten film is his sixth composer portrait, after studies of Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Delius, Parry – and his first Britten film, Britten’s Children.His latest project is a musical portrait of the Austrian conductor, Herbert von Karajan.

Sipa Press/REX

Action Press/REX

News & Notes

Herbert von Karajan the old radleian 2014

133

Anne Katrin Purkiss/REX

News & Notes

Sandy Nairne (1966), the Director of the National Portrait Gallery who has presided over a period of soaring visitor numbers, sell-out exhibitions and glamorous acquisitions, is to leave the job early next year to pursue his writing and other arts work. He opened Clock Tower Court in March (centre, top). Sandy is one the sons of Sir Patrick Nairne (1935) who opened the original Sewell Centre in 1979. The new building provides an impressive new exhibition area, the Sewell Gallery, a new double height social space with a cafĂŠ, and ten new classrooms.

134

the old radleian 2014

Centre below: The Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Sandy Nairne (1966), talks to the former Poet Laureate and his former study companion, Sir Andrew Motion (also 1966) in front of the portrait of the English poet John Donne (1572-1631).

The National Portrait Gallery launched a major appeal, and with the aid of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Art Fund, gallery visitors and donors to the appeal, raised ÂŁ1,400,000 to acquire the portrait in 2006.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is greeted by Sandy Nairne, as she arrives for The Portrait Gala 2014 at the National Portrait Gallery in February,

2014. The event raised funds for the gallery’s daily work.

Below: Sandy with David Bailey REX

Johnny Green/PA

Jock Mullard

Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

News & Notes

the old radleian 2014

135

Getty Images

News & Notes Peter Anderson (1969) My son, Hamish Anderson (2001), has been awarded a scholarship to the National Film & Television School (2014-2016/MA in Cinematography).

Christopher Sandford (1970) I recently published books on the English cricket summer of 1914 (The Final Over), and also on the friendship between President Kennedy and Prime Minister Macmillan (Harold and Jack). [See the Book section of this magazine.] Other than that, I still largely live in exile in Seattle, which I can recommend as a pleasant enough place for a trip in the brief, comparatively dry spell around August-September. An earlier book I wrote on Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini will allegedly be seen as a mini-series on BBC TV at some stage in either 2015 or 2016, although I’ve learnt not to hold my breath on these occasions!

Owen Paterson, MP (1969) from The Times 9 August 2014: Owen Paterson, who was sacked as Environment Secretary in last month’s cabinet reshuffle, is to set up his own think-tank.

Mr Paterson says the new venture, provisionally called UK2020, will seek to articulate the views of Conservatives “beyond Westminster”.

It will campaign for Britain to leave the European Union and free itself from some climate change regulations and targets.

The former Cabinet minister has already raised a six-figure sum for the project which is already starting to recruit staff.

Mr Cameron was warned that in sacking Mr Paterson he had risked alienating former supporters, particularly in the Conservatives’ rural heartlands, many of whom are already deserting the party for UKIP. Speaking of his new project yesterday, the former Environment Secretary said: “I have been inundated with messages of 136

the old radleian 2014

support in the last few weeks and I am very keen to articulate the viewpoint of those beyond Westminster.”

Another source close to the project said it would promote an “optimistic, positive vision of what Britain could look like after five years of real Conservative government pursuing real Conservative policies”.

“The hope is it engages people in a more direct way than traditional think-tanks,” said the source, adding that most of the resources would be ploughed into a digital platform.

Mr Paterson has blamed what he called the “green blob” for costing him his job, a “mutually supportive network of environmental pressure groups, renewable energy companies and some public officials who keep each other well supplied with lavish funds, scare stories and green tape”.

“This tangled triangle of unelected busybodies claims to have the interests of the planet and the countryside at heart, but it is increasingly clear that it is focusing on the wrong issues and doing real harm while profiting handsomely,” he wrote after his sacking.

James Lambert (1972) After the death of my wife Venetia in 2010, I have got remarried to Jo Bidgood, née Corbin, in August. I have also been awarded an OBE for services to manufacturing in the 2013 Queen’s Birthday Honours. I have also been awarded the Ernst & Young UK Entrepreneur of the Year and will go forward to represent the UK in the World Entrepreneur of the Year competition in Monaco. www.ey.com/UK/en/About-us/ Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneur-Of-TheYear/UK_EOY_Winners Christopher O’Kane (1973) read Medicine and then History of Art at Queens’ College, Cambridge. He was commissioned into The Life Guards as their Regimental Medical Officer in 1985 and served in Windsor, Knightsbridge, Germany and Croatia, before retiring in 1999 in the rank of Surgeon Lt. Colonel. During his service he rode for the Army Cresta Run team, gained his Army winter sports colours, was Master of the Weser Vale Bloodhounds, spent 3 months in New Zealand on an HPA polo scholarship and obtained his FAA pilot’s licence. Emigrating to Africa in 1999, he became involved in wildlife conservation research in Natal, South Africa, gaining his M.Sc. (Natal) in 2006 and his D.Phil.

(Oxon) in 2012, both in zoology. He has had a number of sold-out exhibitions of his watercolours of African wildlife, most recently in 2011 when a sale in Knightsbridge raised funds for injured soldiers and wildlife conservation. He

News & Notes is currently Kadas Fellow at Worcester College, Oxford. He married, Julia, in 1997 and they now live in Marsh Benham, Berkshire with their daughter, Alexandra, who has just started at Downe House.

Dr Tom Shakespeare (1979) presented several editions of A Point of View on Radio 4 in May.

David Amos (1976), was elected Labour councillor in Prince’s Ward, Lambeth Council, in May 2014. He has been appointed Neighbourhood Area Lead for North Lambeth and to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (budget and finance).

Andrew Gant (1976), composer, writer and lecturer at Oxford, was elected Liberal Democrat councillor in Summertown Ward, Oxford City Council.

Tom Christopherson (1976) and John Hudson (1956), founder liverymen of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars, the City of London’s newest Livery Company, number 110, on the occasion of the Receipt

of Letters Patent, at The Mansion House, July 2014. Tom is Middle Warden and will be Master in 2017. Amongst other members of the Arts Scholars are George Bailey (1966) and Rohan Masson Taylor (1968). the old radleian 2014

137

News & Notes

138

the old radleian 2014

News & Notes

Tom Stuart-Smith (1973) played a major role in designing and restoring Trentham Gardens (www.trentham.co.uk), near Stoke-on-Trent.

Joe Wainwright Photography

the old radleian 2014

139

News & Notes Miraviva was incorporated in the summer of 2012 and an intensive period of research on the ground in the region followed – principally in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Cuba.

This allowed the company to get trading by late summer of 2013.

Business has picked up swiftly, with guests having visited all countries initially offered, and early success gave the green light for expansion into Central American territory, with Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua being added as new destinations this year.

Charles Tyler (1975) and Marc Eschauzier (1979) have teamed up to launch Miraviva – a new specialist travel company offering tailor-made holidays in Latin America. With an increasing appetite amongst jaded globe-trotters for something new, the duo realised that there was a gap in the market for a highend product in this exciting, diverse and relatively undiscovered continent.

Marc himself has family roots in Brazil, and had tired of the ‘gravy train’

Bahia Beach. Brazil 140

the old radleian 2014

after working for 18 years in the City for a major global executive search company heading up their financial services practice. Charles had pursued a very different career in journalism, photography and hospitality, and they realised that they had complementary skills. They also realised that they were both perfectionists, with an almost pedantic attention to detail, and both believe that deep knowledge of the product and friendly but professional approach is of paramount importance.

Brazil’s hosting of the World Cup this year – and the hosting of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio – is generating increasing interest in Brazil and Latin America in general. But Miraviva goes way beyond the hackneyed highlights, offering visitors the opportunity to explore less well known parts of the continent in relative comfort.

“It is really all about the experience,” says Marc. “There are so many fantastic and undiscovered experiences to be had in Latin America… we are just doing our bit to make these accessible to a wider audience.” www.miravivatravel.com

News & Notes

Above: Arequipa Cathedral, Peru Below: Machu Picchu, Peru

the old radleian 2014

141

News & Notes

Above: Fitzroy Mountain, Argentina Below: Perito Moreno Glacier, Patagonia, Argentina

142

the old radleian 2014

News & Notes

Above: Iguassu Falls from the Brazilian side Below: Local cigar-smokers in Havana, Cuba

the old radleian 2014

143

News & Notes

Salvador, Brazil 144

the old radleian 2014

News & Notes

Above: Lipan Slope, Salta Province, Argentina Below: Red peppers drying, Cachi, Argentina

the old radleian 2014

145

News & Notes George Freeman (1980) In the July Government reshuffle George has became Business and Health Minister.

From The Independent 25 July 2014 by Margareta Pagano George Freeman: Just the man for a matter of life and death There was one new job in David Cameron’s reshuffle last week that everybody has overlooked yet may prove to be the most far-reaching of the PM’s catwalk manoeuvres – a minister for life sciences.

It’s also the first role of its kind created by any government anywhere in the world.

What’s more, the MP who got the job – George Freeman – actually knows what he’s talking about, having worked in the life sciences and healthcare industry for most of his career and helped put together the Coalition Government’s Strategy for UK Life Sciences. Intelligent design, you could say.

It’s a big brief too – to accelerate the UK’s leadership in 21st-century medicine, help improve the nation’s healthcare and patient treatments, speed up the adoption by the NHS of state-of the art medical advances, and ensure we are the best place in the world for foreign companies to invest in the life sciences industry. Not much then.

I caught up with Mr Freeman soon after his promotion and he had already packed in a dozen or so Whitehall meetings with his teams at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department of Health; he reports to both so will have two turns at the despatch box and two boxes. He’s got Lord Heseltine’s old office and already has a nickname – High Tech Hezza. “Without the mane,” he laughs.

He knows there isn’t much time to get the job under way in earnest: “With just over nine months until the election, and if you strip out recess, I’ve told the teams we have only a few months to show the importance of this agenda in areas like genomics, early access to medicines, and the power of personalised modern healthcare in helping to prevent and treat diseases for us and future generations.

“The UK is already a world-class leader in healthcare technology. But, with increased pressures due to an ageing 146

the old radleian 2014

society, we need to embrace 21st-century healthcare, namely new technology and patient empowerment. We need to move away from thinking of healthcare as something ‘done to us’ by government, but something we have power over ourselves. Personalised health is the way of the future.”

Unlike so many politicians, apart perhaps from Hezza, Mr Freeman walked the walk during his 15-year career working mainly in the “Cambridge cluster” – setting up 15 high-growth start-ups, raising around £250m of new money, and helping put together partnerships between hospitals, universities and charities.

The guts of the matter are this, he says. “The landscape of healthcare is fundamentally changing. Firstly, only using healthy mice and rats to find cures for ill humans is an old-fashioned model.

Today is all about patients. Secondly, with the future of the Big Pharma model increasingly being called into question, the bio-medical industry is creating cutting-edge devices, diagnostics and treatments all the time, but they are not being adopted quickly enough. Some take 10 years to get into the NHS.

And unlike so many businessmen who make the switch to politics, he has taken to Westminster like a duck to water. His baptism came shortly after becoming the Tory MP for Mid-Norfolk in 2010, when Pfizer stunned the Government with its decision to close the Sandwich centre with the loss of 2,400 jobs.

“With the advances in genomics, finding cures for diseases will increasingly come from clinicians working much closer with patient data. We will see more personalised drugs, more devices using diagnostics and informatics. This will transform the way healthcare is delivered.”

Mr Freeman says new drugs, devices and diagnostics will come from a mix of specialist charities, small biomedical start-ups and spin-outs, patient advocacy groups and charitable foundations like those run by Bill Gates. This is a new world and it is challenging old models.

“Procurement and commissioning need updating. The NHS, which was designed to treat acute illnesses, now treats chronic diseases. In recent years it has arguably struggled to be a fast enough catalyst for innovation.”

He’s got masses of ideas for making the changes, ranging from new ways of getting new treatments into hospitals more quickly, to bringing in the private sector to collaborate on propertyconversion funds; these would find new uses for sites like Pfizer’s old research and development centre in Sandwich, Kent, for the bio-sciences industry. More help with funding for mid-sized companies is another aim. “I don’t believe there is as big a funding gap for start-ups as people say. Instead of government putting £1bn into start-ups, it’s far better if we create the right landscape for innovation to get new money.”

Knowing just how fast the pharmaceuticals industry was changing, he was on hand to give his insight and in 2011 was made an adviser on the sector. He then worked on the Strategy for UK Life Sciences – with landmark measures, like the Biomedical Catalyst Fund and Patent Box, that have brought over £2bn of new investment into the sector, as well as last year’s UK Strategy for Agricultural Technologies.

Having politics in the genes has helped prepare him too. William Gladstone, four-times Liberal prime minister, was his great, great, great-uncle and Mabel Philipson, the first British female Conservative MP, was his great aunt.

Even more potent than his DNA was a school trip to the House of Commons when he was 12: “I remember entering the chamber, as the child of a broken and unhappy home, and being totally blown away by the idea that whoever and wherever you are, there is a place where the nation takes responsibility for its affairs and looks after its people.”

Four decades later and Mr Freeman is in the thick of it himself. One of the first tests of his influence would be if Pfizer of the US returned with a bid for its British pharmaceutical rival AstraZeneca later this year, as the City expects. (Mr Freeman was the one who argued that Pfizer should be made to promise a 10-year agreement to protect UK research and jobs as a condition for any successful bid.)

“Much of the criticism of Pfizer’s bid ... was about tax inversion [changing the country of domicile to pay less corporation tax]. But the key question

RGA/REX

News & Notes

of the future will be whether we are the best place in the world for 21st-century healthcare, rather than the narrower question of ownership. While the UK’s competitive tax rates and the Patent Box are attractive incentives, this is far from the only reason these companies want to be here.”

“They come because of our fantastic research base and our investment in genomics, early access to medicines and the Catalyst Fund. We already have a massive headstart and I’m determined to ensure we are the global pioneer in 21stcentury healthcare. It’s what makes this new job so exciting.” Who knows, as well as exciting, the role may yet be the most innovative of the PM’s legacy.

Life in Westminster: My typical week “I start the day at 6am with a pint of tea and go through urgent constituency and Westminster reading and correspondence. A typical Westminster day consists of five to ten meetings,

punctuated by Commons votes. I try to spend an hour in my office each day with my staff to go through stuff, but often don’t get to sit at my desk till the evening. I normally leave the building at 10pm-11pm.

Career: National Farmers’ Union, parliamentary officer; Amedis Pharmaceuticals, chief executive; 4D Biomedical, founder; adviser to the Norwich Research Park venture fund

Friday and Saturday are constituency days: on a Friday I normally have two or three visits [to a local school or charity or business], a two-hour surgery of around 10 to 15-minute sessions helping constituents with difficult problems, and a lot of letter signing, diary and local campaign planning with my secretary, often with a speaking engagement in the evening. Sundays I keep religiously for my young family – increasingly driving my son to cricket or rugby matches.”

Parliamentary career: 2010 Conservative MP for Mid-Norfolk.

Founder of the 2020 Conservatives group 2011 Government adviser on life sciences 2014 Minister for life sciences

The personal file Name: George Freeman Date of birth: 12 July 1967 Education: Radley College; Girton College, Cambridge

Family: Married to Eleanor with two children, Ruby and Frank Favourite book: The Discoverers (Daniel Boorstin) Favourite film: The Third Man Current car: beaten-up old Mercedes estate Favourite car: Citroën DS (the French president’s car in The Day of the Jackal) Holiday: The north Norfolk coast – dinghy sailing, mackerel fishing from an 18ft lugger, and swimming with seals Favourite music: Bob Dylan the old radleian 2014

147

News & Notes

James Maycock (1980) wrote and directed Northern Soul, Living for the Weekend, a film about the northern soul phenomenon, one of the most exciting 148

the old radleian 2014

underground British club movements of the 1970s, a dynamic culture of fashions, dance moves and vinyl obsession. The programme was shown on BBC4 in

July. This followed his documentary Danny Boy – The Ballad that Bewitched the World, shown on BBC Four in December 2013.

News & Notes Hugo Vaux (1980) I have just completed 15 years with IBM. My eldest son, Fergus, has just finished at Ampleforth.

We start the cycle again next year when Freddie starts at Aysgarth Prep School in Yorkshire. Ellie, who died 10 years ago this year, is always in our memories.

ThePyjamahouse.co.uk is growing year on year, and is always available for those last minute birthday/xmas presents for sons/daughters/godsons/ goddaughter’s etc... all children’s nightware needs catered for at very reasonable prices!

Sid Keyte (1984) ran in the London Marathon as a Phonebox. He reports: I had a challenging but magical day running the London Marathon in April despite the heat and being dressed as a Phonebox! I just ‘snuck in’ to grab a very, very random Guinness World Record for ‘fastest telephone box in a marathon’ (5 hours 54 minutes 52 seconds) – I lost about half a stone, drank 8 pints of water/ lucozade, ate 5 bananas, 5 carbo gels, and far too many sweets and energy bars kindly offered up by the very generous spectators on route.

I had plenty of beer thrown at me in the East End but overall an amazing atmosphere and the crowd were just incredible and carried me every step.

Highlight was running at one stage next to Bagpuss, being chased by a rhino and a chicken! I must have heard ‘got your number’ and ‘give us a ring’ about 1000 times! It was amusing and totally understandable to see how many runners were desperate to get past me in the final mile!

I went to the loo 3 times en route in my box (private mobile portaloo!) and one woman who was so desperate (not Paula Radcliffe), asked to use my box while I provided security!

The charity, Mind, have been blown away by the £500,000 that the 380 ‘mind’ marathon runners have raised so far. They are so grateful for every penny and this will do so much help in lifting the stigma surrounding mental health. Thank you.

For anyone might still wish to donate or see some more pics please visit: www.justgiving.com/Sid-Keyte1 the old radleian 2014

149

News & Notes

Jonathan Sinclair (1984) has been appointed British High Commissioner to New Zealand – he took up his appointment during August 2014 150

the old radleian 2014

News & Notes Hamish Mackie (1987) In August 2013 Hamish was awarded the commission of six life and a quarter size horses as a centrepiece for Berkeley Group’s new development at Goodman’s Fields in London.

The six horses used in this project are all be based on different breeds of horses: Andalusian, Arab, Irish Draft, Thoroughbred, European Warm Blood and Thoroughbred/Shire.

Right (top): maquettes for the project.

Once plans were finalised, work on the armatures began. More than 1.3 kilometres of steel wire has been used for the framework of the horses. Each armature has to be strong enough to carry up to 1.5 tonnes of clay.

Right: One of the original clay sculptures has been built up over the steel armature. A total of 6.5 tonnes of clay were used on the project.

For more details visit: hamishmackie.com

Hamish working on one of the horse clay originals for the project the old radleian 2014

151

Christopher Pledger

News & Notes

Mike Ellicock (1988) ran in the 2013 London Marathon and broke the World Record by running with a 40lb pack in 3 hours 25 minutes and 21 seconds.

The BBC website reported: London Marathon: Ex-paratrooper beats backpack record Mike Ellicock has raised more than £20,000 for the Parachute Regiment Charity An ex-paratrooper has broken a world record at the London Marathon by running with a 40lb (18kg) pack in three hours 25 minutes and 21 seconds.

Mike Ellicock was blown up on a special forces operation to save UK hostages in Sierra Leone, only surviving because he was wearing body armour.

The 37-year-old, from Lewes, East Sussex, has raised more than £20,000 for the Parachute Regiment Charity.

152

the old radleian 2014

He was carrying a weight equivalent to a para’s equipment in a rucksack.

Serving as a platoon commander in 1 Para, Mr Ellicock was flown to Sierra Leone in September 2000 to take part in the rescue of five soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment taken hostage by a rebel militia.

His unit was caught in what Mr Ellicock describes as a Vietnam-style exchange of red and green tracer bullets.

‘Worst of wounded’ Mr Ellicock, who now runs an education charity, was wounded in his arms, fingers and legs and had to be evacuated from the scene by helicopter.

His mother was told: “One man is dead, 11 are wounded. I am sorry, Mike is the worst of the wounded. We know nothing more.”

Mr Ellicock said: “Luckily, we had decided that we were going to wear body armour and helmets because we were going in at first light and it was still quite cool.

“Usually the heat wouldn’t allow for that, and it saved my life for sure.”

One member of the SAS was killed, but all the hostages made it out alive.

The previous Guinness World Record for running the marathon carrying an equivalent weight was set by a Japanese athlete at three hours and 42 minutes at the Tokyo Marathon in February.

The record for the London Marathon four hours and one minute - was held by a Royal Marine.

To make the weight, Mr Ellicock packed a sleeping bag, climbing rope, biology textbook, ankle weights and “random bits of clothing”.

REX

News & Notes

Henry Hereford (1989) Currently staring in Crossbones alongside John Malkovich for NBC in the United States.

Most importantly I played two different characters in the show which about 1% of actors can say they have done. I played Frederick Nightingale – the guy with the wig and Lord Somerile “The Wildman” – the guy with the beard.

Henry has also appeared on both the big and small screen in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo starring Daniel Craig and Lifetime’s Liz & Dick. He most recently guest starred on HBO’s hit series True Blood and TV Land’s Happily Divorced. the old radleian 2014

153

News & Notes

ORs in Kabul, May 2014 – from left to right: Acting Captain Rupert Budge, Grenadier Guards (2001), Lt Hugo Codrington, Coldstream Guards (2001), Lt Col Toby Till, MBE, Coldstream Guards (1986), Major General Richard Nugee, CBE, Royal Artillery (1976), Major Richard Broadbent, Royal Logistic Corps (1979), 2Lt Will Stinton, Coldstream Guards (2003)

Anthony Simon (1986) I am working as head of digital communication at the Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office, 10 Downing Street. Living in West London with wife Lisa and twin girls.

154

the old radleian 2014

The Revd Nick Hiscocks (1988) Loving life in sunny Bournemouth, living 5 minutes walk from the beach! Church life is busy seeking to show Jesus Christ’s relevance to families, retired people

and internationals in the area (www. christchurchwestbourne.com). Cecilia and I enjoying the challenge of bringing up Lucy (9), Millie (7) and Jonty and Titus (4). Do come and visit!

News & Notes James Hunt (1989) is teaching at Leicester Grammar School.

Alexander Clegg (1990) has moved to North Carolina, USA to do an MBA in Business Management.

Christopher Neale (1990) is a member of the Swingle Singers.

Myles Hartley (1991) is in Hamilton, New Zealand. My wife Helen-Ann has just been consecrated to the Episcopate of Waikato: the first Church-of-England ordained woman to become a Bishop. I’m still enjoying work as a fully freelance organist, continuo player, and piano accompanist across the North Island. It was a particular pleasure to play the organ for Helen-Ann’s Installation Service at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Hamilton. This was a great opportunity to wear the Chapel tie of St. Peter’s College, Radley! Just yesterday, also, I was thrilled to meet another Hamilton-based OR: Brother Brian, of The Friary of the Divine Compassion.

Edward Legget (1992) and his wife Nicola had a baby boy in September 2013, bang on time and weighing 9lbs 10oz.

With virtually everything metric I don’t understand why they persist with lbs and ounces. His name is Daniel – a name not usually known in Legget ancestry.

Rupert Taylor (1992) The company I started soon after graduating from Nottingham University has just been awarded Best UK Ski Tour Operator at the World Snow Awards, hosted by the Daily Telegraph. We reached the finals after assessment from a panel of judges made up of industry experts, and then the public was asked to vote. Despite our small size and niche offering we managed to harness more support than the household names such as Crystal and Inghams. Needless to say we’re delighted to have won! It’s fun to be in the industry spot light, it’s helpful for sales, and it’s great for our team spirit. Above all, it is a great reminder that the experiences that we offer are not only unique, but are highly valued by our supportive alumni. Those alumni include several ORs who have spent part of their gap year with us in Canada.

My company, Nonstop Ski & Snowboard, specialises in coaching courses aimed at gap year students and career breakers, as well as holiday makers keen to really improve their skiing or snowboarding, specifically their off-piste skills.

Toby Gayner (1992) was married in November 2013 to Victoria Robertson.

Tom Beard (1993) announced his engagement in November 2013 to Susanna Marshall.

Jonathan Weinberg (1994) According to reports in the press he is engaged to Jessica Hydleman.

Will Docker (1993) announced his engagement to Frances Trahar in late 2013. They were married in September 2014.

Robin Woods (1994) announced his engagement in November 2013 to Daisy Collins.

Evan Leighton-Davis (1993) I am the Owner of Industrial Scripts (www.industrialscripts.co.uk), a leading film/TV script consultancy, backed by Paramount Pictures and The Curtis Brown Talent Agency.

I’m also producing several feature films including War Game, with the producers of The King’s Speech. In November 2013, my partner Victoria and I were delighted to welcome a baby boy – Hector Sonny Percival Leighton-Davis – who enjoys keeping us on our toes.

Philip Hoare (1994) married Clemmie Sanders in July 2013 – living in Northamptonshire. Working for Savills in Banbury, selling and buying land, farms and estates.

Duncan Robertson (1994) married Kim Moss on 3rd August 2013. Julian Stevens (1994) was his Best Man.

Henry Hoare (1997) married Catriona Blackwell in September 2012, He is working at BNYMellon and living in Battersea.

Richard Sykes (1999) and Jo Knights were married in August.

Paddy Montgomery (2000) is hatching an insane plan for taking part in the World’s Toughest Triathlon. He will start in August 2015 with The Race Across Europe (cycling 2926 miles from Calais to Gibraltar via Austria). This is followed by the Marathon des Sables in April 2016, a six day ultra marathon across the Sahara (156 miles). The final stage is the Talisker Challenge in December 2017, rowing 3000 nautical miles across the Atlantic.

Ed Kerr (2002) has been Maitre D’ at The Ivy for the last four years.

Hector Bevan (2005) started with the Royal Marines in August. the old radleian 2014

155

News & Notes

Chow Mezger (left), Jude’s husband, Theo (centre) and Alex Mezger (right) Alex and Chow Mezger (1991 & 1995) Jude’s Ice Cream was founded in 2002

by Jude’s husband, Theo Mezger, who sat in his empty dairy barn and dreamt of making the world’s tastiest ice cream.

What started out as a hobby rapidly became a business, and it wasn’t long before the whole family had joined

156

the old radleian 2014

in. Jude’s is now run by Theo’s two sons, Alex and Chow. Over the past 12 years, Jude’s has supplied nearly all of Britain’s top chefs and is served in some of the best restaurants and most prestigious venues and events in the land – including the Houses of Parliament and Blenheim Palace. Jude’s

have won 25 Great Taste Awards; their best-selling Salted Caramel is made with Maldon Sea Salt and their dairy-free Valrhona Dark Chocolate sorbet has been developed with the pastry chefs from the world famous chocolatiers of Valrhona in France. Jude’s is available in Waitrose, Wholefoods and Ocado.

News & Notes James Pout (1993) teamed up with director Gergely Wootsch under the Collabor8te scheme to make a short animated film, The Hungry Corpse, in which an ancient, rather hungry, corpse meets a pigeon with a broken wing in Trafalgar Square. Bill Nighy voiced the Corpse and Stephen Mangan was the Pigeon. The film was selected to screen at around 50 festivals around the world and won several awards. The Hungry Corpse, was shown on Sky Arts in August. James has written the script for his first feature film and hopes to sell the option soon.

Above: The poster and some stills from the film.

Left: James (right) and Gergely Wootsch (centre, the director of the film) are interviewed on Sky Arts by Rankin, photographer and film-maker who set up Collabor8te. This company aims to build filmmaking teams by giving opportunities to new talent while encouraging them to learn from more experienced professionals.

This might include new writers learning from seasoned directors, or fresh acting talent captured by renowned directors of photography. In doing so they hope to nurture homegrown talent and help them to establish themselves internationally.

All pictures: Š 2012 Rankin Film Productions the old radleian 2014

157

News & Notes

Henry Reily-Collins (1997) Henry’s company, Hallidays Hydropower, completed their Archimedean Hydropower project at Bladon Dam on the Blenheim Palace estate in July. It is expected to generate 60,000 kWh of clean electricity for Blenheim Palace, enough to power the equivalent of 18 homes.

The Archimedean Hydro Screw is “fish friendly” technology and was selected for its low impact on the river’s ecosystem and its efficient energy production. Based on Archimedes’ ancient screw design, the 10 by 1.5 metre screw is turned as water flows through it, activating the turbine and harnessing up to 87 per cent of the energy from the falling water. The technology enables rivers with a fall of water in access of 1.5 metres in height, to generate significant power. The Archimedean Hydro Screw is expected to have a lifespan of greater than 40 years.

The founders of Hallidays Hydropower installed the UK’s first domestic Archimedes Screw in 2007, and have since worked on projects for the National Trust, 158

the old radleian 2014

Blenheim Palace as well as many listed buildings, private mills and properties.

Above: The Archimedes Screw is moved into position

Henry is currently working on the design of a second hydropower scheme at Blenheim Cascade.

Right:The Duke of Marlborough with Henry at the ‘switching on’ ceremony

www.hallidayshydropower.com

News & Notes

the old radleian 2014

159

News & Notes

Chris Messum (1993) runs By Christopher, a company catering for events, weddings and parties http://www.bychristopher.com

Humphrey Wilson (1997) I’ve been based out here in Hong Kong for about 4 years now and have recently founded an adventure cycling business, Mad Dogs, – enabling people within a week to cycle amazingly far – for example from HK to Hanoi or from Tokyo to Sapporo. The challenges on offer are: Hong Kong to Hanoi Hanoi to Bangkok Taipei to Kenting Sapporo to Russia Tokyo to Sapporo Singapore to Krabi Macau to Guilin Our mailing address is: Mad Dogs Adventure Limited, Office C, 16/F Shing Hong Commercial Building, 21-27 Wing Kut Street, Hong Kong www.gomaddogs.com

160

the old radleian 2014

and Canapé Box, providing fresh, delicious canapés, created daily and perfect for parties, events & special occasions. He offers free delivery across London & the

Home Counties and 100% money back guarantee on all orders. Just 48 hours’ notice is required for any order. www.canapebox.co.uk

News & Notes

Above: Humphrey outside Government House, Hong Kong in 2009 after bicycling nearly 11,000 miles from Buckingham Palace Below: Volcanic lake on the route from Tokyo to Sapporo

the old radleian 2014

161

News & Notes

Above: Humphrey at work – other images are from his challenges Below: East Rift Valley, Taiwan

162

the old radleian 2014

News & Notes

Above: Guilin, China Below: Laos

the old radleian 2014

163

News & Notes

Oliver Johnson (1999) was already in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, as part of the King’s Health Partners scheme before the Ebola crisis began. Oliver, along with a team of British medics, was working to strengthen the health system – the initiative is a partnership between Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital and South London and Maudsley Trusts as well as King’s College, London.

From The Daily Mail, 4 August 2014: Today, Dr Johnson, 28, described the crippling conditions the team work in – and the opposition they face from locals who believe the disease may be a government conspiracy.

He said: ‘We’re all aware that there is a risk and that we have to be extremely careful.

However, we also know that if we wear the protective equipment properly and follow the protocols then we’ll be OK. ‘That doesn’t leave room for error, however – such as an accidental scratch of the face or forgotten hand wash.

164

the old radleian 2014

‘As we get used to it, we all begin to relax – the risk then is making sure that you don’t cut corners or get too confident.’

But he admitted the working conditions wearing the suits were far from anything the team had experienced before.

‘I first wore the protective suits during a bit of an emergency, so didn’t have much time to reflect on it.

‘The heat of the suits is quickly overwhelming, as your goggles steam up and you feel the sweat dripping underneath. And the smell of chlorine is intense.’

He added: ‘What is shocking is how healthy the patients look before they die and how quickly they decline.

‘A number of the Ebola patients I’ve seen look quite fit and healthy and can be walking around until shortly before their deaths.’

Dr Johnson also described the difficulties

of working in the country which is recovering from years of brutal civil war because many thought the illness was a government conspiracy.

Deep fear among patients and their families saw some trying to escape hospital, he said.

‘Ebola is a new disease in Sierra Leone and when the first cases emerged, many people thought it might be a government conspiracy to undermine certain tribal groups, steal organs or get money from international donors.

‘This links to widely held scepticism about Western medicine and traditional beliefs and practices.

‘Relatives don’t get to see what happens to patients when they are isolated, so some expressed fears that they were being taken away to be killed by doctors.

‘They don’t get to see the good facilities and great care that patients I see every day receive.

News & Notes ‘That meant some patients resisted being isolated and would try to run away or be carried off by family members.

‘This is a constant challenge even now, and presents real ethical dilemmas about whether we can or should restrain patients – and logistical ones about how it’s even possible to safely restrain an infectious patient without putting yourself at risk.’

He admits he ‘definitely hesitated’ when he was first confronted with a probable case of Ebola (it takes a few days to get lab confirmation).

‘Your instinct as a doctor is to rush in and help, but you know you can’t touch a patient until you’re fully protected, he explained.

‘Our families are often very concerned, and convincing them that we’ll be okay can be hard.’

Before the outbreak swept the country Dr Johnson, from London, had worked with African colleagues to help prepare for the worst – advising how to identify cases, set up isolation units, how to protect staff and providing refresher training for local health workers.

When cases started to emerge, the team had to ask themselves whether or not they should stay in the country to help with the response – their initial mission was to help strengthen the health system, not to provide a humanitarian response to an epidemic.

The team is made up of two consultants, two junior doctors, two nurses, a pharmacist and a hospital manager who are all volunteers. They chose to stay and help local health workers.

‘We’re not a humanitarian nongovernmental organisation however, so of course we then had to go through the process of articulating this and agreeing it as a group – there was never opposition though and we’ve always had consensus.’

Latest figures from the World Health Organisation show the outbreak of the deadly virus in western Africa has infected more than 1,300 people and killed at least 729. Ebola has no vaccine and there is no cure.

The outbreak has centred on Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. There has also been particular concern after densely populated Nigeria reported what is thought to be its first death from the disease.

The team have been based at Connaught Hospital in Freetown for the last 18 months. They were initially working to help strengthen the health system of the

country through improving aspects such as training, health policy, research and hospital management, before the first cases of the deadly virus started to emerge in neighbouring Guinea and Liberia.

Dr Johnson said that it was hoped that the country had ‘dodged a bullet’ – but Sierra Leone confirmed its first ever case of Ebola on May 25.

‘Even as the outbreak spread to Liberia there had been some hope that it might pass us by,’ he said.

‘We’ve now been hit hard though. Initially the disease was relatively well contained in the east but we’ve now seen cases in other districts. Hopefully these are isolated cases, but it’s still a bit early to tell for sure.’

For more information about King’s Health Partners and the work in Sierra Leone visit: http://kslp.org.uk

Dr Johnson said: ‘From the moment we heard about the first Ebola cases, all of our instincts on the team here and back in London were to do everything we could to help our colleagues overcome this new challenge.

‘We have very close relationships with our colleagues at Connaught and the Ministry of Health and always try to respond to their requests for support.

‘It was also clear that this new threat was something that they hadn’t faced before and would require technical advice, extra manpower and trusted friends. the old radleian 2014

165

News & Notes Freddie Sjostrom (2000) (as Freddie Stroma) has starred in Inbetweeners 2 (released in the UK in August) and Extraterrestrial (released later in the year and is rumoured to be in Pitch Perfect 2, due to be released in 2015. He will also be appearing on TV in Un-Real, an American Comedy Drama series.

Charlie Brookhouse (2005) has graduated from Caius College, Cambridge, with a First in English, whilst also winning the Mary Altham Prize for English and being one of only a handful to be made an Honorary Senior Scholar of Caius. In his Final Year he also rowed for Caius third eight, which gained a respectable number of places in the Fairbairns.

Charlie is now at University College, London reading a Masters in Digital Humanities: a forward-looking blend of computer science and its applications to arts, literature etc., which hopefully leads into the type of career in which he is interested.

Ollie Hunter (2002) reached the semifinals of Masterchef in 2013 and, with a business partner, set up Pangea producing creative street food inspired by flavours from every corner of the world. Pangea came about through a chain of events.

Ollie has always loved cooking and having 166

the old radleian 2014

catered for his parent’s 25th wedding anniversary, he was encouraged to apply to Masterchef. So, for fun, he did. And he succeeded, getting to the semi-finals in 2013 (his brother Barney was in the same heat of Masterchef). Now he is planning to open a restaurant.

Benjamin Hatt (2005) is organising and directing a film project in LA over the summer. He is moving into his last year at Duke University and has been lucky enough to receive a partial grant towards a short film, The Broker, he wrote and will direct. He has assembled a cast and crew and has raised, through Kickstarter, the extra $1500 needed for the film.

Geoffrey Swaine/REX

News & Notes

Jamie Laing (2002) the Made in Chelsea star has launched Candy Kittens, selling candy, clothing and other items online, at pop-up stores and in Selfridges and Waitrose. www.candykittens.co.uk the old radleian 2014

167

Getty Images

News & Notes Rory Robinson (2005) was awarded a College Prize by Somerville College, Oxford after achieving a First in his third year examinations in Mathematics.

Alexander George (2006) The editor is happy to correct an error in last year’s News & Notes: Alex accepted an offer from Princeton in January 2013 and he is enjoying life there. He did not transfer to Princeton from another university.

Will Fordham (2008) has been appointed Junior Organ Scholar at University College, Durham.

Piers Hugh Smith (2008) is an Oxford Brookes student and aspiring professional sailor. In August he reported: After taking part in the 2014 Artemis Offshore Academy Selection Trials a few weeks ago, I’m delighted to say that I’ve been invited to train alongside this year’s Figaro squad during their first month of short-handed training in September. I’m really excited to have been offered this unique opportunity to develop not only my sailing ability, but also learn about successful campaign management from a professional sailing team.

Nick Gubbins (2007) scored 54 on his County Championship debut for Middlesex at Lord’s in June.

Timothy Nye (2005) From an email to Paul Gamble in March 2014: Your email could not have found me at a busier time at Purdue, nor at a better time to reflect on my near four years at university.

Currently I am about half way through my last semester towards earning a B.Sc. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. This last week alone I have had design reviews, a midterm in graduate level Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), and a normal homework load to contend with... thankfully it is indeed Friday, though the busyness will continue tomorrow with more design meetings.

As part of the Engineering curriculum at Purdue, I am participating in what is affectionately known as Senior Design this semester. This is a design project, usually a challenge posed by Industry, where graduating seniors work in teams to produce a fully developed concept aircraft. My team is competing in a NASA university challenge requesting a 168

the old radleian 2014

conventional unmanned aerial vehicle that can stay aloft for 10 days in order to collect data on hurricane formation – a very demanding order. This coming Thursday we will be conducting an interim design review with panellists consisting of senior engineers from Boeing and Lockheed Martin; the final design report will be submitted to NASA early in May (the deadline is actually after I am set to graduate). Though senior design is a large time commitment, I still find myself taking a normal course load consisting of CFD, graduate level Intermediate Aerodynamics, and Finite Element Analysis for Aerospace Structures. Reading that back a few times makes even me begin to question the idea of “normal course load”... Beyond academics, Purdue has given me the opportunity to get a pilot’s licence as the university operates an airport just south of the campus, and to intern twice at Rolls-Royce.

Only a select few are offered places to train with the Academy, and as one of the youngest sailors to get involved with their programme, I’m hugely grateful to have been given the chance to learn from experienced solo sailors and expert coaches who will hopefully help me to take my sailing to the next level.

News & Notes

From The Oxford Times, 18 September 2014 Finn Salter (2010 and current Head of D Social) and his father James swam the Channel together in early September to raise funds for the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust. See: www.justgiving.com/JamesandFinnswimthechannel

the old radleian 2014

169

Designed by Jock Mullard / RBDA Studio

Radleian Society Radley College, Abingdon, OX14 2HR