THE ARCH OLD REPTONIAN NEWSLETTER May I2010 ssue Nº 316
Last year I attended the Paris OR Dinner, which I thoroughly enjoyed and in February we hosted ‘Drinks in the City’, which was a very well attended, convivial event at the Royal Yacht Club, in a superb location What struck me about this was the presence of so many younger OR members It was wonderful to meet the young people who left Repton not that long ago, but who want to maintain their ties with the School and continue to promote it One of the ORs I was particularly pleased to meet on this occasion was Charles Sale, who embodies the fearlessness which seems to epitomise the Reptonian spirit Through his column in the Daily Mail he doggedly sought to influence and eventually win over the vast majority of Premier League Clubs to have a poppy emblazoned on their shirts to show support for our troops on the Saturday before Remembrance Sunday
Elected Committee Members
Richard C E Lowther (Brook 1985) Tennis Club Thomas Richard Pepper (Hall 1949) Midlands Francis W S Russell (Orchard 1969) Pilgrims
Louise P Howarth (Garden 1996) Appointed 2007
Assistant
Martin G Grayshon (Cross 1961) Yorkshire Charles Michael Keep (Orchard 1969 & Staff) Hockey Club
John F R Hird (Priory 1960) Masonic Lodge
I am both surprised and delighted to be your President for 2010 and determined to meet as many of you as possible during this year I enjoyed “shadowing” Richard Hutton and relished the conversations I shared with him and his contemporaries My sporting memories are not in his league, although as the longest serving Director of Derby County Football Club (some of which was under the Chairmanship of Robert Maxwell) I have had some interesting times I am particularly pleased in recent years to have been able to refresh my relationships with the School I have two grandsons here and now have the honour of representing more than 11,000 of you
Simon D Armstrong (Cross 1963) Lancs & Cheshire
Hopefully I will be visiting the Hong Kong branch with the Headmaster and one of our Gover nors later in the year I am very much looking forward to my year in office and if there is anything I can do on your behalf please let me know W ith kind regards John Kirkland John Kirkland, 2010 President
Representative: Robert M Kirkland (Orchard 1959)
(2) OFFICERS OF THE OLD REPTONIAN SOCIETY 2010 PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY 2010 JOHN N KIRKLAND (O’51) The Old Reptonian Society The Hall, Repton School Repton, Derbyshire DE65 6FH Tel: 01283 559320 Email: or@repton org uk / jcobb@repton org uk Website: www.orsociety.com School Website: www.repton.org.uk Editorial Team: Mike Stones & Jan Cobb Executive Committee
Nicola M Obor n (Garden 1991) Staff Appointed 2007 Simon J Obor n (Orchard 1989) Appointed 2005 James T Leavesley (New 1975) Appointed 2005 J M Guy Levesley (Hall 1975) Appointed 2009 Peter H Neil (Priory 1975) Appointed 2006 Adam M Sinclair (Latham 1978) Appointed 2006 Paul A W indridge (Priory 1969) Appointed 2006
Another is the possible official opening of Repton Dubai, but everything depends on the availability of His Highness, The Sheik
Anthony E Bishop (Priory 1972) Golf Club Hamer J E Boot (School 1995) Football Club
On the sporting front, the Pilgrims, of course, enjoyed a very good season last year The OR Football Society is experiencing a particular revival and the OR Golfing Society also continues to thrive, with a healthy membership All events have been well supported and long may this continue
Cathy Twigg Staff Marketing & Development Director
Robert Bond (P’68) Chairman 2000 2006, David Pepper (H’53) President Elect 2010, James Ross (H’68) Current Chairman
Nicholas Peter Le Poidevin (Cross 1964) Law Society
One of the highlights of this year’s calendar is the Gaudy, in June, which is for ORs who were at the School pre 1950 and 1962 1972
Secretary: Mike Stones (Staff) Secretary: Jan Cobb (Staff)
John F M Walker (Hall 1946 and ex Staff) Life Member
President Elect: David Pepper (Hall 1953) Vice President: Robert A. Holroyd Headmaster
Having attended a number of Executive Committee Meetings, these are always very well run, lively and well attended, I can assure you that all branches of the Society are in good health
Treasurer: John S Wallis (Latham 1971) Gover nors’
Sanjiv Basu (Orchard 1989) Fives
Back Cover: The Garth DEADLINE for articles for the next edition (October 2010) is AUGUST 2010
President: John N. Kirkland (Orchard 1951)
Sarah R E Taylor (Field 1998) Appointed 2008 Ex Officio Members
Chairman: James M. Ross (Hall 1968)
Front Cover: Past, Future and Current Officers of the OR Society
10th Boys’ JHM Cricket semi finals
18th Boys’ 1st XI v Derbyshire U17 22nd Boys’ 1st XI v Uppingham, Boys’ U16, U15A & B v Uppingham Girls’ U15A & B, U14A & B v Kimbolton Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics match at Moorways, Boys’ Tennis Singles Championship 23rd Prep Schools’ Tennis Tour nament 25th Girls’ 1st VI, 2nd, U15A, U14A v Oundle (a) Boys’ SHM Cricket semi finals Boys U15 Aegon Tennis Round 3
More recently I have attended two ISFA football finals The U15s v Brentwood at Burton Albion and the 1st X1 v Shrewsbury at MK Dons As reported elsewhere in this addition we were unfortunate to lose both matches but none the less it was a tremendous achievement and they were two very enjoyable excellently supported evenings Congratulations must also be extended to the girls' hockey 1st X1 for winning a record breaking sixth national title At the time of writing the boys' hockey 1st X1 are also in the national finals to be played at the start of the summer term I understand that despite all of this, studying does still takes place What struck me most when attending all of these events is the terrific relationship that continues to exist between pupils and staff and the mutual respect for each other Staff at all levels are fully supportive and involved which is of great credit to them and in tur n the pupils respond by creating the successes mentioned Finally it is my opportunity to attend a Gaudy on June 12th I really would welcome the opportunity to catch up with contemporaries and hope that many of you will be present James Ross (H’68) JUNE continued 12th Girls’ U14B & U15B v Worksop County Athletics Championships at Moorways, Boys' Tennis 1st VI, 2nd, U15A & B v Shrewsbury 14th James Kropacsy Relays, Hall Close, 4 30 pm (Reserve date) 17th Informal Concert, Music School, 9 15 pm 19th Boys’ 1st XI v Nottingham High School, 11 30 am Girls’ 1st VI, 2nd, U15A & B v Trent Boys’ & Girls’ Athletics at Moorways, 22nd Boys’ SHM Cricket Final 23rd Boys’ 1st XI v KES Birmingham 28th Junior School Play: The Comedy of Errors - The Garth, 7 30 pm 29th Junior School Play: The Comedy of Errors The Garth, 7 30 pm
2009/2010 James Ross (H’68)
MAY 12th Boys Tennis 1st VI, 2nd v KES Birmingham, 3 30pm Subscription Concert: Adam Walker (Flute), John Reid (Piano) - Music School, 7.45 pm 13th Boys Tennis 1st, 2nd VI, U15A & B v Uppingham (a) Boys’ SHM Cricket Round 1 Informal Concert - Music School, 9 15 pm 15th Boys’ 1st XI v Shrewsbury (a) Boys’ U16, U15A & B, U14C v Shrewsbury Girls’ 1st VI, v Oakham (a) Boys’ & Girls’ Athletics at Rugby Boys’ Tennis 1st VI Bromsgrove (a)
12th OR Society Gaudy (62 72, pre 1950) Boys’ 2nd U14A & B v Worksop CHAIRMAN OF THE SOCIETY
9th The Donald Carr Trophy: Prep Schools Cricket Tour nament Subscription Concert: Joseph Crouch (‘Cello) Music School, 7.45 pm
DIARY OF EVENTS 2010
27th Informal Concert - Music School, 9.15 pm 28th Exeat begins, 4 30 pm JUNE 8th Boys’ & Girls’ Athletics (A & B Block) at Oundle
JULY 1st Athletics Finals, 2 15 pm Orchestral Concert Pears School, 7 30 pm 3rd Speech Day Orchestral rehearsal, Pears School, 8 40 9 30 am Speeches, 10.15 am Guest of Honour: Dr Simon Singh, MBE Speech Day Concert, Pears School, 11 30 am Boys’ 1st XI v Repton Pilgrims, 11 00 am Term ends 2 30 pm
Preacher: The Chaplain followed by coffee in Pears’ School, 11.00 am (3) Dates correct at time of publication
SEPTEMBER 2010 1st Michaelmas Term begins 19th Mor ning Service for all new pupils and their parents, 10 15 am
In October I was extremely privileged to be in a party of pupils, staff, parents and ORs which visited Ypres for a memorable event Thanks to an observation by Marilyn Fry, wife of Jonathan Fry, a belated unveiling took place during Sunday evensong of a commemorative plaque in St George's Church in Ypres in memory of 355 ORs who lost their lives on active service in WW1 The school choir performed as they had done the day previously at a similar service for the Sherwood Foresters and John Hetherington gave a superbly delivered address detailing the bravery and sacrifice of those Reptonians commemorated Earlier in the day the party was given a guided tour of the Ypres battlefield by Major John Cotterill, Sherwood Forester and current parent John, with an emphasis on fallen Reptonians, stood over the grave of four ORs at various locations and, with a photo of the boy concer ned, gave an account of his school record and his actions at Ypres All very moving Our tour finished at the Menin Gate a monument at the entrance to Ypres which has on it 60,000 names of those never found and with no grave As a keen Repton cricket historian it was of interest to see John Howell's name (see attached photo) He was by all accounts destined to open the batting for England but like so many of his generation was not able to fulfil his potential The Repton cricket pavilion has in his memory a room dedicated to his prowess
Martin Hurst (O’77) has been appointed a Recorder on the Midland Circuit He was swor n in by Mr Justice Treacy on October 29th 2009 at Birmingham Crown Court and and expects to sit in the Crown Courts of the West Midlands for three to four weeks per year dealing with criminal matters
Duncan Sanders (P’81) was confirmed as a Partner in Davis Langdon LLP in June 2009 Duncan heads up a specialist service called Remediation Commercial Management (clean up of contaminated land) within the Land Development sector John Beddington (N’57) has been appointed to the position of President of the Derbyshire Union of Golf Clubs Dr Neil Chakraborti (O’90) is a lecturer in criminology at the Department of Criminology, University of Leicester His third book ‘Hate Crime: Concepts, Policy, Future Directions’ is to be published by W illan Publishing in June 2010, and he is currently directing a series of research projects including a national evaluation of public authority responses to targeted violence, and analysis of police engagement strategies used in consultations with faith communities, and a systematic review of strategies employed in the policing of gang violence Dr Martin Dawes (H’68) is unable to attend this year’s Gaudy and writes “One of the delights of living in Canada is having access to some of the best salmon fishing in the world For the princely price of $30 per day I get to fish the Matapedia which, for salmon fishers, is a tributary of the Restigouch On Saturday 12th June I will be with my brother, sadly a Wykehamist, fishing the Matepedia This is a biannual trip where we usually walk away with several fish, the evidence is shown!! My thoughts will be with the reprobates of my year, and Hall especially, while I seek the elusive flash of silver I am sorry not to be there My life continues pretty much the same; running the department of general practice at McGill and splitting my time between administration, research and seeing patients Its seems likely I shall be moving West to take up the same position at UBC in Vancouver later this year”
Geoffrey Drage (L’60) was awarded an OBE for services to intellectual property rights in the 2009 New Year’s Honours Sarah Fear ns (F’01) travelled across the States on her own and along the way Mike Jolley (O’44) and his wife Judy were kind enough to host her at their home in Tuscon, Arizona after she had contacted them (and several other ORs) through the Overseas Link page on the OR website Sarah says “it was fascinating to exchange stories about Repton then and now, and I had a fabulous time staying with them”
OLD REPTONIAN NEWS SNIPPETS
Alex Proctor Pearson (O’89) has joined the London 2012 Organising Committee for the Olympic & Paralympic Games as Manager of Inter national Relations
Mark G Owen (M’73) has been awarded a BSc (Honours) degree in Environmental Management from Derby University and is now Environmental Campaign Advisor to the Angling Trust
George Rainsford (M’96) was centre stage for the recent cine cast of Marianne Elliott’s acclaimed National Theatre production of Shakespeare’s “All’s Well That ends Well” George played the leading role of Count Bertram in the show’s eight month run in the Olivier Theatre Knowing the performance was being viewed live in cinemas across the planet made it, George told The Arch, “seat of your pants stuff” for all the actors George had little time to celebrate afterwards, as the following morning he moved straight on to rehearsals for Roy W illiams’ harrowing war drama “Days of Significance” , a Royal Shakespeare Company production Mark Ridgway (O’73) and former staff is still at Harrow School Following a sabbatical term of travelling he has recently replaced David Elleray as House Master of Druries
Arthur Fincham (B’23) celebrated his 100th birthday on December 22nd 2009 A celebration was held in The Long Room at Lords (4)
George Foster (C’74) is a Royal Marines Colonel and was commanding 1 Assault Group Royal Marines George moved to the MOD in December 2009 Jonathan Halliwell (B’90) graduated from the University of Birmingham with a PhD in Classics and now teaches Greek and Latin at Milbour ne Lodge School He is seen here with daughter Ciara, aged 2 In mid February Tom Hird ( P'01) made his TV debut as an advisor on Blue Peter One of the programme's regular presenters was in the middle of making a canoe trip along the Amazon River Tom was called upon to deliver a talk on the kind of dangerous creatures that she might encounter along the way He did this in a very confident, informative and natural way with the manner of someone who is a seasoned campaigner Let's hope that this is the first of many appearances for him on our screens!
The Revered Michael Sinclair (L’55) was the preacher in Chapel for the School service on Sunday, January 17th He delivered an entertaining sermon which held the attention of the congregation very well, as he reminisced about his days at Repton Michael’s wife and son, Adam (L’78) were also present Michael is currently in charge of a rural parish, West Buckrose in North Yorkshire, having trained for the Ministry and been ordained in 1998 Mark Smith (O’78) is now living in Sotogrande in the South of Spain with wife Sarah and two daughter’s, Pippa and Tara Mark no longer keeps goal for the ORFC but encountered Mike Stones during the Ashes Test at Lord’s (see Arch Oct 09, Editor’s Challenge) Mark is the overseas link in Souther n Spain and would be delighted to hear from ORs in the area, or who are thinking of visiting www villareserva com Simon Lovell (C’78) and Mark Smith (O’78) ‘warming down’ post golf!
Edward Upward (L’17) died last year at the great age of 105, however his grandson David Allinson has created a web site for anyone interested in Edward’s work You are able to download, free of charge, his major work, the trilogy The Spiral Ascent, which is currently out of print www edwardupward info J.R.H. (Dick) Whittington (M’67) has been awarded a special Gover nor of Canada Medal by Canada’s Head of State, who is the Queen’s Representative in Canada, on her recent State visit to Mexico The award was for Dick’s personal efforts in “enhancing C a n a d a M e x i c o relations and for his strong commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility in the Canadian mining sector in Mexico”
Tim Rowland Scorer (O’54) has submitted this short ‘bio ‘ of his Father, Derek Rowland Scorer (O’27) Derek was bor n on 28th January 1914, son of Clara and Arthur of Altrincham, Cheshire His Father, Arthur was in Fur neaux House, Repton in 1896, and Derek, along with his brother and some cousins, was in the Orchard from 1927 1932
Dick says “It was obviously quite an honour, and totally unexpected, but should also reflect on Repton as well, as it was at Repton that the building blocks for my dealings in the corporate world were instilled in me Some of my contemporaries might be interested to know that I did actually venture into a field of endeavour other than playing cricket! I continue to follow the fortunes of the School with great interest, in particular the Pilgrims Please pass on my best regards to Mr Walker and apologies for being such a bad scribe in staying in contact with the Pilgrims, and the ORs in general Thank you to the family of Desmond Williams (C’27) for donating a 1932 copy of the ‘The Rapier’, a 1932 copy of ‘The February W indsor’ and a 1929 copy of ‘Repton School Songs’ all of which are now in the Repton Archives It is always a great source of delight when we receive copies of publications which we have not previously seen In the School Chapel on Sunday, February 21st a joint service was held for staff, pupils and parents of both Repton and Foremarke It was a very successful occasion Among the items sung by the two choirs was an anthem called “They that go down to the sea in ships” This was first written for Dennis Kiddy and the choir of Repton Preparatory School in 1979 and was based upon a work by Herbert Sumsion Do any ORs have memories of performing such a piece with the choir? Mike Stones
Ronald J Sichel (L’54) has just terminated his one year term as the 640th ‘Master’ of his City of London Livery Company ‘The Worshipful Company of Founders’ Whilst at Repton Ronald was a member of the Rifle Eight that won, among other trophies, the Ashburton Shield at the Bisley 1958 meeting for only the second time in the school’s experience A lifetime in the wine trade has enabled him to chair his Livery Company’s wine committee for a number of years
Toby Staunton (C’00) graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London with a 2 1 MSc degree in Geoscience with a year of Inter national Study
At 95, Derek is in remarkably good physical shape, thanks largely to the care he receives at Arden Court Home, Naples, Florida, USA He is unfortunately suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, but enjoys a good day out with the family none the less, walking unaided and taking in the sights He was widowed earlier this year, when his wife, Carol, passed away After leaving Repton, Derek qualified as a Solicitor, and then eschewing the “family law firm” in Lincoln, joined ICI, just before the outbreak of war He served with the Royal Artillery, spending most of his service assigned as a specialist consultant to the US Army He and his family emigrated to South Africa in 1947 a good time to be leaving war tor n England! After a succession of management appointments with African Explosives and Chemical Industries in South and East Africa, he became Managing Director in Johannesburg, from where he retired in 1968 and emigrated to the USA
Hamza Siddique (S’07) won the Chris War ne Shield for Academy Performance of the Year with153 v Leicestershire Academy at the Annual Awards Ceremony at the Derbyshire County Cricket Ground
(5) OLD REPTONIAN NEWS SNIPPETS
Dick Whittington, Gillian Whittington and Governor General Michaelle Jean,
Margaret on 21st September 2009 A sister for Poppy Jonathan Every (N’96) and Adele, a daughter Eleanor Beatrix Rose on June 20th 2009
The Baptism of Martyn Victor Graham Varley, son of Nicholas Varley (B’84), took place in Chalautre la Grande in the Seine et Mar ne in France on 20th September 2009, conducted by The Revered James Bar nett (H’57) The family photograph includes Martyn and his sister, Martyn is on his father’s lap
The Revered James Barnett (H’57)
ENGAGEMENTS
The engagements are announced of: Louise Howarth (G’96) daughter of Mrs David Howarth of Derbyshire to Mr Theo Trayhur n, son of Professor and Mrs Trayhur n of Perthshire Their wedding will take place on 12th June 2010 at St Peters Church, Edensor (Chatsworth Estate) Andy Mazoka (O’96) to Natasha Omokhodion Ben R G Smith (N’94) to Miss Joanna Lee Alex Rose (C’92) to Laura Jackson Their wedding will take place in July 2010 at Durham Castle
Steve Ingram (H’90) a second daughter, Elayna Joanne on 11th April 2009
Sarah Jones (née Harding) (A'91) and John became proud parents to a daughter Megan Rowenna bor n on 23rd September 2009
Andy Mazoka (O’96) and Natasha a son, Anderson Kambela Chewe Esne on June 30th 2009
Kate Nash (née Allan) (G’92) and Justin are delighted to announce the birth of Benedict Archibald Joseph on November 10th 2009
Mary Elliott (A’93) and Mark a daughter Phoebe Rose
Lizzie Tebbs (née Waller) (A’92) and her husband James are delighted to announce the birth of their first child Freddie, bor n 25th July 2009
Gemma Barker (née Wheatley) (A’92) and Graham a son Joseph Samuel on 27th February 2010, weighing 6lb 12oz
BIRTHS (6) BAPTISMS
Eleanor Thor nhill (née Adams) A’90 and Julian (M’91) are thrilled to announce the birth of W illiam George on July 23rd 2009 in Leeds
MARRIAGES (7) Simon Gill (N’90) married Lucy W ilson on May 30th 2009 ORs attending the wedding were, from left to right, Jono Houlston (N’91), Ian Hall (N’90), Simon Gill (N’90), Dave O’Gram (N’91) and Giles Chaplin (N’91) missing from the photograph was Mike Stockdale (H’58) Nick Hart (H’88) to Sarah McGinnes on 9th May 2009 in Thurlestone, Devon Other ORs in attendance were Mike Murray (H’88), Nick Sreevalsan (H’85) and Miles Robinson (H’85)
Julia Hinchliffe (G’92) to Neil Pearson on 9th October 2009 From left to right Juliette Hinchliffe (née Seaton) (A’91), James Hinchliffe (L’89), Emily Hinchliffe, Julia Pearson (G’92), Neil Pearson, Marjorie Hinchliffe, Samuel Hinchliffe, Stephen Hinchliffe Photograph by Jodi Hinds
Tessa Horton (née Sheldon) (G’97) and T im Horton were married on 19th December 2009 at St Wystan's Church, Repton, a reception was held at Tutbury Castle ORs in attendance Georgie Sheldon (G’96), Mr and Mrs W imbush (former staff), Andrew and Carolyn Lewis (former Mitre Housemaster), Clare Jolliffe (née Graham) (former Garden tutor), Ania Lipinski (G’94), Luke Bennett (L’04), Victoria Brierley (G’94), Lucy Baker (née Rogers) (G’94) and Jeremy Baker (O’98) James Mayne (S’98) married Lucy W illows at Whaplode Manor, Saracen’s Head, Lincolnshire on 29th August 2009 ORs in attendance were Alastair Mayne (C’90) and Robert Dann (O’01)
MARRIAGES (8) Alex Proctor Pearson (O’89) married Laura Copeland on May 23rd 2009 in Eglise de Vullierens (near Lausanne), Switzerland ORs in attendance, from left to right: James Ware (N’89), John Siner (Guest), James Proctor Pearson (O’84), Laura, Alex, Sam Basu (O’89), Simon Littlewood (H’89) Richard Sarangi (C’92) married Emma Nathan at St Mary & Modwen Church, Burton on Trent A reception was hold at New Hall Hotel, Sutton Coldfield and their honeymoon was driving Route 66 America
The reception was held on the Paddock
Jemma Fowkes (née Phillips) (G’92) married Jamie Fowkes at Burg Lichtenburg in Germany on August 1st 2009 ORs in attendance were James Phillips (L’90), Hannah Smith (née Phillips) (G’95), Ami Roberts (G’95) and Neil Chakraborti (O’90)
Guests attending from left to right Ber nice McLaren (Orchard), Margaret Gar ner (Foremarke), Sarah Jones (née Harding) (A’91), Rachel Hill (née Kington) (A’93), Matilda Scott (Foremarke), Mel Morley (née Stanton) (A’93), Kirsty Eager (née Davies) (G’93), Fiona Mclaren Barker (G’93), Jennie Hulett (née Cox) (A’93), Sue Leroy (née Petrie Guy) (G’92), Katie McKay (née Gilham) (G’91), Kate Tomlinson (A’91), Fiona Scott (Hall), Elaine Hillier (Latham), Maggie Mylward (Brook/School), Top row: Adrian Mylward (Brook/School), James McLaren (Orchard), Matt Lewis (O’85), Alex McLaren (C’85) Rick Barker, Angus McLaren (C’88), Nick Wilcox (O’88), Martin Amherst Lock (Former Staff), Freddie Scott (N’94), Richard Hillier (Latham), George Hands (Foremarke) Dr Hands and Alex Kington (N’91) also attended Fiona McLaren (G’91) married Rick Barker on 22nd August 2009 in St Wystan's Church
Barbara Foster, former Matron of New House, on April 12th 2010 Pat Norwood on March 14th 2010 An obituary for Pat will be in the October issue
MITRE Bryan Salisbury Cox (M’44) on 8th March 2010
Timothy Forster Withy (B’53) on November 11th 2009
Brian Gouldsbury (H’35) on April 29th 2009
An innovative teacher who abhorred jargon and obfuscation, Richard Barker made his mark on education by setting up the business studies A level course and pioneering new methods of teaching and lear ning in schools Many have since become commonplace but at the time they marked a radical approach to involving the young in lear ning and understanding ideas and analysis through the case study method, then used mainly in business schools He was an inspirational Headmaster of Sevenoaks School, where he encouraged the Inter national Baccalaureate and successfully tur ned the school co educational From Repton he went on to Trinity College, London where he initially read chemistry before changing to economics and then economic geography He became secretary of the Cambridge University United Nations Organisation After graduating, he joined Bedales School and rapidly became head of geography
Peter Gessie King (P’51) on February 20th 2010 Peter Lander (P’40) on March 14th 2010
Robert Livesey Troop (B’40) on January 10th 2010 Grant Weir (B’48) on August 13th 2009
BROOK Garth Stacey (B’29) on August 8th 2009
Michael Gilbert Smith Rewse (H’53) on 13th October 2009
Geoffrey David Phillips (O’35) on 26th December 2008
ORCHARD Peter Dallas Ross (O’35) on 13th March 2010
Harry Mellor Tickler (O’31) in October 2009
PRIORY Digby William Hall (P’45) on December 19th 2009
FORMER STAFF
Betty Drew, wife of former School Marshall, Ber nie Drew on November 15th 2009
Antony Frenkel (O’29) on June 22nd 2009
Philip Martin Nicholson (L’38) on 18th September 2009
Walter Allen, 1981 1984 on March 5th 2010 An obituary for Walter will be in the October issue
LATHAM John Christopher Giles (L’62) on October 3rd 2009
He was appointed Headmaster of Sevenoaks School in 1981 There, in a distinguished tenure, he was ambitious and unconventional He brought with him from Marlborough a love of boarding and management approach to headship that was unusual at the time He valued extracurricular involvement and demanded it from both staff and pupils He also saw that the time involved was balanced across the different activities so that the sports staff were not the only ones working over the weekend He brought in something akin to performance related pay and introduced staff appraisal early, starting with himself He was a pioneer in the early 1980s of that unfamiliar process
NEW Anthony William Brown (N’31) on October 11th 2009 George Siddall (N’49) in March 2007
OBITUARIES RICHARD BARKER (H’53)
HALL Robert Billson (H’81) in March 2010 Tom Edge (H’66) on November 11th 2009
In 1966 Barker was selected as a young schoolmaster by the Wolfsen Foundation to establish a national programme to increase awareness in the young of the role of business in society He was determined that the course should be academic, with full A level status He had to convince the sceptics of the feasibility and value of such a course, but when he later joined Marlborough College as a head of department John Dancy, then master of the college, was a driving force for the subject and gave Barker the opportunities and support to set up the course Barker lectured at the London University Institute of Education on the original PGCE courses to train teachers Later he set up the Cambridge Business Studies Trust to help with the training and support of teachers Moreover, the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate was persuaded to accredit and examine the course, and he was the driving force behind a series of textbooks, Understanding Business, which he edited Reaction from the business world was favourable, which allowed Barker to achieve his aim of bringing business to the centre of the curriculum One of his greatest achievements was to set up a course that gave students the language of business, enabling them to communicate with employers from the start From a handful of students, the business studies course in various guises has become one of the largest in secondary education: more than 31,000 candidates took it at A level in 2008
(9) DEATH ANNOUNCEMENTS
J R Hallam (O’42) on September 2nd 2009
Brian Danby was bor n in Edinburgh on Monday 14 May 1918 in the closing months of the Great War In 1920 the family, moved to Australia It was an idyllic early childhood with many Pockley relations to visit and beautiful beaches surrounding them on all sides Brian attended Miss Harper’s Kindergarten In 1925 the family retur ned to England and lived in Kent Brian, his brother Anthony and Richard Barrow who lived in the same street, decided to dig a large den under Admiral Barrow’s summerhouse where they lit candles and cremated spiders The inevitable happened, the summerhouse collapsed, and Brian was taken to with a hairbrush by his mother In 1927 he went away to prep school at Furzie Close, now Durlston Court, at Barton on Sea They played football winter and summer with no shirts, just shorts, boots and bare tops even in snow In 1928 Brian’s father was appointed Captain of HMS Egmont in Malta The boys travelled back and forth for the holidays between England and Malta by various means of transport, sometimes by train, sometimes by ship, and once in a battleship, HMS Malaya It was a magical time but tragically marred by the death in 1929 of their mother In the summer term of 1932 Brian went to Repton where his Headmaster for one term was Geoffrey Fisher, later Archbishop of Canterbury, soon to be replaced by John Christie His Housemaster at The Cross was Noel Strickland He joined the Officer Training Corps (later the Combined Cadet Force) and took up rifle shooting, being picked for the school rifle shooting team in his first year and subsequently competing against many other schools at Bisley He loved boxing and championed the sport all his life, thinking that its removal from school curricula was a backward step Academically gifted, Brian’s success on the shooting range and in the boxing ring helped put The Cross House on top He was made School Prefect in 1936 and School Head Prefect later in the same year This meant staying on at Repton an extra year but he was proud to wear the coveted speckled straw hat with the school badge on the house ribbon By now he was School Captain of Shooting and Boxing, and Noel Strickland was delighted to have an unprecedented four school prefects in The Cross: D M Brooks (C’30), Dick Bagnall (C’31), Dick Lowcock (C’31) and Brian Danby (C’32) At the end of the summer in 1937 Brian went up to Pembroke College, Cambridge In 1938 he became a member of the crew of Pembroke’s first boat and rowed at Henley Royal Regatta He became Secretary of the College Debating Society (where one of the topics was ‘That men are made of clay and women make mugs of them’), joined the committee of the College May Ball, and changed his degree course from Classics to English He made a conscious decision to take advantage of everything Cambridge had to offer in his first two years and planned to ‘sport his oak’ in the third year and aim for a First In 1939 Brian became President of the College Debating Society and ex officio president of the ‘junior parlour’ The college first boat, in which he rowed at number 5, lost to Radley in the final of the Ladies’ Plate at Henley He was elected to the Hawks’ Club on 26th January 1939 He was Secretary and organiser of the College May Ball, celebrated his 21st birthday at a dinner and dance at the University Arms Hotel in Cambridge, and met his future wife, Betty Davies, on Trafalgar Day Three months after the declaration of war Brian was commissioned in the Royal Artillery and was excused his studies He and his contemporaries were given their degrees, in Brian’s case a second (as in his most recent Tripos exam) since he had not had the chance to complete his third year at Cambridge He left England in November 1940, in the RMS Narkunda, bound for Penang On arrival in Malaya Brian was assigned to the Labour Department, for which he had to lear n Tamil For this he was sent to Nagapatam in India, now Nagapattinam, where he managed the Malayan Gover nment’s Emigration Depot, thus avoiding the Japanese invasion of Singapore in 1942 After its fall he was recalled for military service in India to establish a new training centre in the Central Provinces In 1943 he was appointed Assistant Malayan Representative in India, based in Bangalore His job was to contact dependants of South Indian workers trapped by the war in Malaya By the end of the war he could read and write Tamil fluently
(10) OBITUARIES RICHARD BARKER (H’53) Continued Barker encouraged the Inter national Baccalaureate (IB), making Sevenoaks among the leading schools taking this qualification He ran the IB in parallel with A levels and controversially set up the Barker conversion scale between A levels and the IB He retired from Sevenoaks in 1996 then spent a year as a gover nor in residence at the British School in Columbo before retur ning to the UK and gover ning three schools These included Worth School where he was elected chairman in 1999 and where he inspired a significant building and refurbishment programme He suffered from Alzheimer’s and in 2002 had to retire He continued as chairman of the Friends of the Yehudi Menuhin School and his converted bar n was used for concerts until the school built its own Richard Barker was bor n on July 17th 1939 He died on December 5th 2009 and is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter Extracted from Timesonline 09 12 09 OBITUARIES CLINTON BRIAN DANBY (C’32)
JOHN HEDLEY (H’30)
John was a POW at Padang, Glugor Medan, roadworks in Acheh then on the Sumatra Railway He kept a secret radio which was discovered but he lived to tell the tale Retur ning to planting in Johore 1946 1949 he married former Padang, Sumatra inter nee and QA nurse Naomi Davies then left Malaya to enter the world of industrial relations in Coventry (Standard Motors/British Leyland) He retired to Rose Cottage, Bickenhill, Solihull where his door was always open to visitors who were often invited to taste his extremely potent homemade sloe gin! John died on September 27th 2009 His funeral service was in the village church in Bickenhill and was attended by many friends He was predeceased by Naomi William Warrack, Source: Researching FEPOW History Group Derek Hodgkinson began his war in Coastal Command, flying reconnaissance sorties over German and Norwegian waters Later he took part in Bomber Command’s campaign against Germany in 1942 when his Operational Training Unit (OUT) was “volunteered” to make up the numbers in the third of Bomber Harris' “1000 Bomber” raids After the war he continued in Coastal Command, going on to high rank within the RAF, during which time he was involved with the Multi Role Combat Aircraft consortium which led to the Tor nado strike bomber After Repton he joined the RAF on a short service commission in 1936 In 1937 he was posted to 220 Squadron, a Coastal Command unit flying Ansons, After a period with a Lockheed Hudson conversion unit, he retur ned to No 220 He flew anti
OBITUARIES - AIR CHIEF MARSHALL SIR DEREK HODGKINSON (M’31)
On Christmas Day 1944 a telegram from his father announced that Betty Davies had finally left Britain for India to be reunited with Brian They were married at St Mark’s, Bangalore, on the third day after her arrival In June they retur ned to England on long leave Brian retur ned to Malaya in November 1945 and the Military Administration in Malaya ended in March 1946 when the civilian gover nment resumed After exams, Brian was made District Officer and Magistrate of Bukit Mertajam, a district of 60,000 people He was twenty seven A street named for him is still there today: Jalan Danby In 1948 he was transferred to Penang Island and appointed Collector of Land Revenue, his jurisdiction covering everything on the island outside Georgetown Owing to Betty’s ill health in the tropics, they decided to emigrate to Canada at the end of Brian’s term in Malaya They arrived in Halifax aboard the Javanese Prince in April 1950 and travelled across the country Brian found work with the British Columbia Power Commission, a gover nment utility, as a time keeper for a construction crew in Sointula, a Finnish village at the norther n end of Vancouver Island The family moved to Victoria where his experience in administration, legal and financial matters, and the management of a large staff saw him become Deputy Financial Manager of BC Power Throughout this time he took his chartered accountancy exams and became a member of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries
Brian and Betty retired in 1983 to Devon where she died in 1988 Brian then joined his daughters in Australia, where he died on 25 May 2009, in his 92nd year Like his father before him, he was a great administrator He leaves two daughters and a son: Primrose, Clinton Michael, and Nicola, four grandchildren and five great grandchildren Primrose Danby Bright, Sorrento, Victoria, Australia
The BC Power Commission became BC Hydro & Power Authority in 1962 and Brian remained with them until 1966, now living in Vancouver In that year he joined the Canadian Gover nment’s Department of Manpower and Immigration and, after training, he was posted to London After a stint in New Delhi in charge of the Immigration Office there, he retur ned to London and was then posted to The Hague in charge of the Immigration Office in The Netherlands In 1972 he was made Canadian Consul in Birmingham and in 1974 retur ned to Ottawa as Director of Operations, Manpower and Immigration In 1976 and 1977 he was Director General, Manpower and Immigration, Canadian Foreign Service, based in Ottawa His retirement posting between 1977 and 1983 was as Canadian Consul in Birmingham
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Continued
OBITUARIES
John Hedley was bor n in 1916 at Riding Mill, Northumberland John attended Repton School in 1930, he became Head of House and played football for the First X1 He went to Malaya in 1937 as an Assistant Planter at Gedong Estate, Perak then at Paloh Estate, Johore He enlisted as a Sapper in the Johore Volunteer Engineers in 1937 In December 1941 he was commissioned 2nd Lt (General List) and attached to the 1st Mysores W ith other planters, he escaped from Penggarang, Johore on February 17th 1942
Reaching Sumatra he met two planter friends, acquired an abandoned Red Cross launch and spent several days rescuing survivors from the islands along the Sumatra escape route For this work John was mentioned in Despatches
OBITUARIES CLINTON BRIAN DANBY (C’32)
The third raid on the night of June 25 26 when 1006 bombers, including Hodgkinson’s crew took off to attack Bremen Damage was extensive, but at high cost as 5 per cent of the bombers failed to retur n Hodgkinson’s bomber dropped its load successfully but as he approached the Dutch coast on the flight home, his aircraft was attacked by a German night fighter and caught fire, W ith great skill he managed to ditch in the sea off the Frisian Islands Surfacing after the aircraft had broken up and sunk, he found one of its main wheels was the only part still floating He and his navigator, the only other survivor, clung to it for more than an hour when, almost exhausted, they were joined on the surface by the aircraft’s dinghy, broken free from the submerged bomber They scrambled in and were eventually washed ashore on one of the islands and taken prisoner He spent most of the rest of the war at Stalag Luft lll at Sagan in Silesia, where he played a big role in organising escape efforts On the night of January 27, 1945 with the Red Army approaching, the Germans suddenly decided to march their prisoners out of the camp to prevent them falling into Russian hands Hodgkinson was in a group headed toward Bremen After a 50 mile march in sub zero conditions in one of the coldest winters in norther n Europe for years, they were entrained at Spremberg for a naval PoW camp, Marlag Nord, near Bremen, There they remained until April when with British troops approaching, they were again marched to a camp near Hamburg where Hodgkinson was eventually liberated at the end of the war Granted a permanent commission in 1947, he served for 15 years in Coastal Command, as CO of 210 Squadron (Lancasters) at St Eval, Cor nwall and 240 Squadron (Shackletons) at Ballykelly, Norther n Ireland In between, he had helped to set up the Australian Joint Anti Submarine School, and, from 1958 to 1961, commanded RAF St Mawgan in Cor nwall From 1966 to 1968 as Assistant Chief of Staff Operational Requirements, he played an important role in ensuring that the UK joined the Panavia consortium developing the multi role combat aircraft After this was achieved in 1967 he spent much time shuttling between London, Bonn and Munich persuading the other members of the consortium, Germany and Italy, to accept the RAF Air Staff requirement for a deep strike aircraft rather than the short range battlefield weapon favoured by them
Sir Derek’s son Richard (M’59) also shares some personal memories of his father My father, who was in The Mitre from 1931 to 1936, ended up as Head of House He was the youngest of three brothers (Roger, Alan & Derek), who were all at The Mitre
(12) shipping strikes over the North Sea from Thor naby on the Tees from May 1940 When the squadron moved to norther n Scotland in April 1941 He undertook “battle flights”, he had several narrow escapes when attacked by Mel09s but gained a combat victory, a Heinkel Hell5 float plane, over the Skagerrak He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his performance In 1942 he was “rested” from operations through a posting to an OUT, though this given no respite from the perils of the front line In a determined effort to prove that strategic air power could win the war, the pugnacious head of Bomber Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, had determined on a series of 1000 bomber raids against German cities, and instructor and pupil pilots from the OTUs were mobilised for the demonstration
In the middle of this onerous task he was also required by the Air Force Board to write a report on the RAF officer care structure He recommended, among other things, the abolition of the supplementary list of “second class citizens” in favour of promotion based on ability and potential His proposals were accepted From 1970 to 1973 he was AOC in C Near East Air Force, Commander British Forces Near East and Administrator Sovereign Base Areas, Cyprus It was a tense period and Hodgkinson toured the region to procure support for British policy form the rulers of Jordan and Iran In his final appointment as Air Secretary 1973 1976 Hodgkinson had to cope with large reductions in RAF personnel after the British withdrawal from East of Suez After retiring from the RAF, Hodgkinson helped to run the Regular Forces Employment Association of which he was vice chairman and chairman from 1977 to 1982 and thereafter president, 1982 1986
He had been awarded the Air Force Cross in 1972, was appointed CBE in 1960, CB in 1969 and KCB in 1971 He married Heather Goodwin in 1939 He died on January 29th 2009 aged 92 and is survived by Heather and their son and daughter Extracted from The Times newspaper 23.02.10
OBITUARIES SIR DEREK HODGKINSON (M’31) Continued
OBITUARIES SIR DEREK HODGKINSON (M’31) Continued
Below is an extract from a book about the war that he wrote that only briefly mentions his time at Repton The book itself amounts to more than 70,000 words and has been saved in pdf format, and if there was an interest in making it available online as a link to the OR Society website, then I could provide it “During the term time, I started a model aircraft club, and we launched our aeroplanes an elastic driven version made by "Frog" being the fastest, across the narrow valleys in the Derbyshire hills near the school, S Anselm's, Bakewell When I went to Repton, my interest in aircraft deepened Despite the advances made in the war, aviation was still, of course, very much in its infancy Its potential, was fed by invention and experiment, seemed endless and I viewed the challenge and sheer adventure of flying in very much the same way, I suppose, as today's teenagers look upon space travel Anyway, I became thoroughly hooked and my enthusiasm for a flying career was boosted by two Masters; Bill Blaxland who had been in the same Squadron as Ball in the RFC, and a Maths Master called Newall who passed on his copies of "Flight" and "Aeroplane" when he had finished with them I still have a number of notebooks filled with cuttings of all the current and experimental types of the time Along with my growing enthusiasm for flying, I became increasingly convinced that the Motor Industry, in which my father and two brothers were engaged, was not for me Far more in keeping with my character and inclination would be a career in which I could serve my Country The British Empire, the greatest empire the world had ever seen, was still intact and a great source of pride to most of my generation Nowadays people, brainwashed by the trendy Left, tend to denigrate its achievements, but to me and many like me, its influence for good around the world was manifest and I am still of this opinion today So the height of my aspirations became to play my part in this vast enterprise, and when I thought of how I could best do this and at the same time fulfil my ambition to fly, it was natural that I should think of a career in the Royal Air Force I suppose I came to this conclusion at the age of sixteen or seventeen, and I let my parents and my Housemaster know The former were, I think relieved that I had made up my mind and although my father had no military experience and took little apparent interest in the Empire, he put no obstacles in my way After all, my two elder brothers had entered the family firm; a third would have been a distinct embarrassment The latter was delighted and entered me for the Civil Service exam which was then mandatory for those wishing to join the Services
Richard continues: “One of my father’s favourite stories of his time at Repton was when he and Dick Sale (later to become Housemaster of The Priory, and Headmaster of Brentwood) played a Fives match with Crommelin Brown, Housemaster of Brook House and master in charge of Fives, and another master They won the match fair and square, but Crommelin Brown was so incensed at being beaten, that he hauled both boys up to his study in Brook House and gave them a thorough dressing down for unsportsmanlike behaviour From what I gathered Mr Crommelin Brown was quite a character in the field of sport and was absolutely affronted that anyone could beat him What was it about Brook House and its Housemasters? Scottie Cheshire, the Housemaster at my time (1959 64) was in just the same mould!
This picture shows Sir Derek with Richard (Dick) Maurice Bagnall (the Captain, in The Cross) on the left I am not sure whether it was taken in 1935 or 1936
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Here lay the snag My energies at school had been devoted solely to the playing of games In my own defence I must explain that in those days the "Blood" system was in vogue in our Public Schools and one gained far more acclaim and respect by playing in the Cricket Team than one did by reaching the V1 Form I played in all the teams except football, and I only missed getting my "Teamer" in that due to damaging a cartilage whilst playing Charterhouse So my education had been sadly neglected but, nevertheless, my Housemaster considered I had a reasonable chance, and I duly sat the exam in London during my last term at school the summer term 1936”
Dad loved his time at Repton, which I suppose, as alluded to above, is not surprising given that being good at sport guaranteed one acclaim Whenever he went back he always had to walk the Cricket square, visit the pavilion and caress the ledges in No 1 Fives court In fact, when Pat Hargrave (known to him through his son in law’s regiment, The Sherwood Foresters) became Bursar, his one piece of advice to him was to always take care of the Fives courts! Both Pat and former OR Society President and contemporary at Repton and RAF colleague Sir Charles (Mick) Pringle attended a service of thanksgiving for my father held on 10th February
Jane Kilvington recalls, “ I lived in The Hall between 1937 and 1944” In fact I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that the OR office is part of our nursery (along the upstairs corridor, through the swing doors, up 6 stairs) The rooms were all under neath the bedders and the noise of the Reptonians going to bed and getting up in the mor ning was very familiar”
The Archaeological and Architectural Society made him their Secretary and President, he joined the Rotary Club, and was a Trustee of Kentish’s Education Foundation, Chairman of both the Marriage Guidance Council and the C A B and a frequent visitor to our catchment schools Added to these was the involvement of the school with Heathlands School for the Deaf and the Youth Training Scheme Amid all this activity he still found time to make extensive research into the School’s history leading to the publishing of his book “A Short Histor y of St Albans School” and also resulting in the accumulation of a large variety of documents now in the School Archive On his retirement he had more time to spend on his bird watching, about which he was very keen and knowledgeable, and also to spend time working in the Abbey Archive which he did for ten years After that he assisted researchers at London University by translating into English many Ancient Greek and Medieval Latin texts This he continued doing until he was eighty He and Jane, members of the family and some friends were able to celebrate their Diamond Wedding Anniversary in August this year He left a rich legacy How lucky we were to have such a scholar and such a gentleman as our Headmaster He will last long and affectionately in the memories of those who were with him during his twenty years at St Albans School
The 1960s and early 70s saw much change and many challenges in the world of education, some exter nally imposed and others inter nal developments 1968 saw the opening of the New Hall and the expansion of Drama and Music Later followed the building of the Technical Centre, the conversion of part of School House for use as a Sixth Form Centre and the Old Hall modification to allow a hall to be established at first floor level, this later became the School Library During the same period he created new posts in the School Head of Sixth Form and Middle School and Professional Tutor being amongst these This restructuring led progressively to the changing way in which the School was managed During this time competition from other schools was becoming greater, the curriculum was expanding and the catchment area growing; these changes were taken in his stride He made sure that the School spread more widely into the community and some more Friday after noon activities were introduced into what had once been the preserve of the C C F These included the D E A S and Social Services, both of which in part involved boys going into hospitals and the homes of elderly people to give assistance There were many firsts during this period, not least among them was his vision in supporting the acquisition and expansion of Pen Arthur, the Field Centre, and its inclusion in the formal curriculum allowing First Form boys to visit during the summer terms All of these changes took place in a relatively short period of time and required a lot of attention to be given to them But there was more to come In 1977 the Direct Grant was abolished by the Gover nment of the time and, although this was replaced by the Assisted Places Scheme in 1980 by an incoming Gover nment of a different colour, the School was not confident that it would last and indeed, it was scrapped after a further change of Gover nment in 1997 Even though the date could not have been foreseen in Frank’s time, the decision not to take up many places in the Scheme proved to be a wise one The inexorable route to independence had begun Something else was happening as well The more rigid discipline of the ‘50s and early ‘60s was giving way to a more relaxed approach Changes in styles of dress, haircuts and general behaviour were evident but Frank took these in his stride Because he valued the individual and always looked for the best in everyone he kept his School in good spirits his manner being benign and encouraging, and this ear ned him wide respect from boys and staff alike as the great number of letters received by Jane testify The restructuring of the School and so many changing social and political attitudes all took place during his time, but his energy and general aura of calm never left him, and he saw the School through these changes with confidence and success This did not, however, see his losing sight of the need to keep on promoting the School in the wider Community To this end he became active in a number of local spheres
(14) Frank Kilvington was bor n in West Hartlepool in 1924 and died on the 11th October 2009 and between those two dates a remarkable life was to develop He began his education at Rosebank Preparatory School whence he was awarded a scholarship to Repton where it became apparent that he was a very gifted student, he had passed his School Certificate when aged twelve From there he went to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, to read Greats but, as with many young men at that time, he spent only six months at university before going into the forces in his case into the R N V R as a Sub Lieutenant After his initial training he joined a Lease Lend Destroyer, H M S Kilchrenan, and spent the next two years hunting U boats off the West African coast Towards the end of the war, being a good German and French speaker, he was posted to Hamburg to join the Naval Control Commission for two years Before he left he asked to meet his Repton Headmaster, Michael Clarke, who invited him to lunch together with his daughter, Jane There began his first love and he and Jane began a correspondence during the two years he spent in Germany On his retur n he resumed his studies at Oxford and graduated with an Honours Degree in Greats in 1948 That year saw him appointed to Westminster School as Assistant Master and Housemaster of a Dayboy House He and Jane were married soon after in 1949, whilst she was still a medical student at the Middlesex Hospital During the mid fifties Sally and John were bor n and in 1957 Frank was given a Boarding House, Rigauds, where he stayed as Housemaster until he left Westminster in 1964 to come to St Albans He was particularly interested in St Albans because it was a Direct Grant School; his application was successful and he became Headmaster in 1964 and then began his second love the School, all within it and all it stood for
Mike Hightstead, Second Master, St. Albans School.
OBITUARIES FRANK KILVINGTON (O’38)
OBITUARIES CANON JENO KOHNER (C/L’ 47)
I first met Jeno Kohner at the newly reopened Latham House in 1947, and thus began a friendship that lasted until his death on 26th November 2009 at the age of 78 From the start I was attracted by the warmth of his personality, his generosity and sense of humour He seemed to have a maturity beyond his years, and managed to survive the relatively sport dominated attitude which was prevalent in those days without being in any way a sporting person himself We had many a laugh together during the “Second House” battles in several sports!
Jeno and Joan had three children and four grandchildren His sister lives in Cor nwall On one of his occasional visits to England he and I attended a Gaudy at Repton some years ago, and somehow the years seemed to roll away even thought the faces were now lined and grey haired! An outstanding Churchman, husband, father and family lover, colleague and friend (and my Best Man in 1957), his mission was to gather people, build communities and to do the Lord’s work John Baxter (C’46)
OBITUARIES R A S SMITH (B’43)
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My father, R A S Smith, died aged 80 on the 17th November 2009 He was in Brook House between 1943 and 1947 and throughout his life retained a great affinity with and affection for the school He excelled at sport and was in the cricket and football XIs in both 1946 and 1947, the hockey XI in 1947 and captained the fives team in his final year He represented what was then the Public Schools North at football On leaving he continued to play regularly for the Pilgrims and the OR football club One of his favourite memories was of playing in an Arthur Dunn match (I believe in the 51/52 competition) when we beat our great rivals the Old Malver nians 6 0, sadly not a scoreline that can have been repeated that often! Dad retained a deep interest in both clubs for the rest of his life, attending numerous Pilgrims and ORFC matches, as well as always keeping a close eye on scores in the press It seems fitting that his last attendance at a sporting occasion was the 2009 Cricketer Cup final where he saw many friends It is typical of him that he told me afterwards that he thought we had a very good young side and that he believed and hoped that this group would go on to win the competition soon He was extremely pleased and proud that my brother, W J Smith (B'75) and I followed in his footsteps In more recent times he was delighted and proud of the academic and sporting achievements of his three granddaughters, Victoria (A'00), Charlotte and Rachel (both A'02), some 60 years after he had been at Repton He took much satisfaction in watching them represent the school at hockey, netball and athletics and in them picking up various academic prizes (which had sadly eluded my brother and me) He was thrilled that they all went on to top universities and are set fair for successful careers My father was a loyal and proud Reptonian who derived great pleasure from his and his family's longstanding association with our school N.R.S. Smith (B'69)
Jeno was bor n in 1931 in Budapest, and suffered great deprivation during its wartime siege, eventually leaving in 1946 His father died in a concentration camp During his time at Repton his mother and sister Nanette lived in Paris After Repton his education continued at Kings College London and Wescott House, Cambridge, and he later ear ned a MA Degree from Concordia University in Montreal He was an absolute natural to go into the Church and was ordained in the Diocese of Liverpool as Priest In 1947 Jeno married Joan and they moved to Montreal where he was appointed Assistant at the Church of St John the Evangelist He went on to be the first incumbent in the Parish of St Michael’s and All Angels in Pierrefonds and at St George's Chateauguay, and the Church of the Resurrection in the Valois district of Pointe Claire He also served as Rural Dean, and as Director of Parish and Diocesan Services between 1975 and 1982 On his retirement in 1997, he became Honorary Assistant at St Paul's, Lachine as well as serving as interim Priest in Charge at St Stephen's, Lachine and as St Andrew’s and St Mark’s, Dorvall He was made a diocesan Canon of Christ Church Cathedral in 1976 and an Honorary Canon in 1982
Prior to his career at LLNL, Ian worked from 20 years at Owens Illinois Inc, in Toledo, Ohio Ian was an inventor of the Sol Gel anti reflecting coating, which was first successfully applied to the Nova laser and is now used on every high powered fusion laser in the world today Ian shared many hobbies, his favourite being home consumption wine making During the annual harvest in his back yard, “Chateau Melville” came alive each year with family, friends and neighbours helping to pick and crush grapes, all the while enjoying being around Ian to lear n the chemistry and art of wine making from a man who made it all seem so easy and fun His wines won several awards His hobbies seem to link him to the outdoors, whether it was experimental boat and model aircraft design, or gardening; his hydroponics garden grows an assortment of near perfect tomatoes Ian is survived by Deborah, his wife of 48 years, three daughters, Mary, Margaret and Elizabeth, and seven grandchildren with one more on the way A “Final Farewell” was held on Thursday March 4th at Callaghan Mortuary Chapel, Livermore THOMAS (H’47) (16)
After several years playing semi professionally he was proud to captain the Old Reptonian League and Arthur Dunn sides in the 1970s and was a successful captain of the Arthurian League representative side I can vividly remember Chris picking me up from Brook House, roaring up Repton High Street in his TR4a with the roof down, to watch a Dunn game against Malver n on San Hall Chris impressed some of my friends with his midfield play and others with the breadth and creativity of his language aimed at referees and opponents in equal measure This year Chris was coming to the end of his second year as President of the OR Football Club but was unfortunately not well enough to attend the win over Haileybury in November Chris was also a proud Repton Pilgrim and had huge affection for the school It was fortunate that the highly successful Cricketer Cup campaign this summer enabled Chris to see several old friends on the road to the final at Richmond I took this picture of Chris with his dear friend John Hutton, who was President of the Pilgrims this year, on a beautiful day at Repton when we beat Malver n John and Chris had opened the bowling together at Repton 45 summers earlier Some people have a talent for making money, Chris had a talent for making friends and most importantly for making them laugh
His youngest brother Nick Walford (B’69) writes; Chris Walford was my eldest brother and like me went to Repton, “a proper school, that played football ” as he reminded my three other older brothers who went to Sedbergh He, like all of us, was bor n in Norton, not far from the old Ayresome Park Middlesbrough and died peacefully in his bed at home in Battersea on January 8th 2010, cancer having taken him from his family and friends far too soon at the age of only 63 Coming from “the hotbed of soccer”, the north east of England, a love of football was inevitable
As a lad during WWII in England, Ian attended Repton School, This was followed by a BS in 1956 and PhD in 1959, both in chemistry from the University of London Ian went to the United States in 1960, but will always be remembered as a true English gentleman
OBITUARIES IAN MELVILLE
OBITUARIES CHRIS WALFORD (B’59)
Chris was the most consistently funny and entertaining person I have ever known He had a seemingly endless and continually changing fund of stories He had a great sense of the absurd and acute powers of observation and ORs who knew Chris will recall the original and inventive way in which he expressed himself and his knack of bringing to life what he was describing and making the seemingly banal incident sound hilarious There will be many Reptonians I suspect with happy memories of playing sport and enjoying post match hospitality with Chris and feeling the worse for it the day after!
I have vivid memories of the days when “ we few, we happy few, we band of brothers” would congregate for a jour ney, invariably with a Middlesbrough match at the end of it, but with so much fun and laughter en route, where our sense of fellowship and unity was very strong and very special It was Chris who inspired and galvanised this unity
Chris battled against cancer for over eighteen months but accepted his fate with humbling dignity and good humour His dear wife Sally, assisted by Skysports, ensured that his last few months were as comfortable as possible He will be greatly missed by Sally, his two stepdaughters, his 91 year old mother, his four brothers, his sister, many nephews and nieces and all his many friends Nick Walford (B’69) Dr Ian Thomas, a retired Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) chemist (1983 2000) and consultant died at home on Monday, March 1, 2010, surrounded by loved ones, after a valiant struggle with cancer
Keith Workman, 3rd from the left
(17) J F M Walker (H’46) writes: Keith Workman joined the staff in September 1955 He came with a strong academic reputation as a W inchester scholar and with a double first in Classics at Oxford W ithin a year he had become Head of the Classics Department which he ran with great distinction and success As David W ilkinson pointed out in his tribute on Keith’s retirement, he wore his scholarship lightly He passed on his love of literature with enthusiasm and understanding to many generations of specialist classicists, but was equally at home teaching the basics to the lower sets, where his sense of humour and easy relationship with boys of all ages gave him and them much enjoyment and profit Keith was always willing to take on new responsibilities and accept new challenges He became an efficient and innovative Librarian and was appointed to be a sort of adjutant, taking over much of the school administration, including the production of the timetable, a really taxing job When sixth formers were given more freedom of choice in their A levels, making his task even harder, he announced as his motto: “It can be done”, and it invariably was He was for many years master i/c Gym and of Athletics, a big commitment in the summer with Standards, Sports and matches, and he spent hours at the track, stopwatch in hand, coaching, judging and supporting He produced and stage managed plays, and for many years coached the 2nd XI soccer In 1976 he took over as Commanding Officer of the CCF, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and remaining active in the Corps to the end of his Repton career He succeeded Denis Wheadon as Housemaster of the Cross in September 1971, and as Jonathan Eifion Jones (C’70) remembers, as an active leader of the Commandos on Friday after noons, he was something of a change “Although not tall in stature”, writes Jonathan, “(and certainly during my time surrounded by some pretty tall boys) Keith, or Basil as he was better known in the House, was competitive in nature and liked to win in all arenas, sport, music or academic, but somehow managed to convey it in a determined but non pushy way ”
Jonathan also has more informal memories of watching Match of the Day in Keith’s sitting room and being generously entertained when visiting as an OR He enjoyed being a Housemaster and went to immense trouble to get to know all about his boys whom he assiduously supported in their various activities He undoubtedly ran a successful and happy house All such things go in cycles, but for a long time The Cross was the house to beat in most things Keith was a good colleague and an amusing and supportive friend My particular fond memories are of golfing holidays with him and Pat Norwood in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and all over England, playing most of the great courses competitive, but fun Keith became a very good self taught golfer, just getting down to single figures, but sadly, eye trouble caused him to give up the game far too early, He retired to Newton Solney, still in close contact with the school, and until his health began to fail, he enjoyed watching school games and attending functions More recently he led a quiet life, with bridge, reading and The T imes crossword at which he was so adept, being his main relaxations Everything Keith took on at Repton he ran with extraordinary efficiency, and he clearly had a gift for organisation which would have stood him in good stead as a Headmaster He was essentially a private man and spoke little of himself, but I think that he so enjoyed the sort of contact with boys that he got in the House, in the classroom and out of school that he probably decided that that was what really satisfied him The fact that he devoted his whole career to Repton was certainly to the very great advantage of the school, of his friends and of the many Reptonians who benefited from the influence of such a wise, sympathetic and talented schoolmaster
OBITUARIES KEITH WORKMAN (STAFF 1955 91)
OBITUARIES ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS:
BRANCHES OF THE SOCIETY: HOCKEY A portrait of the Biddles
Birthe Biddle passed away in January Birthe and her husband Martin ran the archaeological excavations between 1974 and 1988 and in doing so had a fourteen year association with the village and school As an OR who spent four summers working with the Biddles, Simon Foster (N’78) writes: ORs who attended the school between the mid 1970s and mid 1980’s may remember retur ning from the summer holidays to see sheets of corrugated steel surrounding the base of the chancel of Repton Church Whilst at first glance, this covering suggested postponed drainage work, it was in fact protecting one of the most important archaeological excavations taking place in the UK at that time These excavations were undertaken jointly by Professor Martin Biddle and his wife Birthe Kjolbye Biddle Sadly, Birthe passed away in January I worked with Martin and Birthe as a young archaeology graduate across four summers between 1984 and 1987 There was lots of excavation activity around the school with trenches opened up around the church, in the Headmaster’s Kitchen Garden, the Vicarage Garden and the Cloister Garth Birthe’s work was concentrated on the most sensitive area of the site, the area immediately around the crypt at the base of the chancel The crypt had been the burial place of Mercian kings and a destination for pilgrims seeking to visit the remains of St Wystan who was buried there in 849 By the time it was excavated the area around the crypt had become a highly complex set of intercutting graves dating back more than 1,200 years Birthe was in possession of all qualities required to direct an excavation of such complexity and sensitivity These qualities included an approach to archaeological excavation, interpretation and recording that was as rigorous as it was inspiring, but also the ability to keep young archaeologists motivated when the going was tough, or when the rain was beating down incessantly on the tarpaulins draped above Most Reptonians are probably unaware that a find of major historical significance was made at the base of the chancel A Viking warrior complete with sword and other accoutrements was found buried by the church on an east west axis This combination meant the grave represented the human crossroads between Christian and Viking religious practice in 873 AD Birthe was both an archaeologist and an entertaining raconteur At the end of the day when the work was over, Birthe would make for the Red Lion for liquid refreshment and regale volunteers, and anyone else in listening range, with her views of the day’s activities or hilarious anecdotes from her past excavation experiences Although Birthe’s life has come to an end, her life’s work is certain to live on for many years Reptonians with an interest in the history and archaeology of the village of Repton can be assured that their subject matter was excavated and recorded by one of the outstanding archaeologists of her generation SImon Foster (N’78) BIRTHE BIDDLE (18) On March 14th an assorted bunch of OR’s assembled on the water based astro for the annual fixture with the school Two strong OR sides had good wins against the school side, 5 2 and 6 1, and also played each other in a close game which saw 9 goals There was the usual mix of experience from Joey Ascott (C’85), Nick Jerman (H’88) and Julian Tur ner (C’91), and the youthful vigour of Rory Farquharson (N’02) and Josh Webster (N’04) There was plenty of skill on show: with the likes of Tim Gilbert (O’02), Chris Beastall (L’95), James Bishton (L’03) it couldn’t have been other wise Goals were plentiful: Luke Carlile (L’04) was as usual in the right place at the right time, and Joe Fell (O’03), Will Charlesworth (O’01) and Fraser Wilkinson (O’03) were among the scorers All in all it was a good after noon of friendly hockey Mike Keep
The ORFC is undergoing a period of renewal and reinvigoration, showing a promising amount of youth and talent While a dearth of graduate recruitment continues to affect our own recruitment of young players for our London Arthurian League team, an extremely successful if, at times, brutal (pictured!) OR Day in September provided a plethora of options for players in the Repton Area Consequently, the performance of the Arthur Dunn Cup side is a genuine cause for excitement A comfortable 5 0 victory over Old Haberdashers in November was followed by an extremely narrow 4 5 loss to Eton Defensive naivety was the solitary flaw in an excellent, dynamic performance, by a team which balanced the youth and energy of Tim Lambert (P’01), Alex Evans (N’03) and Jack Golding (P’04), marshalled by the experience and energy of the evergreen Mark Stretton (H’75), Dave Hart (N’90) and Hamer Boot (B/S’95) Such balance only bodes well for the future, and over the next few seasons the ORFC has a real chance to make an impression in this grand old competition Credit and thanks must also go to the school and ground staff, who enabled the game to be played despite serious snow, ice, rain and thaw
please contact
Footballing travails pale into insignificance when compared to genuine grief, and the sad loss of the ORFC President, Chris Walford (B’59), brought our season into real perspective We hope the team’s committed performance against Eton in the Dunn Cup shortly after his death in January this year was a fitting, if not fairytale, tribute to Chris, but our loss is nothing compared to that of his family our thoughts are with them 2009-10 Arthurian League Won 4 Goals for 23 Drawn 0 Goals against 32 Lost 7 Arthur Dunn Cup 1st Round ORFC 5 0 Old Haberdashers 2nd Round ORFC 4 5 Old Etonians Back in the Arthurian League, a promising start, including victories over Radley and Malver n, was disrupted by a flurry of unfortunate injuries, including two broken ankles in as many weeks, and hopes of promotion ebbed away However, with some set to retur n before the end of the season, the ORFC are hopeful of a successful run in and a push further up the table
If you would
BRANCHES OF THE SOCIETY: GOLF
yourself
1st
The Old Reptonians are always looking for promising, dedicated footballers to add to our pool We play in the prestigious Arthurian League in the London area, and the Arthur Dunn Cup nationwide like to make available, either of the following: XI Dale Bilson (L’03), 07763837896, dalebilson@hotmail co uk Nick Walford (B’69), 07590828719, walfordn@yahoo co uk
(19) BRANCHES OF THE SOCIETY: OR FOOTBALL CLUB, 2009 10
ORGS vs OMGS Saturday, 13th March 2010
Vets
The 2010 OR golf season teed off against Marlborough at R ye with a convincing win for Repton We were greeted by some gentle sun and a slight breeze on one of the first warm days of this year, at least until the late after noon A closely fought mor ning saw Repton one up at lunch with outstanding golf being played by Adam Dewhirst (N’90) and James Fletcher (L’92) in their respective matches Adam’s shot to 10 foot from over 200 yards at the 18th to put Repton ahead was one of the shots of the day Repton clearly lunched better than Marlborough and in the after noon our youth policy paid dividends with Repton romping home 6 points to 2 on the day Tony Bishop (P’72) on his retur n from long term injury teamed up with John Fletcher (L’66) for a 7 and 6 victory to their great surprise and delight R ye is one of the great courses to play in the Spring and a wonderful day was enjoyed by all Team: John Fletcher (L’66), Tony Bishop (P’72), James Fletcher (L’92), Ian Hall (N’90), Adam Dewhirst (N’90), Gordon West (B’62), Richard Horton and John Beslee
OR
Charles Pepper (B’90) Tony Bishop ( JP’72) essica Kennedy (A’85) Ian Payne (L’55) Derek Frost, James Wiltshire (B’50), Pat Norwood (Former staff) Joy Wilkinson Edward Wilkinson (C’46), Marilyn Fr y, Michael Kier (B’60)
This year’s social gathering was held at a new venue for us, The Royal Thames Yacht Club in Knightsbridge, London We welcomed over 100 Old Reptonians, young and old, that evening and the event was a great success Our host for the evening was Peter Haslehurst, the current Chairman of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, and we thank him for making it possible for us to attend such a splendid venue where we were very well looked after Staff currently at Repton who attended were Sarah Tennant, Kim McCallum Melissa Blain, Jeremy Bour non, Anthony Giles and Mike Stones Former staff were represented by Pat Norwood, Mark Ridgway and Martin Amherst Lock Jan Cobb and Cathy Twigg helped to organise the proceedings but unfortunately the Headmaster, Rob Holroyd, could not attend owing to a serious injury Chairman of the Gover nors, Jonathan Fry, gave the Headmaster’s apologies for his absence and spoke about the School’s plans for the future, a topic always of interest to ORs John Kirkland welcomed everyone as this year’s President of the OR Society and canvassed opinion about the future of the autumn annual dinner All in all it was a most enjoyable evening If you missed it this year, look out for next year’s event and don’t miss out again! (20)
Hong Kong ORs met for after work drinks on at 6 30pm on Friday 15th January 2010 Despite the tur nout being slightly lower compared to the previous gathering, all present welcomed overseas visitors, School Gover nor Robert Owen (P’53) and Mark Chow (S’99) stopping by from the UK and USA respectively Perhaps it’s a sign of the recovering economy that many ORs were probably still working in their offices We are looking forward to hosting the Headmaster in the near future David Poon (H’85)
OR EVENTS HONG KONG DRINKS EVENTS DRINKS IN THE CITY
Sarah Rainsford (G’96) Georgie White ( SA’95) ir Charles Pringle (P’33) Lady Margaret Pringle
The long weekend started with a mammoth coach jour ney, leaving early from the Arch on a bright and crisp Friday mor ning in October Those who had arrived at the School with plenty of time to spare were greeted by the sight of the Radio Derby car with its unfeasibly large aerial, and under its shadow a number of Reptonians past and present being interviewed by Andy Potter for a live link up with the station’s breakfast show After nine hours of travelling, the coach reached the Hotel De Hollemeersch just after seven in the evening Located about nine kilometres from Ypres, this small family owned hotel was the ideal base for the group, and the staff made everyone feel very much at home The hotel sits on the slopes of Mont Kemmel, where in 1933 a party of Reptonians marvelled at the panoramic view of the Ypres Salient and collected fragments of exploded shells from the heavily scarred hillside Looking out of our hotel window more than seventy years later it was very difficult to picture such a scene of devastation These feelings soon became apparent after our communal evening meal when the Chapel Choir rehearsed their piece for the following day in the hotel dining room Their appropriately sombre rendition of Elgar’s ‘They are at rest’ elicited a respectful silence and then prolonged and warm applause from the other guests and hotel staff gathered around the bar to listen It was a mark of the maturity of the visiting Reptonians that at all times during our stay they instinctively knew how to behave and what was appropriate, and they effortlessly took in their stride all of the emotional highs and lows that the trip presented Early the following mor ning, greeted by drizzle and a cold wind, we left the hotel and made the short jour ney to the Tyne Cot cemetery near Zonnebeke W ith nearly 12,000 graves this is the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world, and it also contains a memorial to the missing containing a further 35,000 names Five ORs are listed on the walls of this memorial Repton School Chapel Choir and Concert Band were there to take part in the unveiling of a memorial to soldiers from the Sherwood Foresters who died in World War I The School has had a long relationship with the Sherwood Foresters, and at the dedication of Repton’s own war memorial nearly ninety years ago four buglers from the regiment sounded the Last Post and Reveille Arriving at Tyne Cot an hour before the ceremony gave the Chapel Choir their first and only opportunity to rehearse on site A small and slightly rickety stage had been set up in a field next to the outer wall of the cemetery, and in the misty rain the pupils ran through the programme with the all the intensity and professionalism that they had displayed in the hotel on the night before Those not singing at the rehearsal took the opportunity to go inside Tyne Cot, a site so vast that no photographs or descriptions could ever do justice to the emotions it elicits The endless lines of graves, the altar of sacrifice, and the cross placed on top of the original blockhouse that was at the centre of the battle in 1917 these would be heartbreaking on any day, but on a cold wet day in October, with the strains of the choir rehearsal drifting over on the wind, they were almost unbearably so The ceremony was attended by over 500 people, led by dignitaries including Geert Bourgeois, deputy prime minister of Flanders, the Lord Lieutenants of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, the respective High Sheriffs and council leaders from across the two
OR EVENTS YPRES
By all accounts the trip to visit the Belgian battlefields was a memorable one for all of the wrong reasons although it was duly respectful for the most part, there were incidents throughout the three days that left a lot to be desired On the Channel crossing the pupils noisily kept other passengers awake with their raucous antics, and an agitated Frenchman was forced to remonstrate with them on behalf of his elderly grandmother Once in Belgium the boys then availed themselves of enormous 15 inch cigars which they smoked surreptitiously throughout their stay, and amused themselves by walking through the centre of Ypres wearing comical foreign berets and complaining loudly about the drains Fortunately for those of you prone to palpitations or mild apoplexy this account of a Repton trip to Belgium relates to one that took place 77 years ago, and though many of the places visited are the same, the 2009 visit was of a different character entirely and one that brought great credit to the School and to the pupils who were its representatives
The 2009 Chapel Choir and Concert Band visit to Belgium had taken many months to plan, and its purpose was threefold, namely to sing at the dedication of the Sherwood Foresters’ memorial, to unveil the Repton plaque at St George’s Church in Ypres, and to visit the battlefield sites which related to the history of the School That so much more than this was accomplished during our three days in Belgium was testament to the hard work and organisational skills of the prime movers behind the visit chiefly Major John Cotterill of the Mercian Regiment and Mr Bowley, the School’s Director of Music
High Sheriffs of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, Sir Henr y Ever y, Bt, DL and Michael Rowen DL At the sapling of the Major Oak tree bearing the Sherwood Foresters colours James Ross (H’68), Headmaster Rob Holroyd, The High Sheriff of Derbyshire Sir Henr y Evert Bt DL (21)
Following the ceremony the pupils explored Tyne Cot Cemetery before moving on to the official reception at the Zonnebeke School The hall was packed to capacity, and the pupils had an opportunity to meet some of the other guests To the evident appreciation of the audience, members of the Concert Band also joined the Mercian Regiment for a couple of numbers on stage
On Sunday we headed back to Ypres for a fascinating tour led by Major Cotterill To a large group of pupils, ORs and Gover nors he explained the significance of the Menin Gate, giving a brief history of its design and construction, and pointing to the names of four of the fourteen ORs whose names were inscribed upon it Throughout his tour Major Cotterill often produced photographs of these old boys, many of them taken when they were at school, and this really helped in bringing their stories to life From the Menin Gate the convoy of cars and the coach made their way to the memorial to Henry Birrell Anthony (Latham 1902) This large oblong stone by the side of the road near W ieltje, was placed by Birrell Anthony’s father on the spot where his son was killed Originally he had intended it solely as a memorial to his son, but decided instead to have it inscribed thus: “In memory of Lieut H A Birrell Anthony and the officers of the 1st Battalion the Monmouthshire Regiment who fell at this spot in the Second Battle of Ypres on the 8th May 1915 and the NCOs and Riflemen who fell at the same time ”
counties, as well as many high ranking military personnel After several emotionally charged speeches, there was a performance by the School Concert Band and the Band of the Mercian Regiment of ‘In Sherwood’ by Frederic Curzon Repton Chapel Choir then silently ascended the steps of the makeshift platform and despite the wind and icy rain delivered a poignant and deeply moving performance of ‘They are at rest ’ It was noted by many of those listening that mor ning that the continuous gusts of wind buffeting the microphones eerily resembled the distant sounds of gunfire and shelling
OR EVENTS YPRES Continued
While the main body of the reception party moved on to the Passchendaele Memorial Museum, the Repton pupils and staff executed a quick change of clothes before moving on to their next stop, the Flanders Field Museum Located in the rebuilt Cloth Hall of Ypres, this presents the story of the Great War in and around Ypres from the standpoint of people who experienced the war themselves The pupils found this a fascinating collection and particularly appreciated the interactive nature of the personalised cards that they were handed on their arrival Each visitor to the museum is given a ticket bearing the name of someone who experienced the war, and by placing this into various computerised information points they could read what happened to that person; it was a uniquely interesting way of lear ning about the war’s impact Mr Bowley had arranged to have an official tour guide join the Reptonians on the coach to give them background information on the fighting in Ypres and to accompany them to Essex Farm and the Yorkshire Trench The bunkers at Essex Farm were the location of an Advanced Dressing Station and sit next to the cemetery where many of its former patients lie at rest The pupils were particularly interested in the grave of Private Joe Strudwick of the Rifle Brigade, who died aged just 15 one of the youngest soldiers to die in the Great War, and of a similar age to those who now stood around his tombstone Essex Farm Cemetery itself is probably one of the most visited sites in the salient, and this is principally because of its association with John McCrae In May 1915, whilst stationed at Essex Farm tending to the wounded, he was moved to write the famous poem "In Flanders Fields" This was composed after one of his friends was killed and buried Seeing the poppies blow around the graves led to the best known image of this poem, and it has since come to encapsulate the sacrifice of those who fought Although we had driven through the Menin Gate in Ypres earlier in the day, it was only when we were standing under it later that evening for the daily act of commemoration that we fully appreciated the full scale of this monumental arch Cut into vast panels are the names of 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers who died on the Salient and have no known graves, and except for a brief period during the Second World War a daily ceremony has been held there since 1928 Despite the time of the year and the poor weather throughout the day the Menin Gate was very crowded, and although Reptonians didn’t get the best of views they nevertheless found it a moving experience, and it gave them an opportunity to reflect in silence
The next stop on the tour was the Canadian Memorial at Vancouver Cor ner where the party heard details of the first German gas attack on 22nd April 1915 Major Cotterill held up a photograph of Albert Schloesser (O’1905) who had died near that spot three days after the attack and whose name Reptonians had seen on the Menin Gate earlier in the after noon The final stop of the tour was the beautiful Rampart’s Cemetery, one of the most evocative and moving of the cemeteries to be found within Ypres As the name suggests, this small Cemetery, with fewer than 200 graves, nestles by the ramparts of Ypres, and the graves are positioned on a slope facing down towards the moat Three ORs are buried there: Roy Fer nie (C’1904), Charles Egerton (H’1899) and Walter Cave (M’1909)
Sarah Kirkwood (G’93) carved the plaque (22)
The brass plaque which was then unveiled had on its left hand side the School crest, and on the right the following dedication: “In proud memory of the 355 former pupils of Repton School, Derbyshire, who gave their lives for their country in the Great War 1914 1918”
Three wreaths were then laid under the plaque; the first by the High Sheriff of Derbyshire, Sir Henry Every Bt , who had also been present at the Sherwood Foresters ceremony at Tyne Cot on the previous day He was followed by the Headmaster and Mr James Ross, the Chairman of the OR Society As the Service drew to a close, those present were left to dwell on what had been an extremely busy and at times very emotional weekend It was all accomplished smoothly and successfully thanks to the unwavering professionalism of the pupils and the expert guidance of the accompanying staff Josh Webster (N’04), Paula Webster, Mark Webster (N’60)
Repton Plaque unveiled in St George's Church in Ypres in memor y of the 355 ORs who died in WW1
These stories of heroism came not just from those who had died in the conflict, but also from those who had fought and survived Lt Col Hetherington spoke of Lieutenant John Smyth (P’1908), a regular officer serving on the Wester n Front with his regiment, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for carrying bombs to the forward trenches only yards from the enemy, when all but 2 of his men were killed or severely wounded in the process To achieve his task he swam across a flooded stream, all the time under intense fire He survived the War, winning a further MC and two Mentions in Despatches Lt Col Hetherington reminded all of those present that the Repton community, past and present, could be justifiably proud of the valour displayed by those who passed through the Arch to go to the Great War Both the Sermon and the Lesson that had preceded it were built around the words of the Gospel of John: “Greater Love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”
After a brief but warm welcome from Fr Jones, the choir sang a beautiful rendition of Orlando Gibbons’ ‘Drop, drop, slow tears ’ Fr Adam Watkinson, Chaplain of Repton School, led the opening prayer, and hymns were sung by the congregation Of particular interest during the Service was the choice of readings, all extracts taken from letters and diaries written by ORs serving at the Front during the Great War The sermon was given by Lt Col John Hetherington, a former Governor of Repton School, and explored the many experiences of Reptonians in the conflict He explained that though not all of them were commissioned as officers the majority were, and that not all of them were young though the majority were still in their teens and little older than the pupils at the Service of Remembrance: “Eight were only 18 when they died including one of the youngest, 2nd Lieutenant (Flying Officer) Paul Rodocanachi (C’1912) serving in the Royal Flying Corps, who was killed while piloting an R8 reconnaissance aircraft over the front line as an 18 year old The oldest to die, Major Walter Malden (B’1873), serving in the Medical Services, who had been the first Clinical Pathologist at Addenbrooke's Hospital before the war, was 60 and sadly died 14 days before the war ended There are many stories of heroism among those who died ”
OR EVENTS YPRES Continued
Brigadier Edward Wilkinson (C’46) speaking at the opening of the Foresters Exhibition (23)
It was to commemorate the sacrifice of Reptonians such as these that a large number of pupils, staff and gover nors gathered later that evening in St George’s Memorial Church in Ypres for the Service of Remembrance The opening of this church in 1929 provided a much needed haven of prayer and remembrance for grieving relatives, fellow soldiers, and those visiting the battlefields The walls of the church are covered in numerous wooden and brass memorial plaques, each commemorating an individual, a unit, a regiment or an organisation On a visit to the Church by Mr Jonathan Fry and Mrs Marilyn Fry in 2008 it was noted that in view of the many dedications to boys from other Public Schools it would be appropriate and fitting to have one for Repton, and Brigadier Edward W ilkinson with his usual tenacity and drive was instrumental in bringing this project to a successful conclusion The Service of Remembrance was the culmination of the pupils’ visit to Belgium, and the first opportunity for those in attendance to view the new brass plaque dedicated to the 355 ORs who lost their lives during the Great War
On Friday, March 19th a group of about 50 Old Reptonians gathered at Lords to hold the biennial Pilgrims Dinner John Hutton, the current President, was the host for proceedings which took place in the committee Dining Room, upstairs in the famous Lords Pavilion A sumptuous meal including Mackerel Chowder and Boeuf Bourguignon was followed by speeches from the President and the guest speaker, Michael Henderson (N’72) The latter reminisced about his schooldays and waxed lyrically about the setting of this, the “ home of cricket” He was rather less complimentary and characteristically forthright in his opinions when referring to some of our traditional opponents! Pilgrims of all ages were present, Donald Carr (L’40) and Tony Wesson (H’43) were flying the flag for the seniors while on the other hand there were recent school leavers in both Alex (P’07) and Chris Paget (P’01), “Woody” Bridgeman (N’01) and Jack Lamb (O’01), the latter 3 having played in the successful 2009 Cricketer Cup campaign which saw the Pilgrims reach the final for the first time in a number of years
The close links between the Regiment and Repton are continued by the fact that the plaque was carved by Sarah Kirkwood (G’93) Carved in Derbyshire stone, this depicts the oak tree which represented Sherwood Forest, the various weapons and tools used by the Regiment and it’s enemies, and a rat, which is an indication of the conditions in which both sides lived The trench newspaper “W ipers Times” is also represented Paul Stevens, School Archivist and Librarian
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Martin Cashmore (H’66), James Ross (H’68), John Crane (B’67), Guyon Ralps (H’71) Nick Smith (B’69), James Foulds (O’68), Mark Boulton (O’68) Elliot Bishton (L’99), Guy Turner (P’56), Tom Boulton (P’99)
Certain rule changes were made to the club’s constitution at the meeting prior to the dinner with the aim of encouraging more ORs to become members of the Pilgrims The Pilgrims cricket week is all set to continue at Repton during the first week in July and there was c o n s i d e r a b l e optimism regarding chances in this year’s Cricketer Cup which gets under way on June 13th against the Old Wykehamists, away All support will be most welcome Mike Stones
OR EVENTS YPRES Continued
For those who were privileged to travel to Ypres with the School, the experience was a poignant and salutary reminder of the sacrifices of their forebears, and a powerful exhortation to continue to remember; and it is to be hoped that the simple brass plaque unveiled on the wall of the English Church in Ypres will serve as a focus for remembrance not only for the current generation of Reptonians but for the many thousands who will pass through the Arch in future years
OR EVENTS REPTON PILGRIMS DINNER 2010
It was appropriate that the Repton visit to Belgium occurred in 2009, the year which marked the passing of Harry Patch and Henry Allingham, the last participants of the generation who fought in the Great War There were two further events that kept the events of ninety years ago uppermost in the minds of Reptonians during the Michaelmas term Both before and after the trip to Belgium, pupils, staff, and members of the public were able to visit an extensive exhibition in the T ithe Bar n dedicated to telling the story of all the former pupils who gave their lives in the conflict; and in November, Reptonians stood around the War Memorial in the Garth in silence, as they have every year since 1922
“Can’t remember relishing any cricket fiction so much” Matthew Norman of the Evening Standard
Ion Campbell is, throughout the book, referred to as Ian The book’s punctuation is far from perfect and there is a degree of repetition at time, but these are trite points as the enthusiasm and efficiency of the author shines throughout And his results just show what is still possible, as disclosed in the Foreword, without his direct use of a computer Review by David Kelly, The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Repton First Xl Cricket Team of 1908 is written by Steven Larmour, Pantiles Bookshop Ltd
(25) OR’S IN PRINT ‘THE NETWORK’ by Richard Heller (C’61)
“My name’s Steve I’m sixteen and my life’s going nowhere I’ve just left a lousy school I’ve no social life No girlfriend My parents are at war and I’m just a small hill in the battlefield which they occupy to shoot at each other Cricket’s the only thing that keeps me going I am a fast bowler and I’m going to get faster I walk miles to go to the practice nets in the park, and bowl and bowl, at anybody there If there’s nobody there I bowl anyway, in an empty net How sad is that? Then one day I start playing with another lonely boy called Cal And Cal leads me to Alice, and Zoe and Robert, and Joe and Belinda and Howard and T im And everything changes Step inside my new life and welcome to the Network ”
The Network is the long awaited sequel to Richard Heller’s cricket novel A Tale Of Ten W ickets A sprawling, sentimental, Dickensian novel of moder n times, it is being published (in Dickensian style) in fortnightly episodes by www epublishingonline co uk
This book sets out to trace what happened to all the 1908 team, with good success achieved, even among those who did not play at the highest level Family connections of them all are also explored, though is Ian Parry Campbell (Kent 1946 as well as Oxford University and MCC) definitely the son of Ion P F Campbell (Repton, Oxford University, Surrey and Europeans in India)? The long standing connection between Repton and the Cricket Society is furthered by Derek Bar nard, now the Society Chairman, contributing the Foreword There follows a review of all Repton’s matches in that season Those members of the Xl who played first class cricket are described in detail with their statistics appended All of the Xl, plus Calthorpe and one other, then have their Repton career records included; there is a survey of Repton cricketers 1905 10; notes on how the Xl of 1908 fared at their universities; and a useful bibliography
Published by Bearmondsey Publishing on 29 October 2007 ‘REFLECTIONS ON THE MARNE’ by David Johnson (H’41) The 95th anniversary of the first Battle of the Mar ne when the French Army, assisted by the BEF, saved Paris from an invading German Army under General von Kluck “The Miracle of the Mar ne” although one of the most important campaigns of the war, ended German hopes of a fast victory, but as both sides dug in, ultimately led to four years of stalemate and trench warfare David is one of the leading authorities on the battle and looks at some aspects of the campaign www armourer co uk Also by David Johnson, Bonaparte’s Sabres David’s second novel of the Napoleonic Wars, the story of Jacques Destrees serving with Napoleon (& Murat) in the 1796 campaign & Egypt Napoleon's Cavalr y and its leaders and The French Cavalr y 1792 1815 ‘The Repton First Xl Cricket Team of 1908’ by Steven Lamour Researching his topic over 18 months and inspired by The Golden Age of Cricket 1890 1914 by David Frith, Steven Larmour has produced some fascinating data on the Xl which is claimed to have been the strongest ever school team Certainly the strongest in terms of talents recognised by the first class game with seven of the main Xl eventually playing at that level and one other invited to do so (though this was declined) Another appeared for Ceylon in non first class representative cricket (and, though this is not recorded in the book, another played for the South of Nigeria against the North in 1929) Harry Altham (O’1902) and Bill Greswell (B’1903) are the two best known names, the former of course an early historian of the game The strength of the Xl was such that a younger Reptonian who played just a couple of games for the school that season also went on to the First class, and indeed Test scene, this being Freddie Calthorpe (C’1907)
Also by Richard Heller, Membear of Parliament, Harr y Bear, MP for Dudbury (which used to be Britain's dullest town) is about Harry Bear’s election campaign and his work in Parliament "I have played cricket with Richard Heller This book is as playful as his bowling and unique as his batting I hope it drums up interest in politics and cricket alike " Rt Hon David Miliband MP, Foreign Secretar y "Utterly charming" Baroness Boothroyd OM, former Speaker of the House of Commons
Review by Mike Smith, Derbyshire Life and Countr yside (Feb 2010) (26) The OR Society and The School have recently purchased a chair lift to assist less abled visitors to the School access to Pears School Mike Charlesworth (O’41), kindly offered to be the first to use the system, and looks very comfortable, as you can see in the photograph
On Saturday, 6th June 1987, Peter Thor nton left his lovely converted farmhouse in the Derbyshire village of Wensley and set out on the 15 mile jour ney to his office in the Belper factory where Thor nton's chocolates were made Peter noted that it was “a beautiful morning, with the hills of the Derbyshire Dales rolling off into the distance ” Normally, he would have been uplifted by such a scene but he was deeply distraught on this occasion, because he knew that the bright dawn marked the beginning of what would be the darkest day in his life
It is this timelessness that Timothy Robey (L’48) has striven to reflect in his poetry volume, Shakespeare in a Nutshell Phrases from moder n parlance ‘gene pool’, ‘Credit Crunch’ and ‘regime change’ are employed in order to remind us that the concer ns of Shakespeare’s world family ties, money (or lack of it), good gover nment (or lack of it) are our concer ns, too Moreover, a mischievous sense of humour, seen both in language and situation, is apparent in Robey’s verse, of which I’m sure the original author would approve Sometimes, this is a re telling of Shakespeare’s own joke ‘Fine Burgundy got watered down’ making the same point as ‘waterish Burgundy’ in King Lear; sometimes he makes a pun of his own, ‘a bear behind’ giving new meaning to a famous stage direction; and sometimes Robey chooses to see the funny side of tragedy: ‘Cleo,’ sighed a saddened Tony, ‘You have caused me great distress; First we lost our naval battle, Then that asp went down your dress!’ In his ‘Author’s Note’, Robey admits that ‘some may be horrified with the liberties I have taken’, and it is fair to note that serious scholars of Shakespeare will find little in this book to further their studies However, those who wish to be entertained, or have their experience of lengthy plays complemented by pithy verse, will think Robey’s cracked it Published by Bright Pen (2009) also available in e book format by going to www authorsonline co uk JMJH.
‘SHAKESPEARE IN A NUTSHELL’ - Timothy Robey (L’48)
A Hard Nut to Crack: A Review of Shakespeare in a Nutshell Any aficionado of the works of The Bard will tell you that their genius lies in Shakespeare’s intricate and unique manipulation of language Any re telling of these plays, therefore, must inevitably be something of a reduction in linguistic terms, although, of course, the themes and ideas Shakespeare introduces in his plays are timeless
The story leading up to that unforgettable day is told in Peter’s recently published book Thornton's, My Life in the Family Business W ith its simple title, mouth watering cover picture of Thornton's’ chocolates and back cover image of a smiling Peter, the book could easily be mistaken for the self congratulatory memoir of a man who has spent his life in a business that has grown from a corner shop into a company with 379 shops, 200 franchises and a £214 million tur nover However, any such notions are quickly dispelled by the three introductions that have been specially written for the book Thriller writer Stephen Booth calls the story “a gripping family saga, packed with enough tragedy, triumph and conflict to make many novelists green with envy”; Alistair Blair of Investors Chronicle describes it as “a great page tur ner” and comedian Jo Brand calls the autobiography “a warts and all account of life at the choc face” After reading the book and also hearing Peter’s tale in a face to face interview and as a member of the audience at one of his talks, I believe the praise is justified Rather than losing impact on retelling, the story gains, not only in its messages about the running of a family business, but also in its perceptions of leadership, sibling rivalry, depression and the nature of love ‘Thornton's, My Life in the Family Business’ by Peter Thor nton is published by Tomahawk Press, £14 99 (www tomahawkpress com)
‘MY LIFE IN THE FAMILY BUSINESS’ by Peter Thor nton (M’46)
OR’S IN PRINT Continued PEARS SCHOOL
Repton 1986 Reunion Jack Hasson (O’38), Guest, Andre Cicurel (H’38), Fred Pearson (H’35) and Archie Steel (H’39)
Hall A-K Winners of Cricket Matches Back row Left to right J H Hardwick, A E Guy G M Batchlor, W V Binns, D W l Butler, J P Brigeford Sitting Left to right J H L Bell, P F Hill, J R Bridgeford (Capt), A D Cicurel, J R Essenhigh
Hall A K House Football Match Bell(RH), Canning (LB), Gamen (Goal), Binn (LH), Butler (LW) and Berger y (IL), Front row Essenhigh (CH), Anden (CF), Handy (Capt) ( RB), Bridgeford (RW) and Hill (IR)
REPTON MASTERS CANE LANCS Two Repton Schoolmasters, R Sale and J D Eggar, tur ned Dick Pollard’s benefit match at Old Trafford into a benefit for Derbyshire’s batting Off the Lancashire attack they hit 158 in two hours twenty minutes for the third wicket Earlier Eggar had been associated with Elliott in a second wicket stand of 56 and 75 minutes His chanceless 68 contained seven 4’s, but his effort was overshadowed by that of Sale, who reached a brilliant century in two and a quarter hours, driving and pulling with grace and confidence It was not until Sale began to tire that he gave a chance When 138 he pulled a ball from Grieves to deep square leg, where Washbrook just failed to make a catch Then Ikin almost caught him at deep mid off, and finally, at 146 he drove the ball hard into the hands of Tattersall at mid off One of the best innings seen at Old Trafford for a long time had lasted three hours and included a 7 (four from overthrows), a 6 and nineteen 4’s W ith the dismissal of Sale, D B Carr, former captain of the school, carried on the good work of the Repton masters He and Rhodes both reached their 50, Rhodes being the first to go, lbw to Ikin, with Derby nearly at the 400 mark Skinner then joined Carr and the pair were still there with 405 on the board at the close
THE
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FROM ARCHIVES PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE PAST
Source: Original copy News Of The World, Aug 7th 1949
Hall A K Winners of All Swimming Events 1944 except Diving (W inner C C Ross, New House) Right to left G M C Cottrill, D W L Butler, C J C Hooper Front row J R Essenhigh, R B H Greaves (Capt), A D Cicurel (Vice Captain)
A collection for Pollard brought £250 from the 12,000 crowd
Andre Cicurel (H’38) has sent in the following photographs taken by Miss Parkinson, who was Matron in the years 1943/44 at The Hall Inspection 1941 Andre Cicurel, Silver Bugle, 1940,1941, 1942, 1943,1944
For over half the year one was obsessed with keeping hypothermia at bay Latham was situated on an exposed site on the top of a hill When the wind blew the sash windows leaked like sieves This was before one added the prevailing fetish for fresh air which demanded the window be kept open at all times even when it was snowing! The heating, never brilliant, fought a losing battle against the all pervasive cold from October through to the end of March
The next obsession was with food This was a time when inflation was beginning to make its presence felt Fees rose 25% between ’56 &61 Mrs Thomas, the wife of Housemaster Ber nard Thomas, was in charge of the housekeeping, and she took the job of making ends meet very seriously The result was that the daily fare, always marginal in quality, was also, often mercifully, short in quantity The meat all too often had the consistency of shoe leather: the mashed potato tended to be grey, lumpy, and tasting of detergent The vegetables tended to have ‘snorligigs’ usually dead, but occasionally all too lively as a conversation feature Puds were various; sago with hard nuclei to the frogspawn; rice pudding either more milk than rice, or, occasionally of a consistency like polyfilla Then there was that curious jam whotsit This was a small 2” square having the consistency of a Roman ceramic roof tile with a thin smear of indeterminate jam I heard it suggested that one could interchange the gravy and the custard without anyone being able to tell the difference other than the number, hardness, and the colour of the lumps Believe me obesity was not a problem! To supplement the bought rations Mrs Thomas added produce from Latham’s extensive orchard in due season These included apple, plums and damsons Oh the damson, those trees were abundantly prolific beyond belief If I never see another damson for as long as I live it will be too soon! Eating damsons till one was blue in the face was more than just a tur n of phrase! Then there were the baked beans On Saturday evening high tea was unvaryingly the same: a small square, 2 ½” or so, of toast topped off with a small ladle of beans which barley covered the toast One could count the number of beans with ease Our Head of House instituted a small ritual to take the rise out of our whole gastronomic situation Every Saturday after noon those who had done something noteworthy during the week scored a hat trick in soccer or hockey, or scored 50 or taken a hat trick or a ‘five for’ at cricket would be ceremoniously summoned up to the top table and with all due solemnity be awarded ‘an extra bean for tea’ The irony was that the extra bean was a statistically significant addition to the evening repast Poor Mrs T , she was mortified when news of our ‘Jolly Jape’ reached her ears Did I enjoy my time at Repton? The answer to that has to be ‘not really ’ I grew to love the place who could not? But I made no friends and in academic terms I under achieved spectacularly It was not that I was not bright; I was placed in Remove B along with the junior scholars and the other top Common Entrance passes In today’s terms it might be called alienation I just could not relate to what was going on in class My best subjects at Prep school in Common Entrance in 1956 had been History, Geography and Maths Two years later in 1958 I failed in the first two at O level and squeaked elementary Maths by the closet possible margin I passed French, Latin, Divinity and English Language on what I had lear ned at Prep School, English Literature I passed solely out of terror of Dick Sale, besides I found Chaucer fun! Only in Physics and Chemistry, which I lear ned off a standing start at Repton, can I say with any confidence that my first two years at Repton contributed anything measurable to my academic progress To be fair to the science staff, science has been a lifetime passion, but I relied on my mother, a Maths graduate and teacher, to teach me Calculus and Statistics for A level Physics I have since recovered my interest in History, the Divinity people instilled in me an abiding cynicism for the motivation behind all forms of organised religion, but without destroying my admiration for the sublime nature of the teachings of Jesus Mervyn W illiams instilled an abiding love of choral music and of Anglican choral evensong; first as a front row treble, then as a rather marginal tenor The Repton Subscription concert and ‘Mus Soc’ did the same for classical music The metal work and wood work people instilled enough skill in these areas to allow me to restore a classic Daimler car, and to ensure that my D I Y neither falls down, nor drowns nor electrocutes people!
RECOLLECTIONS OF SPARTAN DAYS
I have entitled this essay ‘Recollections of Spartan Days’ because the first thing that needs to be stressed to a new generation of Middle class young people who can probably scarcely imagine it, is just how spartan life was at Repton, and before that at Preparatory School at Foremarke in those days so soon after the end of the war Rationing persisted into the early fifties, and even though Harold MacMillan may have told the truth when he said “You never had it so good,” this was only in relation to what had gone before This was a time when power cuts were still frequent, when only the wealthy and middle class had cars, and only the seriously rich went abroad for holidays As the only child of a country doctor we only took our first overseas holiday after I left Repton in 1961 Many have made the comparison with contemporary life in the Armed Forces, or in P O W camp or even in prison None are that far fetched All is relative We were still the children of the well off the blessed of the earth
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The boys in Latham House slept in four open dormitories or ‘bedders,’ two of 11 boys, one off 22, and a separate one of 6 for the new boys There was no segregation by age, status or anything else The head of House slept alongside a fifteen year old, in a similar army style bed, under three only army style blankets, topped off with his personal travelling rug There was nothing personal to mark off where any one slept; only a sticky tape label on the head rail, one’s dressing gown and slippers, and perhaps a book on the chair next to the bed There were no curtains at the window, nor carpets on the floor, not even lino, just bare boards
John F. Hay-Heddle (L’56)
I have never been an overly fastidious dresser, but the slovenly way in which some of my contemporaries treated the school uniform never ceased to amaze me The basic suit of grey herring bone tweed was very smart if wor n with a dram of care, but some always conspired to resemble piglet after ‘rolling all the way home in the dust and mud to get his own comfortable colour again’; and what some of the lads did with their poor long suffering ties is something into which I would rather not enquire As a little act of rebellion I tried always to look my best with polished shoes and everything neat and just so
No recollections of Repton at that time could be complete without reference to compulsory team sport, and to compulsory membership of the CCF I enjoyed playing soccer, cricket and hockey, though it has to be said I really wasn’t any good at any of them ‘Fourth House’ was my natural home at all three Latham won the House Soccer league during my time there ’59 was it? to the unalloyed joy of Ber nard Thomas, only too delighted too put one over Sale, Eggar, or the denizens of the Cross We also won the Hockey House Match cup at about that time to his similar delight I did not even mind cross country running in the spring term: again I was adequately competent rather than good at it Mention has been made by columnists in ‘The Arch’ of the hated ‘Standard Sports’ Again I was just good enough to collect my 4 ‘A’ standards in the first couple of days, so I could then spend the next two weeks doing something more congenial, like metal or woodwork, or photography at which I won a couple of commendations in the annual exhibition
Christopher Phillips (H’48), writes that he has found a web site with Repton photographs of 100 years ago that ORs might enjoy visiting The site is www riverway events co uk\history Christopher continues “ the site is that of Stafford Cricket and Hockey Club and features W.H. Twigg (H’1898) who was my Great Uncle He is famous in Stafford as the Hockey Club’s only Inter national and played 8 or 9 times for England in 1909 and 1910 I played very moderately from 1954 for Stafford Hockey Club and Walter Twigg was Club President Every March the club had a game against Old Reptonians and I used to take him to the match Recently the club found some old photographs devoted to him and have had them leather bound in an album The album has pictures of his appearances for England but he was also a good cricketer and played 25 times for Staffordshire There are photos of OR teams touring the South Coast and one of an OR gathering on the Ruins with Pears School in the background, all about 1910 or so One photograph that amused me was of Walton Cricket Club which is about a mile from the Twigg home at Stafford They obviously had a match they wanted to win, as in addition to Walter and his brother, F W, also a Staffordshire cricketer was included and two great Repton cricketers of that time; H.S. Altham (O’1902) Chairman of Test Selectors in 1954 and I.P.F. Campbell C’1904), both from the South of England but obviously imported by the Twigg brothers I imagine that as Hockey only started at Repton at the end of W H Twigg’s time at the school, that he was probably the School’s first of many other Inter nationals I spoke to Cathy Twigg and there does not seem to be any family connections just coincidence Even more so as the Twigg’s youngest brother was Charles, who played first class cricket in India and South Africa
Photographs can be viewed on this website, Walter Twigg is a little man with a small ‘Hitler; moustache! The album can be viewed at the Cricket and Hockey Club in Stafford Hope this is of some interest to ORs of long ago” Christopher Phillips (H’48)
I am sure I was rather odd in that I quite enjoyed School CCF I didn’t even mind square bashing; being part of a well drilled precision outfit generates a certain satisfaction CCF also showed that I was a better than fair rifle shot I ended up with School and University Colours for Rifle shooting, and as first reserve for the English Territorial Army Rifle Assn (T A R A ) team in 1963 I enjoyed camp; I especially enjoyed the ‘arduous training’ camp run by Major Milford, otherwise head of Physics, in the Peak District above Hathersage in the summer of 1960 The rugged beauty of the Peak District has stayed with me as a precious memory ever since So what did I take from Repton? A respect for the ordered and disciplined life, a love of choral and classical music, the makings of a moderately successful scientific career sadly cut short by illness, and a blank spot for English Literature What else? Perhaps the most valuable thing I lear nt at Repton was that if God has given one a part way decent brain one need never be lonely, however, alone and isolated one may feel, even if surrounded by hundreds of fellow human beings: and one need never be bored in an infinitely fascinating universe, however boring and humdrum the everyday routine may be John F. Hay Heddle (L’56) REPTON MEMORIES
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REPTON UK AND DUBAI - A FAMILY VIEW
(30) DUBAI
George Stephenson Bragg (Jos. G. 1866), not surprisingly the son of a railway engineer, entered Joseph Gould’s house in the former Old Mitre Inn in 1866 during the headmastership of Dr Pears The next three generations of the family were represented by my grandfather, Alan Bragg (Gur ney’s 1893), my father Charles (B’20) and myself and my brothers, JC (P’53), WB (P’60) and TK (P’62) And that it seemed was that, until my son in law, Neil Broadhead was asked by his firm to relocate to Dubai for three years When he and my daughter viewed a few possible schools in Dubai, Repton stood out from the crowd and our granddaughter, Sophia, started there in April last year Now aged 5 she regards herself as much a Reptonian as I did aged 13 A FAMILY VIEW Continued One of the highlights of our first visit to Dubai in November was our tour of both the Junior and Senior Schools We sensed the importance to the Dubai School of its roots in Derbyshire with house names following the UK school except where there is an ecclesiastical connotation Priory, Cross and Mitre The house there which might have been Priory, where Sophia belongs, is named after one of its famous old boys, Roald Dahl, so as a family we can trace our Repton connection from Gur ney’s through Priory to Dahl My father would have been delighted to know that Brook has been reinstated in Dubai “Understand life backwards but live it forwards”, said Kierkegaard, and Repton in making an important contribution in preparing the young people of the inter national community that is Dubai for tackling problems of tomorrow
VALETE Headmaster David Cook is serving his last year as Head of Repton Dubai His four year tenure ends on July 31st 2010 As the founding Headmaster of Repton he and his team have done a marvellous job in creating and developing the school to what it is today In recognition of his significant contribution to education, not only at Repton, but also in Dubai and the UAE, the new four storey Senior Library will be given his name
We now await the retur n leg of the exchange in the second week of the summer term, when ten pupils will retur n along with Nigel Kew, sometime Housemaster of New House and now head of Boarding at Repton Dubai and we are all looking forward to showcasing our School and our traditions Dan Clark
SALVETE
The girls notably did a great job competing in a Dubai wide netball competition while the boys competed on the soccer field against the Elite Sporting Academy team headed up by former England star Carlton Palmer There were also opportunities to see the beach and mall life that Dubai offers (including a chance encounter with Andrew Flintoff, pictured), something which everyone took to without too much trouble!
The Arch, Repton Dubai
We saw 21st century facilities for sport, science and technical drawing, and we are sure the same will apply for music and drama The courtesy, hospitality, friendliness and enthusiasm of all the staff we met cannot but rub off on the students We also witnessed gentle discipline being effective, thus avoiding the use of the harsher variety And all this thousands of miles away from staid and silver Trent John Bragg (P’53) MEETING FREDDIE FLINTOFF In the Lent term, ten a block Reptonians took part in the inaugural pupil exchange between Repton and Repton Dubai Along with Repton staff, Dan Clark and Gemma Hill, the ten successful applicants threw themselves into the life of our partner school They played a full part in lessons, completing preps as well as contributing to life outside of the classroom
Jonathan Hughes D’Aeth has been appointed as David’s successor Jonathan is current Head of Milton Abbey School in Dorset His wife, Fiona and their four children will be joining him A former Housemaster at Rugby, he has been Headmaster at Milton Abbey for fifteen years and is a Gover nor at both Hanford School and Haileybury College, and ISI inspector, and has served as the chairman of the Boarding Schools Association and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Society of Heads in Independent Schools Outside the academic world he was a Territorial Officer for 17 years and was awarded the Territorial Decoration Khaled al Muhairy, Chairman of Repton Dubai Board of Gover nors says “ It is with sadness and deep appreciation that we see David and his family leave us It is with excitement and anticipation we welcome Jonathan and his family”
Julie Daniels Featuring Darwin’s microscope or Centur
Ptolemaic armillar y sphere 15th
16th
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After some high speed background reading, I came up with a theme, and a list of Cambridge authors, scientists and luminaries for each of the eight centuries The project was going to involve many months of traditional painting craftsmanship preceded by as many months of digital imagery manipulation, because the kind of objects I was hoping to photograph were stored in a myriad of college, library and museum archives all over Cambridge, and could not be moved, let alone (quelle horreur!) propped or stacked as part of a still life composition I was going to have to photograph them all separately from nine different perspectives in order to experiment with different still life set ups, and then artificially create each composition by using my knowledge of perspective and shadows
The College Development Offices, University Library and Whipple Museum were informed of the Vice Chancellor’s approval of the project, and thus it was that Cambridge University opened its doors and I was allowed into the hallowed reaches of one of our country’s most distinguished institutions During the shortest week of the year, when the light began to fail inside those dark wood panelled rooms from 3 o’clock, I dashed between colleges with my camera, photographing an endless array of priceless manuscripts, first editions and objects ranging from Charles Darwin’s own achromatic microscope to Churchill’s speech notes, Isaac Newton’s walking stick and annotated edition of the Principia, W ilkins’ neo Classical architectural drawings for Downing College, the Book of Common Prayer, the 1611 St James’ Bible, to name but a few The locations were equally extraordinary, I particularly remember photographing Vigani’s pharmaceutical cabinet in the Master’s Lodge at Queens’ next to a foot high sculpture made of dozens of Darcey Bussell’s pointe shoes
High resolution images of the paintings can be viewed at at www octagon 8 com A few of the paintings are still available for sale and would be of interest to OR’s with Cambridge links, or with a particular interest in the types of books and scientific instruments represented For further information please write to juliedaniels art@gmail com
Having written my Repton A Level English Literature extended essay on W illiam Wordsworth, here I was in front of the bay window in St John’s College Old Library in Cambridge, overlooking the Bridge of Sighs on a beautiful wintry day, holding Wordsworth’s own breakfast teacup and saucer “We have his paperweight as well, would you like to see it? This is Lady Margaret Beaufort’s Book of Hours What about a letter from W illiam W ilberforce on the abolition of the slave trade Or Sir Fred Hoyle’s boyhood telescope?”
The whole enterprise could potentially have attracted academic controversy over the inclusion or omission of certain objects, but the paintings were welcomed by members of the University and general public as an opportunity to view a number of priceless books and objects that are normally hidden from the public eye The Whipple Science Museum have asked me to hold a talk on my use of their scientific instruments in the paintings, and on my painting medium I work in oils, and use a medium discovered by Jacques Maroger, painter and former curator of the Louvre in the early 20th century, who claimed to have found the secret formulas used by Old Masters such as T itian, Rubens, Van Dyck and Velasquez
I had had the brilliant yet insane idea of summing up the history of the University of Cambridge in eight still life paintings for the University’s 800th Anniversary back in October 2008, after reading an article requesting ideas for the anniversary in the University Staff Newsletter (which I receive as founder and Hon Sec of the Cambridge Society of Tuscany & Umbria, a noble organisation with impossibly scenic wine tasting sessions) It was almost certainly a glass of Chianti too many that inspired the idea in the first place
The underlying concept to the exhibition was to celebrate the University’s contribution to society and culture over its 800 year history, and to create images that would bring the University closer to the general public by featuring objects representing a number of well loved and recognisable national characters, such as Shakespeare, Churchill and even W innie the Pooh The University is often seen as an inaccessible elitist institution, but has created many household names that are familiar to the nation, and is a place where teaching staff recognise and encourage potential in aspiring minds from all walks of life
y
The first three weeks of my stay involved trips to Thailand and two exotic islands; for someone who jumped straight into university life without taking a Gap Year, this has been a fantastic experience At this point, you may perhaps be wondering at the extent to which my degree has suffered, and I must admit that a balance between work and play is hard to strike when faced with a choice between unspoilt beaches and a lecture theatre While writing this, I am looking out from my window into the jungle, a sight hardly conducive to concentrated study Exams are, however, looming, and luckily the quality of the teaching and the campus' state of the art equipment and facilities provide a slight incentive to work
Throwing myself into Malaysian culture has been a sometimes shocking, sometimes thrilling experience The food is some of the best in Asia the satay is to die for, and for less than £1 one is able to feast on American sized portions of delicious rice dishes and I am certainly expecting to come home a little more rotund than I would like The night life in Kuala Lumpur is unparalleled, and stumbling out of one of the city's many bars or clubs to see the impressive Petronas Towers at dawn is a far cry from the streets of Nottingham on a rainy winter mor ning Although my time in Malaysia will doubtless involve the customary student hangovers, exam panic and over spending, I am certain that the six months I spend here will leave me with more than just headaches and a hefty overdraft Experiencing an entirely different culture, living in one of the financial capitals of the world, meeting a host of new people and living thousands of miles away from home will, I believe, make me a more confident and mature individual with a more tolerant and worldly outlook An experience like this would, I am certain, be of great benefit to Reptonians and I would urge the school to encourage students to consider applying to Nottingham for this very reason, and to develop yet stronger links with Repton Dubai, which would allow pupils to travel eastwards as part of their studies
OR
The Malaysian campus, though titled “University”, at first resembled more of a holiday camp than a serious academic institution Like “the beach” at Repton (if San Hall is still spoken of in such fond terms), the pool is the campus' focal point; each day students escape there en masse to catch a few rays and plan their next weekend jaunt Travelling here is of paramount importance to students; the possibility of exploring different parts of Asia is one of the campus' main draws, and was certainly a major factor in my decision to move here
PROFILES: JORDAN HAWKINS (O’03)
Since leaving Repton nearly two years ago, I, like many of my peers, have embraced the chance to experience life beyond the Arch Initially, I celebrated my freedom by sleeping in, missing the odd lecture at university and participating in the obligatory ‘freshers’ nights out Nevertheless, after a fun first year studying Business Management at Nottingham University, I decided it was time to step out of my comfort zone and set myself a new challenge As Repton has ventured to the Middle East with its Dubai project, so too has Nottingham University chosen to diversify and to offer students the chance to experience a different culture and working environment as part of their degree education
The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, situated on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, was established in 2000, making it the first purpose built UK higher education centre in a foreign country Having begun to experience fresher fatigue in the Midlands, I and another OR, Oliver Howard (O’03), together decided that six months in one of the economic and cultural hubs of the Far East would be an ideal way to breathe fresh life into our degrees
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The 2009 U6 leavers were asked if they would like to be ambassadors for the OR office They then become a link between the OR office and their contemporaries Verity Joshi (A’09) This year I will be heading to Manchester University to study Medicine, a course which I have been wanting to study for years! I live pretty close to Repton, so will still be nearby if anyone wants to meet up My list of hobbies is pretty bizarre, I love music, food, shopping and have recently discovered surfing! I’m happy to hear from anyone and everyone, and hope to meet up with a few people at Manchester! Let me know what you’re all up to, how your Gap years are going, how you’re finding Uni and any other gossip you’ve got! Find me on Facebook, or e mail me on koolio19@hotmail co uk
Sophie Politowski (F’09) I am at Exeter University studying History, carrying on the subject I was most interested in at Repton I enjoy reading a wide variety of books, playing the piano and I also have an interest in films of various genres I live just outside of Repton and would like to hear from any ORs living nearby when I am back from university, my friends and also news from anybody Email me on shph p@hotmail co uk
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SCHOOL
OR AMBASSADORS
The Physics Department was very pleasantly surprised recently to receive a gift in the shape of a rather lovely new telescope generously donated by OR and former secretary of the Astronomy Society, Reverend Sowdon (N’51) Following a visit to the school for last summer’s Gaudy, Reverend Sowdon was dismayed to see that the old school observatory was looking rather lack lustre and specifically short of a decent telescope to the tune of one, so on retur ning home to Birmingham he very kindly purchased a suitable new instrument The new telescope is now securely housed in the School Physics department, under the care of Head of Physics, Sam Mitchell who said “This really was a very unexpected and generous gift to the department and we look forward to resurrecting an interest in astronomical observations now that we are kitted out with this excellent device perhaps we might even suggest adding an observatory to the top of the planned Science Priory!” Reverend Sowdon fondly reminisced over the days when the Astronomical Society met on Sunday mor nings after Chapel not a traditional time of day for star gazing you may think, but in fact many of the hours spent with the old telescope in those days had been in making solar observations, including for instance a particularly memorable transit of Venus The current GCSE students will get a chance to use the Telescope in due course as part of their Physics study as a knowledge of how different types of telescopes are suited to different observations is a part of the new Physics elements of GCSE Science Any other generous astronomically minded ORs reading this article may wish to consider how useful it would be for the department to have its very own Radio Telescope too JS Mitchell (Head Of Physics) NEWS: HEAVENS ABOVE (33) T H Naylor Assistant Head of Careers Repton School Careers Department Repton School, Repton, Derbyshire DE65 6FH Email: thn@repton org uk YOUR EXPERTISE
Repton pupils are increasingly looking for practical and informed careers advice to help them make the right choice about their futures For this reason, we need more contacts that cover a wide range of career types Given the quality of professional expertise within the Old Reptonian community, the Headmaster and I would be delighted if you could support the School in one or more of the following ways:
• Offer to be a point of contact for Repton pupils seeking careers advice
• Speak at the sixth form Careers Forum or other careers talks that are held during the academic year
• Offer work experience I look forward to hearing from you T H Naylor Assistant Head of Careers
Calum Setterington (U6S) President of the Politics Society
Our second speaker, Mr Jonathan Oliver (O’86), Political Editor of the Sunday T imes retur ned to Repton and was welcomed with a meal in The Mitre with sixteen society members and staff Mr Oliver addressed the society in the Beldam Hall and spoke for twenty minutes about UK politics and his feelings for the up and coming general election followed by an extensive question and answer session I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs Parish (Housemistress, The Mitre) and Dr Pitts (Head of History and Politics) for their continued support for the Society
The Society has also joined with the Debating Society to debate the motion “This House believes that none of the main parties represent our interests” with Victoria Leavesley (L6M), Joshua Benn (L6S) and Charles Fox Davies (L6S) speaking confidently and arguing their case splendidly This was an exciting venture that I hope will be repeated at some point in the future Before half term the Society met to discuss whether the UK was too lenient on its border controls, with a number of strong arguments brought to the discussion, and it was decided by vote that Britain was indeed too lenient with its border control and that the government should reconsider its immigration policies
The Politics Society has again continued to flourish this term with twenty five regular members attending discussions in The Mitre The Lent term, short and compact as it is, has not slowed down the development of the society with a New Year Quiz, discussions, two speakers and a joint debate with the School’s Debating Society alongside a small group of members exploring some exciting ventures for the near future
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On Friday 15th January the Society welcomed Mr Mark Todd, MP for South Derbyshire Mr Todd was welcomed to Repton with a delicious meal in the Mitre attended by sixteen society members and staff We moved to the Beldam Hall after dinner where Mr Todd addressed fifty students on his route into politics, the current state of UK Politics and of course, the impact of the expenses scandal, followed by forty minutes of question and answers only to be forced to finish at 10 15pm!
REVIEW, Lent 2010
Following the cancellation of the ‘Christmas Party’ the Society held a New Year Politics Quiz on the first Wednesday of term with thirty pupils attending This created small teams answering questions on UK and Inter national Politics, Moder n History and current affairs The night was enjoyed by all participants and the winners left rewarded and delighted with a selection of chocolates!
SCHOOL NEWS: POLITICS SOCIETY
It is lovely to think of our Chapel as being a bridge between current and past Reptonians This year we have welcomed back a number of ORs who have preached in Chapel and shared with is their stories of yesteryear Among these have been The Rev'd Michael Sinclair (L’55) who reflected on his life since Repton as the founder of one of the best known Porcelain Businesses in the UK and on his time as Chairman of York City Football Club! The Rev'd Dr Mark Jones (M’70) also made his first return visit in a long time to bring greetings from Eton College where he is a Housemaster and Chaplain We sincerely hope that it will not be his last There is, however, no better moment than when ORs retur n to marry or bring their newly bor n babies to be baptised in the Chapel We were delighted to be the venue for two weddings this year those of Claire Hazeldine (G’91) and also of Fiona Harding (A’93) As our photograph shows Ms Harriet May Fallon was also baptised in the Chapel this Summer Harriet is the daughter of Luisa Fallon (nee Mellor) (G’93) who brought with her many memories of her time in Garden W ith the joy of life also comes the sadness The Chapel was filled for the funeral of Robert Billson (H’82) in March Many will remember that Robert was a pupil in The Hall and died at the tragically young age of 42 in the midst of a highly successful career with Savills Estate Agents We pray for him as we know he continues to pray for us Rev'd A J Watkinson
SCHOOL NEWS: CHAPEL
This competition is a House based whole school event Its purpose is to challenge older pupils to exhibit the classic Reptonian values teamwork, willpower, a sense of adventure within the context of Outdoor Skills The competitors enjoyed an action packed event, and the obvious, spirited engagement shown was a credit to the pupils We also had a big dollop of fun in the mix, too Each Skills team of six competed in First Aid (emergency triage, treatment and casevac), Map skills (bearings, navigation), construction task (find/build a way over a chasm), team obstacle circuit (speed clambering over a tricky circuit), and a pool team task (build a giant floating raft whilst in the water, and then climb on it) The House Physical challenge team romped around an assault course which included running, crawling, climbing, leaping, abseil, cargo net descent, swinging, and raft racing Superb support from fellow pupils, and House staff and an excellent volunteer turnout from staff running the stands, good weather, and good spirits from the pupils at the end of an intensely busy but splendid term, all combined to make this Russell Cup event a vintage one in my view The sheer good humour on display was impressive, and allowed me to announce the winners to rightful and raucous acclaim: 2010 overall Russell Cup winners were Priory, and the top Girls House this year was The Abbey Plaudits to the winners, but each and every House put heart into the event, and I hope every participant got some fun out in retur n G Lawrence, Major Wing Commander Martin, OC8 Squadron RAF talking with cadets during the Guard of Honour Inspection CCF Biennial Inspection took place on the last Tuesday of Lent The Inspecting Officer was W ing Commander AT Martin, currently Officer Commanding 8 Squadron RAF Waddington 8 Sqn is Repton CCF’s affiliated RAF squadron, so it was a particular pleasure to be inspected by their OC Firstly, Wg Cdr Martin inspected the Guard of Honour The parade was held in the Garth, under the control of senior cadet WO2 (CSM) Eleanor Tyler (Mitre) Musical support, by a concert band detail, played appropriate RAF pieces The Wg Cdr then spent the after noon touring the various other stands of Bar nes Squad CCF competition This year, I altered the format of Bar nes Squad, moving it from a house based event to an inter platoon competition, and also mixing temporarily the A Coy of RAF and Army sections Readers of the Arch may legitimately ask why I did this My aim was to promote the development of teamwork and leadership skills amongst the Combined Cadet Force NCOs, giving them specific responsibilities for training a mixed bag of pupils, bringing A Coy to readiness for a series of known tasks, in a known time frame In addition, this format ensured that A Coy had a secure grounding in the basic training on the new weapons, and promoted cohesion in the contingent The NCOs rose well to the challenge, as indeed did the cadets of A Coy, with some splendid attitude on display, and some good improvements in technical skills evident Cadets competed in foot drill, weapon handling skills on the Cadet GP L98 A2 rifle, marksmanship on the No8 rifle, march and shoot, water safety swim test, navigation skills, command tasks, and physical obstacle course teamwork These competitions allowed staff to test the lessons lear ned during the delivery of the training syllabus, which each section follows during weekly Wednesday parades At final Inspection parade, Wg Cdr Martin presented the prize cups to the winners of the various competition stands, announced by Warrant Officer Liam Fletcher (RAF Section), of The Orchard In the evening, after the inspection had ended, the Adjutant’s Dinner was held, to celebrate the contributions of the upper sixth NCOs to cadet force life, and to say goodbye G Lawrence, Major, OC Repton School CCF
SCHOOL NEWS: CCF BIENNIAL INSPECTION & BARNES SQUAD COMPETITION (35) RUSSELL CUP 2010 - FUN, WITH A PURPOSE (Wednesday 17th March 2010)
SCHOOL NEWS: STEEPLECHASE
I’m very pleased to report that the 2009/10 football season has been one of the most successful in recent memory
The 1st XI achieved some wonderful results throughout the regular season Manchester Grammar School was beaten 7 2 and St Bede’s were on the wrong end of a 6 1 score line Much of this success has been down to the strong spine of the team Andy Evans (N) has led the back line supremely well all season whilst captain Luke Duggan (O) and Nduoma Chilaka (P) have caused havoc in the opposition box
Junior Boys W inner William Hughes (N) First B Block Boy Benjamin Nevill (O) Junior Girls W inner Phoebe Walters (M) First B Block Girl Georgina Whitehouse (M) Junior Boys Team Latham House Junior Girls Team The Mitre
We always had high hopes for the season and started strongly with an encouraging pre season and a fine performance in the ISFA Sixes We eventually lost in the semi final on penalties to the eventual winners, Bradfield, who looked to be one of the strongest teams on the circuit They subsequently proved this by beating us 2 0 in the regular fixture some two weeks later The Boodles ISFA Cup saw us draw QEGS Blackbur n and Forest School in rounds one and two W ith four trophies between them it looked a tough start However, we despatched both 5 0 to set ourselves on the path to Milton Keynes Round three saw an away trip to Latymer Upper, a much fancied outfit We were on the verge of going out when Chilaka popped up with three minutes left to take us into extra time and, subsequently, penalties To win the shoot out 11 10 was a wonderful feeling, and not one that too many Repton teams have enjoyed over the years! This put us into another match with Bradfield and, after some thorough preparation, we managed to reverse the 2 0 score line from earlier in the season The introduction of Wolves Academy player Johnny Gorman (C) into the team had given us an extra dimension and it was his wonderful strike that made it 2 0 and, effectively, sealed the game The semi final saw another meeting with Manchester Grammar and we managed to come through the test 2 1 to reach our first Boodles ISFA Cup Final Unfortunately, we were unable to lift (36) The U18’s in the Final
Well done to all who ran! Thanks are owed to Mrs Holroyd for presenting the trophies and to all staff, students and groundsmen for their assistance
The 2010 Steeplechase was the usual pitch battle between mind, body and spirit, with the closing stages fought on the asphodelian fields of Repton beneath a relentlessly dank, grey and gloomy sky Mercifully the rain held off The junior girls got under way at 2 15pm and 20 58 minutes later Phoebe Walters (M) cruised across the line with barely a blemish to retain her title A surge of Mitre girls then followed, including Georgina Whitehouse (M) as the first B Block girl, to secure the team trophy by a considerable margin The seniors set off at 2 30pm and a victorious Matthew Dewis (L) retained his title in a time of 32 03, which was identical to the previous year and Latham went on to take the team trophy 29 points ahead of The Orchard New girl on the block Joanna Leigh (G) crossed the line in style to take the senior girls' title, but it was the excellent group finishing that secured the team trophy for The Mitre At 3 15pm the junior boys ran off into the encroaching twilight, but spectators were treated to a fine victory by W illiam Hughes (N) in a time of 26 20 with Benjamin Nevill (O) being the first B Block boy to finish, but Latham worked hard and in the end added the junior team trophy to their showcase
Senior Boys W inner Matthew Dewis (L)
Senior Girls W inner Joanna Leigh (G) Senior Boys Team Latham House Senior Girls Team The Mitre H.G. Gould Master i/c Cross Country SCHOOL NEWS: FOOTBALL
The Player of the Year award went to Chilaka, who scored 31 goals for the 1st XI this season His efforts were rewarded with a call up to the full ISFA team and matches against Australia, Wales and Scotland as well as an end of season tour of Poland Indeed, this has been a good year for representative football at Repton as Sam Graham (S) also made the ISFA squad with Duggan and Evans also representing ISFA at North level Further down the ages we have had several representatives, Robbie Astin (C), R yan Binns (C), James Frost (O) and Stephen Kosmala (O), at ISFA U14 level
We have continued to strengthen our links with Academy teams this year We have, once again, hosted Manchester United at Academy level, both against a Repton XI and Tottenham Hotspur We have had another trip to their Carrington Training Complex to play a match and have had further Academy matches against Nottingham Forest and Derby County Such occasions serve to raise the profile of the School as well as giving the Repton players a chance to test themselves against boys hoping to make a career in the game
The 2nd XI produced some encouraging performances during the season with Christopher Swann (L) picking up the Player of the Year award At U14 level we found ourselves on the wrong
SCHOOL NEWS: FOOTBALL end of some tight score lines during the season, despite the goals of Ed Ballantyne Rowland (C) However, the addition of Stephen Kosmala (O) to the School will help to strengthen the side next season whilst James Frost (O) and R yan Binns (C) will be better for having played in an ISFA Cup campaign
Despite this we were considered to be underdogs by most observers as we took on strong favourites Brentwood What followed was arguably the most exciting ISFA Cup event in years as we blunted their Academy strike force and then took the lead through Hughes More chances followed, but we just couldn’t extend our lead before they finally managed to equalise seven minutes from time Extra time followed and we looked the better side but, just as penalties beckoned, they scored direct from a cor ner to snatch the trophy Huge disappointment, yes, but I’m buoyed by the wonderful way that we took on, and outplayed, all comers at junior level We have a special side forming here that will take Repton onto greater heights in the future
Matthew Carrington, Master i/c Football (37) Repton’s Under 15 Team the cup as we came up against a strong Shrewsbury side who were, in my view, the best team on the circuit this season Despite the result it was an absolutely wonderful night at Stadium:MK It will live long in the memory and will inspire a whole generation of Reptonians onto greater heights in their football over the next few years We are no longer the most famous football school never to have reached the final and we shall endeavour to go one better in the coming years My sincere thanks go to the scores of ORs who made the trip to support us in the final; it really was much appreciated
Sixes Senior League was won by Orchard and Junior League was won by New House Next season looks, on paper, to be quite tricky We are losing several ‘big hitters’ in the form of Duggan, Evans and Chilaka as well as other top 1st XI players such as Matt Sanderson (S) However, we retain many strong players such as Sam Graham (S), Greg Fear n (O) and Josh Golding (P) We have a couple of very strong additions joining the School and, of course, plenty of excellent youngsters who will be entering the senior age bracket next year Overall, I’m pretty confident that we’ll be more than competitive again next season
Despite the fact that the 1st XI reached their final they still didn’t become the first Repton team to reach an ISFA Cup final Just one week earlier our junior team, coached by Dr Pitts, reached the Rensburg Sheppards U15 ISFA Cup held at Burton Albion The side, captained by W ill Hughes (N), had secured away victories at Eton and Shrewsbury on the way to the final
In the House competitions a close Senior Final was edged by School House, despite a valiant effort by Latham, whilst Orchard took the Reserves Favourites New House clinched the Junior House trophy and the Noel Bennett Trophy for the O&A Block
SCHOOL NEWS: CRICKET PROSPECTS 2010
The hockey at Repton is in better shape than ever Five teams reached National Finals this year and the B Block teams had their most successful seasons for some time After nineteen years as master in charge Simon Clague is now coaching the boys and girls U14A teams and the training ethic that Cleggy has instilled will hugely benefit future 1st XIs Devoting more time to indoor training this year paid off as our three entered teams progressed to the National Indoor Finals Megan Byas (5F) and Lowri McIntosh (4F) were instrumental in the U16 Midland Indoor Championship winning side and also joined the 1st XI during the outdoor campaign
The Girls’ 1st XI comfortably beat Kingston Grammar School in the National Indoor Final for their first ever success in the competition The 1st XI then completed an indoor and outdoor double at Cannock in early March winning a sixth successive National U18 outdoor title This years’ team beat numerous National League 1st XI sides during the year and also beat England U16 Despite rarely playing other school sides with a full team the 1st XI remained unbeaten and recorded a host of impressive victories including Denstone (17 0) and Dean Close (7 0) Ellie Green (U6M) captained the Girls’ 1st XI this year and was unanimously named Players’ Player of the Season Ellie will finish her Repton career with five National Hockey titles to her name
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Boys 1st X1
Having lost only a handful of players at the end of last season much could be expected of this year's XI, who retur n with a number of experienced players Chris Murrall (O) will lead the side as well as batting in the top order Over 400 runs last year and the 1st XI's only hundred shows he is an experienced cricketer that can cope with the demands of leading a team on our very competitive circuit The strength of the side could prove to be its spin bowling department Josh Moore (L), Matt Sanderson (S) and Tom Cosford (L) took 75 wickets between them last year (37, 26 and 12 respectively), all with a different style of off spin bowling Individual performances though will not be enough to win games on what is a competitive fixture list, and this team will need to always have more than one major contributor for victory to be the outcome There are five other players who will most likely retur n to 1st XI action this year who have played a significant amount in previous years and this experience will undoubtedly be crucial to success These players include Sam Graham (S) who
The most dramatic victory of the season was the boys’ 1st XI winning the Midlands U18 Championship during the last week of Lent Term Having had a mixed season, by Repton standards, the boys tur ned around a couple of school fixture defeats to beat Bromsgrove (twice) and Worksop when it mattered most on Midland Finals day Stephen Attwood (U6P) was the hero making three penalty saves in the semi final and final shoot outs The National Finals are at Cannock Hockey Club on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th April
Plans to replace the sand based surface are in early stages and by the start of next season both pitches will have electronic scoreboards Ian Pollock, Director of Sport, has recently invested in a sports analysis system that enables us to analyse play for feedback for players and for scouting of the opposition We hope that these developments will help Repton’s hockey to remain as strong as it is now Martin Jones, Master i/c Hockey averaged over 50 last year in his eight games, and Ameer Ahmed (C), who averaged 20 with the ball We look lower down the school for some performances from the U15 age group as they progress through the Lord's Taver ners competition after winning the Derbyshire region last year, and also to number of players still in the junior age groups who have the potential to become 1st XI players in the very near future
All those associated with the school will of course be aware that as April arrives, The Square is an unbeatable place to watch and play cricket Now under the stewardship of Mark Hillaby, who continues to show he is a top quality groundsman, The Square continues to be an excellent venue and every current Reptonian who has the good fortune to represent the school and walk down the pavilion steps, should take the time to remember those who have done so before him We hope to see many OR's, past parents and staff at our games this Summer, details of all of which can be found on the website Ian Pollock Director of Sport U18 National Hockey Champions 2010 04 13 Midlands Champions
SCHOOL NEWS: HOCKEY
The Boys’ 1st XI narrowly lost to Ipswich School in the National Indoor Semi Final after progressing past Kingston Grammar School and Millfield School in the group stages
The 2010 season will start on 12th April in La Manga, Spain, with the 1st XI on tour in a European destination for the first time This will compact 4 games into as many days allowing maximum preparation for the season's traditional opener against Malver n on The Square on April 24th
In October IWM directed the Senior Literary Society’s This Woman’s Work, written by a team of pupils from the Society Crafting a well shaped piece of theatre witty, intelligent and packed with colourful, three dimensional characters is no mean feat and IWM co ordinated it all with considerable skill Simone Matthews (A) took the lead but excellent support was provided by Tristram Fane Saunders (O), Josh Benn (S) and Cassie Thorpe (A) It was also good to see new sixth formers involved in smaller roles Sandy Harratt (S), Holly Callis (G), Kiki Betts Dean (M) and Ed Goodall (S) There was also time in October for CMK (O’69) to direct a small House play with pupils from Field and Latham Houses The show provided audiences with some lovely, comic performances, most notably from Edwin W ilton Morgan (L), Emily Fitzsimons (F), Owen W inter (L) and Milly Louch (F) The current academic year began with healthy numbers, in excess of sixty, taking GCSE and A Level Drama, perhaps drawn in by last summer’s spectacular A Level results (100% A/B grades)! Immediately there were open auditions for the school play, Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle and, in the spirit of inclusion, JMGL cast over fifty pupils The resultant striking production was as impressive for its leads Sarah Cotterill (A) leading the way with a superb rendition of Grusha as it was for its excellent crowd and chorus scenes In true Brechtian style there was also an on stage band Tristram Fane Saunders (O), Luke Hulse (O) and Blair Dunlop (S) who composed the music especially for the show
Nevertheless, Repton’s Drama presses on in inimitable style
At the beginning of August JMGL (H’75) and The Rep Theatre Company met to rehearse a re directed version of On the Razzle, last year’s school play There followed two shows in Repton and ten in Edinburgh as part of the Festival Fringe The group was the youngest the company has ever taken including A Blocker, Hayden Ball (S) in charge of lighting and sound, but JMGL was also ably assisted by Company Manager Jack Fookes (S’03), and Mel Harrison (A’04) stepped into the breach to play two acting roles The regime was intense and exhausting for pupils and director but the show received warm reviews, very good audiences and gave those involved an unforgettable experience
The 400 Hall Theatre closed in the second week of February, following the A Level Drama practical examinations and, with the Studio Theatre used for storage, drama lessons are now taking place in diverse locations around the school There are radical and exciting plans for the next year of shows, and these began with the retur n of The Lent Term Charity Cabaret to Pears School An extended stage, a plethora of aluminium trussing, an additional power supply and countless lanter ns ensured that this was, once again, a spectacular occasion attracting audiences of over 1200 across the four nights Under the direction of JMGL and RF, the show was as varied as ever from dance to singing, mime to stand up, plus Tristram Fane Saunders’ performance of his very own ‘beat poem’ the only common feature was exceptionally high quality throughout It is always gratifying to receive e mails and letters from parents who tell me that it is events like this that make them realise that Repton School was the right choice for their children’s education The charity this year was Help for Heroes and, with money still coming in, already a record sum of over £12,000 has been raised And so, despite the closure of The 400 Hall, Drama at Repton remains as vibrant as ever The next project is the Junior School Play an adaptation of The Comedy of Errors which will take place in June, outside in the beautiful and historic grounds of The Garth, a perfect setting for this Shakespearian comedy And, while more pupils take part in more imaginative and impressive productions, there is the thrilling anticipation of the future as we glimpse the changes taking place behind those builders’ fences lining the precinct John Sentance, Head of Drama
SCHOOL NEWS: DRAMA
(39) I write as a nomad, office less and theatre less whilst every day new, exciting changes occur behind builders’ fencing lining the precinct
Another progressive, action packed term for Music: This Lent term saw over 20 different concerts and services, including several new initiatives for performing in the school The Chamber Concert was moved from the library to the now fully operational Beldam Hall The hall was packed for a mixed programme featuring the Flute Choir, Saxophone group, Guitar group, a String Quartet, Brass Attack and Clarinet Choir, led by various members of the Visiting Music Staff a hidden strength of Repton’s music making It was excellent to see so many young musicians of all ages clearly enjoying an opportunity to perform New too was the Keyboards Concert, including music for two pianos and a harpsichord This was again extremely well supported and featured pupils and staff alike, including non music staff!
PIGEON POST
Dear Sirs I take this opportunity to update you with my personal news After a long career in business mainly with Reckitt & Colman (today Reckitt & Benkister) I retired to Londrina and farmed for 20 years before settling into final full retirement Londrina (bor n in London) deserves special mention The town was founded by the land company (originally Parana Plantations) which was run in Brazil by my father after 1924 In this function he was responsible for the development of the town and for a large part of the North of the State of Parana The name was chosen due to the origin of the British capital involved Today the population of Londrina is over 500,000 and it is the 3rd largest town in the South of Brazil When I joined The Hall in the summer term of 1949, I was one of five new boys in the House Others were Simon Wilkinson, Bob Leach, Michael Allderidge and John Rickett and for some reason we became known as the “poppy day club” During my visit to England in the summer of 2003 Bob Leach organised a joint visit to Repton where we were extremely well received and which was reported in the OR Magazine at the time Following tradition, my son Alan Thomas was in the Hall from 1971 1975, and today also lives in Londrina and is Managing partner of the “Cultura Inglesa”, an English language school in the town The family roots continue in Londrina I have three children, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild The family is well known in the town, principally because of the Arthur Thomas Park and Arthur Thomas Avenue named after my father The weight of my 74 years means Parkinson’s disease (under control) and a metal hip, but my wife Cleo and I continue to enjoy life with the family Trips to England, however, are less frequent than they used to be Hugh Muir Thomas (H’49) Dear Sirs I have just finished reading a biography of the talented Cumbrian artist Percy Kelly (1918 1993) and came across the following passage on his WWII activities: (40) SCHOOL NEWS: MUSIC
We are delighted that the new time slot for the Informal Concerts (Thursday nights, 9 15pm) continues to prove very popular, with parents, staff and friends now able to support their friends and fellow performers If not entirely new, then a blast from the past came from The CCF Band, which played for the Biennial Inspection This band, arranged specifically for the occasion, played so impressively that it is hoped a permanent CCF Band will now remain as a permanent fixture on Wednesday after noons
Of course key elements of the musical year remained in place: The House Unisons and Harmonies were held in the first half of term, and featured great singing from all of the houses The term was rounded off with the Charity Cabaret Pears School was completely transformed for the Cabaret, and all agreed that it was of a particularly high standard this year, as ever raising funds for the Lent term charity There has been very strong support for our music competitions this term We have had the Singing, Orchestral Percussion & Strings competitions, with memorable performances given in all classes Be sure to put 28th April in your diary for the grand final to find Repton’s Musician of the Year This event, plus all others can be found in the Music Calendar, also new, now available from the Lodge AJR Bowley, Director of Music
PIGEON POST Continued “The army quickly recognised his talents and transferred him to the Royal Signals in Derby where he had a stroke of luck as he struck up a friendship with an officer an old Reptonian called Hazard who owned a vintage Rolls Royce which Percy drew several times This was probably their initial point of contact Hazard introduced him to the Art Master at Repton, Albert (sic) Norris who invited him to use the Art room at the school whenever he wanted Percy took full advantage of this and revelled in the materials that were available to him as well as many after noons of tea and conversation in Mr Norris’ study”
Arthur Norris is of course well remembered by me (Hall 1948) but I can find no trace of an OR called Hazard in the 1957 Register in which he should surely have been listed Kelly’s visits to Repton took place in 1939 or the early 1940s Can anyone identify “Hazard”?
Editors Note: If anyone can identify “Hazard” please contact the OR office and we will pass on your information to Greville. Dear Mike Stones I see in the last issue of The Arch a very short notice on J.H.L. Bell (H’41) I am very proud to say, although I was older than “Herbie”, that was his nickname, of having been a good friend of his Herbie was a great musician He helped Mervyn W illiams in Chapel, often playing the organ during evensong I played the trumpet in Chapel with him many a time Herbie was also an excellent allrounder, he was in the A K soccer side, played right half and had his House cap He also played cricket, won with his House in 1944 House Matches, had a House cap and his XXII cap I know because I opened with the 22 eleven and he came in at No 3 Another OR who opened the 2nd eleven innings was Jimmy Essenhigh Herbie was very much appreciated at school and in the House I believe he was Head of the Hall in 1944/1945 Andre Cicurel (H’38) Dear Mike, I was saddened to read in The Arch of the death of Mr Workman As you may remember, I asked you three years ago for his address and I subsequently visited him on one of my trips back to England I had realised, somewhat belatedly, that his influence on me was probably as great as anyone outside my immediate family and I wanted to see him again and thank him before it was too late As I approached his cottage, my memories were of his very sharp mind and great wit and humour, but I prepared myself to be disappointed and to find but an ordinary, elderly man who could hardly remember me "Ah Bones good" was his opening remark and he proceeded to spend the next 2 hours quizzing me as if we had never left The Audit Room 30 years before I should have gone to see him a long time ago He was sad that when he had received my letter he had immediately wanted to phone David W ilkinson, but then realised that he could not because of David's death a few months before But other than that, he was the same Mr Workman as he had always been, even taking up Sudoku now in addition to The T imes Crossword I managed to thank him at some stage, not for the Latin but for his general influence on me and certainly for my appreciation of wit and irony He dismissed this utter nonsense, of course, much as he had my rather puerile attempts at wit and irony (and Latin prose) 30 years before, but I think there was a little smile of pleasure hidden safely away somewhere I reminded him that he used to tell me that Repton was a very good school for me because of my wide range of interests, but that "true academics go to W inchester, of course" I also reminded him of the time when I arrived about 10 minutes late one mor ning and apologised that I had needed to go to the San; he took one look at my obviously healthy complexion and said "Nothing trivial,I hope" To this day, I have been unable to think up a good response Best wishes, Simon Lloyd (B’72) Dear Secretary I am sorry I couldn’t get to the Gaudy or the Ypres service, I hope they both went well I was sorry to hear about Keith Workman; I was never good enough at Latin to be in one of his sets but he was House Tutor to us in the Orchard for all my time there, so got to know him quite well Mike Charlesworth was my first Form Master in Remove B and directed me in a play or two and Pat Norwood struggled manfully to get me through Maths and Higher Maths at A level, so the front cover of the last issue of The Arch was very evocative for me! Julian Knight (O’58) (41)
Kelly, incidentally was a fascinating but disturbed personality with a unique talent The details of his life are to be found in “The Painted Letters of Percy Kelly” by Chris Wadsworth, Castlegate Gallery, Cockermouth Regards Greville Watts (H’48)
Lloyd
Laing Nicolas Ibanez Scott Jipeng Li Richard Sale Mathilde Juul Mark Dudley Philip Hechle Brian John O'Neill Roger Smith Rev James Bar nett James R Chapman Martin Duncan Robinshaw Severin J B Zilg Eddie Niem David Poon Tom Goodall Julie Daniels Natsuko Ishikawa(nee Sato) Richard Hedley Ibrahim Dikko David Llewelyn Paul Bleckly Mark Verheyen Mark Smith R yan Brews Richard Brooksbank Peter Hall Luke Allen John W ilcox Jonny Greenall Alex Proctor Pearson Charles Adeogun Phillips Jom Salakshana Charles Neil Jane Roy Mark W ilhelm Verheyen Douglas Balchan Andreas Graham Anthony Edgar Paul Elliott Russell Elliott Andy Hilton Christopher Huson Mike Jolley Shaheen Ladhani Edward James Hutson Elliot Charles Reid Gordon Sharp Samuel Chibale lloyd berger@bgih com au jm reddington@yahoo co uk frank@happygardener com au simon@afps net au vanessatwigg@optusnet com au jmartinh@shaw ca dtbears@kingston net dlaing@endeavourfinancial com richard@edacen com miss@matty dk markdudley@blueyonder co uk hechle@wananchi com bandhoneill@eircom net noelsmit@campus jyu fi james bar nett@wanadoo fr jim@chapmans de martin@robinshaw de niemeyf@netvigator com dgkpoon@gmail com info@juliedaniels com Violino7@hotmail com r s hedley@xtra co nz lydikko@hotmail com davidlle@online no bceurasia@pacific net ph mverheyen@comcast net mshsmith@btinter net com R yanbR@mcmotor co za richard brooksbank@wits ac za eat@cookingbear com luke@quova com jdw@fidentiis com jonnyg@propilots net adeogun@un org Charles Neil@difc ae jroy@uab edu mverheyen@comcast net djbalchan@aol com andreas graham@verizon net ajedgar@mac com paul elliott0@yahoo com Russell Elliott@irco com andyh@totallybrilliant com mrhuson@mindspring com MnJJOLLEY@aol com shaheen@rice edu james@ellcorentals com bracmed@candw ky gsharp@cwjamaica com chibale s@yahoo com + 61 293374081 + 61 738083249 + 61 8 9364 6875 (+61) 401 069 394 / (03) 90900501 + 61 394 121 206 +1 780 483 5442 +1 613 547 6551 + 1 604 925 3113 + 56 2 216 8820 07855 237559 + 357 2543 4165 + 45 3555 6490 + 00 353 1 285 9663/087 2956724 + 358 14260 1224 + 33 5 46 94 99 25 + 0049 541 181590 + 0049 6201 15807 + 852 2873 8118 + 852 9252 2128 + 91 22 6676 1676 + 39 0583 23675 + 81 80 3002 7170 + 0064 9 277 6577 + 234 809 944 4545 + 47 51 571930 + 63 2 753 1489 +34 662143442 + 27 21 531 7206 + 27 33 234 4933 +34 91 366 1378 & +34 654 328577 + 00 34 914153415 + 41 21 621 6424 + 255 27 256 5329 + 66 2 331 9053 & +661 8192717 + 9714 3622238 + 1 205 934 1757 + 00 1 937 322 2040 andreas graham@verizon net + 1 212 988 2602 + 001 704 756 6981 + 1 863 7012680 + 1 206 328 6112 + 1 520 529 9562 + 1 713 348 5716 + 246 256 4637 & +246 4347395 + 1 876 986 2870 0978 214 362 (zain network) add inter national dialling codes Priory ' 71 Brook ' 42 Orchard ' 53 Orchard ' 90 Abbey ' 76 Orchard ' 46 Latham '51 Latham ' 70 Latham ' 70 Field ' 97 Hall ' 61 Abbey ' 91 Priory ' 91 Hall ' 50 Mitre ' 49 Priory ' 66 Hall ' 57 Hall ' 83 Latham ' 78 Mitre ' 01 Latham ' 66 Hall ' 85 New ' 93 Abbey ' 89 Abbey ' 96 Hall ' 66 New ' 83 Orchard ' 63 Cross ' 67 Cross ' 77 Orchard ' 78 Mitre ' 00 New ‘79 Latham ' 57 Orchard ' 87 Mitre ' 82 Orchard ' 89 Orchard ' 89 Orchard ' 83 Mitre ' 86 Priory ' 65 Abbey ' 86 Cross ' 77 Orchard ' 71 Mitre'83 Orchard ' 90 Mitre ' 90 Mitre ' 93 Brook ' 68 Hall ' '72 Orchard ' 46 Cross ' 89 Mitre ' 68 Hall ' 64 Priory ' 54 Mitre '95 Note: If you require a postal address for any of the Overseas Links please contact the OR Secretary
Berger John Reddington Frank Smith Simon Q Crabtree Vanessa Twigg Rev Martin Hattersley
(42) We are publishing below a full list of those Reptonians who have volunteered to be ‘Overseas Links’ We are very grateful to those who have volunteered, but there are many gaps in the list of countries for which we have Links If you would be willing to act as an Overseas Link in a country not already covered, please contact Mike Stones/Jan Cobb at: or@repton org uk or jcobb@repton org uk Country Overseas Link House/Year Email Telephone OVERSEAS LINKS AUSTRALIA New South Wales Queensland Perth Victoria (Melbour ne) Victoria CANADA Alberta Easter n Ontario & Quebec Wester n CHILE CHINA CYPRUS DENMARK EAST AFRICA EAST AFRICA (Kenya) EIRE FINLAND FRANCE GERMANY (East/South) GERMANY GERMANY HONG KONG HONG KONG INDIA ITALY JAPAN NEW ZEALAND NIGERIA NORWAY PHILIPPINES SINGAPORE SOUTH AFRICA Cape Town Johannesburg Natal SPAIN Madrid Madrid Mallorca SWITZERLAND TANZANIA THAILAND UNITED ARAB EMIRATES USA All All Ohio Massachusetts New York North Carolina North Carolina Florida Washington Arizona Texas WEST INDIES All CAYMAN ISLANDS JAMAICA ZAMBIA
Tony
Houghton
David
(43) Would you prefer to read The Arch on line and not receive a paper copy? Please advise us if this is the case DEADLINE FOR ARTICLES for the next Edition (November 2010) is August 2010 Prices correct at time of going to press OR OFFICE In the OR Office we are keen to ensure that we keep our records updated for all ORs To this end we would be grateful if you could contact us if any of your details change, such as address, email, telephone numbers etc We are also delighted to hear your ‘good news’ such as engagements, marriages, births, qualifications gained, new jobs etc We will only publish such information in The Arch with your agreement Thank You! Please email the office: or@repton org uk or jcobb@repton org uk Or telephone: 01283 559320 Or write to us at: The Old Reptonian Society The Hall, Repton School Repton, Derbyshire DE65 6FH REPTON SCHOOL SHOP Memorabilia OR Ties: Silk Smooth £21 85 Silk non crease £24 25 Bow T ie £23 25 OR House/Sports Ties: Brook House £7 25 The Hall £9 25 The Priory £5 50 School House polyester £6 50 New House £6 25 Latham House £7 50 The Orchard £10 75 The Mitre £8 70 The Cross £7 75 OR Football £16 85 OR Hockey £12 95 OR Golf (striped) £6 25 Cambridge £17 30 House scarves: The Priory £20 00 School House £20 75 New House £20 00 Latham House £20 00 The Orchard £20 75 The Mitre (Girls) £20 75 Cross £20 30 The Abbey & Field House £20 00 The Garden £21 40 Blazer made to order £150 00 Banded white sweaters £25 00 (Long sleeve and sleeveless) Umbrellas: Large golf umbrella £26 50 Ladies umbrella £16 00 If you wish to order any of the following items please contact the School Shop Tel. 01283 559323, or by email: shop@repton.org.uk. Please note that the prices shown do not include postage and packing Miscellaneous: Large Glass Crested Tankard £22 40 Small Glass Crested Tankard £16 25 Large Glass Crested Goblet £18 55 Crested Red W ine Glass £17 10 Glass Crested Paper Weight £26 40 Crested Cuff Links £15 00 Crested Key Rings £7 30 Brass Buttons large £4 00 Brass Buttons small £4 00 Repton Cards £0 75 Repton Postcards £0 10 Large Teddy Bear (12”) £12 00 Repton Cricket Cap £9 70 Gentleman’s Weekend Socks (pair) £7 65 (Sizes: medium 6½ 8½; large 9 11) Mug £5 00 Coaster £2 95 OR Lady’s Brooch £45 00 Repton China Coin Tray £3 25 Repton To The End £37 50 Christmas Cards Pack of 10 £1 30
