THE ARCH OLD REPTONIAN NEWSLETTER May I2011 ssue Nº 318
President: David Pepper (Hall 1953) President Elect: Charles Fry (Hall 1953)
for
Richard C E Lowther (Brook 1985) Tennis Club
Chairman: James M. Ross (Hall 1968)
David Pepper David Pepper, 2011 President The Undercroft, Spring 2011 The same scene, December 2010 for articles the next edition (October 2011) is AUGUST 2011
Sanjiv Basu (Orchard 1989) Fives Anthony E Bishop (Priory 1972) Golf Society
(2) OFFICERS OF THE OLD REPTONIAN SOCIETY 2011 PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY 2011 David Pepper (H’53) The Old Reptonian Society The Hall, Repton School Repton, Derbyshire DE65 6FH Tel. 01283 559320 Email: jcobb@repton.org.uk / or@repton.org.uk Website: www.orsociety.com School website: www repton org uk Editorial Team: Mike Stones & Jan Cobb Executive Committee
Gover nors’
2009
Vice President: Robert A. Holroyd Headmaster
Elected Committee Members
Front Cover:
Repton has been very close to my heart throughout my life My father and uncle were there, my brother and cousins were there, my children and their cousins were there as well as my son in law and now my eldest grandson is in his first year It is little wonder that it always feels a bit special as one drives over the Trent bridge and into the village!
DEADLINE
Members
Adam M Sinclair (Latham 1978) Appointed 2006 Paul A W indridge (Priory 1969) Appointed 2006 John F M Walker (Hall 1946 and ex Staff) Life Member
Back Cover:
Assistant
Representative: Robert M Kirkland (Orchard 1959)
I am very honoured to have been elected your President for 2011 and hope to attend as many Old Reptonian events as possible during my year of Office Already we have held a very successful "Drinks in the City"at which some 125 people were present, and at the time of writing I have just retur ned from the Paris OR Dinner so ably organised by James Bar nett (H’57)
Secretary: Mike Stones (Staff) Secretary: Jan Cobb (Staff)
James T Leavesley (New 1975) Appointed 2009 J M Guy Levesley (Hall 1975) Appointed 2009
Louise P Howarth (Garden 1996) Appointed 2007 Sarah R E Taylor (Field 1998) Appointed 2008 Ex Officio
Simon D Armstrong (Cross 1963) Lancs & Cheshire
Nicholas Peter Le Poidevin (Cross 1964) Law Society
Hamer J E Boot (School 1995) Football Club Martin G Grayshon (Cross 1961) Yorkshire Charles Michael Keep (Orchard 1969 & Staff) Hockey Club
Nicola M Obor n (Garden 1991) Staff Appointed 2007 Simon J Obor n (Orchard 1989) Appointed
John F R Hird ( Priory 1960) Masonic Lodge Cathy Twigg Staff Marketing & Development Director
I look forward to supporting the Golf Society at the Halford Hewitt in April and the Pilgrims in the Cricketer Cup in June, as well as attending The Gaudy, OR Day and the Annual Dinner on 12 November at Repton at which spouses can attend for the first time
In conclusion may I thank on your behalf Mike Stones and Jan Cobb, for all the hard work they do for the Society
Every school has its ups and downs but Repton, under the expert guidance of Robert Holroyd, is certainly on an "up" at the present time The school is full and well funded so it will come as no surprise for you to lear n elsewhere of the ambitious plan to build a Science Priory It will need some help from ORs and in particular those of you who are lucky enough to be free of mortgages and school fees
Treasurer: John S Wallis (Latham 1971)
Thomas Richard Pepper (Hall 1949) Midlands Francis W S Russell (Orchard 1969) Pilgrims
7 15 pm 22nd
(a),
U15A&B v Nottingham High School Girls’
AUGUST 2011 31
Dates
12
27th
Warwick School 25th Aberdare and Glanville Cup Round 4 (provisional) Subscription Concert: Matthijs Broersma (Cello), Rosie Richardson (Piano), Music School, 7 45 pm 26th Boys’ JHM Cricket Round 2 27th Science Priory Parents’ Reception, 400 Hall, 2 45 pm Exeat begins, 4 30 pm JUNE 2011 5th Boarders retur n 8 00 pm 7th Boys’ U15A XI, U15B v Rugby School Boys’ U14A&B v Rugby School 8th The Donald Carr Trophy: Prep Schools Cricket Tournament Subscription Concert: Peter Stones (L’05) (Trombone), Steve Pepper (Trumpet) Music School, 7.45 pm 9th Informal Concert, Music School, 9 15 pm 11th OR Society Gaudy Yrs 1973 1996 & 6th Formers 1999 Boys’ 1st XI v Worksop, 11 30 am 13th James Kropacsy Relays, Hall Close, 4 30 pm (Reserve date) 18th Boys’ 1st XI v Nottingham High School Boys’ U14A&B v Nottingham High School (a) Boys’
pm 25th
& Girls’ Athletics at Moorways,
Tennis Senior A & B v Shrewsbury (a) 19th Subscription Series Organ Recital,
29th Boys’ 1st XI v Free Foresters, 11 30 am
2nd
18th Boys’ Tennis 1st VI v Nottingham High School 4 15 pm 19th Junior House Cricket Festival Round One Informal Concert, Music School, 9.15 pm
VI, 2nd, U15A&B v Trent (a) Girls’ U14AB&C v Trent
JULY 2011 1st Athletics Finals, 10 00 am, followed by Presentation of Cups Speech Day Speeches, 10.15 am Guest of Honour: Justin Urquhart Stewart Speech Day Concert, Pears School, 11 30 am Boys’ 1st XI v Repton Pilgrims, 11 00 am ends 2 30 pm Michaelmas Term begins (3) correct at time of
30th Athletics Finals, 2 15 pm Orchestral Concert, Pears School, 7 30 pm
21st Boys’ 1st XI v Uppingham, Boys’ U16, U15A&B v Uppingham Boys’ Tennis Senior A&B v Bromsgrove
5th Informal Concert, Music School, 9 15 pm
SCHOOL CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2011
12th Boys’ Tennis 1st, U15 v Nottingham High School
14th Science Priory Parents’ Reception, 400 Hall, 12 noon Boys’ 1st XI v Shrewsbury, Boys’ U16, U15A&B, v Shrewsbury Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics v Trent 17th Boys’ U14A XI, U14B v Warwick School Boys’ Tennis Senior and Junior v Rugby
22nd Prep Schools’ Tennis Tournament 24th Boys’ U15A XI, U15B v 2nd, 3rd, 1st Boys’ Boys’ Jeremy Rouse, Chapel, Boys’ 1st KES Birmingham dep 20 Concert, 9.05 Boys’ 1st XI v Trent, 11 30 am Boys’ U14A&B v Trent Girls’ 1st VI, 2nd, U15A, U14A v Kimbolton Boys’ Tennis Senior A & B, U15A v Trent (a) Boys’ 1st XI v Garsfontein High School, South Africa Junior School Play, 400 Hall, 7 30 pm Boys’ 1st XI (11 30 am), U15A, U14 A v Wolverhampton GS Golf v Kedleston Park GC Junior School Play, 400 Hall, 7 30 pm
MAY 2011 1st Golf v OR Society, Little Aston GC 3rd Boys’ Tennis 1st VI, 2nd, U15A&B v Uppingham Boys’ U15A XI v Richmond School (Lord’s Taver ners, North Region)
28th
publication
Music School,
pm Scholars’
Term
XI v
7th Boys’ 1st XI v Oakham Girls’ 1st VI, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, U16 v Uppingham (a) Girls’ U15A&B, U14A&B v Uppingham Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics at Rugby 8th Boys’ 1st XI HMC 20/20 Cricket v Worksop, Notts High and Oakham 10th Girls’ 1st VI, 2nd, 3rd, U16A v Rugby Boys’ 1st XI v MCC 11 30 am Boys’ U14A, U14B v KES Birmingham (a) Temple Society, Undercroft, 6 30 pm
11th Boys’ Tennis 1st VI, 2nd v Nottingham High Aberdare and Glanville Cup Round 3 (provisional)
The Reverend John R M Cook (O’74) has been elected to be a Member of the House of Clergy of the General Synod of the Church of England, for Oxford Diocese Patrick Foster (L’90) has been awarded the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (Trauma and Orthopaedics) Charlotte Jones (Née McWhirter) (A’82) has graduated from Coventry University with a distinction in an MA in Fine Art Tom Leaver (P’05) is having a very busy gap year In October 2010 he walked the Great Wall of China Charity Trek for Help for Heroes The trip was a resounding success Tom and his companions raised in excess of £8500 by trekking approximately 102 miles in 8 days across the most wildest but stunning of locations Tom followed this by having five months in Melbour ne, Australia
George Rainsford’s (M’96) career continues to develop apace His latest part is in “Twisted Tales” , a stage adaptation (by League of Gentlemen’s Jeremy Dyson) of short stories for adults by Roald Dahl, himself of course an Old Reptonian This Lyric Hammersmith production subsequently toured to Liverpool and Newcastle, receiving excellent notices Alexander Rose (C’92) has been appointed Chairman of the United Kingdom State Aid Group (which is an area of European Competition law) Johnny Rozsa (H’ 63) has produced his first monograph ‘Untouched’ which captures the flawless features of celebrities from the 80s such as Hugh Grant, Halle Barry, Janet Jackson and a special section dedicated to Leigh Bowery Rebelling against the paparazzi’s obsession with capturing unflattering shots that compromise the integrity of celebrities, ‘Untouched’ pays tribute to the old school Hollywood model of glamour Anne Strong (G’99) completed the Great South run in October last year in the very respectable time of 1hour 44 minutes Nick Wilcox (O’88) has recently moved to Vienna working for the Erste Group, a financial institution focusing on Central and Easter n Europe If any ORs live in Vienna or are visiting and would like to meet up with Nick his email is nick wilcox@erstegroup com
FORTHCOMING OR EVENTS 2011 2011 GAUDY This year’s Gaudy is for all ORs who joined the school between the years 1973 to 1996 and 6th Formers 1999 You should by now have received your invitations Numbers are restricted to 220 in Pears School, so early booking is advisable
This is taking place on June 19th see page 21 for details
AGM AND ANNUAL DINNER
Geoffrey Morris (M’60), has been writing down his personal memories of Repton, illustrated with photographs, some of which he has taken himself and others he has acquired To view the photographs please go to www repton org uk/mitre house 1960 He has very few of the inside of the Mitre as it was in the late fifties and sixties and would like to hear from any ORs who may have any photographs Email: morris8ul@btinter net com or telephone 01834 831241 Rupert Pugh (H’89) and his navigator Dan Whapples’ Heights of Abraham team dominated the Powerboat P1 Superstock series They won nine out of 11 races, to claim the first ever 2010 Championship title, courtesy of their second place at the Lymington Grand Prix of the Sea Having proved himself the master of every tur n and wave jump over the course of the season in the 300 class, Rupert was officially crowned champion
LONGEST DAY GOLF CHALLENGE
OLD REPTONIAN NEWS SNIPPETS
Thank you to Kenneth McAlpine (H’38) for donating two copies of The Forgotten Tommy Poets of WW1 by Robert W ickson Errata Snippets, issue 317, should have read John Reddington B’42
November 12th 2011, Repton School (4)
GERMAN REUNION 2011 After the success of the first German reunion Sophie Bauer (F’02) is now organising the second event This will take place on October 1st 2011 at the V illa Rothschild in Königstein, Taunus, the same place as the last one For further details please email Sophie on sissibauer@hotmail com
Katie Mckay (née Gillham) (G’91) and Iain are delighted to announce the birth of Finn Callum on August 14th 2010, a brother for Cameron Julia Pearson (née Hinchliffe) (G’92) is very proud to announce the birth of Elizabeth Ilse Rose Pearson on September 25th 2010 Mark Pointer (L’97) and Rebecca Pointer (née Brady) (F’00) are delighted to announce the birth of Sebastian Mark Christopher on November 4th 2010
Julia Faulks (née Gladwin) (A’90) and Stephen are delighted to announce the arrival of James W illiam Henry on May 6th 2009.
BIRTHS (5)
Charles Dor nton (O’78) and Vicky are pleased to announce the safe arrival of Edward John on February 11th 2011, a brother for Louisa Edward Every (N’88) and Sosennah are thrilled to announce the birth of their daughter Isobel Mary on March 2nd 2010
Jonathan Hart (H’86) and Diptyka are pleased to announce the birth of their second daughter Anoushka on 21st January 2010
ENGAGEMENTS
MARRIAGES Catherine Gill (A’88) married Daniel James Sharp on December 4th 2010 It was a very cold and snowy day, with 8 inches of snow falling the day before the wedding making logistics a little challenging, not least because the church was in the middle of a wood with only a dirt track leading up to it, the service was held at W ithburga's Church, Holkham, North Norfolk with the wedding reception afterwards at Sussex Bar n in Bur nham Market OR's in attendance were Prue Peat (née Farmer (A'96), Laura Stacey (A'93) and Kate Adkins (G'93)
The engagements are announced of: Ludmila Gelbutovskaya (G’97) to Andrew Peryer The marriage will take place in Munich, Germany in September 2010 Rob Hinton (C’88) to Joanna Hallilfield The marriage will take place on July 9th 2011 at St Wystan's Church Tom Swerling (H’92) to Charlotte Anne Nelson
Devin Gordon (P'02) and Anna Pace recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary They were married on August 1, 2009 at the Cathedral Church of All Saints in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada Devin is a Civil Engineer having graduated from The University of Wester n Ontario in 2008 He is currently working for the Miller Group near Toronto, Ontario
The wedding of Simon J Palfreeman (L’90) and Miss Stacey Ann Lowe of New Jersey, USA took place on May 1st 2010, in St Peter's Church, Bishopton, County Durham The ceremony was followed by a reception at the Royal Station Hotel, Newcastle upon Tyne The wedding was attended by many friends and family from the USA and beyond, with the UK contingency sitting on tenterhooks during the Icelandic ash cloud crisis, but everything was perfect on the day Mark Pointer (L'97) and Rebecca Brady (F'00) married on September 13th 2008 at Bolton Abbey, North Yorkshire In attendance at the wedding were (l r): Edward Pickard (L'97), James Blackwell (P'00), Christopher Brook (P'97), Andrew Robertson (O'98), Edward Sloane (P'97), Best Man Clayton Penny (P'97), Mark Pointer (L'97), Rebecca Pointer (née Brady) (F'00), Rachael Brady (F'02), Henry Brown (S'97), Sarah Tennant (Staff), Terry Blain (Staff), Melissa Blain (Staff), Elaine & Richard Hillier (former staff)
Alexander Rose (C’92) married Laura Jackson on July 24th 2010 at Crook Hall in Durham and then Durham Castle Other ORs present on the day included, Best Man Oliver Walker (C’92), Camilla Rose (G’93), John Dudley Rose (C’54) and Jeremy Saul (O’89)
The wedding of Alex Kington (N’91) and Louisa Bache took place on September 25th 2010 at St John’s Church, Hagley followed by a reception at Hagley Hall, Worcestershire ORs in attendance were: (Left to right) James Ellis (C'91), Aimee Webster (née Bullivant) (A'91), James Clarke (M'90), Fiona Harold (née Harding) (A'93), Jonny Webster (N'90), Giles Chaplin (N'91), Rob Fish (H'91), Sarah Jones (née Harding) (A'91), Mark Nash (O'91), Rachel Hill (née Kington) (Foremarke), Alex Kington (N'91), Louisa Kington, Lauren Allen (O'91), Ben Hughes (M'89), David O'Gram (N'91), Verity Tate (née Jordan) (A'94), Paul Tate (N'91) and Alexis Twigg (N'91) Paul Tate and Mark Nash were the Best Men
(6) MARRIAGES
(7) MARRIAGES Jeremy Stanton (B'89) married Miss Sabreena Murtagh on August 12th 2010 at Our Lady of Ransom Catholic Church, East Sussex A reception was held at Herstmonceux Castle ORs in attendance (from left to right), Robert Atkinson (Foremarke), Duncan Johnstone (B'89), Samuel Gilbert (M'89), Nicholas Smith (M'89), Simon Blunt (N'79), Christabel Blunt (née Stanton) (G'92), Jeremy Stanton (B'89), Sabreena Stanton, Melissa Morley (née Stanton) (A'93), Thomas Sanders (N'89), Isabel Sanders (Foremarke) and Joseph Henry (Foremarke) The wedding of Melissa Wheatley (A’91) to Christian Schirmer was held in Australia at the Bathers’ Pavilion, Balmoral Beach, Sydney Gemma Barker (née Wheatley) (A’92) was bridesmaid
Antonia Wimbush (A’94) married Christopher Gawn at St Wystan’s Church, Repton on 31st July 2010 Frances & Martin W imbush are pictured here with the Bride and Groom Other Reptonians also present were: Jenny Geary (née Hill) (A’94), Chris Hill (C‘92), Jenny Holmes (née Perks) (F‘95), Vicky Myles (née Matthewman) (G’94), Cristy Rosas (née Short) (A’94), Iain Wimbush (B’91), Andrew & Joan Cox (ex Repton Staff), Roger & Julia Juneau (ex Foremarke staff), Martin & Frances W imbush (ex Repton Staff) Below, from Left to right: Jenny Hill (née Kenning) (G’94), Antonia Wimbush (A’94), Jo Robins (née Phillips) (A’94) and Lucy Dalby (Foremarke)
PRIORY Martin Argles (P’38) on March 6th 2011 Edward Brian Bartley (P’33) on September 8th 2010 Guy Montagu Johnston Ewen (P’38) on 27th September 2010 Harry J Marshall (P’42) on September 27th 2010 Hon OR James Francis S Tullo on October 2nd 2010
NEW Alan Hampson Fogg M B E (N’35) on February 23rd 2010
MARRIAGES (8) The Wedding of Ben Wisher (O’98) and Emily Moore (F’00) took place on May 29th at St Giles Church, Whittington The Best Men were Marc Kofler (O’98) and Tim Thornhill (O’98) ORs attending (from left to right): Nigel Brown (L’73), Harry Brown (L’05), Issy Bucknall (A’99), Clayton Penny (P’97), Nick Cashmore (P’98), Blaine Connan (P’98), Francis Dalton (O’98), Will Bucknall (S’98), Tom Mills (O’98), Edward Shires (S’99), James Shires (S’09), Tim Thornhill (O’98), Andrew Robertson (O’98), Laura Ellis (G’98), Ben Wisher (O’98), Edd Burrell (L’98), Emily Wisher (F’00), Camilla Shires (F’00), Sebastian Moore (L’03), Felix Moore (L’05), Luke Wiseman (P’80), Rachel Parker (F’03), Marc Kofler (O’98), Charlotte Bates (F’00), Sophie Rogers (F’00), Phil Brindley (N’02), Sarah Pugh (F’00), Emily Bates (F’00), Charlotte Simpson (F’00), Phoebe Whittome (F’07), Georgina Whittome (F’04) Nicole Fell (F’00) was unable to attend as she is studying to become a teacher in Perth, Australia John Woodhead (P’87) married Eva Sidor, on August 6th 2010, at Korzkiew Church, Krakow, Poland Luke Allen (O'87) also attended
MITRE Robert Anthony Barber (M’48) on December 6th 2010 Michael J Brown (M’50) on 6th March 2011 Dr Andrew Robertson (M’65) on August 11th 2010
DEATH ANNOUNCEMENTS
BROOK Raymond Laurence Lisney (B’36) on August 12th 2010 Fyfe Saddler (B’67) on June 16th 2010
CROSS Robert K Bennett (C’51) in 2010 HALL Christopher John Bullock (H’51) on November 14th 2010 John Hedley (H’64) on February 25th 2011 James Geoffrey Whitehead (H’27) in November 2010
A LIFE TO BE CELEBRATED Tom, Dad, Pom Pom A truly gentle man, a loving, loyal husband, father, grandfather and friend and an example to us all on how to live an unselfish life to the full Bor n on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1925 into a world between wars he was to bring to life, hope, happiness and love He had a huge affection for Lancashire, his birth place, where his spirit and joy for life shone amongst the dark satanic mills and warmed the bleak North West drizzle After boarding at Char nley Hall School in Grange on Sands (the Riviera of the North), he followed on to Repton School where he excelled at swimming and all sports and developed into the strong, kind, generous, fair, courageous man we later came to know Europe descended into chaos and war as Dad approached his time to leave school He lied about his age and enrolled in the army joining as a regular soldier then gaining a Commission in the Coldstream Guards He saw action in both France and Holland but never spoke about his time there We have lear nt from others that he was courageous and brave, verging on foolhardy on many occasions and ear ned the respect and high opinion of his colleagues, many of whom he kept in contact with throughout his life After what must have been a terrifying introduction to his twenties, he retur ned to Bolton to his loving parents, brother and three sisters who lived at Manor House and joined the family company Constantine & Company Paper Mill and studied in Manchester to become a Master Bleacher and Dyer He always said he chose the wrong ‘b’ as banking and brewing were at this time more financially rewarding than bleaching However when mills in Lancashire and Yorkshire were closing to the left and to the right he opened his own: The Red Bridge Book Cloth Company, that he was to steer to great heights and success despite huge obstacles over the next 25 years or so Red Bridge Book Cloth Company was awarded The Queen’s Award for Exports a number of times On visits to the mill we will not forget how warmly his employees talked about Dad Strangely I remember one of the secretaries having a picture of him on her desk! He was immersed in helping others in Bolton and took a very active role in the Bolton Recreation Club that gave a place for children to meet and socialise in a poor area of the town He served as a Gover nor of Bolton School He would cross the country to attend the meetings for the Coldstreamer’s Association He loved to help others That was a pretty quick potted history of this wonderful man’s early life but where his life really took off was meeting the beautiful, vibrant, witty, and dynamic Ruth Kevill Marriage followed a period of intense wooing when Dad would drive day after day to visit his bride to be at Shaw Hill outside Chorley in his 1949 Riley Racer sportscar (9)
OBITUARIES TOM GLAISTER (B’59)
Whether shooting, fishing, sailing or walking his constant was “Is everyone else alright/can I help to make things better?”
Lancashire, Cumbria; the houses Lakelands, Hillside, Taylor’s Farm, Croft Head, Knot House were places that all were welcome to at any time In the latter years, Mum and Dad moved south to Bentworth and the Red House Again they created a loving home and were so kindly welcomed into this beautiful village From here he continued to give sage advice and help; to be fair, honest, constant and loyal For the past few years he battled with leukaemia but he only let on to us last year He never wanted to put people out or to be a burden on others He wanted more than anything to be around to care for his beloved Ruth Mum said last week “Darling Pom Pom was such a big man but he never made me feel small” This was an enduring marriage and partnership spanning over 57 years
The way that Dad dealt with his illness and his final days epitomised his strength, courage, determination and character He loved, he laughed, he lived to the full and was an example to us all He will be missed but leaves the legacy of a beautiful and adoring wife, us boys, 14 happy, gorgeous grandchildren and many friends who have fond memories of this wise, loving, caring and gentle man He left the world a better place
Stephen Glaister
Their first home, Lakelands, over a 10 year period became filled with 5 boys: Anthony, John, Stephen, Edmund and Ricky Mum & Dad gave us an idyllic childhood between Lancashire and Cumbria The White Lady, Petronella, clinker wooden rowing boats, Lake W indemere, climbing Coniston Old Man, sheep dog trials, the fells, the Pike and the Chinese Gardens at Horwich, go karts & motorbikes all resonate very happy memories for the 5 of us At times it seemed as if we were on the set of the Famous 5, Treasure Island or Swallows & Amazons We repaid them by setting at least 2 houses on fire, sinking numerous boats, knocking a hole through the boat house with a speedboat & shooting Ricky through the leg with an airgun We fought, we laughed and we cried I thank God for Ampleforth! Somehow, or rather by making huge sacrifices, they sent us all up to the North York Moors, but they were never far away They, as a couple, constantly loved and cared for us Dad was our compass, the Director He had a huge affection for us holidays were spent in the Isle of Man, North Wales, Cor nwall, the Lake District and Sardinia Again we blew things up, knocked over bird baths, let cattle onto golf courses and tried the patience of the locals Dad spent his holidays mending things that we broke He smiled, he encouraged, he loved and carried on directing the party, screw driver and glue in hand He took us all up to the Hurst & Chunal moor that he so loved He loved wildlife, birds, dogs, sticks and people connected to the countryside Animals instinctively were drawn to him and he showed great affection to all living things He taught us to love the earth, to nurture and care for one’s surroundings and the people involved with its upkeep
First at Stancliffe, and then most particularly at Repton, Ken developed a life long interest and passion for sport From 1952 Ken was a member of Duffield Cricket Club, being successively Captain, Chairman and then President Ken took up golf at the age of 46 in 1980 and became Club Captain of Kedleston Park Golf Club in 1992; he wrote a history of the Club for the Golden Jubilee in 1997, having undertaken the same task for Duffield Cricket Club on the occasion of its Centenary in 1978 He also had over 50 years’ unbroken membership of Derbyshire CCC But most particularly, Ken was a passionate supporter of Derby County Football Club all his life Ken was a member of the Derby Law Society Committee, Honorary Secretary of Derby Law Society Golf Society, a member of the Radio Derby Advisory Council, a member of the W irksworth Civic Society and W irksworth Heritage Centre, a Vice President and former goalkeeper of Belper Hockey Club, and a former sidesman at St Paul's Church, Quar ndon In retirement, much time and energy was taken up by being chairman of the Trustees of the massively successful Disaster Relief project run by the W irksworth Rotary Club, namely Aquabox Ken had the greatest pride in (and joy out of) his two Vintage Austin Cars, owned by the family since 1934 and 1936 respectively He was also a member of the Derbyshire County Club (of which he was a Committee member) and the Dolphin Investment Club
After Repton, Ken faced a career dilemma Ken's father was the fourth generation of Gregorys to be the proprietor of the family business of "Kenneth Gregory", "Ladies Outfitters and Milliners", in St James Street, Derby Such a future did not appeal to Ken and his (correct) instinct was that a few more years would make it difficult for such a business to survive Ken's mother's brother, Frank Bates, was senior partner of a firm of Solicitors in Derby, J H Powell and Co , which also had a branch office in W irksworth, Andrew Macbeth and Co A career in the law appealed to Ken, and so he became articled for five years (without pay) to his Uncle only the family connection caused the waiving of the premium that in those days was still paid by the luckless father of the pupil Ken then attended Nottingham University and obtained an LLB degree He subsequently attended Law School in Guildford, sharing “digs” with fellow Old Reptonian John Frankland (H’48) where the Law Society’s final examination had to be faced Six months’ intensive "cramming" ensured a pass John Frankland recounts stories of interrupting their studies with games of cricket contrived from a wooden ruler and a set of marbles; of stealing an after noon away to watch the Corinthian Casuals at Highbury; of adventures in the Gregory family Austin 10 A very strong and enduring friendship was formed
(10) OBITUARIES KEN GREGORY (C’47) Kenneth Vyvian Gregory was bor n on 12th April 1934 at the home of his parents, Kenneth Dudley and Mabel Adeline Gregory on Kedleston Road, Derby; he was their only child After spending his early school years at Mowbray Preparatory School on Ashbour ne Road, Derby and then at Stancliffe Hall Preparatory School, Darley Dale, Ken started as a new boy in Cross House, Repton in September 1947 with nine others The Housemaster of The Cross at the time was Bill Blaxland; Ken often reminisced about him and how he was a major influence in his life Ken recounted many stories of his time at Repton One involved his second day at school, when all of the Cross new boys were lined up by a prefect and forced to smoke Today complaints would doubtless be made to the Gover nors and disciplinary action taken Matters were different then, and Ken was convinced that paradoxically, what happened on that day, served him well in the long term For he was so violently sick as a result of that first cigarette that he never smoked again Several ORs have recounted stories of Ken’s goalkeeping exploits, for both House and School Gerald Mortimer (L’50) wrote in the Derby Evening Telegraph “I remember him being the goalkeeper for [the Cross] house football team and I can recall that clearly because I remember beating him with a stunning free kick, which meant I was the free kick taker from that point on” John Walker (H’46 & former master) recalled him as one the finest 2nd XI goalies never to have been promoted to the 1st’s John Frankland recalled him as “tall, acrobatic and eccentric with flat cap and thick gloves”
Ken subsequently went into practice as a full time Qualified Assistant Solicitor (starting salary £520 pa) From 1961 to 1974 Ken ran the W irksworth office, which was open Tuesdays and Thursdays, and he considered this opportunity for true "country practice" the happiest time of his professional life In 1974, Ken's firm absorbed A J Cash and Sons, (the other W irksworth law practice) However, with the retirement in 1977 of Ken's Senior Partner, Keith Thomson (who “taught him more about the practice of the law and human nature than anyone he knew"), Ken was obliged to spend most of his time in Derby Ken had married Janice in 1960; his best man was Andrew Turner (L’47) In 1962, a daughter, Rosemary, was bor n Sadly Rosemary survived just three days, dying of congenital heart failure This was of course a devastating blow but which had the effect of bringing Ken and Janice even closer together Sara was bor n in 1964; James in 1965; and Dianna in 1969 Ken and Janice lived first in a small house in Allestree overlooking the park; the opportunity came in 1966 to buy a plot of land in Quar ndon, where they built a home to their own design; they moved to Makeney Old Hall in 1984, of which they became very fond, but as they approached 70 years of age it was obviously too big for them, and they moved to Brailsford in 2003
It was testament to the man, that despite all the endless torture, he retained his humour, his faith, and his graciousness amongst his family, his friends, and all the very many medical staff who toiled around him
Many of Ken’s most enduring friendships were formed at Repton
James Gregory (son, C’79)
Ken is survived by his dearly beloved and devoted wife, Janice; his 3 children; and six (now seven) grandchildren Their elder daughter Sara married Steven Hargreaves, and they have two boys, Joshua and W illiam Dianna married Richard Lee; they have a son Harry and a daughter Alice Ken’s son James (Cross House 1979 to 1983) married Lisa; they have a daughter Mia, son Jed and (4 months after Ken died) another son Ostyn was bor n Ken asked for this (a quotation from the poem "Alumnus Football" by American writer Grantland Rice, written in 1941) to be read as an epitaph at his funeral: “For when the One Great Scorer comes To write against your name He marks, not that you won or lost, But how you played the game ”
Vicky Walker
It was the late Keith Workman who once wrote to Ken concer ning his son James, then at Cross House, after they had met at a dinner: “I now have a clue to James’s character: his father is a mine of useless information”
(11) Ken was a member of the Old Reptonian Society Committee for several years, and always followed events at Repton keenly He was an avid supporter of school football, cricket and hockey; and of his son’s contemporaries at the Old Reptonian Football Club Early in 1994 Ken retired as Senior Partner in the practice of J H Powell and Co , and became a Consultant with the firm Over 40 years of vicarious responsibility for other people's problems had taken its toll Ill health had dogged Ken from his 50’s: in 1983 he was seriously ill in hospital with salmonella poisoning; in 1987 two operations were needed to remove a stubbor n kidney stone; in 1991 a benign tumour on the main sciatic nerve in his right leg which had been causing much discomfort was removed in London; high blood pressure and associated problems became apparent in 1990, and major open heart surgery took place in Leicester to repair the mitral valve in November 1993; in May 1994 the valve was seen to be leaking badly again, and Ken went through the same operation in October that year, this time to replace the valve In August 1997, imminent failure of the aortic valve was diagnosed, and this valve was replaced during a major operation at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester In April 2005, Ken became critically ill with a massive inter nal bleed, and for the next few years was repeatedly readmitted to hospital with other serious blood infections Chronic leg ulcers caused by poor circulation were the cause of much pain, and in January 2008 Ken underwent major high risk surgery Further operations were needed for a hernia, varicose veins and a bowel infection All in all, he had at least 9 major operations over an 18 year period As if that wasn’t enough, he also suffered from gall bladder problems and anaemia
OBITUARIES KEN GREGORY (C’47) Continued
David was a respected authority on Napoleonic wars and the French cavalry His life long interest began more than 60 years ago when he saw a painting of General Antoine de Lassalle in the school library at Repton Although bor n in Stoke on Trent, David moved to London to research and write about French history He launched his writing career in 1959 with a novel ‘Sabre General’ This was followed by more fiction about a French regiment in the First World War He then published his first straight historical work ‘Napoleon's Cavalry and its Leaders’ His painstaking approach led him to produce a book on the Cato Street Conspiracy of 1820 after unearthing 96 boxes of old documents at the Public Records Office
It is remarkable how strong his bond was with the school; the family were very touched to see so many Old Reptonians (of all ages) at his funeral at Brailsford church, and by the very many letters of tribute
David was a soldier himself, in 1945 with the Welsh Guards and later commissioned as an officer in the old North Staffordshire Regiment His books appeal to both specialists and the general reader He died on the 17th of May 2010, having spent his retirement in South Wales
OBITUARIES DAVID JOHNSON (H’41)
Eventually all this became too much for an ever more frail body Ken passed away peacefully in the Royal Derby Hospital on 10th September 2010
Unfortunately he became ill and had to retur n to England, and when I met him in 1959 he was teaching at tough London schools on supply He continued to do this, taking jobs on building sites in the holidays which he vastly enjoyed, until in 1968 he was offered two jobs one as a head teacher of a small private school and the other by our friend Justin de Blank who had decided to open a small specialised food shop and wanted someone who could run the actual shop Robert chose the latter, and I think I can say, he never looked back! During his time there he chose to lear n to buy in the fruit and vegetable markets, and the Smithfield meat market, and he also took a number of weeks lear ning to bake bread (the company had bought a bakery) I got fed up with the long and often very early hours that these activities entailed, so in time he gave them up! But he loved his contacts with his staff and they loved him We had bought our house in West Harting just in time in 1970 so in 1994 he happily retired here and began planting trees in the grounds we had bought from a neighbouring farmer, I would not call either of us true gardeners; Robert was a great one for “Let nature take its course ” Nevertheless, most of the tress have done well even if weeds have taken over in a number of places He was a great one for physical labour, and was chopping wood aged 82 When illness came and he was unable to do much, life became a burden to him and there is little doubt that he was grateful to be taken from us when he was Patricia Troop (wife)
Over 200 people attended Andrew’s funeral service in Parwich and 370 at the Memorial Service in Walhampton
On his and Rachel’s retirement, after 14 years, they retur ned to their beloved Derbyshire, where Andrew became an active member of the church and community of Parwich, the village they chose for their retirement W ith the knowledge that his time was short, he took the Murray Walkers (also much loved members of the Walhampton family) on a tour of his favourite places near his home It is a privilege to have known and worked with a man of such stature Extracted from The Mercury (Hordle Walhampton)
The General in charge summoned him to ask where the hell were they and Robert was forced to admit he had no idea Despite, this, the General subsequently asked him to become his A D C and his sister tells me that the Army were anxious to keep him
Robert Troop was bor n in 1926, had a normal education finishing at Repton, where he was one of a small number selected to go to Sandhurst to train for the Army When there he won the Sword of Honour, but because it was still wartime he was never actually given a sword! He did his army “time” in the Middle East and North Africa and all I ever heard about it was his enjoyment of hunting the jackal in the early mor nings with a mixed pack of dogs There was also the story of when in Palestine being put in charge of leading his group to some specific place and managing to get them all behind enemy lines!
Returning to England, Robert went to Cambridge, taking Law as his subject and enjoying all the delightful opportunities for acting and singing which University provides He left Cambridge with a 2:1 and then decided to go out to Nigeria to run a leper settlement for two years But his heart was set on singing in opera and he went to Rome to study, keeping body and soul together by teaching English to the posh families there only £25 per annum was allowed to be taken out of the country at that time
Friend and colleague Kevin Guest writes: Anyone who had the pleasure of meeting Andrew would know what a special man he was and be saddened by his death Andrew had been appointed Head at a very young age 29 I believe at Brocksford Hall School, Derbyshire He proved himself to be a great reader of character and a real leader He was respected and loved by staff, parents and pupils and instilled into the children a real sense of responsibility and excellent manners His love of sport was always evident and he would try and watch every match that took place In 1983 Andrew was appointed Headmaster of Walhampton School and very soon began to make his mark W ithin 2 years he had encouraged his wife, Rachel to open a pre prep, and this has grown from an initial 12 children to the large and successful (C’51)
(12) department it is today His love of nature meant he found great joy in the beautiful grounds and diverse wildlife and he could often be seen walking Sam, the Labrador, by the lakes and in the glade
OBITUARIES ANDREW ROBINSON
OBITUARIES ROBERT LIVESEY TROOP (B’40)
OBITUARIES GODFREY
On January 15th the first meeting for Reptonians Down Under took place As an inaugural event perhaps, sadly, it was rather low on numbers, however, the beautiful sunny weather and the great company made up for it!
(P’82)
Sport always played a large part in his life; he played hockey for North Staffs at North Staffs Hockey Club, tennis, squash and golf, becoming President of Trentham Golf Club He also played with the Old Reptonian Golf Society Unfortunately his sport was curtailed in 2003 when he nearly died in a serious car accident It was thought that he would never walk again but he confounded everyone by appearing on the golf course 12 months later Brian not only enjoyed sport himself, but encouraged many others with his enthusiasm and dry wit He took a keen interest in his children and grandchildren, He was always dependable and reliable and is very sadly missed Vicky Walker (wife) Died November 1st 2010 He leaves his wife Vicky, 3 children Clare, Paul ( O’78) and Guy (O’82) and his 6 grandchildren Brian thought a great deal of his children and was always there for them, being both kind and patient He remembered his time at Repton with great affection, particularly leaning more towards sport; he played tennis at Junior W imbledon On leaving school and completing National Service as a Commissioned Officer, he joined the family lubricant oil firm Century Oils which was based in Hanley, Stoke on Trent, eventually becoming the company works director in which he played a significant part in the development of the company factories world wide He also worked for many years on two European Committees, that dealt with the concerns of pollution
A memorial service was held at the First Congregational Church in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, on Friday, March 11th 2011
It was really interesting to be able to share some of our precious times that we had whilst we were at Repton It was really appreciated, too, the distance that some people travelled to attend the event At this stage, no date has been organised for the next get together Please do keep an eye out in the next issue of The Arch as details will be available then We would love to see some more faces next time and enjoy reminiscing about the fun times we all shared Kait Nolan (née Hall) From left to right are some of the guests Adam Staples (B’86), Kait Nolan (née Hall) (A’88), Neil Adams (H’67), Brian Roberts (M’49) and Neville Greenhalgh (H’49).
Susanna Turnbull (wife) Godfrey (Thomas Arthur) Tur nbull of Riverside, and previously of Old Greenwich, Connecticut, lost his courageous struggle with Lymphoma on February 12, 2011, at the age of 46 He is survived by his loving wife, Susanna (née Helsing) in Gothenberg, Sweden, their two children, Tobias and Olivia, his mother, Mary (Colin) Sanderson, and his father, Anthony (Diana) Tur nbull, as well as his sisters, Vanessa (Simon) Fearnehough, Anna (Craig) Richardson, Nicola (Stephen) Clarke, and brothers, George (Sally Green) Sanderson, Anthony (Paula) Tur nbull, Jonathon (Harriet) Tur nbull and many nieces and nephews Bor n in 1964, Godfrey was raised in Bar netby, Lincolnshire, England, attended preparatory school there at Brigg until 1972 and in Derbyshire at Foremarke Hall through 1977 then Repton where he graduated in 1982 He completed his undergraduate degree in Agriculture at University of Newcastle in 1985 and his Masters in Business Administration in 1987 at the University of Manchester He came to New York City in the employ of James Capel after its purchase by HSBC in 1994 THOMAS ARTHUR TURNBULL
OR EVENTS AUSTRALIAN REUNION 2011
(13) He fell in love with America and continued his love with horses and riding and Point to Point racing with the Brocklesby Hunt by retur ning to the UK every year, eventually introducing his children to riding on “Granny’s” farm Godfrey and Susanna met on a blind date in 1997 when she came to visit a friend in New York City Instantly attracted by their shared sense of humour, they grew to love each other long distance until Susanna had the courage to make the move to New York to give love a chance They were married on December 18th 1999 in Lincolnshire Godfrey worked at Merrill Lynch for seven years up until his death and resided in Riverside and previously in Old Greenwich where he was an avid tennis player and member of the Innis Arden Golf Club
OBITUARIES BRIAN WALKER (O’44)
From left to right: Derek Ginin (B’79), Adam Phillips (B’79), Adrian Pepper (H’83) and Jonathan Eifion Jones (C’70) Ben Cobb (H’45) and Peter Green (H’45) Charlie Nunn (A’01) and Butty McConville J(F’98) ake McConville (C’96) and Ben Cavey (P’92) Matt Gooderick (C’92) and Robert Holroyd
(14) In February 2011 a group of about 120 Old Reptonians gathered at The Royal Yacht Club, Knightsbridge for an evening of convivial reunion As is usual on this occasion there were ORs present of varying vintages, particularly a good number of young ORs, but also some who are young only in spirit Drinks and canapés were happily consumed by all concer ned in an atmosphere which all schools would be proud to have associated with their former pupils The evening began with a most interesting presentation by the Headmaster, Robert Holroyd, on the current state of the school and future plans for development He dwelt particularly on the new 400 Hall theatre development which is about to open with its enhanced facilities and the new Charlesworth Suite In addition he outlined Repton’s ambitious plans to construct a Science Priory which will revolutionise the teaching of the sciences at the school It is envisaged that this will be constructed on Headmaster’s Field, above the existing Sports Hall and adjacent to the tennis courts Staff attending the Drinks in the City event included Jeremy Bour non, Melissa Blain, Nigel Kew, Anthony Giles and OR Secretary, Mike Stones and Assistant, Jan Cobb Also attending were staff from the Marketing Department of the School, Cathy Twigg and Dale Bilson (L’03) If you have not attended this occasion in recent years, you have been missing out on some very enjoyable evenings and I can do no better than to recommend to you that you put the date in your diary for next year and make every effort to be there ! I feel sure that you will not be disappointed!
Mike Stones
IN THE CITY 2011
OR EVENTS DRINKS
From left to right: Anthony Sharp (H’52), Patrick Franklin Adams (H’58), Tony Bishop (P’72) and Frank Russell (O’69)
From left to right: Vanessa Whathey (A’99), Rowley Rhodes (N’98), Butty McConville (F’98) and Melissa Blain From left to right: David Pepper (H’53), John Kirkland (O’51), Charles Fr y (H’53) and Cathy Twigg
(15) OR EVENTS INAUGURAL OR MEETING IN GERMANY
The majority of OR’s attending had been at Repton during the 1990’s and 2000’s but there were a few “elder” OR’s who were at Repton between the 1950’s and the 1980’s Thus the age spread was over 50 years which lead to some very interesting and animated discussions and comparisons about life at Repton and about the huge changes which have taken place at Repton during the past 50 years This was indeed a great opportunity to swap memories of the time spent at Repton Just before dinner finished, Andrew Stockmann (H’67) and Peter Osgood (M’53) sang the school song much to the amusement of all present! After dinner, everyone proceeded to the T izian bar for further drinks and to continue the very lively discussions about life at Repton Peter Osgood (M’53)
This was a memorable and very successful occasion held at a magnificent location, very much enjoyed by everyone The next meeting is planned to take place at the same venue in the autumn of this year and it is hoped that the attendance will be higher If there are any OR’s living in Germany who did not receive an invitation, please contact Sophie Bauer (F’02) at “sissibauer@hotmail com” who organised the meeting so that your email address can be added to the distribution list for future occasions Alter natively you can contact Jan Cobb at the OR Society, jcobb@repton org uk The next meeting is on October 1st 2011 at the Villa Rothchild in Konigstein
The first meeting of OR’s living in Germany was held on Saturday, 9th October 2010 at the V illa Rothschild Kempinski in Königstein, near Frankfurt/Main
The Villa Rothschild is a place of great historical importance Built between 1888 and 1894 for the banker W ilhelm Carl von Rothschild, the building has been known since 1949 as the “Cradle of the Federal Republic” In 1949, the property became the focal point for the reconstruction of Wester n Germany It is here that the foundations for the constitution of Germany were laid Today the Villa Rothschild Kempinski is a five star hotel with a one star Michelin restaurant 34 OR’s met for drinks outside in the beautiful garden before proceeding inside for an superb three course dinner accompanied by excellent wines
The annual dinner of the OR Society took place on November 13th 2010 at its usual venue of Pears School This year’s event was hosted by the President of the Society, John Kirkland (O’51), who saw to it that everyone had a most enjoyable evening The dinner itself was up to its accustomed standard of excellent food thanks to Perry’s Fine Foods who have looked after us so well at OR events in recent years
(16) OR EVENTS ANNUAL DINNER 2010
It has been suggested that the tradition of ORs only as guests at this occasion should be changed in 2011 on an experimental basis to include spouses Hopefully this will only add to the enjoyment of the occasion and serve to swell the numbers We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible M Stones
However, the main attraction of the evening was our guest speaker, Mr Barry Cryer OBE Barry has a wealth of experience both writing and performing comedy in this country and had been a prolific script writer for many well known TV stars, including Morecambe and W ise His speech flowed freely with humour, having everyone roaring with laughter and was greatly enjoyed by all present (Barry left Repton to go on a UK tour but only a few days later I received a personal phone call from him, thanking me for the warm reception which everyone had given him and saying how much he had enjoyed being with us a mark of the man!)
(17) OR EVENTS PARIS DINNER 2011
The fourth Paris OR dinner took place in mid March and was a hugely enjoyable occasion A group of 16 ORs gathered at L’Auberge du Sergent Recruteur on the Île Saint Louis at the heart of the French capital They were treated to a typically French evening of good food, fine red wine and plenty of bonhomie as reminiscences flowed freely Memories of Orchard, Hall and New among others were recounted by those here in the 50s and 60s Mike Shaw (O’62), Laurie Boswell (N’55) along with more recent stories from young ORs who are currently students at the Sorbonne, Paris’ famous university, Adarsh Trivedi (L’02) and Meta Oechtering (M’07)
MIKE CHARLESWORTH’S REMOVE B SCHOLARS (1959)
Andrew Williamson (N’59), Stephen Baines (B’59) and Dick Spooner (P’59) held a mini reunion in January of Mike Charlesworth’s 1959 Remove B Scholar’s The photograph was taken by Mike in the garden of the Old Mitre in the summer term of 1960 Andrew is considering arranging a larger reunion of the group If you are interested please make contact with Andrew on ccn@minim biz or alter natively the OR office
The event was organised once again by James Barnett (H’57) to whom we owe our gratitude Among the guests were the current president of the OR Society, David Pepper (H’53) and his wife, Angela When OR Secretary, Mike Stones, stood up to say a few words, he was greeted by rapturous applause from the entire restaurant! The school’s fame spreads far and wide! Adarsh Trivedi (L’02) and Hadrian Cooklen (M’81) Mike Shaw (O’62), Mrs Shaw and Mike Stones James Barnett (H’57) and Angela Pepper Meta Oechtering (M’07)
At Pirbright I spent a day as orderly officer, which meant running round with messages, a job I found tricky since I had only a vague idea of where everyone was, but at least it kept me from field exercises I wore a broad red sash over one shoulder and felt rather grand We had the chance of going up in a helicopter I took one look at the open door with boys almost hanging out, and decided this wasn’t for me Instead I went in a Centurion tank This was noisy and cramped, but it travelled over the ground at surprising speed, taking gradients and obstacles with ease Lying in a ditch being addressed by Brigadier the Hon Miles Fitzalan Howard, later the 17th Duke of Norfolk and Earl Marshal, was slight compensation for wandering round the latrine block in a desperate search for loo paper, each sheet, if you were lucky enough to find one, stamped GOVERNMENT PROPERTY we thought of retur ning it after use Voice of Major Milford from a cubicle, ‘Do you want a bit of the Daily Mirror?’ The tea tasted of bromide, added, it was said, to make sure these hundreds of randy boys didn’t wave their libido around Sergeant Major Paul woke us with a cry of ‘Chicken for breakfast!’, followed on his second round by ‘Young chicken for breakfast!’, which tempted us off our ‘pally arses’, only to find that the chickens were very
Memories of the Corps in 1955 60 On Friday after noons from 2 15 to 3 30 we had parade, held on the cinder covered ground behind the gym which doubled as a running track Drill was a frightful bore The old 303 rifles were heavy, particularly when the order came to slope arms and the rifle had to be more or less tossed vertically by the right hand before being transferred to the left shoulder: not easy for a young boy The boots were heavy, stiff and uncomfortable Achieving an acceptable shine on the toecaps took a lot of hard work A great deal of fuss was made about parading in shining brasses and clean blanco, cap badges exactly aligned over the left eye, the distance from brim to eyebrow measured by the top joint of the thumb Ten to one some blighted boy would snaffle my cap or a gaiter just before parade Even worse, I got landed with membership of the Bar nes Squad, which wasted hours perfecting drill for an inter house competition Even so, there was something satisfying in wearing a smart uniform and performing movements in concert We lear nt to salute (the long way up and the short way down, palm to the front, quite unlike the naval salute); to execute an about tur n without losing our balance; to present arms, ground arms and port arms; and a host of other military evolutions I passed Certificate A, ear ning a red star on my battledress sleeve Elementary map reading and fieldcraft were useful if I wanted to spot a church with a tower or spire, or creep across rough ground without snapping a twig It taught me to describe a bushy topped tree at five o’clock, and to observe with exactitude the lie of the land We were told to look for a few moments, tur n round and describe it How many sheep were in the field? What was the cloud formation? We look but we do not see! A photographer, an artist, needs to sharpen his vision A keener awareness of our surroundings adds to our enjoyment; it also makes for safer driving W ith a 22 rifle in the indoor range under the gym, and despite my spectacles, I won my marksman’s badge in the Empire Test, scoring seventy three out of eighty for shooting rounds close together, in the bull of a large and small target and a disappearing target The 303 had a nasty kick, but the 22, like the airgun I’d fired as a very young boy, was seductively enjoyable Having selected weapon training as the easiest option, and the most interesting, I became platoon sergeant, no 5 Platoon, A Company, and lear nt to strip a Bren gun into dozens of parts, including the barrel locking nut retainer plunger spring (how do you hyphenate that?) I was less sure how to put it back together The Bren had a habit of jamming, for which one had to carry out the first IA (‘eye ay’, for immediate action), or, if that failed, the second, as quickly as possible and with our heads and bums well down in case of enemy bullets I vaguely recall firing a Bren; I certainly fired a Stirling sub machine gun, which had quite a kick The Corps possessed a two inch mortar; my notes say, ‘If misfire, shake tube & try again ’ I still have my handwritten notes on how to lob a hand grenade, fire a bazooka (‘N B 15 second gaps’) and load a clip of five bullets for the Lee Enfield, three up and two down, so they would feed in smoothly
The school owned a ten ton lorry, used to transport cadets and their impedimenta on field days; not the ideal vehicle for someone prone to travel sickness Sergeant Major Paul told us, ‘If you feel sick, don’t do it into the wind ’
The first task at the end of Field Day, when we fired blanks, was to clean our rifles, which meant dropping a weighted cord (the pull through) down the barrel from the breach with a square of four by two threaded through the end, and drawing it slowly out (it was a tight fit) until the folded cloth emerged clean enough to pass inspection by the sergeant major squinting down the barrel while the cadet held his thumb in the breach to form a light background When the sergeant major was satisfied (and he was quite properly fussy), the four by two had to be followed by an oily rag Only then, with oil on our hands, could we go and have tea
(18) REPTON REMINISCENCES
The Yorkshire camp ended for a batch of us with a toughening up exercise, led by my Housemaster Mr Townsend, in the Dales around Bainbridge We humped equipment up steep hillsides, past tumbling streams and over dry stone walls, and slept two to a tiny tent, which we had to discover how to erect in drenching rain
Boys were required to attend two cadet camps, which ate into a week of our summer holidays; while the rest of the school were going home, we were in uniform taking a train with our kit, officers and the two sergeant majors
My first camp was in 1957 near Catterick in Yorkshire; the other, two years later, down south at Pirbright This meant that I didn’t have a camp at the end of my first year or the term I was leaving The days seemed interminable We slept in tents on straw filled palliasses laid on duckboards, but one bitterly cold night (this was August) I slept tentless under the stars
The Carter twins today
REPTON REMINISCENCES
Memories of the Corps in 1955 60 continued young indeed, still in their shells and boiled solid Dallying in the mess tent at Pirbright, I watched a swanky regular officer advance towards our table He lashed out at a boy with his swagger stick ‘No caps on in the mess!’ A second later he walked smack into a tent pole
You could say that we looked after the spiritual side of life!
Every summer we had a big parade with a visiting brass hat to inspect us In 1958 we had Air Chief Marshall the Hon Sir Ralph Cochrane, commander of the wartime Dambusters, standing in for Air V ice Marshal Saye, father of two boys in the Mitre, who was ill Sir Ralph made a speech Had we ever wondered why we were all wearing khaki (emphasis on the i)? It was because the gover nment had more khaki than any other colour No, it wasn’t very funny at the time, either I’m glad this was my only experience of the Army, and that I escaped two years of National Service, however much good it would have done me to rub against young men from different walks of life
(19) REPTON REMINISCENCES REPTON REMINISCENCES
During the Second World War, Peter and I joined the RAF as motor transport drivers and spent most of our time in North Africa After the war, I was ordained after studying at King’s College, London whilst Peter went into the brewing business
Geoffrey Morris (M’55)
Paul Carter (P’35) The Carter twins, circa 1925
Roger Gunner (N’57) has sent in this photograph, possibly taken in a Birmingham store in 1959, of the 1st X1 football team, travelling to an away match From Left to Right: standing, Tim Waite (P’58), sitting to the left of Father Christmas Carl Whitehead (N’56), sitting on the floor Roger Gunner (N’57), standing to the right of Father Christmas Allan Basnett (P’56) Roger is pleased to report that they won the match I am Paul Carter (P’35) and I have an identical twin brother called Peter (P’35) We had an elder brother called Michael who sadly died aged 19 and is buried in Repton churchyard We were bor n at The Orchard, Repton (21 Jan 1922), where father, Jack Carter, was Housemaster and Chaplain of Repton Chapel His portrait hangs in The Orchard study today The school was given a half day holiday when we were bor n! Father was Head of Geography and amongst his duties he was also in charge of tennis Two of his pupils who became well known were Bunny Austin (O’20) and Brian Valentine (O’21) In September 1935 we came to The Priory as pupils under Jenkins (known as ‘Binks’) On one occasion we were thrown out of the Music School for playing jazz on the piano! In 1938 we acted as ‘extras’ when part of ‘Goodbye Mr Chips’, with Robert Donat, was filmed at Repton We left Repton in 1939 with some very happy memories
The problems at Repton and elsewhere encouraged independent schools to meet with local authorities to discuss a closer relationship for example, in March 1941 representatives of Derbyshire’s Education Committee met with Repton, Abbotsholme and Trent College to formulate a publicly funded bursary scheme for local residents, which the full County Council later passed Public schools also began to look towards central gover nment for support Their gover ning bodies had historically held no corporate identity, but their lobbying position was improved in July 1941 when the Gover ning Bodies’ Association was founded by Geoffrey Fisher, the Bishop of London Fisher was both a former Headmaster of Repton and the Chairman of Repton’s Gover nors, as well as a future Archbishop of Canterbury Fisher worked with RA Butler, the President of the Board of Education, on the establishment of the Fleming committee, which was set up in 1942 to consider a closer association between public schools and the rest of the education system In 1944, the committee recommended that one quarter of the places at public schools should be assigned to a new national bursary scheme, with local authority bursaries on top The Education Act (1944) provided the legal framework in which such a scheme might have operated However, as I argue in a forthcoming academic paper, the Fleming committee tur ned out to be an irrelevant aftershock In reality, the country’s leading independent schools generally recovered their stability from around halfway through the war At Repton, numbers gradually recovered after 1943 The Cross was reopened in 1945 and Latham House in 1947, when Repton Preparatory School moved to Foremarke Hall Turbulence in the state financed school sector may have been a factor in restoring confidence it has even been suggested that the abolition of fees in maintained grammar schools made those schools less attractive relative to independent schools for some parents When Repton celebrated its quatercentenary in 1957, it was full to bursting with 470 pupils In such circumstances, it is perhaps not surprising that a publicly funded national bursary scheme did not occur and that any local arrangements were ad hoc and small scale Nicholas Hillman (B’85) is Special Adviser to the Minister of State for Universities and Science He has recently published an academic article on Harold W ilson’s Public Schools Commission and will soon publish a paper on the Fleming report
One major problem was similar to the public benefit test that the Charity Commission is currently applying to independent schools Papers stored in the National Archives show that a rise in fees for the year 1921 led the Board of Education to impose an annual ‘ransom’ on Repton of £600 Partly as a result of this, the school owed almost £50,000 by 1941, and was being charged interest of £2,000 a year A civil servant noted: ‘It is to be feared that Repton is being slowly strangled by financial difficulties and the various devices, which are being considered by the Gover nment, of admitting day boys and starting a Preparatory Department, are not likely to be effective ’ Repton Preparatory School had in fact already been founded, starting off in the Cross with eight boys in 1940 It quickly became a successful feeder for the senior school and moved to Latham House in 1942
(20) REPTON REMINISCENCES REPTON in the Second World War by Nick Hillman (B’85) If history can be understood through the eyes of great men, then our education system can perhaps be understood through the experiences of great schools My recent research suggests Repton’s past reflects both the torrid time that independent schools faced around the time of the Second World War and their recovery afterwards
The challenges faced by private schools became so bad once the Second World War began that the Chairman of the HMC (Spencer Leeson, Headmaster of W inchester) wrote, in vain, to the Cabinet Secretary demanding to meet the War Cabinet on the grounds that ‘Men who are under sentence of death do not find it easy to make allowances ’ Around twenty five independent boarding schools were requisitioned for gover nment use and the War Cabinet briefly considered wholesale use of public schools’ facilities for the expansion of the army This was successfully rebuffed in 1940 by Herwald Ramsbotham, the President of the Board of Education, who accused the Secretary of State for War, Anthony Eden, of ‘a covert attempt to secure [the public schools’] ultimate elimination’ But many schools were evacuated and Repton briefly hosted King Edward’s, Birmingham, whose boys were billeted with local families In 1941, Repton was placed by the Board of Education in a group of 13 public schools with a ‘doubtful’ future The school was in good company as the group also included Harrow, Malver n and Bryanston, and it could have been even worse five other schools were said to be close to ‘extinction’ Nonetheless, Repton was in dire financial straits A second boarding house (Latham) closed in 1942 and the number of pupils, which had been 409 ten years earlier and 353 on the outbreak of war, fell to just 273 in 1943
Feathers in the Dust A hospice doctor’s tale, by David Trevelyan Available from www authorhouse co uk or local booksellers (Soft cover ISBN 978 1 4520 4387 6)
What’s really great about If Not Now, When? is that it’s not aimed at the already ambitious or over entitled The book is for anyone who has found themselves at a career crossroads, whether through choice or whether through sheer bad luck It’s peppered with realistic case studies of people who have encountered family hardship and retrained to deal with it, of people who have endured 18 months’ redundancy and come out the otherside And it’s not age specific either; there’s a whole section on retirees and third age workers
In their summary the authors say, “This is the book we both wished we had had when we started trying to carve out a more satisfying career” And it shows It’s not written by a distant guru dispensing pearls of wisdom, it’s written by people who have been at both ends of the career path and know how to tell the story Jane Barrett is founder of www workmaze com and co founder of www thecareerfarm com Jeff Stephenson (B’77), writes under this pen name gained a First Class degree in Engineering at Cambridge, considered the Army, ran a boarding house, trained as a chartered account, and eventually, after further years reading medicine at St Andrew’s became a doctor Having now obtained his F R C P , he is a hospice consultant, has four children, runs marathons and has written this, his first novel Writing with style, sensitivity, humour and careful attention to detail, he takes us into the hidden work of the hospice There we find inspiring stories of warm humanity; and also romance It is very readable and I recommend it strongly
This book from Jane Barrett and Camilla Ar nold is different Barrett is founder of Workmaze Ltd, a UK based career coaching and information business Prior to that she was director of a search and selection company Camilla Ar nold is global head of coaching for one of the world’s leading talent development consultancies So it’s fair to say they’ve experienced their fair share of job search issues
All the profits from the book go to the hospice work Richard Grew (O’46) and Former Master Richard Stokes (H’59) has published the following two translations: Histoires Naturelles by Jules Renard (Oneworld Classics) and Playing the Human Game The Collected Poems of Alfed Brendel, in a bilingual edition (Phaidon)
ORs
The book is aimed at those wanting to proactively manage their own career development or considering a change in career How it stands out from the crowd is its refusal to focus on just one aspect of the perfect career It runs the whole gamut of essential preparations from “understanding yourself” to the more practical considerations of writing CVs and lear ning interview techniques Constructed in four broad parts, the book looks by tur ns at what’s holding you back, understanding yourself, brainstorming and moving forward and job search strategy and within these sections delves into the nuts and bolts of things like defining passions, obtaining financial support, retur ning to work and how to navigate interviews
‘If Not Now, When: How to take charge of your career’ by Jane Barrett (A’ 89) and Camilla Arnold (A&C Black)
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So often, self help books are full of inspirational guidance from self made successes who “just happened” to have a spare house to sell to fund their passion, or they’re chock full of inappropriate examples aimed at twenty something New York dwelling, well connected party planners
Each chapter concludes with an in depth set of exercises designed to enable the reader to really take control The end of the “Understanding yourself” chapter entreats you to, for example, list the top five skills you were bor n with or tick the values you hold most dear and the sorts of environments you would like to work in or have liked working in In the brainstorming section, you’re asked to begin to keep a record of everyone you come across during your networking phase, so you can follow up old leads And there’s the old friend “questions you might be asked in the interview scenario”
Of course, some of this information is tried and tested and obvious, some of it isn’t, but if you follow the exercises as you read, by the time you reach the section on compiling your own CV you realise you’ve already practically done it Special mention must go to the usability of the index So many books contain useful information hidden deep in the middle of chapters with no way of accessing it Barrett and Ar nold’s index is incredibly user friendly (“word ‘I’” under CVs and “money as an obstacle”) and really reflect a jobseeker’s main concer ns rather than the writers’ (which, happily in this book seem to be in sync anyway)
The main thrust of the fund raising for the new Science Priory is being spearheaded by Robert Kirkland (O’59) who is a stalwart member of the golf society In order to help Robert four members of the O R G S will attempt to play 5 rounds of golf at Little Aston Golf Club on Sunday 19th June Russell Embury (staff), Jonathan Hart (H’86), Jonathan Avill (N’81) and Tony Bishop (P’72) will tackle this marathon which will involve playing 90 holes of golf and walking 20 miles during the day Starting at first light and taking suitable refreshment each time the club house is passed, it is hoped that the four players, assisted by various caddies, drinks carriers, medical assistants etc will finish the challenge by dusk For those who would care to sponsor the event a sponsorship page will be available on the new website www reptongolf com
HALFORD HEWITT
The Hewitt, which began in 1924, is a foursome’s knockout competition, played between 64 schools with no handicap allowance between competitors To be eligible for a place in the
The first year attracted 30 contestants, roughly split between the South and the North I think everyone who entered enjoyed themselves and thanks to everyone involved for making the effort This year we are combining the knockout with old and dear adversaries the Malver nians W ith their inclusion, 2011 sees 50 entrants in total and the draw can be seen on the singles knockout page of the society’s new website
Congratulations to Richard Hodgkinson (M’81) who beat Sandy McArthur (M’60) 3 & 2 at the Northamptonshire Golf Club in the inaugural final
ten man team, you need a handicap of 5 or less W ith an absence of regular team members Adrian Pepper (H’83) was called up for his debut But with a handicap of 8 he knew it would be a struggle, and hoped for a partnership with a scratch player to give him a chance of a win His hopes were dashed as regular member, Mark Anselm (C’86), broke his arm three days before the competition This meant that Tony Bishop (P’72), with a handicap of 10, was drafted in as a desperate, last minute replacement Captain, Andrew Pearce (N’78) made the sensible decision of playing the two new boys (combined age 94) together and sending them out third pair, as a sacrificial offering, leaving the other four teams to bring home the bacon
The first round saw Repton play St Bees; not only did the team win 4 1, but the two rookies carded an unlikely 3 and 2 win to get their first (and probably last) Hewitt points
NEW O R G S WEBSITE
Going to the pre tournament dinner at Royal St Georges, on the private vintage double decker bus: Players: James Wilson (L’99), Phillip Carr (H’72), Charles Pepper (B’90), John Wood (L’78), Douglas Campbell (H’71), Andrew Pearce (N’78), Richard Hodgkinson (M’81), Pete Forster N’87), Tony Bishop (P’72), Adrian Pepper (H’83).
LONGEST DAY CHALLENGE
FIRST SINGLES KNOCKOUT A GREAT SUCCESS
The 2011 Halford Hewitt will be remembered for two things The weather and the new boys Traditionally the East Kent coast is a wet, cold and windy place at the end of March Seasoned campaigners, knowing how savage the elements can be, pack corduroy trousers, warm pullovers and more than one set of water proofs Snow is not a surprise at the Hewitt Little wonder then, with two practice days and all four competition days played in uninterrupted warm sunshine with only a light zephyr, competitors were fast running out of short sleeved shirts No one could remember weather like it and one of the Royal St Georges’ ground staff told me he was desperate for rain, prior to the Open Championship in July
It is hoped that the website will be a platform for attracting new members of the society as well as keeping members up to date with the current fixtures, singles knockout progress, and general news; as well as match results and the history of the society that was formed in 1924
Supporters: Patrick Franklin Adams (H’58), Tim Hampton (O’52), Charles Darby (O’48), David Pepper (H’53)
In the second round Repton met a team of gritty Scotsman from Merchiston who proved too strong and the team lost 3½ 1½ Even though the new boys lost on the 17th, they had been three holes up, early in the round, against two young men with a combined age of 45 and a combined handicap of 4 To avoid the necessity for Adrian and Tony to participate in the future, we are actively seeking new talent for the team If you have a single figure handicap and would like to experience the thrill of competing in the oldest, largest, amateur scratch golf tour nament in the world, please contact me There is nothing like it!! Tony Bishop (P’72) 07769 903 442 or email: tonybishop@reptongolf com
Having made a first attempt at a website for the golf society two years ago, this has been rebuilt and has a new domain name: www.reptongolf.com
BRANCHES OF THE SOCIETY GOLF Sandy McArthur (M’60) and Richard Hodgkinson (M’81)
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2010 saw the first year of our singles knockout competition
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While this hasn’t been a vintage season for the ORs, signs of encouragement are beginning to emerge W ith a new Captain, Richard Wynne (P’92), talented youngsters such as Tim Lambert (P’01), and established hands including Clayton Penny (P’97) committed to driving the club forward, there is much cause for optimism We play in the Arthurian League for old boys teams in London on a weekly basis, and the prestigious Arthur Dunn Cup (after the FA Cup, the globe’s second oldest Association Football competition) nationally Meanwhile, the performance of the Vets in the Derrick Moore Cup, who progressed to the semi finals this season, always serves as an inspiration for the 1st team We are forever on the lookout for committed players, of any age and varying abilities please contact the below if you are interested 1st Team: Richard Wynne (P’92), 07919 273119, Richard@calloohcallaybar com Vets: Nick Walford (B’69), 07590 828719, walfordn@yahoo co uk Dale Bilson (L’03) OF THE SOCIETY FOOTBALL OR FEATS SIMON ARMSTRONG (C’63) Regrets, I have a few Having just passed one’s 60th birthday, you tend to take stock and wonder for how much longer you will be able, if at all, to achieve outstanding ambitions One ambition developed in June 1997, after completing the charity challenge of the 3 peaks in 24 hours, which I completed with 3 friends (we called ourselves “The Unlikely Lads”), was to ascend the Matterhor n , whereupon the other unlikely lads dropped out! For those who do not know, this is the quintessential mountain, made famous not only because it appears on Toblerone packets, but also because it was the last Alp to be conquered by Whymper and his guide Taugwalder in their ill fated expedition which claimed several lives in 1869 The itch remained, and the only cure was to scratch it, so in 2001 I telephoned the bergfuhrerburo (mountain guide’s office) in Zermatt and engaged a wonderful mountain guide Andre Imboden (take a look at his website zermatt mountainguide ch) and arranged to visit Zermatt in the summer I telephoned Andre upon arrival and we met I told him I had never done any climbing, but that according to a book I had read, and the Swiss tourist authority, I understood that the ascent of the Matterhor n was feasible , being classified as an “arduous walk”!!
BRANCHES
On 20th March 2011 there were 23 ORs playing hockey against the school sides The school sides were a mix of first and second eleven players, with one or two promising juniors also involved The OR sides were also a mixture of ages, from elder statesmen of Henry Wallis and Peter Elson, via the still youthful (!) Simon Obor n and Joey Ascott, to the youngsters like Tom Hunter and Ricky Ho Chan As usual the day was well supported by the Ashbour ne contingent of Chris Beastall, Chris Burton, W ill Charlesworth and others The Samras win the prize for their 3 representatives on the pitch, although the Carliles were not far behind There was some excellent hockey played in a good spirit, and the after noon was enjoyed by all For the record the games were all quite close apart from a defeat for one OR team in the opening match, but we won’t’ mention the score C M Keep BRANCHES OF THE SOCIETY - HOCKEY
He smiled resignedly and suggested we meet at the Gor nergrat railway station the next day at 0800hrs to go and see how I got on on the Riffelhorn which is the small volcanic plug remnant on the north side of the Gor nergletscher valley and which is a useful climbing training mountain In the train on the way up to Rotenboden station( one below the Gor nergrat terminus at the top), he asked me what experience of climbing I had None, since attempting to climb the cliffs in Cor nwall as a child Had I brought a har ness? No, I understood the guide would provide! He looked at me and said that would be no problem, but his was not large enough for me Having enjoyed the better things in life to excess and having a large frame any way, I was then a sylph like 18 stone! No problem he said, he would fashion one from his climbing rope, which he did, (even if the effect was to crush the crown jewels at moments of crisis)! We started by lear ning to walk on rock “Trust your boots”; “Walk quietly” and other repeated phrases led me to understand that good boots grip on dry rock at impossibly steep angles That first day, we walked/climbed the East side of Riffelhor n What pride at the first handshake and “well done” from the experienced man who was brave enough to tie himself to the absolute novice As we ate our snack and drank a bit,
atop Riffelhor n Andre gently and kindly suggested that if I wanted to enjoy the mountains, I should abandon all aspirations of climbing the Matterhor n, because if I did not, I would more or less certainly end up disappointed and he did not think that was a sensible end to a holiday Far better, he said, that I should do my utmost and if and when he thought I was ready, he would take me to the mountain: and in the course of so doing I would have wonderful, life enhancing experiences People who rushed off up the mountain ill prepared and ill advisedly, tended to end up falling off and dying! Had I had a look at the graveyard? It is full off unlucky mountaineers, and experienced ones at that I went, I saw and I took his point He has the annoying , but equally reassuring habit of being right He is also the straightest and most truthful person I have met Thereafter, putting my trust in the man on the other end of the rope, I have climbed some great peaks, in the course of being assessed as ready for the Matterhor n Indeed in the course of descending from Riffelhor n, that very first day, Andre had me show my trust of him, without which he would not be able to climb with me, by persuading me to walk backwards over the edge of the mountain above the sheer drop into the Gor nergletscher valley about 2000 ft below, secured only by the rope he had belayed around an out jutting rock One could call it stupid, I prefer character forming! If you cannot trust your partner and equipment you can do nothing I did note however that thereafter Andre brought the thicker, somewhat stronger climbing rope with him! We arranged to meet next mor ning to catch the first gondola to Klein Matterhor n, in order that I should attempt my first 4000er the Breithor n, 4164 metres high, (google it there are some good pictures) To the Swiss, unless a mountain is more than 4000 metres high it is of no consequence! This was my first meeting with crampons, those clever spiky things you strap onto your boots which enable you to grip on the iciest of inclines After walking across the ice plate, making a swing to the right to avoid the usual crevasse, we arrived at the foot of the steep “path” one takes to ascend the mountain Breithorn is easy Subsequent to this trip I have climbed it several times, once with my wife, Catherine, who did it despite suffering from quite acute vertigo However that first day, I lear nt that long slow breathing is essential, that one does not rush up any slope, that it is best to keep going slowly and steadily, that if you plonk your foot down it will pierce the ice and that if you walk softly snow has the strength to support much greater weight than you would expect The handshake at the summit was meaningful The view absolutely breathtaking You can see for in excess of 60 miles all around The Matterhor n looms over you, but nicht so viel You begin to believe you can do it! In my view every pupil of every school should be obliged to climb this one mountain! They would understand more of the world they live in and appreciate how insignificant they individually are Thereafter I was hooked Every year since then, I have retur ned to Zermatt That first year, two days after Breithor n, we climbed Castor, 4228 metres, which has an awesome ridge as you approach the summit have a look at W ikipedia well in excess of 1000 metres drop if you fall one way and 500 the other I asked Andre after we came off what he would do if I fell, as he would not be able to hold me The usual smile, and then he said “simple, I cut the rope!”!!! As if No guide cuts the rope He was joking What he really would do, he told me, is, if I fall right, he has to jump left and the rope, like a cheesewire would cut the snow and hold us We would be able simultaneously to climb up to the ridge again That is the thing about climbing Proximity to death makes one appreciate all the more the gift of life That night we stayed in a mountain hut on the Italian side no showing of passport needed had wonderful home made pasta and pizza, after having spent the after noon at the head of the Aosta valley watching the glacier fall bit by bit So high, the air was like nectar No water supply Supplies were helicoptered in The effect of alcohol in the wine heightened by the altitude, or was it euphoria anyway?
OR FEATS SIMON ARMSTRONG (C’63) Continued
Next mor ning, rising at 0500hrs a light breakfast consumed, we climbed Pollux 4092 metres, a bit of rock climbing here You climb past the statue of the Madonna not the singer which is lit by a laser from the valley at night Quite eerie to see her floating in the sky at night! I realised at the top that I might never do this again My holiday was ending Would I retur n? I was, you could say tired and became emotional If one is not moved by being on a high mountain, one is not alive It was a long way down and across the snow plate behind Klein Matterhorn I have never knowingly taken unlicensed drugs, but I would not have made it without a magic capsule Andre provided Back down to Zermatt, and the following day homeward by car Life had been and was, even more in the future to be, enhanced by the experience Space does not here permit the rest of the tale, but perhaps if the editor finds space, more in subsequent issues One thing is clear, I wish I had started earlier That is my regret If this article persuades just one OR to try mountaineering, it will have been worth the effort to write it I wish I had started before I was 51 and overweight, even though relatively fit Simon Armstrong (C’63) (24)
This was not immediately apparent as we set off in the dark, however as the Sun began to rise and glistened off the snow covered Peak, it simply took your breath away (not that I had much left by then!) There were 44 of us walking or in one instance running but I was reasonably proud of the 2 hours 45 minutes it took me to reach the peak which included time to take in the stunning views We set quite a pace down which meant the first part of the task was completed in just short of 5 hours which included several glory pictures taken at the top with an assembly of like minded friends On our arrival at the foot of Ben Nevis we had our first set back; no hot water, so after a very bracing shower we then were advised of our next set back, namely that one of our three buses had broken down and needed to be replaced! After much deliberation and a 2 hour delay we set off for Scafell Pike
Another 5 hours in the mini bus led us to arrive at the foot at Scafell Pike at 6 30 p m which gave us approximately three hours of day light to get up and down This was by far the most challenging of climbs but determined to finish before the sun set I managed to complete the task in just over 2 hours 45 minutes, driven on by the thought of a hot shower at our Youth Hostel I eventually collapsed on my bed at midnight knowing that I was over half way and grateful that I had an opportunity to recover before we set off for Snowdon A hearty English Breakfast was ideal preparation for another 6 hour jour ney in our mini bus Snowdon was by far the easiest of the climbs and equally the most breathtaking and I was really pleased with my time of just over 4 hours which included a good 20 minutes at the top having a celebratory beer
OR PROFILES NELSON JOHN KEYS (JOHN PADDY CARSTAIRS) (L’24)
The sun shone on us throughout and made the whole experience very special, even though our jour ney home was marred by a radiator leak that meant we had to stop every 30 minutes to fill the radiator!
John Paddy Carstairs was bor n Nelson John Keys in London in 11th May 1910 He was the eldest of four sons of Nelson Waite ‘Bunch’ Keys (1887 1939), a comedy actor who did well enough from silent films to send his son to public school in Derbyshire ‘John’ entered Repton in 1924 under the strict but benevolent headship of Geoffrey Francis Fisher By his own admission Keys was a ‘genial exhibitionist’ and a ‘terribly precocious boy’ In 1927 when aged seventeen he
So we retur ned to Leicestershire in the early hours of Sunday morning, smelly, aching and somewhat weary and feeling pretty pleased with ourselves but equally pleased to see the back of the mini bus that we had spent the best part of 20 hours in
As I now write some 24 hours on, still aching but hopefully not smelly, I am smiling to myself, as whilst it is certainly one of the hardest challenges I have undertaken, I know that I have got the bug so what next??? I would like to thank the many ORs that supported me either through the web site or with the cheques you have sent I have currently raised over £2,500 and based on certain promises I may even reach £3,000 which makes me very proud to be able to call you friends Paul Brownhill (P’80)
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OR FEATS PAUL BROWNHILL (P’80)
On the weekend of May 8th and 9th 2010, I joined 44 like minded people on a charity walk in support of The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) The walk we decided to do is known as “The Three Peaks Challenge” and involves walking the three highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales, one after another The three peaks in question were; Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon and in total we walked around 25 miles and climbed just over 10,000 feet For the Purists I should point out that we did not do it in 24 hours but in a more leisurely 36 hours with a night’s sleep in between!
Popular acclaim in the world of arts and entertainment can easily go to the head So the talented film director, novelist and artist John Paddy Carstairs (1910 1970) might easily have taken himself rather too seriously Yet on the contrary this engaging Old Reptonian cultivated a quizzical line in self deprecation which kept his feet firmly on the ground His trademark message when signing a book for a friend spoke volumes ‘Another bit of nonsense from Paddy’
The FSID is not a particular well known charity but just over 10 years ago a colleague of mine tragically lost his son to what is known as cot death During the last ten years Kevin and his wife Jo have raised well over £70,000 for this worthy cause Whilst they will never forget their son they decided to make this year their last major fund raising year in support of the FSID and so I decided to join them and their friends and colleagues in trying to help them finish on a high note Below is an extract from a diary of our weekend At 7 30 a m we left sunny Leicestershire on a 10 hour jour ney to the foot of Ben Nevis The evening was spent discussing tactics over a few pints of Guinness and Fish and Chips, not ideal preparation for a 4 00 a m ascent! We could not have ordered better weather bearing in mind that it is only clear at the top of Ben Nevis for 36 days of the year There must be something in the adage the “sun only shines on the righteous!!”
Indeed Carstairs, through his close friendship with The Saint creator Leslie Charteris, was largely responsible for bringing the character to television On the outbreak of war Carstairs made three short films for the Ministry of Information on ‘careless talk’ and directed George Formby in the propagandist Ealing comedy Spare a copper (1941) He also found time to write three volumes of autobiography and a biography of his father, but for much of the conflict he served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy’s air photography section
Carstairs retur ned to feature films after the war with Dancing with Crime (1947) for which he gave direction to Richard Attenborough His thriller Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948) also proved a great success, but his wartime foray into comedy prompted a change of direction Throughout the Fifties
Carstairs worked tirelessly on the light hearted comedy films which became his trademark, particular for the Rank Organisation His most significant success was in launching the film career of Norman W isdom in Trouble in Store (1953), carefully nudging the stage and TV comedian into a new medium with great success The film gained a BAFTA award and five more W isdom box office hits followed, along with similar if less successful vehicles for a long string of iconic ‘funny men’ Frankie Howerd, Charlie Drake, Brian Rix, Jimmy Edwards, Ian Carmichael, Bob Monkhouse and many more Carstairs gar nered a fine reputation and was well liked, but as the movie industry changed and niggling disagreements arose with Rank bosses, his film career wound down and ended in 1962 when he was in his early fifties He produced his final programme in 1967 It marked the end of almost forty years in film during which the name Carstairs had become a watchword for professionalism, flair, speed and reliability Carstairs was also a prolific author and accomplished artist As a novelist he made no pretence to gravitas of almost thirty published titles most were thrillers or frothy light comedy often with racy overtones drawn on his own experience A good number were semi autobiographs, and locations such as the South of France reflected his own preference of a glamorous lifestyle Carstairs’ writing jour ney began in 1937 with Movie Merr y Go Round a candid behind the scenes look at the film industry and ending in 1966 Other titles are Curried Pineapple (1940), Gardenias Bruise Easily (1958), best seller 144,000 copies sold of his witty but risqué Vinegar and Brown Paper (1939) Others like his seen detective novels featuring sleuth Garway Trenton, have proved collectable and extremely elusive Painting was something he did to relax, and was good at it He studied art at London University, attended life classes at the Slade, had his initial London exhibition in 1949, and later exhibited at the Paris Salon Between 1957 and 1968 he showed a dozen paintings at the Royal Academy and his work is still represented in public collections His subject matter was light, cheery and colourful His sketch style is shot throughout with 1950’s gaiety Many of his canvases feature Mediterranean locations and have a naive quality reminiscent of the French Painter Raoul Dufy The odd Carstairs occasionally comes on the market now, commanding relatively modest prices, well worth consideration Such an active and creative man surely deserved a long and happy retirement His loving wife Molly and a nice home in leafy Surrey certainly presaged a comfortable later life But Carstairs was denied the pleasure After a period of ill heath he died of heart failure on 12th December 1970, aged just 60 In the long history of Repton School an impressive number of former pupils made their mark in the arts world John Paddy Carstairs was not the most famous, but as purveyor of pure pleasure few have bettered him Carstairs may have considered his creation ‘a bit of nonsense’, but they continue to entertain forty years after his passing What better legacy for ‘a terribly precocious boy‘?
(26) OR PROFILES NELSON JOHN KEYS (JOHN PADDY CARSTAIRS) (L’24) Continued expressed the desire to form a school cinema club, an innovation which might have been considered too ‘low brow’ for a leading public school But Headmaster Fisher later Archbishop of Canterbury gave Keys his blessing Then aged forty, Fisher was more progressive than some of his crustier counterparts at rival establishments Keys ran Repton’s cinema club with great fervour it had its own magazine and even a club tie But his ambitions did not stop there While still a pupil at Repton he made his first film ‘The hero of St Jim’s’ (1927) The ‘melodrama of public school life’ made no great waves, but the schoolboy director secured a modest place in cinematic history it was the first film ever shot in a British school His father had ambitions for John to go to Cambridge, but the headstrong boy had other ideas Instead his credentials landed him his first job in the cinema industry as a camera assistant with a family friend, the respected film producer and director Herbert W ilcox Entering the film world just as the ‘talkies’ were making strides presented a marvellous opportunity for a young talent John spent a year in Hollywood and embarked on an intense and wide raging apprenticeship both in the United States and England He also demonstrated a singular determination to succeed in his own right To avoid charges of cashing in on his father’s name he changed his own to John Paddy Carstairs, raiding the family tree for inspiration Carstairs never looked back Aged only twenty one he wrote his debut script for the USA release A Honeymoon Adventure (1931) In the next two hectic years eight further screen plays and a great deal of world travel followed before he directed his first feature film, the UK thriller Paris Plan (1933) and from then on spanning four decades he averaged over a film a year By his last in 1962 The Devil’s Agent he had worked as director or writer, and often both, on almost 60 films
Extracted from Derbyshire Life, A Life Full of Nonsense by Peter Seddon, October 2010, with permission of Peter Seddon
Although potted biographies suggest Carstairs directed ‘mostly comedy films’, the greater part of his pre war output comprised drama and thrillers In The Saint in London (1939) he directed George Sanders in the lead role of Simon Templar, and years later did the same for Roger Moore in the cult Sixties TV series
There are often no obvious symptoms for this many people live their whole lives without knowing they have the disease and in the majority of cases it can be regulated by simply controlling the blood pressure In others, and unfortunately in my case, the disease progressively worsens and ultimately causes complete renal failure with dialysis or a transplant being the only hope I say ‘hope’ because it is a common misconception that a kidney transplant is a cure for kidney disease Unfortunately it is not, it simply allows you to live more normally as opposed to having to have four hours of dialysis three times a week A kidney donated does not last forever, if it lasts 15 years you are very lucky So now I had to find a new kidney There are two ways of getting one, firstly by going on the organ donor register for a kidney from a recently deceased person These account for about 70 per cent of kidney transplants but are not done on a first come first served basis but according to who has the best ‘match’ This means you can be on the waiting list for years The second is by a living kidney donation, receiving a kidney from a family member, friend or an unrelated person Thankfully, as soon as my parents found out I needed a transplant they both volunteered their kidneys I don’t think this was a conscious decision, just something parents do instinctively to help their child
To say I was grateful for the offers would be an understatement it’s certainly not an easy favour to ask for, after all, it’s not exactly like borrowing a £20 note! As it tur ned out my father was too old to undergo the operation, so after a series to tests over about six months my mother became the donor They can do all the tests much quicker but they like to allow enough time to let the donor consider exactly what they are undertaking The date of the surgery came through for the end of May 2010 to coincide with when I would need to go on dialysis The months before the operation were the hardest for me personally I was placed on a special diet, could not even have a cup of coffee, and my health was deteriorating fast I had no energy to do anything I could not even mow my lawn and could barely take the dog out for a walk I was suffering with severe migraines, nausea and even gout When I was admitted to hospital for the surgery, my kidney function was 7 per cent of normal The doctors decided they would have to give me a few treatments of dialysis to make me stronger for the operation itself The operation lasted about 5 hours and came and went without a problem My mother was released from hospital 5 days after the operation Fair to say she was very fragile for a few more weeks after, but she was back to full health within 2 months and if you would speak to her now she would tell you she has had no ill effects from the operation at all I was in hospital for 11 long days The thing I remember most is waking up with five tubes coming out of my body and being forced to drink water all the time even now I have to drink more than five litres a day I was not a good patient I was restless all the time and just wanted to get the tubes out and go home I cannot speak highly enough of the doctors and nurses though I suffered one rejection episode but after a biopsy and medication it was treated effectively and eventually I was allowed home For the best part of four months after the operation I had to retur n to the hospital three times a week for a check up, more blood tests and to discuss my drug regime The medication is a massive part of rehabilitation to ensure the new kidney works effectively and unfortunately they also come with their own complications and side effects I have to take approximately twenty tablets per day, some with food, some without, some in the mor ning and some in the evening
Over the past three years my kidney test results had steadily become less optimistic, so I always knew this day would come Nonetheless the word ‘transplant’ still hit me with a shuddering jolt In 2006 a routine check up with my GP revealed I had high blood pressure After eliminating the usual suspects diet, exercise, smoking, drinking etc and after a number of tests including a very unpleasant biopsy I was eventually diagnosed with IGA Nephropathy, severe scarring and inflammation within the kidney
A GIFT “It’s time we start to think seriously about transplantation ” Hearing those words was when things really hit home What I thought was going to be a routine check up had suddenly taken a dramatic and sinister tur n for the worst
(27) OR PROFILE RUSSELL PROBERT (M’92)
Some of the side effects include constant hand tremors, headaches, nausea, acne, weight gain and susceptibility to infection because some of the medication reduces your immune system to prevent your body from attacking the new kidney At one point my immune system dropped so low I had to be readmitted to hospital and placed in isolation Now, seven months on, I have been told I only need to attend hospital once a month
My 2010 was certainly a year I wouldn’t wish on anyone but it has certainly been an experience I will never forget and an experience that has changed me As we start 2011 I feel as fit and healthy as ever I’m back at the gym and leading a normal life for the most part I’m no longer on a special diet and I can even have a drink! I know how lucky I am and it’s all thanks to my mother However, there are many people that I see regularly who are considerably less fortunate than I am, living on dialysis, unable to work and have a normal life It is very sad that someone has to pass away in order to help these people but if you do consider donating your organs after you have gone please join the donor register and inform your family of your decision You really will change someone’s life
www organdonation nhs uk
OR PROFILES
The two months I spent with Coral Cay in the Philippines were two of the most interesting and exciting of my life and I would readily recommend it to anyone I retur ned home with a string of diving qualifications and a group of great new friends I can’t wait to go back (which should be possible as part of my marine biology degree course) Swimming with 10m Whale Sharks is a memory I will treasure Alex Willcox (P’05) Former Coca Cola GB communications chief T im W ilkinson has taken a key advisory post in the Middle East, as his previous employer shakes up its European communications division T im has spent 15 years at Coca Cola has been named director of communications to the Prime Minister of Kuwait, Sheikh Nasser Mohammed al Ahmad al Sabah He heads the communications unit within a wider advisory team providing strategic and day to day support to the PM and his gover nment In February this year the country hosted a plethora of inter national figures to mark a combined 50/20 anniversary highlighting 50 years since gaining independence and 20 years since liberation from the Iraqi invasion Current and former world leaders, including David Cameron, attended the celebrations Cameron made a speech about political and economic reform in the region Kuwait is one of the region’s key economic powers and one of T im’s roles will be inter national media relations and communicating the economic and political changes in the country Kuwait has not been excluded from the wave of political protests that have hit the region, although protests were postponed during the recent celebrations T im worked in several of Coca Cola’s key markets, including Africa, the Middle East and Asia, before taking up a UK role in 2004 followed by European roles until he left the company in 2010 TIM WILKINSON (C’75)
I first came across Coral Cay Conservation at the Repton Gap Fair At that time I thought that having the chance to lear n to scuba dive in one of the world’s best diving locations, coupled with the opportunity to help protect marine life and maybe even be lucky enough to swim with a whale shark, would be a dream come true The reality was to far exceed all my expectations In November 2010 I travelled half way round the world and finally arrived in Napantao, Sogod Bay in the Philippines I was warmly welcomed and immediately accepted into the Coral Cay volunteer team Coral Cay is a charitable organisation that relies on volunteers and strives to preserve marine life all over the world and teaches local people of all ages how to fish sustainably, thereby retaining resources for the future ALEX WILLCOX (P’05)
OR PROFILES
(28) The diving conditions were excellent and not only did I see the most amazing marine life, I did fulfil my ambition of swimming with a whale shark, 6 in fact! Don’t be mistaken, however, it was very much a lear ning experience Once I had successfully passed my diving and fish, coral and invertebrates recognition tests I was able to participate fully and make a worthwhile contribution to the marine conservation project We worked very hard during the week but had great fun at the week ends with the local Filipinos, who were so friendly and welcoming
FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES
(29) We love it when Old Reptonians decide to retur n to be married in Chapel Kate Rogers (G’96) married Steven Greenall (C’87) on 25th September 2010 On 9 April Lucy Chilton (G’96) married Dominic Burns (O’85) On 4 June Sophie Rogers (F’00) will marry Philip Brindley (N’02) and on 23 July Beth Fowkes (daughter of Maggie Fowkes) will marry Mark Wycherley We are also looking forward to the wedding of Charlotte Stojak (M’03) and Ed Felix (N’93) in 2012 James Webster and Louise Walkman (step daughter of Fred Rule) were married on 4th September 2010 During this academic year we have celebrated some momentous baptisms including those of Jacob and Heidi Ingleston, George Odell, Stanley Rushton, Brody Roland and Isabel Johnson We do want to thank all those who have so kindly spared the time to preach for us, including The Revd Canon Leonard Doolan (pictured), Vicar of Cirencester, who came at the invitation of Col John Hetherington whose support we gratefully appreciate Revd A J Watkinson
J H Bournon Being an Architect Being an Artist As often happens with Reptonians, the improvised lecture theatre in the Art School filled at exactly 6 30 pm to welcome the visiting speakers Recent OR Alec Farmer (P’05) had flown down from Scotland, where he is studying V isual Communication at the Glasgow School of Art, to tell us about his course, and more particularly about the parallel projects that he has on the go alongside his degree work He was preceded on the night by Graham Campbell, no stranger to the Art School, as he was the architect and project manager on its redevelopment between 1999 2003 His talk on 'Being an Architect' was trailed by his young assistant, Ed Nettleship, who gave us a flavour of what could be expected when studying architecture at university He kindly left us with a lengthy document outlining what a prospective student can expect to encounter during their first three years of the marathon seven year architectural qualification Graham then picked up the reins and, with a slide of St Paul's Cathedral by night, proceeded to guide us through the enormous range of career possibilities that the architectural degree can equip you for The world of architectural design has never seemed such an exciting prospect for those with the skills, stamina and good fortune to stay the course Graham is passionate in his belief that the creative breadth of practice for
SCHOOL NEWS CHAPEL the professional architect is enormous and gave visual evidence of the applied functions of the architectural training in designing in the landscape, fur niture building, creating for the theatre, and much more besides It was at this point that Alec stepped in to flesh out the contemporary relevance of the designer His experience is the embodiment of what is possible, and more importantly how to be commercially successful, as an artist In recent months the Sunday T imes has run a feature on his exploits when living in a 'pod' in the centre of Glasgow, existing on only what could be contained in two plastic buckets He has animated the opening credits for television's Film 4, and is forging ahead with his newly formed company creating and selling a range of bags for cyclists, and in particular dispatch riders all in the final year of his degree at GSA His work schedule is daunting forgoing holidays, evenings and weekends to make enough bags to keep pace with the growing demands on the sales of his products
SCHOOL NEWS ART
The Reptonians fortunate enough to have been in the Art School that evening were left in no doubt of the possibilities open to students who have the ambition and gumption to make Art and Architecture their life long passion and we were extremely grateful to all three of our visiting speakers who shared that vision with us
The format is familiar to ORs and current pupils, but this year the outdoor obstacle course received a tweak, to again become a more physically challenging route based on 2m walls, cargo nets, scramble nets, vaults, swings, and other little
Two separate events were achieved A Coy volunteers, numbering twenty one cadets, spent 5 walking days in the Lake District, executing hill walking and navigation training
LENT 2011
Two days later, on Thursday 17 March, 120 pupils enjoyed the Russell Cup
surprises
The Combined Cadet Force has had an extremely busy and successful term
The weekly parades have focussed on weapon skills and foot drill, but have still maintained a balance of activities, aiming at the marks of 40% Adventurous training, such as kayak skills, rope work, map and compass skills, and 60% military skills training In the current climate of significant cutbacks for the Services, it is worth remembering the considerable assistance in resources and manpower supplied to our Contingent by the Army and RAF For example, this year we have been able to augment our training rotation with the addition of mountain biking Firstly, two staff qualified via military courses, as Mountain Biking Instructors (Capt John Wadsworth, SSI, and Mr Edward Shawcross (who has applied for Army CCF Commission) Secondly, I purchased ten mountain bikes for cadet use, with funds from the MoD The plan is to incorporate biking as a regular AT activity in our summer rotation, which also includes orienteering, rafting, kayak and may include for the first time in some years a crag climbing stand Notable events this term have included the following:
CCF REPORT
Russell Cup
(30) SCHOOL NEWS CCF
Overall winners were School House, whose teams, I must say, were a great credit to their Housemaster, FPW, the teams showing exemplary camaraderie, team cohesion and technical skill as well as physical fitness Easter Adventurous Training
The Barnes Squad competition
The moder n GPS is a clever piece of kit, and the unit carried by the trip leader, Lt Rachel Randle, clocked up 100km of total horizontal distance as she led groups in day walks ranging from 27km flat a long bimble up and down various valley paths , to 13km flat but 1,400m vertical ascent a short but intense up and down day The A block cadets were blessed with extraordinarily good weather, and managed to combine physical endurance with skill lear ning, and a dollop of mischief too For volunteer sixth form NCOs, a training course held at Thor ney Island on the south coast, enabled 5 of our cadets to qualify as Level Two Powerboat operators Capt John Wadsworth led this event, and commented that once again the Repton cadets left their instructors with positive impressions of our spirit and abilities So, a busy term, and a successful one T imes in the CCF movement are most interesting, and I look forward to the cadets meeting the challenges we face Gary Lawrence Contingent Commander
The Combined Cadet Force put on its annual testing competition day for the A Company cadets, on Tuesday 15th March Every cadet was involved that is 180 members of the School The A Coy were being tested, C Coy (our O Block volunteer cadets) acted as assistant directing staff, and the stands were run by NCOs of the sixth form The only adult presence was as safety and weapon supervisors in those test stands which required them The day was an effective showcase for the things that CCF offers: rifle marksmanship, foot drill, obstacle course, observation skills, waterman ship skills, weapon drills, but of much more central importance, a chance to experience teamwork and physical challenges in a disciplined environment I was delighted that this year Colonel (Rtd) John Hetherington agreed to inspect the Guard of Honour, and present the prizes (Col John spent the whole after noon with the cadets, and it was a particular pleasure for us, since he is not only, as retired Colonel of the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters, now 2 Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, a firm connection to our parent Army Regiment, but is also a long serving member of the Gover ning body ) Given the pressures on cadets and Officers, with so many other things going on in the school, CCF cannot realistically command the same time and expenditure of cadet effort from its members that it did historically We fight to maintain standards, targeting those activities I judge to most benefit the cadets ORs may be interested to know that 1 Platoon, Army section, were the overall inter platoon winners on the day, but all cadets of both sections performed with credit Simone Mathews (Abbey) & Colonel (Rtd) John Hetherington
Scholars Consult Top Designer
Reptonians Descend on Design Museum
On Tuesday 15th February, ten of Repton’s design students, many of them holders of the prestigious national Arkwright Scholarship, headed off to the London offices of design consultancy Seymour Powell (SP), to meet with Associate Design Director, Matt T idnam Having originally been planned as an in school visit, the whole group were delighted to make the trip to London, and to be able to see one of the world’s premier design consultancies in action was a real privilege Sandwiched between a greengrocers and an Italian Deli, SP’s humble exterior concealed a large complex workshops, studios and offices Once inside, the group was welcomed by Matt, who has worked at SP since 1997, and featured in the BBC’s recent series James May’s Big Ideas Reptonians enjoyed browsing examples of the countless products that SP have been involved in designing and developing, and Miss Hill was astonished to watch Dick Powell (founder of SP) saunter down the stairs and engage the pupils in conversation the highlight of the day for many For Miss Hill, it could only have been beaten by the sight of Richard Seymour arriving on his infamous motorbike! (But more of that motorbike later)
(31)
Under unusual February blue skies, the group made their way on foot from Tower Bridge to the museum, where one of the museums curators was kind enough to introduce the current exhibitions the group were about to see The pupils also lear nt about to the history of the Design Museum, and its enduring links with the V&A, having begun life in the basement of this world famous museum
The Design Technology Department are always keen to offer their pupils the chance to experience the world of design outside of Repton and on Thursday 24 February hosted their second annual trip to London’s Design Museum
The visit was a tremendous opportunity for all present to gain an understanding of where a career in design might lead for these ambitious Reptonians when the constraints of A Levels and further education are released Miss Hill even suggested that she would be less than surprised to see some of these young designers go on to hold their own talk as Associate Design Director in years to come high praise indeed G L Hill
SCHOOL NEWS DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY
The group were treated to an in depth talk and impressive presentation from Matt He described how he came to be a product designer, his experiences since joining SP and offered a valuable insight into what it would be like to work for a design consultancy such as SP He then went on to discuss many of SP’s past, present and future projects, ranging from Tefal’s innovative Aquaspeed iron to the EVN bike, the world’s first working hydrogen cell motorbike, and the frighteningly futuristic Virgin Galactic concept Matt also introduced the principle that design is something that is all around us, all of the time, which the SP design ethos of ‘Making things better: Better for people, better for business and better for the world’ is based upon This will have sounded familiar to the A Level students present, along with similar concepts such as “addictive ergonomics”, as they have to take these into consideration when completing their design work
Particularly valuable was the Design of the Year Awards exhibition, enabling Reptonians to see, first hand, how broad and imaginative the world of design can be Pupils encountered work across the genres of fashion, architecture, fur niture, product and many more Particular highlights included a stand dedicated to Dubai’s architectural masterpiece the Burj al Khalifa; a coffee table in the shape of a gigantic magnifying glass; an highly compact fire extinguisher, eliminating the issue of weight; a new lighting design described as ‘wall piercing’; even suggestions as to how illnesses may be diagnosed in the future
Having experienced the future of design at the Design Museum, the trip continued with a look at the history of design at the V&A The museum is full of iconic examples of design from 20th Century movements, all of which are used by designers to consistently provide inspiration for new products; something Reptonians are increasingly encouraged to do themselves, especially at A Level Among the favoured 20th Century items were: the Cinderella table a solid piece of wood, machined by computer into an unimaginably hollow and organic shape; the ‘little heavy’ chair by Ron Arad, steel beaten into an implausibly comfortable form; and the first Dyson Vacuum G Force Cyclonic In viewing these pieces, the students were able to fully appreciate how far manufacturing has developed in recent years However, the students also agreed that the past can still be very relevant reproductions of Ar ne Jacobson’s 1951 design for the bentwood ‘Ant’ chair can be found in no less than 6 of the boarding house dining rooms, while Reitveld’s 1918 chair design and Paul Henningson’s Artichoke lamp show that technology is only just beginning to catch up with the imagination of designers Having spent so long admiring these design masterpieces, the group were unable to negotiate the queue to enter the Science Museum before the end of the day, but still retur ned to Repton full of culture, their horizons broadened and brimming with enthusiasm for design
L Jones SCHOOL NEWS HOCKEY
Four of this current U14 team have already represented the 1st XI and I am certain that several others will step up in the next couple of years
(32) SCHOOL NEWS DRAMA
Perhaps for the last time ever as well, The Lent Term Charity Cabaret took place in Pears School with its traditional format of tables, waiters, wine and food I am a little tedious about statistics but there are few school shows, surely, that sell out Saturday night in eight hours and Friday night in thirty two hours, involve over 150 pupils, play to more than 1200 people in four performances and raise thousands of pounds in the process The total raised for Passing It On, a charity run by a friend of Tom Naylor, is yet to be finalised but could well exceed £15,000 Funding the building of a junior school in Ghana was such an excellent cause and great generosity was inspired by the founder, Jim MacDonald, speaking every night to the audiences Do visit www passingiton org uk for more information As usual the show itself was a high quality mix of music, dance, comedy and drama Stalwarts of past shows made their last appearances and reminded us of the depth of talent that the current Upper Sixth has brought to five years of Cabarets and Repton Drama in general Sarah Cotterill (A), Tristram Fane Saunders (O), Mark Harrison (L) and Josh Benn (S), Tom Hume (L), along with Charly Wright (A) and Hattie Rayfield (F), all excelled again this year, but there was, of course, much evidence of future talent coming through It was especially heartening to see B Blockers such as Harry Mead (L), George Gould (O), Matthew Thomas (S), Harry Busby, Katie Guest, Lydia May Cooney (A) and Jess Gough (A), and even a B Block rock band, all confidently taking the limelight That new 400 Hall stage will most certainly be well used and these youngsters have some f a n t a s t i c o p p o r t u n i t i e s ahead of them Exciting times for Repton Drama! J C Sentance Hockey More National Titles
This has been an unrivalled season for hockey success at Repton
The 1st XI girls reinforced their position at the top of school hockey comprehensively beating Millfield in the National Indoor Final in January and only narrowly missing out on a seventh successive outdoor title Jo Leigh (G) captained the team superbly and will be representing England Under 18 this summer Despite Repton winning a National title for each of the last seven years, Simon Clague’s victory with the U14 Girls team this year must be the most significant Eight different Prep Schools were represented in our B Block team that won their National Championships in March and this obviously bodes well for the future Erica Sanders (G) inspired a comeback from a goal behind in the final scoring two goals in the last five minutes
I write as the stunning new theatre is handed over and Guy Levesley and his technical team lear n to manage the technical complexity of this exciting space Repton now has one of the best purpose built school theatres in the country, and audiences over the next few years will be as excited by this amazing project as we hope they will be about the drama that appears on its stage Last November, as the builders dealt with snow, the last school play to be performed in Pears School was Macbeth and, in true Repton fashion, the show started outside with witches hidden in the trees and army vehicles manoeuvring around the yard and the audience as the Scottish flag was raised above the Pears School tower Inside, on an intimate, traverse stage, the witches were particularly effective, choreographed by Sarah Cotterill (A), make up and costume designed by Brenda Adams (A) Leading a strong cast were the superb Ed Goodall (S) in the title role and his wife Charly Wright (A) Their maturity in portraying the torment of the couple and their growing insanity was exceptional W ith impressive music and lighting, the show successfully conveyed a brooding atmosphere of war, terror and revenge right up to its quiet and sombre curtain call
The Boys’ 1st XI comfortably won their Midlands Championships recently and will prepare to retain their National title with a trip to Holland over the Easter weekend Arjan Drayton Chana (S), George Osbor ne (S) and Leo Watton (O) provide a real cutting edge at 1st XI level The U16 and U14 teams coached by Ian Pollock and Simon Clague have a play off to win to reach their National Finals but approach the games with confidence given recent performances Alessandro Congui (O) and Luke Cosford (N) have provided the driving force behind the U16s and it has been Ben Clague (P) and Dominic Bennett (P) that have made the U14s tick Improvements continue to be made at the Tanyard The sand based pitch is to be relayed in May this year and new dugouts on the water based have made life as a substitute a little more bearable We are now operating twelve girls teams and ten boys teams and Repton regularly win the overall block fixtures on a Saturday Please do follow our results and news on the school website or on Twitter @reptonhockey Details of the National Finals will be updated when they are known and any support would be appreciated M
At the time of writing, two Girls’ National T itles have been won and all three boys teams (U18, U16 and U14) are still in the hunt for their respective Championships that are to be played at Cannock HC in early May
The make up of the bowling unit will depend much on the rehabilitation from serious injury of Henry Eldred and Ameer Ahmed, but we hope to see them leading the attack after impressing last year Whoever is bowling, everything that goes past the bat will be on the way to George Hodson Walker, who will be the 1st XI's 'keeper for the third year and who took 30 dismissals in 2010 Every cricket season preview would be incomplete without a 'ones to watch' section Our squad this year contains three A blockers, all of whom made significant impressions lower down the school in 2010 Matt Goodacre will provide real resistance and grit in the middle order, Sam Cotter will bowl plenty of overs of leg spin with developing variation, and Aaron Hibell, a genuine all rounder, will bowl a high percentage of balls on target with his left arm seamers Keep an eye on these three over the next few years
Prospects
The 2010 season started in La Manga in Spain and ended with a comprehensive victory on Speech Day and a total of 12 wins gained We hope for a season of that nature in 2011 with our target to win games against the best teams on the circuit that beat us 12 months ago
Mike Stones
Some of last season’s top performers remain in the 1st XI this year and much will be expected of opening pair Sam Graham (S) and Eddy Ikin (C), both of whom scored over 545 runs last year and recorded 1st XI hundreds Sam will also continue his leadership responsibilities after being Captain of Football as he will also now be Captain of Cricket Matthew Fletcher (S) joins us for his first year in the 1st XI with an impressive track record through the county system Kieran Fenton, still in O block, will no doubt have benefited from his first team experience last year and will make contributions in the top order and with his left arm spin
Our fixture list remains a constant and we look forward to the season's first school fixture against Malver n on April 30th and a total of 15 longer format games before wrapping up the season against The Pilgrims on Speech Day This will be a team that has both experience and some real talent, as well as some developing junior players We look forward to some excellent fixtures, and where better to play them than our magnificent home venue As always we hope to see a number of ORs throughout the season at 1st XI games
For those with longer memories it was about 25 years ago that I took my first school tour to that wonderful island The one in 2010 will probably be my last so it marked a sentimental occasion There was nothing sentimental about the way the team played, however, led worthily by captain, James Gough The leading performers with bat and ball respectively were Matthew Goodacre and Sam Cotter while all rounder, Aaron Hibell also performed very well By coincidence we played a match against Foundation School who were also one of our opponents on that first tour In their pavilion I happened to chance upon a dusty old plaque with the inscription “ Porta Vacat Culpa” which was still there after all these years It’s nice to be remembered! One of the highlights of the tour was the support given to us by local ORs, James Elliot (M’68) and his daughter, Michelle (G’98) They attended several of the matches and most kindly James invited a number of the boys to go deep sea fishing with him on his boat After some sea sickness brought on by the choppy conditions, four large fish (barracuda) were caught and when the boat retur ned they were duly barbecued and consumed at a beach party staged by the Elliot family It was a fantastic day which will live long in the memory of all who were there and we thank James for his amazing hospitality Despite delays and cancellations the Repton party were able to get back home for Christmas armed with many a tale that they can tell their grandchildren about their exploits in the Caribbean!
Ian Pollock Director of Sport & Head of Cricket
In December 2010 , as Britain shivered under the arctic conditions, a group of Repton cricketers spent 2 weeks in the Caribbean, flying the flag and gaining invaluable experience in their cricketing education There were 16 boys aged 15 and 16 years old along with 3 adults, myself, Anthony Giles and long serving umpire, John Shackleton Four games were won against local schools, one rained off when Repton were in a good position to win and only one game lost, the latter against Millfield School who were touring the island at the same time
SCHOOL NEWS CRICKET
(33) Barbados Cricket Tour 2010
All in all the boys played very well, remaining unbeaten against Barbados schools, a record not many touring teams achieve
The 1st XI Player of the Year went to W ill Hughes (N) who scored 27 goals and is the first O Blocker to win the cup, certainly in recent memory This award was well deserved as his mesmerising close control and dribbling ability were instrumental in so many of our victories this season The 2nd XI Player of the year went to Harry Croft (P)
There were some exciting matches lower down the year groups, with the attack minded U14A team involved in some particularly high scoring matches The U15A team produced some impressive performances, including a victory over Rensburg Sheppards runners up Bolton School Further representative honours were gained at ISFA U14 level by Joel Atkin (C) and at U15 level by Stephen Kosmala (O)
It is the first time a Repton 1st XI has won over 20 games (27 games played) in a season and also the first occasion when the 1st XI has scored over 100 goals in a season (102 to be precise) The season began in glorious fashion with victory in the a2om ISFA Sixes Tour nament
This is only the third time we have lifted the trophy since it began in 1957 and it was made all the more special by the fact it was held on home soil The team contained Norther n Ireland inter national midfielder Johnny Gorman (C), who had just retur ned from a Euro 2012 qualifier, as well as the precocious O Block talents of W ill Hughes (N), Kieran Fenton (C) and Liam Kavanagh (C) We won every single game and, despite a tight final against St Bede’s (Hailsham), we thoroughly deserved to carry off the trophy
(34) SCHOOL NEWS FOOTBALL Season 2010/11 has been groundbreaking in many ways
Unfortunately, the House competitions were decimated by the weather W ith no play able to get underway for the last three weeks of term all House and League competitions were abandoned rather than trying to fit them into the crowded Lent term The only House competition that did take place was the O&A Block Sixes for the Noel Bennett Trophy which was won by The Cross The prospects for next season look unclear as we are losing some big, influential players We do have plenty of talent coming through, but they will be young and lacking experience However, they will lear n quickly and talent does have a habit of shining through I’m pretty certain of one thing though: Repton will continue to be extremely competitive on the football field M Carrington, Master i/c Football
The end of season record was P 27 W 20 D 3 L 4 F 102 A 36
This marks the season out as one of the very best in the history of Repton Football This exciting side was wonderfully captained by Sam Graham (S) who scored 19 goals from midfield and went on to represent the full ISFA U18 side in matches against Wales, Scotland and Finland Full representative honours were also gained by Oliver West (P), Josh Golding (P) and Josh Miller (N) whilst Patrick Tuffy (P) represented the full ISFA U16 side
The regular season progressed in similar fashion with comfortable wins over the likes of King’s Chester, Wolverhampton GS, St Bede’s and Bolton We were acknowledged, once again, as one of the best sides on the circuit with the only real blemish coming in an early season defeat to Bradfield by the odd goal in 5; we weren’t to lose in normal time again until late February Early progress in the Boodles ISFA Cup was smooth as we disposed of Westminster, QEH Bristol and Lancing College all relatively easily However, things started to become more difficult as the season wore on The weather brought things to a shuddering halt leading to the cancellation of the Ramblers and Shrewsbury fixtures as well as a long delay to the Boodles ISFA Quarter Final fixture against Charterhouse A bad injury which ended the season of our powerful striker Kieran Fenton (C) also affected our play (he had scored 10 goals in 10 games before his injury) Our comfortable progress in the ESFA Cup was also ended, this time on penalties, as we were hit by further injuries to skipper Sam Graham (S) and our brilliant goalkeeper Oliver West (P) We retur ned in Lent with a backlog of fixtures to contend with The first weekend of term saw the team travel to Charterhouse for the delayed Quarter Final A thrilling game of cup football followed as we battled to 1 1 at full time only to lose, almost out on our feet, 2 1 in extra time It was a bitter blow as I genuinely felt that we had a good chance of retur ning to the final this year Alas, it wasn’t to be and Charterhouse proved their worth by going on to beat Millfield and Eton to lift the trophy
In the meantime, the senior boys and senior girls had got under way at 2 30pm and half an hour later spectators were treated to a second sprint finish between Frank Flight (O) and Sam Graham (S), who came first and second respectively and were separated by only a second School House then stormed the finish thick and fast to take the senior title by 43 points, just 68 points ahead of Orchard Phoebe Whittome (F) crossed the line in fine style to win the senior girls' event, 26 seconds ahead of former junior champion Emily Gething Lewis (F) and followed by a second surge of Mitre girls who clinched the senior title
Enough had happened to make this a vintage Steeplechase, but all was not over as the junior boys took their mark at 3 15pm and just over 24 minutes later Douglas Redfern (P) jogged across the finishing line with not so much as a hair out of place and well over two minutes ahead of former champion W illiam Hughes (N) Priory gained further honours as Dominic Bennett (P) crossed the line in a time of 26:54 to take the First B Block Boy trophy a fitting end to a spectacular after noon which would not have been possible without the valuable efforts of the Grounds staff Thanks are owed, as ever, to all staff and students for timing, judging and marshalling the course
C S Dammers
(35) The mor ning of Steeplechase day, 3 February 2011, was drenched in sunshine and against the cold, blue canvas of a spring sky hopes were high What we thought was eter nal soon gave way to grey suburban clouds which threatened to dampen our spirits, but mercifully the heavens held their applause Undeterred, the grounds staff prepared the arena for the colourful 'race for the gate' and for the eagerly awaited gladiatorial finish True to form, the junior girls event began at 2 15pm and the race was on All eyes were on the current title holder Phoebe Walters (M), but first to cross the line was Georgina Whitehouse (M) followed one second later by Erica Sanders (G), after a gut wrenching sprint to the finish, to take the First B Block Girl trophy A torrent of Mitre girls then cruised across the line to take the junior team trophy by a huge margin
Junior Boys W inner Douglas Redfer n (P) First B Block Boy Dominic Bennett (P) Junior Girls W inner Georgina Whitehouse (M) First B Block Girl Erica Sanders (G) Junior Boys Team New House Junior Girls Team The Mitre Senior Boys W inner Frank Flight (O) Senior Girls W inner Phoebe Whittome (F) Senior Boys Team School House Senior Girls Team The Mitre Dr H G Gould
Slaver y in the United States by Kiki Betts Deans (M), which explored concepts such as American Exceptionalism and the questions of whether monogenesis and polygenesis inform moder n religious belief and practice, how one can judge other eras' mores, and whether race itself is a social construct In a very powerful and moving talk, Richard Doxey (P) gave us some Perspectives on Capital Punishment Simone Matthews (A) examined The Reception and Significance of Guy Fawkes’ Night, considering the applicability of Girardian victim sacrifice theory, the function of popular festivals in social engineering, and where the line between terrorists and freedom fighters can be drawn Zoe Dunn (G) sought a very challenging Definition of Art, looking at artists from Duchamp to Martin Creed via Jackson Pollock, and Gautham Shiralagi (L) took a controversially realpolitik but cogent line on US Foreign Policy; Josh Golding (P) provoked our Thoughts on Immigration Ben Hardwick led a discussion on the Justifications for Punishment, which perhaps epitomised the Society at its best: it may be that no undisputed conclusions were reached, but the dialectic allowed us to gain a more precise understanding of the values and principles on which our views are held Lucy Watson (M) closed the year’s talks with a paper on Feminism in the 21st Centur y; thoroughly researched, wide ranging, challenging without being wilfully provocative, incisive and cogently argued, it would be hard to conceive of a more perfect end to this group’s meetings
SCHOOL NEWS STEEPLECHASE
SCHOOL NEWS SOCIETIES
There are now more academic societies that operate within the School A selection of them are as follows:
Girls' Netball have had a very pleasing season in 2011 and we have managed to field a record 14 teams (1sts, 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, U16A, U15A, B, C, U14A, B, C, D, E, F) The Repton girls have also been represented at Midlands level (U18, U16 and U14) and the Under 14's have gone one better and for the first time, have managed to qualify for the National Finals at the end of March This is a fantastic achievement for the girls, and particularly so when so many of the schools they played in the Regional finals play Netball all year round The Under 14B and U14D teams have been hot on their heels of success, and both have recorded an unbeaten season in 2011 N M Oborn SCHOOL NEWS - NETBALL RAMSEY SOCIETY
If asked how much sleep one should have a night the most common answer is eight hours However, due to release of particular hormones teenagers have a very different sleep patter n to both adults and children and, therefore, their sleep requirements may be significantly different
GURNEY SOCIETY
SLEEP SOCIETY
As well as carrying out the project pupils will have the chance to attend sleep lectures at the ‘ThinkTank’ and Birmingham Hippodrome as well as attend sleep camps at the biomedical unit in Heartlands Hospital This will give them the opportunity to lear n some polysomnography techniques It will also help them to understand more about sleep in general and other potential tests along with some common signs of sleep disorders C Horne
There are even reports that suggest he dug a 30m well in the middle of the T ithe Bar n in order to provide fresh water for his experiments Such an inspirational and forward thinking teacher, who embodies the spirit of scientific enquiry, the Repton ethos and a great deal of fun is the perfect inspiration for this new society
J Plowright SCHOOL NEWS SOCIETIES Continued
John Henry Gur ney established the first Chemistry department at Repton School during his tenure from 1873 1901 He developed his laboratory in the T ithe Bar n where he inspired the pupils with his explosions, bad smells and tendency to set his beard on fire!
The Ramsey Society was originally set up for sixth form scholars as a means of stimulating debate amongst those most likely to apply for Oxbridge, although legend has it that in its early years most ingenuity went into surreptitiously introducing the subject of whales into the conversation
Existing research from the USA and Japan already shows that a lack of sleep could be associated with excess body weight through changes in metabolic hormones Sleep duration has also been linked to school performance which has led to school start times being pushed backwards an hour in some parts of the USA
The aim of the society is to broaden the pupils’ ideas about science and to expose them to research methods, ideas and scientific processes Events this term have included ‘Electrickery’ which involved Paul Brown, a local magician, who came in to entertain us with tricks involving static electricity, two forensic sessions gave the pupils the opportunity to try blood typing, fingerprinting and crime scene investigation We also investigated the role of crisps as accelerants in arson and John Driver entertained us with his ‘forgotten’ demos! If any ORs feel that they would like to become involved in the meetings, or would just like to come and take part please contact Julia Rushton jmr@repton org uk for more details
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The Temple Society is an offshoot (or calf) of the Ramsey Society, where some of the most active minds in the Lower School not exclusively academic awardholders come to cogitate on diverse and diverting subjects A discussion on Animal Rights, for example, led to the question of whether Man is different from, and superior to, other animal species, which in tur n led to rumination on everything from Man’s incontestably opposable thumbs to his problematical possession of a soul Cardinal Newman defined liberalism as ‘the exercise of thought upon matters, in which from the constitution of the human mind, thought cannot be brought to any successful issue and is therefore out of place ’ Notwithstanding this war ning, Temple Society members continue to speculate on all sorts of issues where they may not be able to arrive at a definitive answer but will become better informed and more articulate in the process of having considered one In the words of Dr Malcolm Tozer, a gover nor who attended one of our meetings, it is particularly gratifying ‘to see so many of the youngsters willing to chip in ’
This year’s Sleep Society are studying pupils from year 7 and 8 at Foremarke Having gained parental consent, the research team introduced the project to the year 7 cohort and distributed, collected, and will soon be analysing three questionnaires and a 7 day sleep diary The questionnaires cover questions relating to sleep habits, technology use and physical changes relating to puberty So what do Reptonians gain from this project? Firstly, it helps pupils to understand how research is conducted It looks at aspects such as ethics, study design, analysing data, writing reports, and presenting findings orally These are important skills to foster in our young scientists Secondly, the project has helped pupils develop leadership skills as well as acting as a useful addition on UCAS forms and CV’s
The Sleep Society, which has operated for three years, works with researchers from Birmingham University, Heartlands Hospital and other Midlands schools to carry out a research project into the area of sleep patterns in adolescents The project aims to collect data from more than five thousand teenagers in the UK to identify correlations between sleep, body mass index, moder n technology use and academic performance
TEMPLE SOCIETY
Julia Rushton
In 2008 the Biology department set up the elusive Sleep Society for Lower Sixth Biologists In contrast to popular belief the society does not focus on block booking periods of the day to catch up on sleep It does, however, study the importance of sleep in adolescents, an area of sleep into which there has been relatively little research
SCHOOL NEWS CAREERS
PIGEON POST
LATHAM 1937 Dear Mr Stones I refer to the photo in the previous issue of The Arch of Latham 1937 I am sitting at the end of the row next to A G Hine, J T Whitfield, D K Woodhead, R G Bragg, Ma Grundy, James Grundy, The Magger, M C S Kennedy, E W C Hall, H E Ffoulkes, K W intershladen, H K Robinson The tall boy behind the Housemaster is P H W Clarke and behind him in the back row is E L Thwaites I mention them because Hall, Clarke and Thwaites were all killed in action soon afterwards as were C R N and D A M Bell and P R Wood Six out of 44 I was lucky After escaping via Dunkirk on June 1st 1940 I remained unhurt for the rest of the war As the trophies demonstrate we were a pretty successful team My two sons, John (L’66) and Geoffrey (L’68) with both later Head of Latham Tradition surely has much to commend it The Handforths are back row 4th from L standing behind Magger I found that the photo affected me deeply in bringing back memories of long ago Yours sincerely Geoffrey Fletcher (L’37) Editors I much appreciated the picture of Latham House 1937 (page 18 The Arch Oct 2010) Back row 6 from the left is my late father How lovely to see him with his fellow Repton colleagues, many of whom he spoke to me about Kind Regards Joe Pratt (L’70)
Andy's former houseparents, Russell and Kathleen Muir, were in the audience, and Andy was delighted by the warm, spontaneous welcome he received from current New Housemaster W illiam Odell and the boys on an impromptu visit to his old House, where he marvelled at the quality of the moder n, refurbished accommodation, identified his grandfather's name on a House board, and his face in a cricket photo from the 1920s This was Andy's first visit to Repton since school days, and he is typical of the growing number of ORs who are now assisting the school's burgeoning careers guidance programme, by addressing pupils, offering work experience placements, or attending the annual Careers Forum where pupils quiz professionals from a wide variety of jobs and professions about their working environment Other Old Reptonians who have recently visited the school in this capacity include Simon Litchfield (B’89) (Caterpillar), Georgie White (A’95) (itv com), Andrew Churchill (P’82) (JJ Churchill Ltd Precision Engineering), Ben Cavey (P’92) (T iger Aspect Productions) and James Cobb (B’90) (Energizer) Their contributions are greatly appreciated, and the Careers Department would be delighted to hear from other ORs interested in contributing to future careers events and presentations Mrs Melissa Blain, Head of Careers mjb@repton org uk
(37) Which inter national aviation company has 240 aircraft, a flight landing or departing every ninety seconds, 33 million passengers a year, and a Director of Operations who is an Old Reptonian? The answer is British Airways, and the executive in question is Andy Lord (N’84), who visited the school in Lent Term to address a packed Beldam Hall of current pupils interested in careers in business Andy joined BA in 1992,straight from a degree in Engineering at Manchester University (he claims to have been fairly average academically at Repton!), gradually rising through the ranks to his current position as overall controller of BA's daily operations Andy gave an intriguing insight into his working environment, where constant updates on aircraft movements can be interrupted by logistical problems arising from severe weather, sudden political upheavals, and flight cancellations He emphasised the wide range of employment available within the aviation industry (engineers, ground staff, baggage handlers, caterers, air traffic controllers, cabin staff, doctors, nurses, pilots), and how important it is for potential applicants to offer something distinctive on their CVs, and to do some work experience He generously invited a group of Repton pupils to a “behind the scenes” day at Heathrow, for a glimpse into the airport’s Byzantine inner workings
PIGEON POST Continued
(38) Dear Editor, Interested to see the photos of 1937, submitted by the Handforth family My half brother, Peter Clarke, (Father’s son by his first marriage) is the tall boy in the House photo immediately behind the Housemaster He went on to captain the cricket team the following year Sadly he was killed in the last month of the war in 1945, having predicted his death in writing in over 100 books subsequently found at the family home! He is featured in the Mr Chips film hitting a cricket ball in close up This was rather bizarre as he was the fast bowler, and not a batsman at all The story goes that he just could not manage a clean hit, and the crew resorted to dropping a ball from above to give him a good hit, which eventually worked!
VIVIEN LEIGH Dear Editors
I am trying to restrain my personal enthusiasm and exercise historical caution before saying any more, but I now have an early mor ning habit of writing, so I immediately put pen to paper and produced my thoughts based on these photos, and the links between them and the name Tom Auden (0'99) which appears at the top of p 19 The result: a) a written sketch of my grandparents and my father, putting them in the historical context of the late 1930s b) a pulling together of my ideas for a historical conference at Repton on education and religion in Pre Reformation Repton (Life at Repton Before 1557) My bus pass has also been a pass to studying again I have gone back to university (Oxford) to study what I always wanted to study, English local history, and I have already produced two studies using Repton, although they are not yet fit for wider circulation The historical link with these photos is the name Wystan H Auden W ith best wishes, and thanks for such a readable newsletter Christopher D. B. Gowers (B'61)
I did visit his grave 40 years ago, when I took my father, also of course his father It was his first and only time You can imagine what an emotional and rather strange event, taking one's father to visit his eldest son's grave for the first time It left him at peace in the sure knowledge that his grave would be tended permanently, and never forgotten My father was at the school from 1909 to 1914, fought in both wars, and took the march past on Speech Day in 1965 His house was in the High Street, now a junior school, and was known by the name of the Housemaster, as was the tradition then I think it was called Gould House, and later transferred to Latham Kind regards, Stephen Clarke (L’60)
I hope you will allow me to say how delighted I was to read Anthony Durham's comment (October '10) on V ivien Leigh following my article “Repton in the Forties" of May '09, as he has thrown some light on her visit At the time, I was mystified about the photograph as I didn't remember taking it A search of Repton's library records and Repton Village records failed to throw up any reason why Vivien came to Repton Although Anthony hasn't specifically said why she visited Repton, the inference is that it was a semi private affair as she was one of several "over night guests" W isely, the HM had decided to involve a small number of Hall boys, and Anthony's position in the scheme of things is to be envied Equally mystifying is the recording on the back of the photograph of several film stars of the period, all well known to those of a certain age: Anna Neagle, Jessie Matthews, Ian Hunter, Claude Raines, Ray Milland, Merle Oberon, Roland Young, Robert Cummins, Donald Crisp, Charles Laughton, Sir Cedric Hardwick, C Aubrey Smith, Ida Lupino,June Duprey, Wendy Hiller, and last but not least OR Basil Rathbone (who was surely the finest portrayer of Sherlock Holmes?) Why were these names on the photo and who wrote them? not me! Perhaps someone somewhere, likely to be a Brook OR, can elucidate?
I have to, with respect, correct Anthony's quotation of Rhett Butler's immortal words at the end of "Gone W ith The W ind" He omitted "my dear" so it should read: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" Interestingly, In Margaret Mitchell's novel, she did not include the word "Frankly" Yes, Vivien Leigh was a raving beauty, beloved by people all over the world for her looks and fine acting How tragic that she suffered from various forms of ill health which latterly affected her acting ability John Swallow (B’40)
HANDFORTH FAMILY PHOTOS Dear Editors, I nearly choked on my breakfast this mor ning as I opened my copy of "The Arch" and spotted the two photos at the top of p18 Is it possible to obtain good copies of the photos for closer study? Can you put me in touch with the families of Walter Roy Handforth (L'35) and Basil Thomas Handforth (L'36) who were both contemporaries of my late father John Humphrey Gowers (B'36)? Is Tom Auden related to the Repton Auden's and to W H Auden in particular? Has anyone else been identified in the Mr Chips photo, or anyone in the Speech Day photo?
(39) PIGEON POST Continued EDITOR’S CHALLENGE
5 B suggests the works were taking place on the High Street with the single storey building being part of the redevelopment of the new loos or as my generation would have said “rears” for The Priory Roger Cooke (O’53) Dear Sir, W ith regard to your mystery pictures, I suggest that pictures A and C show the demolition of the outside toilets (famously with doorless cubicles!) at The Priory I left in '66 when they were still up and running so it would be interesting to find out when the luxury of warmer seats of ease was afforded the inhabitants of that venerable House Picture B is the entrance to the yard at The Priory, from the Housemaster's drive I fear that I can shed little light on the purpose of the steps being built, other than to say I don't believe they were there in '66 Yours faithfully, Stephen Austen (P'61)
Dear Sir, A and C are Priory House rears (toilets) being demolished, after my time Circa 1976 they were the epicentre of all Repton cigarette smoking activities with pupils from other houses coming for morning break at the Priory, purely for social reasons Literally thousands of cigarettes were smoked in there, even by boys fathers on Speech Day, (my father & Mr Eddie Clarkson?) At the (camera) end of the rears was a small room called the boot hole At that time the Priory had 8 studies One summer evening the boot hole was converted to "Study 9", with carpet, chair, table and lamp etc by one A E Bishop The housemaster was invited to 9, I seem to remember gin was involved To the left on photo C was the Art School (the old village school or bummers yard) This was a bicycle racing track for Priory boys with speed trials going on late in to the evening Undisputed champion was S J S (Jobber) Bridge Photo B looks like Priory yard from the Private Side J L Wilcock (P’72) Dear Sir Issue no 317: Editors Challenge: Three archive photos These photographs are surely of the demolition of the outside lavatory block at The Priory In 1955 as part of my post A level activity I was involved in a project to redecorate the inside of the building I do hope you have already been given a date for their demolition surely the photograph does not record the start of their rebuilding?
Another archive of the early 1950’s should reveal the CCF inspections involving famous generals I certainly recall both Montgomery and Slim in such a role Yours sincerely Ian R Johnson (P’49) Hello Ed ! Just received my copy of The Arch and thought I’d play along with the challenge Pic A: Has to be the old toilets outside The Priory leading down to the yard Pic B: That is the exit from the yard going out towards the circular car park of the Priory, with the step on the left presumably replacing the ones that led up to the door next to the Chagger Pic C: Priory toilet demolition again, with the (old) Art School on the left Brought back some memories W ish I could get back there to see how the house and school look now, but have been in Australia for 15 years now and have been back to GB only twice since Jerry Austen (P’76) Dear Editor I expect somebody will have a “hole in one” answer to this, but there are a number of pointers which I can see, which might help 1 First of all, the three pictures are plainly of different aspects of the same development Thus A is a closer view of the central section of C and the single storey building in the background of B is almost certainly the same building as that on the left hand of C (look at the architectural details round the windows)
2 Colour still photography was a rarity before the 1950s
Furthermore the colour rendering is good and pretty natural which was not always the case with earlier colour films which often has a green or blue overtone It was only really after the end of the 50s when things had got cheaper that colour prints became fairly general Incidentally if these are not prints but not transparencies then some transparencies (notably Kodak) used until the last 10 years or so to carry a note of the date of processing on the cardboard or plastic frame
4 There were two developments in the 60/70s which were the Art centre and the first of the Girls Houses
3 There was only one major development in the 50s (when I was at Repton) which was the site clear of the area of the new precinct and the subsequent building of the new chemistry block and the 400 Hall Most of the site was back gardens, walls and outhouses and none of these pictures reminds me of that The site was cleared in c 1956 and the Kindersley gate was up in time for HM to cut the ribbon at the end of March 1957 For all the reasons so far I doubt whether this was any part of the New Precinct development
(40) PIGEON POST Continued Dear Editor, Memories came crowding in as I read John Walker’s fine obituary of Keith Workman When I took up my first proper teaching post at Repton in 1963, Keith was my boss in the Classics Department as well as my fellow lodger in the Old Mitre As a ‘wet behind the ears’ antipodean from Sydney and Cambridge Universities, he took me under his wing and soon became a true guide, philosopher and friend I lear ned a great deal from him although we could never agree on ‘correct’ pronunciation of Ancient Greek I belonged to a more recent school of thought on the subject, but Keith and David W ilkinson, another colleague and dear friend, ribbed me constantly about this in the nicest possible way, I may add In my second and last year of teaching at Repton we were fortunate to have an Upper Fifth Greek class consisting of two highly gifted boys James Fenton (H’63) who went on, among other things, to become Oxford Professor of Poetry and Richard Seaford (C’62), now Professor of Classics at Exeter, who is regarded as the best man in his specialised field world wide In those days Keith usually spent a month or so of the Summer vacation touring classical sites in Greece and Italy and in 1964 he invited the two boys and me to join him for a four week tour of Sicily Keith was an expert camper His motto was ‘Any fool can be uncomfortable’ As a result his Austin A 40 was equipped with every luxury available in the mid sixties: capacious tent, four comfortable fold out chairs, a bridge table (we played every night), porta gas etc etc Our only mishap was at Agrigento when we climbed the hill to look at the temples by moonlight Richard was (and still is) very short sighted and on our way back about midnight he fell and cut his eye on some barbed wire Our panic was assuaged in the early hours of the mor ning when an efficient doctor at the local hospital inserted some stitches and assured us that there was no damage to the eye itself In my regular retur n visits to England I always caught up with Keith at Repton and more recently at Newton Solney I missed his regular Christmas card last year, and was a little concer ned when I tried to telephone him in July this year to find that the number was no longer listed The rest, as they say, is history John Sheldon PS I note that reference has been made to Keith’s doing the T imes Crossword In fact, he had outgrown that even at the time I first knew him As a comparative amateur in the field I soon realised that he was a crossword solver extraordinaire He only did the difficult compilations of Torquemada and Ximenes and more recently the extremely difficult crosswords that appear in the Listener and the Spectator Had he chosen to go down that path he could have rivalled Ximenes, who was himself a Classics Master at Christ's Hospital in private life, as a creator of these devilish puzzles
Yours, Disgusted P Chapman (P’51) Dear Editors
The pictures on p17 of the current edition of The Arch look like the demolition of the toilets at the Priory This event must be post 1972 as they were still in use when I left Pic A shows the arch entrance from the house yard leading up a passage between the toilet, being the White section of interior wall to the left and the baths, the two windows to the right The back door to the Priory, boys entrance, would be just to the right of the photo Pic B shows the Priory yard from the Private side front garden
The steps may be leading to the front entrance The building in the background is St Wystan's primary school The arch in Pic A is off to the top left of Pic B Pic C is a wider view of Pic A showing St Wystan's as seen in Pic B, note the ladder leaning against the primary school in both shots The furthest windows to the left in Pic C are the windows in the background of Pic B Coincidentally noticed my uncles Richard and W illiam Steele, also Priory, in the photo of the Gaudy, top of page 15
Regards Simon Steele (P’68), Heritage Builder
EDITOR’S CHALLENGE continued Sir, What dreadful vandalism is revealed by the pictures on page 17 of the October edition of The Arch the wilful destruction of the lavatory block at The Priory A door less, windowless temporary resting place much admired by boys determined to follow in the steps of the great polar explorers its finely distempered walls frequently bore testimony to boyish acquaintanceship with the minor poets, mute promise of things to come Lit (uniquely) by a clerestory, it abutted the village school yard quaintly referred to a the The Bum's Yard Also forfeit in this demolition was the adjoining Boot Hole, a charming and well lit former hovel, home on this earth to one Tossed Off Tom where corps kit blanco was allowed to dry in perpetuity How disgraceful this was allowed to occur! Is this what Repton has come to?
As a result of industry take overs, in 1967 I found myself working for RR in their London office, a Dickensian building in Conduit Street just off Oxford Street where Rolls and Royce established their first car sales office in 1904 I had been appointed Advertising Manager
Regards, Mike Jolley (O’47) Dear Editors
After about ten dual trips, my instructor informed me that he had had enough frights and that next time I was going to be on my own To my great amusement, the Vampire T11 that I was to fly for my first jet solo was indeed one that I had helped to build as a budding production engineer three years earlier!
Regarding John Black’s article on the MdS in the October issue of The Arch I too completed the 19th MdS in 2004; it’s good to hear that the event is still a masochist’s paradise, and memories of Doc Trotter (the sadists) came rushing back It would be fun to know how many other OR’s have participated Nick Headly (C’62) Dear Mike Stones and Jan Cobb Thank you for all the effort you put in to making 'The Arch' the interesting and enjoyable read that it is "From time to time since leaving Repton, I have wondered about those masters who were called to serve their country rather than the school during World War 2 I think that among their number were Brian Kemball Cook, Frank Fisher, G W Bain and perhaps J D Eggar G W Bain was my German teacher in both the Lower and Upper Sixth after his retur n from active service in 1946 47 During a recent visit to Bletchley Park codebreaking centre I lear ned that a list of all those who served there is in course of compilation At present about 40,000 names have been listed, and Capt G W Bain was one of them Initially he was in the German Naval Section in Hut 4 of Block F, presumably translating decrypts, and later in Hut 5 translating non naval decrypts M H Jones (H'44) Dear Editor As an OR, (O'47) and a Rolls Royce retiree living in Tucson AZ, I am delighted to read in Archive that two pillars of British society have come together to encourage mutual migration Despite the fact that Benjy Hives, Lord Hives' (RR's post war CEO) youngest son was just ahead of me at Repton (he went on to Cranwell), it was a tragedy that neither organisation got to know each other in the immediate post war years In fact I can say that there was really no dialogue during my four years at Repton, despite the fact that RR did make some contribution to the equipment in the engineering shop So I found myself joining the de Havilland Aeronautical Training School at Hatfield in April 1951 as a production engineering student It was 16 years and many jobs later that I finished up on the RR payroll! My aeronautical career was exciting and fulfilling When I left de Havilland in May 1956, I had already obtained my PPL, flying the T iger Moth, courtesy of the de H company subsidised scheme at the then bargain rate of one GB pound per flying hour I joined the RAF for my two years of National Service and was selected to train as a pilot After flying a delightful piston engined basic trainer the Percival Provost (on one memorable occasion through a serious and totally unexplained navigational error on a low level cross country flight, I found myself coming in over Sale Flats, past the Chapel spire and right over the Orchard, then over the Maths block and looking across at the Science Block upper classrooms at 50 ft altitude), I graduated to the de Havilland Vampire two seater jet trainer
Something happened and I never retur ned to the UK I spent 16 very happy years with Rolls Royce Aero Engines Inc, eventually rising to the title of VP Public Relations I was heavily involved with the Lockheed L 1011 TriStar, the USMC Harrier/Pegasus operation, the Gulfstream/Spey and Tay powered series of business jets and the selection by Boeing of the RB 211 524 engine for the 747 400 which later led to the highly successful Boeing 757/ RB 211 535 programme
I also remember a V intage Rolls Royce Sliver Ghost owned by the School that was garaged in the Woodworking Shop in my years at Repton (1966 1970), built somewhere around 1906, I think Robin Newhouse (L’66)
After the disastrous RR bankruptcy of 1971, in which I was deeply involved, in 1973 my wife and I were seconded to the North American company, headquartered in NYC for two years in order to gain some idea of what made the US tick I didn't realise it at the time but this move dramatically changed our lives
To any ORs who live locally the National IWA Festival is being held in Burton on Trent over the August Bank Holiday
Those OR’s who were in school in the late 1960’s may well have experienced the Canals, in the company of Tom Kent, Music Master, who kept his own boat at Fradley Junction, and / or when the Woodworking Shop produced and launched a home made woodwork ‘Canalboat’ called “MAR TLET” in the late 1960’s, probably 1967/8? Under the direction of the then Head of Woodwork, whose name sadly I cannot recall
After all this excitement I looked for pastures new and in 1989 was hired by British Aerospace Inc to head up their Public Affairs function in Washington DC It was like coming home because Hatfield was indeed building the four engined BAE 146 airliner which was in service in the US Other responsibilities included marketing the BAe 800 and 1000 series business jets
(41) PIGEON POST Continued Dear Editor
Berger John Reddington Frank Smith Simon Q Crabtree Vanessa Twigg Tom Mather Rev Martin Hattersley
Tony
Below is a full list of those ORs 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 BEIRUT CANADA Alberta Easter n Ontario & Quebec Wester n CHILE CHINA CYPRUS DENMARK EAST AFRICA EAST AFRICA (Kenya) EIRE ESTONIA FINLAND FRANCE GERMANY (East/South) HONG KONG INDIA ITALY JAPAN LEBANON NEW ZEALAND NIGERIA NORWAY PHILIPPINES PORTUGAL SOUTH AFRICA Cape Town Natal SPAIN South & Gibraltar Madrid Madrid Mallorca SYRIA TANZANIA THAILAND TRINIDAD UNITED ARAB EMIRATES USA All All Arizona Califor nia Chicago Detroit Florida Massachusetts New York New York North Carolina North Carolina Ohio Texas Washington WEST INDIES Barbados Cayman Islands Jamaica ZAMBIA
Lloyd
Houghton David Laing Nicolas Ibanez Scott Jipeng Li Richard Sale Mathilde Juul Mark Dudley Philip Hechle Brian John O'Neill Kadi Lilis Saar 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) Tom Mather Richard Hedley Ibrahim Dikko David Llewelyn Paul Bleckly Alistair Fairclough R yan Brews Peter Hall Mark Smith Luke Allen John W ilcox Jonny Greenall Tom Mather Charles Adeogun Phillips Jom Salakshana Omar Hadeed Charles Neil Jane Roy Mark W ilhelm Verheyen Mike Jolley Edward Huson Robert Perks Jasmine Walker Andy Hilton Andreas Graham Anthony Edgar James Kirtland Paul Elliott Russell Elliott Douglas Balchan Shaheen Ladhani Christopher Huson 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 tmather@hotmail com 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 kadiliissaar@gmail com noelsmit@campus jyu fi james bar nett@wanadoo fr jim@chapmans de martin@robinshaw de niemeyf@netvigator com dgkpoon@gmail com info@juliedaniels com voilino7@hotmail com tmather@hotmail com r s hedley@xtra co nz iydikko@hotmail com davidlle@online no bceurasia@pacific net ph ryanbrews@gmail com eat@cookingbear com mshsmith@btinter net com luke@atg com jdw@fidentiis com jonnyg@propilots net tmather@hotmail com adeogun@un org jom salakshana@trs co th omarhadeed@hotmail com Charles Neil@difc ae jroy@uab edu mverheyen@comcast net MnJJOLLEY@aol com eahuson@gmail com robert perks@baxter com jswalker@umich edu andyh@totallybrilliant com andreas graham@verizon net ajedgar@me com james kirtland@gmail com paul elliott0@yahoo com Russell Elliott@irco com djbalchan@aol com shaheen@rice edu mrhuson@mindspring com james@ellcorentals com bracmed@candw ky gsharp@cwjamaica com chibale s@yahoo com + 61 293374081 + 61 738083249 +618 9299 7363 (+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 +96176729550 + 0064 9 277 6577 +234 809 944 4545 + 47 51 571930 + 63 2 753 1489 00351 289398694/ 01892 523033 +27 76 617 0098 + 27 33 234 4933 +34 662143442 Mob +34 654 328 577 + 00 34 914153415 961 (0) 937094217 + 255 27 256 5329 + 66 2 331 9053 & +661 8192717 001 868 632 2140 + 9714 3622238 + 1 205 934 1757 + 1 520 529 9562 +415 203 9225 +0 847 270 4354 +1 313 948 2672 + 1 863 7012680 +1 917 475 1059 +1 917 558 1079 + 001 704 756 6981 + 00 1 937 322 2040 + 1 713 348 5716 + 1 206 328 6112 + 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 Priory '94 Orchard ' 46 Latham '51 Latham ' 70 Latham ' 70 Field ' 97 Hall ' 61 Abbey ' 91 Priory ' 91 Hall ' 50 Mitre ' 49 Garden '09 Priory ' 66 Hall ' 57 Hall ' 83 Latham ' 78 Mitre ' 01 Latham ' 66 Hall ' 85 New ' 93 Abbey ' 89 Abbey ' 96 Priory '94 Hall ' 66 New ' 83 Orchard ' 63 Cross ' 67 Orchard '46 Mitre ' 00 Latham ' 57 Orchard ' 78 Orchard ' 87 Mitre ' 82 Orchard ' 89 Priory '94 Orchard ' 83 Mitre ' 86 Priory'99 Priory ' 65 Abbey ' 86 Cross ' 77 Orchard ' 46 Hall '70 New '71 Field '02 Brook ' 68 Mitre'83 Orchard ' 90 Orchard '88 Mitre ' 90 Mitre ' 93 Orchard ' 71 Cross ' 89 Hall ' '72 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 (42))
(43) We will only publish such information in The Arch with your agreement Thank You! Would you prefer to read The Arch on line and not receive a paper copy? Please advise us if this is the case YOUR CONTACT DETAILS 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 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 All items are available from the Repton School Shop, The Paddock, Repton REPTON SCHOOL SHOP - Memorabilia OR Ties: Silk Smooth Silk non crease Bow T ie OR House/Sports Ties: Brook House The Hall The Priory School House (polyester) New House Latham House The Orchard The Mitre The Cross OR Football OR Hockey OR Golf (striped) Cambridge Pilgrims House Scarves: The Priory School House New House Latham House The Orchard The Mitre (Girls) Cross The Abbey Field House was The Garden Blazer made to order Banded white sweaters (Long sleeve and sleeveless) Umbrellas: Large golf umbrella Ladies umbrella Please contact the School Shop for price details and to place your order Tel 01283 559323, or by email: shop@repton org uk Miscellaneous: Large Glass Crested Tankard Small Glass Crested Tankard Large Glass Crested Goblet Crested Red W ine Glass Glass Crested Paper Weight Crested Cuff Links Crested Key Rings Brass buttons large Brass buttons small Repton cards Repton Postcards Large teddy bear (12”) Baseball Cap Gentleman’s Weekend Socks (pair) (Sizes: medium 6½ 8½; large 9 11) Mug OR ladies brooch Repton China Coin Tray Repton To The End Repton Register 2007 Book Repton Register 2007 CD Christmas Cards pack of 10 Please contact the School Shop for prices.
