THE ARCH OLD REPTONIAN NEWSLETTER October I2011 ssue Nº 319
1996) Appointed 2007
Thomas Richard Pepper (Hall 1949) Midlands
1989) Appointed 2009
1975) Appointed 2009
Richard C E Lowther (Brook 1985) Tennis Club
Simon D Armstrong (Cross 1963) Lancs & Cheshire
DEADLINE for articles for the next edition (May 2012) is March 31st 2012
Secretary:
President Elect:
1969) Appointed 2010
Nicholas R S Smith (Brook Simon J Obor n (Orchard
Vice President:
Sarah R E Taylor (Field P Howarth (Garden
1998) Appointed 2008 Louise
(2) OFFICERS OF THE OLD REPTONIAN SOCIETY 2011 CHAIRMAN OF THE SOCIETY 2011 James Ross (H’68) 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
Francis W S Russell (Orchard 1969) Pilgrims
1975) Appointed 2009
Treasurer:
As always I look forward to the coming year of events and the opportunity in what is to be my last year as Chairman in catching up on times past and present with fellow ORs
1978) Appointed 2006
President: David Pepper (Hall 1953) Charles Fry (Hall 1953) Robert A. Holroyd James M. Ross (Hall 1968) John S Wallis (Latham Robert M Kirkland (Orchard 1959) Mike Stones (Staff) Jan Cobb (Staff)
Sanjiv Basu (Orchard 1989) Fives Anthony E Bishop (Priory 1972) Golf Society
Nicholas Peter Le Poidevin (Cross 1964) Law Society
James M Ross
1971) Gover nors’ Representative:
Assistant Secretary:
Front Cover: The new 400 Hall Back Cover: The Garth, Leavers 2011
Appointed 2006 Adam
Hamer J E Boot (School 1995) Football Club Martin G Grayshon (Cross 1961) Yorkshire Charles Michael Keep (Orchard 1969 & Staff) Hockey Club
John F M Walker (Hall 1946
and ex Staff) Life Member Ex Officio Members
John F R Hird ( Priory 1960) Masonic Lodge Cathy Twigg Marketing & Development Director Having not contributed to the last edition of The Arch I’m delighted to be able to write a few words regarding recent events involving the OR Society Before doing so I would like very much to add my congratulations to all involved with the outstanding A Level and GCSE results that have been achieved this year coupled with fourteen Oxbridge acceptances The Headmaster gives a full summary on the Repton School website A Hall House contemporary, Michael Li (H’64) and his wife T ina, organise what has become an established informal annual event of lunch at The Staff of Life in T icknall with Michael Charlesworth (O’41), John Walker (H’46), Roger Green (H’64), Charlie Edmondson Jones (H’65), Nicol Stenhouse (H’65) amongst others Prior to this year’s gathering we were given a passionate and enthusiastic tour of the refurbished 400 Hall by Guy Levesley (H’75) current member of staff and Head of Drama Productions How fortunate are pupils to have not only a fantastic facility but staff to match I strongly recommend that if you have the opportunity a visit is a must and appropriately there is a part of the building named in honour of Michael Charlesworth The building has become a magnificent playhouse with state of the art facilities W isely specialist architects were appointed and consultation with renowned theatres formed part of the process to ensure a not inconsiderable sum of money was invested to the best possible advantage I suspect it unlikely that few other schools can match the 400 Hall in its reincarnation There is also a surprise on inspection for those of us that did our French O Level oral exam in what was the OR Society room
Elected Committee Members
James T Leavesley (New J M Guy Levesley (Hall
Paul A W indridge (Priory 1969) M Sinclair (Latham
The next piece in the jigsaw is I understand to be the building of the Science Priory to be located on the Headmaster’s Field between Chapel Hall and the Sports Hall Historically the Headmaster has grazing rights on this piece of land and he will be forgoing the potential of a meagre stipend in his desire to drive this scheme forward at the earliest opportunity As with the 400 Hall significant investment is required and fund raising is underway
To assist in this process Tony Bishop (P’72) current secretary of the OR Golf Society pledged to the Headmaster and Gover nors the organisation of a fund raising event This on June 19th took the form of the “Longest Day Golf Challenge” at Little Aston Golf Club Six OR golfers together with the President and Chairman of the OR Society assembled at 4 15am on a Sunday mor ning on the club car park with a tee off time of 4 45am to enable five rounds to be played The event finished at 7 50pm and the participants are to be thanked for their skill and endurance David Pepper (H’53) our President and club member attended throughout ensuring the team was fed, watered and had needs met Bob Kirkland (O’59), Chairman of the Foundation, also appeared and as Chairman I can report that I caddied for the first three rounds If nothing else as a high handicapper it has enabled me to explore all cor ners of the course prior to the Three Presidents event (details elsewhere in this publication) on November 13th Tony Bishop is to be congratulated for his initiative and the occasion also enabled him to at last seek redemption for the Kipp’s Apparatus that he blew up in 1973
Headmaster Chairman:
Preacher: Surgeon Commander Fleur Marshall RN 15th Boys’ 1st XI, 2nd, U14A v Wolverhampton GS Girls’ 1st XI, 2nd, 3rd, U14C v Trent 16th The Repton Mysteries, 400 Hall, 7 30 17th The Repton Mysteries, 400 Hall, 7 30 18th The Repton Mysteries, 400 Hall, 7 30 19th Boys’ 1st XI, U15A, U14A v Bolton Girls’ 1st XI, 4th v Bromsgrove (a) The Repton Mysteries, 400 Hall, 7 30 22nd Boys’ 1st XI, U16A, U14A&B v Manchester GS (a) 26th Boys’ 1st XI, 2nd, 3rd, 4th v Liverpool Ramblers
NOVEMBER 2011
1st Chapel Choir Sing Evensong, Gloucester Cathedral 5 30 pm Boys’ 1st XI, 2nd, U15A, U14A v Thomas Alleynes 5th Sale of Work 12th Boys’ 1st XI, 2nd, 4th v Millfield Girls’ 1st XI, 2nd v Cheltenham (a) OR Society AGM, 6 00 pm followed by OR Society Annual Dinner, Pears School, 7 30 pm
OCTOBER 2011 14th Half term begins, 4 30 pm 15th Arthur Dunn Cup 1st Round v Eton at Repton 30th Half term ends
30th Subscription Concert: Pupils from the Purcell School of Music, Music School, 7 45 pm
4th Carol Service for Parents, Staff and Parish, 6 30 pm followed by reception in the Library
7th Christmas Bands Concert, 400 Hall, 7 30 pm 8th Christmas Bands Concert, 400 Hall, 7 30 pm 9th End of term
JANUARY 2012 4th Lent Term Begins 8th Subscription Series Organ Recital, Alexander Mason, Chapel, 7 15 pm 21st Boys’ 1st XI, 2nd, 3rd, U16A v Worksop 25th Subscription Concert: Alexandra Dariescu Piano, Music School 7 45pm
FEBRUARY 2012 3rd Half term begins 12th Half term ends 15th Subscription Concert: Red Priest Baroque Ensemble Nightmare in Venice, Music School, 7 45 pm 28th Drinks in The City, East India Club, London 29th Subscription Concert: Divertimenti Ensemble, Music School, 7 45 pm MARCH 2012 21st Term ends, 1 00 pm APRIL 2012 16th Summer Term begins 25th Subscription Concert: Stars and Stripes:Repton Music Department, Music School, 7 45 MAY 2012 4th Exeat begins, 4 30 pm 7th Exeat ends JUNE 2012 1st Half term begins 10th Half term ends 16th OR Gaudy yrs pre 1961 30th Term Ends Dates correct at time of publication (3)
The 2011 AGM and Annual Dinner will be held on November 12th, and we are delighted to invite spouses and partners of ORs
The cost of the ticket is £41 per person, which includes pre dinner drinks and three course meal with wine and port
SCHOOL CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2011/2012
AGM AND ANNUAL DINNER
The Annual General Meeting will start at 6 00pm in The High Chamber If you are bringing your wife or partner they would be more than welcome to relax in the Library whilst the meeting is in progress
If you would like to gather a group of your contemporaries to join you and you need any help with contact details, please do not hesitate to call the OR office on 01283 559320 or email jcobb@repton org uk
FORTHCOMING OR EVENTS 2011/2012
13th OR Society 3 Presidents Golf Day at Little Aston Golf Club
Reception drinks will be served in 400 Hall at 6 45pm, where you will have the opportunity to see the fantastic newly refurbished Auditorium We will then walk over to Pears School for dinner at 7 30pm
Remembrance Sunday: Mor ning Service 10 05 am
DECEMBER 2011 3rd Boys’ 1st XI, 4th, U16B, U15A,B&C, U14A&B v Shrewsbury
OLD REPTONIAN NEWS - SNIPPETS
FORTHCOMING
The day will commence with coffee at 9 30am At 10 00am 18 holes of Stableford Team Golf will commence A Two minute silence will be observed at 11 00am Lunch will be served at 3pm You do not need to be an O R G S member to participate, everyone is welcome and you are still welcome if you are not attending the dinner Cost for the day including lunch and wine at the table is £55 For those under 25 the cost is £25 and for those under 35 the cost is £35 If you would like to play, please either let the OR office know, jcobb@repton org uk, or email Tony Bishop on tonybish@btopenworld com DRINKS IN THE CITY Drinks in The City will be at the East India Club, London, on 28th February 2012 2012 GAUDY This will be held on June 16th 2012, and years to be invited will be anyone joining the School, prior to 1961
THREE PRESIDENTS GOLF DAY
This year, David Pepper is President of the Old Reptonian Society, Peter Gill is President of the Repton Pilgrims and T im Hampton is President of the Old Reptonian Golfing Society They have chosen to commemorate this on the day after the OR Dinner You could make the whole weekend an OR weekend by joining them at the Little Aston Golf Club, Sutton Coldfield, B74 3AN on Sunday November 13th for golf
High
Annual
Harriet Burford (A’03) has been awarded a 2:1 degree in Classical Literature and Civilisation at The University of Birmingham Nick Burns (N’90) is appearing as John, an eco obsessive commercial director in Penelope Skinner’s new play The Village Bike at The Royal Court Upstairs Peter and Paul Carter (P’35), who were bor n in Orchard House on 21st January 1922 recently made a nostalgic jour ney to Repton to visit the grave of their brother is who buried in the churchyard (4) OR EVENTS 2011/2012 General Meeting to be held on Saturday 12th November 2011 at 6 pm in the Chamber of the last AGM held on 13th November 2010 from the last next AGM
3 Matters arising
AGENDA 1 Welcome and apologies 2 Approval of the minutes
Tom Chambers (N’90) took time out from rehearsing for the first stage production of the classic Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers romantic comedy Top Hat to return to Foremarke Hall to cut the turf on the school’s Quad, a multi purpose project to house music, three classrooms and a language laboratory
Francis Cheung (L’89) is a Detective Senior Inspector of Police in Financial Investigations, Narcotics Bureau in the Hong Kong Police Force Simon Clarke (N’78) has been appointed High Sheriff of Staffordshire for 2011/2012 James Cottle (M’90), having worked at SKY for 2 years and 10 years at the BBC in London, now teaches English at The Cardiff and Vale College and is Head of the College's Media Department
minutes 4 President’s Report 5 Chairman’s Report 6 Secretary’s Report 7 Treasurer’s Report 8 Future Events 9 Election of Officers and Hon ORs 10 Any other business 11 Date of
Matthew Dewis (L’05) deferred his place at university to pursue his dream of being an inter national triathlete He entered the UK tri World Championship qualifier for June 2011 and began hard serious training from August 2010 His aspirations were delivered a serious blow when on the 11th April 2011 he was knocked off his bike during training by a motorist, the accident broke Matthew's collar bone and left him bruised and battered After a prescribed rest period, he started back in training late May 2011 for the World Championship qualifier on 5th June 2011, which he duly competed in, and won his age group category
Hannah Lancer (A’03) has qualified as a Doctor from Sheffield University and has started her first house job at Sheffield Children’s hospital James Leavesley (N’75) has been appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Staffordshire Victoria North (M’04) has graduated from Medical School at Bristol, being placed third in the year and winning the Suple Prize for Medicine She begins work in Cheltenham General Hospital with immediate effect
Peter Stones (L’05), the eldest son of OR Secretary, Mike Stones, came back to Repton School on June 8th to perform in what was a memorable concert He was joined by a fellow final year student at Birmingham Conservatoire, Sean Pepper, Peter playing the trombone and Sean the trumpet A good audience in the Beldam Hall, including pupils and staff alike, were royally entertained to a wide variety of solo pieces by each artist, both showing an impressive command of their instrument and winning the admiration of all those present As final recitals and degree completion at the Conservatoire were literally days away for both young men, each of them showed tip top form
Sir William Gage (O’51), retired High Court Judge, has chaired the enquiry into the ill treatment of Iraqis Old Reptonians can now keep in contact with the OR Office and fellow ORs via Facebook go to www facebook com/ORSociety and click ‘Like’
The highlight of the concert was a finale piece, “Duet for Two Cats” , not only played very well but also performed Lena Thiel (M’08) has just completed a six month inter nment at Schmolz Bickenbach and Kinder nothilfe in Germany, whilst studying for her Business Administration Bachelor’s degree She would like to do an Inter nment in England, ideally for 6 months, in 2012 to enable her to extend the theoretical knowledge she’s lear nt at university to real world situations If any ORs are able to help her with this please contact the OR office Derbyshire County Cricket Club now has four ORs on their staff Ross Whiteley (N’04) has played regularly for the First Team this season, Tom Poynton (S’06) has also been selected during the season Paul Borrington (S’04) and Hamza Siddique (S’07) have been regulars in the 2nd X1 Tom, Paul and Ross are on the full time professional staff and have been given long term contracts Ross has played regularly for the club's senior side during the 2011 season and was the recipient of two awards at the club's 2011 Awards Evening; the "Eddie Barlow Inspirational Performance Award” (for his century against Northants) and the “Most Improved Player Award” Paul has been named Kingfisher Beer World Cricketer for the month of July 2011 He achieved three centuries in five innings, scoring 409 runs at an average of 81 8 They join Howard Dytham (B’84) who will be heading up the Academy in a system that will see the Cricket Board’s age group system and the Club Academy combine to provide an integrated pathway from development squads to the first class game Howard will perform this role alongside his current position as Executive Manager of Derbyshire Cricket Board
Richard Hodgkinson (M'81), a mere 25 years after leaving Repton has now completed a First Class Honours Degree in Literature and Creative Writing from the Open University
(5) OLD REPTONIAN NEWS SNIPPETS
David Poon (H’85) has been promoted to Chief Inspector of Police in the Hong Kong Police Force
Sam Kingston Jones (S’05) is attending the National Youth Theatre training course Robert Kirkland (O’59), owner of Icy Colt had a win recently at Uttoxeter race course in the Always Waining Beginners’ Chase Robert was unable to attend and asked the Headmaster to be his representative RAH is pictured with Mrs Penny Holroyd, Joanna Holroyd (F’08) and Scarlett Flight (M’08) W inning jockey is W ill Kennedy Robert is keen for the Headmaster to be present at Icy Colt’s next run in the hope that the Paul Webber trained gelding continues the promising start he has made to his chasing career
This means he has qualified for the Triathlon Sprint World Championships as part of the GB team to compete for his age category in Beijing this September
BIRTHS ENGAGEMENTS Tony Bishop (P’72) to Joanne Burton Seen here celebrating on the day of their engagement at the home of Angie & Richard Fry (N’60) at Littlestone on Sea Richard Hodgkinson (M '81) to Ceri Worman
Harry Newbould (C’89) to Sarah Emmerson The marriage will take place on April 14th at St Augustine’s Church in Kirkby in Cleveland HAPPY BIRTHDAY’S
ORs, (l r) Tim Cutts (C’55) John Hings (P’55), Michael Newbould (C’55) and Philip Scott (N’55) celebrated their forthcoming 70th birthdays by watching England v India at Trent Bridge on 29th July
Tom (N'90) and Clare (née Harding) (A'95) Chambers welcomed a baby boy, W illiam Robert Stanley, on 29th May 2011, weighing 8lb 4oz Pictured here at 12 weeks with his favourite teddy, the Repton Bear (a gift from our very own Rev Adam Watkinson) Jonathan Hart (H’86) and Diptyka are delighted to announce the birth of their second daughter Anoushka on January 21st 2010 Sarah Jones (née Harding) (A'91) and John are delighted to announce the birth of their son Dylan Frederick Jones on 3rd August 2011 Philip Robinson (S’02) and Lauren are delighted to announce the arrival of their son, Thomas Bryan, on April 5th 2011 (6)
MARRIAGES James Cottle (M'90) was married to Miss Jennifer Louise Dolan at Miskin Manor in the Vale of Glamorgan ORs in attendance were Johnny Wilson (B'92) Jeremy Saul (O'88) Christopher Haincock (M'88) Rebecca Haincock (G'92) and Emma Warrilow née Thomas (Foremarke) Steven Greenall (C’87) and Kate Rogers (G’96) were married on September 18th 2010 at Repton School Chapel Old Reptonians who attended were (left to right): Hannah Ellis (G'97), Philip Brindley (N'02), Sophie Brindley (née Rogers) (F'00), Jonathan Greenall (O'89), Steven Greenall (C'87), Kate Greenall (G'96), Dominic Burns (O'85), Lucy Baker (née Rogers) (G'94), Lucy Burns (née Chilton) (G'96), Jeremy Baker (O'98), Xavier Teasdale Firth (O'00), Matthew Pope (Best Man) (L'85), Sarah Birkett (M'04) and Mischa Teasdale Firth (F'02) Paul Elliott (M’ 90) married Claire Louise Jones at St Just in Roseland, Cor nwall on March 31st, 2011 Best Man was Russ Elliott (M’93) and other Reptonians in attendance included: Greg Hill (H’89), James Nash (O’90), Chris Wilcox (O’90), James Clarke (M’90) and Andy Seaton (L’90) Rob Hinton (C’88) married Joanna Hallifield on July 9th 2011 Other ORs in attendance were Alistair Callander (C’88), Jamie Battrick (C’88) and James Hands (N’91) (7)
Michael (M J H ) Walker (N’49) on February 16th 2011
NEW Peter Bradbury (N’32) on March 27th 2011 Robin David Denison (N’55) on February 2nd 2011 Richard Hyde (N’41) on August 29th 2011 Robin Henry Smitherman (N’57) on June 15th 2011
ORCHARD Barry Lohan (O’55) on September 8th 2011
John Phillip Walmsley (O’50) on April 12th 2011
R M Johnson (M’41) on January 31st 2011
BROOK D S Cottrell (B’44) July 2010
Christopher Pringle (M’53) on August 30th 2011
Commander John Goldsmith (P’37) on April 19th 2011
OBITUARIES - GAVIN BROWN (M’61) but spent some house jobs in Bath These were groundbreaking days of pacemakers and bypass machine in their infancy Gavin took part in the first mobile coronary care unit This took the form of a converted Morris Minor van driven by doctors This pioneering service came to an abrupt end when Lothian Health board would no longer insure it after crashing into a plate glass shop window in Edinburgh’s Tollcross Gavin assured us he was not the driver that day! That was to lead to the sophisticated paramedic service we see today He met and married Donna, a cardiac technician from Edinburgh Royal In 1983 he became the first Consultant Physician in Fort W illiam and set up the Medical/Geriatric Service for the local population thereby reducing transfers and bringing his training and expertise from the university hospitals around Edinburgh This was a 9 year single handed post until the arrival of a second consultant in 1992 Unfortunately four years later he was to develop a serious illness and gave up his full time NHS commitment from this arduous post He then deviated into Locum work in and around the Highlands, re trained in Occupational Medicine and was working until the week before his final second cancer diagnosis He was the proud owner of his dream car, a 46 year old Mercedes 230SL (Noddy) which he lovingly restored The week before he died he enjoyed a final run in his Noddy car, roof down, in blazing sunshine This final illness he bore with great strength and personal dignity He died peacefully at home aged 62, on 6th May 2011 He is survived by his wife, Donna, and one brother, Roger His eldest brother Michael ( M’50) died 2 months earlier Donna Brown wife Gavin James Brown was bor n in Newcastle upon Tyne 26th June 1948 technically a Geordie but no accent and brought up in the mining village of Bedlington better known for terriers and giant leek competitions He was the youngest of three sons His father was a pre National Health Service GP and Gavin frequently accompanied him on his rounds At the age of 6 he declared that he wanted to become a Doctor, never deviating from that aspiration He was educated at Rosley School Nr Morpeth till aged 7 He attended Croftinloan Preparatory School in Pitlochry, Perthshire from 7 till 12 years old, joining his middle brother, Roger It was here that Gavin excelled academically but also enjoyed sports especially rugby and hockey He was in the school teams for both He proudly tells the tales of 2 sweets per day for rations at weekends one pupil even being expelled for raiding the sweet cupboard!! In 1961 he won an open scholarship to Repton School He said the school had a wonderful view of Trent power station and was famous for producing archbishops! He thrived on the heavy mix of sports and academic work and won the George Denman Scholarship in 1965 much to the relief of his parents’ bank manager He represented Repton at hockey and athletics, enjoyed being in charge of Cadet force and was Head Prefect in his last year Age 18 he studied at Edinburgh Medical School graduating in 1972 His training jobs influenced his initial career in Cardiology,
HALL J R Bridgford (H’40) on December 23rd 2010 W A Knight (H’42) Tobias Tilly (H’60) on August 13th 2011
Dr W P Dallas Ross (O’35) on March 13th 2010
ALPINE John Barrington Dakeyne (A’39) on June 6th 2011
DEATH ANNOUNCEMENTS
MITRE Dr Donald A.N. Barran (M’36) on April 7th 2011
CROSS Robert E.C. Raynor (C’52) on May 8th 2011
Arthur Brian Eastwood (M’36) on August 11th 2011
PRIORY Reverend A.C.Barker (P’38) in March 2010
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John and Bee divorced in the mid ‘50s In 1956 John went to the then Anglo French Condominium of the New Hebrides(now Vanuatu) to visit French friends and decided to stay for a while
At first he was employed by the Condominium Treasury Later he worked for Bur ns Philp, the major trading company in the islands, as supercargo on the Manutai and ran a store on Tongoa Island in the Shepherd Group for several years Later he ran a plantation on Maewo He took over management of Sulua plantation on Emae in 1968 He also owned a trading vessel, the Tui Cakau which carried copra, fuel and general cargo throughout the islands and New Caledonia John remarried in 1968 Ruth Gowing and they had a son John Disaster struck in 1972 when a hurricane devastated Emae late in the season and destroyed the plantation house and most of the coconut trees
John Taplin died in Tourrettes, Provence on 23 July 2011 aged 91 JKT was bor n in Bristol in 1919 His father was a brewer in Yarmouth From an early age he lear nt about trades in the brewery and about the horses which drew the drays He was educated at Repton and from there attended Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester He then studied accountancy and Tamil in London prior to sailing from Liverpool in 1938 to be an Assistant Manager on a tea plantation in Ceylon Prior to WW2 he joined the Ceylon Mounted Infantry, a territorial self defence regiment Upon outbreak of war he volunteered and was sent with his unit to Cairo and attached to the British army in Egypt He saw action in the Wester n desert and attended an officers' course in Cairo When Japan entered the war in 1941 John was transferred to India as part of the Indian Army and was attached to 2/2 Punjab Regiment, part of 25 Indian Division After time on the North West Frontier digging trenches against a possible Russian invasion and lear ning Pushtu, John married Bee Anley née Faulkiner, an Australian painter Later he took part in the counter offensive against the Japanese in Burma with a Tamil speaking unit in which he was fluent When hostilities ended in 1945 and with political changes taking place in Ceylon John and Bee decided to go to Australia but they had to wait a year for a ship John, who had a good speaking voice, was employed during that time by All India Radio as a news reader When they eventually reached Melbour ne they started a company making fur niture and doing interior decorating
An era was at an end and John and Ruth went to live in Port Vila where John managed the BESA club, built a house in Mele and ran a concrete plant John was a fluent Bislama(local pidgin) speaker and was invited to interpret for the newly elected Representative Assembly before independence in which English, Bislama and French were used His career there was short lived as he had a tendency to say what he thought the elected representatives should be saying rather than what they were actually saying with which he frequently disagreed
In 1982
David Browning
OBITUARIES J.E. LINDLEY (B’44) OBITUARIES - JOHN KENDRICK TAPLIN (B’33)
John retur ned to Australia where he lived first in Tweed Heads, Queensland and then in Bega, NSW John met his first wife Bee again in 1986, her husband having recently died They decided to get together again and to go to live in Provence where Bee had spent some of her life painting Ruth went to visit them there a number of times Bee and Ruth died within three weeks of each other in 2010 John was buried at the village of Seillans in the Var on 31 July 2011
(9)
J E Lindley was in Brook House from September 1944 until July 1948 He had tur ned 80 only two months before his death it had been his great ambition to make 80 He had a massive heart attack 34 years ago, then later on a bypass He had done well He also had Parkinsons disease for the last 7 years He took such a great interest in Repton all his life, despite the fact that we lived in South Africa from 1958 In the early days he was a participant in a small group of active ORs in Cape Town We paid many visits to England over the years, and twice managed to be there for events His children have been told many times of the fun he had there and in particular his cricketing days of which he was very proud We visited and stayed with two of his old chums some years ago, and still exchange Christmas cards with Chris Drouet (B’44) and his wife Anthony Lawson (B’44) was Godfather to our elder daughter The regular postal arrivals of the Repton Magazine were always a great delight He was astonished when one of the many gap years we hosted long ago was Lucinda Tosh (A’79), and when he asked where she had been at school she replied “Repton” The news that girls were also there astonished him, but he was delighted The news of progress had taken a quite a while to filter through to darkest Africa! We met many ORs of all ages over the years which we much enjoyed I even met up with a school friend from my long ago Benenden days she was married to an OR and we met at a Gaudy some time ago Sue Lindley (Mrs J E Lindley)
(10) Football 2011/12
Chairman: Nick Walford (B’69)
A social hub for Old Reptonians venturing to London, the Football Club continues to attract young ORs who choose to travel south, putting together some excellent footballing sides in the process The finest example of this combination of the social and sporting is undoubtedly the club’s burgeoning OR Football Day in September This year 62 players were squeezed into four teams to take on the School, with the 1st XI winning 4 2 and the old boys achieving a clean sweep across all four fixtures W ith the Arthur Dunn Cup 1st Round against Eton at Repton on Saturday 15th October, this was a tremendous warm up As always, young ORs were at the centre of the action, with Sam Graham (S’06), Dan Moxham (P’09), Andy Evans (N’03), Greg Fearn (O’06) and Chris Swann (L’06) all making important contributions to the 1st XI’s victory, and putting forward good claims for a starting place in the Dunn Cup W ith girlfriends and non footballers joining the players for drinks in Repton and Derby’s finest establishments after the games, it was a fantastic day For the London League squad, this is a vital aspect of the club, and forthcoming matches will provide ample opportunities to catch up with fellow ORs over a few shandies, as well as reviving old rivalries with schools such as Charterhouse, Oundle, Forest and Haberdashers We are always on the lookout for new players, so if you have recently arrived in London, are planning to move south, or just spend your weekends visiting friends in the capital, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and arrange a game and a drink Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to know exactly which games you might be available for FOR YOUR DIARY Arthur Dunn Cup 1st Round: v Eton (at Repton), Saturday 15th October Football Day, 3rd September 2011
President: Graham Blakesley (M’74)
This 3rd XI was a fine mixture of old and new ORs They won 4 2
OR
Captain: Richard Wynne (P’92)
LEAGUE: ARTHURIAN LEAGUE DIV 2 CUP: ARTHUR DUNN CUP WWW.ARTHURIANLEAGUE.COM
BRANCHES OF THE SOCIETY FOOTBALL OR
Follow us on Twitter@oldreptonianfc and Facebook Old Reptonian FC Email us on dbc@repton org uk
THE BERNARD DARWIN AT WOKING GOLF CLUB In lovely golfing weather the first day gave rise to high expectations, after all three pairs of Keith (O’66) and Neil Andrews (O’63), Richard George (H’57) and Peter Gill (H’61), and John Bolsover (H’61) and Myles Elliott (N’61) had very good wins over Radley and W inchester respectively to carry ORGS into the semi final v Charterhouse It was therefore a disappointment to the team when the previous day's form was not carried through, losing 3 0, although the Andrews pairing battled hard to a narrow defeat despite Neil developing a back problem
BRANCHES OF THE SOCIETY GOLF
Captain of the Society Charles Darby (O’75) made an inspired suggestion that the Norther n half of this annual fixture be held at Alwoodley Golf Club Alwoodley is a big, ranging classic heathland course, set in beautiful North Yorkshire countryside, half way between Leeds and Harrogate The club made us most welcome and the course was in super condition The eight ‘Ard Men were desperate for a win as the Souther n Softies won the trophy three years ago and had vehemently clung on to it The singles Stableford match, of the Yorkshire meeting, on Thursday after noon doubled as a practice round This, and the associated Bishop’s Plate was won by John Fletcher (L’66) with 36 points On the Friday, 36 holes of foursomes were thrashed out amongst the heather As this is the first time this event has been held in Yorkshire, it must be the case that the locally brewed Samuel Smiths bitter proved a little too strong for Richard Fry’s team of Souther n Softies The result was a 5½ to 2½ win for the North Next year’s Captain is John Fletcher (L’66) and, as a full weight Souther n Softie, he has already declared his revenge will be extracted; we shall see! Many thanks must go to Nigel Dickson (B’59) who, despite recovering from recent illness, organised the whole Yorkshire meeting, together with all the dining and accommodation for the 16 players, brilliantly O’T NORTH V SOUTHERN SOFTIES: ALWOODLEY GOLF CLUB 19th and 20th MAY 2011
'ARD MEN
The clock doesn’t lie 19th June 2011 4 47am at Little Aston Russell Ember y(current staff), Joe Wilson (L’01), James Wilson (L’99), Tony Bishop (P’72), Jonathan Avill (N’81), Jonathan Hart (H’86), David Pepper (H’53) Keith Andrews (H’57), John Bolsover (H’61), Peter Gill (H’61), Sir Richard George (H’57), Myles Elliott (N’61), Neil Andrews (O’63)
(11) LONGEST DAY CHALLENGE WE DID IT! 90 HOLES OF GOLF 26 MILES 13 BIRDIES NO CASUALTIES WE STARTED 5AM AND WE WALKED OFF THE 90TH HOLE AT 7 50PM FANTASTIC SUPPORT FROM: Chef d’Equipe David Pepper Caddies James Ross; Pat Hart; Robin Hart; Rebecca Gill Course Provider Glyn Ridley, Little Aston G C Cameo Role Robert Kirkland
Former staff attending included John Walker, Dick Morgan, Andrew Lewis, John Billington and Jill Pellow, all of whom saw numerous former pupils and, I’m sure, enjoyed their day too (12)
An early June day, sunny skies and Repton looking a picture, these were some of the ingredients of this year’s Gaudy Although the attendance figures were not quite as strong as usual, those who made the effort to come were rewarded with a great day out It all started with a presentation by the Headmaster in the new 400 Hall, giving visitors the chance to see what an impressive facility this now is There then followed a champagne reception in The Garth As guests arrived the school Jazz Band played a selection of suitably entertaining music to get everyone in the right mood It was yet another admirable performance by the band who have supported this occasion superbly well over the past few years, becoming an integral part of the proceedings
The current President of the ORFC, Graham Blakesley, with four of his old team mates on the occasion of this years Gaudy From left to right: Richard Coventry (B’73), Robert Sale (B’73), Andrew Colcombe (P’78), Graham Blakesley (Grimes) (M’74), Jonathan Proctor (O’76)
More entertainment was provided by The Reptiles, the school’s vocal harmony group when guests moved into Pears and took their places for lunch Two close harmony songs were sung to everyone’s admiration A sumptuous lunch was then consumed in familiar surroundings In accordance with custom, guided tours of the school were later provided by volunteer pupils
“I really enjoyed showing the ORs round the House and listening to their reminiscences about when The Mitre was a boys House “ This was the reaction of Emma Clarke, a Lower Sixth pupil who acted as a tour guide Her opinions of the day were very positive and certainly not an exception, for all the pupils who helped were of the same mind
OR EVENTS GAUDY 2011
So just what do you do for a reunion after so long? Well, it was bound to be a ‘trip down memory lane’ so why not go the whole hog? And so began the day, for a few of us initially, with a mor ning frequent to probably one of the most beautiful, leading Prep Schools in the Midlands: Foremarke Hall
On the eve’ of starting his new role as Headmaster, Richard Merriman very kindly gave us permission to once again visit the elegant Georgian Mansion under the careful watch of our host Mrs Pauline Christodoulou Miss Ramsey, as we once knew Pauline, joined Foremarke in 1980 during our last year there and so was the perfect host to guide us through all the grounds with past and new buildings and help unravel our jumbled memories of the place But more minds are better than one and we took great delight in brushing up her knowledge and history of those days in Foremarke Hall during the seventies; days that were guided by Tom Davies, our then Headmaster Though some time ago now, we’ll never forget the image of our icon rocking forward on his lecter n staring at us all with his steely, blue eyes peering over the top and preaching his fixating words of advice, encouragement and authority If you are reading this, Sir, we salute you and thank you for a marked era of our lives that laid the foundations for our futures! Our thanks very much go to Pauline for a wonderful and enlightening tour of a very special place, one that invokes profound memories close to our hearts Our thanks also go to Mr Merriman for the opportunity to visit Foremarke again Back at our rendezvous in Newton Solney, one by one the once distant band of Hall brothers intrepidly reformed over a hearty pub lunch and so began the celebration of us all reuniting after so long Whilst we supped our beers and slowly took in the gossip, emailed letters from disappointed ‘no shows’ were circulated which made us realise just how nice it would have been if all of us could have been there that day to share everyone’s news and embrace each others company again The atmosphere was remarkably relaxed and very, very jovial In some ways it was a shame to spoil the flow as we all had to board a minibus and continue proceedings by heading into Repton village, once again lay our eyes on The Arch with the formidable Pears School in background and meet our next host for the day, Mike Stones After several correspondences with Mike in his role as OR Society Secretary, helping us track down lost ORs and seeking advice on how we should go about our visit, he very kindly offered (once we had the Headmaster, Mr Holroyd’s permission, of course) to personally show us around the school and explain all the developments that have taken place over the years and boy were there a few! The blend of old meets new was quite seamless and it was impressive to see that Repton was keeping bang up to date with technology and meeting the expectation of what a moder n school should have; not just in IT but Sport and the Arts too The new annex to the 400 Hall appeared very eye catching and as much as we wanted to go inside and checkout the splendour of the new build, time was pressing as we had an unexpected meeting with a certain retired Hall Housemaster who had been slipped word that we were on site and he wanted to meet us! We shuffled in procession into his lounge not knowing quite what to expect and the air of anticipation was almost dumbfounding but, nevertheless, we were not to worry because as bold and witty as he has ever been Mike Charlesworth soon spoke out in his usual charming manner and made us all feel instantly at home in his pad “So then, remind me who you all are then and tell me what you are up to now?!” he requested and who were we to refuse the demand of our faltering Mr Chip’s?! By now we all pretty much knew what each other did so no one’s thunder was being stolen; a situation preferred at the end of the day and not the beginning!
OR EVENTS HALL ‘86 REUNION
The mention of school reunions often provokes a mixed reaction and understandably so But not in our case, when the word spread there was to be a reunion to mark 25 years since leaving The Hall House, Repton in 1986, the positive reaction of the ORs concer ned was quite encouraging Last year, unfortunately, saw the loss of a fellow school colleague, namely Robert Billson, and it was whilst a few ORs gathered at Bob’s wake that it suddenly dawned on us that 2011 would be our 25th anniversary as an OR, 30 years since we all first met and for some 35 years since we started preparatory school life at Foremarke Hall 25 years can do a lot to change a person and the roller coaster of life’s ‘ups and downs’ will certainly mature one Hopefully, who has the biggest house or the fastest car wasn’t going to be a matter They say: don't assume that the people who seemed least likely to succeed have become failures That bully who was always getting into trouble may now be a policeman or that guy who always missed classes is now a doctor Thanks to the twitter of Facebook, revelations of us all were soon to dispel our curiosity and our reunion would be more of a time talking about kids going off to school, 2nd marriages, economic climate etc or so we thought! As much as you would like to see all your old mates attend a significant reunion, inevitably some just proved too elusive and even with the power of the internet, a few ORs had disappeared off the radar! Maybe they just didn’t want to be found but thanks to the OR Society Secretaries and their database, our numbers gathered strength and all that remained was a date for the diary W ith all the notice in the world, ‘unpredictability’ can still scupper one’s best laid plans and bearing this in mind a date was chosen knowing only too well that some would not be able to make it And as much as we would like to have met over a ‘Gaudy’ dinner night, it was just not going to happen given everyone’s’ plans, even with advance notice
(13)
(14) OR EVENTS HALL ‘86 REUNION
A sobering and emotional experience meeting our beloved ex Housemaster called for another beer and whilst we visited the local watering hole we met our final host for the day: Guy Levesley We first met Guy as a ‘Gap Year’ student back in Foremarke also in 1980 Fortunately, he is a fellow OR from The Hall and today stills works in Repton School teaching drama as well as a tutor in The Hall; although now it is called the School House Not to question why, as the tur n of events over the years is quite understandable and the decisions probably quite necessary However, we couldn’t help but feel that what made The Hall House unique has perhaps been lost Our bygone era of ‘Hall days’ may have been more special than we had thought in the grand scheme of the school’s history? The unfortunate timing of our visit over half term meant that Frank Watson, present Housemaster of School House, was unable to meet us so he very kindly allowed Guy to show us around the much changed premises Oh the memories and how they all came flooding back! W ith 12 of us in Guy’s tow it was hard to get a word in edge ways “Hey guys, do you remember this ?” was exclaimed at every tur n One’s mind was buzzing with others’ memories as well as your own, some good, some bad, some outrageous but all in all most were now very amusing; a sign that our time there was in fact momentous and endearing By now everyone was very much at ease with each other’s company and soon it felt like we had never been apart for so many years What differences there were in those frantic teenage days between us, just didn’t matter anymore This revived band of brothers was definitely high in spirits by this unique occasion
The years of time have indeed etched out different paths for us all (mainly in sales it would seem!) but, nevertheless, there we were standing briefly at crossroads with one another contemplating what meaning this might have Long overdue as it was, 25 years certainly wasn’t too late to mark a school reunion Talk of the next was often the topic of conversation throughout the day and should it ever materialise then hopefully we would see everyone this time seated around the table The best moment? Well, all of it! The most poignant was probably when we toasted ‘absent friends’ and to Bob, to whom we owe everything for being the catalyst of our reunion that day
The ORs from left to right on top row: Jon Webb, Jim Boyles, Ian Mercer and Pete Turner and bottom row: Carl Norton, Dick Darby, Marc Gresley, John Sookias, Tim Lee Elliott, Tony Holme, John Chapman and Rich Pinder
That evening, the finale was a meal out and some more rounds of beer as we exhausted our memoirs of ‘B Block’ through to the Upper Sixth After much reflection we all unanimously agreed it had been an epic day, much enjoyed by everyone involved and we knew our visit back to Repton School could not have taken place if it weren’t for the positive invitation from the school and the support and guidance of Mike and Guy who we are deeply grateful to Thank you all for your patience and kind hospitality, which made the day so memorable and enjoyable
Slowly, we meandered through the building pacing out the changes and remarking at the drop in height from the ‘T ip Floor’ down to the ‘Chaggers’ below old story! Remarkably, the original cricket stumps were still standing in the yard and being a fine summer’s day, it was only fitting that we tried to summon up the old magic of ‘Yard Cricket’ and try to recall those quirky yet well honed rules before we left our once home
(15) REPTON REMINISCENCES Mrs M G Walker, has kindly sent in these photographs of New House if you recognise any of the faces please let us know New House, 1951 New House, 1952
MB: Yes, the garden was opened by the fertility expert and broadcaster Professor Lord W inston He came to the garden and photo shoot to launch the garden on press day The keyMarcus with the Duke of Kent
(16) OR PROFILES MARCUS BARNETT (H’83)
MB: I think you’ll concede I had more interests than just cricket and pop music You may remember we both worked hard one summer to restart the Hall W ildfowl Trust to reintroduce ducks to the Old Trent I suppose I have always liked nature and the outdoors, and it was inevitable that one day my career would lead me to it Specifically, however, it was when I was in the Army that I realised I was interested in Landscape design For some bizarre reason I am very observant For example, I could always spot a terrorist on the street in Norther n Ireland after having seen his photo on file, even if he was now bearded or disguised in some way Similarly you need a good eye for detail when it comes to designing a garden My wife says it’s a blessing and a curse because I always notice when she’s had her haircut but I’m told I don’t always follow that up with the right remark!
AP: You never got to meet the Abbey class of ’86, did you? MB: Yes I missed out there I left Repton after my ‘O’ levels Do you know, its strange I’ve just realised that we are the third generation of Bar netts and Peppers to have schooled together at Repton? Anyway, I am the third generation Bar nett to have left Repton at the age of 16 why that might be I don’t know I didn’t engage at Repton but after leaving I got my act together and after formal education, I went to Sandhurst and joined the Scots Guards I served for seven years in the Army and spent the last three years of my commission as Equerry to HRH the Duke of Kent and chose to leave at the age of 27
MB: That was the intention but I couldn’t take them on immediately The company has had to evolve over the years from a new practice to a semi mature one We undertake high end urban and rural commissions, so for example we might do a London townhouse or roof terrace apartment, as well as country estates of anything up to 250 acres in size as well as villas in the Mediterranean and beyond The work is always varied I have a design studio in London but spend several days a week outside the studio on site with clients and contractors One job we are doing at the moment involves moving 25,000 cubic tonnes of soil to make a six hole golf course
AP: When we were “bim fags” in the Hall together, I remember you being into chart music and Essex County Cricket Club When did you develop an interest in gardening?
AP: You are actually designing this course yourself, are you? What fun! MB: It is actually All the holes are a dog leg left to suit my game! AP: And how did you come to exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show? MB: This year’s Chelsea Flower Show is my fourth garden there I first exhibited there in 2005 then 2006 and 2007 and then had a break until this year This year we were sponsored by The T imes in association with the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew The concept for the garden was to demonstrate the 'utility of plants to humankind' I wanted the design to draw on the heritage of Kew, hence the pavilion, which echoes all the glass and palm houses, but crucially I wanted the garden to be moder n and contemporary The design therefore takes plant capillaries and cells as its core theme and these 'capillaries' radiate throughout the pavilion and planting The link between plant kingdom and man made structure is therefore seamless, symbolising our dependence upon plants
MB: Not immediately I went to Australia to work on the Sydney Olympic Games, I spent three years in management consultancy which I loathed, and eventually I obeyed the nagging demon in my head and took the plunge to do what I had been dreaming of doing for a decade I then studied for an MA in Landscape Design and applied for a job at the practice equivalent to Manchester United in the garden design industry They didn’t have a role so I decided to start up on my own and it was without the doubt the best thing I’ve ever done
AP: think the last time I heard the word “capillaries” was sitting in a Harry Grenville biology lesson Am I right in thinking you welcomed another biologist to the garden?
Marcus Barnett (H’83) was commissioned by The T imes in association with the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, to design a garden for this year’s Chelsea Flower Show Adrian Pepper (H’83) asked him about his career to date
AP: Did you set up in direct competition with them, trying to serve the top end of the market?
AP: Did you then start an apprenticeship with an established Landscape designer?
AP: Does Repton play a part in your life today?
(17) OR PROFILES MARCUS BARNETT (H’83) continued
MB: Regretfully not as much as I would like I went to an OR dinner at Repton when my father was President of the OR Society I think it was 2000 It was great to be back there The Hall has changed so much I play OR golf which is great and I see ORs of all ages there The chat over lunch is pretty much the same as if we were off to the grubber for a hot sausage roll and ketchup Reptonians seem to be down to earth, and if those who tur n up to the golf days are anything to go by, they’re a pretty high achieving lot too
AP: Did any Old Reptonians visit your exhibit?
AP: A good combination to be, high achieving yet down to earth Thank you, “good show” as we say in Chelsea
driver behind The T imes’ involvement was that the garden and theme was linked to the monthly science section of the paper “Eureka”, hence why Robert W inston was ideal for the launch AP: What did the week involve for you?
MB: Put it this way my invitation to the Royal Wedding must have got lost AP: It must have been strange to welcome the Duke of Kent onto your garden, now you are working in such a different role MB: Yes it was He is interested in what all of us do once we leave his household but, as he is so keen on gardens, our paths cross more than I would have expected He is interested, and I think he finds it all quite amusing to see me there I'm not sure the designs I've done are quite his cup of tea but we had a good catch up and a bit of a laugh He reckoned I might struggle with the pressure of having such high profile sponsors!
AP: How was the Queen’s visit?
MB: It all happened very quickly It was cold and the pressure from others for her to hurry along was apparent but she still came onto the garden and I explained what we up to and why She was particularly interested in the Kew link as she’s patron of Kew
MB: Not to my knowledge, but when I'm exhibiting at the Chelsea Flower Show again I would urge any Old Reptonian visiting the show to make themselves known and I’ll be sure to give them a drink and welcome them onto the garden Particularly those from the Abbey 1986 to 1988 who I never got to meet! Members of the Hall, with an emphasis on A K can stay the night!
Marcus with the Queen Marcus with Professor Robert Winston
MB: Many seem unaware of the time before the flower show but we had spent three long weeks constructing the garden in addition to twelve months of planning The show week is actually a bit of a break as it all slows down and you get to meet all manner of people who come onto the garden as well as listening to complimentary and not so complimentary remarks about the garden from public and broadcast/written press AP: Did the fact that it was The T imes' garden mean you came in for particular criticism from other parts of the press?
MB: Not really Rivals have to be careful not to look like they’re intentionally criticising rivals but we did get a little flack from a rival newspaper which said that new sponsors to the Chelsea Flower Show often set over challenging design concepts and that ours was a particularly hard one to deliver But The T imes’ editor, James Harding, who incidentally is a great bloke, thought that kind of criticism par for the course AP: The T imes printed photographs of you with various members of the Royal Family MB: Yes, members of the Royal Family who attend the Chelsea Flower Show visit all layers of the show: retail, flower stands and show gardens etc We were particularly fortunate to attract quite a few of them this year: The Duchess of Cor nwall, Princess Alexandra, Prince Michael and Princess Michael of Kent, Prince Andrew and Princess Beatrice, the Duke of Kent, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Prince Albert of Monaco, and Her Majesty the Queen AP: Are they all now close personal friends?
This is also the case when dealing with international media Laos is not heavily covered in the inter national press, partly due to its geo political position and because it has generally been off limits to foreign reporters T imes are changing though and particularly on a regional level My recent collaboration with the Chinese news agency, Xinhua, the first to have a foreign bureau in the capital Vientiane, has provided an additional outlet for stories about our work and development issues
The gradual opening up of the country has also helped lead to the current economic boom Unlike the UK and the west, Laos is experiencing rapid growth rates of over 7% a year Roads and buildings are being constructed at an extraordinary pace and the gover nment’s revenues are being driven by the extraction of its rich natural resources Mining for copper, bauxite and gold, timber, and hydropower are driving the economy
(18) OR PROFILES TOBY FRICKER (P’88)
This is also where some of the potential problems exist Writing regularly about the issue of ensuring that the growth of the country benefits everyone, including those in the remotest areas, is key to our communications work ‘Growth with Equity’ is a tagline that is repeated regularly At the same time ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources will be key for the country’s future generations How Laos copes with these issues in the years to come is yet to be seen People say that the country is at a crossroads For now though it’s off to a meeting with the UN Communications Group Finalising our new communications strategy tops today’s agenda
As head of the communications unit at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) raising the profile and awareness of the UXO issue in the country is one of my roles I’ve been in Laos two years now and the UXO problem is just one that I cover in my work with UNDP The role of UNDP and the UN as a whole is to support the Gover nment of Laos in its efforts to improve the well being of its people My job is to highlight the results of UNDP work and to advocate on specific development issues, such as UXO Working in the communications unit brings with it real variety One day I’m filming a story about a community radio project in remote souther n Laos and the next writing a speech for the UN head to deliver at a gover nment event W ith UNDP a lot of the work is done at policy level and as a result communicating this in a language that everyone understands has its challenges Highlighting the links between the slightly complex aid effectiveness agenda and how this benefits the people is not always obvious
Another key component of my role is in building relationships with and supporting local jour nalists Working closely with the media can be a significant challenge This is a one party communist state and there is a reason that Laos comes 165 out of 175 in the press freedom index However, I’m told by reliable sources that there is no censorship, just self censorship
This is part of a short video I’m producing about the ongoing impact of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Laos What a lot of people don’t know is that Laos is the world’s most bombed country, per capita, and the bombs left over from the 2nd Indo China war continue to destroy lives and limit access to agricultural land In a country where two thirds of the population relies on subsistence farming this is a significant problem
In my position I have to also exercise a degree of this The UN is in the country by invitation of the gover nment This doesn’t mean I can’t write or talk about sensitive issues but these do have to be tackled in more subtle ways
It’s early mor ning on the rice fields of norther n Laos The rain is finally easing and I’m filming as a family plant their rice seeds in the knee deep water This in itself is not unusual but the character I’m following is doing this with one arm His left arm was blown off 5 years ago when he set off an unexploded cluster bomb whilst farming Today this land is still littered with unexploded bombs
Receiving our first guest manifest was an exciting moment 7 adults, including 2 vegetarians and one with a dairy intolerance, and 1 infant They had also requested a nanny from our company They were on the Gatwick Grenoble flight, due to arrive in resort about 5 30pm We were all ready and looking smart in our uniform, the chalet was sparkling, the beds were made, the cot put up, the toilet rolls pointed, the Christmas tree decorated, log fire lit, canapés prepared, champagne in the fridge, butter cubed, bread cut diagonally, dinner table laid, candles lit, background music on we waited and waited and waited as the twice baked salmon soufflé starters deflated and the beef and ale pie sat stewing on the hob They finally arrived at 1am due to bad weather in London It was also snowing heavily in Meribel at this point but our guests arrived in high spirits with their 6 month old wide awake Having administered our much rehearsed welcome speech, they informed us they only wanted the champagne and 2 of the 3 courses! So at 1 30am we served up house wine to go with the beef and ale pie (mushroom bourguignon for the vegetarians), dauphinois potatoes and green beans (roast potatoes for the dairy intolerant), followed by lemon and ginger cheesecake (fruit salad for the dairy intolerant) Naturally, they wanted peppermint tea, camomile tea, fresh coffee and mints after that and thought they might as well have a cheese board too At 3 30am, having sterilised the kitchen and taken the bins out, Tom and I shuffled downstairs to our bedroom stinking of cooking, feet aching, backs sore, hands chapped and bleeding from the mountains of washing up (even with a dishwasher), and numerous bur ns We set the alarm for 6 30am to be in the kitchen for 7am latest
(19) OR PROFILES FIONA HAROLD NÉE HARDING (A’93)
W ith 8 years in London under my belt, working in sports marketing and event management, it was time to break out of the rat race and try something totally different! It was June 2010, I had recently got married to Tom and having just come back from a wonderful honeymoon in sunny, beautiful and spacious California, we were both feeling a little disillusioned with London life There was little chance of buying a flat unless we were happy to settle for a box, I spent many miserable mor nings and evenings on the overcrowded tubes into Canary Wharf, and, though some of you may beg to differ, attending football matches and sports awards dinners for a living was beginning to take its toll So Tom and I decided to head to the French Alps to try our hand at chalet hosting! Rather than travelling with a guilty conscience, we thought this would be the perfect way of combining work and play, whilst coming out of it, breaking even (or so we thought!) We both love skiing, can host a half decent dinner party and whip up a cake, so how hard could it be? When we told our family and friends what we were planning to do, we were met with mostly positive responses such as ‘wow, good for you, so jealous’ and ‘why not, you only live once’, along with the odd ‘so what exactly is it you’ll be doing?’ I’m sure most people secretly thought we were completely mad It was a risk, but we were confident it would pay off We discussed sabbaticals with our employers, both of whom were open to it, but ultimately decided to make a clean break and resigned In October, we gave up our jobs, flat, car and put our life possessions in storage in various places around the country with family W ith our 4 suitcases, we went to Buckinghamshire for a month to chill out in the countryside at my sister’s house If we’d known the extent of the graft we were about to embark on, we might not have spent that month feeling so guilty about doing nothing! After various leaving parties and tears, we met up with our new colleagues in Putney on 1st December and boarded a coach for Meribel We felt like it was our first day back at school again, and we felt old! We were surrounded by gap year students and recent post grads all decked out in their trendy ski gear After a 5hr mission to get to Dover in the freak snowfall we tried to get some sleep surrounded by over excited and inebriated 20yr olds talking about ‘kickers’, ‘punters’ and ‘gnarly moves’ A delayed ferry, puncture and 24hrs later, we arrived in Meribel, exhausted and wondering what on earth we were doing As soon as we got off the coach and took in our surroundings, we felt better Meribel is a very pretty resort at the heart of the Les Trois Vallees, which is the largest linked skiing area in the world We were surrounded by mountains, snow covered trees, wooden chalets and bright blue skies No buses, pollution or overcrowded streets in site! We were split into groups and taken to our staff accommodation As a married couple used to having a homely else, you can expect worse accommodation than student digs! flat, we were slightly apprehensive but had been assured that we’d have our own double room in the chalet we were hosting and, although it wasn’t luxury, it was more than adequate and we grew very fond of it during our 5 months there For anyone
We had deliberately chosen to work for a higher end ski operator and a comprehensive 2 week training and induction programme began stocktaking, hot tub maintenance, health and safety, fire safety, customer service, cooking, cleaning, food shopping, food hygiene, wine tasting, store orders, transfers, changeover day, guest manifests We wondered how we’d ever fit any skiing in! This was followed by chalet set up For almost three weeks we were teased by bucket loads of snow coming down and we weren’t given our precious lift passes until set up was complete Clicking our boots into our bindings for the first time in 3yrs was a great feeling and to know we had another 4 months of this was amazing Reality soon dawned as our first guests arrived any day We were excited about it and really ready for it having been in resort for nearly 3 weeks by then, not to mention sick of ‘deep cleaning’ every nook and cranny of the chalet on our hands and knees with toothbrushes and cocktail sticks Our guests were due to arrive early evening on Sunday 19 December the beginning of Christmas week We were beginning to feel the pressure!
W ith breakfast cleared and the dishwasher on for the third time that mor ning, we were relieved that we’d got through it without any major catastrophes and our guests were now out on the piste so we could relax a bit Whilst I baked the afternoon tea goodies, raspberry and white chocolate cookies (delicious!), cleaned up the kitchen and laid up the table again, Tom donned the pink marigolds and began the cleaning process in the 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom chalet Whoever did the after noon tea would also hoover all the communal areas, including 3 flights of stairs W ith a deep red carpet throughout the chalet, not doing it wasn’t an option! Once done, we wrote a friendly ‘welcome home’ note that we’d leave out with after noon tea, check the hot tub, log the fridge and freezer temperatures, make baguettes for our lunch, and put the bins and bottles out By the time we’d gone through the rigmarole of changing into our ski stuff, rushing to get all our kit together to get out to the slopes, it was no wonder we’d nod off on the first chairlift we got on! There’s nothing like your first run of the day to make you forget all about the toil of chalet hosting though Christmas Day was the full works posh breakfast, mulled wine and mince pies for after noon tea, and turkey and all the trimmings for the evening meal We escaped the kitchen for a couple of hours to meet colleagues on the piste for champagne and secret santa with the snow coming down Back in the kitchen, we somehow managed to pull off the meal which thankfully our guests said we ‘nailed’, not that we tasted a bite of it! Certainly a Christmas Day we won’t forget New Year’s Eve followed a similar format, with Tom’s duties extending to setting off fireworks for the kids who were staying with us New Year’s Day breakfast was less fun out until 3 30am and up to cook breakfast at 7am for 4 adults and 4 kids is not a good idea!
(20) OR PROFILES FIONA HAROLD NÉE HARDING (A’93) continued “So that’s 6 poached, 1 fried, 1 scrambled, 3 portions of porridge and all fry ups with bacon but only 3 with tomato and yes, no problem, I’ll just get you some hot milk for your coffee’ I couldn’t address her by name as I couldn’t remember what it was! This was a common problem for the first couple of days after guests arrived I scuttled back into the kitchen with my scribbled mess of a breakfast grid Tom was bracing himself for the order and ready with a basket of hot croissants and pains au chocolat for me to take back out with the refilled carafe of orange juice and tomato ketchup that we’d forgotten to put out Of course, I forgot to heat up some milk, partly because there was a baby bottle steriliser in our microwave, more likely because there were just too many things to remember!
We look back with only positive and happy memories It was such a brilliant experience and a great time in our lives to do it And thankfully the risk paid off After a couple of months living out of suitcases with family and friends, we are now both back in full time jobs and living in Oxfordshire, planning our skiing holiday to Meribel this winter
We had a great group of colleagues and were working for a really fun company who organised numerous fancy dress occasions on and off the slopes, bar crawls, birthday barbecues on the piste and team challenges such as the 3 valley rally They also tur ned a blind eye to the hot tub parties we conducted when the chalets were empty of guests! We were fortunate to have great guests for 99% of the time so we also had some amusing nights out with them, or would just join them at the table for a glass of wine after service which was a nice way to round off the evening Plenty of family and friends visited and the weeks flew by Although we were constantly reminded that we had one of the worst seasons in 25 years for snow conditions, it didn’t matter and by the end of April we were sunbathing in the 30 degree heat, having picnics and doing walks down the valley instead of skiing It was a sad day when we did our last run, especially as we knew that we had shut down week which meant endless deep cleaning again, followed by the dreaded coach jour ney home Even though we were probably ready to go home by the beginning of May, we had become happily accustomed to our little Meribel bubble away from the responsibilities of reality We would definitely be going home with no regrets and fresh perspective
I can highly recommend doing a ski season to anyone The age range of chalet hosts, drivers, ski guides and managers was 19 55yrs and anyone would come out of it with amazing domestic skills, first class customer service and life long friends and memories, not to mention pro skiing skills and patience!
Just don’t expect to ear n much money If you are thinking of doing a winter season and would like any more information, feel free to get in touch fionalharold@gmail com
The pressure of Christmas and New Year over (the most expensive weeks of the season), some nice tips in our pocket and into January we were well on our way to becoming dab hands The after noon tea cake would often be in the oven before any of the guests were at the breakfast table, cleaning times were halved thanks to a few shortcuts that we’d lear nt from the youngsters, and we’d have dinner wrapped up in time to make it to the bars by 10pm latest We were spending 11 30am 4pm on the slopes every day (except Sunday, the dreaded change over day), getting a quick nap in before dinner service, and we were receiving glowing reports from our weekly chalet checks about the cleanliness of our chalet You couldn’t leave so much as a grain of sugar on the kitchen surfaces as it would be found and noted down on our report form! Tom and I had even learnt how to bicker with each other in silence during stressful moments in the kitchen and somehow we could go out and drink several jaegerbombs until 2am and not have a hangover when the breakfast alarm went off We still lived for Wednesdays though our precious one day off
From January onwards, it was all about the skiing and partying
GB had only one rest day, the players were very tired and had stiff legs after the Ukraine battle The Third Place Play off game was a re match against Germany, who had lost to Russia in their semi final Jeremy said "We were positive and ready to beat them again Our squad had belief and we supported each other However, it was another big disappointment as we lost 4 0 This match was totally different to the first game I was really annoyed and really wanted the medal Overall though, I'm so proud of what the team and I achieved as it was my first proper inter national tour nament
Jeremy Millensted (L’00) is the latest football inter national Jeremy, 24 from Beeston, made his debut playing football for the Great Britain Deaf Football team in 2010, playing in the 9 1, 2 leg qualifier win against Israel for the 2011 Deaf Football European Championships Jeremy, having worked hard to be selected for the Great Britain Deaf Football squad, had a fabulous time in the finals in Denmark in July "It was a brilliant feeling to put my shirt on and play on the pitch against other countries I was awarded man of the match in the first game in the group stages against Germany", said Jeremy
Now I will look forward to the World Cup in Turkey in 2012 and hope to bring gold back to our country "
In the Group stages, Jeremy played all 90 minutes as GB fought valiantly to defeat rivals Germany 1 0 W ins against Holland 4 2, and Poland 11 0, saw GB win the Group, and qualify for the Quarter Finals Jeremy added "We won the group stage with a 100 percent record and progressed to the quarter finals Our opponents, Ireland, started well and were leading 2 0 at half time Under pressure in the dressing room at half time, we managed to stay calm and focus on the game We then fought back and thrashed them 4 2 after extra time I was so thrilled and amazed I played the whole 120 minutes "
By achieving fourth place, GB have also gained qualification to both the 2012 World Cup in Turkey and the 2013 Deaflympics (pending appeal from several countries), so watch this space
(21) OR PROFILES JEREMY MILLENSTED (L’00)
Jeremy with the team, and young mascots
Jeremy's appearances were as follows: Group Round GB 1 0 Germany full game GB 4 2 Holland half game GB 11 0 Poland didn't play Quarter Final GB 4 2 Ireland (ET) full game Semi Final GB 1 3 Ukraine full game Third Place Play off GB 0 4 Germany full game
The Semi Final pitched GB against the Deaflympics holders and favourites Ukraine The weather was boiling hot on the day and the pitch was very dry, making flowing play difficult GB worked very hard through 90 minutes and kept fighting to the end, but disappointingly lost out 3 1 The team manager asked the squad not to give up and keep their chins up as there was still a third place play off for the bronze medal
(22) of bunting and flags as the whole School had its very own street party, Repton style, to the accompaniment of the Common Room band, (aka the aptly named ‘The Dangerous Brothers’, ie Messrs Bour non, Fairbrother, Hodgkinson and Mylward!), and a mass catering event superbly organised by the staffs of the School Marshal, Dale Stark and Domestic Bursar, Matt Hill, two of the unsung members of Mr Bilson’s team that do so much to ensure the smooth running of the School A superb display of fireworks that lit up a midnight blue sky in the evening, along with a plentiful supply of hot dogs and hot chocolate, ensured I hope, that all Reptonians who were here on that day will recall where they were when that particular royal wedding is remembered in the future Weddings of course, whether royal or not, as well as being joyful occasions, are also moments when one’s skill as a parent are put to the test, as they are, in a sense, the ultimate letting go of the offspring one has tended and nurtured over many years And the notion that the letting go is just as much a part of parenting as the nurturing can be a hard concept to grasp We do, of course, have many examples of it in nature to help us understand the order of things I have been enchanted this spring watching the mother swan nurse her brood of eight cygnets on the Old Trent at the back of the Hall First she tended her lovingly constructed nest over many weeks with the utmost care, only rarely venturing away for short breaks, having already making sure that the snapping cob was not far away to deal with any potential intruders; then days after giving birth, the pen acted as a living ferry boat to her young, carrying them on her back to introduce them to the life supporting, but also pike harbouring waters that were to be their earliest haunts; and finally, once they had passed their initial water test, as you can see from the photograph overleaf, they were allowed to march Dear ORs, It has been a particular pleasure to work with your most enthusiastic and supportive President, David Pepper, this year, and I am delighted, at his invitation, to write to you now to inform you of the current progress of the School and to give you my view of the challenges and opportunities that await Repton in the future As in previous years, I hope you may wish to read this letter alongside the School’s List of Achievements published elsewhere in this edition of ‘The Arch’ this will enable me to avoid my own thoughts becoming a mere catalogue of events and to focus on the broad perspective as well as the detail April 29th 2011 gave the whole nation, and thereby of course the School, the opportunity to share in the joyous event that was the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Since taking up my appointment at Repton I have always been fascinated by the archive material of the 400th Anniversary celebrations in 1957 and have been on the look out for an occasion to recapture something of the magic and sense of celebration that was so clearly evident on that day The Royal Wedding, I judged, gave us our chance to do just that and so it was with great gusto that Reptonians, delighting in the good weather that was the happy couple’s deserved good fortune, joined in the national mood, defying the media cynics who told us that we were all free to spend the day as we wished according to our political sympathies, and doing instead what the vast of majority of Brits, and indeed many friends from overseas, really wanted to do, namely enjoy the kind of ceremonial event that we do better than anybody else and then have a really good party So April 29th saw the entire area from The Arch to the Pillars of Hercules transformed into a riot
SCHOOL NEWS LETTER FROM THE HEADMASTER
SCHOOL NEWS LETTER FROM THE HEADMASTER continued
(23) and one that doesn’t come close to capturing the magical quality of the opportunities that boarding can bring, or the sheer concentration and power of the influence that talented teachers can have when shaping the futures of their charges in a boarding environment Or, to put it another way, and if anyone does feel the need for an alter native to the word boarding, then how about an environment that is ‘total ’ ‘Total’ in the list of qualities we hope to develop; ‘total’ in the life we lead 24 hours a day and 7 days a week (Overseas educationalists, as I have mentioned to you before, never cease to be amazed by the hours colleagues put in at schools such as Repton and they are always stunned by the particular time and commitment of Housemasters and Housemistresses); ‘total’, and I have only really thought about this in the past couple of days, in terms of the sheer number of people doing different things, who are an integral member of this community Think of this In one single day, boys and girls here can come into contact with teacher, tutor, Housemaster, Chaplain, Deputy Head Pastoral, Deputy Head Academic, the Headmaster (if they’re lucky, or unlucky), matron, the Infirmary sister, the doctor, the groundsman, the gardener, the plumber, painter, ladies in The Grubber, chefs and ladies serving teas in the houses, my Secretary the list is endless And everyone seems to know everyone else by name This doesn’t happen everywhere, I can assure you One of the best features of the Reptonian, I believe, is that he or she can talk easily with all the people on the site and treat them with equal value It is not the Reptonian’s style to be condescending So a total community, living together : an experience, I might suggest, that is never to be repeated For university will not be the same University life, at a different stage in a young man or woman’s development, is inevitably partial and selective But not school And certainly not a school like Repton Sometimes, and often when you are least expecting it, that totality of life here creeps up on you and taps you on the shoulder in an almost tangible way I had one such tingle of realisation, walking back to The Hall after the Palm Sunday service a couple of months ago, when in the space of a few minutes I was given a glimpse of the concentrated, dynamic and wide ranging scope of what is on offer here We had had a wonderfully inspiring service in Chapel, with Amelia Anderson leading us in a soaring rendition of Allegri’s Miserere beneath the cross of rushes so imaginatively fashioned by Robbie Astin and Dominic Johnson Kerr; then followed coffee in the foyer of the new theatre so cleverly designed by Bryan Avery do please go in there on your next visit to Repton if you haven’t already been in and give yourself a glimpse of what I hope you will agree is a School theatre with few, if any, equals in the land; and seconds later, walking back over into the main School buildings, I looked down onto the Square to see our cricketers already changed after Chapel and limbering up to face the Derbyshire U18 squad flanked by a crowd of boys and girls swelling the Paddock and giving it that unique atmosphere that you get here on match days; making my way back home I wandered through the Library, quietly but purposefully buzzing as it always is under Mr Stevens’ stewardship these days and finally, tur ning the cor ner by Overton’s Tower, I came across a group of School House boys fishing the Old Trent, and moments proudly en famille and in strict pecking order across the Square itself Yet one should not be lulled by these charming scenes into sentimentalising the mother swan’s parenting of her cygnets I know, having seen it happen year after year, that come late summer, pen and cob together will usher their brood away, if necessary resorting to the snapping of beaks and aggressive flapping of wings to make the young swans realise that theirs will be a home far away from the waters of the Old Trent where they were bor n Cecil Day Lewis, in his poem ‘Walking Away’ reminds us that in the human context too, the easing of ties, properly done, is just as significant a part of parenting as the nurturing ‘Selfhood’, he writes, ‘begins with a walking away / And love is proved in the letting go ’ In other words, it requires courage and love for parents to allow their children to become independent of them And all parents whose children attend Repton, whether as day pupils or boarders, given the wholeness of life here, are exercising that love That’s not a fashionable concept Indeed, it is common today for many in society at large to snipe at boarding Not so long ago I was asked to sit in at the selection of a public relations company to promote boarding education at a national level I was there, I think, as a natural doubting Thomas Three well known public relations companies, each led by a powerful and powerfully dressed lady, made their pitch The jargon, the neo speak, came thick and fast, Very quickly we were all ‘hitting the ground running’ and ‘reinventing (or not reinventing) the wheel ’ There were some good ideas and some downright silly ones ‘What you must do’ said one lady, ‘is get rid of the word ‘boarding’ in boarding schools It’s positively Dickensian ’ ‘Well, what’s the alter native?’ we asked ‘We advise not boarding education’, she replied, but live in education ’ That, for pretty obvious reasons, was rejected, or, in the language of that particular day, ‘hit the rocks before it was barely out of the harbour’ ‘Well’, said the powerfully dressed lady, ‘let’s try something else Instead of boarding, why not try residential ’ ‘Sorry’, we said, ‘but residential for us has connotations with the respectable elderly and the uncontrollable young but not with our type of school ’ So let us stay with the word boarding, and give parents a bit of credit for not thinking they are sending their sons and daughters to various versions of Dotheboys Hall And doing so, what is more, for positive reasons, not reasons of mere convenience I’ve never been much of a fan of the argument of justifying boarding on the basis that it makes things easier for parents That, to me, seems a defensive stance,
Whilst on the topic of finance, it was a pleasure to welcome as this year’s Speech Day Guest of Honour Mr Justin Urquhart Stewart, Founder of Seven Investment Management and legendary media markets expert It was refreshing to have a speaker who avoided the difficult challenge of condensing the secret of success in life into a ten minute formula, but who instead gave us all, young and old (er!) generations alike, a fascinating view of the pensions and investment landscape and gave all the Reptonians present some wonderfully practical advice for the future Mr Urquhart Stewart was a wonderful example of a man with a first class brain applying it in an eminently practical sense, and if education should be a cerebral adventure, neither should it ever, in my view, lose sight of the importance of practicality, whilst at the same time being fun, a challenge and the foundation of the values that will last a man or woman for life I hope that the Repton of today scores highly in each of these areas, but we will not be complacent as we face the future You are always, of course, very welcome to come and see how we are doing first hand, and both Penny and I extend the warmest of personal invitations to you to do just that I look forward to seeing very many of you in the year ahead and send you my warmest good wishes ere we meet Robert Holroyd later a young B Blocker pulled out the first pike of the season, a smile as broad as the river itself on his face, those perilous waters rendered marginally safer for the brood of cygnets navigating their way though the dangers of their first spring And all of that on a Sunday, our day of rest just think what goes on here in the week! As ORs know better than any, to get the most out of Repton, you need to accept that totality, you need to understand, whether as pupil or teacher, that this is not just a busy School, but, more profoundly, a way of life It’s not for all, and some staff come and go because they feel that totality intrudes too much But for those who do have a natural sympathy with it, it is, in my view, the best kind of education, and nowhere has an intuitive understanding of that wholeness been better illustrated than in the contribution made by our departing pupils and staff this year Simone Matthews and Frank Flight, Head Prefects, have spoken eloquently for the year group as a whole with their perfectly dovetailed combination of qualities Simone is a dynamo, but also a good judge, and Frank not only has the kind of courage that saw him run through pain to win the Steep he has a nice line in laconic humour too And their commitment is shared too by those members of staff who are leaving us this year, some after many years of service We shall miss them all : Terry Blain, sympathetic and gifted teacher and manager of Moder n Languages who has used his own wide knowledge of opera to cultivate a love of that great art in the pupils;Lulu Bordoli, supreme all rounder whether on the track, on the netball court on in the French or English classroom; Frank Watson, outstanding Housemaster of School House, indomitable teacher of English, master in charge of cricket sans pareil; Mark Sanderson, not only an expert Head of Mathematics but maestro on the keyboard too; Ian McClary, a truly inspirational Head of English but more than that, a man with a wonderfully creative and compassionate influence in so many areas of our spiritual and artistic life; Sarah Checketts, much admired not only for her dedication and talent as Head of Moder n Languages but for showing us how to really use the technology; Christine Palmer, the epitome of what a good accompanist, that most valuable but under rated of roles, should be; and, Harriet Fenn, Camille Bellagy and Catherine Charlwood move on too after shorter, but no less productive and committed spells with us We extend to all our leavers, whether they be staff or pupils, whether they be moving onto retirement, promotion or the next stage of their education, every good wish for what lies beyond Repton, and I have indeed been fortunate in being able to make some very strong appointments, and to recruit many promising and interesting pupils to fill the gaps that will inevitably be left behind And recruiting pupils is one of the best bits of my job I was reading only a few days ago the comments of a retired school principal in a guide for educational leaders called, appropriately enough, ‘Head to Head’ ‘The two single most important duties of the Headmaster,’ he claimed, ‘are to recruit the highest calibre staff and pupils ’ I agree with him about the first, but not the second It’s all too easy to define ‘high calibre’ by the kind
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why numbers remain strong at the School, but that is not something I will ever underestimate or take for granted, and for that reason we must seek to get even stronger for the future, continuing to appoint the highest quality staff and developing the infrastructure As I have said before, facilities are not as important as people in a School, but they are nonetheless important, and are a statement of the School’s ambition, values and priorities I am not going to spend too much time now updating you on the Development Plan many of you have been kind enough to attend one of the separate OR presentations on that particular topic and I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to write to you all setting out the details of the Campaign for Repton and the Science Priory elsewhere Suffice to say that despite the strong start the Campaign has made, with some £2 million of the £4 million balance required already raised, it will need the support of all constituencies of the Repton family to achieve our demanding goal of building the Science Priory in 2012 / 13 I do hope this is a venture in which you will feel able to assist us
SCHOOL NEWS LETTER FROM THE HEADMASTER continued
(24) of rigorous entry tests that the big city day schools apply with rather less sensitivity than we conduct our own entrance procedures here And each year I consider it to be one of the most significant achievements of the School that we guide boys and girls of a wide range of ability to achieve the maximum of their expectations The jour ney made by a pupil who joins us in Set 6, and leaves us with three B’s or better at A level, and each year we have a significant number of these, gives me just as much satisfaction as that made by the scholars who win a place at Oxford, Cambridge and their equals
• Under the stewardship of Lucy Watson (U6M) and Matthew Hodges (U6O), the Debating Society has had a vintage season at the senior end: we will miss stalwarts like Lucy and Matthew, as well as Tristram Fane Saunders (U6O), Ben Hardwick (U6L), Josh Benn (U6S), Gautham Shiralagi (U6L) and Helmi Burton Papp (U6F), who have provided the Society with many memorable moments over past three years Luckily, there is promising talent emerging in A Block and the Lower Sixth!
• Many visitors came to the School to speak Among the lecturers to the Upper Sixth this year were David Loyn (BBC Foreign correspondent); Mrs Perween Warsi (founder and owner of S&A foods) and Trevor Finn (chief executive of Pendragon PLC)
• Lygon Bowen West (5S) attended the Engineering the Future course at the Gifted & Talented summer school at Lancaster University in Summer 2010 Jessica Stewart (L6A) and Sian Heap (L6G) attended the Cambridge University Sixth Form Law Conference over Easter 2011 Sophie Watson (U6G) and Annabelle Church (U6F) attended Headstart, which offers Science and Engineering university experience for girls Calvert Hyde Barker (L6O) has been given an honourary award by Rolls Royce
• Jessica Stewart (L6A) and Amelia Anderson (L6F) were awarded places on the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz Project and visited Auschwitz Birkenau in souther n Poland
SCHOOL NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS & ACTIVITIES 2010/2011
• In the Spring, the second pupil exchange with Repton Dubai took place Twelve A Block pupils spent two weeks at Repton Dubai in March 2011, and welcomed their exchange partners back to Repton UK at the start of the Summer term
• 14 Reptonians received offers or places from Oxford and Cambridge universities Eleanor Holroyd and Kiki Betts Dean have also been awarded Choral Scholarships
• The School’s collaboration with Rolls Royce Pure Flight to provide activities to encourage young men and women to follow careers in engineering has been a great success: the Rolls Royce graduates involved in the scheme won a national award and the project is rolling out across schools in the UK
• Our third Lower Sixth Conference took place in June on the subject of Creativity It ran from 15th 18th June and involved all members of the Lower Sixth The conference was addressed by inter nationally renowned artist and ‘spectacularist’ Keith Khan, strategy consultant Melissa Cooke, two of the Science Priory architects, David Franklin and Joe Taylor, and the Bursar
• Hannah Green (5G), Lowri McIntosh (5F) and Danielle W ilcock (5A) have been awarded Arkwright Scholarships
• Xingzhi Zheng (U6G), Anqi Sun (U6F), Michael Fang (U6O), Yubo Jia (L6O) and Jake Tobin (L6S) achieved Gold Certificate in the UKMT Senior Maths Challenge Michael and Anqi also qualified for the prestigious British Mathematical Olympiad First Round In the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge, Francis Song (5C), Kaan Harwood (5N), Guy Davis (5L), George Moss (5O), Raees Rauf (4C), Michael Hynes (4N), Jonathan Leung (4L) and Deepak Devikanand (3P) achieved Gold Certificates Subsequently Raees, Michael and Deepak were invited to take part in the European Kangaroo where Deepak and Raees were awarded Merits
• Carla Peters (U6F) won a Gold CREST award for her outstanding Nuffield project write up on chimpanzee behaviour Kamilah Lakhani (L6A) is the second Repton pupil in as many years to be awarded a prestigious Nuffield Science Bursary which she will complete with Boots UK in Summer 2011
• RAF Gliding Scholarships have been awarded to Jessica Stewart (L6A), Hayden Ball (L6S) and Gabriel Cowley (5C) Sophie Donoghue (L6G) has been awarded a place on the prestigious Air Cadet Leadership Course at RAF Cranwell Jessica Stewart (L6A) organised a 70th Anniversary Battle of Britain Memorial Parade and lecture which included presentations by JP, PJS and the NCOs
• The Reptonian 2011 is a superb edition the result of the vision of the Editor, Tristram Fane Saunders (U6O), who has written for the magazine in each of his five years at Repton
• The 2011 public examinations round saw The School celebrating record A Level results with 27 9% of all entries being awarded an A* grade and 64 9% of entries receiving either A* or A grade 84% of all papers sat were graded A*, A or B In addition 57 pupils achieved wither A* or A grades, These results placed the School 65th in the Daily Telegraph League Table and 18th in the League Table of Co educational schools published by The T imes, where Repton was also the leading boarding school in the Midlands
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• At the annual Careers Forum in June, ORs and friends of the School spoke to the Lower Sixth about life beyond the Arch
• A number of Repton pupils have attended the competitive Gifted and Talented courses run by V illiers Park: Charlotte Wright (U6A): Media Studies; Harriet Welch (U6A): Chemistr y: Why Chemical Reactions Happen; Sophie Davies (U6M): Classical Studies: New Approaches to Old Ideas; Adrian Roseanu (U6C): Geography: Geographical Imaginations; Jamie Muirhead (U6C): Physics: How the Universe Lives and Dies; Emma Monteiro (U6M): Drama and Theatre Studies: Aspects of Performance; Phoebe Whittome (L6F): Histor y: Urban Britain Medieval and Modern; Alexander Cole (L6C): Psychology: Social and Forensic Psychology; Sophie Donoghue (L6G): Biology: Ecology and Evolution; Edwin W ilton Morgan (L6L): Linguistics: The Language Detective; Katherine Urwin (L6A) and Luke Avery (L6O): English Literature: Exploring Shakespeare; Serena Slack (L6M): Creative Writing: Finding Your Voice; Lauren Finch (L6A): China: Economy, Culture and Society
• Imogen Wollaston (4F) won 2nd Prize in the 11 13 years category of the W icked Young Writers Competition with her short story, Circles Lydia Fitzsimons (3F) had her story Remembering Death published after she came in the top three of the Daily Telegraph Ghost Story competition
• A number of academic societies go from strength to strength Med Soc was addressed by a number of distinguished speakers, including the Dean of Keele Medical School The Gur ney Society meetings (Science) for both juniors and seniors have been extremely well attended The MFL Society has held regular meetings this year, including a canapé cookery course followed by a literary recital for the Sixth Form, a fascinating talk on the music of the Third Reich, a lecture on Parisian art and architecture and more light hearted linguistic fun throughout the year
• 12 Reptonians took the English Speaking Board’s Grade 8 Advanced Certificate in Spoken English and achieved awards at merit or distinction
• The Inaugural Organ Half Hour, featured Kaan Harwood (5N), Joseph Jankinson (4L), and Kyoko Canaway from Foremarke
• Textiles has been taught on the curriculum at A Level for the first time with astonishingly professional results produced by the pupils
• The Informal Concert Series has become increasingly popular throughout the year and many excellent performances have been enjoyed
The Senior Literary Society devised, wrote and performed a series of comic and serious sketches entitled Creative?
• The Unison and Harmony competitions were particularly fine this year The Unison was won by New House and the Harmony by Latham House
• The Sixth Form artists visited Budapest for a very enlightening weekend in March
• The School Play in November was W illiam Shakespeare's Macbeth, staged inside and outside Pears School
•
• The Chapel Choir sang evensong in Lincoln Cathedral and gave very successful Christmas Carol Services Radio 4 visited the Chapel, and recorded the choir for the programme Soul Music to be broadcast in September The Chamber Choir had
The Junior School Play was an adaptation of The W ind in the W illows
• The Mitre girls ran Race for Life at Darley Park in Derby in memory of Maggie, a member of their domestic staff who sadly passed away in January of this year Fifty girls and seven members of the domestic and academic staff ran and raised £2,600 for Cancer Research UK
• The School enjoyed extraordinary success on the hockey pitches this year with teams reaching seven National Finals The achievement of the senior teams continues but, most notably, the junior teams have had their most successful ever year under SJC's guidance The girls won the National Under 14 Hockey Championships for the first time and retained the National U18 Indoor T itle The girls were also National U18 Runners Up and U16 National Indoor Finalists The Boys U14 and U18 teams were both placed 3rd at their respective National Finals this year and the U16 Indoor Team also reached the National Finals
• This year, once again, multi disciplinary work has been at the forefront of the studio work in the Art Department with performance pieces and installations of sculpture, film and sound being produced by Tom Hume (U6L), Freya Char nley (U6A), Somerset Geere (U6N) Charlotte Wright (U6A) and Sarah Cotterill (U6A) Painting and sculpture of a very mature nature has been made by Joe Markham (U6O) Leta Ber nhoeft (U6F), Zoe Dunn (U6G) and Laurence Webster (U6L), and Catherine McGrath (U6G) had a one woman show in Gallery No 1
2010
• Pupils also won representative honours in hockey: Jo Leigh (U6G) and Arjan Drayton Chana (L6S) represented England and testament to the hard work of the Senior Editorial Board, comprising Lucy Watson (U6M), Kit Rees (U6M), JMJH and Hannah Fullelove (U6M)
SCHOOL NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS & ACTIVITIES 2010/2011 continued
• The Art Department was very fortunate to be loaned a remarkable collection of ceramics by the Hands family to display as the major exhibition of the year
•
• A large number of our Upper Sixth have been given offers at leading Art Schools and universities, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Camberwell, Newcastle and Falmouth
• The Concert Band received another Silver Award at the National Concert Band Festival
• At the November Sale of Work, £33,000 was raised and was donated to more than 40 local, national and inter national charities
• The Lent Term Charity Cabaret involved 180 pupils, playing over four nights to a total audience of 1200 A record sum of over £17,000 was raised for Passing It On, helping to build a new Dreamlands Junior School in Ghana
• In November 70 pupils took part in an A Level Drama Conference, a day of shows and workshops in support of their studies, hosted at Repton with groups from Denstone, Leicester Grammar and John Port Schools attending
• The Boys’ 1st XI football team had an outstanding season, winning 20 matches and scoring over 100 goals for the first time in our history The team carried off the a2om ISFA Sixes title for only the third time in our history and was awarded the ISFA Fair Play Award 2010/2011
• Mus Soc performed Elijah in November
• The Rep Theatre Company took Deathwish, a version of an A Level Drama piece, to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August
• The Repton by Candlelight CD was released featuring Chapel Choir, Jazz Band, Concert Band, Foremarke and Repton's Chamber Choirs and some readings
• Sam Graham (U6S), Oliver West (L6P) and Josh Golding (U6P) were all selected to represent the full ISFA U18 representative team in Inter nationals against Scotland and Wales as well as a tour of Finland This is the first time Repton has had three players represented in the squad Patrick Tuffy (5P) was selected to represent the ISFA U16 team Stephen Kosmala (4O) James Frost (4O), Robbie Astin (4C) and R yan Binns (4C) all represented the ISFA U15 team whilst Joel Atkin (3C), Marcus Schneck (3N), Roshan Sooriah (3P) and Alex Needham (3N) all represented ISFA at U14 level Lucy Setterington (L6A) was selected to represent the Midlands in the inaugural ISFA Girls’ national tour nament
(26) many memorable performances again, including the singing of the world premiere of Brett Dean’s commission, Concedas Domine (Text: IWM and CSD) The singing of an anthem by the whole School on Remembrance Day is now an established tradition
• Many prominent musicians played during the Subscription Series including Peter Stones (OR),Alexander Romanovsky and a memorable Schubertiade involving staff and pupils
• Johnny Gorman (U6C) continued to make astonishing progress in the professional game, earning 8 full Northern Ireland football caps during his time at Repton
• Our resident string quartet, The Carducci Quartet, performed throughout the school year
• The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme goes from strength to strength: 42 pupils have completed their Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award, many of whom will now progress to the Gold Award
• Joe Hilton (U6C) has been selected for a 5 week expedition to the Arctic with the Army
• The School was a finalist in the Daily Telegraph Independent Sports School of the Year Awards and Johnny Gorman (U6C) was a finalist for the Male Sports Player of the Year award
• For only the second time in the School’s history, the girls managed to qualify at U18, U16 and U14 level into the Netball regional tour naments For the first time, the U14s qualified for the Nationals and finished 9th place in the country The U14B netball team had an unbeaten season
• In Summer 2010, at the Schools National Championships held at Queenswood, the girls were runners up in the Aberdare Cup (for the first time in 22 years) and won the LoveBand Cup ISTA National Schools title for the first time in Repton’s history
(27) (Shot) and Nikolas Constantinou (4N) (Discus) Joshua Noakes (L6L) (1500m); Elliot Carlile (L6L) (Triple Jump); George Brockway (5L) (800m); Heather Marsay (5F) (Javelin) and Kamma Hvass (3A) (Shot) all received a bronze medal
• In Cricket, six boys have scored centuries for the School so far this term: Edward Ikin (U6C) (twice) and Sam Graham (U6S) in the 1st XI, James Frost (4A) and Matthew Goodacre (4S) in the U15A team, and Franco Reinke (U6S) in the 3rd XI and Adam Cartlidge (4S)
SCHOOL NEWS CCF
• George Hodson Walker (U6S) and Matthew Fletcher (L6S) have both played for Derbyshire CCC 2nd XI
This year’s annual RAF section summer camp took place at RAF High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire On the after noon of Speech Day, the 16 strong group set out with officers Flt Lt Lee Alderman and Fg Off Gemma Hill, and arrived at High Wycombe just in time for dinner in the Mess The first training day began with a trip to the RAF Museum at Hendon, followed by the completion of a swim test at RAF Halton Upon retur ning, cadets were joined by Flt Lt Anton Smith and Mr Dale Stark (the School Marshall, and a retired RAF man himself) In the evening the cadets gathered to commence their foot drill practice for the inter flight competition at the end of the week
SCHOOL NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS & ACTIVITIES 2010/2011 continued
• Felix Swinbank (3O) won a silver medal at the British Youth Fencing Championships in London Hannah Walsh (4F) has been selected for Wales U18 Fencing at the UK School Games in September
• To date, the Girls’ 1st Tennis VI remain unbeaten for the fifth successive year, won the Midlands Finals and have qualified for the National Schools Championships (the Aberdare Cup) The Boys’ 1st Tennis IV are also unbeaten this year, won the Midlands Finals and have also qualified for the Schools National Championships (the Glanville Cup) The U15 Aegon Girls’ team won the Midlands title for the second year running, and the U15 Aegon Boys’ team are one match away from winning the Midlands title
• Furthermore, the 4 x 100m senior relay team (Hannah Barker (U6M), Amelia Etherington (U6M), Hannah Forsyth (L6G), Fabienne Peters (L6A)) and intermediate 300m runner Grace Sanderson (5G) have both set new School records In the hurdles
• Victoria Leavesley (U6M) was awarded the prestigious honour of Gold Award by the British Show Pony Society at their AGM in Peterborough and has now qualified for Horse of the Year Show for the 15th consecutive year
Milly Louch (5F) has set a new intermediate School record
The following mor ning was RAF Halton for weapons’ training on both the L98 A2 and the No 8 rifles Cadets then headed to RAF Benson for Air Experience Flying where each enjoyed 30 minutes air time in the Grob Tutor Next day, RAF Northolt, where the details visited several different sections (including Air Traffic Control, Fire, Bomb Disposal and Queen’s Flight) However, the highlight of the day was certainly the time spent on the Dismount Close Combat Trainer (DCCT) which many of the cadets viewed as a life size playstation!
CCF REPORT SUMMER 2011
• At the Athletics County Championships in June, gold medals went to Ali Mehdi (U6C) (800m); Fabienne Peters (L6A) (Hurdles); Christian Priestley (L6L) (400m); Hannah Forsyth (L6G) (200m); Andrew Jopson (L6P) (100m); Cameron W infield (L6C) (200m); Luke Avery (L6O) (Discus) and Kieran Taylor (L6P) (Javelin) Silver medals went to Hannah Barker (U6M) (Triple Jump); Amelia Etherington (U6M) (200m); Frank Flight (U6O) (3000m); Dominic Chaffey (L6L) (400m); Grace Sanderson (5G) (300m); Milly Louch (5F) (Hurdles); Francesca Beharrell (4A)
U18s,W iz Mumby (U6A) captained the Welsh U18 team and Rhiannon Rogers (U6G) played for Wales U21 Annabelle Church (U6F) also joined the England U18 training squad this year
The Contingent ran three residential events in the summer term 2011, in addition to ongoing weekly training Cadets thoroughly enjoyed the RAF section and Army section military camps, which still take place post term, in the week after all other Reptonians break up for the summer holidays Extra this year, we mounted a CCF Duke of Edinburgh expeditions event in the Lake District, whereby NCOs (who have volunteered to augment their CCF service by additionally undergoing the DofE programme) were able to plan and execute their Silver and Gold assessed expeditions RAF High Wycombe Summer Camp 2 9 July 2011
• In September, the U15 team played in the National semi final of the England Schools' Twenty/20 cup at Arundel where they were defeated by Sedbergh Last year's U14 team was crowned county champions for the second consecutive year, progressing to the North region semi final earlier this season
CCF continued Special thanks must go to WO2 David Platt, who is a regular soldier serving with 49(E) Bde as Training Safety Advisor for Repton and many other CCF and ACF contingents He supported every aspect of the training, giving advice on safety, developing both the cadets’ and the Officers’ understanding of the safe system of training More than that, he was a human dynamo in his interactions with the cadets, who took him to their hearts, adopting with affection his signature comments of “happy with that” and, when receiving information, “roger that”
The inter flight competition climaxed with the Drill Competition on Friday where each of the three flights performed the Nationals Ground Training Routine in front of all the officers and an RAF High Wycombe Drill Sergeant Each flight demonstrated a remarkable improvement from the beginning of the week but congratulations must go to A flight, the winners of the competition In the after noon, cadets travelled to RAF Northolt for a visit to Queen’s Colour Squadron A r m y Cam p (Chet wy nd Bar r ac ks , Chilwell, Nottingham) 2 8 July 2011 Army section carried out a self help camp this year 40 A Company Army cadets (the whole of A Coy, bar those of Army section who had attended the Easter AT camp) attended what was a strikingly successful series of training opportunities Credit is due to the CCF’s Adjutant, Capt John Wadsworth, who had put much care and energy into planning and organising the camp the cadets gained good insight into a range of military and adventurous activities
On Thursday, training was firing No 8 rifles on a live range and a high ropes course In the evening, Wendover Woods for a Nitex
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Lake District 25 28 June 2011
(28) SCHOOL NEWS
CCF D of E A s s es s ed Ex peds (G old and S ilv er
Two expedition groups of O block cadets (drawn from both Army and RAF sections), and one Gold group (CSM Simone Matthews, SSgt Harriet Welch, Sgt Hattie Rayfield, all of Army section, plus a “civvie” Greg Fear n who bravely coped with the three female NCOs) made excellent use of the CCF initiative to allow cadets to additionally participate in Duke of Edinburgh programme The pupils execute much of the DofE programme (service, skills, physical recreation) as part of their normal CCF training, so it is a matter of squeezing in the practice and assessed expeditions into the busy life of the school, to fulfil the whole DofE award for our cadets Being CCF, the cadets volunteered to plan and execute their 3 and 4 day expeds in the challenging terrain of the Lakes (Borrowdale to Patterdale, essentially), try wild camping, and generally bring their CCF skills to bear on the navigation and campcraft involved The assessor was impressed with the self motivated and self responsible approach of our groups, commenting favourably about the mutual trust shown by the supervising CCF Officers (all ML(S) qualified and able to give effective remote supervision) and the cadets The photograph shows 2 Lt Ed Shawcross warding off the midges in time honoured fashion G Lawrence (Maj.) Contingent Commander Wednesday saw the flights heading to Horseshoe Lake Activity Centre where they undertook a rafting challenge After canoeing around the lake, building a raft and sailing it around the island, the cadets were rewarded for their hard work with the opportunity to divebomb from the jetty!
The training activities on Army camp were: No8 live firing, Dismounted Close Combat Trainer, Army Obstacle Course, paintballing, sailing, self built rafting, orienteering, mountain biking, a mor ning on the purpose built command task facility at Chetwynd Barracks, a memorable afternoon white water rafting at the National Watersports Centre, and finally a 24 hr navigation exercise walking in the White Peak area and camping over night In addition, the section received a display from the Chetwynd Barracks Dog Handlers security team, and a sobering yet fascinating tour of the work of Notts Troop 721 Squadron, 11 EOD Regiment RLC based on Camp These men and women are the “Army Bomb Disposal Team” for the Midlands In all areas of activity, our Army cadets distinguished themselves via their positive attitude, and they ended the 6 day camp with manifestly more team discipline, cohesion and get up and go than they started with Ed Shawcross
Particularly edifying was their undisguised delight at being out in the hills, their appreciation of their peers’ contributions, and their determination to pull (not to say carry) their own weight, and to embrace the whole experience with sanguine ingenuousness
(29) SCHOOL NEWS DUKE OF EDINBURGH SCHEME
The focus now veered dramatically from the cerebral and organisational to those of personal, physical and emotional strength One day’s route saw the groups cover 24 km, climbing the height of Scafell Pike in the process, all the while coping with 26 degree heat and high humidity Many physically stronger and more experienced teams have succumbed to such conditions, but there was never any question of these young Reptonians allowing themselves to give in Quite the contrary, as they trooped into the campsite at Gradbach, clearly suffering from a tough day on the moors, they were quick to remark how much they had enjoyed the remoteness of their surroundings, and how pleased they were to have been able to suppress the urge to call it a day when the heat, literal and metaphorical, had risen above the levels they had previously thought themselves able to surmount It was, perhaps, the quintessence of what the Award aims to allow young people to do to draw on reserves in one’s legs and mind to drive one way beyond one’s comfort zone; team spirit, such a feature of the O Block teams, was a key facilitator in this endeavour
Clifford Dammers SCHOOL NEWS DRAMA
The Golds, arguably at first a somewhat more disparate group, did themselves immense credit on their Expeditions in the Yorkshire Dales Images of hay meadows, sparkling streams and tea shops are rather deceptive: the groups were walking for up to 12 hours a day, climbing up to 800m across potentially brutal fells Nine Standards Rigg, Greets Moss and Buckden Pike
The striking theme pervading the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme at Repton this year was perseverance and self discipline
On both the Gold and Silver Expeditions, participants overcame considerable physical, emotional and psychological obstacles to complete their aims, at times displaying almost Nietzschean will power
The Silvers had won the hearts of their supervisors throughout the Year participants have a Training Weekend in Michaelmas and a Practice Expedition over the Summer Field Weekend, as well as weekly sessions on navigation, campcraft, first aid and survival techniques, before the June Assessed Expeditions
From the final preparations on the very first night in the hostel in Kirkby Stephen, I was deeply impressed by the L6 groups’ urgency in getting on with the job in hand, and with their constructive, coordinated focus Again, after days that would have destroyed others, spirits were indomitable, teams determined to cajole each other along, and reflecting positively on what they’d lear nt about themselves in the face of considerable adversity; they won the respect and affection of their exter nal Assessors and Repton staff alike I’ve been on a few coaches back from Expeditions over the years; how refreshing to hear participants looking back on their achievements with pride, and even a certain fondness, rather than resentment at rain, exhaustion and blisters Such was the atmosphere on the Expeditions, and the calibre of the Reptonians executing them, that, on the second night, I felt a frisson of regret not necessarily shared by those under canvas that evening! that they would soon be over 49 Reptonians attained the Silver Award this academic year, and 14 the Gold W ith such a strong cohort coming through from O Block, it is to be hoped that we shall have even more Gold participants than the 32 who started this year’s programme already a very strong number
The first production in the newly refurbished 400 hall was a huge success The 2011 Junior School Play was W ind in the W illows and over two nights at the end of the summer term packed houses were treated to an escape to the Riverbank and exposed to the terrors of the W ild Wood Excellent entertainment was to be had from the likes of Mole (Jack Carter (L)), Ratty (Harry Mead (L)) and Badger (Matthew Davison (S))
J
The Training and Practice Weekends, undertaken in the triangle between Matlock, Youlgreave and T issington, were completed in conditions so clement, and over terrain so relatively gentle that lesser teams might have been overwhelmed by the shock of the Assessed Expeditions, where O Block tackled the wild uplands southwest of Buxton Not the least of the hurdles for the participants to overcome is the occasionally Byzantine paperwork necessary before the Expedition is attempted; the groups are to be commended for the tenacity and desire to do the job properly with which they attacked this challenge; even at this stage, strong leaders emerged in each team, who channelled their peers’ efforts and ensured that the stringent criteria were met
Highlight of the show for many was the hilarious antics of a superb Toad (Oliver Hetherington (N)); his perfectly judged upper class accent and his arrogance delightfully portrayed However, as always with a Repton School show, forty or more youngsters were involved, filling the stage, and at times the auditorium, with fights, picnics and court cases All in all it was an excellent night’s entertainment C Sentance A date for the diary: The Repton Mysteries, The 400 Hall November 16th 19th 2011, 7 30pm
(30) SCHOOL NEWS 400 HALL
Regards Roger Cooke, (O’53) (Head of School but then wifeless and shaven,57/8) Cricket, Christianity, and the Corps Hello, I was in New House from 1956 1959 Roger (R G) Gunner who was in the same house at the same time, sent in a photo of some of the football 1st X1, on an away trip This was published in the latest O R publication, and I want to let him know how great it was to see this old photo, which had so many memories for me Could you please pass my comments on to him Thank you very much W ith best regards , Mike (M A) Linton (N’56) Dear Sirs You published an obituary of David Johnson (H’41), the cavalry historian In September 1944 as a study holder in the Hall in keeping with his future, he ador ned his study’s walls with swords and cutlasses health and safety where were you then?
Countless Reptonians have benefited from the inspirational productions of the likes of Mike Charlesworth and Guy Levesley in the 400 Hall and the school has a distinguished tradition of nurturing both the amateur actor and the aspiring professional Tom Chambers, Nicholas Bur ns and George Rainsford being the latest Reptonians to follow in the tradition of Basil Rathbone In 2011 the Gover nors decided to undertake a significant upgrade of the building, retaining Marshall Sisson’s much loved 1957 façade, but completely remodelling the auditorium and adding a foyer spacious enough to accommodate guests in comfort for productions in the new 400 Hall and adjoining Studio Theatre Avery Associates, the architects responsible for the recent redevelopment of the Vanburgh Theatre at RADA, were commissioned and drew up a striking design that is contemporary in feel, yet sympathetic to the Precinct so beautifully laid out at the time of the 400th anniversary
The Auditorium contains high quality, proper, raked seating with a capacity of over 300 The stalls level is height adjustable, thus enabling a variety of configurations Further flexibility has been achieved by installing an adjustable stage, also allowing for different configurations Part of the work on the new stage front includes a Juliet Balcony The whole project involves a high degree of technical sophistication A tension wire grid has been used in the roof space, providing infinite flexibility for placing lighting in addition to offering a safer option than tower scaffolding Permanent sound and lighting booths have been installed at the back of the first floor with a new high spec sound system Finally, the theatre has much improved cloakroom facilities and disabled access Any ORs who wish to visit the theatre and see for themselves can avail themselves of such an opportunity on the evening of the Annual Dinner, November 12th
The 400 Hall Theatre
These needed cleaning and polishing and who better to do this than his junior fag “What do I clean these with?” “You use elbow grease ” “Where can I get it?” “The school shop ” So, naively, off I strode to be disillusioned Yours truly, R W Jones (H’44)
This comprises two parts : foyer and auditorium In addition there has been marginal re shaping of The Precinct, partly to draw people to the new entrance door in the new foyer but also to enhance the piazza feel The highlight of the new foyer is the Prism which allows natural light to flood in during the day and, at night, is lit inter nally to provide a focus for people arriving and also a back drop for a mini performance area The foyer also features a proper bar to accommodate a full house which will double as a ticket office
PIGEON POST Dear Editor I was delighted to see (back page of Archive) that the Head prefect has been exercising his traditional privileges by riding a horse through the Arch In my time (1950s) it was widely believed that these privileges (then said to attach to the now abolished office of Head of School) included growing a beard and getting married The word was that a particularly bold Head had canvassed with Lynam Thomas the possibility of exercising these rights and characteristically got the reply "Ers ,just you try!"
PIGEON POST continued I much enjoyed reading Geoffrey Morris’s reminiscences of the Corps in the late 1950s I too, though a few years earlier, became a sergeant in the Weapon Training platoon, my specialty being the Bren Gun We spent hardly any time actually firing the gun, but hours taking it apart and lear ning the names of every piece Naming of Parts was of great importance I do remember the Barrel Locking Nut Retainer Plunger Spring, referred to by Geoffrey, though I’m not sure if I could identify the item now The Corps was huge in the early fifties, as important as the other two Cs, as I called them the others being Cricket and Christianity and it occupied a disproportionate amount of our time We spent hours blancoing our belts and gaiters, polishing our boots, buckles and cap badges so they would pass inspection on Friday parades As fags, we had to the same for our prefects or study holders, who were often critical of our painstaking work and would order us to do it again
The second awful memory was of a later stage in my Corps career, in the course of a House Drill Squad competition I always had difficulty with the movement called ‘Ground Arms’, because it meant stooping and laying one’s rifle on the ground (though why one should ever want to do that, I have no idea), and then standing up again, every man in the platoon in perfect synch of course And as soon as I laid down my rifle I lost my balance, and when everyone else in the squad stood up straight, I was left sitting rather conspicuously on my bum, for which points were of course deducted To make matters worse, as I struggled to my feet I nearly knocked over the fellow standing next to me, and had a horrifying vision of the whole squad toppling to the ground like dominoes The House did not do well Yes, cricket, Christianity, and the Corps ruled Repton in those days, and unfortunately I wasn’t very good at any of them I did make it to the Upper Sixth, so was allowed to ride a bicycle, which Teamers were not (unless they were also School Prefects) But I would have willingly exchanged my bicycle for a cricketer’s gold braid Tony Houghton ( L’51)
(31) Dear Mr Stones I am still an avid reader of The Arch in my 92nd year Some articles in the May newsletter have bought back memories, especially the letter from Geoffrey Fletcher concer ning Latham 1937 in Pigeon Post Although a member of the Priory House I was well acquainted with the majority of persons (and friends of a few) mentioned in the letter I believe that one of the trophies (a shield) in the front row is The Inter House Gymnastic Trophy won by Latham and carried in the photo (left) by E N C Hall Hall and Ralph Bragg (pictured right) represented Latham House Ralph Bragg was the right back in the football X1 of 1936 A ferocious tackler who took no prisoners, E N C Hall was a most talented footballer who never realised his full potential largely, I think to his slight physique D P M Bell was another very talented footballer Played inside right (old terminology) in the football X1 of 1938 Suffice to say I was in the Football X1 of 1936 7/8 Yours sincerely Vivian Edwards (P’34)
Of my worst two moments in the Corps, one occurred on a Field Day After the mor ning’s exercises, we broke off for our packed sandwich lunch, which we ate in little groups of our friends, sprawled in the long grass Before doing so of course we were required to eject all blank rounds from our rifles, which I had done Finishing my sandwich, for some reason my finger strayed to the trigger of my 303, lying beside me, and squeezed it There was a deafening explosion ‘Some idiot can’t have emptied their magazine,’ I said Then to my horror I saw a wisp of smoke from the barrel of my gun The idiot was me Retribution followed at once, in the person of Major Eggar, The Bag, who came barrelling down the hill in a fury, red faced, the sweat pouring off him, a terrifying sight ‘Put that man on a charge!’ he roared I was ordered to report to him at the end of the day, but when I did so, to my intense relief he rescinded the charge, probably because he didn’t really know what it might entail
Dear Editors Many thanks for the latest number of The Arch The photo of Latham 1937 identifies H E Ffoulkes sitting three from the end on the front row my brothers and I knew him as “Uncle Hugh” a generation later when he acted as an unofficial guardian for us when our parents were in Hong Kong He was then a Major in the RAMC, who proudly kept up his family links to North Wales All his family treated us with quite undeserved kindness Yours, Roger Buckley (M’58)
Edward Monro (C'56) Dear Mike, As an ex Brook OR of 1940s I may be able to "elucidate" John Swallow's "mystifying recordings on the back of his photograph of Vivien Leigh of several film stars of the period" (Pigeon Post, May'11) The one thing they all have in common is that they were British born However some stars cited; Gracie Fields, Jessie Matthews and Wendy Hiller (the first screen Eliza Doolittle) never obtained "Hollywood" status The writer could have added other UK exports to Hollywood of the period Charlie Chaplin (bor n in Lambeth), Laurence Olivier (V ivien Leigh's husband, star of Rebecca), Leslie Howard (starred in Gone with the W ind with Vivien Leigh), Cary Grant (mid Atlantic accent), and of course the redoubtable David Niven who crashed into Hollywood still wearing his dinner jacket after a drinks party aboard a British destroyer the night before (Oscar for Separate Tables) It seems, nearly half the Hollywood establishment in the 1930/40s were British Also Basil Rathbone (Mitre '06 '10) should not just be remembered for his archetypal portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, but for his outstanding performance as the cruel stepfather in David Copperfield I clearly remember Major Cattley, Housemaster of the Priory in the forties saying: "Didn't he make you hate him?"
John Reddington (B'42) Dear Editors Thank you for the latest edition As ever it has been read from cover to cover! I was most interested to read Ken Gregory's obituary Clearly my memory is not nearly as good as Gerald Mortimer's, despite being an exact contemporary at Latham, as I remember neither Ken's goalkeeping exploits nor Gerald's "stunning" free kick!! I am particularly intrigued by the reference to Mowbray Preparatory School in Ashbour ne Road since I also attended it, presumably some 2 or 3 years behind Ken We would both have attended it in the war years, which would have involved a walk or bike ride to school This was no great hardship for me as I was brought up in Friar Gate which is the town end of Ashbour ne Road This set me thinking about how many ORs attended Mowbray and were taught by the Misses Maltby W ith best wishes, Brian Whitaker (L50) PIGEON POST continued Dear Editor, As a retired British Columbian public school teacher, I sometimes meet ex pupils who recall the times we had at school together and very occasionally I receive a thank you W ith these thoughts in mind, I want to extend a belated thank you to three wonderful teachers at Repton who, perhaps inadvertently, changed the course of my life I had no wish to go to Repton, I wanted to go to a technical school in the next town, but The Cross House, Repton was my father's "alma mater" and my arguments did not prevail I was neither bright nor diligent so I entered C block I played in the fourth house teams and never managed to complete the requisite four athletic standards I was stunned to find that "chapel attendance" was compulsory, that bullying was rampant which reached its apogee at the hands of the senior boys who doled out "flapping" for the most trivial misdemeanours Surprisingly enough I found that I was a crack shot on the firing range and was awarded my 'teamer' at the end of my third year It made such a difference to the way I was treated by my peer group and staff alike I never did see our coach, Mr Bolland, smile unless it was at one of his own jokes!
I found myself drawn into the magic of John Emery's metal shop which became my raison d’être I am so grateful to him for sharing some of his astounding skills with us in his spare time As I became more involved in the shops I came under the wing of Mike Milford who spent countless hours teaching me to weld, cut, fabricate, read drawings and organise a shop I talked to him about my difficulty in reciting the Apostles Creed He looked at me with a slight grin on his face and told me that I was an "irredeemable iconoclast" but to preserve the indignity of a Housemaster's beating, that I should appear to mouth the words even if I could not say them and that superficial compliance with rules was an easier path to tread than open defiance against implacable odds At about the same time I found myself in Richard Grew's Physics classes Richard impressed me with his empathy for less than brilliant students, his tireless patience in helping us through the basics of light, heat, mechanics, sound , electrical circuits during which time I unconsciously absorbed some of his classroom management skills After leaving school I worked for the Amalgamated Roadstone Corporation in various quarries in the labs and explosives departments but finally found myself at Trent Park College training to be a shop teacher When sitting in the staff room of a dreadful school in Watford at lunch one day, my life was changed forever by a simple advertisement "British Columbia needs secondary school teachers " W ithin months my young wife and daughters and I had emigrated to Norther n Canada where salaries were 500% better than those offered by English Schools Our contract included paid time off to go to university to obtain a degree in Technical Education The ski hill was less than five minutes away, snowmobiling was at the back door, white water canoeing in summer but any semblance of culture
(32) was a thousand miles away A very different lifestyle We moved south to the Fraser Valley near Vancouver as my wife's health deteriorated and my children became of school age Throughout my time teaching in British Columbian schools, I daily demonstrated those skills lear ned under the watchful eye of those three teachers I have had thousands of boys and girls pass through my workshops and classrooms many of whom have unknowingly benefited from those three gifted Reptonian teachers from fifty years ago
Peter Trott (P'48) David Pepper, President of the OR Society has sent in the picture below There are Three OR Presidents in the photograph below Jonathan Fry, (H’51) President 2011, Charles Fry (H’53) President Elect 2012 and David Pepper (H’53) President 2011 Can anyone identify them in the picture?
(33) PIGEON POST continued Dear Sir, The pictures on page 17 in issue number 317 of October 2010 are of the demolition of the Priory outside toilets One letter in the subsequent issue mentions that they were doorless but in fact not all were The first two had swing doors (but no locks) and they were reserved for the prefects who on cold mor nings would instruct their fags to warm up the seats for them The rears in this condition provided an important function to the house in the way of social interaction and exchange of gossip and of course there was general freedom of movement In my subsequent career as a gastroenterological pathologist I often contemplated that introspection was the fundamental cause of diseases of this region and it was a known fact that Priory boys were renowned for their relative freedom from such ailments as chronic constipation, haemorrhoids and diverticulitis Furthermore, the arrangements gave us a good preparation for what we were to find at university
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Simon
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 hadthomas@aol com chibale s@yahoo com + 61 293374081 + 61 738083249 +618 9299 7363 (+61) 401 069 394 / (03) 90900501 + 61 394 121 206 855 16 378039 +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 + 967 711 437124 0978 214 362 (zain network) add inter national dialling codes Priory '71 Brook '42 Orchard '53 Orchard '90 Abbey '76 Priory '94 Brook '45 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 Latham ‘73 Mitre '95 Note: If you require a postal address for any of the Overseas Links please contact the OR Secretary
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 AUSTRALIAAUSTRALIA New South Wales Queensland Perth Victoria (Melbour ne) Victoria BEIRUT CAMBODIA 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 All Cayman Islands Jamaica YEMEN ZAMBIA Lloyd Berger John Reddington Frank Smith
Q Crabtree Vanessa Twigg
(35) 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 China Cup Set Repton To The End Repton Register 2007 Book Repton Register 2007 CD Son et Lumiére CD Picture of The Arch / The Garth Limited Edition Christmas Cards pack of 10 Please contact the School Shop for prices.
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