The Suttonian 1997 by Sutton Valence School

THE SUTTONIAN 1997

Volume 35

Number 8 Editors: A. R. Cruttenden, A. B. Wingham.

The Suttonian 1997

GOVERNORS AND STAFF 1996/1997 Visitor:

The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury

Foundation:

United Westminster Schools Director/Clerk & Receiver: F V Morgan BSc, MEd

Governing Body:

F Barber RN (Retd.), MIPM (Chairman) B F W Baughan Esq. E R P Boorman Esq., MA Mrs S Bracher MA, MBE P Cockburn Esq. Ven. Patrick Evans, Archdeacon of Maidstone T F Godfrey-Faussett MA, FIPM (Chairman, Foundation Board) Mrs E A Johnston P A Lendrum Esq. M A Maberly Esq. Miss M O'Mara BA, MSc Professor A F Stevens MA, MSc, PhD R G Stubblefield Esq., LLB J W W Taylor Esq.

Headmaster:

N A Sampson MA, FRSA, Selwyn College, Cambridge.

Academic Staff C R G Shaw MA, Clare College, Cambridge (Deputy Headmaster/English) J McCormick MA, University College, Durham (Latin/Classical Civilisation) W K Piper BA, BEd, AMBDA, Monash (English/Special Needs) D Pickard BSc, Queen Mary College, London (Geography) P J Harcourt MA, MIL, Selwyn College, Cambridge (Modern Languages) C F G Parkinson TD, BA, St. John's College, Durham (Senior Master/ Economics/Mathematics) J L R Posnette BEd, Goldsmith's College, London (Physical Education/Science) *C W W Wilson BA, Exeter (Head of History) G R Piper BSc, MInstP, CPhys, Newcastle (Head of Science/Head of Physics) Mrs A F F Wilkinson FL, Calder College Liverpool (Girls' games/extra-curricular activities/F&N) D E Clarke BSc, CBiol, MlBiol, Bristol (Head of Biology/Director of Studies) E L Stanley BA, Leicester (Head of Economics/Careers & Universities Master) I S Hendry MA, Edinburgh (Head of Modern Languages) The Rev'd J H Watson DipTh, MA, PhD, FRAS, Westcott House, Cambridge (Chaplain/ RS/Theatre Studies) *N B V Jones BSc, Birmingham (Head of Mathematics) S D Broome CDT-Dip, Griffiths University, Queensland (CDT/Electronics) M P Dunn MA, MA, ADEM, St Edmund Hall, Oxford (Head of Geography) R A Rothwell BSc, BA, ACGI, Imperial College, London (Head of Computing/Sixth Form Co-ordinator) M D Willdridge BA, Ravensbourne College (Head of Art) *Mrs S C Rawlings BA, Montpelier (Modern Languages) P Horley BA, ARCO, ALCM, College of Ripon and York St John (Deputy Director of Music) M J Jillians BEd, Reading (Modern Languages) S K Schofield BSc, Goldsmith's College, London (Biology/Head of Games)

The Suttonian 1997 A J Leang MA, ARCO, Christ's College, Cambridge (Director of Music) D A Cooper BEd, MCo11P, Dundee (Head of Chemistry) *Mrs K L Jackson CertEd, Elizabeth Gaskell College (Head of Home Economics) Miss S A Boddy BA, Kent (History) P P Collins BEd, Sydney (Mathematics) J H Kittermaster BA, Froebel College, London (English/Humanities) Miss P S Robertson BA, Exeter (English) *Mrs A J Jefferson BSc, BA, Leicester (Mathematics/PSHRE) AR Cruttenden MA, PhD, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (Head of English) S F Stebbings BA, The Queen's College, Oxford (Physics) S P Hiscocks BSc, PhD, CChem, MRSC, Essex (Chemistry) M E F Pettman MA, Edinburgh (Mathematics/Examinations Officer) ''Mrs B J Piper BA, Kent Institute of Art (Art) Mrs J P A Fletcher BSc, Thames Polytechnic (Chemistry) Mrs E S Gourlay BA, Nottingham (EFL) Mrs E Hutchins BSc, MInstP, CPhys, Surrey (Physics) F B Oliver BA, Open University (CDT/Work Experience) Mrs M T Hall BEd, Kent (Modern Languages) Mrs C J Kitchen BEng, MSc, Bradford (Mathematics/Assistant Examinations Officer) R Williams BA, Kent (Mathematics) *denotes Housemaster/Housemistress

Visiting Staff

Miss T Davies BA (brass) Mr M Hunt (clarinet/saxophone) Mrs E Field GRSM, LRAM, ARCM (singing/piano) Mrs C Saunby GRSM, LRAM, DipRAM (piano) Mrs A Hutchinson MA, MSc, CertEd (flute) D Holmes LRAM (violin) V Hyland (guitar) Mrs S Marshall LRAM (oboe) Mrs S Martin LLCM (cello/piano) A Scarff GTCL, LTCL (percussion/kit/piano) Mrs L Rylands (Typing) Mrs R Faulkner (Dyslexia) Mrs P Stileman (Dyslexia) Administrative Staff

Bursar: Caterer: Headmaster's Secretary Admissions Secretary: Secretary to Bursar: School Secretary: Book-keeper: Librarian: School Medical Adviser: C.C.F. Adjutant: Clerk of Works: Groundsman:

A J Hutchinson MA, FCA, Churchill College, Cambridge J R Devine Mrs M Noar Mrs D H Neeves Mrs A Smith Miss J Norton Mrs C Box Mrs M Knowles Dr I Roberts MB BS, DRCOG, MRCP(UK) Capt B W Miller D Moore MN Dodd

The Suttonian 1997

The Suttonian, 1997 After accepting the editorship of The Suttonian for 1997 I was in some doubt as to the direction this year's magazine should take. Should we aim for a `traditional' school magazine or move towards something radically new and different? Perusal of other schools' magazines didn't really help a great deal, as they only seemed to confirm my suspicion that the whole question was something of a spurious one; formats and editorial policies seemed to be more varied than I had expected, to the extent that `traditional' and `radical' were rather meaningless, or at least misleading, terms. Nevertheless, I think that the overall drift of the present publication could probably be said to be conservative (with a small c) in format, style and content. Speaking personally, I haven't really found conservatism a particularly attractive proposition since the age of sixteen, but this isn't, of course, the point at all; a school magazine needs to express the activities, of all kinds, which have sustained the school in the previous year in the most effective style and format possible, and it is up to the editor to try, as far as s/he is able, to find that style. If this has meant that the order in which we have presented the events of the past year is a well-tested one, or that the style of writing is easily recognizable from generations of school and university alumni magazines, I make no apology for it. Articles are presented in a fairly uniform way, but the decision to make The Suttonian like this simply seemed right at the time - even though, as I have said, it ran slightly counter to my own inclination. The curious thing about all this is that there is a way in which this rather conservative style of presentation is perversely becoming rather radical. Most publications, from whatever source, are now very much the product of a type of writing which makes full use of the features available on a word processor or a desktop publishing package. Some even dispense with the need for reading `hard copies' at all, and only exist as electrical impulses down various lengths of fibre-optic cable; so a printed magazine which deliberately avoids fancy borders, bendy/curvy/spiral text, and Clip Art, while making full use of editorial control over style and content (a concept which in the minds of many has been rendered totally obsolete by the anythinggoes laissez-faire of the Internet), might well be said to be not so much radical as positively heretical in the face of the now prevalent orthodoxy. Of course, this is not the whole story; the production of the magazine has naturally involved heavy use of word processing, DTP, colour scanning and all the other icons of the orthodox, and everybody involved is thoroughly grateful for the

powerful tools now available to make a job of months into one of days. I think I might be beginning to speak personally, rather than as an editor, however, if an innate mistrust of orthodoxies and rigid beliefs does make me wonder if a blind trust in the power of the providers of microtechnology (rather than an intelligent, informed use of their products) might not make us, the willing instruments of their profit, extraordinarily vulnerable, both as individuals and as a society. I suppose I would like to try to circumvent this latter-day example of the many providing profit for the few by producing a magazine with a printing press and ink and seeing what the result would be. A petty gesture and a Pyrrhic victory, perhaps; schismatics aren't, on the whole, well liked, so let's get back to that colour scanner and the DTP package. (I have to admit to admiring schismatics quite a lot, though, even if I haven't the courage to be one myself.) My job as editor has been made at least ten times easier by the help and support of Andrew Wingham, who has among other things dealt very convincingly with the colour scanner. But his role has been much more extensive than that of an I.T. assistant; he has been instrumental in almost everything at one stage or another of the editorial process, and it is quite fitting that his name should appear as the co-editor of the magazine. It is very much to be hoped that he will pave the way for further involvement by pupils and recent ex-pupils in future years. And now it is time for me to let the magazine's contributors speak for themselves - before Disk Error, as frightening an enemy for the 1990s as black rats for the 1340s, wipes out everything I just typed. A. R. Cruttenden.

Headmaster's Speech, May 1997 Chairman, Lord and Lady Weatherill, Ladies and Gentlemen, members of the school: Speech Day seems to hasten around. A letter from W.S. Gilbert to the station-master of Baker Street springs to mind: `Sir, Saturday morning, although recurring at regular and well-foreseen intervals, always seems to take this railway by surprise'. The admirable efficiency of arrangements made for this particular Saturday morning are a tribute to many members of the school staff; my own task, to report upon a year in the life of a vibrant community, ought to be an easy one. It is, however, a little terrifying to have to speak in front

The Suttonian 1997 of a most distinguished Guest of Honour [Lord Weatherill, former Speaker of the House of Commons] who has held the most eloquent figures modern Britain has produced in his thrall. A description of listening to one of Sir Geoffrey Howe's speeches as being `rather like watching a muchloved family tortoise creeping over the lawn in search of a distant tomato' should act as an inspiration, as the mighty can also fall; indeed, the view of President Harding's oratory as hearing `the impression of an army of pompous phrases moving over the landscape in search of an idea. Sometimes these meandering words actually capture a straggling thought and bear it, triumphantly, a prisoner in their midst, until it dies of servitude and overwork', should also whet your appetite for the amateur offering to follow. We live, in Confucius's phrase, in interesting times! The words `change' and `renewal' are very much to the fore and, along with them, comes a tide of uncertainty. It is my pleasant task to set before you the current status of Sutton Valence School and its strengths to withstand, and indeed, to prosper throughout the stimulation offered by external change. The word `community' is often overworked and easily hijacked. There is, however, no doubt that the word is apt to describe this school where so many people work and live and teach and learn and grow. It is emblematic that the physical buildings of the school are woven into the landscape of this village and that Elizabethan architecture blends with offerings from the Victorian, Edwardian and more modern eras to provide the backdrop for the life of our community. Those of us who live here are always aware that we are aiming to build upon the achievements of others; the chronicles of Suttonian history bear witness to a long, interesting and, at times, amusing evolution. Each community has a distinctive character of its own and it does not take long to recognise distinctive Suttonian qualities. They endure; they are the result of contributions of generations and they include tolerance, good humour, a high valuation of friendship and a generosity of spirit. This year has seen the establishment of the Clothworkers' Courtyard as a recognition of the contribution made by the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers throughout over three hundred years of the school's history. Within the next few months we will dedicate memorials in the Chapel to two outstanding teachers, Richard Horn and Brian Day. The phrase `Your feet stink and your eyeballs rattle and you don't love God!' may seem a little strange to our ears but it catches the idiosyncratic character of its author, T.M. James, who gave his entire life to the school as master and, ultimately, Headmaster between 1932 and 1950. It was

Mr James who insisted that the school remain on this site during the last War, rejecting evacuation and earning for Sutton Valence the sobriquet `The Front Line School'. It has been a pleasure to welcome members of Mr James's family to Sutton Valence this morning to rededicate the Conference Room as the James Room as a permanent memorial to a man of courage, commitment and a colourful mastery of language. It is vital that we do not live in the past but we should be comfortable with tradition and history; we live not in the shadow of past generations of Suttonians, but rather in the light of their achievements. Sutton Valence now is a vibrant community. What binds us together primarily is a commitment to the business of teaching and learning. It is one of the mysteries of a school's existence that the work produced day in and day out in classrooms and laboratories is hidden in coursework folders, log books, and exercise books and very rarely published to meet the acclaim it deserves! I hope that this morning will have given you all a chance to see for yourselves the high quality of work that can now be within the reach of talented and committed pupils. Whether it is through word processed assignments in History or English or skilfully designed and realised projects for CDT, the current generation of Suttonians is moving into areas undreamed of by their predecessors. The performing and visual arts bear similar witness to creativity and inspirational teaching. This has been another year of remarkable achievement for the Chapel choir; the release of their CD and its subsequent broadcast on national radio caught a flavour of their live performances which have, on many occasions, been of the very highest quality. The standard of instrumental performance has continued to rise and, although we this year lose a talented generation of performers, younger musicians will, without a doubt, grow into the spaces left for them. The quality of the work on display in both the Art and CDT departments bears similar witness not only to the achievements of the pupils involved in those disciplines but also to the success of the teachers in the transmission of enthusiasm for their disciplines. A mark of this is the award to Mr Willdridge of a highly prestigious Frank Fisher Scholarship which will enable him to concentrate upon his own work as an artist for a period in the coming academic year. The past year has also been one of remarkable success in the field of drama; there has been a sequence of varied and often breathtaking performances by young people in texts other schools would, I am sure, be a little afraid to tackle. Before Christmas we saw a firstrate performance of a sophisticated and testing dramatisation of Anna Karenina which involved children as young as ten years old and which drew

Iii

The Suttonian 1997 praise from a number of external visitors to the school. I must also mention the performance of Alex Mansfield as Hitler in The Portage of AU to San Cristobal; this was a characterisation of both range and maturity which moved well beyond the limits of conventional school drama. Alex was outstanding but he has been far from alone in his achievements this year. I would urge as many of you as are able to try to catch some of the dramatic performances on offer over the next twelve months. Revue and dance have added the richness of diversity to an artistic programme astonishing for a school of this size. Indeed, the last few days have given examples of our cultural capabilities. The Summer Revue on Thursday last included the modelling of fashion designs created by Vicky Summers and Josina von dem Bussche-Kessell, some magnificent traditional Korean dancing by Jenny Jung and musical, dance, dramatic and comic performances ranging from George Formby to Sophocles spoken in Greek. Shakespearean excerpts were given in English, Czech, Russian, Georgian, German and Japanese. It was an exhilarating evening which emphasised the fact that we lose an exceptionally talented Upper Sixth group this year; luckily, the younger Suttonians have also displayed considerable accomplishment and potential. This has also been a memorable year in terms of sporting success. The pool of girls here may be numerically small but their record of success is, surely, unparalleled. The junior netball playing record reads: played 29, won 27, drawn 1, lost 1, goals for 457, goals against 133; turning to hockey the U11, U12, and U13 sides have all won competitive trophies and Jenny Vincent and Alexa Carmichael have both been amongst those members of the school selected for Kent. Their U16 side won the East of England Championships. In Tennis, Catherine Birch, Jenny Vincent and Katie Horne have all been selected for Kent and have compiled excellent playing records this year. On the boys' front the 1st XV equalled the 1991 record of 11 wins and compiled a playing record of 14 games played, 11 won, 1 drawn and 2 lost, with 314 points scored for, and 135 against. James Vincent won selection for the Kent U18 Schools' Squad, whilst Matthew Wooderson was selected for Hertfordshire U17s and Martin Slattery for the Scottish Exiles. The 1st XI hockey players went to Mexico, on tour, throughout the Easter holiday, the first side from Great Britain to do so since the 1968 Olympics. They achieved some memorable results. The 1st XI cricketers have made a most promising beginning to their season, winning four games already and demonstrating a strong and sportsmanlike spirit. Matthew Day has led the way with the bat, scoring over 500 runs to date and making a sequence of high scores includ-

ing a century. It is also good to note that Richard Bradstock has registered a century for the U15 side and that Michael Dumenil very nearly achieved this feat on Saturday last. The 1st XI will be participating in the Sir Garfield Sobers Invitation Tournament in Barbados in July; they have been magnificently supported in their efforts to raise money towards this trip by the Old Suttonians' Association and by a group of hard working parents under the Chairmanship of Eric Watts. Shooting is a sport with a rich tradition at Sutton Valence and this year has seen the continuation of a renaissance; at Bisley several major trophies, including the Queen's Regiment Cup and the Devon and Dorset Falling Plate were won and recently the school's shooting squad secured the Kent Schools' Rifle Championship for the first time since 1971, scoring very well in two other major shooting competitions. The CCF have also registered a number of triumphs this year, winning the CCF Shield in the fourth division Cadets' Skills Competition, finishing second in the South East Patrols' Competition and securing prestigious Scholarships through the hard work and talent of Gavin Saunders, Alex Mansfield, James Reynolds, Daniel Willdridge and Amit Khanna. There have, then, been some distinguished and highly evident successes this year. There are also those who are willing to work backstage and who provide the limelight in which others shine. Throughout his school career, Andrew Wingham has given his time and talents to a range of school activities - from scoring for the First Eleven to stage-managing theatrical and musical events and much, much more. His contribution has been at least equal to the glittering and glamorous leading roles fulfilled so stylishly by his contemporaries and we owe him our thanks. He will be much missed. We will, this term, also say goodbye to several members of staff: Daina Ciferson has spent almost two years teaching with us; she is an excellent games coach and a much-loved house tutor in Sutton. We stand to lose her through nonsensical immigration policy. Phillipa Robertson has emerged as a teacher of rare talent and high commitment. She has instilled a love for the language in many members of the classes she has taught throughout her two years here and we wish her every success as she stays within the Foundation and moves to Emanuel School. Mr Jillians takes early retirement at the end of this year; a man of the highest professionalism, his genuine love for his subject is evident from first meeting. He has been unstinting in his commitment to drawing out the very best from the children in his care and has played a major part in the success gained by many past and present members of the school. He has managed a very successful programme of ex-

The Suttoniah 1997 changes with commendable good sense and extraordinary efficiency. He has also crusaded on the part of soccer. Luckily for us, he will continue to teach here part time and will, without a doubt, maintain characteristically high standards in all that he does. Since 1984, Anne Wilkinson has taught Home Economics and then Food and Nutrition. She has led the department to prominence and achieved excellent culinary and academic results. At the end of the year she will give up her teaching commitment; she will, however, continue to make her peerless contribution to the CCF, girls' games and so many other areas of community life. Other changes will include Mr and Mrs Piper stepping down from Sutton House after five years of highly professional commitment and care and sheer hard work; Mr Harcourt retiring after sixteen years as Housemaster of Founder's, throughout which he has demonstrated perception, high intelligence and clear understanding of his charges; and Mr Parkinson leaving Westminster House after fourteen years of exemplary service as a caring but firm Housemaster to become Senior Master. Thank you all for your selfless service. David Pickard also takes early retirement in July. He has been at Sutton Valence 20 years and has contributed enormously to a broad range of the school's activities. As a teacher of Geography he has demonstrated exceptional skills and abilities; as a Housemaster of Bennett, he treated his charges with kindness and a highly perceptive understanding; as Chairman of the Sports Council and sports coach, he has encouraged young people to rise above themselves and to achieve some memorable triumphs. He, too, will be with us in a part-time capacity next year and will continue to bring a thoughtful and caring approach to the school's dynamic. It was, of course, encouraging in some ways to see the high prominence afforded to education in the recent election campaign. It was less edifying to witness the paucity of constructive thinking on the topic and, indeed, the use of education as an insubstantial political rosette was all too predictable. Mr Blunkett is a man of considerable personal qualities and his rejection of dogma and call for genuine partnership are to be welcomed. It is, then, disappointing to be confronted with the unseemly scramble to dismantle the assisted places scheme. Sutton Valence has for many years enjoyed a broad social profile; through the KCC scholarships, which were the predecessors of the assisted places scheme, many bright and talented individual pupils were enabled to come to Sutton Valence and they now form an important part of the Old Suttonian community. With strong numbers at the junior end of the senior school, and with strong demand evident for September, 1997 and beyond, we are reasonably well placed to withstand

the loss of the assisted places scheme. From a philosophical point of view, however, it would be saddening to have to embrace a narrowing of the social character of the school. Independent schools enjoy the best records in Britain, occupy the best sites in Britain, employ the best staffs in Britain and possess the best facilities in Britain. It is very much to be hoped that Mr Blunkett and his colleagues and the other political parties will, indeed, seek to look at the place of independent schools and the roles we can fulfil in a fresh and undogmatic way. Our respect for our heritage notwithstanding, the school cannot stagnate, and we must move forward in a sensible and innovative manner. The past few years have seen the evolution of a planning process which will ensure that the school will respond to the various challenges it faces through careful use of resources and imaginative use of its two sites. September 1997 will see the introduction of a timetable with increased teaching for sixth form pupils in order to encourage them to stronger academic performance. We will also see, for the first time, the emergence of a specialist games department which will give pupils of all ages access to qualified coaching and the best of our facilities. We will continue to invest in information technology and to work to make better use of our historic buildings and residential accommodation. We will be moving ahead with our plan to improve sports provision and, ultimately, to create a new facility for the performing arts. There will be tangible results from these stated intentions within the coming year. Above all, we will continue to work to strengthen the sense of community within Sutton Valence. We do not always succeed and, indeed, school life is not always tranquil and trouble free. We must, however, set our ambitions, our aims and our activities in the context of our foundation and our tradition and our heritage. In his autobiography, George Mackay Brown wrote: `We are all one, saint and sinner. Everything we do sets the whole world of creation trembling with light or with darkness. It is an awesome thought, that a good work spoken might help a beggar in Calcutta or a burning child in Burundi; or conversely. But there is a beauty and simplicity in it, sufficient to touch our finite minds.' We must encourage young Suttonians to share this belief and to make the connection between the self and the world. It is difficult to ensure that school life is touched by discernible elements of spirituality but I can illustrate two of the occasions when this was manifest throughout this past academic year. The first was the visit of a Buddhist Abbott, the Venerable Amaro Bhikkhu, who also happens to be an Old Suttonian. By his own version of events, he

The Suttonian 1997 was a little of a tearaway whilst at school yet he is now a man of lucid tranquillity and it was a privilege to see him hold the attention of the entire school in chapel with an account of his spiritual journey. The second occasion was a visit by Mr Leon Greenman, a survivor of the holocaust, who, although frail of body and thin of voice, held a large Upper School audience spellbound as he bore witness through his autobiographical experiences to some of the darkest experiences of human history. On both of these occasions the genuine hunger of young people for education in its original sense was combined with a gentle respect for the otherness of the relevant speakers. These experiences, when combined with an education with a beautiful environment, must reinforce the values of the Suttonian community. In a world even more hectic, it is worth recalling the words of Selden: `In troubled water you can scarce see your Face, or see little, till the water can be quiet and stand still. So in troubled times you can see little Truth; when times are quiet and settled, Truth appears.' Encouraging young people to find the time, and skills, to look within is becoming an increasingly important task for schools as our traditional forms of moral education lose their certainty. The former Bishop of Liverpool referred to schools as `centres of resistance to the forces of despair'; it is worth glancing at `The Hunting of the Snark' for a lighter illustration of contemporary approaches to values. Before setting off for their hazardous sea voyage, the Bellman Had brought a large map representing the sea, Without the least vestige of land: And the crew were much pleased when they found it to be A map they could all understand. 'What's the good of Mercator's North Poles and Equators, Tropics, Zones and Meridian Lines?' So the Bellman would cry: and the crew would reply 'They are merely conventional signs! Other maps are with shapes, with their islands and capes! But we've got our brave Captain to thank So the crew would protest) that he's bought us the best, A perfect and absolute blank!'

Too often it appears that young people are given a blank chart by which to plot their course. This is seductive; it offers no restriction and every possibility. Superficial sophistication and premature experimentation are encouraged. A blank map does not mean, however, that the dangers and obstacles, the reefs and rocks, have ceased to exist. It is good for one's health to know where they are and to learn how to plot a journey to avoid them. As parents and teachers it is ever our more urgent duty to act as cartographers, to colour in the maps for those in our care. Of course, we must give them the confidence to make their own journeys, and the best maps do not prevent shipwreck, but ignorance is only temporary bliss and, as with most earthly paradises, usually carries a heavy price. We also need to teach young people the techniques to plot their own courses through uncharted water. Indeed, plotting one's own map involves a good deal of painstaking, detailed work; it requires self-discipline and a love of technique. Mastery of this technique enables you to voyage safely in uncharted waters and, indeed, to share your experiences with others. A love of the art of learning technique must be instilled. We all need to understand that, when we see a great dancer or actor or athlete for a clip of five or ten minutes of the highest achievement, years have been spent in rehearsal or training in order to achieve such apparently natural mastery and seemingly unforced grace. Practice does not always make perfect, but without practice there is no perfection. Schools must inculcate a love of learning technique, not for its own sake, but to enable greater appreciation of a world of evergrowing opportunity and unpredictability. Blank maps are empty manifestos for life: not a liberation but a betrayal. This all may sound a little pompous and heavy; in fact, working with young Suttonians is, for the most part, a light and pleasurable duty. And even spirituality need not be a pretentious business. When the news broke, in 1935, that Sir Thomas More was to be canonised the Daily Herald announced via placards throughout SW3 `Chelsea Man Made Saint'. Holiness can, then, be found in the more unpromising areas. And, as I have talked of the multifarious successes of pupils in many fields and of our respect for the past and hopes for the future, I can report two things: that Sutton Valence continues to bloom and that this particular tortoise has now and at last reached the tomato. N.A. Sampson.

The Suttonian 1997

Speech Day Prizes, May 1997. FORM I

Year Prize for Academic Excellence Junior Master Class Singing Achievement Prize

FORM II

Year Prize for Academic Excellence Junior Current Affairs Achievement Prize

Effort Prize

FORM III

Year Prize for Academic Excellence

Junior R.S. Prize Junior Art Prize Intermediate Master Class Singing Achievement Prize Effort Prize

FORM IV

Year Prize for Academic Excellence Intermediate Current Affairs Prize Junior Chapel Reading Prize Intermediate Master Class Singing Achievement Prize Special Master Class Singing Effort Prize

FORM V

Year Prize for Academic Excellence

Achievement Prize Effort Prize

Daler Rowney Art Prize (GCSE) Joyce Drayson Art Prize The Coles Prize

LOWER SIXTH PRIZES Achievement Prize Theatre Studies Economics Geography Home Economics Design and Technology Sports Studies

F. Faulkner H. Stamp F. Faulkner A. Cornell J. Massam J. Mansell J. Adams C. Blunsdon Z. Hosford R. Hukins K. Richardson H. Selway F. Posnette A. Sargent E. Adams C. Davey C. Woods E. Adams A. Pugh E. Mehrabian M. Khanna J. Richardson S. Day M. Knowles S. Knowles H. Schofield S. Knowles J. Abbott R. Pragnell W. Richardson P. West M. Meredith M. Meredith A. Blest P. Everett C. Holmes N. McCulloch C. Hayzelden K. Johnston B. Long U. Patel S-M. Wild R. Parham C. Best A. Johnston B. Long

J. De Trute M. Groom S. Leggat T. Richards V. Summers W. Hodson M. Wooderson

The Suttonian 1997 Mathematics Chemistry Physics Computing French English History German Biology Bossom Prize (Chapel Reading) OSA Prize

UPPER SIXTH PRIZES MacDonald Prize (Current Affairs) Kitchener Prize (Maths) Biology Prize Design Prize Theatre Studies Prize Sports Prize Home Economics Prize Achievement in Music Prize Wood Prize (Physics) James Poole Prize (English) Orchestra Prize Bloxham Prize (English) Grizelle Prize (History) Wheeler Prize (French) German Prize Derrick Prize (Verse Speaking) Kingdon Prize (Classics) Garside Prize (History) Angell Prize (Maths) Geography Prize Geography Project Prize Economics Prize Daler Rowney Art Prize (A-Level) Winstanley Prize (Chemistry) C.C.F. Special Prize Music Prize Choir Prize Fry Prize (Computer Studies) Senior Master Class Singing Richard Horn Prize (Music or Drama) Clothworkers Prize

Ricketts Prize

Headmaster's Prize

T. Jordan S. Watson S. Watson S. Watson S. Watson E. Doorey E. Doorey J. Woods J. Woods J. Woods J. Woods J. Woods G. Horton G. Mear K. Simmonds J. Woods

R. Byrnes G. Chan G. Willoughby I. Harrison M. Cleghorn J. Vincent E. Wills D. Willdridge D. Willdridge K. T. Evans J. Cowell C. Shahrad C. Shahrad J. Parkinson J. Parkinson A. Long A. Mansfield A. Long A. Long A. Long C. Critchley C. Critchley C. Critchley C. Critchley A. Wingham P. Day B. Harper A. Mansfield E. Midwood A. Mansfield E. Bailey E. Bailey M. Groom P. Day A. Mansfield A. Wingham M. Davies B. Harper A. Lovegrove E. Bailey S. Hignett

11 The Suttonian 1997

Salvete. Michaelmas 1996. Upper 6 T.C. Maginnis

Lower 6 Karolina Bilkova H. Boyksen Josina von dem Bussche-Kessel Teresa Gramman Stephanie L. Holland Juliane Lose D. Magakian

Valeska Neudert J.H.Park T. Richards E.Romanovskiy Eva Schmidt Lucy-Jane Willmott Sara Wulff

S W W W S V S

W V L M S

C.Y.A. Lo Nelly Losinskaya Digna Patel Sara Schoeller

W S V S

S S F H S L H F L L V

H. Jenny Jung C.S.C. Lee A.D. Lyon H.E.J. Nickolls Yelena Novikov J.H. Park B.W. Russell A.J. Smith O.R. Sunnucks Annabel J. Taylor M.D. Wilmshurst

S W F F S W W L F H F

P.D. Stileman

C W C C B B C B B C C S C B

Tanya R. Johnson G. Julians N.R.A. Kember O. Kivrak Inna Losinskaya J.W. Massam G.J. Olson Jasmine Pender P.O. Roberts Louise Rowson J.A. Sage Elizabeth M. Seale Holly Stamp S.J.H. Steeper

C B B B S B B C B C B C C B

S M S S S S W

Form 5 Gvantsa Chkuaseli

Form 4 A. de Soultrait Rosemary A. Forster J.W. Gulland H.K. Ho Elina Kosatschkowa Form 3 Rachel S. Banks Guadalupe Bru Cruz A.A. Button Louise E. Coppock Colette M.T. Davey A.M.I. Dennison Victoria S. Griffiths A.G. Hatch M.Hebblethwaite S.H. Hebblethwaite Sarah J. Hosmer Form 2 A.B. Coutroubis Form 1 Jade A. Bisram H.E.P. Boorman Rachel U. Brompton Sarah L. Brompton N.P.Chapman B.R. Cole Anna F. Collins M.J.G. Collins-Saffrey C.A. Coltella Anwen Cornell Helen C. Davies Jessica C. Dudley-Smith Freya N. Faulkner G.V. Forde

The Suttonian 1997 H.P.D. Foreman Amy H. Fowler J.D. Friend A.R. Gough C.M.J. Harding G.E.A. Harding Kathryn J. Horne Sophie J. Hutchinson

B C B B B B C C

E.J. Stretton A.A.D. Tee Philippa C. Thomas J.M. Vooght Victoria C. Williams G.R. Worrall A.T. Wragg

B B C B C B B

In Lent 1997 we also welcomed Alexa Albrecht, Deniz Devrim and Julia Bender (all S) to the Lower 6; S-H. Choi (M) to Form 5; E.J.G. Christian (L) and Lisa A.S. Hwang (S) to Form 4; Amy Y.A. Choi (S), Mandy Y.M. Tong (S) and T.R.A. Wroclawski (L) to Form 3; and S.J.A. Wroclawski to Form 1. In Summer 1997 we also welcomed Kayoko Koga, Naoko Nagai and Mihoko Tanaka (all S) to the Lower 6 and J. Hagedorn and S.G.S. Souza (both W) to Form 2.

Staff News We welcomed a fairly large number of new members of staff in September 1996, covering a wide range of academic subjects and also a wide range of other interests. Alison Jefferson came to teach Maths and to be the Housemistress of the newly formed Holdgate House; she has also become coordinator for PSHRE (Personal, Social, Health and Religious Education), a mammoth task which few would envy her! Her qualifications and experience are among the most extensive and varied on the staff. She has a BSc in Maths from Leicester University, but also a degree in History and Philosophy from the Open University. Having trained as a teacher at Cambridge she worked in many schools, including positions as Deputy Head in Tehran, Head of Sixth form maths at Benenden, and Head of Maths and GCSE students at Mid Kent College. Aidan Cruttenden joined us from Bournemouth School as Head of English. He went to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge for both BA and PhD degrees, before teacher training at St Chad's College, Durham, where he also sang in the cathedral choir. Music is his chief interest, and he was heavily involved in Bournemouth School drama. Simon Hiscocks also has a bachelor's and doctor's degree, from Essex University, and is also a Chartered Chemist and Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, with two publications to his name. He joins SVS to teach Chemistry from teacher training in Bournemouth. His formidable academic CV is complemented by his passion for football, both as player and supporter. Simon Stebbings went to the Queen's College, Oxford, where he graduated in Physics and also collected a Blue for Athletics. Before coming into teaching he worked as a computer programmer. His interests include, of course, running, but also playing the clarinet and saxophone and build-

ing his own kit car. Frank Oliver came to us from a wide-ranging career in industry to teach Craft, Design and Technology; his experience is of obvious benefit to all of his pupils. He may be new to Sutton Valence as a teacher, but does have family connections with the school; we hope that he feels suitably at home here. In addition to greeting new members of staff, we have also had to bid farewell to others, and appreciations of their contribution to the life of the school and community follow

Pippa Robertson Pippa Robertson joined the school to teach English in 1995 and was with us for all too short a period of time. I first met her when I joined the school in 1996. I had a feeling that would have no worries at all about Pippa's ability, and this feeling was confirmed to an extent which I had not anticipated. I have never seen someone so justifiably confident and in control after only one year's full-time teaching. She is inspirational, but in the most positive sense of that misused word: a friend to the pupils yet completely respected, and capable of communicating her own enthusiasm to anyone who has the privilege to be taught by her. I looked on with barely disguised envy as she inspired 4C to appreciate The Merchant of Venice, and now am reaping the benefits of her excellent teaching with a class which she taught last year. (They can actually write literary essays confidently, and all at the tender age of 12!) Pippa's excellent rapport with pupils of all ages was seen not only in her teaching, but also in

The Suttonian 1997 her many other activities. She organized many trips to the theatre with the minimum of fuss, and the atmosphere on those trips was characteristically informal, yet fully controlled. Many benefited from her involvement with tennis and aerobics, and she also was the co-director of A Midsummer Night's Dream. In Cornwallis House she was a caring and very highly regarded house tutor, and the positive and extraordinarily co-operative nature of her working relationship with her housemistress, Sylvie Rawlings, was an example to us all. She was a very great help to me throughout my first year at the school, and I would like to record my personal thanks to her here. There is no doubt that Pippa's departure is a very great loss to the school, and this loss is Emanuel's gain; she can think of us whenever she looks at her pay cheque, secure in the knowledge that it comes from the same source! We will all miss her and wish her the very best of luck as she rises to the challenge of a larger school and tastes

the sylvan delights of Wandsworth Common. A.R. Cruttenden.

Ruth Reeves Ruth retired this summer after sixteen years' service. She began her time at the school as a cleaner in Valence House, a superb Tudor house in the village which was then the junior annexe of Lambe's House. In 1984 she transferred to the laundry. Ruth's mother, Mrs Price, who for many years until her death lived in the house behind the Queen's Head, had also worked in Lambe's House, under Roger Douglas, Colin Shaw's predecessor. Like so many behind the scenes at the school, Ruth gave loyal and dependable service. We wish her continued improving health and a happy retirement. P.J. Harcourt.

Jim Shewbridge 1922-1996 The village and school were very saddened, as the working day of 16 October 1996 began, to learn of the death of Jim Shewbridge. He had collapsed and died in School Lane the previous evening. Jim was more than just a familiar figure around Sutton Valence; he was one of the oldest members of the village community, a once closely knit grouping of extended families, whose forebears had lived, worked and raised children within the parish, and many of whom were associated with the school. Jim had worked at the school for more years than anyone can accurately remember, but certainly since the late 1950s. He was born, one of six children, at 8 North Street on 30 March 1922. On leaving the local council school at the age of 14 he became a shop boy at a grocer's (now Birchall's Riding Shop), which was then the Langley store and post office. Some time later he worked at Schroder's poultry farm in Kingswood and afterwards joined his father at Parkhouse Farm, becoming a waggoner's mate. It was during his time at Manor Farm that he met his wife Eileen, who predeceased him. During the war Jim had been in the Home Guard and not long after joined Sutton Valence School as Kitchen Porter. His brother Jack, for many years Porter in St Margaret's, informs me that the Shewbridges have been connected with the school for over four generations. The link has been preserved through Jim's son, Mick, who is Head of Maintenance at Underhill. To generations of pupils and staff at Sutton Valence Jim was someone whom they saw every day of the week, including Sundays, five times, perhaps even a dozen times, nodded to or briefly greeted, or with whom a brief comment about the weather might be exchanged. He was essentially a shy man, unused to discourse on unfamiliar subjects with people outside the close confines of family or acquaintance. His courtesy and deference were rooted in a world that had sharper definitions of values and which was more socially structured than that of today. His countryman's diffidence precluded any modern instant familiarity, so those of us whom he eventually came to call by our Christian names â&#x20AC;&#x201D; it could not be forced; Jim decided when â&#x20AC;&#x201D; enjoyed a warm sense of friendship. Only in his later years did Jim venture much beyond Sutton Valence. He not only worked a seven day week, but also, it seems, a 52 week year. The days are rare on which he did not make his measured way up to the school from Wagg's Cottage; Jack can recall none. Some eight years ago Jim `retired', but the following day and on every subsequent one he resumed his old routine: in the kitchens, in and around Centre Block, in the Music School and as the school's internal postman. He was a gentle, patient man, incapable of an angry word, and a much loved husband, father, brother and grandfather. He is missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him. P. J. Harcourt.

The Suttonian 1997

Valete. Michaelmas Term 1996 H. Boyksen

1996 M. (Goes to Gymnasium in Germany).

G.M. Cook

1992 L; GCSE; 1st XV Rugby. (Goes to College).

Teresa Gramman

1996 S. (Goes to Gymnasium in Germany).

Juliane Lose

1996 S. (Goes to Gymnasium in Germany).

Valeska Neudert

1996 S. (Goes to Gymnasium in Germany).

S. Purvis

1992 L; GCSE. (Goes to College).

S. Saraman

1995 M. (Goes to College).

S. Shimuzu

1996 M. (Goes to College).

T.W. Sisley

1991 B & F; U15 Hockey; Kent U16 Hockey. (Goes into Motor Racing).

Sara Wulff

1996 S. (Goes to Gymnasium in Germany).

Lent Term 1997 T. Baba

1996 M. (Goes to College).

J.R. Cooling

1995 M & L; GCSE. (Goes to College).

Louise E. Coppock

1996 H. (Goes to school).

Deniz Devrim

1997 S; Senior Play. (Goes to Gymnasium in Germany).

R.G. Williams

1993 L; GCSE; Senior Play. (Goes to West Kent College).

J. Yairo

1996 M; Senior Play. (Goes to College).

Summer Term 1997 R.A.Adams 1996 W; A-Levels; House Prefect; 1st IV Fives; Senior Play. (Goes to Roehampton Institute, University of Surrey to read English). Alexa Albrecht

1997 S; Senior Play. (Goes to Gymnasium in Germany).

1992 S; GCSE & A-Levels; Foundation Scholar, Music Scholar; Form Prizes, Effort Prize, Elizabeth C. Bailey Middle School Music Prize, Coles Prize for contribution in 5th year, L6 Biology, Chemistry and Music Prizes, O.S.A. Prize for contribution in Lower 6, Advanced Singing Prize, Richard Horn Prize for contribution to Music, Headmaster's Prize; Head of School; 2nd Girls' Hockey XI; 2nd Netball VII; Senior Swimming Team; D of E Silver Award; Senior Play; Choir, Orchestra; Hunting Society. (Gap year in Japan, then goes to St. George's Hospital to read Medicine). Joanna H. Baillie 1990 C, V & H; GCSE & A-Levels; Distinction Prize; School Prefect; U15 Girls' Hockey; CCF Sgt; Senior Play. (Goes to University of Coventry to read Law and Social Policy). Kate S. Baldock

1995 S; A-Levels; House Prefect; CCF. (Goes to Leeds University to read Zoology).

P.J. Batchelor

1994 F; GCSE. (Goes to West Kent College).

.Julia Bender

1997 S. (Goes to Gymnasium in Germany).

Karolina Bilkova Czech Republic).

1996 S; A-Levels; Eastern European Scholar; Senior Play; Choir. (Goes to school in the

A.R. Boult 1992 L; GCSE & A-Levels; CCF (RAF); Senior Play; Orchestra. (Goes to Southampton Institute to read Journalism). Guadalupe Bru Cruz

1996 S. (Goes to school in Spain)

The Suttonian 1997

R.J. Byrnes 1990 B & F; GCSE & A-Levels; GCSE Prize, MacDonald Prize for Current Affairs; School Prefect; 1st XV Rugby; 3rd XI Hockey; 1st XI Cricket; Junior Play. (Goes to London School of Economics to read Geography with Economics). R.J. Carmichael

1994 F; GCSE; 2nd XI Cricket; Intermediate X-C. (Goes to Haileybury School).

G.H. Carpenter

1994 L; GCSE; CCF (RAF). (Goes to Maidstone G.S.).

R. Cavanaugh

1994 W; GCSE. (Goes to Mid Kent College).

G. Chan 1993 M; GCSE & A-Levels; GCSE Exhibition, L6 Maths Prize, Kitchener Prize for Maths; House Prefect; Senior Swimming Team; Senior Basketball, Full Colours. (Goes to University of Bristol to read Aeronautical Engineering). J.R.A. Chapman

1995 B; Kent Junior Gymnastics team. (Goes to Cornwallis School).

M.E. Cleghorn 1990 H & W; GCSE & A-Levels; GCSE Exhibition; Theatre Studies Prize; School Prefect; CCF L/Cpl; Senior Play. (Goes to University of Reading to read English and Drama). P.R. Cleghorn

1992 H & W; GCSE; CCF; Senior Play; Choir. (Goes to British School, Brussels).

S.K.Collins 1991 B & L; GCSE; Senior X-C, Half Colours; Senior Athletics; CCF, Patrol team; Junior Play. (Goes into Business). J.D. Cowell 1993 H, L & W; Music Scholar, GCSE Scholarship; Orchestra Prize; House Prefect; 2nd XI Hockey; Captain of Golf; Kent County Youth Orchestra. (Goes to Royal College of Music). Caroline L. Critchley 1990 C & V; GCSE & A-Levels; Art Scholar; Effort Prizes, Daler Rowney Art Prize, Joyce Drayson Art Prize, Geography Prize, Geography Project Prize, Economics Prize; House Prefect; 2nd XI Girls' Hockey; U16 Girls Tennis; CCF, D of E Silver Award; Junior Play. (Goes to UMIST to read Management & Marketing of Textiles). Angela F. Damiral

1994 V; GCSE & A-Levels. (Goes to Brighton University to read Equine Studies).

A.F. Davies

1994 W; GCSE. (Goes to 6th form college in Cambridge).

Martine J. Davies 1992 S; GCSE & A-Levels; Effort Prize, Achievement Prize, Ricketts Prize for contribution; Head of House, School Prefect; 2nd XI Girls' Hockey; 2nd VI Girls' Tennis; 2nd Netball VII; U15 Rounders; CCF, C/Sgt; Senior Play; Hunting Society. (Gap year working in Shanghai, then university). P.M.M. Day 1989 B & F; GCSE & A-Levels; Crest Gold Award (Engineering Education); CCF Special Prize, Clothworkers' Prize for contribution; Head of House, School Prefect; 2nd XI Hockey; 2nd XI Cricket; CCF, Junior Under Officer; Choir; Junior Play. (Working with M.J.Gleeson, then goes to university to read Engineering). Victoria A. Day 1990 C & V; GCSE & A-Levels; Music Scholar, Distinction Prize; House Prefect; U13 Girls' Hockey; U14 Netball; U14 Rounders; CCF; Junior Play; Orchestra, Choir. (Goes to King Alfred's College, Winchester to read Education). F.W. Debney 1990 B & L; GCSE & A-Levels; House Prefect; 2nd XI Hockey; 1st XI Cricket; Junior Play. (Goes to University of Hertfordshire to read Science). J.M. Delaney 1995 M; A-Levels; House Prefect; 1st XV Rugby; 3rd XI Hockey; 2nd XI Cricket; CCF, Cpl. (Goes into the Armed Services). A. de Soultrait

1996 W. (Goes to school in France).

Risa Drewer 1990 C, V & H; GCSE & A-Levels; Distinction Prize; 2nd VI Girls' Tennis; U15 Netball; Intermediate Athletics; U14 Girls' Hockey; CCF (RAF); Junior Play; Hunting Society. (Goes to work for Bell Equine Veterinary Practice, then to train as a veterinary nurse). N.J. Edmundson

1992 H & M; GCSE; 2nd XV Rugby; Senior Basketball; CCF. (Goes to College).

Katharine E. Evans 1990 C & V; GCSE & A-Levels; Exhibitioner, Effort Prizes; House Prefect; CCF, Sgt, D of E Silver Award; Junior Play. (Goes to the University of York to read Environmental Science). Katherine T. Evans 1990 C, V & H; GCSE & A-Levels; Scholar; James Poole Prize for English; CCF (RAF); Junior Play. (Goes to University of Lancaster to-read English with Philosophy).

The Suttonian 1997

1991 B & L; GCSE & A-Levels; House Prefect; 1st XV Rugby; U15 XI Hockey; X-C team; J.A. Ferris CCF, L/Cpl; Junior Play. (Goes to Nene College to study Computing). 1990 B & F; GCSE & A-Levels; House Prefect; U15 Rugby; CCF; Junior Play. (Goes to The P.D. Friend School of Pharmacy, London University). R.A.Gladwin

1992 M; GCSE; 1st XI Hockey; CCF. (Goes to Chichester College for Agriculture).

1992 F; GCSE & A-Levels; House Prefect; 2nd XV Rugby; Senior Swimming Team; CCF, S/ J. Goddard Sgt. (Goes to Hadlow College, University of Greenwich to read Agriculture & Land Management). E. Grin

1996 M. (Goes to school in the U.S.A.).

J. Hagedorn

1997 W. (Goes to Gymnasium in Germany).

1990 H & M; GCSE & A-Levels; Music Prize, Ricketts Prize for contribution; School B.F. Harper Prefect; 2nd XV Rugby (Capt.); 3rd XI Hockey; 2nd XI Cricket; CCF, Sgt; Senior Play; Choir. (Goes to Southampton Institute to read European Business with French). I.D. Harrison 1992 L; GCSE & A-Levels; Effort Prize, GCSE Prize, Design Prize; Head of House, School Prefect; 1st XV Rugby, Full Colours; 1st XI Hockey; 1st XI Cricket; CCF, Sgt; Orchestra. (Goes to Roehampton Institute, University of Surrey to read Sport Studies with Business). S.J. Hignett 1992 M; GCSE & A-Levels; GCSE Prize, Headmaster's Prize; Head of School, Head of House, School Prefect; Senior Swimming Team; RLSS Bronze Medallion; CCF, Sgt; Senior Play; Hunting Society. (Gap year working, then goes to Imperial College, London to read Materials Engineering). H.D. Homewood 1992 W; GCSE & A-Levels; L6 Design Prize; House Prefect; 1st XV Rugby; Senior Athletics team; 1st Fives IV; Shooting VIII, Half Colours, Schools Hundred; CCF, Sgt. (Goes to University of Hertfordshire to read Engineering Management). Elinor K. Hoult 1992 V & H; GCSE & A-Levels; Orchestra, Choir. (Goes to Hadlow College, University of Greenwich to read Equine Studies). Lisa Hwang

1997 S. (Goes to Kent College, Pembury).

Mihoko Igawa

1995 S; GCSE. (Goes to Badminton School).

1990 B & F; GCSE & A-Levels; House Prefect; 2nd XV Rugby; Athletics team; U16 Fives; B.R. Jones CCF, L/Cpl; Junior Play. (Goes into Business). Christina E. Judd 1990 C & V; GCSE & A-Levels; Distinction Prizes; 2nd XI Girls' Hockey; 2nd VI Girls' Tennis; Junior Play. (Gap year in retailing, then goes to university to read Fashion Promotion). A. Khanna 1995 F; A-Levels; RAF Flying Scholarship; House Prefect; 1st XV Rugby, Half Colours; 2nd XI Hockey; 2nd XI Cricket; CCF (RAF), Sgt. (Goes to University of Hertfordshire to read Engineering). S-T. Kim

1995 M; A-Levels. (Goes to Colchester College for Hotel and Catering).

C.P. Kirby-Higgs 1995 W; A-Levels; House Prefect; 1st Tennis VI; 1st Fives IV; CCF (RAF); Senior Play. (Goes to Roehampton Institute, University of Surrey to read Languages & Marketing). F.H.J. Lau

1996 M; GCSE; Senior Basketball, Full Colours; CCF. (Goes to school in Canada).

A.R. Loffstadt Banking).

1992 L; GCSE & A-Levels; 2nd XI Hockey; U15 Cricket; Golf Team; Senior Play. (Goes into

A.G. Long 1992 L; GCSE & A-Levels; Foundation Scholar; Form Prizes, Coles Prize for contribution in Form 5, L6 Classics Prize, L6 Maths Prize, L6 History Prize, Derrick Prize for Verse-Speaking, Kingdon Prize for Classics, Garside Prize for History, Angell Prize for Maths; School Prefect; Senior X-C, Half Colours; Senior Play; Choir; Chairman Hunting Society. (Goes to King's College, Cambridge to read Classics). Amy M. Lovegrove 1990 C & V; GCSE & A-Levels; Sports Scholar; Distinction Prize, L6 Sport Studies Prize; Captain of Girls' Hockey, Full Colours; 1st Netball VII, Full Colours; Captain of Girls' Tennis; CCF, WO2, Head of Corps; Junior Play. (Gap year teaching and travelling, then goes to Roehampton Institute, University of Surrey to read Sports Studies).

The Suttonian 1997 D.Magakian

1996 W. (Goes to Kent College, Canterbury)

T.C. Maginnis 1996 W; GCSE; House Prefect; 2nd VI Tennis; CCF, L/Cp1. (Goes to Johns Hopkins University, U.S.A. to read International Relations). A.T.B. Mansfield 1990 B, F & W; GCSE & A-Levels; Exhibitioner, Scholar, Distinction Prizes, Form Prizes, Coles Prize for contribution in Form 5, OSA Prize for contribution in L6, Derrick Prize for Verse-Speaking, Chapel Choir Prize, Fry Prize for Computing, Clothworkers Prize for contribution; Head of House, School Prefect; U14 Rugby; Senior X-C team; CCF (RAF) Flt/Sgt, D of E Silver Award; Senior Play; Choir; Hunting Society. (Goes to Hild & Bede College, Durham University to read Engineering). Nicola McCulloch 1994 V & H; GCSE; Scholar; Achievement Prize, Effort Prize; Senior X-C; 2nd Netball VI. (Goes to Maidstone G.S.). B.R. Mear 1995 L; A-Levels; Drama Scholar; Theatre Studies Prize; House Prefect; 2nd XV Rugby; 2nd XI Hockey; 2nd XI Cricket; 2nd VI Tennis; Senior Play. (Goes to University of Stirling to read Business Studies with Media Studies). Ellen V. Midwood 1990 C, V & S; GCSE & A-Levels; Scholar; L6 Distinction Prize, French Prize, Choir Prize; School Prefect; 2nd XI Girls' Hockey; U14 Rounders; CCF (RAF); Senior Play; Choir, Orchestra; Hunting Society. (Goes to Nottingham University to read Psychology). Rachael E. Murray 1992 V & H; GCSE & A-Levels; House Prefect; CCF. (Goes to University of Liverpool John Moores to read Economics & History). Kiralie J. Pares Maidstone G.S.).

1992 C, V & H; GCSE; 2nd XI Girls Hockey; U15 Rounders; CCF; Senior Play. (Goes to

J.J.H. Parkinson 1990 B & F; GCSE & A-Levels; Exhibitioner; L6 German Prize, Wheeler Prize for French, German Prize; School Prefect; 2nd XI Hockey; Captain of Tennis, Full Colours; CCF; Orchestra. (Goes to St.John's College, Durham University to read Languages). N.P.Parr

1991 B & F; GCSE; CCF. (Goes to College).

G.S. Pawar 1995 M & F; A-Levels; House Prefect; Captain of Rugby, Full Colours; Captain of Basketball. (Goes to University of Kingston to read Economics). Faye-Dee Posnette

1993 C, V & H; U15 Girls' Hockey. (Goes to Cranbrook School).

N.D. Rappoport

1996 F; GCSE. (Goes to Maidstone G.S.).

J.R.Rea

1996 L; U14 XV Rugby; CCF. (Goes to school in Ireland).

J.C. Reynolds 1992 M; GCSE & A-Levels; Foundation Scholar; L6 Physics Prize; School Prefect; 1st XV Rugby; 2nd XI Hockey; 2nd VI Tennis; CCF (RAF) Flt/Sgt; D of E Silver Award; Senior Play. (Gap year travelling and on Raleigh International expedition to Uganda, then goes to university to read Land Economy). E.Romanovskiy

1996 W. (Goes to college in London)

Lucinda Ross

1995 C. (Goes to school in Wales).

M.D. Sabine 1990 B & F; GCSE & A-Levels; Exhibitioner; Effort Prize; School Prefect; 2nd XV Rugby; 1st XI Hockey; Senior Swimming team; Junior Play. (Goes to Aberdeen University to read Law). G.M. Saunders 1990 B & L; GCSE & A-Levels; Scholar, RAF 6th Form Scholarship; RAF Flying Scholarship; House Prefect; 2nd XV Rugby; 1st XI Cricket; 1st Fives IV; Fencing team; CCF (RAF) Sgt; Senior Play; Choir; Hunting Society. (Goes to St Chad's. College, Durham University to read Languages). Eva K.Schmidt

1996 S. (Goes to Gymnasium in Germany).

1995 S; A-Levels; House Prefect; Senior Swimming team; Captain of X-C, Full Colours, Nicola J. Scott Kent County team; CCF; Senior Play. (Gap year working in Germany, then to university to read Sport Studies). C. Shahrad 1990 B & F; GCSE & A-Levels; Exhibitioner; Distinction Prize, L6 English Prize, Grizelle Prize for History, Bloxham Prize for English; House Prefect; Senior Play; Hunting Society. (Goes to Jesus College, Cambridge to read English).

The Suttonian 1997

1990 C, V & H; GCSE & A-Levels; Distinction Prizes; Head of House, School Prefect; 1st Katy L. Slaughter XI Girls' Hockey, Full Colours; Captain of Netball, Full Colours; U15 Girls' Tennis; Captain of Shooting, Full Colours, Schools Hundred; CCF, Sgt; Junior Play. (Goes to King's College, London to read Dietetics). 1993 L; GCSE & A-Levels; 2nd XV Rugby; 1st Fives IV; Shooting VIII, Full Colours, T.J. Standing Schools Hundred; CCF, Sgt. (Goes to University of Hertfordshire to read Sport Studies with Business). S.H. Steeper

1996 B. (Goes to Clifton College Junior School).

1992 F; GCSE & A-Levels; House Prefect; 1st XI Hockey, Full Colours; 1st Tennis VI, Half B.C. Sunnucks Colours; CCF. (Gap year working). O. Sunnucks

1996 F; U14 Hockey. (Goes to Cranbrook School).

C.J. Thomson 1992 F; GCSE & A-Levels; House Prefect; 1st XV Rugby; 1st XI Hockey, Half Colours; 1st XI Cricket; Shooting VIII, Full Colours, Schools Hundred; CCF, Sgt. (Takes up apprenticeship to be a Blacksmith). Belinda J. Upton 1990 C & V: GCSE & A-Levels; Effort Prizes; 2nd XI Girls' Hockey Captain; 2nd Girls' Tennis VI; CCF; Junior Play. (Goes to University of Kingston to read Social & Economic History with Women's Studies). J.E. Vincent 1995 L; A-Levels; Sport Studies Prize; School Prefect; 1st XV Rugby, Full Colours, Kent County U19; 1st XI Cricket, Half Colours. (Goes to Roehampton Institute, University of Surrey to read Sports Science with Business). O.E. Warman 1995 M; A-Levels; House Prefect; Senior Swimming team; Judo team, Half Colours; CCF, L/Cpl. (Goes to University of Surrey to read Engineering) T.R. Watts 1995 F; A-Levels; House Prefect; Vice-Captain of Rugby, Full Colours; 1st XI Hockey; Captain of Cricket, Full Colours; Senior Basketball. (Gap year working, then college). A.D. West 1995 F; A-Levels; House Prefect; 1st XV Rugby; 2nd XI Hockey; 2nd XI Cricket; Shooting VIII, Full Colours, Schools Hundred; CCF, Sgt; D of E Silver Award. (Goes to Wye College, University of London to read Farm Management). D.J. Willdridge 1990 B & L; GCSE & A-Levels; Exhibitioner; Army 6th form Scholarship; Music Achievement Prize, Wood Prize for Physics; School Prefect; 2nd XI Hockey; Senior X-C team; CCF (RAF), Flt/Sgt, D of E Gold Award; Senior Play; Choir; Hunting Society. (Gap year taking a short service limited commission, then University of Manchester to read Medicine). G.M. Willoughby 1992 F; GCSE & A-Levels; Biology Prize; House Prefect; Senior X-C team, Half Colours; CCF, Sgt. (Goes to University of Aberystwyth to read Marine Biology). Emma K. Wills 1990 C, & V; GCSE & A-Levels; Distinction Prizes; L6 Home Economics Prize, Home Economics Prize; 1st XI Girls' Hockey, Full Colours; 2nd Netball VII; 2nd Girls' Tennis VI; CCF, C/Sgt; Junior Play. (Gap year in Canada, then goes to the London Institute to read Business Studies). M.D. Wilmshurst

1996 F. (Goes to Cranbrook School).

A.B. Wingham 1990 B & L; GCSE & A-Levels; GCSE Prize, Chemistry Prize, Clothworkers' Prize for contribution; House Prefect; CCF (RAF), Flt/Sgt; D of E Silver Award; Senior Play (i/c Stage Lighting). (Goes to Imperial College, London to read Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry). B.C. Wood

1992 L; GCSE & A-Levels; CCF. (Goes to university).

Sarah K. Wyatt 1992 C, V & H; GCSE; Scholar; Form Prizes, Achievement Prizes, Distinction Prizes; 2nd VI Girls' Tennis; U16 Girls' Swimming; U12 Rounders; School Riding Team; Senior Play. (Goes to King's School, Canterbury). C-W. Yeung 1993 M; GCSE & A-Levels; Senior Basketball, Half Colours. (Goes to University of Portsmouth to read Architecture).

The Suttonian 1997

Sixth Form Leavers 1997

Ross Adams

Elizabeth Bailey

Joanna Baillie

Kate Baldock

11 Adam Boo it

Russell Byrnes

Gerald Chan

Jonathan Cowell

Caroline Critchley

Angela Damiral

Matthew Cleghorn.

The Suttonian 1997

I4 Philip Day

Victoria Day

Risa Drewer

Katherine Evans

James Ferris

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Philip Friend

John Goddard

Harley Homewood

Ben Harper

g1 Billy Jones

Ian Harrison

Christina Judd

The Suttoniali 1997

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Thomas Maginnis

Alex Mansfield

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Gavin Saunders

The Suttonian 1997

4 Tim Standing

Cyrus Shahrad

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Ben Sunnucks

Chris Thomson

Belinda Upton

F7 Andrew West

James Vincent

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Emma Wills

Chi-Wan Yeung

The Suttonian 1997

.i [rlxcc~il7 rn,ct- tirouii ~ i~<, of staging, from the

production of The Diary of Anne Frank

The Suttonian 1997

Music Orchestra review, 1996-97 The principal difficulty in running a group like the orchestra is selecting music suitable for players whose abilities range from the recent beginner to the seasoned campaigner. It is not unusual to fall neatly between these two stools and choose something that is too easy for the one and too difficult for the other. It is therefore necessarily the case that there must be a good deal of understanding amongst the individuals in the group who are either being stretched beyond their abilities or bored to tears. It is, I think, of great credit to those who make up the orchestra that I have not heard one single complaint either way this year! Hopefully what is happening is that the overall good is being perceived as being of more importance than the individual's needs. If this is true then a very pertinent lesson for life has been learnt. One method that we adopted to give the high-flyers a chance to shine last year was a concerto concert. This featured the piano concerto no. 23 of Mozart, played by Jeremy Parkinson as well as the Mozart Clarinet Concerto slow movement,

soloist Elizabeth Bailey, and the Mozart violin concerto no. 3 slow movement, played by Jonathan Cowell. What was unusual about this concert was that the school orchestra provided the accompaniment for the piano and clarinet concertos; i.e. they played real music. To date this has never happened before - the orchestra usually plays very good arrangements of orchestral works. The difference in playing music from original scores is a huge leap from arrangements, however good these are. That the orchestra played these extremely well is a sign of where this group is going. They may only give one concert a term but it is always a more polished and more engaging performance than the term before. It may be that this has been said elsewhere, but it is a huge pity that the orchestra is heard and appreciated by only a minute proportion of the school community. It is understood of course that not everyone can make everything but if any readers of this article feel so inclined, do come to a concert next year featuring the orchestra and hear for yourself what is going on here. You will not be disappointed. A.J. Leang.

The Fat Lade Sicings' brought close harmony (and sartorial colour) to SV music

The Suttonian 1997

Sutton Valence Music Society

Playing in the School Orchestra

Mozart Concert - 16 March 1997 Mozart: Coronation Mass in C, Piano Concerto no 27 (soloist: Alda Lee), Requiem Mass The annual concert in which the school chior and the Sutton Valence Choral Society join forces was well-attended, both by the impressive audience and the massed choir and professional orchestra. It was an especially memorable occasion, not only because of the exciting programme of Mozart music but also because the leader of the orchestra was our very own David Holmes. We also saw the return of Martin Bruce as the tenor soloist, and he was welcomed especially warmly by those older pupils who enjoyed his English teaching as first and second years. Musically the evening was very special. Alda Lee's playing was immaculate and the soloists in the two choral works were all the more exciting when their musical background was considered, some having been to music college while others had been to university. The two settings of the mass were balanced well, the Coronation being one of Mozart's early mass settings and the Requiem being, of course, his last. The latter is probably the most memorable, both for the listeners and the performers and both clearly found that this was the case on this occasion. Eloise Doorey S.

The new format of concerts given by professional artists has worked extremely well this season - the 23rd in the Society's history. With seven concerts ranging from Mozart's Requiem to the eccentricities of the `Demon Barbers' there was something for everyone. Two Russian artists gave concerts last year - Mikhail Kazakevich (piano) and Nina Kotova (cello). The flood of musicians from the CIS into the West's concert halls has been overwhelming and these two artists certainly demonstrated the wealth of talent which has been locked up in the country and which is only now being heard worldwide. Return engagements were made with Antony Hopkins, who gave a talk on his life in music, and The City Waites, who are a brilliant quartet specialising in all types of early music. Some years ago these artists gave superb concerts and, once again, we were not disappointed with their performances. One of the advantages of engaging someone who shares the name of someone even more famous than himself is that many pupils will, expectantly, turn up on the night; what they think Anthony Hopkins of Silence of the Lambs fame is doing in a series of music concerts is difficult to fathom! The music society is a self-financing organisation which is supported by the school in providing the society with a concert venue and support facilities such as catering and advertising. Its being in existence for almost a quarter of a century is testament to its importance in the school and local community. The concerts are free for pupils at the school and it is always to be hoped that more of them attend. They represent an excellent opportunity for boys and girls to hear top class music on their own doorstep - free of charge. They will never have such an opportunity again. Highlights of the 1997/98 season include the Schidlof String Quartet; Haruko Seki (piano recital); Marianne Olyver and her Gypsy Orchestra; an opera gala by four singers and a pianist from the Royal College of Music; and Handel's Messiah, to be performed in the Refectory with professional orchestra and soloists, and with our own choir and choral society. A.J. Leang.

The Chapel Choir When I came to the school this year I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Chapel Choir was of a very good standard; surprised because the resources available in a school of only 370-80 pupils

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Ac ,Singing "Waster Class

are inevitably limited, and it is therefore remarkable that a choir capable of singing standard repertoire (as opposed to `hymn anthems' and unison service settings composed mainly for minor Edwardian public schools) is able to be maintained here. It should also be remembered that the choir at Sutton Valence can be compared very favourably to many of those in large, very well-established institutions. The introduction of services of Choral Evensong is of obvious benefit to the choir. Such services demand a great deal of concentration and attention to detail, and the singers acquitted themselves well both on home ground in the Chapel and in Rochester Cathedral. Rochester's easy, undemanding acoustic is always a pleasure, and this was a good experience for all who took part. Communion services in the Chapel were sung with equal commitment. The highlight of the year for many is formed by the annual Carol services. This year there was a full festival of lessons and carols on the Sunday preceding the last week of the Michaelmas term, with a drastically shortened version following Christmas lunch. The Choir also sang much of the same repertoire at All Saints' Church in Maidstone, where the Chamber Choir's performance of an unusual 5/4 arrangement of `Ding Dong! Merrily on high' proved especially popular. This was a successful year and the thanks of all the choir must go to its director, Adrian Leang, and to the organist, Philip Honey.

This being the third soiree I attended I went anticipating a high standard and wide range of singing. I was not to be disappointed. The evening kicked off with all participants performing a solo. Nervousness was with everybody while they waited for their turn. But once the time to sing arrived the nerves went and all performers excelled expectation, producing fine renditions of well-known and lesser known songs. The first half finished with some group efforts. The audience was the first to hear the talents of `The Fat Lady Swings', a group of male voices with double bass. Their performance of `Georgy Girl' was received with rapturous applause. The other group was made up of the Upper Sixth members who sang `We Go Together' from the musical Grease. With the first half ended there was a short break for refreshments and it was time to be back in our seats for the second half: the musical Guys and Dolls. It was a good all round performance. There were the outstanding portraits of the lead roles but these could not have worked without the backup of the chorus. So everybody had an important part to play. All in all, the evening was a great success due to the obvious talents of the performers. But it could not have happened without the hard work and dedication of Mrs Field, who organised the whole event. Its success was a great credit to her.

A.R. Cruttenden.

Alex McNaughton F.

The Singing Soiree

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Drama Anna Karenina adapted by Helen Edmundson from the novel by L.N. Tolstoy This was a splendid production and a fine team effort. For me it was a very peculiar experience; I first read Anna Karenina quite some time ago and at the time my reactions to it were very different to those I might have now, and certainly to those I did find myself experiencing while watching the play. Some characters seemed much more sympathetic then, while with others the opposite was the case (Levin fell into the former category, Karenin into the latter). I think that it is a tribute to the ability of the cast that they were able to stir me to think so deeply about what I was watching, especially at the end of a long day when I could so easily have blandly accepted whatever was set before me. The staging of the play was in `traverse', an arrangement whereby the audience sits on either side of the action in the manner of a college chapel. This opened up some very exciting possibilities for blocking and staging, and full use was made of these; the only disadvantage, as far as I could see, was that only a small number of seats could be accommodated in the Library in this layout, with the result that many missed a chance to see an excellent production. Needless to say, the play was sold out for its full and all too brief run, and rightly so. Individual performances of high merit were given by all the main actors, and this was, as I have said, a performance in which each cared for all. While the two principals, Anna (Jo Woods) and Levin (Matthew Groom) justly entered last to take their curtain-call, I was equally impressed by Belinda Long's girlish and sensitive Kitty, Robert Williams's quiet yet disturbingly troubled Vronsky, and Nick Harman and Georgina Mear as Anna's feckless brother Stepan and his wife. Special mention must be made of Alex Long's fine performance as Karenin. His portrayal of this rigid pillar and victim of the establishment certainly must have moved many of the audience to reevaluate any hasty condemnation of this man as a stereotypical vaudeville villain. Jo Woods's Anna was at times disturbingly real, as if the mask of illusion had somehow dropped and we really were witnessing a woman in the grip of insurmountable frustration and anguish. Matthew Groom played Levin in a charac-

teristically intelligent and perceptive style; here was someone who was not just declaiming wellcrafted lines prettily (an infuriatingly common problem), but who quite obviously had a true'reading' of the part which he had considered carefully. If I had any reservations about this production, it was not about the production per se but about the adaptation. I could see the merit and originality of having Anna and Levin (not Vronsky) as the two main parts, and making them have conversations which have no counterpart in the novel; it enables a theatrical production to make the parallelism of Tolstoy's double plot as explicit as it would be to a reader of the book, and saves the whole piece from seeming too much like a simple love story with a sad ending. The only trouble with this was the rather self-conscious `cleverness' of this very device, which occasionally became annoying. But this is a minor consideration; much of the adaptation was skilful and thought-provoking, and I certainly wouldn't want to try converting Anna Karenina into a play lasting about two hours! My congratulations go to the entire team for a fine evening's entertainment. A. R. Cruttenden.

Gigi by Lerner and Loewe American Musicals - and they really are that despite the efforts of one English Lord - have one or two good tunes, a very simple plot and some energetic dancing. It is the last which spoils too many amateur productions, but the dancing in the Workshop production of Gigi was lively, energetic and the backbone of the show. Jacquie Mear is to be congratulated upon the discipline of the can-can girls, the soft shoe shuffle and the few delightful balletic moments with Sarah Wyatt, Nikki Scott, Georgina Mear and Ben Mear, which were a pleasure to watch. This was a well-disciplined and carefully organised production with nice characterisation. Su-Ming Wild provided the exact measures of naivety and sophistication in the title role. Alex Mansfield, in his farewell role for the SVS Theatre Workshop, gave a fine rendering of the title song, which made the scalp tingle. Eloise Doorey was a charming, tuneful and slightly sad Mamita.

W:3

The Suttonian 1997 The show was beautifully dressed and Main Hall was a feast of light and colour for a slick performance without interval. The lighting was unusual, but very effective, and the music was lifted off the page by Philip Horley and his Band. Where would the Theatre Workshop be without the devotion of Philip Horley? Robert Parham's strong silhouettes dominated the proceedings and supported his excellent programme design and energetic cafe screen. SVS Theatre Workshop undertakes few musicals but this production, like its earlier production of Cabaret, was characteristically skilful, speedy and stylish.

Philip Day and Daina Ciferson gave guest performances and bravely tried to keep in step with the professional hoofers - their frequent mistakes but evident enjoyment and enthusiasm added much to the evening. What was most impressive to this (unenlightened in the way of dance, that is) spectator was the great variety of style: tap, ballet, modern and even line dancing were represented. D. Pickard.

Androcles and the Lion adapted from George Bernard Shaw

Andrea Brighouse.

Dance Mania Dance Mania was a new venture for Sutton Valence pupils: an evening of entertainment based around our pupils' own interpretation of popular music, together with choreography from the ladies that help the girls learn about dance, was a spectacular success. Lighting was provided by senior pupils and the whole show was very much the inspiration of the girls themselves and Mrs Cornell, who helped them put it all together.

The character list aroused murmurs of confusion from a mixed audience of pupils and parents but a cast including a pagan priestess, a lion and Phillipa Thomas as Phillipa Thomas was soon to be revealed. These young pupils gave an endearing and vibrant performance of this local adaptation of Androcles and the Lion, conveying their earnest message, `We are all members of the Tree of Life. We stand and fall together', with a mature sense of understanding. The amorous James Young greeted his future (pagan) wife with the romantic words of a true 1990s suitor: `Will you go out with me?' He was to meet with bitter disappointment from all quarters

The Junior Dance group performing `The Rap' in Dance Mania

The Su-ttonianz 1997 and his intention of choosing who played who, or what, in the play within the play, was usurped by Jasmine Pender's characteristic dominance. Jasmine made a magnificent lion, narrating with clarity and wisdom and aiding Androcles in his quest for Christianity. Equally convincing was Louise Rowson whose insistence as a wife who would have her own way aroused chuckles of recognition from the audience. As she stormed off stage Androcles wasted no time in securing Lavinia, played with angelic style by Sophie Hutchinson. The newlyweds had much to overcome in the form of the Emperor of Rome and his wife. Jane Mansell spoke with a wonderfully detached ironic tone as she pointed out Androcles's future fate if he refused to burn the incense to her husband. Not only did our hero stand true to his resolve but he convinced the scantily clad, rough and tough Gladiators to understand his motives. Before the inevitably happy ending finally came, we witnessed impressive performances from a strong cast who had learnt their lines faultlessly in such a short period of time. Marcus Husbands's bottom-pinching bawdiness was enhanced by his wicked facial expressions, which endeared Helen the Gladiator to this pagan priest as well as his audience. Phillipa Thomas delivered the play's message with such clarity and confidence that it made it impossible for the audience to forget what they had seen. Yet another high calibre and entertaining production and a tribute to the expertise of its director. P. S. Robertson.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle

by Bertholt Brecht From the opening moments of this production, quite different from any other performance of this play, when Matthew Cleghorn appeared in the Main Hall as Bertholt Brecht and introduced his own drama, the audience were perhaps startled at the extent to which they were to be involved in the show and pulled into the action. Brecht/ Cleghorn wandered casually amongst the audience, peering through his Brechtian spectacles and blowing his cigar smoke into our faces. Throughout the production the actors and audience invariably occupied the same space. The action moved to various places in the school. We were led by the sound of the tin whistle played by Eloise Doorey. First we were taken to the Quad, where the main action began; then we were off to the Music School, the School Chapel, the Music School and the Refectory where the au-

dience were asked to 'Hold the rope and become a bridge'. Here Grusha, played by Sophie Thomas, pulled her way along the rope bridge involving the audience physically. The show was marked by a number of notable performances by very young actors from the third year, including Daniel Sayer as Simon, who must be one of the most promising performers in school, and Steven Hebblethwaite, an excellent Azdak, who played the part as a clown with a clear, bright costume and a bright red nose. He tumbled on stage, true to character. The continuity was helped by the music composed by Philip Horley and performed by Matthew Meredith. There was also an effective ballet sequence performed by a student who was visiting the school, for one term only, from Germany; the beautiful and much admired Deniz Devrim, who was also offered a powerful Duchess. In the dance she was assisted by Ben Mear something Brecht would have been surprised to see in his play, but arguably adding to the alienation effect he so much desired. SVS Theatre Workshop produced this work as a promenade performance primarily to allow A Level Theatre Studies students to experience and participate in this type of theatre. Katy Barker S.

Catwalk

The Summer Revue SVS Theatre Workshop has a number of departments: the Stage Crew and Design group meet on Monday afternoons, followed by the Junior Workshop later that day, and two other groups are scattered through the week. Catwalk, the May Summer Revue of 1997, was born in the Design sessions. The revue was built around a four part fashion show designed and directed by Vicky Summers and Josina von dem Bussche-Kessell. 'Material Girls' and `Sequins and Doritos meet' were designed by Vicky, and `Sleepwalking and Prowling Divas' by Josina. Despite their limited budget they both produced some lively and interesting products for their models. Excerpts from Shakespeare, Chekhov, Puccini, Flecker, Jonson, Sophocles and Dario Fo were expertly woven around the fashion show. It is slightly invidious to single out performances but this reviewer's favourites were Matthew Groom in Chekhov, James Young, Daniel Sayer and Louise Rowson in Shakespeare, and the incomparable Alexander Coutroubis as Oedipus, and in Greek! In a typically animated SVS Theatre Work-

The Suttonian 1997 shop instant we were presented with an extraordinary segment from Shakespeare acted in Czech, Russian, Japanese, German, Georgian and English; Margarita Nechaeva and Su-Ming Wild were quite outstanding in this magical presentation. I doubt that any other school in the country has the imagination to present this kind of experiment. Sarah Wyatt and Ben Mear gave us an exquisite pas de deux to the music of `Some Enchanted Evening', from South Pacific. Catwalk provided us with the kind of wonderful evening we have come to expect from the Workshop. Once again, thanks to Jacquie Mear for her remarkable dance sequences, Andrew Wingham for the complex lighting, Philip Horley for the Music and to the Director for allowing us to look once again into his fertile mind. Andrea Brighouse.

The Play of the Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett This is a beautifully structured adaptation of the famous diary and it was miraculously played by this young cast. In eight years of reviewing shows by SVS Theatre Workshop I have no hesitation in

saying that this was the company at its very best. The Diary completes a quartet of masterly productions: Woyzeck, The Shadow of Helen and Anna Karenina are the only shows to compare with it in a decade. In my view it was superior to all of these, stimulating though they all were. Anyone who missed this production missed something special. Many professional companies would be delighted to have an Anne Frank like Megan Russell. She breathed vitality and pathos into her interpretation. The direction helped all the actors. The expressionistic and physical elements of this production were entirely original and striking. On one night two prospective directors of the show came from London on the advice of Samuel French Ltd to see how the play ought to be produced. Two very young actors to watch are Daniel Sayer, who played Peter Van Daan, and Edmund Adams, who gave a mature and intelligent reading of Mr Van Daan even though he is still in the Third Year. Matthew Groom was vocally, emotionally and physically superior in his beautiful interpretation of Otto Frank. The production was played on open stages and the miming of meals and imprisonment were powerfully carried out. An unforgettable performance. Andrea Brighouse.

A dance scene from A Chorus Line in the Summer Revue

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Chapel Notes It was because I had been told of some gossip, who are in the pews at the time of writing. was holding forth on the subject of preparation One of the baptisms in chapel this year for a confirmation service, that I thought that was an OS event. Wendy Blake nee Griva was the readers might like to know about our latest at- first of the. Suttonian ladies to have her child baptempts to equip confirmation candidates with the tised in the School Chapel when Jessica was fullest possible liturgical and theological educa- brought to the font by another OS, Kathryn Griva tion. (nee Cramp) as a godmother. Wendy's brothers The aforementioned person had been say- Nigel and Nick Griva, both OS, were in attending that confirmation classes used to consist of a ance. weekly meeting over many months when the canThe new weekly pattern of worship will didates met to listen to the Rector. Indeed that involve a monthly Sung Eucharist on Friday was the case. It was the same here in school, but evening at the end of school. On other occasions no longer. Today we probably have many more there will be a short act of worship or Evensong. meetings but they are for everyone in the junior Guests are always welcome in the gallery, and years, and not just the candidates who in fact meet that, good reader, includes you. only six times in the last two or three weeks before the Confirmation. At SVS we have changed J. H. Watson. the morning chapel programme to enable us to `teach' worship and a basic prayer life to all the Juniors in a two year cycle. This takes place on Tuesday mornings and extends over the Michaelmas and Lent terms. It is focused almost entirely upon the Eucharist. Its only noticeable weakness is that anyone joining school in the first year will have a repeat year in the third - perhaps that is not really a defect. We hope to introduce a parallel course for seniors on Wednesday mornings, but this will concentrate upon Men and Ideas, highlighting aspects of Christian doctrine through the lives of great religious thinkers. For many years we have collected tins of beans at the annual Harvest Festival to be used at the shelter in the crypt of St. Paul's, Deptford. This programme was initiated by Fr David Diamond, who was the Vicar of Deptford for many years, and one of the most famous parish priests in the Church of England. Our contacts over the years were organised successively by Mr Wilson and Mr Rothwell, but the ties have weakened and the photograph of our offering of over two thousand tins in this magazine - the largest collection we have achieved - is likely to be the last. We are now looking at the possibility of collecting some non-perishables for the shelter run by the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Pimlico. It is time for a change. The chapel has been refurbished and is looking good. An `ivory' paint was used to refresh the entire interior. Drapes are being hung in the gallery to cover the organ speakers, and green plastic chairs are being added to expand the nave seating. We have also changed to the New EngThe display of beans in the chapel, arranged mainly by the upper sixth and other pupils lish Hymnal, and copies fresh from the printers

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A Buddhist Monk at Sutton Valence The Venerable Ajahn Amaro Bhikkhu is the Abbot of the rapidly growing Abhayagri Buddhist monastery in Redwood Valley, California. He is also an Old Suttonian who was J.C.J. Horner in Founder's from 1967-1973.AjahnAmaro (the honorific `Ajahn' just means Master) has been visiting the School regularly since 1990 when he found a receptive heart and mind in the Chaplain. They have ever since corresponded regularly, exchanged books and firmly established their own little inter-faith dialogue. Ajahn Amaro is a man of letters with a great passion for writers like James Joyce and

Ven. Ajahn Amaro Bhikkhu with the school chaplain

Samuel Beckett, but his first studies after school were Psychology and Physiology at Bedford College in the University of London. After graduation, he had the chance to travel to South East Asia. A friend gave him work as a groom on a cargo plane transporting racehorses to Malaysia. He visited North East Thailand and made what he intended to be a casual trip to a Buddhist monastery; he remained there for two years, becoming a monk. The Theravada Buddhist tradition has existed in Asia for nearly three thousand years but it is now taking root in the West. Amaro returned to England, where he began to teach the traditions of the Thai Forest monks and the meditation methods of his master, The Venerable Ajahn Chah, one of the most famous Buddhist monks of modern times. The former Jeremy Horner of Chart Sutton has become an established author and authoritative teacher in the Western Buddhist communities. His latest book, Silent Rain (Sanghapala Foundation, USA, 1996) is a beautifully produced volume of talks, essays and poems. It is the carefully written testimony of a deep, enquiring mind. Ajahn Amaro often smiles, and in his conduct he exemplifies the refined ethical standards expected of a meditation master. His writing is thoughtful and considered. His books can be listened to in the way that we listen to the natural world. This is the way in which contemplatives of all faiths attend to the needs of consciousness, and receive peace in their hearts. This accounts for the dialogue between Ajahn Amaro and Father John. All of Ajahn Amaro's books attest to the quality of English teaching in school when he was a pupil here. On his latest visit to school, Ajahn Amaro was interviewed during Morning Chapel. He spoke about the conquest of desires, the triumph of the inward life over materialism and the goodness and kindness which all true religions share. The Chaplain has invited Ajahn Amaro to come back to the Chapel in 1998 or 1999 to speak at the Leavers' Service. Amaro Bhikkhu has accepted. He will be the first non-Christian to do so. We are reminded of a famous passage in the Buddhist Scriptures: One day the closest disciple of the Buddha said: `Lord, I think that half of the Holy Life is spiritual friendship, association with the Lovely.' The Buddha replied: `That is not so. It is not half of the Holy Life, it is the whole of the Holy Life'. It is interesting to find a Christian priest and Buddhist monk in agreement when faced with this story. Stephen Buckler OS.

The Suttonian 1997

The Junior Maths Competition On a Thursday in November the School refectory was once again the centre of feverish activity, with plenty of noise coming from about 200 supporters. It was the evening of the annual Form One and Two maths competition for teams of four from prep, and independent schools in the region. As the time limit of 30 minutes came closer so the noise level became louder as each correct solution was cheered on. The runners hurtled their way between their team and the markers at the front

with the answers to the mathematical problems. This year the team from Bickley Park won the Form One competition, answering all 20 questions within the 30 minutes. In the Form Two contest three teams were close, but eventually Junior King's, Canterbury were the winners with ti i points. The Headmaster presented the trophies and refreshments were enjoyed as the staff and parents were given the questions to see if they could do them! N. B. V. Jones.

y~a

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Pupils' writing The following pieces have been included here to show the range and quality of writing by pupils at the school. Many were undertaken as part of A-level or GCSE assignments, but others are very much the product of their writers' own initiative and creative impulse. What is particularly impressive is the variety of genres displayed here, from formal sonnets to free verse and creative responses to literature.

Advent Candle Now in my hand, against the rough roar of the road, Was the candle that had once illuminated the nativity, Had hung like holy fire above the newborn's head And worn its slow wind down To a warm grey Mithril morning of smoking skies and gentle baying.

Now it was a negligible stub in my Huge hand, and its ancient bronzed platter Barely circled the tough skin of my twentieth century palm. I could have crushed it to nothing in the flap of a bird's wings, The closing of a door. I looked up at the smog filled sky. The light from the stars takes a long

Time. And I thought of how a few moments of burning in our pitiful era, Lit by a smutty red plastic lighter, Would reduce it to a hard pool on a rusting rough plate, Nothing more. Melt away time, and reduce The pale scent of faint wax to a wasted memory, Of starlight and the soft sounds of cows.

Ice Cream Lady I am the ice cream lady, see my smile, as warm as Cola, But as flat as Tango. Beyond the Earth the sea hammers home, Each line is a laughter of salt and `Vinegar? Red or brown sauce? `I'm sorry, I'm out of it at the moment.'

The mumbling crowd of sea people croak And gurgle at my mobile life. They never see The silver behind my eyes. They shimmer and shine like Tears against the open sky. My jingling tune screams out A distorted message, unreadable communication, And the ringing of the register registers No more. I will suffer the sugar lined sickness of these pitiful pastel houses, Till the sun burns away the sea, and he is there,

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Walking home to me. Solid Adonis, shining Orion, rippled like Raspberry. The colour of Fudge. I'll drop my red nose, my fuzzy green hair and Swing to him. We will be together, arching under Venus like A sand statue on the cobbled stone. Till the Sun burns us away, and we are nothing But a pile of chocolate chips on a wafer road. Cyrus Shahrad F.

Juliet When all the moors of love were free to roam And all of those I saw were of my choice, If ever struck by fear I knew my home, My mother's gentle arms and soothing voice. Yet nothing more is safe when love is found, My life is left to Romeo's good hands, His tender words of warmth the only sound And yet my love restricted by these bands. My love is such it cannot be imposed, No man can me by fixture call his own, No thought nor care on Paris is bestowed, Nor any man betrothed to me unknown. If fate decrees I love no man of heart, My heart shall not extend to love impart. Ellen Midwood S. Part of the A-level course followed by this year's Upper Sixth involved writing in a number of different verse forms. This is a `Shakespearean' sonnet, which uses the 'iambic pentameter' metre familiar from the plays and a structure which breaks the poem into three groups of four lines and a `couplet' of two lines, to finish. This is, appropriately, a creative response in which the speaker is Shakespeare's 'star-crost lover' herself.

The Weald from St Margaret's Tower

The Suttonian 1997

Footballs, chemistry and a Nobel prize! At GCSE and below you are taught simply that there are 2 pure forms (allotropes) of carbon: diamond and graphite. Now, a third allotrope exists! The intimidatingly named Buckminsterfullerene or Buckyball has been discovered. A new allotrope of carbon had been imagined for a long time, with predictions for spherical structure as early as 1966 in New Scientist. In 1985 Harry Kroto, Robert Curl and Richard Smalley made a discovery, while working at Rice University, that would change the face of carbon chemistry dramatically. They had discovered C60 . The molecule Buckminsterfullerene consists of 60 carbon atoms bonded to each other in a series of 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons in the shape of a football. The buckyball came about after attempts at many possible structures, with one of the original models of C60 being constructed of jelly beans and toothpicks! Kroto decided that it should be named Buckminsterfullerene, as it bore resemblance to Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome as seen at Expo '67. At the same time as C60 was discovered another sister molecule, C70, was also found to be present, having a shape similar to a rugby ball. Further research lead to many others of similar shapes being found, classified generally as fullerenes and ranging in size from C28 to C545. The first report on Buckminsterfullerene was published in Nature in November 1985, and this lead to great excitement amid much scepticism about the new form of carbon. Much of this scepticism evolved, as no isolated sample of C60 had yet been found; the only samples that had been seen so far were short-lived and had occurred in a laser beam. It wasn't until 1990 that Jonathan Hare and Harry Kroto found their first sample. However, to their dismay, just days after this success, a report arrived for Kroto from Nature stating that Kratschmer and Huffman had produced pure Buckminsterfullerene crystals. The paper by Kratschmer and Huffman outlined an easy method for producing Buckminsterfullerene by the gram, effectively using 2 pencil leads and an electric arc between them. As soon as this paper was published, research into buckyballs escalated internationally, with great interest in the possible uses for the Buckminsterfullerene structures. Harry Kroto, Robert Curl and Richard Smalley were awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, and Harry Kroto also received a knighthood in the same year as a result of their discov-

ery of Buckminsterfullerene. Carbon footballs: what for? Many uses for Buckminsterfullerene and its derivatives have now been proposed, and a whole host of patents have been issued around the world, resulting from the potential applications. The prospect of using Buckminsterfullerene in electronics is appealing. In different forms it can act as a superconductor, a semiconductor and even an insulator. In the future it may be found that electronic circuits consist solely of different forms of Buckminsterfullerene, thus opening a wide field for technological development. Buckminsterfullerene, when combined with other atoms, may also become the world's best lubricant: Teflon is already a good lubricant, being used in non-stick frying pans. So constructing Teflon with tiny buckyball spheres may improve its properties further. It is possible to enclose other atoms, such as metals, and possibly small molecules, for example carbon monoxide, within a buckyball, especially in the larger ones (C540). These atoms/molecules in cages could be important for medical systems. Acting as potential delivery vehicles, they enable drugs or radioactive particles to be deposited at specific sites in the body. Buckminsterfullerene can also act as a catalyst (speeding up chemical reactions), but another fullerene derivative has been found to inhibit the enzyme HIV-1 Protease, which plays a key role in HIV. The possible uses against the HIV virus are undergoing research in the Universities of California and Atlanta. One of the most promising uses of Buckminsterfullerene, though, is the formation of very strong thin (=0.0000007mm!) tubes. If the diameter of a buckytube was compared to the diameter of a football, then this would be in the same ratio as a football to the earth. Buckytubes could also be twisted and shaped with the addition of heptagons (seven membered rings) to the walls. There are many other possible uses for Buckminsterfullerene which are undergoing research. These range from rocket fuels, light filters/ inhibitors to nuclear waste storage. Overall, Buckminsterfullerene has created a buzz in society because of the important implications it could have and its related commercial functions. No-one knows what the future may hold for Buckminsterfullerene; only time will tell! Andrew Wingham L. The above essay was entered into the Science Writer of the year competition organized by The Telegraph and Nirex. It was written after much research into the subject, the idea for which was initiated by a sixth form

The Suttonian 1997 science lecture by Dr. Jon Hare at the school. The essay received a certificate of merit in the competition.

Then on the shore of the wide world I stand alone It was a cold winter morning. The icy wind chilled my ears and the tips of my fingers, numbing them momentarily. My eyes watered and blurred my vision, which was not particularly good anyway. The sky was a crisp cool pool engulfing the world above me. I gazed up at it and pondered for a while. The town I was living in was an unpleasant contrast to this scene of beauty. I cleared my eyes to fight back the tears, sighed, and then walked on. (I should move from this place. It has too many memories lurking around every corner.) A mother shouting at her bawling child awoke me from my dream. A lucky occurrence. I don't have much luck. My only son moved with his family to Australia a few years ago. I have no other family here in England, and being less than young it becomes a bit lonely. Old age is a disease I would not wish on anyone, but I have caught it and I'm sure there is no antidote. I never thought that I would become a grandfather. I remember, when I was young, thinking that my grandparents were six times as old as me, and always wanted to be older, so I could do something or other. I think the reverse now; I'm older and wiser! In no time at all I arrived at the front door of my dingy apartment. I slotted the key into the rusty keyhole and turned the knob. The musty smell hit me like a brick wall. The flood of nostalgia gushed over me, sweeping me away. I recovered my stance and trudged onwards and upwards to the kitchen. The kettle stood on the sideboard alone. It could almost be considered as a metaphor for me! Or is it a simile? School days are so long ago, and I just can't remember. I clasped it and carried it over to the basin, - shaking all the way. My hand often has a mind of its own and starts shaking and twitching. I switched the kettle on and placed it back on the sideboard. I then began to peer out of the window at the passers-by. Children pulled on their frustrated mothers' clothes, whining and screaming. With a start I turned around to hear the kettle giving me its beckoning whistle. I poured the tea and walked into the sitting-room. I collapsed on the old settee, sending an explosion of dust into the air. While sipping the tea, I flicked the channels on the small television standing in the corner of the room, the main connection I have with the outside world. Birthdays, Christmases, in fact every special occasion you could think of, I

spend in this apartment. (My wife and I lived in the countryside at one stage, and had this apartment for ... I don't really know why, but we kept it nonetheless. The country was a beautiful place to live in. I never really appreciated it so much when we lived there, but now I can't take it from my thoughts. My wife has long since been dead and I will always think of her in that setting. When she passed away I had to sell the house to pay expenses, but really I couldn't live there without her anyway. From then on my confidence deteriorated and I am just a nervous wreck now, falling further and further downhill. I receive the occasional letter from my boy. but he is a very busy person, and doesn't have time for such small things. I write to him though. Phone calls cost too much, although I would like to hear his voice sometimes. He once suggested going into a home. I may not have confidence, but I haven't lost my sense. I couldn't stand just sitting in a chair for the rest of my life, only moving for food and for bedtime. No. I need to be self-sufficient to keep myself going.) There was a knocking on the front door, so I wearily rose from my seat and stumbled to answer it. It was my next door neighbour. She is a very young lady who often helps me out with the `harder to do jobs' around the house. She always has a smile on her face and always cheers me up, a task which is not easy, I can tell you! Skipping over the entrance to my home, she began telling me about the week's events, a very important part of her visit. Laughing, she joked about my being `down in the dumps', a very pleasant expression! I told her what I always tell her, I just can't help it. I asked her if she wanted some tea, because the pot was still warm. She thanked me politely and I went out to the kitchen to collect it. When I returned she had an expression of glee on her young face. `Why don't you go to some kind of club for the elderly?' she cried. I replied, in a dulcet tone, `A club for the elderly will be a small cramped room with many old people stuffed into it, all rambling on about death and doom.' `Isn't that what you always talk about?' she said. I was stuck there. She was correct, as usual. `You might as well give it a go.' I agreed, slightly unwillingly, and next day she took me out `club hunting', or, as she liked to call it, `clubbing', which seemed to amuse her greatly for some peculiar reason. We had a grand day out, although not a particularly wonderful one on the `clubbing' front. We tried again the next day and we struck lucky. I reluctantly agreed to come along the next week and participate. The week flew by and the day arrived. I

The Suttonian 1997 dressed myself casually but smartly. She came round to pick me up and drive me to my destination, which was of course the dreaded `club'. I felt as if it was my first day at a new school and my mother was bringing me in, trying to talk to me and calm me down. I was welcomed by a very bouncy and cheerful lady, and I wondered what she was doing in a place like this. In fact it was a very well decorated and furnished establishment. She sat me down in a comfortable chair in the'television room' where about five other old people were seated, all gazing lethargically at the television. With wide innocent eyes I examined the room. Nothing went unseen. I was startled to find when I looked down from my inspection that someone was trying to converse with me. He whispered, `The slaves will be along in a minute with a drink and some biscuits'. `The slaves?' I enquired curiously. `Yes, you know, the nurses.' We both chuckled, and talked to each other for a bit. I found out that many other people here were in the same predicament as I was. It was a lot of fun. I can't remember having fun for - as long as I can remember! It was time to go home. The fun was over. I talked with my young friend all the way home about all the new experiences and friends I had made over the few hours I had been there. She had a smirk on her face. Like `the cat that got the cream'. She had won the battle, I suppose, but to my advantage. When we arrived back at my apartment we talked for a long time. We talked mainly about transforming this apartment into a much brighter place, throwing away all the old furniture and replacing it with comfortable chairs like the ones at the club. A very wise decision. I had gained a reasonable amount of confidence and courage. I believe that I can do things now, and I am not drowning myself in my sorrows. A great achievement. Even though I do say so myselfl William Richardson F.

This story was written as a creative writing assignment in which pupils responded to lines (quoted as the title of the piece) from Keats's sonnet `When I have fears that I may cease to be' in any way they chose.

A monologue for Abigail Williams A dim grey room, lit by one stray stagnant beam of light from one tiny, high window. On one hard bed, directly under the dismal beam, sits the beautiful Abigail Williams, her hair loose down her straight back. Her head is high on a proud neck but her eyes are downcast, glittering through conflicting

emotions. The wind has picked up outside in the fading day. The atmosphere is quiet yet tense, stifling, yet with the feeling that the fresh tempest outside is never far away, as if at any moment the catch might break free and the window fly open. However, there is great sorrow here, and a taut, undisturbed, silent anger gathers about the tiny room. Her eyes suddenly clamp shut for a few seconds, as though in great pain, and her fist clutches tightly on a pendant in her hand. Slowly she looks up and stares, mesmerized, straight ahead of her As she speaks, alone to herself in a shrouded world, her voice sounds like one far off, dry and sorrowful. A queer acceptance issues from it, but it is impatient, as though there is something waiting to happen. All is still in the dingy room as the stormy world outside seems to spin about it. ABIGAIL: Oh, Mother. Where are you now? Can you see me? Are you proud of me? But I am me and you are not here. Whose fault is it? That I became me - when there was no-one else I could be. There was no-one here on my level. Oh John, you were the only time I wasn't alone. And I would have given everything for you. For a soft word. The way you once looked at me. But no! You have your cold wife still - you weak fool! It is such poor, hopeless arrogance, to tell me you love her. May you both burn in Hell together! For when you call me whore, the whole town may hear me damn your soul! I, Abigail Williams, whom you wronged; I have won. You are proud, John Proctor. You must either slay your name or perish yourself - and you live neither way, though I care not. What a terrible choice for you, John Proctor! It is no less than you deserve ... than he deserves. I was right before, I know that now. It was foolishness to trust any other person. I will rule my world, and no other. No man, no woman, no God. So what do I have? Who do I have? A family? My uncle is not what I think of as family. He has a hard way of living. He must make himself suffer and must always blame someone. It is his love ... it is his fate. I should not resent him for not loving me when I never loved him - but he doesn't try to help. And Betty. Betty is dear to me. She is like the sister I never had, and yet she is nothing like; for she always sees with her hands still. Feeling her way along the corridor, and trusting to her guides. We differ there. I trusted no guides, until

The Suttonian 1997 one opened my eyes - and yet I saw him not. Betty is not naive, but she is still a child, faithful and fragile and cursed to be so. I would not harm, or change her. Let her sleep peacefully where I will not tread. That is her place. And as for the other girls, Mary is too insignificant to me. She is so weak; so easily despised. But listen to me. Whom do I not despise? People are too weak, too arrogant, too blind. Mercy is such a one. She is conceited. It is her conceit that leads her to spite others. She knows nothing of their characters — she does not see enough for that. She only wishes to indulge herself, but at least she has courage. She was only too willing to join in my little game; a mere prank it started — we were all bored. Then suddenly, a shark leapt at my unbaited hook. Grown men! Respected men! sit mesmerized at a few girls, shrieking and crying, `Witch!' It is pathetic. And all too easy. And the strangest thing: the girls themselves believe it — even Betty, I'm sure. It is weird. Did I do that? Did I make that? And I so bewitched ... and yet powerful? What else might I achieve? They did not like Abigail Williams. But I am so above any of them; their conceits; their petty squabbles and all their damned hypocrisy. They do not, cannot see it. They cry for their God, and pray, and say they believe, and still there is no change. There is nothing! And yet no-one sees it but I. They are so feeble! What God is there? Where is His benevolence? For He has shown none to me. When I watched my mother die, murdered by some sick hate, I felt no beautiful calm, I felt no terrible love come to me; I had nothing. And then, to come here and ... dwell with this man, these people, this . . He! Oh, what heavenly bounty! What sweet joy! And here I am still. Like some wild animal trapped - no hope of anything. But while they do not change, and while my soul breathes, as long as I have my claws, I will scratch! Thus I swear. For though I burn in hell for it, it can be no worse than this cold torment. There was a time when I would not have hurt anyone; when what I had was all I wanted. But then I was first deceived and denied, by a cruel, bloody rape of an innocent heart. And when my parents were killed and our house destroyed, so too was my innocence, my guilt, and my fear. I love nothing deeply any more. My heart burns in a freezing flame. Twice in my lifetime, I have trusted and lost. There will be no third time. And what of those who are condemned in jail? Those who trusted in their God? Censured until they become what they are accused of. What of Mary Easty? Martha Corey? Rebecca Nurse? How was her name ever on my lips? She is no Goody Osburn or Sarah Good, nor black slave who has no soul to confess. She is true to her beliefs -

like no other. But so it is, and so it must remain. I will not yield, and she ... she will be a martyr. I would sometimes that I had her quiet soul - to live and die, in peace. How many were brought to the court? By Danforth? By me. I tried everyone, Danforth, Hathorne, even my uncle, and alone of them all, only one man passed - the Reverend Hale: He were a good, clever man - and therefore dangerous. Why could not my uncle have earned that respect, instead of some stranger? It is extraordinary, how my own flesh and blood can be so unlike to me. We begrudge each other our connection so equally. Where he dutifully gives me a bed and clothes and food, I show him respect (as much as I may) as it is to his liking; the difference being that while I see through him, I am an impenetrable wall to himself. He is ridiculous with his pet fears and preachings. Such a man is not worthy of his name and station. Surely they will be washed away by time. So what happens now? I have lost anything I once had here. I have no family, no true friends and the only people worthy of my respect here, I have made my enemies. Well then. I will be caged no longer. Let them do what they will to my name. I will be crushed by Salem if I stay. Better to be hated while missed, sooner than crushed here later. But where shall I go? - Where I wish and where my future leads me. Wait. I will need someone to start with. Such a joke must be worth sharing. Betty? No. I said I would not change, and I will not. She must stay. Mercy. Mercy will go with me. She will love it. At last, I live. I may be wild at my wish, and tame for no man. And though afterwards my name be cursed and blackened, my name is nothing next to my soul. My uncle's niece is dead! I shall live no more in bitterness. It is useless to whimper in chains when I should succeed in freedom. Trouble me no more, Salem, for I am Abigail! Blackout and a dead silence. Holly Fletcher V. Arthur Miller's play The Crucible describes the witch hunts in Salem, Massachusetts, in the late 17th century. Abigail Williams is the chief instigator of the false accusations of witchcraft which lead to the executions of many innocent people; this monologue explores her own view of the situation, as she sees it just before running away from Salem and its inhabitants for ever.

The Suttonian 1997

The Hunting Society The first Hunting Society meeting took the form of a somewhat lively balloon debate on the seven deadly sins. Sloth, covetousness and gluttony were the most unpopular while pride, envy and anger were discarded next. Lust proved the most successful with arguably the most memorable speech of the year. The next meeting discussed the more serious issue of `This house believes the age of consent should be lowered to fourteen.' Although lust had proved a popular vote previously, it was decided that the age of consent should remain at sixteen. The debate was fiery as the topic proved to be controversial, especially as it was an all male team against an all female one. The next debate discussed `This house believes that OAPs are parasites.' Although the title on the poster caused a minor upset, the audience proved much more liberal-minded and they overwhelmingly decided that the older generation is invaluable. We also sent a team of four to the annual `Youth Speaks' competition held by the Tenterden Rotary Club. The team consisted of Belinda and Alex Long, Jo Woods and Ellie Doorey. We were

awarded the trophy for the best team and performed well in the other categories. The next debate was `This house regrets America's cultural influence.' It was made all the more lively by one of the opposers being an American, Tom Maginnis, and the debate left the audience in no doubt that the culture of the X-Files and Friends was in no way regrettable. The last debate of the year discussed the issue `This house believes everyone can'. The debate began light-heartedly, but became increasingly philosophical (if rather circular) and it was eventually decided that not everyone can. The final meeting of the Hunting Society was the Inter-House speaking competition. Topics ranged from `Resurrection by cloning' to `Why the Spice Girls are so huge.' The senior winners were Ben Morrison and Megan Russell, the junior winner Belinda Long and Sutton was the overall winning house. Thanks to Dr Aidan Cruttenden for all his help this year and best of luck to the new Chairwoman, Christy Best, over the next year. Jo Woods S.

Art The Art Department After the relatively large numbers of last year's Upper Sixth (fourteen pupils), the more modest five in this year's top form and six in the Lower Sixth seem to have left us with room to spare in the Gulland Hall. Inevitably, those that remained managed to make their presence felt. The Sixth Form art trip this year was to Barcelona - see separate report. Another Prep and Primary Schools' Art Workshop was held in November. Again it was enormously successful and attracted more than double the applicants that we managed to accommodate. Exhibitions this year included a joint exhibition of paintings and poems by Mike Willdridge (Head of Art) and Julian Bell (Head of English to 1996) and the annual Art Scholars' and Speech Day exhibitions. Three new Art Scholars joined us at the

start of 1996/97. They are Rosie Forster (Form 4), Phillipa Thomas and Freya Faulkner (both Form 1) and Romy Hukins (L6) at the start of 1997/98. A farewell must be said to Mrs Liz HamiltonSedgley after spending two years helping with the teaching of our younger children. Liz has moved, back to Underhill, where she will be working four days out of five. Her creative professionalism and very obvious empathy with the younger children will be missed. Carolyn Puc arrives at the start of the Michaelmas term to stand in for Mike Willdridge, who is to take a self financed part-time sabbatical for one term to pursue his paintings about the village of Sutton Valence. Also planned for just before Half Term is a visit to Paris ('not been there for a few years'), courtesy of Eurostar and the Tunnel. M. D. Willdridge.

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The Suttonian 1997

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The Suttonian 1997

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Sixth Form Art Visit to Barcelona 20-24 October 1996 Seventeen pupils and staff enjoyed a sun-soaked, relaxing five days in Spain in late October whilst those left behind in England began bracing themselves for the rapidly oncoming cold weather of winter. All this under the excuse of an `art trip'! The visit, our second in as many years to Barcelona, lived up to all expectations. Barcelona is truly vibrant and rich in the visual arts. The wonderful architecture of Antoni Gaudi really has to be seen to be appreciated, and our visit to his unfinished cathedral, La Sagrada Familia, as well as his Parc Gtiell (yet another unfinished project) had us gasping in wonder. Few of us came away from our day's visit to Salvador Dali's museum in Figueras unimpressed. Also visited were the Picasso museum ('not a patch on the Picasso museum in Paris'), and the Miro Foundation museum. The visit was not all museums and galleries, as wonderful as they are. Warm, balmy evenings spent promenading down the exciting Ramblas and the wonderful food of Catalonia were a daily delight, except for those who, either through financial shortage or a lack of courage, ate only at the safe, boring and regretfully ubiquitous McDonald's. M. D. Willdridge.

Seurat's Bathers - an exhibition at the National Gallery, London Walking down the steps and through the huge doorway an enormous picture looms before me. Hordes of bustling people follow like zombies, listening to the endless murmur of the audiotape in their ear. I stop and stare. People around me sit, stand and crouch, sketch pads balanced and pencil in hand, trying to recapture Seurat's magic in their own ways. The Bathers hangs on the far wall, brightly illuminated by strategically placed lighting. My eyes are drawn to the central figure, a young man sitting dolefully, legs dangling into the Seine. His mysterious face is expressionless, palely lit by the water's reflection. Each figure sits relaxing on the bank enveloped in their own reverie. In the distance sailing

boats bob quietly on the water. A young man and his fiancee are taking a gondola ride across the river, while another is effortlessly sculling through the water. The chimneys quietly puff smoke into the pastel blue sky. A dog's eyes gaze intensely across at an unknown object, where a boy calls to a friend or drinks the from the polluted Seine. As the voice commands, the zombies swim to the next room. Conte pictures line the walls; a striking collection of images in black depict haunting semblances of reality. His friend, Ernest-Joseph Laurent, and an eerie representation called The Nanny, both hang alongside other work of Seurat including The Locomotive, The Drawbridge and Sleeping Man. All of these are stunningly shaded on Seurat's favourite paper, and you can see the water mark on many of the pieces. As the monotonous voice drones on in the background, I wander through to the next room. A huge splash of colour forms a contrast to the previous room. An array of pictures is made up of visible dots and strokes of tonal shade. Each picture tells a story to me. A white house and its red roofs emerge -slowly out of the greeny blue foliage. An old man bends over a pile of stones, breaking them before loading up his wheelbarrow. Throughout the rest of the exhibition Seurat's story is told, from his life as a student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he began to diverge from the classic style of drawing and experimented with his own style after he was discharged. His work is compared to other comtempary artists of his time and the major differences are highlighted. But in some ways Seurat did copy many older artists in their style and setting. For example, Poussin's Finding of Moses echoes the same setting as The Bathers with the figures on the bank, distant bridge and disposition of water. In the main room Seurat carefully builds up to his masterpiece. Some of the oil works emphasize the foreground: pictures of people lying on the banks of the Seine, of horses being taken down to be watered. Others draw attention to the factories, boats, houses and vehicles that lie quietly in the background. All are painted with expressionless faces and quiet solitude. Seurat has an amazing technique where he creates mood and atmosphere with the odd dot of colour or sweep of shade. The finished result is a haunting composition full of colour and shade. The artist calms the bustling noise of everyday life and rewrites it to tell a different story which each person reads for themselves. Colette Davey S.

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Trips and Tours The first years' trip to Bergues At least it wasn't raining. After a week or so of wet weather the Warren's coach pulled out of a dry car park at 8.45, its 53 passengers belted, ununiformed and looking forward to international sports and tunnel travel. Our submarine journey was over before the most adventurous and fleet of foot could visit the toilets at the opposite ends of the Shuttle. Motorway slipped under our speeding wheels and Bergues came into view. Indeed the journey was so short and the landscape of Bergues so flat that one might expect to see Bergues on a clear day from the school tower. Bi-national picnic quartets were quickly organised which bi-lingually picnicked as instructed. Then games. Many Sutton Valence pupils worked so skilfully with French partners that they answered all the questions of the orienteering quiz correctly and won peaked caps. Five minutes from the word `go' the observer could not have guessed the mixed origins of the clusters of small people whizzing around the stadium and neighbouring fields - discussing, arguing, writing, throwing pine cones at each other and generally engaging in the universal language of getting to know you. Louise `Gunnell' Rowson won a brilliant race and a rather ordinary looking bar of chocolate. Altitude training in Sutton Valence achieved its reward in sea-level Bergues. Chris Coltella almost doubled our haul of chocolate. The afternoon ended with an intriguing display of dancing by the unselfconscious French children which included Spice Girls lookalikes and classical dance by a young ballerina who was, we were told, third in France. Happy, tired and wondering what exactly what Severine was third in France for, we climbed back on our coach and came home, resuming our Englishness as soon as we emerged from the tunnel. So far as I know no-one managed to get to the toilets at both ends on the return journey either. M. J. Jillians.

French Exchange 1997 We left school early Sunday morning with Mme Rawlings and Mrs Wilkinson; we were nervous but excited about seeing our correspondents again. We arrived after a short boat trip and were soon

reunited with our correspondents. Although we were anxious about meeting the rest of their family, and settling into the their homes, we soon became accustomed to the French way of life. As we arrived the next morning at school, we saw our friends again and the headmaster of the French school gave us the school badge to wear. We got to know more of the pupils at the school and had lessons. Then we visited the town. The rest of the week was spent visiting towns and taking part in sports. The French teachers were very thoughtful and considerate. We visited Mini Europe in Belgium and we went to a large swimming pool which was excellent. Ben Cole and James Vooght said it was `wicked.' Alex Coutroubis especially enjoyed the trip to Mini Europe. Many of our correspondents had brothers and sisters whom we liked. They were very friendly, as were their parents. The food we were given was delicious. At the end of the week we were very sad to leave and we would recommend the French exchange to other pupils. Zara Hosford C and Kate Richardson C.

Geography Expedition to York The trip to York by the first and second year was, we hope, the first of a new series of such visits aimed at giving a social and educational experience to this age group. The Racecourse centre in York is an excellent base, being a secure environment staffed by an excellent set of hosts, and it was there that we arrived after a good journey through the Sunday sunshine. We left almost immediately for a trip round the haunts of the ghosts of the city. Our guide must be commended in his ability to hold the attention of eighty people tired after a long journey and amid the distraction of the city streets. A `lost' Roman legion, a girl walled up in a plague house and several other stories were told before we returned. Our second day was spoiled by horrible weather. The morning was spent in the superb Eden Camp, a second world war prisoner of war camp adapted to be a museum of all aspects of the war. As to be expected, the highlight was the singalong in the camp theatre and the recorded entertainment of Vera Lynn, Gracie Fields, Max Miller and Stanley Holloway. The rest of the day was a washout and we had to content ourselves with a return to York and a visit to Macdonald's

The Suttonian 1997 instead of a sandcastle building competition, beach games and a fish and chip supper in Scarborough. The pupils were beginning to understand the regime now. They were divided into teams of nine and scored points for their contribution to good manners and social graces, together with their answers to the tests provided in visits we made and in the sport we played. Future expeditions will benefit from the input of this group who made a `treasure trail' in the city centre of York. This was achieved between visits to museums and other events. The last day was, mercifully, dry. We visited Malham Cove and most of us managed to climb the big waterfall at Goredale Scar. The teachers may have thought that such a day out, and a long hike into the bargain would tire out the pupils. No such luck. When the disco in the evening had to be abandoned there was not one dissenting voice when presented with the alternative - a trip to see Batman. All in all it was a good week. D. Pickard.

Under 13 Hockey Tournament Blundell's, Devon Well, what can I say about the trip to Devon? The boys and girls were full of energy throughout the days and the boys throughout most of the nights. The boys showed each of the teams they played that they were full of talent in their first games but, after that, much of the talent disappeared and greed tended to dominate the play. All the boys should, however, be commended for their overall attitude and behaviour. It was the girls who overshadowed the boys on and off the field. All the girls combined together to display some highly skilful and entertaining hockey, eventually finishing a close second in the tournament to a very classy Kenyan team. An excellent effort was made by all the girls. After all is said and done, the main thing is that at the end of the tour everyone had enjoyed themselves. B. Hodges. Devon was really good fun and a great experience. The food was good and the house we stayed in was very nice. I really enjoyed the hockey, the disco and getting to know the Kenyans. Emma Cockburn C (Girls' capt.) I had an excellent time in Devon. It was fun playing hockey against different teams from different

countries. The activities in the evenings were good. as was the food. Piers Roberts B (Boys' capt.) This was the first U13 hockey trip we have run. I would like to thank all the players; they were a credit to themselves and to the school. I would also like to thank John Posnette for organising the tour, and Brendan Hodges and Daina Ciferson for the help and support they gave me while we were away. A. F. F. Wilkinson.

Hockey tour to Mexico, April 1997 Many were going to South Africa and others to Barbados. In 1988, when in Barbados, they'd talked of hockey in Mexico and it had been added to the list of places for us to go on tour. Kenya, India and Egypt came first, but in March of this year, we eventually fulfilled that initial desire to revisit Mexico with a school hockey team. My initial overtures to the Mexican Hockey Federation (MHF) were greeted with enormous enthusiasm. We could come and they would do everything possible to help. `They' were the General Secretary of the Mexican Hockey Federation, Mario Rosado Devesa, a hugely energetic person in the furtherance of his country's hockey. More doubting were those that heard that we intended touring Mexico: `Do they actually play hockey in Mexico?' The answer to that question will be obvious. But it is a young sport, initially started because of the 1968 Olympics, when they thought that they, as hosts, should field a team in every sport. An initial call a couple of years before the Olympics for anybody who knew anything of the game brought a response from many of those now desperately trying to keep the game alive. A visit to the country to play hockey means meeting these wonderfully dedicated people, hockey enthusiasts all and their hockey-widow wives, most of whom were ex-internationals in their own right. Aero Mexico out of Paris took our small and equally enthusiastic group of hockey players to Mexico City. Flying in at night gave a full picture of this vast megalopolis: from the horizon to horizon stretched the lights and it is not surprising to learn that the longest avenue in the city is some 47km long. The first of our three Calinda Group Hotels greeted us with a Tequila cocktail (what else?) and three days of sight-seeing followed. Pre-Aztec ruins, pyramids, sinking cathedrals, Aztec remains,

The Suttonian 1997 colonial Spanish buildings and the wonderful anthropological museum with which to confirm all that we'd seen and heard about the diverse and interesting history of this extraordinary country. Then to hockey. The Mexican Hockey Federation are laying down a water-based astro in time for Christmas, but we were to play on the grass pitches of the 1968 Olympics and it was to here that we went for a five o'clock practice on the eve of our first game. It was as well we did, for we were to see that the pitch had suffered somewhat from the attentions of soccer players and that the heat and altitude were going to be a problem. We stayed long enough to learn a few basic rules, but not too long such that the team would become disheartened or frustrated; it was going to be difficult. We had three games scheduled against teams made up from different local associations in and around Mexico City, of which there were about ten. The first game was to start at ten and our bus, provided by the ever efficient MHF, arrived at nine o'clock. By the time we arrived at the stadium, a crowd was assembling and the sun's heat was intensifying. The game started and we found our opponents to be fast, quite skilful and very adept at using every one of the many bumps in the well-worn pitch. Suffice it to say that we were 0-1 down and in desperate need of shade and cold water by half-time. But we were learning fast about the methods of play and also learning that they were very determined. Some of our players were suffering more than others from the effects of heat and the altitude and we had to work our subbing very carefully to optimise each player's strengths. We drew the second half and lost 0-1. Back at the hotel to cool off and reflect; we were back at the stadium for a five o'clock start against their second selection, scored first and drew 1-1. We could easily pick their national players who really were quite talented and we got to know them quite well over three games, for we were to play again, against a combined junior team from the local associations, on the following day ....at noon. It was approaching the hottest part of the day and how we struggled, but we managed another draw, 1-1, before being entertained to a picnic lunch provided for us by our hosts, in the stands. An impromptu football match followed before I dragged the team back to the hotel for a short rest. The previous evening I had been approached by the coach of the National Ladies' side to see whether we would play against them. I was amused but the boys feared a mismatch; they really had worked extremely hard over three games so far and did not like the thought of being beaten by the ladies. We played that evening and were allowed to play our best hockey. Surprising how

fatigue makes you pass the ball rather than run with it! A couple of mistakes by the ladies' defence and a fairly even game saw us 2-0 up. I was later undaunted by being elevated to the realms of international umpire and awarded a stroke against their keeper. We won 3-0. We had played well, but the score-line flattered us for they were a skilful and hard-working side. Ten o'clock next morning saw us travelling south east in a wonderfully luxurious air-conditioned bus towards the volcano-surrounded city of Puebla. Here we were to start the middle stage of the tour and our first encounter with regional and indoor type hockey. We arrived at a private sports complex and were taken to an oval 5-a-side football pitch, which immediately required the introduction of some local rules. We divided the squad into two teams and set to learning about playing indoor hockey. They'd played before, but this type of surface suited our astro-trained skills. The `A' team won 8-4 and the `B' team 5-4. This type of game many rather liked! A quick change, an exchange of souvenirs and we were off to visit a pyramid, enjoy the warm sun and partake of a superb picnic in the park at the centre of the delightfully picturesque town of Chalula. What hospitality, but some of the local food bites back! We returned satisfied to Mexico City, to glimpse the smog lying in the valley, highlighted by the setting sun. Actually, the air had appeared remarkably clear, despite prior warnings. Time to pack, for we had to try to move the team on, north and west, firstly to the industrial town of Salamanca and then on Guadalajara. Outside the Mexico City area, hockey is of the indoor, 6-a-side type. But sometimes it's indoor and sometimes it's indoor outdoor, and in Salamanca, it's a bit of both, for we were to play on a converted basketball court which was open on two sides. By the time we arrived, an interested crowd had gathered and we were shown a poster announcing our game: `The local youth selection v Scotland'. One of our team played with increased vigour; the rest were just determined. We won, but it was a very hard-fought game and not all the squad got on the pitch. Some were not too unhappy with this, for they found the restricted area too small, but others were deciding that this was a better game than ice hockey. I had trouble seeing the connection, although some of the shoulder to shoulder contact did jog my memory, and so steep was the learning curve that we might as well have been attempting to take up that other game. A wonderful lunch followed, some interesting questions about why we were in Mexico were fielded and then the caravan rolled on. At one time we though we would press on west to Guadalajara without taking our over-night

The Suttonian 1997 booking in Guanajato, but our delightful guide and accompanying umpire, Alicia, insisted we stop. And I am more than pleased that we did, for this is a delightful old mining city, with narrow streets, a lovely market and superb university and cathedral. It also has a rather gruesome collection of mummies from the last century. The visit took rather longer than expected, and we were somewhat delayed by a lost camera, but eventually we rolled on westwards, into the setting sun across large expanses of rolling plains, cactus and eucalyptus covered and dotted with the most marvellous hills and escarpments. A day was set aside to work on the tan by the roof-top pool and then the hockey battle was re-joined. First out were the Jalisco State under 16s, against whom we started with a bit of a `B' selection and rapidly found ourselves 0-4 down. Slowly we increased our strength, without hint of panic, and we eventually scraped home 8-7. This was different; it was indoor outdoor and they were good. But then it did something that it hasn't done in 34 years. It rained in April, `just to make us feel at home', they said. The afternoon's matches were in doubt, but they finally managed to find a suitable indoor venue and we were to play their under 19s. We'd seen their younger side and we knew we had a battle. A tremendous battle followed, little quarter was given, and the scores were even at half time. By the final whistle, we were 9-8 up and absolutely delighted. Follow that! We played their ladies with some relief and loads of flair and won again and then went out on the town to celebrate, to a wonderful square where we were serenaded (well, I was) by those wonderfully Mexican bands, the mariachis. The next day we had to attempt to raise our game again, but a rather lack-lustre game against their under 19s finished in the rain at 3-3 and then we lost to the university. Our wonderful hosts in Guadalajara entertained us to a super dinner which was attended by a large number of the locals. This was tremendous, for it gave the team the chance to meet and make friends with many of the young people, with a common interest of hockey. Not that they dwelt long on this subject and I know that the socialising went on long into the night, even extending to a visit to a local football game the following morning..... for those who could wake up. A quick pilgrimage to the home of Tequila with a little ritual sampling, a final dinner in the beautiful square in the middle of the district with the enchanting name of Tlaquepaque, and we were off on an eight hour bus back to Mexico city. Our flight from there to the Mexican Caribbean coastal resort of Cancun left on time and we were greeted by heat, humidity and some clouds. The locals said that it was cool, but we had

trouble agreeing with this observation. Palmfringed beaches, a sea of many shades of blue and greens and lovely white sand. The tourist island of Cancun is certainly a visitor's paradise. Our first full day was spent at the paradise park of Xcaret, swimming through an underground river and amongst the myriad of fish on the reef, with pelicans overhead; a courtesy of the management, for which we were duly grateful. Our second was spent in preparation, mental at least, for the first of our two outdoor games against the local side. These teams are run by the first national captain and ex-national coach, the charming Zino Fernandez D'Costa. It was hot and humid and we were playing on a converted football pitch, but many of the boys were pleased to be out in the wide open spaces. Both games were fiercely competitive, but generally played in good spirit. The local teams were quite skilful and extremely hard-working, but we had more experience and our centre forwards finally managed to score some goals. We won the games 4-0 and 4-1. The hockey had been pretty successful, for we'd played some thirteen games of which we had won eight and drawn three and now the boys could make the most of the endless opportunities supplied by the sea, reef, mangrove swamps and night life. And they certainly did. My wife and I were dined by the General Secretary of the MHF, Mario Rosado Devesa, and we have to say that he and his assistants around their country are working hard for hockey. It is quite a young sport in Mexico and saw good growth immediately after the 1968 Olympics. But then it suffered a decline. Now it is growing again and those in charge have great plans to keep it doing so into the foreseeable future. We found the people very friendly, and those that we met through hockey absolutely delighted to welcome us. The country and its history are varied and interesting and the climate most agreeable. Once there, it is quite inexpensive. The Mexicans need help to enable the sport to develop and all international contact helps to raise interest. As a different place to tour, I would definitely recommend it, and, to answer the question, hockey in Mexico is alive and in good hands and with nourishment, will continue developing healthily. We'd been the first English team in Mexico since the 1968 Olympics and I do hope we're not the last. Do go and see for yourselves. J. La R. Posnette.

The Suttonian 1997

Girls' Tennis Trip to Portugal, 5-12 April 1997 The inaugural tennis coaching trip to Vale do Lobo on the Algarve was an enormous success. Eleven girls came on the trip and there was a wide variety of ages with all sorts of ability from complete beginners to the school tennis captain, Amy Lovegrove. The tennis was enjoyable and effective, the weather glorious and socially everyone got on very well. We stayed in self-catering accommodation and the girls took it in turns to cook each evening, each bedroom doing the evening meal for the whole party. Despite this everyone returned healthy and still friends! I would like to thank Sylvie Rawlings and Anita for all their help during the week. I am aware that to the casual reader a week's holiday in the sun does not sound like too much of a trial, but chaperoning eleven teenage girls 24 hours a day would put most sane people off! As it was the girls were brilliant fun and a delight to be around. They were all very helpful and considerate and a credit to the school and their families. During the week the girls took it in turns to write a daily diary, for which I was very grateful when it came to writing this report. Naturally it was impossible to reproduce it in its original form, so here is the `doctored' version! S. A. Boddy. Saturday, 5 April — Alexa, Katie and Catherine. The journey from SV to Gatwick Airport was fine and we arrived with a good two hours to check in and board the plane. Once we had checked in all our luggage (which there was a lot of) and all got through customs with no trouble we were given half an hour to do Duty Free shopping. At 12.15 we all headed straight for the departure lounge where Katie and Catherine took a small detour up the escalators and back down again. The flight to Faro took two and a quarter hours. The food was not too bad (for aeroplane cuisine). When we arrived we waited inside the airport for our transport to be arranged. This consisted of three cars, which the teachers went to fetch, leaving us waiting for what seemed like hours. We piled into the cars, suitcases filling every space other than the seats themselves, leaving legs hanging out of every window! The apartments were far more classy than had been expected. They even had a microwave and dishwasher in the kitchen. We had a little while to sort out our stuff before going to Barrington's, the leisure centre. Once we had a membership card we could use all the facilities free of charge. We spent the evening swimming, relax-

ing in a Jacuzzi or working out in the gym. Madame and Anita cooked tea, which was sausage and rice. Nice and spicy! After tea a few of us went for a walk and explored the area whilst the others played Uno and then watched telly or cleared up. All in all it was a pretty exhausting day. Sunday, 6 April — Alexa, Katie and Catherine. The day got off to a great start when we opened our curtains to find it was pouring down with rain so instead of doing tennis we went to Barrington's. Whilst there we played squash, went to the gym, swam and sat in the Jacuzzi. In the afternoon the rain cleared away and the sun came out. We drove down to the tennis club and practised for a few hours before the dreaded assessment, which started at 5pm. We were split up into groups and the coaches hit some tennis balls at us to see how good we were. We were given a grade ranging from Al to C4 which would give them and idea of how we would improve. In the evening we went back to Barrington's and played some pool before walking home. Monday, 7 April — Harriet, Suzy and Georgie. Today we started the morning with our two hours of tennis coaching; the coaches were very nice and luckily had a sense of humour. After the first lot of tennis we went to the main pool at Barrington's, and had lunch on the pool side (very amusing!). After an hour or so we walked (slowly) back to the tennis club to find the coaches sitting at the bar. We played some more tennis and then went for a swim with a detour to pass Jim, the most aesthetically pleasing coach at only 21 years old. In the evening the kiddies (Jane, Isabel and Lucie) cooked dinner which was scrummy and we headed off to the snooker and bar rooms at Barrington's (again). Unfortunately we missed Jim. Charlie and Harry (Miss Boddy's six- and fouryear-old cousins) played a fascinating game of snooker without potting any balls (joke). They were very sweet, just like their little sister Jessica. At 10pm we left for home. Tuesday, 8 April — Harriet, Suzy and Georgie. Today we woke to a little rain. Then the rain stopped and we went for our two hours' coaching. Near the end of it, it started pouring with rain so we went up to the bar. We then decided it wasn't going to stop raining so we went to Barrington's to swim and have lunch and relax, and Madame admitted she was constipated. At 3pm we went back to the tennis club to play a doubles tournament; Alexa and Harry won. After the tournament Catherine played in a doubles match with three of the pros. We all came back to Amy and Chris's spaghetti bolognese which was delicious. After dinner

The Suttonian 1997 the teachers and Amy and Chris sat outside talking whilst we watched Grease. It was a really good day and we are all looking forward to going to the beach tomorrow! Wednesday, 9 April — Isabel, Jane and Lucie. In the morning it was hot and sunny. We went to the tennis club as usual and had our two hours' coaching with Matt and Jim. By twelve it was really hot and a brilliant day to go to the beach. We came back to the villa to have lunch and changed into our swimming costumes. We got to the beach down a very dusty road. The beach was huge and sandy, but the water was freezing. Even so, some mad people (Harriet and Georgie) swam! We also sunbathed; it was very hot. Although Madame moaned at us for not putting enough sun cream on she managed to get sunburnt herself and was in great pain for the rest of the day. At 4.20pm we left again for the tennis club to pick up Catherine playing in a doubles tournament; unfortunately they didn't win but they did come about fourth. We waited at the villa until 8pm before going to the tennis club barbecue. The food was delicious and the live music was interesting when Miss Boddy and Amy sang `Stand by Me' which was dedicated to Charlie (Miss Boddy's cousin). Madame plucked up the courage to sing a French song even though her sunburn was hurting and her voice was going. It was a very enjoyable evening and one to be remembered! Thursday, 10 April — Amy and Chris. Today we went to the tennis club again; we were being taught by a Portuguese coach called Noono and by Matt. We were taught how to serve. We went back to the villa at midday for lunch and cleared up the room. We then were hurried out of our villa by Anita. We came yet again to the tennis club where we lay about on the sun loungers by the pool trying to get a tan! We went to the courts to play tennis - we were practising singles. Catherine played a match against Mike Gatting, the Middlesex captain and ex-England cricketer, and she won 6-3. We then came back to the villa to enjoy a wonderful lemon chicken. Amy and Catherine were really tired after their doubles game with two other ladies. Amy and Catherine came very close but sadly lost 6-4. We had a good evening at the club and at Barrington's, where Amy, Chris and Anita got drinks on the house. Amy and Chris stayed on into the small hours, enjoying a good night with the Middlesex cricketers who were staying at Barrington's for their pre-season training.

Friday, 11 April — Amy and Chris. It was an early morning start due to coaching starting at 9.30am. Everyone seemed to enjoy their last coaching session. In the afternoon the juniors had a tournament which Katie won. The score was 6-4. She won a T-shirt and was thrown in the pool by everyone. As for Amy and Chris they slept for the whole afternoon hoping to catch a sun tan. However, due to the weather they were wearing jumpers and were wrapped up in their towels. In the evening we all went out to an Italian restaurant called Don Giovanni's for dinner. The food was wonderful and everyone had a good time. There was a chocolate fight, which Madame started, and Amy thought the waitress had chocolate on her face from Madame but it turned out to be a mole. We all went home and packed ready for the off. Saturday, 12 April — Amy and Chris. We are all now on board the plane. Unfortunately, we should have left 25 minutes ago. Everyone is worn out from the week of tennis, particularly Catherine, but nobody really wants to leave the glorious sunshine. We all got ready to leave for the tennis club at 9.45am. Everyone except Amy, Chris, Anita and Madame went to Jim (with the great bum and legs) and Matt's Saturday morning club, which constisted of fun tennis games. Madame is very nervous as the plane is now moving and has asked Chris if she can hold her hand for take offl! At the Saturday morning tennis, Matt and Jim told the juniors that they had to get 20 points in 15 minutes. If they did then Matt and Jim would be thrown in the pool. However, Matt and Jim cheated and even though they did get 20 points Matt and Jim claimed that one ball was out and so they only got 19 points. After the tennis we presented Madame, Anita and Miss Boddy with presents and thanked them for all they had done over the holiday. We had lunch and a final sunbathe at Barrington's and then at two o'clock left for the airport. So here we are now up in the air flying back to England. All that remains to say is that everyone had a really great time, particularly because Miss Boddy, Anita and Madame were so relaxed and friendly. Also everyone got on really well and most of the time was spent laughing! See you next year. Amy Lovegrove V, Chris Judd V, Catherine Birch H, Alexa Carmichael V, Suzy Day V, Georgie Ferris H, Katie Gornall V, Harriet Stainton-James H, Lucie Ross C, Jane Mansell C, Isabel Clague C.

The Suttonian 1997

Cricket Bajan style

Cricket Tour to Barbados Back in November it looked extremely unlikely that the tour to Barbados was even going to take place, but due to the fundraising organised by our parents under the direction of Eric Watts we were able to go. Not only did the fund-raising provide enjoyment for everybody who took part in the events but it also created an excellent team spirit which helped contribute to the success of the tour. On arrival at Grantly Adams International Airport we were welcomed with the cheerful news from the pilot that the humidity outside the plane was 100%. Stepping off the plane clothed in our school uniform was a rather interesting experience, and one which will not easily be forgotten. After a short journey by bus we arrived at Sandy Beach Hotel which was where we were to stay for the three weeks we were in Barbados. It was an ideal place, right next to one of the best beaches where we were able to participate in various watersports, beach volleyball and table tennis. The next day we had a net at Dover cricket ground which belonged to a local club. Although we had been warned that some of the pitches would not be quite what we were used to, few of us were really prepared for what we were to find. The wickets were very flat and therefore very good batting wickets. However, the outfields were not so good. We had to be very aware of the humps, lumps, stones, varying lengths of grass and mud, but it

all contributed to the character of the cricket. The rest of the day was spent looking around. This was the first time we came across Seth, the God of Wire. Apart from providing us with his wire statues of cricketers which dramatically varied in price (much to the dismay of the people who had never heard of the concept of haggling and to the amusement of those who had), he also provided us with plenty of advice and demonstrated some of the bad effects of rum. Seth was only one of the many Barbadians who made us feel so welcome. They were all so friendly and their love of cricket was quite amazing. It was not unusual to see a car passing alongside a cricket ground screech, to a halt just to retrieve a ball that had been hit into the road or just to watch the game. That evening we attended the hotel manager's rum punch party with the rum punch being avoided (by most) due to the fact that we had a warm up match the following day. Unfortunately this match was cancelled due to rain so we went into our first tournament game with very little experience of West Indian cricket. We were given our first chance to view the opposition at a reception the following day. We were also given the opportunity to talk to various famous cricketers of the past including Joel `Big Bird' Garner and Sir Garfield Sobers, the greatest ever all-rounder, who had given his name to this tournament. We were to have a match on both Thursday and Friday against the two English schools who

The Suttonian 1997 were in our group. The matches were 40-over games with four points for a win. There were two groups and to reach the semi-finals we had to finish either first or second in our group. First we were up against Stamford at the Empire ground, where the likes of Charlie Griffith and the great Everton Weekes had learnt their trade. Sir Garfield believed it to be one of the fastest pitches he had ever played on. Having been asked to bat we lost two early wickets but thanks to our two guest players, Daryl Carter and James Watson (who has since become a Suttonian) along with our youngest player, Richard Bradstock, we managed to push the score up to 156. On a small ground with 40 overs to get the runs it did not seem a large enough total to defend, and although at one stage it looked as though Stamford was going to win comfortably, we never gave up. A brilliant catch from Tim Watts seemed to inspire our bowlers and their last five wickets went down for three runs. James Vincent took four wickets for one run from two overs. It was a great feeling following the match as we had won our first game when many people had doubted whether we would win a game at all. We knew Bradfield were to be a much tougher opposition but their over-confidence played a major part in their downfall. We were the underdogs and we had nothing to lose. We fielded first and were rather disappointed to let them reach a total of 190 for eight following a rather indifferent fielding performance which had started extremely well. However we went out and chased hard against an extremely good bowling attack. The first wicket didn't fall until 83. The chase had been ambling along until the second wicket fell and Matthew Day came in. His 40 gave us the vital injection of pace we needed and although we suffered a minor batting collapse with a few runs needed it never looked as if we would lose, especially when Frazer Debney decided to `tusk' the bowling. That evening we were able to celebrate the victory in the two matches. Somehow we managed to cram sixteen of us into one of the smallest buses in existence. Although a few feet were flailing out of the windows we reached the Dog House Pub safely, even though some ears were rather sore due to the vocal celebrations. We spent a keenly contested hour playing pool with the locals and although we were playing under Bajan rules we finished off with honours even. We then went off to Harbour Lights where after getting used to the beat of reggae and calypso we played the evening away in high spirits. Fortunately we were able to have a lie-in the following morning as we didn't have a match for a couple of days. In the afternoon we went to the races at the Garrison Savannah race-course. We were extremely fortunate in the fact that we came

across Martin King, an Old Suttonian living in Barbados, who had heard on local radio that we were playing in the tournament. He was extremely welcoming and very generous to us. He provided us with our tickets for the races, plenty of refreshments and also managed to watch several of our matches. Although there was some muttering about having to put a shirt and tie on, everyone was delighted to watch the racing in comfort from an air conditioned box. It was quite a coincidence that the first race of the afternoon was won by a certain V. Richards, who had been one of our pool opponents the previous evening. That afternoon was also spent watching the Wanderers, a famous Barbadian club, play on their nearby ground. A week later, James Vincent was to find himself fielding for this club as a replacement for somebody who had been called up to represent a West Indian side. Sunday was a rest day which was spent relaxing in preparation for our match against St Leonard's the next day. By all accounts St Leonard's were going to be the toughest opponents in our group, but due to some heavy rain it never looked as though we would be able to play that day. Even so, according to the tournament rules we had to stay at the ground until 2.30pm to see if there was any chance of play. We managed to keep ourselves amused with various forms of cricket in different places and also learnt to play dominoes Bajan style, which basically involved making as much noise as possible. Presentation College from Trinidad were our next opponents and after arriving at the Desmond Haynes Ground we realised it would be a very high scoring game due to the diminutive size of the ground. At first we struggled in the field but gradually our performance improved and we reduced them to a total of 217 for 9 off their 40 overs. In particular Gavin Saunders, who was not renowned for his fielding before the tour, made a couple of' important catches look very easy. In retaliation we began aggressively, reaching 104, admittedly with the help of some wayward bowling, before the loss of James Watson after a quickfire 53 off 38 balls. After this start it should have been a straightforward victory but it was our turn to be over-confident and we threw our wickets away. This was probably the most profitable match for the kitty due to the fact that the management had introduced a fine system for misdemeanours that we committed both on and off the field. Fortunately, the management could also be fined. We came back with a vengeance against the Lodge School two days later. The wicket was extremely wet and we were surprised that we even played. The match was reduced from 40 to 30 overs

The Suttonian 1997 to give the wicket a chance to dry. Although our captain Tim Watts lost the toss (as he normally did!) we were fortunate to end up batting, even though we would have chosen to field. After the loss of a quick wicket our two guest players managed to push our score up. We then lost more wickets quickly whilst scoring few runs. We were finished off for 132 by an extremely quick left armer who represents the West Indies at schoolboy level. Our top order was fairly glad that he had not bowled full pace to them as he needed time to warm up. Russell Byrnes seemed to play him with confidence and helped gain us a few extremely valuable runs at the end. Only when we went out to field did we realize that the conditions were far more in favour of us than our opposition. This and the desire to reach the semi final gave us the lift that we really needed and we put in one of our most impressive bowling and fielding performances to remove them for 105. On Friday we switched from cricket to golf, which was actually quite a shame as many of us would have been extremely proud of our scores if we had been batting. The afternoon was spent relaxing after a tiring week. Over the weekend we went on an island tour. Once again we had to cram ourselves into a tiny yellow bus and visited some of the main tourist attractions on the island, including Bathsheba and Harrison's Caves. This gave us a great opportunity to see the varying landscapes of Barbados. Monday was to be an extremely important day. We needed to win to have any chance of reaching the semi finals. We arrived at the Banks brewery ground to meet our opponents from St Vincent Grammar School. The wicket was the most lively one we played on in the tournament and we managed to bowl them out for 98 in spite of the rather intoxicating smell which was blowing across the ground from the brewery. The most destructive of our bowlers in this match were Ian Harrison who took 3 for 21 and Tim Watts who took 3 for 16. In reply we started aggressively but after a few dubious umpiring decisions we found ourselves in a rather insecure position. After the advice from Mr Kittermaster to use our bats rather than our pads, and the news that if we won we would have our place in the semi finals, the batting was a great deal more sensible. James Watson and Frazer Debney carried us home with five wickets to spare. The next day we played in the semi final at the BET ground. The team never really adjusted to the situation and we were convincingly beaten by Dominica Schools. We were very disappointed that we put up our worst performance of the tour in the semi final but we were also extremely proud

to have played some good cricket to become the second most successful English School ever in the competition. The evening was spent celebrating our success in the tournament and we finished up with one of our own test matches on the beach in the early hours of the morning, with James Parrett as the undoubted man of the series, or to us the king of beach cricket. The final was at the Kensington Oval, the famous Bridgetown ground, between Dominica Schools and Ellerslie School. Although a few `what could have beens' were muttered it was a very enjoyable day with warm support for both sides. Much enjoyment came from watching the way the Bajans watched the cricket. It appeared to the casual observer that every single one of them knew all there is to know about cricket and they certainly made sure that their opinions were heard. A presentation was held afterwards. Tim Watts collected a commemorative trophy from Sir Garfield, and Mr Kittermaster made a speech on behalf of all the English Schools in the tournament to thank all of the people involved. To round off the tournament, a special Festival Game was held with a team representing all of the English schools in the tournament against a team representing all of the West Indian teams in the tournament. The English team contained three of our players: James Watson, Daryl Carter and James Vincent. They all played their part in a victory which came in the final over and were delighted to receive a memento of this victory from Joel Garner. Even the two Jameses, who are both well over six feet, were dwarfed by `Big Bird'. We were all delighted to have represented the school in the way we did. We achieved our aim in playing hard both on and off the field. Although there were moments where individuals were successful it was very much a team performance to achieve what we did. Thanks must of course be given to all of the people who worked so hard to give us this wonderful opportunity; we all owe a particular debt of gratitude to the management of Alan Day and John Kittermaster, who not only helped us immensely with our cricket but contributed with their differing styles to the enjoyment of the whole experience. George Horton L.

55 The Srtttonicrut 1997

Combined Cadet Force The CCF Year The .22 range is finished at last! It does not leak, its electrics work, it has four fully legal lanes and Brian Miller smiles again (yes, it's frightening, isn't it?): Not that our shooting has done badly without it. An 8th place in the Ashburton at Bisley, winning the Queen's Regiment Cup, the Devon plate, placing four Cadets in the Bisley 100 and winning top place in the Kent Schools' Rifle Championship testify to that. Whilst bragging, we record the winning of the Best CCF shield at the 4th Division Cadet Skills Competition with schools from all over the South-East. As ever, our thanks go to Brian Miller and Anne Wilkinson. Sutton House won the Drill Competition yet again, with another polished performance, but Valence wiped the smiles off their faces by winning the Girls' Assault Course Competition equally convincingly. Westminster won the boys' event, putting a smile on the face of the O.C. in his last year as Housemaster. The Becky Norris March and Shoot cup was won by Founder's in an excellent time of 46 minutes. No-one got badly lost, and the top girls' team was Valence. Lieut. Ian Hendry has now retired, and the downs at Shorncliffe will no longer be surveyed by his own brand of phlegmatic calm. Lieuts Fiona Clayton and Emma Rankin join us this term and are being hurried off on courses. We are about to adopt the Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment Shoulder Flash as we go to press, and are considering the possibility of opening a Royal Navy section to bring to an end our two-legged stool of a Combined Cadet Force, lacking the Senior Service. The old black huts have turned a fine Belgian chocolate colour, refurbished inside and out, and a new flagpole for the RAF section and a brand new toilet block have been added. Brian has completed a really splendid air rifle range with his own fair hands, with a realistic landscape, and has opened it for general use. In general the CCF area now looks a great deal smarter. Cadet leadership was of a high order, (usually in inverse proportion to height!) with Philip Day holding the rank of Junior Under Officer and Amy Lovegrove that of Cadet CSM, both leading with distinction and Amy leading the Cadet Skills team to victory. C/Sgt Emma Wills, C/Sgt Dan Willdridge, Flt/Sgt Alex Mansfield, S/Sgt John Goddard, and Sgt

Geoffrey Willoughby led the Infantry, Jnr. Company, RAF Senior Flight, Royal Engineer Troop and Royal Signals Troop respectively. Flt/Sgt Andrew Wingham was an unusually good Stores NCO and Sgt Katy Slaughter a very fine Captain of Shooting. Cpl Jo Woods has kicked off the new year with the best Cadet leadership report we have yet had from Frimley, so a fine year looks like giving way to another. C. F. G. Parkinson.

CCF Adventure Training Could the noble knights and knightesses of our CCF contingent pull off yet another `Best Ever' adventure training week? This sort of question dogged many a Blencathra veteran over the days leading up to departure. They should have known what to expect, however. Over the years many of us have come to love and respect the quiet solitude and uncompromising beauty of the English Lakes. Through misadventure and adventure the rigorous and sometimes ominous landscapes have grown to occupy a very particular niche in one's subconscious, blending as they do so with every cherished memory from those childish weeks of mountain fun. This year, of course, Phil Day came and changed all that. On a more serious note, the Junior Underarm Officer was well placed to enjoy another fantastic week. And he was yet another person to join that club which now has a huge membership worldwide: the club for those who were in the CCF for much of their SVS careers, but who never went adventure training until they had entered the sixth form. So many times have I heard this complaint reiterated: `I really wish I had gone before', 'Nobody told me it was as good as this'. Personally, I have yet to meet a person who failed to enjoy that week. This year adventure training was quite different inasmuch as the peril which claimed the highest number of casualties was not hypothermia nor severe exposure, it was not exhaustion (though many would disagree with me here) and it was most certainly not starvation; heartfelt thanks go to the galley crew for yet more delicious cuisine. There were a few exciting incidents

The Suttonian 1997 involving mountain bikes and insurmountable obstacles attempted at incomprehensible speeds but even these were not the main injuries sustained. Nobody even drowned. The most widely suffered single ailment amongst the contingent this year was actually sun-burn. To hear intrepid D of E groups complaining not of sore backs and legs and feet, but actually asking Mrs Wilky to bring them some after-sun, almost brought a tear to my eye. (Whatever happened to the days when Mr P. would sit in the cosy minibus telling shivering young canoeists and mountaneers to stop complaining because they `couldn't get wetter than wet'?) Every individual's adventure training is also different to anyone else's, and it would be an imposition on my part if I were to try to detail all the scrapes which our cadets found themselves in. However I want to try to recall for you just a few of the memories which helped to make it such a fantastic week. Some of us were treated to a late night tour of Seathwaite farm on quad bike by the farmer's son. He took us to a deserted mountain hostel and all the girls got scared. Many people saw lambs being born whilst staying there. It is officially the wettest place in Britian but the river was almost dry this time and so there were no early morning showers in the waterfall as have been enjoyed in previous years. Two old ladies had the shock (or the sight) of their lives when the most senior ranking and responsible cadet decided to honour a certain dare which had been laid down. The cadet training team

could scarcely believe their eyes as he dispensed with his wet suit and ran towards the lake... I love to see the look on the faces of people who have just landed from their first abseil or who have just managed to get back in their canoe after they realised how cold the lake really is, or those people, eyes still watering, hair still swept back horizontally and fingers still clasped around the handle bars in a grip of determination who have just completed several miles of winding, steep and treacherous descent on a mountain bike. On the final day of my final adventure training week I plucked up the courage to try pony trekking. After a nasty incident with a shire horse when very young, I had always been very suspicious of the ambiguous gait of these ostensibly placid animals. Rather than be carried around the moors whilst sitting down and enjoying the view, I preferred instead to traverse 100ft cliffs and to hurtle submerged down a very angry river Derwent, simply because I was scared of horses. Well, I tried it. I loved it and I did it again. Adventure training is all about doing something you don't think you can do, and bettering yourself with the knowledge that you can after all. (And I didn't get bitten or kicked.) This year's squirty cream contest was well attended, with the crowd's hearty support adding to the nigh intolerable pressure exerted on every contestant. The title this year was contested almost to the death, with the Undersized Officer breaking Mr Collins's world record, which had stood unchallenged for twelve months. (The subsequent claims of unsportsmanship on the part of

The prospect of icy water is greeted with remarkable enthusiasm

The Suttonian 1997

Out on expedition in the Lake District

the time keepers have yet to be substantiated.) Matthew Wooderson made a brave effort to overcome his older brother's near legendary score as a pupil, but alas, Rick's style and grace at the nozzle were just too much. The festivities seemed to be rounding up when Creamer Collins made the final challenge of the evening, setting as he did so a time seemingly far beyond the wildest ambitions of us mere mortals. Future generations will look back in awe at his incredible performance, and many of us will carry the memory of that fantastic competition to the grave. After the squirty crean competition and the necessary showers which ensued, we all started singing and Mr Collins taught us some Rugby songs. Once more thanks should go to all the staff who give up their holidays to come and drive us around the mountains and cook for us. Thanks especially to the chefs, the cadet training team, Brian `Breakfast' Miller, and the boss, through whose hard work and attention to detail over the months prior to departure the whole week is made possible. Alex Mansfield W.

Summer Field Day It began to rain at 3am on the Monday and by the time we got up at 6.30 our bashers had collapsed, our packs were soaked, and we were ready to go home. But no, it was now time for breakfast and after that we had to clear up. An hour later we were formed up on the road when it started to rain hard, again. Extra clothes came out, wet things were put away and finally we were set again for our day's exercises. Grouped off into our sections we were led towards our first task, observation. This involved being taken through a set walk in pairs and mentally noting down what army kit was hidden in the undergrowth, up trees and on the floor. Whistles were hanging from branches, ration packs were sitting under logs and berets were scattered. Luckily it had stopped raining by this time and even though the ground was muddy and slippery the sun was finally starting to shine. We moved off to our next task, this one involving taking an injured person on a stretcher up hills, through streams and all the time having to be prepared to be shot at. The timer started, the smallest person in our group was voted injured and a few of us took of our combat jackets and tied them to some logs to act as a makeshift stretcher. After a lot of shouting, bossing and general chaos we were off. First down a small bank then over a

The Suttonian 1997 where we stood shivering for a few minutes before we went and changed into all the spare clothes we could get. Gradually everyone was sorted, and we then set off to final parade. Our packs were then loaded before we, tired but nevertheless in good spirits, got on the bus to set off back to school again. Caroline Woods S.

R.A.F. Section

The Junior Company River Run in full swing

narrow part of a stream. That was the easy part. Next came the `hill', a solid mud bank with only a few trees on it to aid our climb. Scrabbling, slipping and pushing we finally made it up; our man on the stretcher was unsure whether to laugh or cry at the fact that we had to go back down again now on an even steeper side of the hill. We resorted to sitting down while holding the stretcher slightly up and just sliding down the mud; then, as fast as our group could manage, we sprinted back to the starting point, and while gasping for breath and inspecting the damage to our kit, all our NCO could say was `not bad'. We arrived at the final task, camouflage and concealment. We stuffed weeds and grasses through each other's belts and in our berets. We set off one by one in single file on our bellies towards the road. Two NCOs were walking around the area trying to spot us. Five minutes into our crawl a rifle went off close by indicating to us that we had been spotted, so we set off again from the starting point. This time we made it to the road. We had a brief lunch and prepared ourselves for the dreaded river run. With T-shirts and trousers on we ran up the side of the stream and jumped in at the first corner. The water was ice cold but we didn't notice it as we raced along waist deep. Some fell on rocks, soaking themselves totally, but they got up laughing and carried on. Finally we made it to the bridge and jumped out of the water up the mud bank to the starting line,

Much has happened in the year since the last report. We took a large number of cadets to a superb summer camp at RAF St. Mawgan in Cornwall we travelled and camped with our friends from Cranbrook School RAF Section. There was a tremendous amount to do including flying in Bulldogs, shooting, orienteering, a night exercise, riding on a steam train, getting soaked by the Fire Section and go-carting (where Philip Day's driving skills and nerves of steel made him unbeatable!) We also were treated to a week's worth of our Cornish Flight Sergeant's `Jethro jokes'. Over the year, the section has run well under Flt/Sgt Alex Mansfield, fresh (fresh?) from the RAF Leadership course at RAF Halton, and the programme has been nicely varied with much of the activity outside. Alex managed to make the programme sufficiently flexible that it could be revised at short notice to adapt to conditions. We make flying our priority, so in September, for our field day visit, we went to RAF Benson in Oxfordshire where most of the cadets had a Bulldog flight on the Sunday and all had a Chinook flight on the Monday. We also fixed up a visit to the school from a Puma helicopter of 24(R) Squadron flown by Flt Lt Neil Strevens (an Old Cranbrookian, but we don't hold that against him). All cadets had an enjoyable flight from the school on that day. We didn't fly on the other field days - in April we had been `pencilled in' by 7 Squadron (Chinooks) but their operational commitments in Bosnia/Africa meant that we missed out (Note to RAF:please get your priorities right - cadets first!) and for our summer field day we went to RAF Uxbridge. That may not sound like fun, but it was great first a visit down the `bunker' which was the headquarters of 11 Group Fighter Command during the second world war. It was fitted out exactly as it had been during the peak of the Battle of Britain, which had been controlled from that very room. The same plotting table was there, and we were able to sit in the very chair which had often been sat in by King George VI and Sir Winston Churchill (not at the same time). We then went to the out-

The Suttonian 1997 door pursuits centre at Hillingdon for command and leadership tasks - which was voted so much fun that everyone wants to go back again next year. Our other aeroplane contact this year was internally generated - Melissa Saggers (5th Form) has helped a friend to restore an old Auster and she has flown it herself for many hours. In February, Melissa's friend `Cobby' flew it to the school and landed on BM. We were all quite surprised when it arrived, because there were two other Austers with it - so we were treated to a fly past

and a look over three Austers. Our thanks go to Cobby. We mourn the passing of the Chipmunk. In the past we were able to take groups of eight or nine cadets flying at Manston about three times a term. Now we have Bulldogs, and although these are much nicer to fly, they are not stationed at Manston. We are now only able to take one group once a term at the most - a great shame, because `hands-on' flying is really what it is all about. We always have good, keen, enthusiastic ca-

RAF High Fliers Our RAF senior cadets have recorded the most astounding successes in the history of the Section. This also must represent the most successful two-year period ever in the history of military awards at Sutton Valence. Congratulations to all: Flt /Sgt Dan Willdridge: Awarded Army Sixth Form Scholarship Sgt Gavin Saunders: Awarded RAF Sixth Form Scholarship Sgt James Reynolds: Awarded RAF Flying Scholarship SgtAmit Khanna: Awarded RAF Flying Scholarship (now completed, and he now holds a private pilot's licence) Flt/Sgt Alex Mansfield: Awarded Flying Scholarship by the Air League, sponsored by British Airways. (He missed the RAF Flying Scholarship by a whisker - serves him right for not shaving) JUO Phil Day: Awarded a Certificate of Good Service by the Air Officer Commanding Flt Lt Geoff Piper: Also awarded an Air Officer Commanding Certificate of Good Service (20 years without being found out?)

The RAF High Fliers: Phil Day, Amit Khanna, Dan Willdridge, Gavin Saunders, Alex Mansfield, James Reynolds and Flt Lt Piper

The Suttonian 1997 dets in the RAF Section at Sutton Valence and it is always sad when they leave - this year, however, we say goodbye to a very close group who have contributed enormously to the section over many years and I want to put on record our thanks to this special group of: JUO Phil Day, Flt/Sgts Alex Mansfield, Dan Willdridge and Andrew Wing-ham, and Sgts James Reynolds and Gavin Saun-ders. As I write, our RAF hut is being totally renovated by the MoD (thank you tax payers). Although we would rather the money had been spent on buying us a Tornado or something like that, we are grateful that we shall have a lovely new crew room and operations centre for next term. If any readers have nice `RAF' or aeroplane bits which you would like to donate, we should be grateful to have them to help decorate the hut. Finally we prepare for Summer camp at St Athan in Wales. We shall have a good camp, but it is sad that with an ever shrinking Air Force there are fewer RAF Stations open each year, which means fewer places for cadets at camp. As a result this will be the first year ever that we are unable to take all cadets who wish to go to camp: a disappointing note on which to finish.

My Tandem Skydive

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme continues to flourish and to attract a small but committed number of pupils. During the course of this last year two Gold awards were gained (James Evans and Dan Willdridge), and five Silver and two Bronze awards. Expeditions took place in the Lake District and North Wales as well the Ashdown Forest in Sussex. Service included CCF, Life Saving, First Aid, Child Care and Community Service. Skills included singing, driving, playing a range of musical instruments, wargaming, acting and working as part of the stage group. Sports ranged from rugby and cricket to sailing. The Scheme is in good health at the school and is of great benefit and value to those who take part in it; the range of activities which may be undertaken is extremely wide, as can be appreciated by the long lists above. It is pleasing to report that the Michaelmas term began well with a much increased number of Bronze entries.

In May this year I decided to sign up for a sponsored skydive, partly in order to raise money for charity and partly because it was something I had wanted to do for a long time. I arrived at the airfield in the early morning. I wasn't quite sure what to expect and nerves were starting to affect me. I was introduced to my Tandem instructor and to my fellow jumpers. We were shown how the harnesses worked and the position to be in to exit the plane. My instructor also showed me a short video of someone free falling. It was then reality hit me - they were falling at such a dramatic speed and from such a height! He explained that we would be jumping from the amazing height of 10,000 feet and that, whilst free falling, we would be falling at a speed of 120mph. This information scared me a little. Six Tandem jumpers and two cameramen were crammed into a very small aeroplane and we started our twenty minute journey up. Once we had left the ground I realised that there was no turning back. Besides, people do this every day, I thought as we went higher, although I must admit it hadn't helped when my instructor told me that they hadn't lost a Tandem student since 1993! The doors opened and people started to disappear. I was pushed towards the door sitting on my instructor's lap, and then the worst moment of the whole day came - jumping. Nobody told me it was going to be this high! I could barely see the earth. As I was turning around to say `No way' to my instructor, he grabbed my head and pulled it backwards shouting `Let's go' and jumped. My stomach almost leapt out of my mouth! As the descent continued, I had a feeling of complete emptiness, although it's hard to explain how one feels at 10,000 feet plummeting towards the earth at over 100mph. I just kept wondering when the supposed parachute was going to appear. There was suddenly a sharp jolt; the parachute opened and everything changed, in speed and in sound. It was amazing - we were able to speak to all the other parachutists around us. I was then given one rope in each hand and shown how to steer the parachute. I was told to pull down very hard on the left rope and the parachute suddenly started to spiral around extremely quickly at a great tilt. After a few minutes we steered towards the landing point at the airfield and, despite what people say, had a very smooth landing. At the end of the jump I had a great feeling of satisfaction and achievement, although I was slightly disappointed that it was all over. It was an experience of a lifetime and something that I will never forget.

M.D. Willdridge.

Sophie Willdridge H.

G. R. Piper.

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme

The Suttonion 1997

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The Suttonian 1997

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Action on the netball court

Banks Brewery, Barbados, plus play from the cricket tour

The Suttonian 1997

Sport The Sports Council

deavour to make the pool an indoor, all-year-round facility and add to it with a sports hall.

This organisation is not well known to many pupils in the school, and this account of its activity S. K. Schofield. marks the end of an era in which it was led by David Pickard and heralds one in which the leadership passes to Shaun Schofield. 1st XV Rugby This body is made up of the captains of each of the sports that the school plays together with With nine of last year's team returning, the seafive teachers, including Shaun Schofield, David son promised to be a good one, and we were not Pickard, John Posnette, Anne Wilkinson and Esdisappointed. The overall number of wins equalled ther Cornell, but the retirement of David Pickard that of the 1991 team and a number of teams were and Anne Wilkinson necessitate some new addibeaten for the first, time since that year. The hightions. Its function is to discuss the way forward light of the year was a 15-15 draw with Cranbrook for sport in the school and to advise the Head- and the lowest point a 3-9 loss to Emanuel. Overmaster about sports policy. all 27 pupils appeared in the 1st XV, of whom 20 This school plays a great deal of sport, and played four or more times, the team amassed 314 clashes occur where more than one sport want the points, which included 12 tries by Tim Watts, and services of a pupil at the same time. New sports we conceded only 135 points. struggle for recognition, and ailing sports need to The season began with a convincing vicbe supported. The Council oversees the organisa- tory over the OS by 37 but there were some worrytion of internal competitions, for which there are ing signs in our three-quarters play that were not many trophies. sorted out until just after half term; good hands The Sports Council has the honour, each were let down by lack of penetration. The forwards year, to award Junior Colours to pupils of out- showed good promise and James Vincent and Ian standing quality in the fourth form who have con- Harrison were showing signs that with `lifting' now tributed to several different sports in the school. allowed, we could at last start winning our own On his resignation David Pickard informed the lineout ball. The next game against Sir Roger school that a new cup, also to be presented by the Manwood's was won after the first half, but we Sports Council, was to be given for leadership in failed to capitalize on our possession and allowed sport. It is entirely fitting that he should have them to rally for much of the second half. The next wanted to call it the Lovegrove Cup, in honour of game was the annual local derby against Amy, whose inspirational leadership in Patrols' Cranbrook who were expecting to win as easily as Competitions and excellent captaining of Girls' last year; however, a superb performance in the tennis, together with her all-round sporting abil- first twenty minutes, in which we should have ity and willingness to participate, contributed so scored enough points to have been out of sight, put much to the success of girls' sport in the school in us 12-0 in the lead. But we allowed Cranbrook back the last couple of years. into the game and, to their credit, they looked like We hope that the Sports Council's good winning for much of the second half. Our forwards, work will be continued with the establishment, in after a magnificent display, then allowed their for1997, of a new Sports Department in the school. wards to turn about six of our rucks over. Some Shaun Schofield heads a group of excellent coa- more fitness training was clearly required. ches, including Robert Carr from Underhill and You have to be lucky to win some games, Bill Buck from the Duke of York's and other schools and, although we were outthought and outplayed (both newcomers) together with John Kittermas- by Dover College, thanks to Martin Slattery's boot ter and John Posnette, whose principal work will we ran out eventual winners by 12 points to 11, be teaching games and leading school teams to- after having to endure a last minute conversion gether with other teachers. Esther Cornell will miss by the opposition from the touch line. If that also continue her excellent job with girls and we was not enough the next match, against Reed's hope she, too, can receive extra, specialized help. School, was just as tense and could have gone eiThe Sports Council was instrumental in ther way; the kicking of Tim Watts and some very identifying a need for a new Sports Complex. We good tries enabled us to win 19-15. So we were can only hope that we are successful in our en- now undefeated after our first five matches: a feat

The Suttonian 1997

not achieved since 1991! I was therefore optimistic that we could give Hurstpierpoint a run for their money, but I was proved to be a very poor judge. For the first time this season the forwards played without conviction, the backs missed too many tackles, and we were easily beaten 3-56. I was therefore not looking forward to our visit to Duke of York's, who were usually on a par with Hurstpierpoint, but for once they were a much weaker outfit and with two good tries by Martin Slattery and James Ferris we won 15-11. After a run of four away games it was good to be back on Stoney and we finished the half term with a convincing win against St Lawrence College by 32 points to three. In terms of results the first half of term was very pleasing; however on a number of occasions the forwards won the ball but the backs were unable to provide the necessary penetration. This was to change when we were forced by circumstances to move Tim Watts to the wing, Martin Slattery to inside centre and bring George Horton into flyhalf. The backs suddenly started playing to their full potential. We beat Chatham House by 17-7 including an excellent try from a set scrum, but the forwards let us down by losing too much ruck ball. King's, Rochester were beaten easily and the new found confidence of the backs meant that Tim Watts ran in two tries and Bobby Pawar, against his old school, scored the other try. We eventually ran out as winners 20-0. The next game against Kent College produced some of our best running and handling rugby of the season with four of the five tries being scored by the backs thanks to quick ball from the rucks. Unfortunately an early lead meant that in the second half overconfidence reigned and there was too much individual play. The match against Emanuel was eagerly anticipated and for the first time in a number of years we stood a realistic chance of a victory. In the end, however, we lost 3-9 in a close, tense affair that could have gone either way up to the very last minute. We did not capitalize on three clear try scoring chances in the last ten minutes. For one of the few times in the season the side looked tense and nervous for much of the game. The next game against Ursuline College was a one sided affair in which we ran in ten tries. The season finished with a comprehensive defeat of Sir Joseph Williamson's by 44-5, with Tim Watts scoring his second hat-trick in five days. The team played some excellent rugby and it was a fitting end to a fine season. A fine season usually means the side was lead by an excellent captain, and this season was no exception. Bobby Pawar lead by example on

the pitch with his aggressive and combative style of play. He was our chief number one runner and he nearly always gained the necessary yardage. As if to prove the point he also scored six tries, a good record for a hooker. James Vincent was literally a tower of strength and possession in the lineout. His overall play in the loose was also excellent and he fully deserved his selection for the Kent Schools' U18 side. Tim Watts scored twelve tries and once we had moved him to the wing he showed that given the ball he could be a very good finisher. Ian Harrison was a much improved player from last year and showed his mettle, when James Vincent was absent, by also showing that he could also be a very good ball winner in the lineout. Amit Khanna scored five tries and was a superb defender both in the tackle and under the high ball. Chris Thomson was fast from the back of the scrum and covered the ground well. He was involved in all phases of play. Russell Byrnes was a much fitter and improved player from last season. For the future, a number of promising players are hopefully returning next year. Martin Slattery continued his conversion to a back by now playing inside centre, a position he looked very comfortable in and from which he controlled much of our play. Bijan Shahrad was the most improved player of the season, particularly in his defensive play. We hope to see more of his attacking potential next season. Matthew Wooderson has been a great asset to the side with his determined tackling and his improving decision making at scrum half. Will Hodson could be a very potent attacking force next season. Tom Janes scrummaged well throughout the season and he could become an important attacking force around the fringes. George Horton has the ability at flyhalf to set the backs playing to their full potential. Andrew Johnson has proved by his tackling and overall ball skills to be a very able openside flanker. Billy Sijuwade is learning to be a good and competitive backrow forward. Duncan Stiff, when fit, is a very sound and able blindside flanker. S.K. Schofield. P14 W11 D1 L2

We were represented by the following: Bobby Pawar c (capt.), James Vincent c, Tim Watts c, Russell Byrnes, Matthew Wooderson '/~c, Amit Khanna '/_>c, Martin Slattery c, Will Hodson, Tom Janes, Ian Harrison c, Andrew West, Chris Thomson /2 c, Bijan Shahrad c, James Ferris, Billy Sijuwade, Duncan Stiff, Andrew Johnson, George Horton, James Reynolds, Harley Homewood and Peter Posnette. (c indicates Colours, 'h c Half Colours)

6ii Tlhe Stittoniun 1997

Senior House Sevens Junior House Sevens Raymond Kicking Trophy Master i/c Trophy

Founder's Lambe's James Vincent Bobby Pawar

Representatives: U18 Kent Schools U18 Scottish Exiles U18 Hertfordshire Schools

James Vincent Martin Slattery Matt Wooderson

2nd XV Rugby This was a season of mixed fortunes, with honours exactly even at the end of December; out of seven games played, we won three and lost three, with one drawn when neither we nor Reed's School managed to put any points on the board. Four matches, disappointingly, had to be cancelled in the latter part of the season. We began with a win against Sir Roger Manwood's school, 5-0 away at Sandwich. Winning ways in East Kent were continued as we beat Dover College 19-0, but this run was stopped by the 0-0 draw at Reed's and we then lost to Hurstpierpoint and also to DYRMS. Our first home game of the season, however, turned the tide as we gained a convincing victory over St Lawrence, 22 points to 7, though the last game we played on November 16 reversed the scores exactly as we lost 7-22 to King's, Rochester. P7 W3 DI L3

Under 15 Rugby Rugby is a game when often size matters, and this year's Under 15 XV suffered from a lack of stature and bulk as well as a reluctance to tackle. So from the very outset things did not look good. Clearly, if you do not win very much of the ball, you are going to struggle with only scraps of possession; winning a game is going to be difficult! And so it was to be. The game plan was to use two-man lineouts, quick ball from the scrum, and to play a fast rucking game, and towards the end of the season they actually played some very good rugby, and very nearly won a game. Simon Knowles and William Richardson, along with Minesh Patel, were the best forwards, and gave everything one could hope for in matches and training. Tom Parkin has the potential to be a good player, but is easily distracted and doesn't play with enough commitment yet. In the backs,

Ben Palmer improved steadily throughout tht' term, and showed enormous bravery in tackling anyone that ran at him. James Thorn and Ian Fraser have potential when they have the ball in their hands, but must work on their tackling next year. Michael Dumenil was outstanding throughout the term. He has a good pair of hands, he is strong in the tackle, and he is a powerful runner. Richard Bradstock played some very good games. making some crucial tackles and some good breaks, but like many of the team lacked confidence to go for the try-line. Despite losing all of their matches, they never gave up, and once they grow they will be in a much stronger position to win, as many of them possess an enormous amount of skill. J.H. Kittermaster. P9 WO DO L9

Under 14 Rugby A long hot and dry Summer once again saw us return to school full of enthusiasm and expectation but confronted by very hard grounds. This limited serious practice in contact skills and the necessary cancelling of the first fixture against Sir Roger Manwood's. A little rain enabled the team to play against Dover College, and the team harassed their opponents in all aspects of the game to emerge with a win. The following weeks were less successful however as the team met some well drilled packs of forwards who were better at securing possession in the combat zones and the side was constantly trying to defend against some hard runners. Until every player makes their tackle before these runners have got into their stride then the team will struggle to hold out defensively. Each of the remaining matches was lost; however, the team continued to improve and put up spirited displays against Chatham House School and King's, Rochester in particular. Chatham House were by far the strongest team we played and I was delighted by everyone's effort that day. John Arthur captained the side by example throughout the season, but must try to keep with his larger players when running at the opponents. Steven Johnston also worked hard most of the time and will improve as he grows. In the three quarters James Rea and Adam Whyte played well. Rea in particular is a strong runner who was our major tackler. However the rest of the players cannot leave all those duties just to him! Steven Groom played well in patches in most games either as a forward or a centre but must believe in his own ability more fully. The find of the season however was Jung Ho Park. He quickly

The Suttonian 1997 learnt the game and then played every game with great mobility. He is a fearless tackler, quick and very strong; on a number of occasions he would wrestle the ball away on his own and run strongly at his opponents. N. B. V. Jones.

Under 13 Rugby We won the last match, playing the best rugby of the term. In that sense we had a successful season. It was plain that there was a noticeable improvement throughout the term. I was pleased that there was a good spirit and a willingness to learn new skills. I was particularly impressed by the developing courage of a set of boys who were, frequently, much smaller than their opponents. In the five games we were represented by twenty-one boys, a good proportion of whom belonged to the first form and who were, therefore, technically, a year young. Some of these latter boys had played little, if any, rugby before and their progress is all the more commendable. In this age group, size and experience count for a tremendous amount in determining the eventual outcome of the game. The third and fourth factors in explaining quality rugby are teamwork and discipline. We could not do much about our size, and experience must, by definition, be a slow process of acquisition. It is also true to say, however, that we were rather slow in developing the notion of teamwork, and too many boys refused to learn the laws despite repeated coaching and penalization in the games. Too often boys could not accept the wisdom of releasing the ball for others to use since that action `robbed' them of potential glory - although their moment of glory was never a remote possibility, such was their inability to read the game. Ìf only...' must be the saddest beginning to any comment, and this season was very much one of ìf only'. A good number of mistakes were mine. Most that the boys made were instantly forgivable, being the product of much enthusiasm and limited experience. We can forget ìf only' by determining to learn from the season. Winning the last game, from a position of thirteen - nil down, suggests that we did, learn eventually, enough to give us optimism for the future. It is not fair to single out any one boy from this group for praise, since they all contributed in their own way at one time or another. I can recall significant incidents, however. The first try of the season was scored as a result of strong, swift, determined running, and from that moment it was easier for me to transmit the message to the oth-

ers of the value of running hard at spaces in the opposition ranks. One boy always tackled well, and bravely. His example worked wonders on the others, and the defence in the last ten minutes of the last game was truly tremendous. Three boys working together looking to give each other support in a vain effort to turn a losing match illustrated to many luminaries watching that junior rugby was more sophisticated than kick and rush. One boy, put on to the field for the last quarter of a game so that he could play against his old Prep. school started with a crunching tackle on one of the opposition's better players - and this led to my most satisfying moment of the season, for, after the game was finished and we were congratulating ourselves on the win, most of the players were indicating others' achievements rather than their own. There is hope for this group, yet. D. Pickard. P5 W1 DO L4 We were represented by the following: Young, Ali, Cole, Hukins, Stileman, Brandreth, Roberts, Wyatt-Jones, Vooght, Sutcliffe, Kember, Kivrak, Husbands, Parkinson, Varnals, Olson, Lynes, Coltella, Stretton, Davies, Boorman.

1st XI Girls' Hockey With the arrival of a number of quite useful 5th formers, it looked as though we might be able to fill the gaps left by the departing players, as difficult a task as this might have appeared at first sight. It did necessitate the movement of some players to positions that they had not played before, or, as in the captain's case, back to centre forward. In the end, we brought in three 5th formers and two Lower Sixth, which would suggest that there were six older hands still available from the previous year, and we will lose three of these at the end of this year. Our problem lies in the stature of player that we will lose: the two centre defenders, Emma Wills and Katy Slaughter and this year's captain and centre forward, Amy Lovegrove. Still, we survived the loss of the like of Lizzie Parrett and Madelaine Gear, so I guess we will manage. The season started with our first visit to the Christ's Hospital School Tournament, which was attended by seven other schools. Played on their rather dusty all-weather pitches, we were delighted to get through unbeaten to the final, where we lost to the hosts on the dreaded (by us anyway) penalty strokes. We were to get our re-

The Suttonian 1997 venge on our astro the following weekend, by 5-1, but the tournament gave us a useful insight into who was likely to do what in the squad. We continued quite successfully towards half-term, with a tremendous battle with St Lawrence; what a super team they are, and we were lucky to win 2-0, rather against the run of play. We beat Invicta and then Dover College on their grass, a surface that we adapted to rather better than I had dared hope. The County Championship, still on ten-minute games - perhaps we could go to a knock-out, full game situation like the boys? was not one of our better efforts and the Half Term had the usual effect of setting us back several weeks. This is to take nothing away from our second half of term's opposition. Ardingly were as strong as ever and other schools had fine teams and played some really excellent hockey. Of course, they had to, to beat us. However, when we were put under pressure, the mid-field did struggle; the inexperience of Nicola Leggat could not be made up for by her hard work. Katie Simmonds's lack of speed could not be compensated for by her skill in the tackle and by fine positioning. This meant that we lost attacking capability and too often became pinned back in our own half. This is not to say that the defence could not cope on their own, for certainly the two older hands, Emma Wills and Katy Slaughter played extremely well. Emma had a fairly difficult start, but soon returned to her terrier-like ways and Katy played superbly throughout, with deceptive speed and some great stickwork. The wide defenders were second year team players, Jo Woods and newcomer, Klaire Webber. The former has become a mean tackler, particularly of the player coming straight towards her, and she will make the move to a central defender with ease. Her hitting too, when the head is kept down, has new power. Klaire is still on a steep learning curve, but she has become a sound tackler and speed is on her side; it is just that pass which needs to be improved. This will come with experience. We were not renowned for our speedy wings, but their positioning and determination certainly made up for some of this. Rebecca Lacey on the left has improved greatly and with a little more confidence to go inside her marker, will make a fine attacker; certainly she has been in the right place for goal-poaching. Sarah Leggat on the right wing has determination on her side and when we develop her skills and positioning a little further, we will certainly be able to attack down both flanks. And then there were the centre forwards: 5th former Lucy Simmonds and the Captain, Amy Lovegrove. Lucy had become accustomed to being able to walk the ball into the goal and initially had

great trouble. Her positionin:. was too ofteii on tin wrong side of the goal keeper and she wouldn't shoot. Later, things improved and next season I am sure she will score more goals than this year's top shot, Amy. Like so many of our captains before her, Amy led by example: extremely hard working, both on and off the pitch and dedicated to the cause. Her hockey improved enormously, such that she became our first girl to be selected for the County U18s. Amy would run and run and her only fault was her own perfectionist nature. Thank you, Amy. for all your hard work and the enormous part that you played in our success. We have remained one of the schools in the county to beat and despite our relatively small size, the others do have to work hard. This season was not as successful as some, but this was more a reflection of the strength of our opposition than on the standard of our team. Others vary, whereas we have maintained a high standard. My thanks, too, to Geoff Piper for his hard work both in the coaching and the umpiring. Many will be sad to hear that because of the pains of old age, he is to retire from the hockey scene. A great loss. However, others will be amused to hear that he will continue his bi-monthly half-marathons and is thinking of taking up snow-boarding. J. La R. Posnette. We were represented by the following: R. Duffell, K. Slaughter, K. Webber, E. Wills, J. Woods, R. Lacey, K. Simmonds, N. Leggat, S. Leggat, A. Lovegrove (capt.), K. Simmonds.

2nd XI Girls' Hockey The 2nd XI captain had many happy and proud memories of the team's achievements and experiences from the 1996 season. The fact that the team notched up only three wins bears no resemblance to the performances and effort of all who took part. Every player always gave 100% and approached the games with a positive attitude. On several occasions we had the opposition clinging on for a draw, with Ellen Midwood, Kiralie Pares, Lucy Wilmott and Liz Bailey supporting well in defence and Martine Davies, Emily Roberts and Sophie Willdridge forcefully attacking. Clare Shaw, Anna Blest, Romy Hukins and Clare Parkinson all proved valuable in mid-field. We must not forget Melissa Saggers (Beatie), our trusty goalie, who saved many a match from defeat. Special thanks must go to Anne

The Suttonian 1997

Wilkinson, without whose encouragement, support and endless patience, we would not have achieved so much. Half colours were awarded to Belinda Upton; 2nd XI Colours were awarded to Liz Bailey, Martine Davies, Ellen Midwood, and Emily Roberts.

ter a superb move out of defence and using virtually every player in the team. Colours were awarded to Lucy Hendry, Sophie Moore, Charlotte Foreman and Caroline Woods. Congratulations on an excellent season.

Belinda Upton V (Captain).

S. A. Boddy.

Under 15 Girls' Hockey

Under 13 Girls' Hockey

The season started in August with fitness training in preparation for a competitive term. Some matches proved fairly easy and the 11-0 victory over Dover College was a good initial confidence booster, with Catherine Birch, Alexa Carmichael, Holly Fletcher and Katie Gornall all among the goals. Another victory followed, this time not so easy, in the A.E.W.H.A. cup against Christ's Hospital. Unfortunately we were knocked out in the next round to a very experienced team from Bancroft's School. Sadly the losing streak was not over, and a very disappointing 5-1 loss to King's, Canterbury followed. Fortunately, the team at this stage decided they had had enough of losing and defeated Cranbrook, always a very competitive fixture, with an emphatic 4-1 victory. Ashford also let four goals in and although losing 2-1, the match against Kent College, Canterbury proved to be one of the toughest and most exciting games of the season, and showed a the true fighting spirit which we had worked towards all season. Catherine Birch (capt.), Holly Fletcher and Pippa West all thoroughly deserved their colours, as did the U14s who played regularly: Alexa Carmichael, Jenny Vincent, Katie Gornall and Harriet StaintonJames. Congratulations go especially to Alexa and Jenny who have been selected for the Kent under 16 team.

The under 13 hockey team began the season with little experience, and having lost two matches to the snow, found that they faced the traditionally strong DCPS in what was for most of the team their first hockey match. They were down 2-0 at half time but a second half show of determination resulted in a final score of 2-1. The second match was to prove even tougher, resulting in a 1-0 loss to Wellesley House; however, the determination and refusal to give up proved that this team would soon achieve deserved success. This came in the St Edmund's tournament where the team achieved third position, having once again lost 1-0 to Wellesley House in the group round. Clearly Wellesley House were to be the `grudge' match of the term as they also stopped our progress in the County championship. We won our group convincingly, beating St Lawrence College, Sir Roger Manwood's and Highworth (among others) in the process, and in the semi-final beat Kent College, Canterbury. In the triangular final we were unlucky to lose to Bromley School and once again to Wellesley House, the eventual champions. This was to be the last experience of defeat for this team, however, who went on to record good victories against Sevenoaks (7-1) and Vine Hall, and then finished off the season by becoming Maidstone and District champions. Clearly outstanding progress was made by this team, and they are already developing into a fine playing unit, ably led by Emma Cockburn and her vice captain Sarah Lacey. It was very appropriate that the whole team should be awarded colours. Emma Cockburn and Kate Richardson have since been selected for next year's Kent under 14 team, and Charlotte Blunsdon only narrowly missed out on a place. I hope that they will maintain their enthusiasm next year and I look forward to seeing them again as under 15s!

S. A. Boddy.

Under 14 Girls' Hockey The under 14s had a very successful season wining most of their matches. The defence was always reliable with either Suzanne Day or Jennifer Vincent in goal, and the almost unbeatable line up of Charlotte Foreman, Caroline Woods, Sophie Moore and Georgina Ferris in front, especially when Georgie did up her shoe laces! Some important victories were recorded, particularly beating St Lawrence College 10-0, but the highlight of the season was the 1-0 victory over Maidstone Girls' Grammar School in the final of the Maidstone and district cup, with the winning goal scored by captain Lucy Hendry af-

We were represented by the following: Emma Cockburn (capt.), Sarah Lacey (vicecapt.), Isabel Clague, Hannah Selway, Alice Sargent, Kate Richardson, Zara Hosford, Charlotte Blunsdon, Freddie Posnette, Katie Horne, Holly Stamp, Harriet Blest. S. A. Boddy.

The Szittoniaii 1997

1st XI Boys' Hockey

played on the right wing where he gave some superb passes and took up some super positions: the Potentially, the 1st XI was reasonably strong and worth of a good hockey brain. Martin was to be we had a squad of some seventeen players, includ- `man of the tour' in Mexico and his hockey ability ing three goal keepers, any one whom could play took him into the realms of civilisation, for he came for the team. Somebody was going to be disap- to look every bit the hockey player. pointed. Bijan Shahrad was expected to play on the However, as things turned out, inexperience, left wing, but he broke an arm and did not particisnow and 'flu were to be our downfall. We were pate until late in the season. This position, the not to have a full team out until after half term; other wing and the two centre forwards were taken one Saturday we had eight out of forty six senior up by a number of different people at different hockey players available for three XIs. I have of- times. Tim Jordan, who also played as an excelten said that 1st XI players are not allowed to be lent defender in Mexico, has speed on his side. ill, but this virus was no respecter of status and it when the muscles allow, and now with greater exis very difficult to get a settled team who know perience and ability will make a good member of how to play with each other when four or five play- next year's team. Tim Watts, who leaves, is another ers, in rotation, are either down with, going down with great speed but lacked the experience to know or recovering from illness. Still it gave all sorts of quite what to do when he had taken himself into people 1st XI experience (not that we enjoyed it space. Tom Janes can turn on a sixpence as long very much). Before this there was the snow. as he's not moving forwards, and was too often inWe started with an encouraging 1-2 loss to clined to frustration, but he is a determined and Chatham House and then struggled, with morale dedicated competitor and can be relied upon to getting lower and lower up to and beyond half term. work hard. Will Hodson, who also played right midIt was a term of hockey to be forgotten, even though field, is another elegant player, but leaves one feelwe sometimes played well. We were sound in de- ing that there is something missing. Perhaps it is fence, but never really looked like scoring goals. peripheral vision, perhaps confidence, but he wants The inevitable would happen; the opposition would to do well and one of these days will do just that. score and we could see the team saying, `Oh well, Tom Morgan, a 5th former, too often has his head looks like another defeat'. We would continue to down and is not strong enough in the tackle, but fight, but it would be increasingly lacklustre. he'll learn, because he wants to. Still, we have next season and many of us Then there were the mid-field players, some had the tour of Mexico to look forward to.....things of whom have been mentioned above. On the right, are never all bad! Matthew Day, also a boy in the 5th form, unfortuWe had three good goalkeepers to use, and nately never really recovered from 'flu and so did it just turned out that last year's keeper, Matt not reach the standards that we frustratingly knew Sabine, had 'flu for the first weeks of term and so he could; and captain, Peter Posnette. As far as Robert Gladwin came into the 1st XI. Robert played work-rate and enthusiasm go, Peter led by examextremely well, and it must have been particularly ple, working extremely hard and showing, at times, disheartening for him, the last line, seeing so many quite remarkable skill. Frustration, as with other unstoppable goals going in. The same, I know, went players, did let him down at times, but I most cerfor the two centre defenders, little and large, Chris tainly thank Peter for the help he gave me and for Boon and Chris Thomson, both of whom played the effort that he put in, both on and off the pitch, extremely well in their very different ways. They through what was, for all, a most difficult and frusseemed to be outnumbered on occasions and would trating season. look in desperation as another wave of marauding Next season should be better; we lose four opponents rushed towards them. of those mentioned here and all those who remain The wide defenders were a combination of have certainly grown in stature and experience as Ben Sunnucks, George Horton and Martin Slat- far as their hockey is concerned. We can but hope. tery, depending on fitness. Ben's tackling and workrate significantly improved this year and, as he J. La R. Posnette. was originally an attacking player, he certainly We were represented by the following: gave us a little extra dimension down the right. Robert Gladwin, George Horton, Peter PosFitness and speed were never on his side, but I nette (capt.), Martin Slattery, Chris Boon, Chris was pleased with the way he played. Thomson, Ben Sunnucks, Tim Jordan, Will HodFor the other two, on the left, there was lit- son, Matthew Day, Tim Watts, Tom Janes, Bijan tle to choose: George, elegant and a little too ten- Shahrad, Tom Chantry, Tom Morgan, James Partative, Martin dashing and looking rather like the rett, Matthew Sabine. converted rugby player that he was. In fact, I remember perhaps one of George's best games was

The Suttonian 1997 Representatives: Kent U16 XI: Matthew Day Kent U19 XI and South-East U19 XI: Peter Posnette

2nd XI Boys' Hockey With a snowy, cold start to the season, practice time was rather limited. Unfortunately a flu epidemic then swept across the school decreasing the number of available players so the team list changed substantially over the first three games. Apart from poor showings against Hurstpierpoint and Eastbourne, I feel that the team acquitted themselves very well. Very solid defence came from the stick (and occasionally the foot) of Phil Day. Ian Harrison and Neil Bennett also both played well at the back, and were joined by George Horton, who replaced Nick Hoult after half-term. Our midfielders, Christian Santo and James Parrett, both played in almost every match, with James scoring two good goals. Up front, the season began with James Reynolds, the captain, on the right wing, Tom Janes and Tom Chantry as strikers, and Andrew O'Donovan on the left wing. The line up changed over the season to Tim Watts and Tom Morgan as two very good strikers, and Tom Chantry moving to the left wing - he was good in that position even though he didn't enjoy it! Finally our goalies - Matt Sabine and Umang Patel - both did very well in defending the goal against some very strong teams. Other players were Ben Pratten (defence) and Matthew Walker (midfield/attack). The goal scorers were Tom Chantry (2), James Parrett (2), Tim Watts (2), and James Reynolds (1). Our thanks go to Mr Piper for his encouragement and support. James Reynolds M. P7 W1 D1 L5

Under 15 Boys' Hockey The U15s had a mixed season. They possess a number of players who are very talented but one feels that they were always two or three players short of being a very good team. Ultimately they were missing a player who could score regularly from open play and the defence was always vulnerable to pace. Simon Knowles lacked consistency in goal. He would make some brilliant saves and then let in a simple

shot which was frustrating for all. However he is brave when coming off his line and a good shot stopper and has the potential to do well. In defence Alex Hargrave-Smith, Matthew Dadd and Minesh Patel at times played well but lacked experience and too often their positional play was poor. Michael Dumenil was like a rock in defence, often making vital tackles and hitting the ball to clear his lines. The mid-field trio of Ben Palmer, James Thorn and Ian Fraser was blessed with enormous amounts of skill. Ben and James's distribution was good, which created many chances for the team, but all too often the opposition were bigger and seemed a yard faster or were stronger in the tackle. All that will change next year. Ian Fraser must learn that hockey is a team game, and instead of going round and round in circles with lots of fancy stick work, a short pass will often achieve greater results. However these three have great potential and I look forward to monitoring their progress in the coming years. The forwards lacked pace and all too often the final pass wasn't accurate enough. Richard Bradstock on the right wing must work on his speed and stickwork if he is to trouble defences. Tom Parkin often came back too far to search for the ball and made it too easy for opposition defences. He is a skilful player with a good shot but until he learns to listen to what coaches tell him, he will not progress far. James Gulland played well at times but must improve his skill level next year if he is to test defences. J. H. Kittermaster.

Under 14 Boys' Hockey This was a side which lacked basic resources of both pace and skill, so it struggled in most of the school matches. They nonetheless made very pleasing progress through the season, gaining a well-deserved victory in the final match against Skinner's and giving a good account of themselves in the International U14 Tournament at Sutton Valence. The most outstanding players were Hatch and Johnston. Hatch, the captain, set an admirable example of sportsmanship, dignity and hard work; he also showed considerable skill in midfield and, as he becomes quicker, he should develop into a fine player. Without Johnston, the goalkeeper, many a narrow defeat would have become embarrassing; he has quick reactions and a calm assessment of when to come out of goal. In attack, Jones showed that he has a powerful shot, while the two novices in the game of hockey, Wroclawski and Park, showed consider-

The Suttonian 1997

able pace, competitiveness and rapidly developing skills; they should eventually become very useful players. Willdridge showed skill and gradually became more of a force as his commitment improved. Nickolls also showed skill and enthusiasm but, as yet, lacks the pace to be really competitive as a winger. In midfield, Sayer showed considerable skill; as he gains in pace and stamina, he should become a fine player. Dennison also made a valuable contribution in this area. In defence, Lyon, Hunt and the consistently improving Groom all made valuable contributions, as did the tenacious Richardson. Russell produced some formidable clearances at key moments. This was hardly, then, a vintage season, but, even in the face of defeat, there was a marked improvement in team spirit as the season progressed, and one feels that some valuable foundations were laid for the future. C. W. W. Wilson.

Under 12 & 13 Boys' Hockey This was one of our most successful seasons. Many talented Under 12s arrived and we have great hopes for next year. James Vooght, Piers Roberts, Greg Olson, Ben Cole and Ashley Wragg are among those with considerable potential. Joe Wyatt-Jones (U13s) proved a quick learner after a switch to playing in goal half-way through the term. Others made good progress, foremost among whom must be counted James Kent.

Honours were even over the whole season, with three wins and three defeats; we also took part in the Kent Under 13 seven-a-side tournament and reached the quarter final before losing 5-4. M. P. Dunn.

Netball The season began in September for the Under 12 and Under 13 teams. Both year groups were very keen and played a match every Wednesday. The Under 12 team, who were mainly `exports' from Underhill, played fifteen matches, of which they lost only one â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and even then they were just two goals behind the opposition. The Under 13s enjoyed continued success from last year by winning thirteen out of their fourteen matches, and winning ways were also continued by the Under 14s, who won all but one match; this was due to injury and having to play with one team member short. Mixed fortunes were had by the Under 15 team, who won four games and lost four. The school's 2nd VII are to be congratulated on their season's performance of seven wins and three losses. This team consisted of Liz Bailey, Clare Parkinson, Georgina Mear, Martine Davies, Emma Wills, Lucy Simmonds and Lucy Willmott. And so to the 1st VII. The inclement weather at the beginning of the year disrupted the fixtures, with the first two matches of the season being postponed; training schedules were also interrupted as a result. This showed in the first

The Suttonian 1997 few matches played, as the team performed indifferently and somewhat counter to our expectations. However, after some `barking' and cajoling to the shooters, Sarah Leggat and Katie Simmonds, to practise daily (or thereabouts), the evidence of improvement was apparent in subsequent matches. The centre court players, Amy Lovegrove and Rebecca Lacey, worked consistently throughout the season, and their endless energy and enthusiasm contributed greatly to the team's success. In the defence zone the experience of Katy Slaughter proved invaluable in holding the team together. In her role as captain she encouraged some excellent play from our new 1st VII player, Nicola Leggat, who has now taken over the position of Goal Keeper. Klaire Webber's agility in Goal Defence has to be mentioned as the last piece of the jigsaw which made up a successful team. In summary I look forward to next season, as the nucleus of the team will be the same and I will expect an undefeated side! E. P. Cornell.

The Netball Season: The Captain's Report At the start of the netball season, Nicola Leggat was not at all willing to play the position of GK, which we all knew would be the best position for her. It took some persuasion before she finally accepted the position and I doubt that she would budge now, especially as she turned out to be a spectacular defender. Klaire Webber proved to be a good GD, and has learnt how to play quickly in a 1st VII netball team. Amy, although feeling somewhat shorter than most of her opponents, had no trouble playing WA as she was very speedy and could dart here, there and everywhere! Rebecca was always the one who kept a cool head during our matches and showed some impressive throwing and catching skills. Katie Simmonds, despite being distracted by the endless shouting of `height' from Mrs Cornell, improved greatly throughout the season. Sarah was the other shooter who felt that Welsh screeches of `height' actually helped her, so by the end of the season she had the whole team shouting in Welsh accents, in order for her to be able to get all of her shots in! It gave me great pleasure to captain such an enthusiastic team this year, and I wish everyone good luck for next year. Katy Slaughter H.

Cross Country Usually the weather dictates the start of the cross country season. This year was no exception. Deep snow severely curtailed our initial training and caused us to miss the Knole run. Cross country at Sutton Valence is not easily stopped by adverse weather. Hockey may not be played when the ground is too soft and rugby is called off when it is too hard. Cross country runners do it in all weathers. Our pupils are quite happy to run through deep snow and enjoy being out when the temperature is below zero. However, as the school was shut, they did not have the opportunity! Our first fixture was at King's Rochester. A small but very select group of runners represented the school. Whilst the team lacked strength in depth, several of our runners immediately demonstrated that they had considerable ability. Matthew Wooderson began what was to be a very successful season culminating in the award of full colours. Stephen Collins demonstrated that he had matured into a very strong and capable runner as did Geoffrey Willoughby and Alex Long. I was pleased to award them half colours in recognition of their contribution to sport at Sutton Valence. Our outstanding runner this year was undoubtedly Nikki Scott. She was selected to run for Kent at the Southern Counties Cross Country race held over half term at Southampton. Having performed most effectively she went on to represent Kent at the English Schools' Cross Country Championships where she acquitted herself well. She fully deserved the award of full colours given to her at half term. Our other girls continued to impress with their commitment and ability. Jo Woods was always keen, and a very valuable member of the girls' team. Despite the younger girls' having to compete against much older runners, Emma Cockburn and Sophie Thomas did extremely well. Amongst the younger male runners Ross Carmichael, Steven Hebblethwaite, Christopher Coltella and James Chapman all ran well in their respective age groups. They were awarded colours for their performances throughout the season. I must say that I enjoyed the company of the runners this year. There is something special about a sport where the staff can compete and train with the pupils in such a direct way. I think that this year's group was one of the most sociable that I have had the pleasure to run with. I would also like to thank the staff for their contribution this year. Mike Jillians warrants a special mention. His commitment and dedication to the sport are obvious to all who have the honour of running with him. D. E. Clarke.

The Suttonian 1997

Fives When I was given my list of fives players in the latter part of the Michaelmas term I fully expected to be able to put out two senior IVs this season. Alas! It wasn't to be; most of them found other things to do like swimming or drama. (A very liberal attitude prevails at the school these days.) However, there were two occasions when I thought that I would be able to put out a senior IV — against Tonbridge and Christ's Hospital — and I went ahead with those two fixtures only to find on both occasions that, when the day came, I was one short. For the Tonbridge game I was able to borrow Edward Kentish-Barnes — an O.S. finishing his schooling at Tonbridge — but against Christ's Hospital I had to borrow a complete stranger from them. We lost both matches. Although there were about a dozen under 16s regularly at the courts, they showed little inclination to play at all seriously and it certainly wasn't worth trying to get any matches for them. That left me with three fourth formers, one of whom had played last year, three third formers, all of them new to the game, and a few from Forms one and two when I could get hold of them. From this small group I was able to produce a junior IV who lost to Alleyn's and to Christ's Hospital, but who beat Tonbridge and Eastbourne. The youngest two of them also played in the National Under 13 Championships at St. Paul's and, although they didn't come away with any trophies, they were certainly as good as many of the youngsters there from other schools and were better than some. With virtually nothing at the top next year and with rather too few in each of the lower age groups, times are going to be hard, but I hope to keep the flag flying at the National Championships where, in addition to the under 13 category already referred to, there are also under 14, under 16 and open categories. The inter-house competition didn't take long to complete and was won by Lambe's. M. F. Beaman. Junior IV: P4 W2 L2 Senior IV: P2 W 0 L2

1st XI Cricket The season started with pre-season training for three days. The squad appeared to be quite strong this year and after the three days of training looked really good, but unnecessarily threw the game away against the Kitbag XI after some fine batting by Matt Day and Matt Wooderson. The school

were too strong for the Diocese of Canterbury XI, beating them easily, and the first real test was against King's, Rochester on Upper. The school batted first and were getting off to a good start with the two openers Horton and Day putting on 52 for the first wicket. George Horton fell first, scoring a hard worked 27. The King's bowling attack was strong but the school batted with great determination. Matthew Day was the top scorer with 70, with Debney and Watts scoring 24 and 37 respectively. The school fielded and bowled with a great attitude but unfortunately King's reached the target within the last over. James Vincent bowled tightly, taking 2 for 48. The school's next match on 7 May was against the Forty Club. This was the first match against an adult side who are usually quite a strong team. The school fielded first and played really well, restricting the Forty Club to only 182 for 4. All the bowlers did their job in keeping the bowling tight. Ian Harrison and James Vincent were the pick of the bowlers, each taking a wicket. The school started well when batting, with Horton and Day putting on another 50 partnership, and we rescued the target easily with only three wickets down. This was the first win of the season. Again Matthew Day showed great form with the bat, scoring 102 not out. He was well supported by James Parrett who scored 23. 10 May dawned overcast and brought the school's first away game, at Dover College. We lost two early wickets and seemed to be in some difficulty, but after this early lapse, Wooderson and Debney started to pick up the pace again. Eventually the heavens opened and the match was abandoned for rain. The school had reached 102 for 2 with Wooderson unbeaten on 81. We knew that we had to be on top form to beat our next opponents, The Band of Brothers. SVS fielded first and from the opening over the 1st XI knew this was their day. They fielded and bowled with great pride and rattled through the visitors getting them all out for only 152. The most accomplished bowling performances came from Tim Watts, who took 3 for 36 off 13 overs, and Ian Harrison, who took 2 for 12 off 7 overs. The rest of the bowlers each did their job in taking wickets. The school again batted well, reaching 156 for 4 and winning by six wickets. This was a brilliant win and again Matthew Day passed fifty, scoring 81 not out, with Wooderson scoring 39. The next match was away to Maidstone Grammar School. SVS won the toss and elected to field. Again the bowlers did sterling work in restricting the home side to 102 all out. James Vincent did the damage taking 4 for 10 off 8 overs, and Matthew Wooderson also bowled well, taking 2 for 22 off 8 overs.

The Suttonian 1997 The school eventually reached the target with the last two batsmen getting the runs. Wooderson and Watts batted well, scoring 30 and 20 respectively. 21 May was a big match for the team, against the MCC. The MCC always bring a strong side so the school had to raise their standards to achieve a result in this game. The MCC batted first and notched up a good score of 211 for 6. The bowlers bowled well with Vincent taking three wickets and Michael Dumenil, on his debut, taking one wicket. The school batted well again with players getting in to the 30s (though they did then tend to get themselves out). Tim Watts hit an aggressive 65 and Richard Bradstock scored 38. After half term the first match was against a very strong side from King's, Canterbury. The school batted first and were bowled out cheaply, due to a lack of concentration, for 58. King's reached the target easily, losing only one wicket. Our next match was against another adult side, The Mote. The Mote batted first and the school bowled and fielded very well and kept them to 177 for 7. Matthew Wooderson was the best bowler, taking 4 wickets, while Michael Dumenil took 2 wickets. The school batted extremely well against a good Mote bowling attack. Again Matthew Day put up a good fight with Matthew Wooderson, scoring 81 and 50 respectively. The school fell just short, reaching 169 for 7, only nine runs short of victory. The first XI's next match was away to St Bede's. After arriving late we realized that we might have some difficulty with the pitch on which we were to play. We batted first and had to work extremely hard to get a good score. SVS ended up with 166 for 5. There were some fine batting performances in this match, including another score over 50 for Matthew Day and a well earned 32 for Frazer Debney. The school knew they had to bowl and fielded tightly to get a creditable result on such a small ground. Tim Watts and Matthew Wooderson each took wickets and put real pressure on the batsmen. Ian Harrison bowled tightly and was unfortunate not to get a wicket. St Bede's reached 123 for 7 at the at the end of a rather frustrating game. We then faced a local derby match against Bethany. The toss was won by SV, who elected to field and took advantage straight away with a wicket in the third over. Bethany were always struggling against a good bowling attack, and ended up with 133 all out. All the bowlers were on form with Vincent taking 1 for 38, Watts, 2 for 39, Wooderson 4 for 40 and Harrison 2 for 16. We batted very well, reaching 135 for the loss of only three wickets. George Horton was the best batsman on the day, scoring 67 not out, with Wooderson on 22.

Watts finished the match in style, by hitting a six and scoring 16 not out. The Old Suttonians was the next match for the school. This is always a good match with a great deal of rivalry. The school fielded first on a cold grey day. The bowling was of top standard with Matthew Wooderson taking 3 for 31 and Tim Watts and Ian Harrison taking a wicket each. The OS reached 121 for 5 when the match was abandoned due to rain. The big match of the year was against Cranbrook. After the embarrassment of last season the school were determined to do better. Sutton Valence batted first and reached 166 for 8. Again it was played on a very dull day. Matthew Wooderson batted superbly scoring 80. James Parrett and Tim Watts batted with aggression getting 26 and 25 respectively. Cranbrook then began their innings well and with a top class batting side reached 130 without any trouble. SV then started to believe in themselves and made things more difficult taking four quick wickets, two apiece for Day and Wooderson. Cranbrook slowly reached their target with some cautious batting and finished 167 for 6. The penultimate match of the season was against a very strong Headmaster's eleven. The opening batsmen, who were top class batsmen and play for Lashings, destroyed the bowling. The high point of the game was being able to watch Richie Richardson bat, with great respect to the bowlers, as he played text book shots; he was eventually caught in the slips on 60 off the bowling of Gavin Saunders. Ian Harrison bowled well, 2 for 66, with Gavin Saunders taking 2 for 26. When the school batted again there was absolutely no chance of the school winning as the bowlers were too good and dismissed our first top four batsmen cheaply. Frazer Debney was the best batsmen and hit a very good 34, with Horton and Parrett scoring 19. The school were all out for 129. The last match of the season was against a South African touring school. Sutton Valence batted first and scored 196 for 8. The batsmen found it hard to get the ball away against a good bowling attack but the middle order batsmen put on a good display, along with George Horton who scored a text book 74. Matthew Wooderson and James Parrett contributed well, scoring 37 and 38 respectively. The school then went out into the field and put on a fine display. All the bowlers bowled superbly. The best bowlers on the day were James Watson, who was unlucky not to get a wicket, and James Vincent along with Tim Watts, who both took wickets. Sutton Valence won this 40 over game keeping the visitors down to 134 for 7. This was a superb effort by the first eleven, on what was the majority of the team's last school match on Upper.

The Suttonian 1997 The 1997 season for the 1st eleven was both successful and enjoyable. There was a great deal of good cricket played throughout the season by everyone. Matthew Day achieved a great feat in scoring over 500 runs before half term. James Vincent took 28 wickets through the season and was voted coaches' player of the year. The fielder of the year went to the captain Tim Watts, for the second consecutive year. Matthew Wooderson also was selected to play for Kent this year, which is a great achievement. This proved to be a good year for eight cricketers who achieved enough wickets or runs to get into Wisden: Watts, Vincent, Day, Wooderson, Harrison, Parrett, Debney and Horton. The 1997 season ended on a high as thirteen of the cricket squad went on a three week tour to Barbados to play in the Sir Garfield Sobers international tournament. Finally, to everyone who played this season, well done on the success we achieved, and to those who will be playing in 1998, good luck. Tim Watts F.

2nd XI Cricket Due to the lack of cricketers this year the aim of the 2nd XI cricket was to ensure that everyone that wanted a game could have one. This meant that a wide range of players were capped and a surprising amount of talent was found. The lack of good weather and difficulties experienced by other schools in putting up teams meant that only two matches were played. We had a good start with Morrison and Delaney showing some good defence and a couple of nicely timed boundaries. Ross Carmichael gave us an array of skilful shots and with the help of Khanna and Gladwin we put a reasonable score on the board. In the end King's School, Rochester proved to be too strong and even though Archibald took a couple of good wickets our inexperience in the field cost us the game. Against MGS we again proved that we could bat with maturity, with the captain, Ben Morrison, supported by Gladwin, Mear, Posnette and Shelley. Once again we put an acceptable score up. Harman and Stiff showed the light-hearted side of the game with some unorthodox shots. With the loss of Archibald and Davies for this game our bowling attack was badly mauled but Mear and Gladwin got the ball to move well off a good batting track. Posnette showed his all-

round sportsmanship with a great performance behind the stumps but we lost even with a much better fielding display. It was an enjoyable season and much was learnt. Ben Morrison L.

Under 15 Cricket This was quite a talented side, especially in the batting department. Here, there were three main contributors. Bradstock, the captain, made 304 runs at an average of 60.8, including a fine century against Maidstone Grammar School; he is a fluent strokeplayer who will surely make many more runs in the future as his technique and concentration develop. Fraser, with 191 runs at 63.7, made great progress in the course of the season; though he does not have the fluency of Bradstock, he shows great powers of application, and scored runs at vital times, holding the innings together against King's, Canterbury and steering the side to its only victory against the Duke of York's. Dumenil, with 165 runs at 33.0, faded somewhat after 55 against King's, Rochester and an unbeaten 83 against Maisdstone G.S., but nonetheless shows great potential as an adhesive opening batsman and useful off-break bowler. Parkin also made important runs, especially against the Duke of York's, where his rapid 28 (including five fours and a glorious straight six) gave the innings vital impetus as the side drove towards victory. Abbott continues to show potential without really making his mark consistently. The reason why none of the four draws could be made into a win lay in serious deficiencies in the bowling. Unfortunately, the bowlers were so lacking in consistency and discipline that, in six matches, they took only 27 opposition wickets, or about 4.5 per game; the closest they came to bowling a side out was in taking seven King's, Canterbury wickets as King's chased a demanding target which we set them after they had put us in to bat. The bowlers were also far too profligate with extras; `Mr. Extras', with 38, was top scorer in the Duke of York's innings of 148-5 declared. Parkin and Patel did bowl a little more tidily than they did last season, but Bradstock, though quick and penetrative at times, must learn to bowl straighter. Abbott, though perhaps a little underused, is capable of fighting and pitching his leg-breaks almost to perfection, but he will need to do so with much greater consistency if he is to trouble good batsmen on a regular basis. One bowler who did, however, make significant and praiseworthy progress was Iles, who showed great

The Suttonian 1997 determination to develop his game and, on occasion, bowled with rhythm and consistency; he deserved many more wickets than he took. In the field, Palmer showed considerable potential behind the stumps, and also batted very capably at times. Thorn, Gulland and Christian all fielded well, and one hopes that next season they will have more opportunity to show what they can do in the bowling department: all three show enthusiasm and could well improve. HargraveSmith played in the first two matches; if he can develop a more disciplined approach to the game he could yet emerge as a useful seam bowler. Richardson also showed some potential as a spinner. Finally, thanks are due to our enthusiastic scorer, Matt Meredith. C. W. W. Wilson. P6 W1 D4 Li

Under 14 Cricket The elements - largely in the form of a good deal of wet weather - conspired to reduce the number of matches played to only four. We suffered two heavy defeats where our opponents amassed a large total batting first and then we failed to defend adequately when batting. A third match, against Maidstone Grammar School, ended as a draw with our opponents' last pair batting out the last twelve overs after we had amassed a good total and then broken through the rest of their batsmen. Against Duke of York's we batted quite well but then our bowling was poor to their opening pair who quickly scored almost all the runs needed. However, once we dismissed these two, wickets tumbled and the opponents eventually won by four wickets. The mainstay of our batting was the captain, Alex Hatch, who has a good technique and is very patient. He only accumulates runs slowly but speed of scoring will come with maturity. James Rea also batted well on occasions; Tom Wroclawski flattered to deceive but then did well in the last match. The mainstays of the bowling were Tom Wroclawski and Steven Groom, but both bowled too short too often to pin down the batsmen. Adam Whyte and Nathan Chapman also troubled the opposition. The fielding was competent rather than good and we dropped too many catches (albeit that some were quite difficult) to allow us to put opposition batsmen under pressure, the exception being James Rea who took three very good catches at square leg. N. B. V. Jones.

Under 13 Cricket Eight matches were to have been played, but rain put paid to three. Of the remaining five, we won three and lost two - a most satisfying performance from a side which contained many young players. The first game coincided with a trip to France and we were without several players who turned out to be match winners in later games. Nevertheless we did well to score 133 in reply to St. Michael's 144-2 declared. Patrick Stileman led from the front with an aggressive 53 not out. Bickley Park have often proved too strong for us and it was decided that we should play their second team. After the loss of Chapman for 33, Stileman and Cole put us into a strong position, the school declaring at 144-1. The opposition batting looked quite capable but once Chapman and Stileman broke through we ran out easy winners, dismissing the opposition for 79. Winning ways were continued against the Duke of York's. Playing without Stileman or Varnals, who were allowed to represent the U14 XI, Chapman and Husbands dismissed the opposition for 24. The school made the runs and it was decided that we should bat on. Eventually we declared at 101-7, Julians having hit a redoubtable 22. The Duke of York's fared rather better in the second innings, scoring 87, Chapman taking 3 wickets for 18 runs. The school had no difficulty knocking the few runs to win and the margin was 10 wickets. In a very strong wind, after a morning of heavy rain, we went to Bethany hoping for another win. Our bowling was poor, and the ground fielding unusually weak for a team which had begun to look as though it was a very good outfit. The opposition managed to reach 98. We could easily have lost the match. Things were not going to plan. Cole with 32 not out and Chapman with 43 not out put a stop to all the fears, scoring 102 runs to win without losing a wicket; a second 10 wicket win! They looked very assured in the process, scoring quickly, but very correctly. Against St. Ronan's we could not come to terms with the quality of the bowling by two quick, accurate lads and fine support in the field and by change bowlers. I was, nevertheless, pleased that we managed, by dint of sound technique and sturdy resolution, to last out until tea, reaching only 57 but having taken a long time to get there and denying St. Ronan's of extra time in which to knock off the runs. We took a couple of early wickets, but St. Ronan's are nothing if not a very strong side and their middle order saw them comfortably home.

The Suttonian 1997 The quality of the younger players and a changing regime of coaching next year augur well for this age group. I look forward to the future. D. Pickard. P5 W3 DO L2 We were represented by the following: Cole c, Chapman c, Varnals c, Brandreth, Parkinson, Husbands c, Julians, Kember, Worrall, Parham, Stretton, Souza, Vooght, Sutcliffe, Stileman c.

Girls' Tennis Girls' tennis at Sutton Valence is beginning to achieve some notable successes, and some of the teams this year have beaten schools far larger and nationally renowned for their tennis. Obviously this has been tremendously encouraging, but it has also been encouraging that so many girls have taken part in coaching activities, either at Maidstone tennis centre, in Portugal or in the evenings during the summer term. As a result there are new and improving players filtering through all the time, making teams very competitive. The success at every level has been due in no small part to this year's captain, Amy Lovegrove, who has impressed all with her enthusiasm and has been an example to all, especially in terms of the support and encouragement she has given to junior players. I feel sure that Katie Simmonds will do equally as impressive a job next year. 1st VI This started off as a promising season but was sadly interrupted - as with so much summer sport - by an excessive amount of rain, which resulted in cancelled matches and practices.

Unfortunately we had only a short run in the Aberdare Cup, losing to Benenden in the second round in a very close match played in appalling conditions. However there were convincing victories over Dover College, the Weald of Kent Grammar School and some very close matches against Cranbrook and St Lawrence. P5 W2 L:3 We were represented by the following: Catherine Birch '[ c, Jennifer Vincent u1-k. Katie Simmonds 'he, Rebecca Lacey he, Amy Lovegrove c, Lucy Simmonds, Jo Woods. 2nd VI It proved difficult to choose a team when so many girls were keen to play in matches, and it was therefore a different team which turned out for each match! The team met with some success but always played in the -spirit of the game and were sociable and friendly to their opponents. We were represented by the following: Jo Woods, Lucy Simmonds, Lucy Wilmott, Romy Hukins, Martine Davies, Sarah Wyatt, ('Iiris Judd, Emma Wills, Eva Schmidt, Josina von dem Bussche-Kessel. Under 15 VI This was an enormously successful term for the under 15 team, especially in terms of competition victories, and the captain Catherine Birch led by example, in one match not losing a single point! Aside from the more prominent county players, there are a number of enthusiastic players who have been the core of the team: Hannah Schofield, Beth Hukins, Pippa West, Lizzie Talbot and Holly Fletcher. Individual honours went to Catherine Birch and Jenny Vincent for winning the Bedgebury tour-

irk

The Under 15 Midland Bank Tennis team

The Suttonian 1997 nament, but the highlight of the term was beating Sevenoaks to become Kent Midland Bank under 15 champions. The team of Catherine Birch, Jenny Vincent, Katie Horne and Katie Gornall now go on to play the Sussex champions, Brighton and Hove High School, in September. P13 W 10 L3 Colours: Beth Hukins, Hannah Schofield. Under 14 VI The under 14 team has been a group of keen and enthusiastic players, many inspired by a week in Portugal during the Easter holidays (on which see the separate report in `Trips and Tours'). They have approached all their matches with the same positive but relaxed manner and have achieved considerable success. Katie Gornall is to be congratulated on the award of Colours. P6 W4 L2 We were represented by the following: Katie Gornall c, Caroline Woods, Alexa Carmichael, Sophie Moore, Georgie Ferris, Harriet Stainton-James, Suzanne Day. Under 13 and Under 12 VIs The success of these teams this year has been highly impressive and demonstrates the depth of talent at Sutton Valence. Ably led by Katie Horne, the under 12 team was unlucky to lose in the semifinal of the Kent Knockout Cup, played in driving rain at DCPS in the penultimate week of term, already having beaten Invicta Grammar School and Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School. In the under 13 Midland Bank competition, the girls won their group, beating St. Edmund's and Dover Girls' Grammar School and lost to the eventual Kent Champions, Sevenoaks, in the semifinal. Katie Horne and Sarah Lacey also won the Bedgebury tournament. P8 W6 L2 We were represented by the following: Sarah Lacey ul3c, Kate Richardson ul3c, Katie Horne ul2c and Amy Fowler ul2c. S. A. Boddy.

Boys' Tennis 1st VI Unfortunately we were only able to play four matches due to bad weather conditions. The season began well with a good win over Kent College by 5'/2 to 3'L. There was very little difference between the performance of our three pairs, as dem-

onstrated by the fact that the third pair beat their first pair, who then went on to defeat our own first pair. The only problem was to select the correct pairings. Our next match against King's, Rochester was an easy 7-2 victory; in fact, one of the matches lost was forfeited due to the disappearance of our second pair. The match against Dover College provided us with an even easier victory over opposition whom we had not beaten in the past ten years. We won 9-0. The last match against St Lawrence College, whom we have not beaten in the last nine years, was regrettably thrown away by every pair, who all contrived to play some of their worst tennis of the year. We consequently lost the match 9-0. The first pair of Ben Sunnucks and Martin Slattery could at times play some very good tennis but on occasions they would `go walkabout' and perform well below their capabilities. The second pair of Matthew Walker and Will Hodson played a good standard of tennis throughout the season (excusing their performance against St Lawrence College). They played their best tennis at the net where Will Hodson was very authoritative. Matthew is an aggressive player but must learn to curb his outbursts. The third pair of Jeremy Parkinson and Chris Kirby-Higgs lost only four matches out of twelve, which is extremely good for a third pair. Their game was characterised by some gritty baseline play from Jeremy and stunning winners from Chris, who does, however, need to learn to be more consistent. We were represented by the following: J. Parkinson (capt.) c, M. Walker '/2 c, C. KirbyHiggs 'bc, M. Slattery c, B. Sunnucks c, J. Hagedorn '/2 c, W. Hodson. 2nd VI The Second VI enjoyed themselves and there were some promising players for the future. I was very pleased with the gutsy and fully committed performances of Nick Hoult and Tom Morgan, who with a little more experience and coaching could improve greatly. Andrew O'Donovan is a very keen and aggressive player with an excellent eye for the ball. Ben Pratten always looks good; nevertheless, he needs to develop an inner confidence which will then enable him to make full use of his skills. Tom Maginnis was a determined player who did not like losing. Ben Mear was a stylish player who with a little more effort probably could have made the first team. Jon Hagedorn was an outstanding U13 player from Germany who was only here for one term. Arthur de Soultrait was a good player who needs to improve his consistency and inner nerve to become an even better player. S.K. Schofield.

1he Slittomm? 1997

Old Suttonian Association Chairman's report: OSA to receive increased funding Following a detailed review of its activities and its funding needs, the OSA committee has agreed with the School Governors a substantially improved level of funding, which will enable the Association to develop a much broader range of events and services for members. For many OS the OSA just `is'. From time to time publications appear, and some people go to the annual dinner, or play sport occasionally. Sometimes there is news of contemporaries or old friends, but little else besides. To some it is an irrelevance, or even, in a very few cases, an unwelcome reminder of times that were not `the best days of one's life'. That said, those who attend the dinner, play golf, hockey or cricket invariably thoroughly enjoy these events. Feedback from OS, either at those events, in correspondence, or via recent questionnaires, indicates a high degree of goodwill towards fellow OS and the School. The OSA committee has been reviewing what the OSA is for, and how it best serves its members, who are increasingly local to SV, as boarders have become a minority, and an increasing proportion of ladies, as the school is now fully coeducational. This has coincided with a renewed interest in the OSA from the school, and although they can exist in parallel, the relationship need not be as much at arm's length as it has been. The committee has now prepared a strategy document for the next few years, and this proposes a significant increase in activity. It is early days yet, but a crucial factor in all this is the finance. The OSA has existed for many years on shoestring budget with a dependency on people like Tubby Craven, and more recently Colin Shaw, who dedicate enormous amounts of time and hard work behind the scenes. Since membership became automatic in the mid 1970s numbers have increased sharply, but income has not kept pace. The OSA currently receives about ÂŁ3,300 annually from subscriptions for life membership and the investment income from a ÂŁ35,000 investment portfolio. This does not represent a great deal, and is easily swallowed by the costs of publications and mailing to 3,000 people as well as scholarships, prizes, and funding guests at the dinner. We have now agreed a significantly improved funding formula with the Governors and the School. as the actual collection is via School

fees. This should help to achieve a fivefold increase in subscription over the next four years. The intention is to use the increased funding in a number of ways, including: - Supporting a wider range of events, both geographically and by age range; - Regular updated membership directories and skills directory; - Developing and supporting more sporting activity. There is still no significant amount of ladies' sport, and we can offer financial assitance in the early stages of development; - Improving the amount and types of award to young OS; - Part time employment of an experienced senior secretary to assist the officers and others in the administrative aspects of their jobs. Fewer people appear to have the inclination to volunteer to assist with organizations like the OSA. By employing someone in a support role it will enable those who wish to be involved not to have to spend valuable spare time hacking around with detailed administration. Their contribution can then be their ideas rather than their labour. I outlined these proposals at the annual dinner in May and am pleased to say that it has already borne fruit, with two OS in their early 20s having indicated a willingness to get involved. It is early days. Over the coming months it is planned to create a number of working groups to supplement the existing committee. Each will prepare a programme of activity, budgets etc. The only reason for doing this is to provide something valuable to members of the OSA so any suggestions (preferably polite!) will be gratefully received. Desmond High (1973 F.

Officers and Committee of the OSA President: P.WGrafton (1933 M Hon. Secretary: D.J. McBride (1988 C) Hon. Treasurer: T.C. Smith (1974 M) Hon. Dinner Secretary: E.J. Evans (19)53 W Hon. Auditor: T.A.S. Butler (1960 W ) Hon. Keeper of Records: C.R.G.Shaw (1955 W ) Committee: E.D.G. Bunker (1954 Mt: D.C.F.High (1973 F. Chairman; I.F. Kay (1941 M); M.A.Maberly (195)5 F); N.T. Richards (1967 F); S.Townshend (1981 W)

The Suttonian 1997

O.S.A. AGM and Dinner, 1997 The AGM of the OSA was held at the Savile Club on Friday, 16th May 1997. D.C.F. High (1973 F) was in the Chair. Members stood in silence for those who had died in the previous year. All the Officers were re-elected except J.M. Wheeler (1978 M) who had resigned as Hon. Treasurer; his place was taken by T.C. Smith (1974 F). Three new VicePresidents of the Association were elected: J.H.Gray (1939 M), who has been a Trustee of the Association for many years, E.J. Evans (1953 W), the present Hon. Dinner Secretary, and C.R.G. Shaw (1955 W), the present Hon. Keeper of Records and Deputy Headmaster at the School. Reports were made on finances, membership, sport and social events. After the AGM some seventy-five members and guests sat down to dinner. A splendid evening was enjoyed, during which Sam Hignett (Head of School) proposed the Toast of the School, and the Headmaster responded with a report on the year. An auction was held at the end of the Dinner to raise funds for the School's Cricket XI which was touring Barbados in the summer. Nearly ÂŁ2,000 was raised thanks to the generosity of those present. The Association is extremely grateful to N.C. Storey (1980 M), the Secretary of the Savile Club, for allowing us to use the Club for the Dinner.

O.S. News Earlier in the year Victoria Moon (1993 V) was one of the co-directors of the Thallein Ensemble at the Birmingham Conservatoire; this involved putting on a series of four musical concerts performed by students at the Conservatoire. Kathryn Hannah (1993 V) has just completed her third year at Newcastle University, where she is studying Fine Arts. She spent a year in Italy prior to going up, learning Italian and studying the culture of the country. We came across a picture of Mark Hiskett (1972 C) recently; he is second in command of the First Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers with the rank of Major. We have heard from a number of OS who have offered their services as contacts in various places around the world. One of these is Michael Smallman (1961 W) who is happy to be a contact in Northern Ireland, having lived there for a number of years. It was good to meet up with Christopher Holloway (1950 M) at one of the school's Open days last year. Chris is Professor of Tourism Management at the Business School of the University of

the West of England at Bristol. He enjoyed a nostalgic look round the school. Alan Jones (1957 M) came to watch his daughter play hockey for King's School, Canterbury, against Sutton Valence. Alan is Chief Executive of B.I.C.C. and lives in Somerset. The Kent and Sussex Courier recently carried an article about Stephen Hopkins (1975 L). Stephen is based in Hollywood as a film director. He studied Graphic Art at the London College of Printing, then was involved with videos, including one on Elton John, before turning to the world of films. He was co-director of Highlander and also Nightmare on Elm Street V. Since then he has gone solo with The Ghosts and the Darkness, starring Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer. Another OS in the world of entertainment is Peter Polycarpou (1975 C) who is best known for his role as Chris in Birds of a Feather. Peter had a part in the film Evita and had the privilege of dancing with Madonna, the star of the film. A picture appeared in the Times with the Princess Royal, President of the British Olympic Association, talking to Dr Neil Townshend (1973 F) Vice-Chairman of the BOA. Neil is himself an Olympian, having represented Great Britain in the bobsleigh event. Major Mark Dodson (1978 M) had a posting in Hong Kong and was one of the last servicemen to leave when the colony reverted to the Republic of China. He is now a Lieutenant Colonel based at the Permanent Job HQ in Northwood, Middlesex. After completing his PPE course at the University of York, Michael Schmidt (1993 W) spent a year in Russia studying Russian. He has been working part-time for the German World Service Radio station, before going up to the University of Warwick to read for an M.A. in International Political Economy. Kevin Dunne (Master 1985-87) is still teaching Modern Languages at Ampleforth College, where he is in charge of Spanish and teaches French. He also runs the Squash and helps with Tennis. There was a long article about Charlie Gooch (1973 F) in the Daily Telegraph. Charlie has lived on the estate of Boughton Monchelsea House all his life and has been the owner for the last seven years. He is now seeking to sell the estate as he finds the cost of running and maintaining the buildings a great strain on his family as well as his finances. John Payn (1951 M) wrote to tell us about his visit to Althorne Church in Essex where the Rev. Henry Mawson Milligan (Headmaster 184862) was the vicar after resigning from Sutton Valence. John was looking for the grave of Henry Milligan and his first wife Mary and encountered

The Suttonian 1997 a lady who knew all about the connection with SV and also knew a Dr Hirst whose son, Peter (1976 M) had been a pupil at the school. She pointed out various features of the church built on by Henry Milligan which correspond with the description by Blatchley-Hennah in the Short History of Sutton Valence School that Milligan was `his own architect at Althorne'. We have heard from Tom Hodson (1992 W) about his years at Sheffield University. In addition to gaining his B.Eng. followed by an M.Sc. (Eng), Tom was involved with the British Universities' Ski Council and helped to organise the British Universities' Ski Championships at Les Arcs in 1995. He is a member of the Institute of Civil Engineers. Giles Sequeira (1988 C) has brought us up to date with his news. After graduating from Portsmouth University in 1992, Giles joined Davies Chartered Surveyors to begin his professional training, moving to Catella UK in 1995. Last year he was admitted as an associate member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Earlier this year Giles was granted the Freedom of the City of London and, to the best of his knowledge, is still the youngest Freeman. He would be happy to act as a mentor to pupils considering a career in property and might be able to help with holiday work experience. John Lynch (1953 W) has just retired from the Probation service and is enjoying it immensely. He counts himself lucky as he was diagnosed as having the early stages of Parkinson's disease, but thanks to medication it has not developed. He and his wife enjoy spending time in France and John is pleased to say that his French has improved considerably from what it was when he was at SV. We have heard from Peter Scott-Wilson (1974 M), who, having left the school with no scientific credentials, is now Senior Research Scientist at Baker Hughes INTEQ drilling fluids Engineering and Product department in Aberdeen. He is also enrolled on an M.Sc. by distance learning at Bath University (Integrated Environmental Management). This will add to an impressive list of qualifications: B.A. in German Studies from University of Southampton; PGCE (TEFL) from Leicester University; Post Graduate Diploma in French Teaching from the University of Kent; and Oil Industry Certification (Drilling Fluid Technology) from Baroid CDC, Texas. Roger Batten (1953 W) writes to congratulate us on the Skills Directory (we have had many such letters; thank you for your kind words which are much appreciated). He is in his second year as Chairman of the International Cost Engineering Council; he has already been to Oslo, Singapore, Dallas and Reykjavik, with future meetings

planned for Paris, Milan and Johannesburg. Roseanna Smitherman-Cairns (nee DeningSmitherman, 1987 V) has written to give us all her news. After leaving school she went to Roehampton Institute, University of Surrey, from which she graduated in 1991 with B.Sc. (lions) 2.1 in Psychology. She worked as a Head Injury Rehabilitation Assistant at the Ticehurst Head Injury Unit and then travelled through Africa for six months. In 1993 Roseanna started a postgraduate Master's degree in Speech and Language Therapy at the City University, London, graduating in 1995. She then spent a year in New Zealand, having visited that country on several occasions to be with her fiance. In 1996 she returned to marry New Zealander John Cairns, who works as a chartered accountant for Coopers and Lybrand in London (see Marriages). Roseanna is now working as a Speech and Language Therapist in a Behavioural Head Injury Unit at St. Andrew's Hospital, Northampton. We wish her well for the arrival of their first child in January 1998 when they will be moving back to Kent. The information in the Skills Directory is useful in more than one way, says Michael Witt (1976 W), as it enables one to contact old friends. He is working for British Airways after starting out on the path to be a pilot at the age of 25, never having been near an aeroplane before that. He would be happy to give advice to anyone wishing to follow in his footsteps. C.R.G. Shaw.

Chapel Memorials Recently two Memorial Plaques have been dedicated in the Chapel. After the Leavers' Service on 27th June 1997, a plaque was dedicated by the Chaplain, Revd Dr John Watson, to the memory of Brian Day (Master 1973-91), fcrmerly Head of Modern Languages and Housemaster of Holdgate House. Appropriately his son, Philip, who was leaving the school, spoke eloquently about his father; Brian's widow, Linda, and their two daughters, Catherine (1993 V) and Suzanne, who is now in Form 4, were also present. On 2nd September 1997, the second full day of the Autumn Term, a plaque commemorating the life of Richard Horn (Master 1953-85), formerly Head of Modern Languages and Housemaster of Westminster, was dedicated by the Chaplain above the seat in the Choirstalls which Richard had used during the last years of his life. The address was given by Keith Smith (Master 1968-93). Richard's widow, Margaret (nee Scott-Wilson) was present with her daughter-in-law, wife of Dr Nicholas Horn

The Suttonian 1997 (1974 F), and one of her grandchildren. Others in attendance were Roger Douglas (Master 1953-88), Robert Coutts (Master 1953-77) and Michael Beaman (1952 W, Master 1962-92). I am sure that all OS who remember either of these dedicated schoolmasters will be pleased that their dedication to the school has been recognised in this way.

Births COLLINS: On 15 July 1997, to Lorrae and Paul Collins (Master since 1995), a daughter, Kathryn. BROOME: On 16 July 1997, to Julie and Steven Broome (Master since 1987), a son, Harry, a brother for Ella. WILSON: On 11 August 1997, to Jenny and Bill Wilson (Master since 1984), a son, Christopher, a brother for Ruth.

Marriages CAIRNS - DENING-SMITHERMAN: On 14 September 1996, at the Church of the Holy Cross, Woking, John Cairns to Roseanna Dening-Smitherman. James Bills (1987 W), Rob Harrison (1987 L) and Jonathan Worsfold (1987 L) were Ushers and other OS present were Simon Palmer (1987 W) and his wife Natasha (nee Page, 1987 V), Rebecca Moore (nee Haywood, 1987 V), Bretton Smith (1987 W), Giles Sequeira (1988 C), Ian Betts (1987 L), Matthew Warner (1984 L) and Kate Harrison (1989 V).

Letter From Bob Chance Many, many thanks to those eight Old Suttonian Cricketers [there was a full XI] who made the effort to travel to Sutton Valence for the first day of the Cricket Week to play for the Old Suttonians against my selected XI. Despite the intensity of the hot humid climate, their accumulated presence made the day a very friendly occasion inevitably full of nostalgia, as reminiscences flooded in and amusing stories were exchanged late into the evening. It was a delight to meet each one again, all such loyal and staunch supporters of Old Suttonian cricket since the late sixties and seventies onwards - Neil Richards, Philip Higgins, Andrew Scott, Brian Richardson, Paul Latham, Des High, Rupert Humphrey and David Foster. I relished the jovial banter that accompanied the game, as well as the somewhat bizarre nature of a certain dis-

missal at the end! I have yet to pay my dues to Neil Richards. To you all, thanks for playing. I trust we may meet again soon - perhaps in 1998.

OS Cricket In soaring temperatures and absurd humidity, the OS enjoyed another nine-day spectacular of cricket. Every match in the cricket week was won (or lost, for all the pessimists out there) and the OS were victorious on four occasions (four more than last year). Each scorecard has its own report, but here's just a brief precis of the events of the season. The School game in wet and wild June was a victim of the weather, but we tried our best to play. The OS were well placed when the rain won through. Bob's XI were despatched on the Saturday, only just managing a hundred. We seesawed to defeat on Sunday against the Scorpions, and we deserved to be well beaten. We won a nail-biter against Marden when, although they were always up against it, they gave it everything. A Wednesday morning monsoon decided the Ashford fixture - or at least the toss of the coin did! We were beaten by Sidcup, although we had our chances. We (or rather Tim Watts in his debut as OS captain) won against the Bluemantles - a real captain's innings, at just the right moment. Peter Davies's XI were also well beaten on the Second Saturday, although Peter Lampard gave us plenty to think about fielding masterclasses start next season. The final day gave us another thriller - bike race and all. Unfortunately Messrs Dixon and Golds didn't quite follow the script. The game was over in the penultimate over. What about the players? For the first time in aeons, Andrew Scott was not top of the batting - the prize going to Matt Wooderson. Without doubt the most encouraging statistic about the batting is the fact that five out of the top twelve batsmen are under 20! There was only one century in the week, scored by David Foster. The bowling figures were once again dominated by Neil Richards, with sixteen wickets in the week. His haul included two successive 'fivers', one of them against Cranbrook. But for me, the most surprising efforts in the bowling came from Tony Rutherford and Phil Higgins, with six and five wickets respectively. Our thanks must go to Mick Dodd and his team, for another superbly manicured Upper. Anne Wilkinson and team (Suzanne and Hannah) also did us proud; again there were beans aplenty. Thanks also to Tony Monckton and the Reverend Winter, who swapped Dog Collar for White Coat at a couple of games.

The Sutton icm 1997 1997 - there were laughs (Anyone for Pizza), there were tears (mainly of laughter, I grant you), but the week was enjoyable and that's the main thing. Roll on 1998! Simon Dyke.

A further view of the 1997 season Simon Dyke has, I am pleased to say, done the hard work, having prepared the summary report for the year as well as the detailed match reports and scorecards which go into the official records. For the social historians amongst, you these records date back to 1990, when OS cricket first started, and are kept in the Muninients Room at the School during the winter if anyone wishes to inspect them. His report is notable for not mentioning the Brewers' Cup. We were drawn away at Denstone (our nemesis side, having played them and lost to them about eight times) in the first round at the end of May, during half term week, and despite David Bunker's best efforts we only managed to raise eight players. A combination of family holidays, university exams, and club knockout competitions proved too much and for the first time in the 25 year history of the competition we decided to scratch. We were not alone, as the draw threw up several long distance fixtures, and it is likely to revert to a regional basis for 1998. Cricket Week was a lot of fun, as ever, and as well supported as it has been for many years. Selection was necessary for some games! I remain surprised at the numbers of players we don't see, and it is a pity so few of the Brewers' Cup stars come along, but 41 OS played this year, including a strong contingent from the School First XI, newly returned from their exploits in Barbados. The School lads (some now genuine OS) made significant contributions (Tim Watts, the 1997 School captain, was the player of the week) and I very much hope this talented squad will become the backbone of OS cricket in the years ahead. Our manager, David Bunker, travelled to and from Upper on a newly acquired scooter with a box on the back, and it was widely assumed he had started a new career delivering pizzas. It helped to create a quote of the week, credited to Rupert Humphrey. Andrew Scott asked for one of the windows over at the nearby nursing home to be closed because the reflected sunlight was shining in his eyes. David B offered to go across on the scooter. `Send somebody younger, they might not let him out!' Desmond High.

University results of OS Details of other OS' results would be gratefully received. David Harvey (F) B.Sc. (Hons) 2.1 in Rural Resource Scienceâ&#x20AC;&#x17E; University of Reading Simon Mills (W) B.A. (Hons) 2.2 in History, University of Reading Elizabeth Johnston (S) B.A. (Hons) 2.2 in American Studies (History), University of Kent Clive Harris (L) B.Eng. (Hons) 2.2 in Mechanical Engineering with Management, University of Bradford Jennifer Howells (S) B.Sc. (Hons) 2.1 in Social Psychology, Loughborough University Timothy Moll (C) B.Eng. (Hons) 3 in Automotive Engineering, Loughborough University Jonathan Churchill (W) B.A. (Hons) 2.1 in Geography, University of North London Ian Collins (F) M.Eng. (Hons) 2.1 in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College, London

OLD SUTTONIAN REUNION for leavers of 1990-98

Disco - Bar - Food Casual dress. SATURDAY, 27 JUNE 1998 8pm - 10pm Tickets cost ÂŁ10 and are available from: Shaun Schofield 01622-842128 (school), 01622-842643 (home), sks@sys.org.uk (e-mail) or Anne Wilkinson 01622-842401 (home).

The Suttonian 1997

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