Wmin Eliz05_06_test.qxd

Transcription

Left: Nick Clegg at the Elizabethan Club Dinner.
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CONTENTS
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Right: Michael Steele meeting Sophia Loren.
01273 555 822
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06
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Measuring Success Dr Stephen Spurr
Tempus Fugit Chris Silcock
Snowed Under Tori Roddy
Online Development Kate Forman
The Fund for Westminser Joff Manning
Life at the Under School in 1943
Elizabethan Club Annual Report Tim Woods
Elizabethan Club Committee
Parents’ Committee Michael Almond
Westminster School Society Michael Rugman
House Societies
Old Westminster Sports
To advertise in next year’s Elizabethan
Newsletter, please contact
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T: +44 (0)20 7963 1115
F: +44 (0)20 7963 1064
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OW IN UNIFORM
Michael Lea
Michael Steele
Tim Hare
David Neuberger
Oliver Clarke
Nicholas Hilyard
CREDITS
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Old Westminster News
Neville Walton Travel /Cultural Bursary
Neville Walton Travel /Cultural Bursary: Japan Trip Report
Oli Bennett Charitable Trust
The Stephen Lushington Prize
1968 Morocco Expedition: Remembered
OWW Abroad: Richard Pine
Daniel Topolski (OW Olympic Reflections)
John Goodbody (OW Olympic Reflections)
Obituaries and Deaths
School Store
>>ELIZABETHAN BALL<<
FRIDAY 9 JULY 2010
By kind permission of The Very
Reverend John Hall, the Dean of
Westminster, the Elizabethan Club
is delighted to announce the
‘Elizabethan Ball’.
>>LOCATION:The Abbey precincts
>>INVITATION OPEN TO:
• Old Westminsters
• The Abbey Community
• Friends of Westminster School
ADVERTISING
Head of Alumni Relations/Editor
Tori Roddy
Design
Tam Ying Wah
>>TICKETS
Available to buy online from
9 July 2009
>>FURTHER INFORMATION
For more details, see page 28
Photographs
Colin Wagg
Sandy Crole
Tori Roddy
Ed Miller
Photoshot
Printed by
The Marstan Press
HEAD MASTER’S ADDRESS AT BIG COMMEM 2008
MEASURING SUCCESS
be said that the
‘Itaimusedof atopublic
school
DR
STEPHEN
SPURR
HEAD
MASTER
A
warm welcome to you all
on behalf of myself and the
Governing Body. My theme
this evening is measuring success.
How, if at all, can we measure success,
particularly in these changing times?
When I asked the Chaplain to select a
passage from the scriptures to get me
started, he chose the intriguing text
from St Paul you have just heard.
2 Corinthians 11.16–19, 21–30
‘I repeat, let no one think that I am a
fool; but if you do, then accept me as a
fool, so that I too may boast a little.
What I am saying in regard to this
boastful confidence, I am saying not
with the Lord’s authority, but as a fool;
since many boast according to human
standards, I will also boast. For you
gladly put up with fools, being wise
yourselves! But whatever anyone dares
to boast of – I am speaking as a fool –
I also dare to boast of that. Are they
Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites?
So am I. Are they descendants of
Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of
Christ? I am talking like a madman – I
am a better one: with far greater labours,
far more imprisonments, with countless
floggings, and often near death. Five
times I have received from the Jews the
forty lashes minus one. Three times I
was beaten with rods. Once I received a
stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked;
for a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
on frequent journeys, in danger from
rivers, danger from bandits, danger from
my own people, danger from Gentiles,
danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false
brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship,
through many a sleepless night, hungry
and thirsty, often without food, cold and
naked. And, besides other things, I am
under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak,
and I am not weak? Who is made to
stumble, and I am not indignant? If I
must boast, I will boast of the things
that show my weakness.’
It used to be said that the aim of a
public school education was to produce
young people good both at a dance and
in a shipwreck. On those criteria, with
three shipwrecks to boast of, St Paul was
at least partially successful. As for dancing, like his venerable colleague, the
honorary OW St Peter, he certainly
spoke Latin, but whether he practised
it also on the dance floor is not
mentioned in the sacred texts.
Personally I rather suspect he preferred
classical or ballroom. With the
exception of King David, there is not
much about dancing and singing in
either the New or Old Testament, but
you will be pleased to know that both
are competitively performed at
Westminster, if the House singing
tournament is anything to go by, with
Liddell’s achieving well-deserved success
this year. And I know, too, that you will
praise with me the performance of both
College and the Choir tonight.
While we know nothing of St Paul’s
dancing skills, he had clearly been
imprisoned a few times, which, as
readers of Evelyn Waugh will recall, is
considered by some as a sure sign of a
successful public school education: a
success achieved by more than one illustrious OW, present company excepted
of course. As for the floggings Paul
mentions, there is no doubt that
eminent Head Masters of earlier times
keenly measured their success by a heroic number of daily beatings; Dr Busby’s
national fame being unrivalled in this
specialized accomplishment.
So, in terms of success, I think we can
readily award St Paul an A if not an A*.
But what of now? What are the criteria
for measuring success at Westminster in
these uncertain modern times; and will
those criteria have any bearing on
success in later life?
My reference to A* gives us one clue:
modern Head Masters tend to point to
the league tables, particularly those that
record academic success in serious
subjects, such as the League Table
published by The Financial Times. Other
Head Masters refer for their success to
the university destinations of their pupils.
Mention of either, however, scarcely suits
Westminster’s well-known reputation for
modesty; and it would be particularly
education was to produce
young people good both at
a dance and in a shipwreck.
’
the development of the individual; but
it is not to be confused with liberal
individualism, where a school or workplace becomes an unregulated arena for
individuals to pursue their own self-chosen conception of the good life. From
Radio Two to the global financial
markets, we have recently witnessed
examples of the negative effects of that.
invidious this evening to draw any such
measurement of Westminster success to
the attention of St Paul, the patron of
two other excellent London schools.
One final glance at what St Paul said
probably allows us to agree that, despite
a bit of boasting, his list of accomplishments demonstrates some self-irony –
always a healthy quality when attempting to gauge anything as fragile and
fugitive as success. In addition, he indicates that simply a bald catalogue of
achievements, even ones which exemplify stoicism in a worthy cause, is no
guaranteed measure of success. And,
quite frankly, if there is one thing worse
than listening to someone boasting of
their worldly successes, it is being bombarded with a long list of sufferings,
however noble.
So – the message must be that measurement of success can be helpful as long
as it is kept in perspective; not least
because of the danger that we might
otherwise only value what we can
measure. Personally I happen to believe
that some form of measurement is
important, partly (as they say these
days) for public accountability, but most
especially for self-evaluation and selfimprovement. For the most effective
form of progress derives from competition with oneself – as all Westminster
pupils know.
So I am now going to take a different
standpoint and produce a different text.
I am going to consider success as fidelity
to an agreed purpose. A purpose which
unites us all here this evening:
Westminster’s purpose.
This evening, gathered here, Abbey
and School so conspicuously united as
the College of St Peter in Westminster,
we remember fondly our Founder,
Elizabeth I. The front of the booklet of
Order of Service reminds us that this is
the 450th anniversary of her accession
to the throne in 1558. In the Charter of
the re-foundation of Westminster two
years later in 1560, we read that:
‘The youth, which is growing to
manhood, as tender shoots in the wood
of our state, shall be liberally instructed
in good books to the greater honour of
the state.’ (John Field, The King’s
Nurseries, p. 21)
I therefore want to re-shape my original
question: just how relevant to success
in the 21st century is that purpose of a
liberal education, good books and being of
service to the state?
What is a liberal education? I shall start
by saying what it is not. A liberal education does not mean ‘no rules’. A liberal
education has a great deal to do with
A liberal education is definitely dedicated
to the individual, the development of his
or her love of learning and unique
critical spirit, the freedom to think, to
articulate and defend one’s views, to
reach up high and sometimes to fail and
to learn from setbacks. But crucially, also,
with its goal of nurturing fulfilled private
and public lives, a liberal education concerns itself with the exercise of character,
commitment and social conscience.
Motivational, inspirational teaching, with
pupils increasingly passionate about the
subjects they have chosen, is central to a
liberal education; and so is the joint
upholding of moral values.
And let me right now take the opportunity to thank the teachers and former
teachers seated here tonight – and those
of past years who will also be fondly in
our thoughts – to thank them for all
they do and all that they have done to
make a Westminster education the
unique experience it is.
The Elizabethan phrase ‘good books’ is
also, surely, still highly relevant. As a
nation, for some years now, we have
been steadily dismantling harder A-level
and GCSE syllabuses, reducing
knowledge to bite-size chunks and doing
very little reading of good books beyond
the syllabus. I do not think that anyone
can reasonably deny that. Perhaps more
controversially I worry that we have
actually begun as a nation to snub intel<<continued overleaf>>
2
THE ELIZABETHAN NEWSLETTER » 2008/2009 «
3
been completed – another significant
success by any measure – the results
including spacious new rooms for teaching and learning and wonderful facilities
for drama and for music – two further
essential ingredients of a liberal
education and dear to the cultural
renaissance of Elizabethan England.
lectual rigour and curiosity. I hope I am
wrong in believing that we risk entering
an age of unreason, between fixed ideological positions on the one hand and an
anything-goes mentality on the other,
where we go with the flow rather than
question assumptions, and where we settle for strap lines rather than read the
small print with a critical eye.
tain their international ranking; and
given that educational achievement in
schools in this country continues to
decline, it is inevitable that more and
more excellent and better-prepared
international students will fill the spare
places in the top universities.
4
99
98
97
97
97
96
95
93
87
90
90
86
87
100
100
100
100
100
99
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1252
1133
1359
1314
1104
1180
1219
1183
1141
1025
1055
1180
1327
97
92
93
91
91
91
92
84
84
84
83
76
80
73
68
65
61
59
53
55
48
41
48
36
34
36
100
100
100
100
99
100
100
100
99
100
100
100
99
AB
C
%
93
86
86
85
84
81
76
72
59
65
64
59
58
A*
Gr
ad
e
%
A/
A*
Gr
ad
e
%
762
774
702
688
678
645
617
584
571
577
698
605
519
AB
Gr
ad
e
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
AG
rad
e
GC
SE
s ta
ken
Good books read critically, a liberal
education to free pupils from an
unthinking acceptance of the status
quo, to be of service to the state, as
citizens of the world, as now befits the
cosmopolitan school that the twentyfirst century Westminster has shown –
the Elizabethan educational values
retain validity for 2010 and beyond.
GCSE Results
Yea
r
On a much more optimistic note, however, if we did not have university league
tables, we would not be aware of the
remarkably successful achievement of the
Let me put it to you that those OECD
and university league tables are linked
and also show the challenge that current
and future Westminsters now face. It is
this: given that the top universities are
now understandably looking for the best
pupils from all over the world to main-
For these are difficult times the world
over. With the internationalization of
everything, the problems seem only to
get bigger. The corresponding opportunity, of course, is that effective solutions
will be found that can have a positive
global result for the benefit of all.
A-Level Results
%
on Newton’s brow as he reclines uneasily on his tomb before you.
I hope that St Peter is going to forgive
me for continuing to mention league
tables. But as the patron saint of
Westminster, he knows we have a long
tradition of reconciling spirituality and
real politik, church and state, to their
mutual benefit. Which leads me, of
course, to remind you that even St Paul
had to admit that, in the apostolic
league tables, St Peter was number one!
I thank our friends and our benefactors.
A £10 million campaign has recently
My final words are directed to all our
many pupils in the Abbey this evening.
Please reflect on my words. Keep dancing by all means, but avoid shipwreck.
And stay out of gaol. Be optimistic
%
’
four English universities that are ranked
in the top 10 universities worldwide.
By virtue of their liberal education,
based on the development of both
rational, independent thought and a
social conscience, we must hope that
Westminsters will provide precisely the
innovative, creative and courageous solutions of which this state, in Elizabeth’s
words, and this inter-connected world
will have increasing need.
Thus the commemoration of our benefactors this year is ever more significant.
I thank our current parents, who
continue to see a Westminster education
as one of quality and preparation for the
future, and those who, in addition to
paying for their own son or daughter,
are able to provide something more in
the way of bursary funding help for
Westminster families in need and a contribution to educational improvements
and innovations.
I have tonight been talking about the
traditions and principles of 450 years
ago. I have argued that they are just as
valid today and make your education
among the best to be found anywhere
in the world. Yet a school is only as
good as the people who embody and
uphold those principles in the present;
and it renews and re-invents itself, in
keeping with the times, with each
generation of pupils. Appreciate it,
therefore, and enjoy it. And know
above all that you have the backing
and support of everyone gathered
here with you in the Abbey tonight.
We wish you every measure of success.
Thank you to you all for listening.
STEPHEN SPURR
%
‘
The stakes are now much higher, therefore. The success of Westminster pupils
in the 21st century will be judged by
global standards: both in terms of
university entry and – well beyond
that (and more importantly) – by
their contribution to solving global
challenges: conflict, poverty, recession,
disease, climate change; a list that can
be extended.
Westminster is also actively extending
its long-standing assistance in the local
community, helping to raise standards
and aspirations among an increasing
number of pupils in nearby state
secondary schools and academies. That
sort of success will be more difficult to
measure but, I hope, over the years to
come, the effects will extend gradually
further and further outwards as ripples
in a pond.
And remember too that Westminster –
this Great Abbey, this Great School – is
a given place. I mean that it only exists
because people over many centuries
have believed in it, preserved it and
handed it on – through good will,
effort, investment and benefaction.
I shall ask you to bear that in mind for
the future, when it is your own turn to
give back what you can and to lead the
School on to your successors.
Al
eve
ls t
ake
n
In attempting to give you a balanced
view of British Higher Education, I can
announce that more and more of the
nation’s students are enrolling at university to read leisure studies, on the other
hand, the take-up of modern languages
is down and, as we all know, the
numbers studying serious science are in
free fall. So much so that we have begun
to hear of discussion, at the highest
level, of the UK entering a post-scientific age where the best we can do is seize
on the discoveries of better-prepared
students and researchers of other
nations. Those of you without X-ray
vision in the Nave, who cannot see me,
will at least note the deepening frown
A liberal education is
definitely dedicated to the
individual, the development
of his or her love of learning
and unique critical spirit,
the freedom to think, to
articulate and defend one’s
views, to reach up high and
sometimes to fail and to
learn from setbacks.
Successful fund-raising has also helped
to build greater reserves for financial
assistance to make a Westminster education possible for all who apply with the
ability and potential to make a success
of it. Precisely now, therefore, as parents
will know, and Old Westminsters will
soon hear, I have asked for further
financial reserves via a new annual fund.
Pa
ss
Did I promise not to return to the
league tables? But if it were not for the
educational league tables of the 30
countries that make up the OECD
(the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), we wouldn’t know that standards in UK secondary
education are slipping compared with
other developed countries.
about the future. Seek out good causes,
find resourceful solutions to problems,
do your best at all times, both academically and morally, and don’t just go with
the flow.
Yea
r
–›
5
back areas refurbished (ablutions and
locker rooms) will be completed in
June 2009.
• Phase 2 of the College Hall project
was completed over the summer with
upgrades to the kitchen and food
preparation area. As I write, analysis is
underway of the wall paintings over
the top table to inform work on their
refurbishment. It is hoped that College
Hall will be complete for 2010.
• Work was also completed last summer
to reconfigure the old Modern
Languages classrooms in the
Wren’s/Dryden’s mezzanine floor. Three
rooms will house the Archives which
are being moved there from many
corners around the School. In tandem,
the School has engaged a consultant
archivist to assist in the re-housing and
in cataloguing the School’s treasures
many of which have significant intrinsic and also financial value.
• There is also a new Exams Office
which may sound dull but the increase
in the number and variety of public
examinations and the inevitable accretion of regulations which we have to
obey demand a space dedicated to this
for the Examinations team.
• The Governing Body also has a
number of projects for the future
including a modest extension for the
Under School to meet many of their
space needs, redevelopment of the
CHRIS
SILCOCK
BURSAR
t is perhaps a statement of the obvious that time passes more quickly as
one gets older but this last academic
year has certainly passed rather quicker
than my first two. I would like to think
that it is because much has been
achieved in support of the School while
my list of things to be done remains as
long as ever.
I
6
In finishing this note about people, I
should mention the departure of Ian
Monk whom many will know either
as pupils or as OW sportsmen. Mr
Franklin Barrett will take over the post
from the beginning of April.
propose and how they will implement
their testing regime. The Governing
Body is firmly of the view, however, that
Westminster already does a significant
amount for the public benefit (see last
year’s report) and whilst more may be
possible, current achievements should
not be ignored. The Development
Office has started the Annual Giving
programme and early results have been
very heartening because many generous
donors seem committed to helping
pupils with bursary needs to come to
Westminster. In addition, an exciting
new project will kick off in 2009 to
address the issue of under representation
of students from non-privileged
backgrounds at the UK’s elite
Universities by the launch of a Summer
School, targeted at increasing students’
awareness of Higher Education,
building academic knowledge and
enhancing the students’ confidence and
ability to make a positive impact in the
application and at interview.
I would be remiss if I did not end this
section by saying that the proposed
projects will not be cheap and the
Development Committee is examining
fund raising strategies.
I reported last year on the latest stage of
the Charity Commission consultation
on how they will assess if charities are
meeting the public benefit test.
Consultation is complete and we now
wait to see the real detail of what they
Right: Providing help for pupils with bursary needs.
Right: Liddell’s House refurbishment.
Speaking of the Governing Body, there
have been two new additions following
the retirements of Lady Anderson and
Right: Liddell’s House refurbishment.
My Report of Proceedings starts with
a summary of work across the Estate:
• Liddell’s has 8 new study bedrooms
and a new flat for the Resident Tutor.
The extension on top of Number 18
Dean’s Yard is superb inside and gives
the pupils wonderful views over Green
and towards the Victoria Tower. Seen
from Yard or Green, the structure is
wholly in keeping with the existing
Grade 1 listed building. The new study
bedrooms were designed to be “gender
neutral” and this has enabled the Head
Master to turn that floor into a girls’
boarding area from Play 2009.
Demand for boarding amongst the
girls has grown and use of the new
Liddell’s extension for them, in much
the same way as girls board up Busby’s,
is a small step to meeting that demand.
Further improvements to the House
saw new day rooms created out of the
space once used for dining up House.
• The first of two phases of the work to
the Common Room was completed
on time and the teaching staff now
has a new suite of working rooms on
the ground floor of 18 Dean’s Yard.
The second phase which will see the
space currently occupied by the Adrian
Boult centre and refurbishment of
Ashburnham House. Work continues
on identifying possible uses for the
Adrian Boult site and how best to integrate a new build with Ashburnham
House. In addition, the Governing
Body has decided to explore further
Vincent Square as a site for a new
Sports Centre and has appointed consultants and contractors to take the
project to the planning stage.
Church Oxford where she is Professor
of the Human Geography of Russia.
It is easy to imagine that Westminster
exists in a sort of splendid isolation
within this sanctuary at the heart of
SW1. We are, however, very closely
bound in to the Abbey through worship
and, to a lesser degree, Church House.
There is an overlap in many of our
needs and concerns which are the stuff
of our daily contacts, but the arrival of
The Very Reverend John Hall as Dean
(and as our Chairman of Governors) saw
a strategic review instigated of their use
of space (RoUse). There are many areas
where School and Abbey abut or have
common needs so it has been a real pleasure to represent the Head Master on
their working committee and to help
explore areas where joint use of space
might be improved or made possible.
Right: New Exams Office.
TEMPUS FUGIT
Right: Adrian Boult Centre redevelopment.
BURSAR’S REPORT
Right: Upgrades to the kitchen and food preparation area in College Hall were completed.
For further information: E: [email protected]
Mention of our shared life within the
precinct leads me to note that plans
are well afoot for the many events to
celebrate our shared past – the School’s
450th anniversary of its re-dedication in
is easy to imagine that Westminster exists in a sort of
‘Itsplendid
isolation within this sanctuary at the heart of SW1.
We are, however, very closely bound in to the Abbey through
worship and, to a lesser degree, Church House.
’
Hugh Rice. The richness of talent
amongst those willing to serve is notable
but we are particularly fortunate to have
engaged Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas
who is the Chairman of the
Independent Schools’ Council and
whose achievements in the City of
London and more recently at the Royal
Opera House will be known to many.
The Governing body has also been
joined by Dr Judith Pallot of Christ
1560 and also of the Abbey’s 450th
anniversary of their Royal Charter. The
Governing Body has agreed what financial support will be made available for
School plans. There will be lots of
events and a number will be joint with
the Abbey, and I know that the OW
website will carry details as they emerge.
In the meantime, I believe the School
remains in very good order and true to
the best of its traditions. Floreat.
7
HEAD OF ALUMNI RELATIONS
SNOWED UNDER
highlight the significant contribution
that this form of giving can make to
the School.
Our contact with OWW continues to
increase, as we have committed to more
events. I am always incredibly interested to meet those of you who attend our
functions, and yet again, owe a huge
debt of thanks to the many OWW who
help organise our event programme, in
particular, to the members of the
Elizabethan Club committee, the
House Societies, those who are involved
in the OW sports clubs, and the many
other individuals who offer their advice
and support. More and more Old
Westminsters are joining us, old friends
and new faces too, with higher
numbers than ever attending the Ben
Jonson and Business Drinks, the Young
Gaudy, the Elizabethan Club Dinner.
Despite the upheaval caused by
staff changes and the absence of
Development Director, the activities
undertaken by the Office continue, and
this year will see the introduction of a
number of new programmes. The Fund
for Westminster is the School’s first longterm annual giving initiative about
which OWW will hear more over the
coming pages and months, and the
Legacy Programme will be revived to
these challenging times, we want to develop the fantastic
‘Incontacts
that we already have within OW community to
8
’
Images (top left and right): At the Elizabethan Club Dinner.
events too – with an addition to the
Gaudy programme. The Decade Gaudy
will invite back OWW from different
decades each year to cater those of you
that are no longer young enough to
attend the Young Gaudy!
Left: At the Young Gaudy Drinks.
Right (L to R): Charlotte, Stewart and Tori.
form. In these challenging times, we
want to develop the fantastic contacts
that we already have within OW
community to provide advice on careers
and work experience for any OW that
needs it.
’
As this Newsletter hits Old
Westminsters’ doorsteps, I will be entering my fourth year at the School. It
seems to be a regular feature of my article to report on staff changes within the
Office, please, no comments about
driving them away! Charlotte Buswell
who joined us in 2007 has moved to an
exciting new position at St Paul’s Girls’
School, and Stewart Mollenkamp has
returned to Atlanta to run the
Development programme at the
International School there. Both are
greatly missed, however, I am very
happy to welcome two new members
of staff to the Office. Kate Forman has
services that we hope will
bring real benefits to the
OW community.
Snow has seemed to factor heavily in
my life this year. In December, We travelled to Durham where the Elizabethan
Club continued its regional gatherings
with a tour of Castle College and a din-
provide advice on careers and work experience for any
OW that needs it.
right word) and was the last person to
submit an article. My only defence,
which is no defence at all, is that it has
been a rather busy year!
have also been
‘We
working on several new
Right: At the Ben Jonson Drinks.
T
his year’s Newsletter has been
my ultimate essay crisis – I am
the pupil begging for an extension, making excuses that the dog ate
my homework and avoiding the teacher
in Yard. It was a close race, between
myself and a particular OW sports club
(that will remain nameless!) but in the
end I triumphed (perhaps not quite the
Our regional events will continue this
year, with Oxford, Edinburgh and
Cambridge meetings, the usual series
of drinks parties, lectures and dinners,
Wine Society tastings and some new
Left: At the Wren’s Society Drinks.
joined us to manage the database and
website, and Joff Manning to look
after the newly launched Fund for
Westminster, both will introduce
themselves and their roles to you in the
pages that follow. We are in the processes of recruiting a Development Director,
so please watch the website and e:liz@
for updates.
TORI
RODDY
HEAD OF
ALUMNI
RELATIONS
Left: Snow covered Central Park in New York.
ner with John Field and a number of
our alumni living in the North East.
It was a wonderful evening, and an
opportunity to meet some fantastic Old
Westminsters who don’t often have the
opportunity to get to London events.
A memorable evening, not least because
Durham had been turned into a beautiful snow scene whilst we ate. Then to
New York for a reunion in January,
which again featured my two key
requirements, an amazing group of
Old Westminsters and a perfect snow
covered city!
We have also been working on several
new services that we hope will bring real
benefits to the OW community. A new
website has just been launched that will
give our sports, house societies and
regional groups areas of their own and
targeted content for all those who log
in. OWW can now book online for all
our events and will be able to see which
contemporaries and friends will be
attending. Other services are being
developed and, perhaps most
significantly, an improved careers and
mentoring function. Some of you will
already be aware of this project, for
those of you who are not, please log on
and take a moment to offer any help
that you can by completing the online
You may (or may not) wonder at what
eventually motivated me to finish my
article... I write this piece whilst trapped
in my home, trains cancelled, and the
School closed, following the heavy snow
storms. Not convinced that I could get
away with the excuse, the ‘snowman ate
my homework’, here it is – I very much
hope you enjoy this issue of the
Newsletter.
Let Kate, Joff or me know if there is
something we could be doing that we
are not, what you think of the current
events, publications and the website, and
if you would like to get involved in anyway. Next year we intend to completely
re-launch the newsletter with an entirely
different style, so your feedback is
crucial and we always look forward to
hearing from you.
9
For further information: E: [email protected] W: www.oldwestminster.org.uk
DEVELOPMENT OFFICE
DEVELOPMENT OFFICE
ONLINE DEVELOPMENT
THE FUND FOR WESTMINSTER
KATE
FORMAN
DEVELOPMENT
OFFICER
(DATABASE
AND WEBSITE)
A
rriving at Westminster in
September, I was fully prepared
for a rather lengthy period settling into the Development Office, during which I would master the intricacies
of the weird and wonderful Westminster
language and traditions (Up School, the
Greaze, Station…) and make the most
of strolling into one of the most beautiful enclaves of London every morning
to my ‘office’ (I still don’t feel such an
ordinary term does Westminster School
justice!). Whilst I am still enjoying these
things, it turned out that my era as the
‘new girl’ was to be short-lived. Having
tried to absorb as much of Charlotte
Buswell’s wisdom and experience as
possible before she left, I now find
myself well and truly in the role of
Development Officer, and even explaining the odd Westminster idiosyncrasy to
Joff Manning, the office ‘new boy’!
I have inherited a wonderful job from
Charlotte. Having spent her final few
months slaving over a complicated software conversion, we are left the proud
owners of a new and much-improved
database system. Perhaps ironically I
hope that the Old Westminster community will not be too aware of this
change; whilst it has improved the speed
and ease with which we can work in the
OWW, events and School developments,
there are also some great new additions.
In response to your feedback the OW
search section has been improved:
searching is no longer limited to
surname but allows you to search by
house, years, or even nickname (perfect
for those ‘senior moments’!). It is now
possible to register and pay online for
OW events, and to make a quick and
urge all of you to log on to www.oldwestminster.org.uk
‘Itowould
take a look and to update your details.
’
Development Office ten-fold, we have
been aiming for as few interruptions to
normal service as possible. I hope you
will agree that this has been the case.
However, far more exciting to shout
about is our new website! Whilst it is
still your first port of call for news of
‘
I would love to hear your
feedback and ideas – Old
Westminsters Online truly
is your website and we
want to make it the very
best it can be.
’
easy online donation to the School.
Over the coming months we will be
introducing even more new features:
watch this space for a Careers and
Networking forum, and for expansions
to the House Society, Sports Club and
Regional Group sections.
I would urge all of you to log on to
www.oldwestminster.org.uk to take
a look and to update your details.
If you have not used the site already,
registration is easy: go to the log in
section of the website and follow the
simple instructions for new users.
Those of you already registered should
have already received a reminder of
your username and password via email.
If you have not heard from us, or if you
think your email address may have
changed since we last contacted you,
please do get in touch.
Right: Milne’s Society event.
I would love to hear your feedback and
ideas – Old Westminsters Online truly
is your website and we want to make it
the very best it can be. Email me, call
me, or even better, come to an OWW
event and make yourself known to me
in person! I am looking forward to
meeting many, many more of you over
the coming months.
10
JOFF
MANNING
DEVELOPMENT
OFFICER
(ANNUAL
FUND AND
LEGACY GIVING)
surprising, then, that I should be drawn
to Westminster. I am particularly struck
by the School’s focus on bursaries. As a
bursary recipient at my own school,
St Lawrence College, I am delighted to
be working in an environment where so
much emphasis is placed on equality of
opportunity.
What else of note? I am an enthusiastic
alumnus in my own right. Not only a
‘L
et us first keep silence and
reflect on the generosity of
those whose gifts have helped
to build us into men and women of
wholesome knowledge, faith and virtue’.
Listening to those words, part of the
Commemoration of Benefactors, I was
struck anew by what an awesome task
I have undertaken. Bad enough that I
have only a week to get settled before
the first Telethon Campaign begins,
worse that there is a workman with a
pneumatic drill outside our office
window doing his best to scupper every
coherent thought I have. The biggest
weight on my shoulders, though, is to
do justice to the vast tradition of
generosity that pervades Westminster.
other main focus will
‘My
be to promote legacy
giving, and to act as an
ambassador for the
ideals espoused by the
Commem service – the
ideals of Benefaction
and Philanthropy.
’
Appreciation Club, a recent co-optee
onto the AROPS Committee
(Association of Representatives of
Old Pupil Societies), and a donor to
my University’s annual fund campaign.
So, I won’t be asking you to do
anything I wouldn’t do myself!
I have two main duties as Development
Officer. Firstly, I am responsible for
The Fund for Westminster – our new
annual fundraising campaign designed
to provide additional bursary support
and to fund special projects around
the school community. This year, thanks
to the generosity of parents and OWW,
The Fund for Westminster will be
funding (amongst other things) a
Steinway piano, a sign language teacher,
and photographic equipment, as well as
at least £55,000 towards the School’s
bursary fund.
Before Westminster I spent a year
working at my alma mater – Royal
Holloway, University of London, where
I read Classics. Like Westminster
School, Royal Holloway was founded
on philanthropic giving, received a
struck by the School’s focus on bursaries.
‘AsI ama particularly
bursary recipient at my own school, St Lawrence
College, I am delighted to be working in an environment
where so much emphasis is placed on equality of
opportunity.
’
personal blessing from the monarch of
the day, and is renowned for its beautiful surroundings. It is perhaps not
member of my school’s Alumni
Committee, I am also a co-founder
of the Old Lawrentian Alcohol
My other main focus will be to
promote legacy giving, and to act as an
ambassador for the ideals espoused by
the Commem service – the ideals of
Benefaction and Philanthropy. Again
I am fortunate in that OWW, more
than any other group, understand the
full extent of what a legacy can achieve,
and the importance of giving back to a
community that has given so much to
them. Floreat Westminster. Floreat
Philanthropy.
11
with five others (Mountain, Pope,
Storey, Bailey, Sylvester and me), one
of whom, Roger Pope, later rowed for
England in the Commonwealth Games
and with whom I am still in touch. I am
afraid I can’t claim any such distinction.
UNDER SCHOOL
LIFE AT THE UNDER SCHOOL IN 1943
The teachers were Mr Willett, Head
Master, who taught Latin; Mr Earp who
taught science; and Mr Young, who had
rowed for Cambridge, was the Maths
and Games Master. All three had been
“I
would like to say that I have
been very lucky in life, and one
of my earlier pieces of good
fortune was to be an inaugural member
of Westminster Under School in 1943.
Those were the days of steam trains
(only part of Southern Railway and the
Underground were electrified) and on
the roads, buses, trolleybuses, trams,
plenty of horses and carts, but not many
vans, lorries or cars. Imagine your home
without a television set, dish-washer or
washing machine and no central heating.
Most people had open coal fires with
coke boilers to heat the water and electric
lights were masked. It was all designed
to prevent German bombers from being
able to identify their targets.
We were issued with Identity Cards and
also ration books, because there was
strict rationing of essential foods (except
bread and potatoes) and of clothing and
petrol. You had to register with a particular grocer or butcher and unless you
produced your ration book he was
forbidden to serve you rationed goods.
I seem to recall that at one stage two
ounces of butter and one egg was one
person’s ration for a week. Sweets and
meat were also rationed; not by weight,
other goods, which were in short
supply, like tinned foods. You chose
which you preferred (or more often
what happened to be available in the
shop that week). Some things
disappeared from the shops altogether
– I didn’t see a banana for six years.
fires if they were lucky. There was probably not a fridge nor a car. Most people
had a radio, but only one or possibly two
programmes to choose from.
Add to all that the fact that we were at
war with Germany and Japan and that
there was a strict blackout with no street
lights and traffic lights and vehicle head-
but by price. The better the meat or
sweets you chose the less you got.
School children were entitled to a third
of a pint of milk each day and this was
dished out to us at break, usually with
a cod liver oil capsule – horrible things
and I don’t think I have had one since.
There was also a system of points for
called Jonathan Mountain (no prize for guessing who had
to recite mons montem montis monti monte).
’
After a fortnight or so the school reopened for the last four weeks of
Election term in a house in Bromyard,
where the main school was. It was all
very relaxed, as everyone, including the
Masters, wore shorts and open necked
shirts. There were no beds, but we slept
on mattresses on the floor. We also went
for games to Buckenhill, the big house
where the main school was.
How did I come to join the Under
School in the first place? The first school
I attended had been bombed and had
had to close. I had several months without proper schooling and my parents
were not happy with the school I was
attending on a temporary basis. A friend
of my father’s had been a scholar at
masters in the main school, which at
the time was based at Buckenhill near
Bromyard in Herefordshire. There was
also a Mrs Hermann, the French mother
of one of the boys, who taught French
and Mr Young, who acted as Matron.
friend of my father’s had been a scholar at Westminster
‘ASchool
well before the war and had heard on the grapevine
that the Under School was starting.
’
In fact we as a family went back to
sleeping each night in our air raid shelter, which had been dug at the far end
of the garden.
too much about what we were taught
‘Ibutdon’tI doremember
remember that one of my contemporaries was
Right: Westminster School 1943.
To mark the 65th anniversary of the founding of Westminster Under School in 1943,
Peter Morley-Jacob QC (BB 1948–1952), a distinguished lawyer and one of the original
WUS pupils from 1943, came to visit and spoke to the whole school in morning assembly.
could reload with water and a large car
park covering most of the rest. We did
manage to have a cricket net near the
barrage balloon, I seem to remember.
Westminster School well before the war
and had heard on the grapevine that the
Under School was starting. My father
applied for me to go and I was accepted.
I don’t remember too much about what
we were taught but I do remember that
one of my contemporaries was called
Jonathan Mountain (no prize for guessing who had to recite mons montem
montis monti monte). We didn’t have
an assembly as you do now, but we all
went into Abbey, or rather St Faith’s
chapel in the Abbey, for morning service
before school each day. We also had
Latin Prayers once or twice a week.
In the autumn of 1943 the Under
School opened at number 2 Little Dean’s
Yard, Westminster, with 18 students
divided into three classes. My
recollection had been 17, but the school
list contains 18 names. Numbers had
increased to 31 by the following summer
term when we had the first school photograph just in front of number 2 Little
Dean’s Yard. I was in the junior class
We played most of our games within
Dean’s Yard or in the burned-out shell
“Up School”. This had been destroyed
by a firebomb earlier in the war, as had
College. We could not use Vincent
Square as it had been taken over by the
military. There was a barrage balloon site
on the cricket square and a large concrete
water tank covering the size of one small
football pitch, from which fire engines
raids were almost
‘These
continuous and it was
impossible to continue
running the school in
London.
’
In the summer term of 1944, the
“D Day” landings took place on the
Normandy coast and this prompted the
Germans to raid London with their latest weapon, the V1, or as we came to
call it, the “Doodle Bug” – this was a
pilotless aircraft with a bomb in the
nose. You could hear them coming from
a long way off and as long as the engine
was running you knew you were OK.
It was designed so that somewhere over
London the engine would cut out, the
thing crashed and the bomb exploded.
They were a nasty few seconds between
the engine cutting out and the
explosion of the bomb. If you heard the
explosion you knew, once again, that
you were OK. These raids were almost
continuous and it was impossible to
continue running the school in London.
One other memory is that for two consecutive days, the whole school was
turned out in the afternoon to help a
local farmer pick his strawberry crop. To
get there, which was some distance from
Bromyard, we were divided into two
teams. One team set off walking while
the other was driven in Mr Young’s car,
which towed a trailer with school chairs
in it. There must have been six in the
trailer and another five or six people in
the car – not something one could get
away with today! Mr Young, having
dumped his load, came back and picked
up the walkers. The same drill operated
for the return journey. We were not
paid cash, but in strawberries. I seem to
recall that we were received a sixth of
what we picked. It was too good to be
true. We helped ourselves to plenty of
strawberries as we picked, only to find
vast quantities of them for tea when we
got back to school. Those who were not
sick on Day One were on Day Two and
I have never felt the same way about
strawberries since!
In September 1944 we returned to number 2 Little Dean’s Yard for Play Term
even though there were still quite a lot of
rocket attacks from Hitler’s other secret
weapon, the “V2”. During my latter
stages at the Under School we had one
lesson each week which I dreaded, but
which stood me in good stead later in
life. We used to listen to the Radio when
<<continued overleaf>>
12
13
The bi-annual Abbey Tours proved as
popular as ever with over 150 Old
Westminsters and their guests returning
to the School for the tours. The Club is
particularly grateful to the Dean for
allowing these tours to take place and to
John Curtis, David Hargreaves, Giles
Brown and Eddie Smith for kindly
leading the tours.
ELIZABETHAN CLUB
ANNUAL REPORT 2004
2008
I also recall that whenever the King
and Queen, or any member of the
Royal Family, came to either the
Abbey or the Houses of Parliament the
whole School would turn out to watch
and cheer. It was not unknown for the
Queen (later the “Queen Mother”) to
stop and chat to the boys as she left
the Abbey. One such occasion was the
wedding of Princess Elizabeth and
Prince Philip (now the Queen and
the Duke of Edinburgh) at the Abbey.
The Under School had a vantage point
on the steps of the war memorial right
outside the West Door of the Abbey.
T
he last year has been one of the
busiest in the Club’s history
with both established and new
events filling the calendar in a variety of
locations around the country. The aim
of attracting and meeting an increasing
number of Old Westminsters has
undoubtedly been successful and we
now look forward to ensuring that the
current series of events flourishes and
can be built upon.
Once again the School Development
Office has been totally supportive and
has worked endlessly to ensure that as
many Old Westminsters as possible can
benefit from the Club. The Club has
also tried to work closely with other
areas of the School and the Abbey
through new initiatives, some of which
will not come to fruition immediately
but hopefully will expand our opportunities to become even more involved
with Old Westminsters of all ages.
Building on the success of the previous
year the Club’s social events have been
very well attended with the Annual
Dinner being a sell-out and leaving
many disappointed diners. This is a
continuing problem due to the size of
College Hall, the catering problems
elsewhere within the School, and is
likely to continue. The event is given as
much publicity as possible and I would
recommend that an early booking is
essential to avoid disappointment. This
year we were joined by Nick Clegg MP
(LL 1980–1985), Leader of the Liberal
Democrat Party. Other dinners have
included the Lawyers’ Dinner organised
by Simon Randall (RR 1957–1962)
which was held at Brooks’s with the
Honourable Sir Launcelot Henderson
as the guest speaker. Next year prospective lawyers from the School will be
invited. The Medics’ Dinner was again
kindly arranged by Professor Clive
Coen (AHH 1964–1967) and saw
Professor Kay-Tee Khaw give a fascinating speech. I am pleased to report that
Sixth Form pupils were once again
invited to this event.
The last year has been on of the busiest in the Club’s
‘history
with both established and new events filling the
calendar in a variety of locations around the country.
’
Later, when I was in the main school,
the King died and I was one of those
who, as a member of the School Corps,
lined the route of his funeral procession
somewhere near Paddington station.
Later still, after I had left the school
and was doing my national service,
I was included in a squad of Officer
Cadets who marched on our Queen’s
coronation parade around London.”
The relatively new lecture series given
by members of the Common Room and
other Friends of the School continues to
be a success and this year we enjoyed
fascinating and informative evenings
with Richard Stokes on “Humorous
Lieder”, John Field on the relationship
between the Abbey and the School over
the centuries, the Head Master on
Brooks’s was also the venue for the
Business Drinks, kindly hosted by
Michael Baughan (RR 1955–1959)
with over 150 Old Westminsters in
attendance. Similar support was seen at
the Ben Jonson Drinks which was held
at the Arts Club and continued our
drive to hold such functions outside the
School premises.
Our attempt to take the Club outside
SW1 and into universities proved mixed
in terms of attendance with drinks parties at Bristol University and University
College, London. Neither was
particularly well attended due to limited
numbers of Old Westminsters at these
universities and clashes with other functions, but it is our intention to continue
with this formula. Last term we held
our first reunion dinner in Durham
which gathered together a group of
OWW, some of whom had not seen
each other for more than 40 years. Our
aim for the forthcoming year is to visit
Oxford, Edinburgh and Cambridge.
on the success of the previous year the Club’s social
‘Building
events have been very well attended with the Annual Dinner
being a sell-out and leaving many disappointed diners.
’
Academic and Social Leadership, and in
particular Westminster’s future, and
Jacqueline Cockburn on Las Meninas.
Another new initiative has been the
Club’s Wine Society, chaired by John
East (RR 1962–1967) who has arranged
for a series of wine tastings to be held
at the Carlton Club. Each evening has
centred on an Old Westminster and his
or her, involvement with the wine
world. Further similar events are being
arranged for the coming year.
Right: Westminster Abbey Tours.
The end of the war in Europe in 1945
was celebrated on VE day, a national
holiday. Everyone who wanted to go
was taken to Buckingham Palace that
night to join the crowds outside the
gates and wait for the King and
Queen and the other members of the
Royal Party to come out onto the balcony. When it was all over we went
back to school and camped on the
floor for what was left of the night.
There was also a party later in 1945
when everyone celebrated the victory
over Japan (“VJ day”).
TIM
WOODS
CHAIRMAN
OF THE
ELIZABETHAN
CLUB
Images (right):Young Gaudy Drinks.
the BBC put on a current affairs
programme for schools. I think it lasted
for twenty minutes or so and we had to
take notes of what we were hearing.
Then for prep that night we had to
write out a synopsis of the lecture as an
essay. It proved to be excellent training
for the preparation of minutes of meetings, something which I had to do very
regularly many years later.
Images (left): Elizabethan Club Annual Dinner.
–›
This year’s Gaudy was aimed at
1998–2003 leavers and over 200 OWW
turned up, together with a good
number of Common Room members.
The highly popular and established
Henley Regatta drinks went ahead
this year with the assistance of the
Elizabethan Boat Club who ably
delivered and distributed the
champagne to over 40 of the Old
Westminster boating fraternity.
The last year was particularly successful
for both established and new house
societies, and next year promises to
be as, if not more, eventful. College,
Grant’s, Rigaud’s, Ashburnham,
Liddell’s and Busby’s all held at least one
event, attracting increasing numbers,
while both Milne’s and Wren’s held their
first reunions and attracted over 100
people each. The Club helped finance
these inaugural events and is also assisting Dryden’s and Purcell’s in organising
their first meetings next year. This is an
area in which the Club is particularly
active and hopes to see each House with
an active society as soon as possible.
Further meetings of all the existing and
potential House Societies will also be
held in early 2009.
14
15
Contact: E: [email protected]
–›
We remain committed to increasing communication within the membership and
to this end the Club has contributed to
the latest software required to enable the
Development Office to work even more
All the Stations financed and supported
by the Club have been active and we
hope to see new sports featuring in the
future. The annual meeting between the
Club’s representatives, Masters-inCharge, and pupils continues to be useful and we look forward to a full
turnout in 2009.
Right: Milne’s Society Reunion Event.
efficiently and to give the Club a far more
modern and useful web portal. In time
there will be an online booking system
which we hope will attract increasing
numbers of Old Westminsters to events.
Three issues of the e:liz@ were sent out
during the course of the year to almost
4000 members and a project to find
“lost” OWW by this means has proved
David Neubeurger (WW 1961–1965)
Tim Woods (GG 1969–1974)
Tim Brocklebank-Fowler (RR 1976–1980)
Nicholas Brown (RR 1968–1973)
E. [email protected]
“More of the same” is the cry at
Committee meetings without overexposing or over-extending ourselves as
the country enters a recession. The usual
calendar of events is already well planned
and the final touches are currently being
made to dates and venues.
Jonathan Carey (GG 1964–1969)
Hannah Chambers (DD 1992–1994)
Gavin Griffiths (WW 1967–1972)
Tarun Mathur (AHH 1988–1993)
The Club will increasingly look to work
with the Parents Committee and
Friends of Westminster School where
we believe it will assist our members,
and our relationships with both the
Abbey and the Common Room will be
monitored carefully.
Darius Norell (BB 1985–1990)
David Roy (AHH 1955–1961)
Graham Walker (RR 1967–1972)
I am hoping to have the chance to
address the Governing Body later this
year in order to bring them up to date
with our current and future plans. A
drinks party with the Common Room
was held in October and I continue to
have a constructive dialogue with the
Head Master, recently concentrating
on how the Club can assist Old
Westminsters on the careers front.
This will be a prominent feature of
the new website. One day we hope to
be able to arrange a Family Day in
Vincent Square.
In the meantime, plans for a Ball in
2010 to celebrate the 450th anniversary
of the refoundation of the College of St
Peter are progressing and more details
can be found in this newsletter.
Without the Committee little of the
above could have happened and I would
like to take this opportunity to thank
everyone for their advice and assistance
over the last 12 months.
New members
The Elizabethan Club is very pleased
to welcome two new members to the
Committee.
Jessica Chichester
(GG 2000–2002)
I left Westminster in
2002; it still feels like
only yesterday. I knew
that I wanted to take
a gap year following
school because my
thoughts were that if
I took one after university I would never
want to get a job! I planned to work for a
few months and save some money and
then go travelling for four months with
a couple of friends. I worked at the
Environmental Services Association as an
office assistant and researcher for three
months and then at Fortnum and Mason
on the shop floor for a month in the lead
up to Christmas, which was great fun and
really got you in the Christmas spirit!
I left for Australia in January 2003 and
met my friends in Sydney. We travelled
up the East Coast using coaches for transport and hostels for accommodation.
16
Committee members (left to right):
’
financial health of
‘The
the Club remains robust,
despite the recession.
’
Right: Wren’s Society Reunion Event
COMMITTEE
thank everyone for their advice and assistance over the
last twelve months.
Images (right and above): Ben Jonson Drinks.
The Development Office continues to
assist and support the Club in all areas.
THE ELIZABETHAN CLUB
the Committee little of the above could have
‘Without
happened and I would like to take this opportunity to
The financial health of the Club remains
robust, despite the recession. The
increase in activities and attendance at
events and our contribution to the new
database software has led to an increase
in expenditure but this has been well
within our budget, and we are particularly grateful to our Hon. Treasurer and
Hon. Examiner for their stewardship and
hard work. One area which we are monitoring closely is the level of income from
subscriptions and the number of pupils
opting out of joining the Club when
arriving at the School
A last minute rush of applications made
this year’s choice of winner of the
Neville Walton Bursary particularly difficult. Those Old Westminsters eligible
to apply planned to travel to all four
corners of the world but the winners
were a team of five (Messrs Bray, Gorev,
Lau, Mason, and McKinley) who went
off to Japan to practise their language
skills learnt in a Japanese option course
and to visit most of the cultural centres
of Japan. A report on their visit is
contained within this issue.
highly successful. I would also like to welcome Kate Forman and Joff Manning to
the Development Office where Kate will
be looking after the database and website
and Joff The Fund for Westminster.
It was great fun, apart from the cyclone
which followed us and prevented us
from seeing much sun! We then spent a
month driving around New Zealand and
a couple of weeks in the Cook Islands
before flying to LA and spending six
weeks in America and Canada driving
up Highway One to San Francisco, skiing in Whistler and then taking the train
across and ending up in New York
where we naturally did a little shopping
and saw a few shows.
It was then time for university and I
spent three years at Durham studying
Politics and Economics as well as doing a
lot of rowing with the university. I started rowing at Westminster and still row
now at Thames Rowing Club. After leaving Durham I spent a month travelling
around Vietnam before settling down to
finding a job, which I did reasonably
quickly. I have spent the last two years
working for Sir Patrick Cormack MP in
Parliament and Westminster, which has
been a fantastic experience. I am interested in politics and would like to try and
run for Parliament in the future, but for
now I am looking for a new challenge
and a new career.
Charlie Hayes
(GG 1998–2003)
After school it was
straight to Durham
for me to study
Sociology and Politics.
I had a great three
years there and left not
knowing what to do
next. I had dabbled within the lowest
positions of the film industry during
university but decided against it longterm. I applied for a job with a political
research company (polling and such; if
there was an election tomorrow who
would you vote for?) and began on their
graduate scheme. Surviving for a couple
of months there, I left after being offered
a runner's job on James Bond’s latest
outing, Quantum of Solace. I have spent
the rest of 2008 within the locations
department of feature films, jumping
from job to job as work becomes
available. I’m currently working on
Nine, a Hollywood musical adaptation
of Fellini’s 81/2 that is being directed by
Chicago’s Rob Marshall, which will take
me to Italy in the New Year.
17
For more information: E: [email protected] T: 01923 842538
7 Sandy Lodge Lane, Moor Park, Northwood, Middlesex, HA6 2JA
PARENTS’ COMMITTEE
WESTMINSTER
HOUSE SOCIETIES
SERIOUS FUN!
SCHOOL
SOCIETY
ASHBURNHAM
SOCIETY
We have continued to host regular receptions after Parents’ evenings, giving an
and exhibitions in the company of artists
and curators. As well as popular
exhibitions at Tate Britain, Dulwich
Picture Gallery and the Hayward more
esoteric fare was on offer at the
Serpentine gallery and a sequence of art
‘spaces’ in Hoxton, giving a remarkable
insight into the world of contemporary
visual art. We also repeated the
atmospheric candlelit tour of the historic
Highlights of Lent Term included an
evening reception at The Foundling
Museum, which has a fascinating history
and claims to be London’s oldest public
art gallery. The artworks on display are
certainly remarkable, as is the archive
and biographical exhibition of George
Frideric Handel. We always try and end
the year with a summer party so June
13th found nearly 200 parents and
the members of the
‘AllCommittee
have worked
tremendously hard in
partnership with the School,
particularly the Domestic
Bursar’s Office and College
Hall and I congratulate them
for achieving so much.
’
opportunity to relax and talk over a drink
and excellent canapés, prepared by members of the Committee, after the familiar
sequence of potentially traumatic encounters with tutors. These events are always
hugely enjoyable and the fact that they are
open to all, year by year, is tremendously
important. Our 2007/08 Entertainment
Programme got under way just before
Play half-term with another excellent quiz
night up School, where testing questions
revealed a surprising competitive streak
amongst Westminster parents. The
evening was again excellently hosted
by Henry Kelly. The gloom of early
December was lifted by an elegant reception and supper at Mayfair’s Savile Club,
followed in Lent Term by the Annual
Shrove Tuesday Dinner in College Hall.
Our guest speaker, Lord Faulkner paid
tribute to the history and traditions of the
School and expressed the hope that the
wider community might benefit further
from its continued strength.
The Committee aims to feed the soul
as well as the body and ran a successful
series of Art Tours, giving groups of parents the chance to visit galleries, studios
18
MICHAEL
RUGMAN
CHAIRMAN
OF THE
SCHOOL
SOCIETY
Left: Westminster Abbey Tour.
T
he Committee has enjoyed another busy year, providing a variety
of opportunities for Westminster
School parents to extend their social experience of the School. Our aim has been to
widen parental involvement by organising
and hosting an expanding range of events
inside and outside school.
‘
Lord Faulkner paid tribute to the history and traditions of
the School and expressed the hope that the wider community might benefit further from its continued strength.
’
Dennis Severs house in Spitalfields and
celebrated the art of engineering with
guided tours of the recently re-opened St
Pancras International station. Further visits were organised to Westminster Abbey
and the Houses of Parliament, where we
tested a new innovation; tours of the
Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster.
Only a small number of Committee
members were able to brave the staircase
up to the home of Big Ben but we hope
to offer the tour more widely in the near
future, along with tours of the School led
by members of staff. We are very grateful
to all the parents who used their contacts
and influence to gain privileged access
and insight for our tour groups.
Committee members on the terrace of
Carlton House on a cool and slightly
damp evening overlooking The Mall and
enjoying drinks, dinner, dancing and
above all, each other’s company. All the
members of the Committee have worked
tremendously hard in partnership with
the School, particularly the Domestic
Bursar’s Office and College Hall and I
congratulate them for achieving so much.
I am confident that my thanks to them
will be echoed by all the parents who
have supported our events and that the
WSPC will continue to add colour and
enjoyment to life at Westminster School.
MICHAEL ALMOND
Chairman
T
he Society has maintained its
work this year, making grants
for additional amenities in various Houses, and to the School Archives,
the Library, and the Music Department.
We have also supported sporting activities and numerous other projects within
the School.
In addition, we have sponsored the new
Philip Hendy Prizes for Art History,
which has enabled students to visit
Rome and Vienna. The reports on these
study trips, submitted to us by the students themselves, show that in each case
they were very worthwhile educational
exercises.
We were also privileged to support the
celebration of Stephen Lushington's
90th Birthday at the School, which was
attended by many of his former pupils,
who were very pleased to see him in
such good form.
We again sponsored the Tizard Lecture,
which was given this year by Robin
Grimes, Professor of Material Physics at
Imperial College, on the subject of ‘The
Imperfect World of Materials’.
I
t was with great sadness that the
Society learnt of the death of Francis
Rawes. Francis was Housemaster of
Ashburnham between 1948 and 1953
(and later Housemaster of Busby’s from
1953 until 1964) and he was instrumental in setting up the Ashburnham Society
– the early committee meetings were
held in his study in Ashburnham. For
further information on Francis’s achievements, please see his obituary later in
this Newsletter.
2008 has been a quiet year after a great
year for the Ashburnham Society in
2007 during which Ashburnham
celebrated its 125th Anniversary. To
mark this milestone, a black tie Dinner
was held on 6th September 2007 in
College Hall with drinks beforehand
in the Camden Room. The event was
a great success with over 90 people present including former Housemasters,
the current Housemaster, Geran Jones,
and other current members of staff who
are associated with the House. Our
guest speaker for the evening was Chris
Huhne MP.
After the Anniversary Dinner, we were
able to gather information on what Old
Ashburnhamites would like us to organise for future events of the Society. We
have collated all of this information and
hope to not only have a much larger
committee in 2009 (!), but also events
that are tailored to particular year
groups as well as different types of
events each year. We plan to hold our
next event in the early summer of 2009
and details will follow shortly.
The Society is pleased to announce that
we are now able to offer an annual bursary of up to £500 to Ashburnhamites
in their final two years at the School
and in the first three years after they
have left. We hope that this bursary will
be used by the selected Ashburnhamite
towards a project (whether travel,
music, arts or otherwise) which they
would, without the bursary, not have
been able to do. If you would like to
apply, please write to me (at the email
address above) explaining what you
would like to use the money for and
what you plan to achieve from the project. The Society hopes that this bursary
will prove very successful.
The Society would like to build on the
success of the Dinner and the bursary
and expand its activities. We have had
some ideas already but please do get in
touch if there is something in particular
you would like to attend. In this regard,
the Society is trying to expand its committee, and if anyone is interested in
joining the committee or simply helping
as a link to your contemporaries, then
please let me know. We look forward to
a successful year in 2009.
ANGUS ROY
(AHH 1993–1998)
We continue to support a number of
bursaries for pupils at the School and
have significantly increased our commitment to this programme during the
coming year.
MICHAEL RUGMAN
(GG 1955–1960
19
For more information about the Society, or to get involved, visit our website: www.liddellssociety.org.uk or contact:
David Eaton Turner E: [email protected] Tom Weisselberg E: [email protected]
For College Society membership details (£10 a year only!) please contact the College Society Secretary,
Charles Low at Westminster School. E: [email protected]
HOUSE SOCIETIES
HOUSE SOCIETIES
COLLEGE SOCIETY
LIDDELL’S SOCIETY
which he is an acknowledged expert.
He attributed part of his success to his
Westminster education: not Art (he did
not catch the eye of the art teacher) nor
Art History (not taught in his day);
more the inspired and intellectually
rigorous Classics teaching of Denis
Moylan and Theo Zinn, and the opportunity the Central London location
offered to indulge his then passion for
Victorian churches.
I
nterest in the Society, and support for
its activities, continue to be strong
across all age groups. Our AGM and
Annual Dinner in September was attended by a member of the 1935 Election,
Norman Brown, and by five of the 2008
leavers – and by 50 other members from
the intervening years; we were also
delighted to welcome back the Head
Master – this year in a non-speaking role
– and his wife. Our pre-dinner musical
appetiser was a witty piano duet (‘the
Master and the Pupil’) performed by
Jonathan Katz and Jocelyn Turton (QS).
A drinks party in April for those joining
the House up to 1959 attracted 40
attendees (two from the pre-war generation), who enjoyed resuming friendships,
marvelling at the changes in College
since their day, and paying respects to
former members of staff Theo Zinn and
Stephen Lushington, and to Naida
Christie whose husband Henry was
Master of the QSS in the late 1950s.
Many thanks to Oliver Gillie for his
hard work in helping to organise this
occasion. A similar event planned for
next year will focus on the ‘Cogan years’,
Jim’s death has been marked in various
ways, including a donation by the
Society to the memorial fund set up to
support his African charities.
We continued our series of College
Society Lectures, the 2008 lecture being
given by John House (QS 1959–1963),
the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of
the History of Art at the Courtauld
Institute. This was an entertaining and
enlightening talk, illustrated by slides of
French art from the 19th century, in
Following Barry’s death, we have had to
For various logistical reasons, last year we
held the annual dinner twice. The first,
in January, was a delayed event from the
previous year, with Professor Sir Patrick
We are much indebted to Ed Oates for
his services as Treasurer over the last
four years. The officers of the Society
are now as follows: David Eaton Turner
(Hon. Chairman), Tom Weisselberg
(Hon. Secretary) and Emilie Bosworth
Speight (Hon. Treasurer). We would be
very pleased to hear from any Old
Liddellite who wishes to be involved in
the Society.
JONATHAN RAWES
(QS 1963–1968)
–›
engage in some restructuring of the
Society’s committee: Christian Wells has
taken over as Treasurer, and I have taken
on the role of Secretary; James Nunns
remains Chairman.
Bateson as our Guest Speaker; and the
second was held as usual at the end of
November. Both events were well attended, and saw a number of ‘new’ diners
who had not visited in recent years, if at
providing 8 extra rooms and a tutor’s
flat. At the invitation of Teehan Page,
Housemaster, the Committee of the
Society is currently engaged in locating a
suitable artwork to donate to the house,
to enliven one of the many bare walls.
At the AGM held in November 2008
the following were elected or re-elected
to the Committee: Emilie Bosworth
Speaight, David Dudding, David Eaton
Turner, Edward Hasted, Andrew Howe,
Christina Kulukundis, Edward Oates,
Tom Weisselberg, and Tony Willoughby.
If you would like to join the Society
please contact Charles Low.
BUSBY SOCIETY
I
speaker, the Camden Room, and catering were all available simultaneously, so
the Abbey Tour was fixed for Tuesday,
13th January 2009, and Eddie Smith
kindly agreed to be the guide.
Blessed with a stable committee and
excellent support from Frances Ramsey
we look forward to another successful
year. We have settled into a pattern of
three events a year – AGM/Dinner,
drinks party and lecture – with good
attendances at each; but we are not
averse to varying the diet, and members
are welcome to contact me with any
comments on the Society’s activities or
suggestions for future events. Similarly
the Committee has started discussing
possible further options for distributing
part of our (modest) funds – there may
be more to report on this next year.
HOUSE SOCIETIES
am sad to commence my first
report as Secretary with some items
of sad news. Our Treasurer of many
years, Barry Essex, died in the spring of
2008, and in the autumn, Francis
Rawes, Busby’s Housemaster from 1953
to 1964, also passed away. Our condolences go to both of their families.
T
he Society was founded in late
2002 in order to promote the
welfare of the House and to
maintain and foster links between Old
Liddellites and present and former
Liddell’s staff.
The Society held a successful Summer
Drinks Party in June 2007, as it had
done in each of the previous four years.
For 2008, we decided to investigate the
possibility of combining an evening
tour of the Abbey with a drinks party.
In the event it proved impossible to find
a date in 2008 when the Abbey, a
We are very grateful to the School
Development Office, particularly to
Tori Roddy, for all the assistance we
receive when organising these events.
all. The annual dinner continues to be
our main social function, so I would
exhort Old Busbites who have not previously attended this to make sure that the
Development Office is in possession of
your current contact details so that a
timely invitation may be sent out to you
for the 2009 event.
that when such a gathering was planned
last summer, it attracted a nil response,
so unless a stronger nucleus of support
emerges, this is not likely to get off the
ground at present.
The Annual General Meeting usually
precedes the dinner, and there are
frequent requests for other social events
to be held, such as a summer drinks
party. However, I am sorry to report
Much of Liddell’s has recently been
redecorated, and the House has gained a
roof-top extension at third floor level
Finally, last year, my predecessor wrote:
‘The Committee would welcome additional members, especially from those
who have left during the past 20 years.
The demands are pretty light, so please
do not hesitate to put your name
forward, again via the Development
Office.’ In response, we have some addi-
In order to make sure we can
contact you about future events,
please update your own details at
www.oldwestminster.org.uk and encourage other Old Liddellites with whom
you are in touch to provide contact
details and to attend the Society’s events.
DAVID EATON TURNER
(LL 1974–1979)
tional members, but I still plagiarise
Christian’s words freely, as it is vital that
we continue to attract membership and
support from Old Busbites, particularly
those who have left more recently.
Please do consider joining the Society if
you have not already done so, and do
your best to encourage your school contemporaries to do likewise.
WILF HASHIMI
Secretary (BB 1971–1975)
For membership details, £10 a year, contact the
Honorary Treasurer, Christian Wells
20
21
For information about the Milne’s Society please contact E: [email protected] or
the Development Office at [email protected]
For more details contact: Honorary Secretary, Major General Michael Steele
Elders, Mason’s Bridge Road, Redhill, Surrey RH1 5LE. T: 01737 753982
HOUSE SOCIETIES
HOUSE SOCIETIES
HOUSE SOCIETIES
MILNE’S SOCIETY
RIGAUD’S
SOCIETY
WREN’S
SOCIETY
T
hanks to the Development
Office and the current
Housemaster, Kevin Walsh, a
little birthday celebration was held this
summer. To which you all were invited
and many came – thank you.
O
ur Rigaud’s Gaudy in June was
a particular success, for we had
a splendid turn out of Old
Rigaudites and their partners, and a
most welcome number of today’s
parents. So it was a proper Rigaud’s
family event and we are extremely grateful to the Development Office for
organising it all for us. We even made a
small profit, which we have put towards
our annual Travel Awards.
It was particularly good to see John Troy
and David Summerscale again and the
current Head Master gave a speech. It was
clear from what he said that the house
continues to be a little bit different –
in a good way. The tradition of taking the
house for a ramble before Michaelmas
term survives and is still causing obvious
puzzlement amongst the wider school.
But more importantly: it is now time
we formally inaugurate an old Milne’s
society. I bumped into Tom Munby and
so I know he’s on board and can deliver
a fair few of his year (1999). Jonny
Protheroe from mine (1998) only
socialises with people from his office
at the moment so will be glad of the
diversion – as will Nick Forgacs, Will
Dunbar (2001) came all the way from
Tbilisi, Georgia so he’s still clearly Pooh
at heart. I remember being surrounded
by beautiful girls at Milne’s so can a few
more of you from those first few years
come out of the woodwork please?
So really we’re halfway there. With this
kind of quorum we’re all set to shape
some ridiculous traditions that will no
doubt continue for a few hundred years.
I’m thinking dinners, costumes, songs...
We don’t even yet have a collective
noun. Answers on a postcard to Tori at
the Development Office and let’s try
and have a drink soon.
HOWARD GOODING
(MM 1993–1998)
HOUSE SOCIETIES
Our second Award-winner is Hannah
Fitzwilliam, who has had a very different
challenge to confront. She has spent four
OLD GRANTITE CLUB
F
few years and this is largely attributed
to the efforts of Peter Cole (GG
1993–1998), who was appointed
Chairman of the Club two years ago.
The average age of Old Grantite participants in events and on the Committee
has reduced significantly over the past
The Club is most grateful to David
Hargreaves for his enthusiastic support
and advice and looks forward to
continuing cooperation with the
House. There have been a number of
recent additions to the Committee,
which now consists of:
• Peter Cole (1993–1998),
Chairman
• Simon Rodway (1946–1950),
President
• Jonathan Carey (1964–1969),
Honorary Treasurer
• Geoffrey Pope (1957–1960),
Honorary Secretary
or the first time for a number of
years, the Club held a dinner – in
College Hall. There were over 40
attendees including the Head Master,
his wife and the Housemaster as guests.
It was generally acknowledged that it
had been a most successful evening
and a further dinner is planned for
September 2009. Details will be posted
on the Old Westminster website
(www.oldwestminster.org.uk) in
February 2009. The Housemaster,
David Hargreaves, also kindly arranged
a social gathering for leavers of the
House in order to introduce them to
the Club.
22
This year we have made two such
Awards. One is to George Johnston,
who during his gap year will be
travelling around the world. He will
spend time in Berlin working on an
English language magazine, and then
in Switzerland teaching young children
how to ski. He also hopes to take the
opportunity to climb the Matterhorn
and to work in Accra, Ghana, coaching
youngsters in football and teaching
English and Maths in a local school.
A most ambitious and challenging nine
month programme of travel and work,
for which we wish him every success.
• Michael Rugman (1955–1960)
• Paul Giladi (2000–2005)
• Charlie Hayes (1998–2003)
• Alex Massey (1989–1994)
• Artin Basirov (1989–1994)
• Clifford Woodroffe (1993–1998)
• Caroline Lewis (1980–1982)
• Katie Guy (1988–1990)
• David Hargreaves (ex officio)
If anyone is interested in joining the
Committee, particularly to represent
their ‘generation’, please get in touch.
JONATHAN CAREY
(GG 1964–1969)
For more information on the Club’s activities please
contact Jonathan Carey.
E: [email protected] or visit the Club website
at http://homepages.westminster.org.uk/grants
weeks travelling around Eastern Europe
on a fact-finding tour, in order to gain
a better understanding of the war time
situation in Europe and the conditions
that Jewish people, like her grandmother, had to face. In particular, she was
hoping to be able to identify the place in
Prague where her grandmother grew up
in the 1930s, and from which she fled in
April 1939, just a single day before the
German occupation of the city. We have
already heard from Hannah that her trip
was a great success, and that she was
indeed able to find the very building in
which her grandmother had lived in her
childhood, and from which she had
escaped. We feel that this Travel Award
has been of very special significance,
and we look forward to reading the
autobiography that Hannah is helping
her Grandmother to write.
Our next social event will be another
Gaudy to be held in the Camden Room
on Thursday, 11th June 2009, to which
all Old Rigaudites, present-day parents
and ex-Housemasters and Matrons are
invited. I will be sending out all the
details in the Spring. Ipsu Razu!
MICHAEL STEELE
(RR 1945–1949)
2
008 saw the formation of the
Wren’s Society. To mark this occasion the inaugural Wren’s Society
drinks was held on the 18th June. The
event was a great success.
On this lovely evening, members of the
house from the 1940s, when Wren’s was
formed, to the most recent leavers were
present, including Stephen Lushington,
the first Housemaster of Wren’s. It was
fantastic to see a wide range of people
from various years present and it was a
wonderful opportunity to catch up and
reminisce about those formative years at
Westminster.
I would like to thank the current
Housemaster Mark Feltham and Tori
Roddy for their help in organising the
event and making the formation of the
Society possible. We are extremely keen
to build on the success of the drinks and
encourage Old Wrenites to tell us what
sort of events you want held in the
future. In this regard, the Society is trying
to expand its committee, and if anyone is
interested in joining or simply acting as a
connection to fellow Wrenites then please
let me or the Development Office know.
DEAN CHATTERJEE
(WW 1997–2002)
For information about the Wren’s Society or
to get involved contact Dean Chatterjee at
or the Development Office
23
OW SPORTS
OW SPORTS
ATHLETICS
GOLF
O
s usual the Club has played
in five Old Boys’ Golf
Competitions during the year.
In the Halford Hewitt we lost 31/2 –
11/2 to Greham. Jim Durie and Tom
Tredinnick lost 5&4, Henry Kingsbury
and Rob McHugh lost 1 dn, Ilya
Kondrashov and C J Morrell lost 2&1,
Richard Neville-Rolfe and David
Weinstein-Linder won 5&4 and
Edward Cartwright and Tom Smith
halved. In the plate we lost 1–2 to
Whitgift.
FOOTBALL
3RD XI
ld Westminsters Athletic Club
competed in the annual
Towpath Cup race in
September, featuring OWW, the School,
and the Common Room, over the usual
3.3 mile course. The Club is healthy –
we had 12 Old Westminsters running –
and we beat the School team for the
first time since 2002. Our best performers were Miles Copeland, who won the
handicap race, and three young OWW
(Sebastian Bray, Rameez Raja and Mark
Wainwright) who ran the 2nd, 3rd and
4th fastest times behind one very
promising schoolboy. The rest of the
season looks promising.
The Old Westminsters growing strength
in cross-country was emphasised in
December when Tom Samuel became
the first old boy of the School to run in
the Varsity race, certainly in the last 50
years and possibly the first in the 118
contests between Oxford and
Cambridge. We would be most interested if anyone can recall a previous participant in this annual contest. Roger Givan,
who was the world under-17 half-mile
record-holder, ran for Oxford on the
track in the late 1950s and the only
subsequent competitors in the summer
athletics match have been Nick Nops for
Oxford in the discus in the 1960s and
John Goodbody for Cambridge in the
shot in 1976, but we believe we would
have to go back before the 1950s for a
participant in the cross-country fixture.
Left:Tom Samuel in varsity cross country.
OW SPORTS
into running through fencing, another
discipline in the modern pentathlon, in
which Tom took part in the British
championships on Saturday, December
13. This understandably prevented him
from representing the OWs that day in
the annual Old Boys Race on a similar
but shorter (five mile) course on
Wimbledon Common, run in steady rain
which made the conditions even heavier.
Tom, secretary of the Oxford cross-country club, finished 11th in 41 minutes
one second for the 71/2 mile race over
Wimbledon Common, only about 30
seconds behind the runner in sixth
place, so helping to give Oxford victory.
Despite the heavy conditions on the
famously gruelling course, Tom was part
of a cluster of competitors who charged
to the finish close the headquarters of
Thames Hare and Hounds at the Robin
Hood Roundabout. The two Universities
now have 59 wins each in the series.
However, there was a tremendously solid
performance all-round by the OWs. In
the Open Race, the OWs finished fourth
out of 15 teams, with Miles Copeland
being the first OW home in 12th place,
less than four minutes behind the
winner, with Mark Wainwright, our next
best scorer. With Samuel running and
almost certainly placing in the top five,
the OWs might have got second place
behind Sherborne. In both the over
40s and over 50s races, the OWs were
without several competitors through
injury but still finished second behind
Winchester, our perennial rivals in both
age divisions. So in the over-50s, the
OWs finally lost the title after five
unbeaten years, although all three of our
leading scorers were at least 60 years-old
and we would easily have finished first
in that age-category, if there had been
such a competition. Graham Ball was
the first OW ‘super vet’ home in 33
minutes 38 seconds, a remarkable
performance for someone, who is 60
years-old. He was second in the over-50s
class. In all, 11 OWs ran, a testament to
the organisation of Jim Forrest and
Simon Wurr, the Master-in-Charge at
the School, who has had such an
influence on the sport.
Despite his prominence in the annual
races along the towpath, Tom only came
JOHN GOODBODY
(LL 1956–1961)
24
A
T
OW SPORTS
In the Grafton Morrish we failed to
qualify for the knock-out stage.
FOOTBALL
1ST XI
In the Barnard Darwin we lost 1/2 –
21/2 to The Leys and in the Senior
Darwin we lost 0–3 to Clifton.
L
In the Old Boy’s Putting Competition
at Royal Wimbledon we just failed to
qualify for the Final.
The Club played nine inter Old Boys
matches where we won five, halved
two and lost two. We defeated the
Old Wykehamists, Old Paulines,
Old Reptonians, Old Radleians and
Old Shirburnians. We halved with Old
Uppinghamians and Old Canfordians.
All three Society meetings were well
attended.
DAVID ROY
(AHH 1956–1961)
If anybody would like to join the
OWGS please contact:
David Roy
7 Sandy Lodge Lane, Northwood
Middlesex HA6 2JA
he 2007/08 season was another
year of consolidation in the
Arthurian League 4th division.
Our superb home form combined with
some dire away performances lead to a
comfortable mid-table finish. We were
knocked out of the Junior League Cup
on penalties by a Highgate side that
God (and the referee) had clearly taken
a shining to.
ast year at this point of writing,
we were targeting a top-four finish for the season ending in May
2008. It is my delight to report that this
ambitious aim was achieved, with a high
quality second half to the season seeing
the 1st XI achieve a historic best ever
3rd place finish in the Premiership,
and our highest ever points total since
records began. Our final record reads
Played 18 Won 10 Drawn 2 Lost 6
GF 41 GA 33, which included a double
over Harrow, a delicious league and cup
treble over Forest, and a superb end of
season victory over championship
runners-up Brentwood.
In a year that saw a lot of player
rotation, and the usual amount of scrabbling around on a Friday night for an
11th man, the end result is a product of
squad effort. However, individuals key
to our success were ultra-fit midfield
enforcer and player of the season Sam
Stannard, effervescent golden bootist
David Weinstein-Linder, and the consistently excellent Jim Kershan. The latter’s
dramatic last-minute penalty save in the
cup against Forest, leading to an eventual 3–2 extra time victory, was surely the
season’s choicest memory, and living
embodiment of those tired clichés about
fine wines aging well. Sadly the run
ended in the next round with a weak
loss to lower division opposition – but
hey, that’s the magic of the knock-out
format, right?
Credit must also go to the self-anointed
‘most successful captain ever’ Fabian
Joseph. While historians of the promotion-crazy Fatemi years, or those for
whom the true measure of success is the
Arthur Dunn Cup, may wish to reserve
judgement on his period in charge,
there is no doubt that he and vice
captain Rupert Ratcilffe have brought
an energy and enthusiasm to their roles
that has taken the club up a level.
A continuing strong youth policy and
another recruitment drive over the summer, coupled with an improved training
regime, sees all 3 sides looking good
at the start of the 2008/09 season, and
the first XI squad as strong as your correspondent can remember. After 3 wins
we sit second by a point to reigning
champions Charterhouse, with a game
in hand, a goal difference of +11, and
the phrase ‘golden era’ beginning to be
bandied around.
Our final League record read Played 12,
Won 3, Drawn 5, Lost 4, GF 31 and
GA 35. Despite being the second highest scorers in the division our all too
often generous defence was to prove our
undoing. Player of the year went to vice
captain Daniel Cavenagh and most
improved went to Daniel Bamford.
Newcomer Dan also won the Golden
boot with a superb 6 goals in 8 games.
Highlights of the season included a 5–1
mauling of Malvernians and a thrilling
2–2 draw with eventual champions
Charterhouse, with Alan Jones grabbing
a last-minute equaliser to preserve our
unbeaten home record for a third
straight season.
As the recent fall of capitalism shows,
counting your chickens is a risky
business. But if you’re looking for an
investment with better prospects than
your Icesave account, and can find a
bookies with a weird penchant for amateur public school sporting events, you
could do worse than a flutter on the
Pinks to still be in the title race come
squeaky bum time, Spring 2009.
We have started the new season on fire
with three wins from our opening three
games and with the squad displaying a
mix of youth and experience,
promotion is certainly the goal.
HUGO BRADDICK
(QS 1989–1994)
NEAL KHERA
(HH 1993–1998)
25
Roussell once again swept all before
them in the Round Robin stage of the
D’Abernon Cup. Meanwhile, the Tuesday
Club evenings started well and maintained
impetus throughout the season.
OW SPORTS
TENNIS
2
008 was another thriving year for
the OW (Lawn) Tennis Club. We
kicked off with our annual pre-season dinner at the Garrick where many
excellent ideas for the forthcoming season
were pooled and some of them even
recorded and implemented.
One of the developments was Tristan
Vanhegan agreeing to try to organise some
parallel events for the under 30’s (starting
in a pub). In this context (the under 30’s
rather than the pub), it was felt that that
many of the people in that group (and
indeed some outside it) worked so hard
that they found it difficult to get away for
Tuesday evenings at 6.30pm; it was therefore felt that Saturday morning courts
would be very valuable (provided not too
early – 11am–1pm being mooted!).
The season got off to an excellent start
both on the competitive side and the
Club evenings. Marc Baghdadi and Ed
After the initial elation on the
competitive side, success became
somewhat harder to come by. The next
fixture was against the School, one that
we had assumed was ours for the taking:
unfortunately a combination of cunning
tactics in fixing the match (very early in
our season) and on the day itself, resulted
in the OWW being outgunned: Nick
Perry and Tristan Vanhegan playing first
pair uncharacteristically succumbed 1:2;
William and Heneage Stevenson valiantly
held the line at 11/2:11/2, whilst Charles
and Alexander Stevenson put up a very
creditable performance. Many thanks to
Tara Hacking for coming to watch; time
for her to resume participant mode?!
Great to have a complete Stevenson turn
out. And well done to the School.
OWW struggled again in the match
against the Old Wellingtonians, coming
a close second. Rupert Coltart and
Charlie Stevenson squeaked defeat 0:2
(1st set tie break), whilst Simon
Clement-Davies and Yash Rajan/Alex
Mackenzie achieved similarly.
The match against the Common Room
was great fun amidst much allegation of
ringers: the Common Room VI consisted
of 2 teachers (I could almost stop there...),
2 teachers who were also OWW (and
should have done a better job at playing for
us), an OW who was not a teacher, and a
wife of an OW and a parent but who was
neither OW nor teacher. Hmm. Anyway,
rules were waived to allow the games to
commence, interrupting a rather fine
picnic. Simon C-D and Rupert as a brave
1st pair achieved 1:3; Sancha Bainton and
Charlie were narrowly pushed out to 0:3
and Tim Brocklebank-Fowler carried your
hubristic Secretary over the line to achieve
2:2. After taking into account handicaps
etc, an honourable draw was declared and
more picnic consumed. A great fixture
which will I hope be repeated.
–›
Club evenings were also organised at
Wimbledon, on the grass and indoor
courts, with huge thanks to Nick Perry,
and at Hurlingham on grass, astro and
hard court: participants’ comments on
the respective qualities of the surfaces
would have done a wine-taster proud.
The disappointment of having our season
curtailed early at Vincent Sq will hopefully be more than made up for next season
when we have the pleasure to play on the
newly resurfaced courts.
Our thanks again to Ian Monk for his
unfailing kindness and support in our
endeavours, access to the courts, pavilion,
hot and cold running water, etc.
The following day, our fierce 1st IV of
Marc Baghdadi and Ed Roussell (1st pair)
and Tristan Vanhegan and Paul Denza
(2nd pair) took the field against KCS
(sigh, again) in the qtr finals of the
D’Abernon Cup. For a whole host of very
good reasons, sadly including an injury to
Marc, we were once again unable to
secure victory, our 2nd pair losing their
4 sets and our 1st pair achieving victory
in one of theirs. More work needed but
KCS remain a very strong competitor.
Please do come along and join in on
Tuesday Club evenings from 6.30pm
(ish) if you can from late April till late
August: we represent a wide range of
skills with remarkable tolerance shown by
the better players to the rest of us. The
fixtures will of course resume this season.
Our thanks also to the School and to the
Headmaster for their vocal and genuine
support for our efforts.
DUNCAN MATTHEWS
(QS 1974–1979)
Hon. Sec. OW LTC
The season concluded with a match
against the Old Wykehamists: a symmetric 1:2 for both our pairs followed (Ed
and Yash, Rupert and Paul respectively),
though Winchester took their victory in
very good part (after quite a lull).
For more information please contact:
T: 020 7842 1200
colepsy in even the most avid fan of OW
Fives. In fact I’m tempted to echo the legendary BBC radio announcement “There
is no news today, so here is some music”
– but that would just provoke Editorial
wrath. There’s no alternative, then, but
to fall back on that easy option of sports
writing, Past Glory.
OW SPORTS
FIVES
A
s I write this (in October) the
current season is still in its early
stages and there isn’t really much
to report. Admittedly we’ve had the Great
Lights Failure and the riveting saga of
The Highgate Minibus, but neither is
likely to induce anything other than nar-
Football pundits are bemused at the
moment by newly-promoted Hull City sitting at the top of the Premier League; the
Old Westminsters caused a similar stir last
season in our game’s highest division. It’s
true we’d been there before (if not for
some 20 years) but we shot to the upper
levels from the outset and stayed there to
the end, finishing as runners-up behind
the Olavians but just ahead of the
Harrovians – always a bonus, that. This
season the key players are still mostly available – Saul Albert, Giles Coren, Nick Fry,
Peter Kennedy, Ed Rose and the iconic
John Reynolds – which bodes well, despite
the truism that the second season, like the
second novel, is always more difficult...
2007/08 was also a successful campaign
for us less glamorous characters who turn
out for Old Westminsters II (my appeal
last issue for suggestions on a more
inspiring name went unheeded, by the
way, so I’ll repeat it: come on, someone
in OW Medialand must be a branding
genius). Division Three in many ways
proved rather frustrating, tough matches
contrasting with walkovers against sides
that were either complete rabbits or
thoroughly disorganised. Curiously we
finished second here too, though level on
–›
points scored with the winners and a
shade in front of the Abbey Club – an
alias for the School. This resulted in
promotion to Division Two, a far more
competitive and enjoyable league.
OW SPORTS
CRICKET
T
his 2008 season saw OWWCC
consolidate the good work of
the past couple of years, over
which time the sleeping giant that is
OWWCC has awoken to become a
competitive side, which has become
more used to winning than losing.
ANDREW AITKEN
(LL 1967–1971)
This year’s results from Cricket Week
were as follows: played 7, won 2, drawn
2, lost 3. The victories were magnificent
and the defeats, in true OW fashion, were
undeserved but accepted in sporting fashion. In short, Cricket Week was once
again a huge success with several notable
performances with bat and ball. It is
worth pointing out that the Club has
benefited from the standard of the recent
school leavers who have joined. Special
mention should go out to all of the
coaching staff, who under the stewardship
of James Kershen are producing a crop of
cricketers, who know how to win.
Club details and fixtures can be found at
www.fivesonline.co.uk
Although the Club lost in the first
round of the Cricketer Cup this year,
the performance was very encouraging
So whether you’re a recent leaver or a
lapsed player from long ago, do come and
join in – ages range from the late teens
upwards and even members of the 1970
School team still grace the courts with
skills taught by the great ‘Jumbo’ Wilson,
the Bill Shankly of Westminster Fives.
in that, for the most part, we went toe
to toe with Harrow (who on paper
would have thought that they had the
match won when the fixture list was
printed in March). A powerful, gritty
ton from the ever dependable James
Kershen made the match a real contest
and ensured that the Old Harrovians
had to sweat to earn their post match
claret following a 43 run victory.
A big thank you to the Bursar and the
Head Master for continuing to allow
the club to use Vincent Square and to
Ian Monk, whose sterling efforts in
preparing the ground for match day are
much appreciated.
As ever, we welcome all new comers
(of any standard) to the Club. Please
contact the School’s Development
Office to be put onto the Club’s mailing
list, should you be interested.
DANIEL CAVANAGH
(GG 1993–1998)
26
27
ELIZABETHAN BALL
FRIDAY 9 JULY 2010
By kind permission of The Very Reverend John Hall,The Dean
of Westminster, the Elizabethan Club is delighted to announce
that a Ball will be held.
OW IN UNIFORM
WEBSITE
More details will be released via the Club’s
website www.oldwestminster.org.uk throughout
2009 but please bear in mind the date of the
‘Elizabethan Ball’ and note that tickets for both
dinner and after dinner guests will be available
to buy online from 9 July 2009.
LOCATION:The Abbey precincts
INVITATION OPEN TO: Old Westminsters, the Abbey
Community and Friends of Westminster School
Right: Oliver Clarke.
BUYING TICKETS:Tickets available online from 9 July 2009
ABOUT THE BALL
The Ball will be held in the Abbey, the Cloisters, Dean’s Yard,
Little Dean’s Yard, and College Garden and will offer the rare
chance to enjoy the magnificent surroundings of School
in the height of the summer, with special entertainment and
excellent food and wine, while helping to celebrate this special
anniversary with friends and contemporaries.
Right:Tim Hare.
Right: Michael Steele.
FURTHER PLANS INCLUDE:
• The commissioning a commemorative
sculpture to be placed in Little Dean’s Yard.
• A lecture series
• A major scientific Expedition will pay tribute
to the School’s tradition of undertaking adventurous expeditions.
• An exhibition to celebrate the history of the
School and the Abbey since the refoundation.
• The Music and Drama Departments plan a
programme of performances for the year
which will reflect our links with the first
Elizabethan age. Some of these may provide
an opportunity to work with the other
Foundation Schools.
• A commemorative medallion is to be struck.
Right: David Neuberger.
• There will be a major service around Petertide
and the School will have Big Commem on
19th November for which a new Te Deum is
being commissioned from Old Westminster
Richard Blackford.
• There will be a celebratory ‘Elizabethan Ball’
on 9 July 2010.
Right: Nicholas Hildyard.
ANNIVERSARY EVENTS
2010 is the 450th Anniversary of the refoundation of St Peter’s College at Westminster by
Elizabeth I.The Abbey and the School are
planning a series of events to mark the calendar
year, to begin and end with a service in the
Abbey.
Right: Michael Lea.
>>2010 CELEBRATIONS<<
30
33
36
39
42
44
Michael Lea
Michael Steele
Tim Hare
David Neuberger
Oliver Clarke
Nicholas Hildyard
OW IN UNIFORM
Taking inspiration from the view, I happily worked long hours in the run up to
A-levels. I enjoyed the school’s less popular expeditions, activities and physical
challenges. I joined the Rowing Station
rather than the Football Station as they
seemed to be the only team that won
competitions. I liked being part of a
team, and although I normally wanted
to be the captain or leader, I also learnt
to appreciate being an effective number
two or worker bee.
I am not certain what swayed me to
join the RAF, but I did spend two consecutive Cambridge summers working
for American investment banks. That
might have had something to do with
it. After those torrid humid summers
working 100 hour weeks, I was certain
that I no longer wanted to fulfil my
childhood ambition of becoming a
merchant banker. My time in the city
seemed oddly restricted – I felt my
view didn’t extend beyond the fabric
bullpen I worked in at the time. The
experience left me yearning for a career
that would require both physical and
mental courage as well as teamwork
and real leadership opportunities. I also
badly wanted to have an office with a
Rigaud’s (1987–1992)
’
On the other hand, although the
school has a reputation as an ‘academic
hothouse’, I don’t believe that it
prepared me for the brutal reality and
pressures of implementing foreign
policy. I don’t regard that as being the
fault of the school; I don’t think that
teaching style at Westminster. My time
at the School educated me in all aspects
of life; but with humour and tailored to
decent view. The RAF has
provided me with plenty of all
of those things and some unique
opportunities besides.
Walking towards the post service reception in College
‘Garden,
I bumped into Jim Cogan and TJP – Jim challenged
me to a sword fight. I honourably declined given that I was
bearing 28 inches of best British sharpened steel and he
was armed with an extended index finger.
’
Garden, I bumped into Jim Cogan and
TJP – Jim challenged me to a sword
fight. I honourably declined given that
I was bearing 28 inches of best British
sharpened steel and he was armed with
an extended index finger. It was a
poignant reminder of the excellent
The idea of learning through debate
and the liberal outlook at Westminster
prepared me well for publicly defending
the morality of the military. Westminster
taught me the values of a liberal democracy and to understand the reasoning
behind Britain’s interventionist foreign
policy.
the individual. I still cherish the enduring friendships started there.
While I worked hard to pass all the
quizzes at school and followed the welltrodden path to Oxbridge, I made use
of the other opportunities that
Westminster had to offer. I have
brilliant memories of attending the
Commons debate of no-confidence in
Margaret Thatcher’s government, and
spending two hours on an official tour
of the Abbey’s roof. In my final year, I
occupied a single room overlooking the
Abbey and Parliament’s Victoria Tower.
Left: Head of the River, 1992.
O
n 15th September 1990, I
watched the 50th anniversary
of the Battle of Britain flypast
from the roof of TJP’s maths classroom.
Ten years later I was the most junior
combat ready fighter pilot in the RAF,
and given the honour of being the
Fighter Command Ensign bearer at the
Battle of Britain memorial service in
Westminster Abbey. Walking towards
the post service reception in College
Squadron Leader Michael Lea joined the RAF in 1996. He is a qualified
tactics and air combat instructor on both the Tornado and Eurofighter
Typhoon. During seven years on the frontline, he has served on exercise
and operations in the Middle East, North and South America, Europe,
and Africa. He is presently working within the MOD’s Typhoon
Integrated Project team before returning to flying next year.
‘
Right: School Monitors, 1992.
MICHAEL LEA
both of those skills are very useful when
we are negotiating with our NATO
partners and industrial suppliers.
The idea of learning
through debate and
the liberal outlook at
Westminster prepared
me well for publicly
defending the morality
of the military.
I think of my career now as
divided into two intertwined
roles; the military officer, and the
fighter pilot.
The job of a military officer is
exceptionally diverse and one’s success
depends on personal relationships and
pragmatic judgements. Westminster
hasn’t been a hindrance to my military
career but I have had to think carefully
at times about when to use what I
learned there. As military officer, it’s not
always prudent to be deliberately nonconformist or arrive at a solution
through intellectual debate. It can be
construed as insubordination. However,
in my present role within the MOD
society as a whole truly appreciates the
demands placed upon its lowly paid
servicemen. Quite rightly, British society demands exemplary behaviour
from its Armed Forces – but it is
very hard to behave rationally while
wrapped in grief, and to make instan<<continued overleaf>>
30
31
–›
taneous moral judgements in the
midst of lethal chaos.
haven’t been close to
‘Isomeone
suffering on
the sharp end of Britain’s
foreign policy as I am
normally 4 miles above
them.
’
Lonely: I was flying at low level in the
pitch black over the North Sea, beyond
radio and radar coverage pursuing
marauding Russian bombers.
Right: At the Henley Royal Regatta, 1992.
I took stock of the moral challenges of
the job prior to swearing allegiance to
the Crown and I constantly review my
thoughts. I must confess to having grave
difficulties in 2003. A pilot is normally
spared the ‘up close and personal’ world
of war-fighting in which an infantry
man exists. I haven’t been close to
someone suffering on the sharp end of
Britain’s foreign policy as I am normally
four miles above them. However, I am
under no illusion that my job is one of
deterrence, and that if that deterrent
fails, I become a legitimate agent of
lethal force and I have to live with the
and enjoy it properly so I think its better to describe some of my emotions.
There are times when I have felt:
In awe of the natural world: I was able
to contrast with night vision goggles
the anti-aircraft artillery rising
indiscriminately out of Baghdad, and
the similar looking, but the more beautiful, Persoid meteorite shower descending from the heavens.
As though I was in a surreal cartoon:
I felt detached from my cockpit as I
focused on the vivid smoke trail of a large
rocket propelled telegraph pole, travelled
at Mach 4, guiding towards my aircraft.
Exceptionally privileged: when displaying the Tornado at the Santiago
International Air Show in the cauldron
of the Andes, at sunset, in front of an
audience of 250,000.
Very pissed off indeed: when I was
being subjected to treatment well
beyond the bounds and protection of
the Geneva convention, having not
eaten or slept for a very long time.
And finally, that the OW network gets
everywhere: when I flew a Tornado in
the Falkland Islands over Christmas,
Peter Bottomley MP was visiting as
part of the defence select committee.
We shared a whiskey.
moral consequences of that. I don’t
recall the John Locke Society tackling
these issues.
Like my time at Westminster, I have
made use of the RAF’s many opportunities. I have been able to represent the
RAF in downhill ski racing, and in riding the Cresta Run. Although these
activities conform to a fighter pilot
stereotype, I hope that as person I
don’t conform. I eventually learnt at
Westminster to see through stereotypes
and examine the real person beneath.
Furthermore, I am simply not cool
enough to pull it off. For many years
I drove an S-Reg Nissan Micra, and I
have never managed to convince a single
girl in a nightclub of my profession.
not certain what swayed me to join the RAF, but I
‘Ididamspend
two consecutive Cambridge summers working
for American investment banks.That might have had
something to do with it.
And so to the job of fighter pilot, and
the view from the office window. The
view is fantastic and moves on average
at 9 miles a minute. To be honest, often
I have been too pre-occupied to sit back
32
’
Rigaud’s (1945–1949)
MICHAEL STEELE
The Honorary Secretary of the Rigaud’s Society, Major General
Michael Steele MBE recalls his time at School, career in the Army
and encounters with Sophia Loren.
I
entered the School in September
1945 upon its return to Little
Dean’s Yard from evacuation in
Herefordshire. It was a time of great
excitement for the School, for none of
the 200 or so boys, and probably most
of the Common Room, had actually
been in the school grounds before.
So in effect we were all ‘new’ boys,
rushing around trying to find out where
everything was – the classrooms, the
fives courts in Great College Street, the
customs and traditions of the School in
the totally different environment of
London, against the rather happy-golucky atmosphere of war time life in the
rural countryside of Herefordshire. And
indeed the evidence of the war was still
all around us, for School and College
I suspect that in the past Westminster has always been
‘But
able to adjust to the unexpected and to adversity, and certainly in 1945 it took little time for the life of the School
to assume its traditional pattern of learning, sporting activities, music, drama and debate.
’
Gym tucked away in the Little Cloister,
and the places allocated to us for our
Services in the Abbey.
Unbeknown to me as a ‘proper’ new
boy, the senior boys must have been
busy working out the new rules and
Dormitory were roofless shells, and
there was a huge air-raid shelter right
in the middle of Little Dean’s Yard.
When we ventured down to Vincent
Square we found it dotted with
immense blocks of concrete for
securing barrage balloons.
But I suspect that in the past
Westminster has always been able to
adjust to the unexpected and to adversity,
and certainly in 1945 it took little time
for the life of the School to assume its
traditional pattern of learning, sporting
33
OW IN UNIFORM
–›
activities, music, drama and debate. I
personally got very involved in speech
and drama, and in fact won the School
Orations competition over each of the
four years that I entered for it. My most
dramatic moment was when I appeared
as the Devil in the School production of
Everyman. The Producer was that highly
talented and lovable character the late
Oleg Kerensky, and he persuaded me to
blacken my body and wear no clothes for
the part, so I believe that even in these
more liberal times I am, probably still the
last person to appear up School, before
an astonished audience of parents, clad
only in a jock strap and long forked tail.
I joined the regular Army on rather a
whim. My grandfather had been a professional soldier, and my father had
fought with great distinction in the
First World War, so it made obvious
sense for me to volunteer for the Army
to complete my two years of National
Service. From the outset, I revelled in
the military way of life – whereas my
fellow conscripts appeared to me to be
under-nourished, unfit, and deeply
unhappy, I loved every minute of it.
So, on a whim, when I was approached
with the offer of a place at the Royal
Military Academy Sandhurst, with a
regular commission at the end of it,
I accepted on the spot.
It did not take me long to realise that
life in the Army has its ups and downs,
with moments of high drama and
excitement now and again, coupled with
long periods of routine and of administration. But naturally it is only the
excitements that one remembers.
My first was in 1956, when, as a young
subaltern, I was posted to a prestigious
horse artillery regiment stationed at
Homs in Libya, eighty miles east of
Tripoli and a mile down the road from
Leptis Magna – in fact the Officers’
Mess had been erected on the site of
the old Roman graveyard. Homs was a
splendid military station, with our bar-
river itself was filthy, filled with every manner of foul
‘The
garbage; old Brock always cautioned, as we went out
sculling, ‘I wouldn’t fall in if I were you, sir’.
’
I rowed throughout my time at
Westminster, plus a little long distance
running in St James’ Park and along the
tow-path at Putney. The Water Station
was a joy, and every time we left for it, it
seemed to me that we were on an adventure – the Underground on the District
Line to Putney Bridge, the walk to the
boat house, the excitement of getting out
on the water, and the mouth-watering
prospect of the thick slabs of jam
sandwiches produced at the end of the
day by Mrs Brock, the Boatman’s wife.
The river itself was filthy, filled with
every manner of foul garbage; old Brock
always cautioned, as we went out sculling,
‘I wouldn’t fall in if I were you, sir’.
34
racks right on the edge of the desert,
and with the opportunity to have complete freedom of deployment with our
old 25 pounder Self Propelled guns.
After a day in the sweltering heat on
training manoeuvres, deep in the desert,
it was back to the Mess for us young
officers, and a dip in the sea at the bottom of the Mess garden.
This languid life was rudely shattered
when the regiment was warned off for
deployments on the Suez Operation.
We were a part of the 10th Armoured
Division, who were given the task of
embarking at Tripoli for a landing at
Alexandria; but even before we could
leave Homs we were told that HMG
had decreed that it was not diplomatically acceptable for UK Forces to use Libya
as a launch-pad for an assault on Egypt.
So we were reduced to providing troops
to secure key installations in and around
Tripoli – the docks, the airfield, radio
station, water supply and vehicle depots.
My Troop’s particular task was to defend
the Ammunition Dump, which we did
for a month until the whole Operation
was called off; our nerves were a bit on
edge because we did have a number of
alarms and incursions into the Dump,
and there was always the knowledge
that if we got it wrong we might all get
blown to smithereens.
Within a few months there was a totally
different excitement, for Hollywood
came to Homs in the shape of a cast
of John Wayne, Rossano Brazzi, Kurt
Jugens and Sophia Loren, to make a
film entitled The Legend of the Lost.
The Regiment was asked to provide
some half-track vehicles and drivers for
the film, and my Commanding Officer
detailed me off to be the regimental liaison officer to the Stars. Never was an
order more pleasantly received or more
enthusiastically carried out. Sophia was
then 22 years old and a remarkable
beauty, and I was the envy of the
Regiment as I escorted her around
Homs and Leptis Magna. My brother
officers awarded me an Oscar for my
efforts, and even today those who served
with me in Homs fifty two years ago
still address me by that name.
In an extraordinary instance of
replication, I was back in Libya 13 years
later, again defending key installations.
By then, I was a Battery Commander
stationed in Munsterlager, north
Germany; a married man with three
children, and having in the interim years
completed tours of duty in London, the
Staff College, Hong Kong and Wales.
Unexpectedly, I was tasked to take my
Battery from Germany to Libya to
conduct a two-week exercise, and in July
1969 we duly arrived in RAF El Adem to
take over six old 25 pounder towed guns
and a great quantity of ammunitions. We
drove south into the desert for a hundred
miles or so and set up Base Camp and a
Firing Range for the guns. The soldiers
loved it, for none of them had served in
the desert before, and they enjoyed the
opportunity to get their knees brown,
and to experience the wonderful
sensation of the heavens bearing right
down on top of them at night.
to carry out Internal Security operations
in the City Centre and in the Bogside
and Creggan areas of Derry, and to keep
the peace. I called the whole Regiment
together in the Garrison Gymnasium to
brief them on our roles; I outlined the
way in which we were to conduct our
operations, and I remember saying that
‘
It was a reflection of the
quality of the soldiers
under my command that,
at the end of the tour,
seven of them should
receive various operational
awards for gallantry and
distinguished service.
’
soldiers behaved magnificently, with
absolute correctness, with courage, and
with resolve, and I was immensely
proud of them. It was a reflection of
the quality of the soldiers under my
command that, at the end of the tour,
seven of them should receive various
operational awards for gallantry and
distinguished service.
My final challenge was in 1983 when as
a young Major General I was appointed
as the Chief of the Joint Services
Liaison Organization in Bonn. It was
here that all that I had been taught at
Westminster, and had learnt by experience over the previous thirty three years
of service, came to my aid when I
assumed the responsibility for the
liaison between the British Forces and
the German Government. It was a role
Out of the blue I received a radio message
to break up camp and return to RAF El
Adem at full speed, because there had
been a military coup d’etat against King
Idris by a young major in the Libyan
Army called Gadaffi. We had no idea
whether or not it had been a bloodless
coup, but nevertheless I was ordered to
deploy my troops to guard all the important installations and establishments in
Tobruk, the airfield at El Adem, the water
supply and the married families patch.
Once again I was burdened with an
Internal Security role for my soldiers,
but this time it was to last for six
months, and we did not get back to
Munsterlarger until Christmas Eve,
much to the relief and joy of our
families. Before we left I held a
Parade and Church Service at the
Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery
in Tobruk on Remembrance Sunday,
and I thought at the time that it
might well be the last occasion for very
many years that there would be British
soldiers in uniform at the Cemetery.
So it has proved to this day.
In 1973 I was faced with a far more
dangerous undertaking, for I was
now commanding my own Gunner
Regiment in Dortmund, and I was
ordered to take them to Northern
Ireland for a four mouth operational
tour in Londonderry. Our role would be
it was my intention to bring them all
back, safe and well.
It was not to be. Once deployed in the
City it became immediately apparent
that we were not up against just the
usual groups of hooligans who stoned,
petrol-bombed, and nail-bombed us on
a daily basis, but up against a small
Active Service Unit of the IRA who were
intent on the destruction of the City,
and the murder of British servicemen. It
was a most unpleasant business, with the
soldiers having to experience being spat
upon by women in the streets, besides
enduring the dangers of patrolling the
City, on a 24-hour basis, in a very
hostile and dangerous environment.
The culmination of it all was that two
of my gunners were shot dead and
several very seriously wounded, but the
demanding diplomacy and tact, for
there was a dichotomy between the
absolute need for mobile training by
the British, against the ever-increasing
demand by the Germans for a
reduction in exercises, especially over
private land.
Since my retirement I have involved
myself in military charities, and in
helping to run Veteran Organizations,
mostly to provide financial support for
ex-servicemen and their families that
may be in need. I have very fond memories of the School, and I am deeply
grateful for the learning, the self-confidence and the sense of responsibility
that it instilled in me. Which is why I
enjoy returning to the School and why
I have been the Organizing Secretary
of the Rigaud’s Society for the past
twenty years.
35
OW IN UNIFORM
desperation for what to do next, I
applied for the distant romance of a life
at sea and, surprisingly, was accepted.
Once this became common knowledge
at school, distance was kept by fellows
who looked upon the idea with faint
despair! But pursue the venture I did.
Wren’s (1960–1965)
I
t was Summer-time in 1964 and
the A level results were in. For
most at Westminster this meant
confirmation of an exhibition here or a
scholarship there – for most that is, but
not all. In the 1960s there was a small
rump of Westminster boys to whom
academia and exams continued to
TIM HARE
Commodore Tim Hare joined the Royal Navy immediately after
Westminster. He served as an engineer in the Submarine Service
and worked in the POLARIS and TRIDENT programmes.
‘
Not for me the hallowed halls of Christ Church or Trinity.
My interview with the wonderful Charles Keeley (Wren’s
Housemaster at the time) was not quite “the church or
the military for you, Hare” but nearly!
The 19th September 1965 found me
very soberly dressed (tweed jacket and
flannels – highly unfashionable in the
1960s) on board the train from
Paddington to Dartmouth. The carriage
was full of clones all rather nervous and
wondering who and what would greet
them at the end of the journey west.
Noise and shouting was the answer and
apprehension turned to terror as we
trudged up the hill to the famous Royal
Naval College overlooking the beautiful
River Dart.
Having been a boarder at school, the
Dartmouth routine was manageable.
For those less fortunate, the first
nights away from home in a highly disciplined environment were more difficult. Did I fit the mould? Well sort of.
We were a mixed bunch from all sorts
days when such institutions formed part
of the curriculum, very reluctantly supported by pupils whose first thought
was that anything military was by definition philistine and therefore certainly
not to be encouraged or overtly
supported. Exceptionally, I rather
enjoyed the break from the blackboard
and, in particular, the distinct nature
of the Naval contingent. With this
somewhat limited view, and a
applied for the distant romance of a life at sea and, surpris‘Iingly,
was accepted. Once this became common knowledge
at school, distance was kept by fellows who looked upon
the idea with faint despair!
’
teamwork and an “all for one and one
for all” spirit. There are two main
reasons for this: firstly the domestic
conditions are such that there is just no
place for the schisms that mark the differences in living conditions in surface
ships between senior, junior ratings
and officers. You all have to live in
very close proximity, eat the same food
and share the very limited domestic
facilities (before nuclear submarines,
no showers or baths for up to six
I therefore have gone to another school? Possibly
‘Should
yes. But do I regret going to Westminster? Definitely no!
For what the school did give me were a number of plusses
to compensate my academic difficulties.
’
’
present a challenge, despite endeavour
from teachers and pupil alike and I was
one of those. Not for me the hallowed
halls of Christ Church or Trinity. My
interview with the wonderful Charles
Keeley (Wren’s Housemaster at the
time) was not quite “the church or the
military for you, Hare” but nearly! The
military had some allure through flirtations in the CCF headed by the great
“Major” Ron French. That was in the
this sphere of warfare that I was to
remain for the next 32 years! Why submarines? The submarine service has
always been “different” and separate
from the mainstream Navy, with its
own culture based on a more egalitarian approach, a strong focus on
of backgrounds. The other public
school boys – from such as Sherborne
and Wellington – all appeared to have
been in the military for years. With the
majority grammar school contingent,
I felt more comfortable. Friendships
were made and early training survived.
Three years at the Royal Naval
Engineering College restored some academic confidence and it was in 1970
that I made a key decision to join the
Submarine service – indeed it was in
weeks!). Secondly, because submarines
are essentially dangerous beasts, safety
is absolutely vital and dependent on
everyone from the Captain to the
most junior of sailors to play their
part. This engenders a special form of
camaraderie. Alongside these cultural
and behavioural differences is the
humour – self-deprecating and teasing.
All these factors attracted but perhaps
most of all, operating in submarines
was exciting and fun. In the 1970s and
80s submarines were at the forefront of
the Cold War often finding themselves
very close to the potential adversary,
the Russian Navy and its formidable
submarine arm. Indeed, people visiting
the main operating base at Faslane in
Scotland would often be surprised that
it appeared to be on a war footing
unlike most other military bases.
Operational time for an engineer such
as I, was limited and in the mid 1980s I
started the second phase of my military
career as a MOD bureaucrat and
became more deeply involved in the
serious issue of nuclear deterrence
through management postings in the
POLARIS and (later) the TRIDENT
programmes. By the time of my last
posting – as Director Nuclear Policy in
the MOD London – I had gained experience in a number of aspects of the
nuclear weapons programme embracing
operations, procurement, support and
policy. As a policy man I engaged with a
wide range of Whitehall departments,
NGOs such as CND, the US and
French administrations and NATO – all
giving a fascinating insight to the wide
range of views surrounding nuclear
weapons. We addressed such issues as:
how a policy of minimum deterrence
hosted in our submarine force could be
<< continued overleaf >>
36
37
reflection therefore,
‘On
my career in the RN –
untypical for an OW
– was never dull and
I have few regrets.
–›
implemented safely but effectively and
help to prevent war; how could we in
the government machine be more transparent and open about our capability
without compromising security; how
might we engage better with those ill
disposed to the UK’s possession of
nuclear weapons; how to move towards
the non-proliferation treaty goal of
global disarmament through multilateral
negotiation. All rather heady stuff but
hugely rewarding!
On reflection therefore, my career in the
RN – untypical for an OW – was never
dull and I have few regrets. And what
was the impact of Westminster? On the
minus side, I came away from school
with a strong academic inferiority complex which took sometime to disappear.
I should like to have gone to University
and pursued some of my other
ambitions (I had always wanted to be
an actor!!) before committing myself –
as I did – to the RN, but somehow I
felt that this was not to be. Should I
therefore have gone to another school?
Possibly yes. But do I regret going to
Westminster? Definitely no! For what
the school did give me were a number of
plusses to compensate my academic difficulties. To name a few: introduction to
a huge variety of subjects based on the
wide range of school “societies” and
activities; the privilege of Westminster
Abbey and location at the very heart of
London; promotion of the individual as
a key human quality; confidence and the
merits of being questioning and critical.
These enduring characteristics helped
Wren’s (1961–1965)
DAVID NEUBERGER
I
came to Westminster in 1961, and
left in 1965; forty-two years later,
in 2007, I returned. However, my
place of work is now a little nearer the
Thames: I now work in the House of
Lords as a Law Lord, or a Lord of
Appeal in Ordinary, to give my full, if
quaint – and indeed temporary – title.
me maintain my individuality within a
military environment where conformity
is the standard and I thank Westminster
for that. Indeed, my meetings with
school friends confirm my view that the
common factor amongst them all is that
very wide. As an example: I hosted a
small group of very Old Westminsters
who ventured to Morocco together in
1968 under the guidance of our outdoor
mentor Ron French. Our motley group
consists of a Naval officer, a farmer, a
my meetings with school friends confirm my view
‘Indeed,
that the common factor amongst them all is that they are
a little different, highly individualistic and, without
exception both interesting and interested.
’
they are a little different, highly individualistic and, without exception both
interesting and interested. Whilst these
values form a common bond, it is reflective of Westminster that the diversity of
professions pursued by its products is
journalist, a QC, a teacher, an Australian
diplomat and a university lecturer.
An eclectic mix and the evening’s
celebration were not to be quiet. Indeed
it confirmed my view that Westminster
is for all sorts – even the military!
While I was a schoolboy at Westminster,
it never crossed my mind that I might
become a barrister, let alone a Judge.
Indeed, I had only the haziest idea as to
what career to follow. I took science A
levels; I would have gone for history, but
in those days one could not combine science and arts A levels at Westminster.
Today my grades would have meant that
I had no chance of getting into a good
university. Then, however, the competition, especially for boys, for entry to
Oxford was less intense, and, to be fair
to me, A level standards may well have
been higher. So I went to Christ Church
and read chemistry.
Looking back now, it seems to me obvious that I would never have been a suc-
Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury talks about coming full circle and the
clothing, among other things, that have brought him back to Westminster.
cessful scientist, and that it was pretty
spineless of me to have stuck with chemistry for four years. By 1970, my fourth
year, the real world was beckoning, and
the University careers advisers suggested
I was a schoolboy
‘While
at Westminster, it never
crossed my mind that I
might become a barrister,
let alone a Judge.
’
that I was suited to finance or law. In
the 1970s, a career in finance, unlike a
career in law, required no exams, and I
had had enough of them. So I went into
investment banking. After two years it
was clear that I was as ill-suited to being
a banker as I was to being a scientist.
Another wrong turn; indeed, it seemed
to me that I may well not have been
destined for a successful career.
Disconsolately returning home from the
bank one day in 1972 I met a friend
who had started practising as a barrister;
as he described his work, I realised that
this was a job which might well suit me.
So I started on my Bar exams, initially
moonlighting on my banking job. I
then did successive pupillages (a sort of
legal apprenticeship) in three different
sets of barristers’ chambers, all of which
ended in failure: each chambers recruited someone other than me. I almost
gave up, but had one more go, and my
fourth pupillage was a success. I duly
started in 1975 as a barrister specialising
in land and property law.
Things then started to go well, and
I became a Queen’s Counsel in 1987.
Nine years later I became a High Court
38
39
Left: David Neuberger. Image by Photoshot.
’
OW IN UNIFORM
ber of barristers I can think of. A wise
barrister once said that the most important characteristic for a barrister, in
a career of long hours and stress, is
high spirits, which, again, I think
Westminster encourages.
at the Bar and
‘Aoncareer
the Bench requires
intellectual rigour, quick
wit, thinking for yourself,
and healthy scepticism –
qualities which the School
has always valued and
encouraged.
Westminster was also directly
instrumental in my taking science A
levels and hence my chemistry degree.
Science requires a degree of rigour which
is a good training for any intellectuallyorientated profession. More particularly,
my science background had an
unexpected consequence. About two
years after I became a judge, there
appeared to be a shortage of judges to
try patent cases; I was fingered – purely,
I think, because I had a chemistry
degree, Although it involved a very steep
learning curve, patent law proved a very
exciting and rewarding new area to get
to grips with. I think it also assisted my
promotion, as the more areas Judges can
turn their hands to, the more valuable
they will be in appeal courts.
’
opted on a case: technically, I suppose
that he or she would be extraordinary.
The Law Lords hear appeals sitting not
as a normal court, but as a judicial
committee of the House of Lords –
having the same technical status, for
instance, as the Foreign Affairs
Committee. When we decide on the
question of whether to allow or dismiss
an appeal, we actually vote on the issue
in the chamber of the House of Lords.
wise barrister once said that the most important
‘Acharacteristic
for a barrister, in a career of long hours
and stress, is high spirits, which, again, I think
Westminster encourages.
’
–›
Judge, and seven years later I was
promoted to the Court of Appeal.
Judges in the High Court and Court
of Appeal mostly try cases in that
Victorian quasi-cathedral, the Royal
Courts of Justice in the Strand. In early
2007, I became a Law Lord. In the
40
United Kingdom, that is the equivalent
of a Supreme Court Judge, but we are
members of the House of Lords.
We are Lords of Appeal in ordinary
because we are full time judges:
occasionally a retired Law Lord is co-
So did my four and a half years up
School do much for my legal career?
I can answer that positively and
confidently. A career at the Bar and on
the Bench requires intellectual rigour,
quick wit, thinking for yourself, and
healthy scepticism – qualities which
the School has always valued and
encouraged. Such a career also calls
for a degree of arrogance, which, less
attractively, has also tended to be a
Westminster feature. However, another
useful quality, which the school also
encourages, and which can blunt the
adverse impression engendered by arrogance, is charm. Like arrogance, it generally helps to be charming if you want
to succeed at being a barrister, but it is
by no means always necessary, as is
demonstrated by the success of a num-
Indeed, Westminster was indirectly
responsible for my considering a career as
a barrister. The barrister friend I so fortunately met in 1972 when I was despairing
of finding a career, was someone that I
had got to know at Westminster.
Right: Rt Hon Sir David Neuberger is appointed has a New Law Lord and becomes a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and introduced into the House
of Lords has Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, of Abbotsbury in the County of Dorset. Photo Shows: Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury with his supporters (L) Baroness Neuberger and (R) Lord Bingham of Cornhill, seen in the Queen’s Robing Room, Westminster, London. Date:15.01.2007.
Ref: UGL023885_0001. Credit: Gary Lee / UPPA / Photoshot.
Right: David Neuberger. Image by Photoshot.
All this will be changing in October
2009. We are to be detached from the
House of Lords, and will cease to be
Law Lords and become Supreme Court
Judges sitting in the new Supreme
Court. At the moment, that is the
building being thoroughly reconstructed on the west side of Parliament
Square. So, despite the physical and
constitutional change, I will still be
working in Westminster.
Although the school afforded quite a
few opportunities to engage in public
speaking, I did not take advantage of
them. I regret this, because, if I had
done, my speeches in court would very
probably have been much better.
Indeed, I now regret not having got
more involved in the many extra-curricular activities and societies that the
School offered. Unfortunately, I regarded Westminster as a place solely for
learning lessons, taking exams, and
chatting to other boys (chatting to girls
not being an option, as it was boys-only
in the 1960s). My error and my loss.
This article is one of a number about
professions involving ceremonial dress.
So, a word or two about that aspect
may be appropriate. Until getting to the
House of Lords, at all stages of my career
at the Bar and on the Bench, I have
worn a short wig, wing collar and bands,
and a gown. The barrister and QC gown
is black, but the barrister’s gown is made
of cotton and a QC’s gown of silk (or,
these days, artificial silk) – hence “taking
silk”. A QC also wears a special jacket
and waistcoat (rather heavy, so I always
wore a much lighter look-alike, known
as a monkey-jacket). In the High Court
and Court of Appeal, it was the same
garb except the wig was slightly woollier
to look at and feel. Because we technically are not a court, but a committee of
the House of Lords, the Law Lords sit in
ordinary suits and ties. In these more
relaxed days, I have been wondering if
I dare turn up without a tie.
This article is timely, as from October,
court dress for Judges has just changed.
Out go the wigs and bands, and in
comes a simpler all embracing robe –
unkindly compared with the garb worn
by the Star Trek cast. It remains to be
seen whether the move to the Supreme
Court means that the Law Lords will
have to wear special dress in court;
I wouldn’t put money on it.
the school afforded quite a few opportunities
‘Although
to engage in public speaking, I did not take advantage of
them. I regret this, because, if I had done, my speeches
in court would very probably have been much better.
’
For formal occasions, such as the opening
of the legal year, Judges wear much more
showy clothes. High Court Judges wear
heavy red robes heavily tinged with
ermine, whereas Appeal Court Judges
wear heavy black and gold robes; they
both wear full-bottomed wigs (as well as
breeches, black tights, white gloves, and
court shoes). So High Court Judges look
like bewigged Father Christmasses and
Appeal Court Judges look as if they are
part of the cast of Iolanthe. As for the Law
Lords, they wear boring morning suits.
I mentioned that we wear these clothes
at the opening of the legal year
(normally 1 October). This involves a
service at Westminster Abbey followed
by a reception in Westminster Hall.
The service in the Abbey inevitably
always takes me back to the 1960s and
my days at Westminster. In a sense,
I have travelled a fairly long way, but I
am back where I started.
41
OW IN UNIFORM
All that faded into insignificance
compared to the fulfilment I got from
the work: The variety of the challenges
facing a uniformed patrol constable
and the at times mind-boggling amount
of responsibility thrust upon young
shoulders is both intoxicating and
enthralling. Looking back, there were
plenty of occasions when I was cold,
wet and miserable, and certainly many
incidents at which I was scared of making the wrong decision (and I made a
few of them, I can tell you!). There were
very few times, however, that I was
busy at times at Bury, “busy” took on a
whole new dimension at Salford. That
came to an end when I went to Eccles
as an Acting Sergeant for six months
and after that I spent some time on
the other Salford subdivisions and 15
months in the Communications Suite
for the Division.
Although I enjoyed Communications
greatly and ended up specializing in
that side of things for much of the
remainder of my career, it was definitely
the most stressful side of police work
idea of a graduate seeking a career in the police was,
‘The
unlike now, almost unthinkable. After my initial training I
was posted to Bury, north of the City Centre, and spent
my first five years doing mostly uniform patrol work.
’
Liddell’s (1968–1973)
I
was something of a rebel at
Westminster in the late 60s and
early 70s. More into chilling out to
Led Zeppelin or Iron Butterfly than
revising hard for that next exam, I was
certainly more likely to be seen nipping
out to the coffee house on Tothill Street
for an illicit ciggy than making it to the
next lesson on time! Against this
backdrop it might seem a little odd that
my chosen field of study was Classics,
and particularly philology. After taking
a year out working in Athens as a rep
for a firm of tour operators I moved
north to Manchester University where
I took a degree in Classics. What next?
My original game plan had been vague
to say the least, as Classics hardly gives
you an automatic intro to any particular
career. At the time I graduated I was living in darkest Whalley Range (adjacent
to Moss Side) in Manchester and a typical evening involved numerous games of
pool at a local hostelry. My next-door
neighbour was a burglar of some repute
(to the local constabulary, at any rate)
and one night over the pool table he
laughingly suggested I should join the
police. Standing there in grubby jeans
and sweatshirt, and with hair halfway
OLIVER CLARKE
Oliver Clarke joined the Greater Manchester Police after studying for a
Classics degree at Manchester University.Working in Communications,
he spent several years specializing in incident handling systems.
down my back, I discounted the idea
completely. A seed had been sown, however, and a week or so later I called into
the Greater Manchester Police HQ
(still wearing the same grubby jeans and
without having visited a barber in the
meantime) and had a long conversation
with a retired Chief Inspector who was
now in their Recruitment section. A
week later I was back, wearing a suit
and neatly shorn, signing on the dotted
line and the transformation from
teenage rebel to “establishment lackey”
was nearly complete.
At the time police pay was very poor
and the Edmund Davies pay awards
were only just starting to take effect.
The idea of a graduate seeking a career
in the police was, unlike now, almost
unthinkable. After my initial training
I was posted to Bury, north of the City
Centre, and spent my first five years
‘
My next-door neighbor
was a burglar of some
repute (to the local
constabulary, at any rate)
and one night over the
pool table he laughingly
suggested I should join
the police.
’
doing mostly uniform patrol work. I’d
not entered under the Graduate Entry
Scheme and once I had joined I made a
conscious decision not to go for accelerated promotion because it was quickly
clear that whilst my childhood, the
Dragon School and Westminster might
have prepared me for many things, life
“on the street” as a uniformed copper
was not one of them.
unhappy or bored. During my first few
years I spent six months in the CID but
decided that was definitely not for me.
I also spent a few months in a plainclothes squad working undercover in
pubs and clubs all over the Force area:
that was huge fun, but very challenging
and scary at times. We used to do a fair
amount of work for the Force’s Drug
Squad in places where their faces were
already known. I would happily have
kept on with that but it’s always a limited attachment (because your face gets
known after a while.
Mostly I preferred doing uniform patrol
work, though: always rushed off your
feet going from one incident to the next
and desperately trying to keep on top of
the mountain of paperwork that resulted. However, the camaraderie of life on
a shift made up for the paperwork and,
strangely, I had no problems coping
with the enforced discipline.
I passed the promotion exam to
Sergeant fairly early on. In 1982 I
dipped a promotion board because of
my “lack of experience” and as a result
was posted to the Salford Division.
Bury had its moments, but it’s probably
the quietest Division in GMP. Salford,
on the other hand, was definitely one of
the busiest. The two years I spent working the Divisional Van at the Crescent
were arguably the most enjoyable of my
whole career. If I’d thought I had been
ready for when a resource became free.
This was in the days before personal
computers were available so everything
was recorded on paper and we would be
forever shuffling and reshuffling a stack
of “live” incident sheets, hurriedly scribbling comments here and there as well
as answering phone calls and attending
to the radio. It was great fun but I was
generally so wound up by the end of a
shift that if I was finishing at 11pm it
was often 3am before I had relaxed
enough to sleep.
In 1987 I was promoted to Sergeant
and posted to the City Centre, working
from Bootle Street Police Station,
initially as a Patrol Sergeant, one of four
on my shift supervising about 30 PCs.
The City Centre Division is small
enough that whilst we had a number of
mobile patrols most of them were on
foot and we supervised on foot for the
most part. The City Centre was quite
a culture shock and a completely different kind of policing to what I had experienced to date. Most of the people we
were dealing with were a transient population who came into the City Centre
to work, shop or play (some even to
commit crime!). It’s a much less personal type of policing – more adversarial
than modern-day “community
policing”. I’d been involved in dealing
with the Toxteth and Moss Side Riots,
and in the steel and coal strikes in the
1980s, policing the City Centre
involved coping with more public
disorder, drunkenness and violent
crime than I had experienced to date.
a police career is not for everyone, calling in
‘Although
to discuss the possibility was definitely the single best
decision I’ve ever made, and I would certainly recommend
anyone leaving University to at least consider the police
as a career.
’
that I experienced. At the time each
Division had its own Communications
Suite. We never had enough resources
to handle the volume of incidents and
as a channel operator we had to keep
track of up to 50 incidents in our
“queue”, keeping up-to-date with developments in the ones being dealt with
and continually prioritising the rest
In 1989 I moved back into
Communications and help to run the
City Centre Division’s Communications
for several years. Interesting years too,
since it meant I ended up running the
incident control rooms for the 1991
bombing, Euro ‘96 the 1996 bombing,
and the 2002 Commonwealth Games. I
left Communications in 1992 to spend
42
43
OW IN UNIFORM
–›
a while implementing the Force’s new
Incident Handling System on the
Division. At home I had become a passionate programmer in the years since
1982 and although I was still attached
to a shift as a Custody Officer, more
and more I was specializing in developing database systems and intranet sites,
liaising between the Division and the
Computer branch. Eventually in 2003
I was seconded to work on a national
computer project helping to implement
NSPIS’s HR and Duty Management
System. This was fascinating work with
lots of trips all over the UK to other
Forces and to the software suppliers.
I was also involved in planning (and
implementing) the logistics for the
policing of the Labour Party Conference
in Manchester during 2006. That was
Dragon School and
‘The
Westminster might have
prepared me for many
things, life “on the street”
as a uniformed copper
was not one of them.
’
ing honours and medals, participating
in civic, voluntary and social events,
and liaising with the local units of the
Armed Services. The office of High
Sheriff has existed for over a millennium
and is the oldest secular office under the
Crown. The High Sheriff takes up the
appointment for one year upon making
a sworn declaration, usually before one
of Her Majesty’s judges, and thus
becomes the Sovereign’s representative
in the county for all matters relating to
the judiciary and the maintenance of
law and order. Other responsibilities
of the High Sheriff include: attendance
at all Royal visits to the county; the
wellbeing and protection of Her
Majesty’s High Court Judges when
on circuit in the county and to attend
them to Court during Legal Terms (in
Grant’s (1968–1972)
NICHOLAS
HILDYARD
A year in ceremonial dress… Nicholas Hildyard recounts a
year as High Sheriff, and Deputy Lieutenant of East Riding
in Yorkshire.
another completely new direction for
me, in many ways, but uniquely
challenging and rewarding.
Thirty years on from 1977 I have
recently retired from GMP after a truly
fulfilling career and I can truthfully say
that I have enjoyed every single minute
of it. Let’s face it: for the last 15 years
Greater Manchester Police have
effectively paid me to indulge my hobby
(i.e. mucking about on computers).
Although a police career is not for
everyone, calling in to discuss the
possibility was definitely the single best
decision I’ve ever made, and I would
certainly recommend anyone leaving
university to at least consider the police
as a career. Looking back, my other really good decision was in not seeking promotion past Sergeant. I think it’s true to
say that, certainly in the police, the
higher your rank the less fun you have.
Some might prefer the larger salary and
greater prestige, but for me enjoying my
work was always my touchstone.
M
y life at Westminster went
quickly and apart from the
rather scruffy grey suit I
wore every day, my only contact with
uniforms was my judo gi, of which I
was Captain. I came to Westminster in
1968. My connection with School being
a 17th century ancestor and my greatuncle who was Sacrist and Minor
Canon at the Abbey. Amongst my closest friends are Charles Low and Tim
Woods, still very involved in the School.
Westminster Hall. Gatings followed
with the near destruction of Grants following a carelessly left butt end after
one of half a dozen of us had been up
in the attics over the weekend. I was
blessed in having a great Head Master
in John Carlton and Housemaster in
David Hepburn-Scott, who became a
friend until he died. A levels eluded
me and my good friend Julian Sharrard
until I re-sat them at the local Tech at
home. After leaving school I then
followed with the near destruction of Grants
‘Gatings
following a carelessly left butt-end after one of half-a-
’
dozen of us had been up in the attics over the weekend.
Considerable time was spent smoking
in the local cafes, and in particular the
Vitello D’Oro, then off Victoria Street,
and when we couldn’t afford the coffee,
we stood in the doorways of
returned to Yorkshire and qualified as
an accountant in Leeds before starting
work at Smith and Nephew in Hull
where I stayed for 20 years, spending
eight years as Managing Director of its
Wound Management division. This
position involved me overseeing several
factory sites the world over and on each
visit to the shop floor a white coat and
hard hat was compulsory, a uniform of
sorts. Such fashion continues today in
my day-to-day role as Joint Managing
Director of Arco Ltd, a privately owned
business distributing Protective
Clothing and Equipment, but a much
wider range of styles and colours is
available to me now!
But it is my lifelong connection with
Yorkshire, and the East Riding in particular, that led me to the office of High
Sheriff, and Deputy Lieutenant for
the county. A Deputy Lieutenant is
commissioned by the Lord Lieutenant.
The Lord Lieutenant is the Queen’s
personal representative in the county
and is responsible for ensuring that the
Queen’s private office is kept informed
about local issues. The Deputy
Lieutenant deputises in the performance
of any public duty on behalf of the
Lord Lieutenant, which typically
includes arranging Royal visits, present-
ancient and historic town of Hedon.
During my year in office I worked closely with all aspects of law and order and
spent much time in both Courts and
local prisons. During the last few
months of my year of office I visited our
four prisons: Hull, Everthorpe, Wolds
and Full Sutton. I sat in all four
Magistrates’ Courts, and visited the
Probation Service, Crown Prosecution
Service and Coroner’s Office, but it was
my visits to the prisons that I found the
most challenging. The Governors spoke
passionately and with frustration about
the lack of support given to the Prison
Service in re-housing and employment
of offenders. Today’s prison population
is made up of approximately 80 per cent
re-offenders. If housing and employment
can be offered the reoffending rate drops
office of High Sheriff
‘The
has existed for over a
millennium and is the
oldest secular office under
the Crown.
’
practice protection of the judges and the
maintenance of law and order is delegated to the Chief Constable); to be the
returning officer for Parliamentary elections in county constituencies; and to
be responsible for the Proclamation of
Accession of a new Sovereign.
My Declaration of Office was held in
early April 2007 in the Town Hall of the
by over 50 per cent. I facilitated a
conference that brought together all the
relevant partnerships including the
Prison Service, Probation Service, Police,
Housing Officers and Associations,
RAPT (Rehabilitation of Addicted
Prisoners Trust – of which David
Bernstein is a Trustee), employers and
relevant agencies. On the day over 90
people attended, significant media coverage was gained and excellent progress
made against the stated objectives,
resulting in a number of ex-offenders
being successfully housed and employed.
Last year was the bicentenary of William
Wilberforce’s Act of the Abolition of
Slavery. Wilberforce came from Hull
44
45
46
Right: Neville Walton Culture/Travel Bursary – ‘Japan Trip Report’.
Right: At the Lushington birthday party.
Right: OW Fives Team.
Right: Dan Topolski (right) with Gary Herbert at the Beijing Olympics.
The Heraldic description of the
badge is as follows: Two swords in
saltire Argent hilts pommels and
quillons Or that in bend couped at
the point charged upon an Oval
Azure environed by a Wreath composed of Oak Leaves Gold with in
chief and in base a Tudor Rose
Gules upon Argent barbed and
seeded proper and in the flanks
two Leeks in saltire also proper
the whole ensigned by the Royal
Crown proper.
OW NEWS
Right: At the Rigaud’s Society Gaudy drinks.
The new, more restrained style of
dress, became the regulation
uniform for High Sheriffs and
retained some of the elements of
dress from a previous age. These
included a species of folding cocked
hat known as a ‘chapeau bras’,
which had first made its appearance
in the last years of the eighteenth
century, and the black silk rosette,
the last vestige of the bag wig of the
1740s. The coat itself echoed the
style of the 1780s, though the
advancement of nineteenth century
tailoring techniques lent a more fitted silhouette to this later garment.
The High Sheriff ’s badge displays
the swords of Mercy (curtana,
with the point cut off ) and Justice,
both of which are carried at the
Coronation of a sovereign, crossed
in saltire and above them is the
Royal Crown with an ermine border
to symbolise the Judiciary.
Right: Oli Bennett Charitable Trust supported projects in Costa Rica.
The Humberside Police were enthusiastic hosts. My wife and I spent time with
many of their different units including a
complete night out in the centre of Hull
on public order patrol on foot! I also
Civic occasions up and down the
Riding took up much of my time, as
did visits to the University and other
education centers. My Office gave me
the opportunity to highlight certain
charitable concerns, in particular Victim
Support. Typically, I only wore the
High Sheriff ’s uniform and sword,
which itself is the symbol of the Queen’s
Justice, in Court, church, or in civic
procession. Many questions have been
posed as to the history of the uniform
which I wore with pride and, before
returning to the world of hard hats, fluorescent jackets and steel-capped boots.
Court uniform
In 1869 the Lord Chamberlain’s
office issued new guidelines governing the wearing of Court Dress,
and in an effort to standardise the
appearance of gentlemen attending
at Court, prescribed for the first
time a suit of clothes cut from black
silk velvet and trimmed with cut
steel buttons. Hitherto Court
uniform had consisted of a coat and
breeches of superfine cloth worn
with a floral waistcoat. This in turn
had descended from the lavishly
decorated court clothes worn during
the reign of King George III.
Right: At the Wren’s Society Event.
June 2007 brought the deluge and with
it devastation which affected an estimated 8,000 people in Hull and the East
Riding. The Lord Lieutenant led an
initiative with the Lord Mayor of Hull,
the Chairman of the East Riding of
Yorkshire Council and me to raise funds
to support flood victims.
had considerable contact with the Fire
and Rescue Services, witnessing at first
hand their particular challenges, while
in September 2007 I and fellow
Yorkshire High Sheriffs were able to
take part in a celebration service at York
Minster for the Yorkshire Regiment.
A month later saw the Granting of
the Freedom of the City of Kingston
Upon Hull and the Town of Beverley to
the Regiment. This was a unique opportunity to talk to those brave men just
back from their tour of duty but it
was sad to hear so many speak with bitterness over the lack of media support
and recognition back home.
Right: 1968 Morocco Expedition remembered.
and was its MP for many years, which
therefore presented the city with the
opportunity to celebrate the life of one
of the world’s heroes and to raise awareness of modern day slavery. I was a
member of the committee which
planned the year’s events. This included
a series of lectures staged by the
Wilberforce Trust, which included the
Prime Minister of Barbados, Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, the Prime Minister of
Mauritius, the Archbishop of York, the
Archbishop of Canterbury and Cherie
Booth amongst its speakers. The film
Amazing Grace was launched in Hull
and the University of Hull staged an
international conference on slavery.
Right: At the Milne’s Society Drinks.
–›
OW NEWS
OLD WESTMINSTER
NEWS
We have three sons: a physician specializing in neurology; a geologist specializing in volcanoes; and a computer
programmer working in the creation
of full-length, computer-generated,
cartoon moving pictures.
1940s
Edward Enfield
(RR 1944 –1948)
Dawdling by the Danube – the fourth in
my series of travels-on-a-bicycle books,
was published by Summersdale in
March 2008. Being now almost 79
I do not propose to write any more.
The series, such as it is, covers France,
Greece, Ireland and now Germany/
Austria and a bit of Poland.
1950s
Colin Cullimore
(BB 1945–1950)
Retired as Chairman of Lincoln
Cathedral Council.
Oliver Bernard
(Home Boarder
1939–1940)
“Poems”, a CD
recording of 24
of Oliver’s 1983
collection of
poems, is now
available to purchase. Please see
www.oliverbernard.com
Bill Cooper
(AHH 1936–1941)
After Westminster, Bill went on to
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge,
intending to become an architect. He
joined the Army in 1943 in the RENE
and was posted to India in 1944 to the
North West Frontier. He contracted
polio and was invalided out in 1946,
returning to Cambridge. He became a
Schoolmaster at Cheltenham College
Junior, then a Housemaster and
Governor at Sherborne School. He was
then an artist at the Royal West of
England Academy.
48
Nigel Lawson
(WW 1945–
1950)
Published –
An Appeal to
Reason: A Cool
Look at Global
Warming
(Duckworth).
5 Place St Martin, 34600 Carlencas,
France or by e-mail at:
[email protected]
I am now back in action to take any
Old Wets for a truly memorable B&B
in my late 16th century house in the
Midi; stunning rooms, good cooking,
sailing if you want, show you where to
fish and the Mediterranean only about
forty-five minutes away.
I should love to hear from any who
remembers me either by letter at:
George Mitcheson
(AHH 1948–1952)
George retired from being a member of
Hertford and Ware Deanary Synod after
19 years service.
1945 (OUP), was launched last month
at meetings in Oxford, London and
New York. In 2009, he will become
President of the British Academy for a
four-year term.
Images (right): At the Young Gaudy Drinks.
Robert Nye
(BB 1935–1939)
I am retired from my job as Professor
of Physiology; so is my wife from her
job as Assistant Professor of Clinical
Psychiatry, both at Dartmouth Medical
School in Hanover, New York.
Brand Inglis
(GG 1953–1957)
I have had a fairly ghastly year with cancer
in a number of nasty places but, with the
brilliance of the surgeons and nursing staff
at the University Hospital at Montpellier,
I have beaten all the odds – very heavily
against survival, last summer – and,
indeed, have survived to fight another day,
sail another few nautical miles and cast a
few more flies upon the waters here and
the Dee next year. The kindness, devotion
and attention to detail of these doctors
and nurses have left me breathless with
admiration, and their ability to put up
with a strong-willed and irascible patient
has been exemplary. Their anger at finding
me doing press-ups on the floor only four
days after the third operation, that upon
my liver, whilst still attached to God
knows how many tubes, knew no bounds.
It invigorated me no end, both the anger
and the press-ups! Westminsters are a
tough breed!
Images (left): At the Elizabethan Club Dinner.
1930s
Colin Kingsley
(KS 1938–1943)
Gave a piano recital and lecture session
in Kuala Lumpur in April this year
and is planning a London recital this
autumn. E: [email protected]
Adam Roberts
(WW 1953–1958)
Adam is Senior Research Fellow at the
Centre for International Studies in
Oxford’s Department of Politics and
International Relations, and an
Emeritus Fellow of Balliol College. His
main teaching and research interests are
in the fields of international security,
international organisations, and international law (including the laws of war).
He has also worked extensively on the
role of civil resistance against dictatorial
regimes and foreign rule, and on the
history of thought about international
relations. He served on the Council of
the International Institute for Strategic
Studies (2002–08) and is a member of
the UK Defence Academy Advisory
Board. In 2002, he was appointed
Knight Commander of the Order of St
Michael and St George for services to
the study and practice of international
relations. His latest co-edited book,
The UN Security Council and War: The
Evolution of Thought and Practice since
Nicholas Low
(BB 1954–1959)
I am now the Director of a Volvo
Research Centre of Excellence in Future
Urban Transport at the University of
Melbourne, one of seven such centres
world-wide (The Australasian Centre for
Governance and Management of Urban
Transport: www.gamutcentre.org). From
1st July 2008 I was promoted to
Professor of the University of Melbourne.
Richard Townend
(BB 1955–1959)
Held the position Master of the
Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks
2007–2008.
1960s
Jonathan Fenby
(LL 1956–1960)
I had four books on China published in
2007–2008, most recently The Penguin
History of Modern China, plus another
book on the Second World War
relationship between Roosevelt, Stalin
and Churchill. I am Director for China
at a research service, Trusted Sources.
Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet
(WW 1955–1960)
Having retired two years ago as
Principal of Leo Baeck College, I have
continued there as Emeritus Professor
of Bible, but have been invited to be
the first holder of the Shalom ben
Chorin Chair in Jewish Studies at the
Universities of Würzburg and Augsburg
for the summer semester (April–July
2008). In May 2008 the new (8th) edition of the Reform Jewish prayer book
(Forms of Prayer) was published which I
have edited, complete with Hebrew calligraphic works by Jewish artists from
throughout Europe, Israel and America.
It is something of a breakthrough with
its use of ‘inclusive language’ and
transliteration of the Hebrew of the
main services.
But there is also a new life cycle section
dealing with things from stillbirth, to
prayers for ‘carers’, to those for pets,
and for when children leave home. It
contains, in addition, public prayers and
study passages encouraging inter-faith
dialogue. I am very excited to have
completed what became a seven-year
work with rabbinic and lay colleagues.
Julian Francis
(AHH 1958–1962)
Julian recently celebrated 40 years
of working in poverty alleviation
programmes in South Asia, especially
Bangladesh. He is currently working in
a big British (DFID) funded asset transfer programme assisting the very poorest
move above the poverty line. Very much
linked to climate change issues.
Tim Jeal
(GG 1958–1962)
Tim Jeal’s biography of Stanley (Stanley:
The Impossible Life of Africa’s Greatest
Explorer, Faber) is out in paperback. It
was named Sunday Times Best Biography
of 2007, and has just won one of
America’s top literary prizes, the National
49
OW NEWS
Peter Morrell
(AHH 1957–1962)
I imagine that it is recorded that I was
appointed a Circuit Judge as long ago as
March 1992. I am planning to retire
from the Bench next May. I was
ordained deacon in the CofE at
Peterborough Cathedral on 6th July
2008. All being well, I shall be ordained
priest on 4th July 2009.
Martyn Poliakoff
(WW 1961–1965)
Martyn was awarded a CBE in the New
Year’s Honours list for services to Science.
Alex Vinter
(RR 1960–1965)
In October, I will have completed 30
years work in the Oxford Radcliffe
Hospitals. This will also be my brother
Richard’s 60th birthday when he will
have been teaching Control Theory at
Imperial College for 34 years (Richard
Vinter QS 1962–1965). In May I had a
happy chance encounter with the Bishop
of Oxford who I first knew when he was
a law student at St Peter’s College.
Robin Charleston
(WW 1961–1966)
Robin has just moved back to England
to retire, after a 25-year career working
successfully for the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) in
Geneva, the Court of Justice in
Luxembourg, and the European
Commission in Brussels. He is married,
with two children.
Randall Morris
(WW 1964–1966)
My wife, Kay, and I will be ending our
six years living in Basel, Switzerland,
where I worked at Novartis
Pharmaceuticals in Drug Discovery
Research and Development on new
drugs to prevent organ transplant rejection. One of my group’s anti-rejection
drugs is now in clinical trials in kidney
transplant patients. Two previous antirejection drugs that were discovered in
my academic research group at Stanford
University have been approved by health
authorities and are being used worldwide. We will be returning to family and
friends in Northern California where I
am Emeritus Professor of Cardiothoracic
Surgery at the Stanford University
School of Medicine. We have very much
enjoyed living in Europe, and I’ve had
the opportunity to stop by Westminster
several times when I was in London.
Although we will be living in Carmelby-the Sea, California, I intend to maintain close collaborations with academia
and the pharmaceutical industry in the
field of organ transplantation.
Richard Macrory
(LL 1963–1968)
Richard was awarded an Honorary QC
for contribution to the development of
environmental law.
Jonathan Carey
(GG 1964–1969)
Jonathan stepped back to a part-time
role at Jupiter. He remains a member
of Jupiter’s board, with responsibility
for overseeing the operations and
development of Jupiter’s growing
offshore funds.
Images (right): At the Rigaud’s Society event.
Stephen Poliakoff
(WW 1966–1969)
Stephen was awarded a CBE in the
Birthday Honours list for services to
Drama.
Thomas Sterner
(AHH 1965–1969)
Thomas was elected President of the
European Association of Environmental
50
1980s
Economists EAERE, and hosted its annual conference with over 500 environmental economists during the summer.
1970s
Peter Fabricius
(LL 1966–1971)
Peter was promoted to Brigadier in
December when he took up the
appointment of Defence Postgraduate
Medical Dean. In this post he will be
responsible for the organisation of all
postgraduate medical training in the
Defence Medical Services.
Nicholas Martin
(LL 1972–1976)
Nick edited the film, Marina of the
Zabbaleen, which had its world premiere
at the Tribeca Film Festival (NY). The
film is an intimate portrait of a 6 year
old girl, Marina, whose family, as Coptic
Christians in Muslim Egypt, make their
living as garbage recyclers. The film was
selected by Robert De Niro and Jane
Rosenthal for the Tribeca Film Institute’s
development program in 2006.
Chris Harrison
(GG 1973–1978)
Chris is Chairman of Young &
Rubicam Brands, Africa and Indian
Ocean. He lives in Nairobi, Kenya with
his wife and three children.
Paul Castle
(QS 1976–1980)
Paul attended his third Olympic Games
as a rowing commentator – use at last
for that Mandarin O-Level! With
rowing joining the Paralympic
programme for the first time, Paul also
provided commentary on this
pioneering regatta for the handicapped.
Tim Palmer
(RR 1978–1982)
Tim Palmer has recently acted as
Director of Photography on the following television dramas: Ashes to Ashes,
Wire in the Blood, Above Suspicion and
Silent Witness.
Neal Richardson
(BB 1979–1982)
Neal is flying the Westminster flag on a
new weekly jazz show on internet radio!
The Splash Point Music Show is broadcast 9pm–11pm GMT Thursdays,
and you can find it at local station
www.seahavenFM.com and clicking on
Listen Now. (If you’re in the Seaford/
Brighton area you can tune in on
87.7FM).
Edward Cartwright
(DD 1979–1983)
My wife and I had our first child, John,
in September. I have roped in another
OWW as a godparent in Aeneas Mackay.
Tony Tomazos
(WW 1981–1985)
Tony and his wife, Clio, celebrated the
birth of their baby son Emmanuel
Antony on 19th May 2008, weighing
in at 5lb 8oz.
Ophelia Field
(LL 1987–1989)
Ophelia’s second
book The Kit-Cat
Club (Harper
Press) was
published in July.
The book unravels the rivalries,
friendships and
Images (left): At the Ben Jonson Drinks.
Book Critics Circle Award for Best
Biography of 2007. It was also a finalist
for the Los Angeles Times Biography Prize.
Images (left): At the Wren’s Society event.
–›
fortunes of the 17th-century group
and their lasting influence during a
formative period of British history.
Alexis Vassilakas
(AHH 1984–1989)
I graduated from King’s College
London with a Masters in Algorithm
Design and moved into Finance. This
brought me to New York in 1996 and
after working for numerous investment
houses I joined the Goldman Sachs
Group in 1999. I married my wife,
Kelly Ryan, in October 2006 and I
became a father on May 25th 2008
to a beautiful boy, Dean Ryan Yiangos
Vassilakas. I would love to meet up with
any ex-pupils/staff who are in the New
York City vicinity.
professional qualifications at the Bartlett
School of Architecture in July 2007, I
am now a registered Architect with the
Architect's Registration Board. I continue to work at Gollifer Langston
Architects and was recently present at
the launch of the new Highcross
development in Leicester, a project I
have been working on since completing
my post graduate studies at the
Bartlett in 2004. I am currently project
architect on a residential/commercial
development in Southampton. I continue to fence and at present am seeded
30th at foil in the UK rankings, having
made the top 20 in 2005.
2000s
1990s
Andrew Howe
(LL 1990–1995)
Andrew got married in April 2008 to
Gaby Williams and, having had a
brilliant honeymoon in Venezuela, is
enjoying married life a great deal!
Andrew and Gaby live in South West
London where they are plotting their
next big adventure.
Adam Wood
(AHH 1993–1998)
Having successfully completed my
Annabel Legge
(PP 1999–2001)
I got married in December 2007 and
am now Annabel Graham Paul. Since
leaving Westminster, I graduated from
Jesus College, Oxford with a 1st Class
degree in Music, worked in marketing
and fundraising for the London
Sinfonietta, and am now training to
be a barrister. As of October 2008, I
will be a pupil at Francis Taylor
Building, Chambers of Robin Purchas
QC, specializing in public, planning,
environmental and licensing law.
51
OW BURSARY WINNER
>>THE NEVILLE WALTON
TRAVEL / CULTURAL BURSARY<<
NEVILLE WALTON TRAVEL / CULTURAL BURSARY
ABOUT THE BURSARY
In order to celebrate Neville Walton’s
involvement with the Elizabethan Club and his
love of travel and foreign culture, the Club
created this annual Bursary in 2006. All Old
Westminsters under the age of 25 at the time
of application can apply.
The value of the Bursary is £500 per annum and
is awarded on the basis of the best application
from an Old Westminster received by 1st May
of each year.
APPLICATION DETAILS
Each application of not more than 500 words
will be reviewed by the Elizabethan Club
Committee who will consider the cultural
aspect of each trip, rather than pure travel
involved.
All images courtesy of Tam Ying Wah.
>> Award: Worth £500 per annum
>> Eligibility: Open to Old Westminsters under 25
>> Report: On return, write a ‘trip report’ for the
Elizabethan Newsletter
>> Application deadline: 1st May
>> Winner announced: 1st June
REPORT ON THE TRIP
The annual winner will be notified by 1st June of
each year and the result will be posted on the
Old Westminster website. An article on each
trip should be prepared for publication in the
Elizabethan Newsletter (1,000–1,500 words) and
should be submitted within two months of
return.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For further details please contact:
The Development Office
Westminster School
17a Dean’s Yard
London SW1P 3PB
T: 020 7963 1115
Applications should be posted to the above
address or sent by email to
[email protected]
JAPAN:TRIP REPORT
This year’s bursary was awarded jointly to Sebastian Bray (DD 2003–2008), Kostya Gorev (QS 2003–2008),
Michael Lau (GG 2006–2008),Andrew Mason (DD 2003–2008) and Nicolas Mckinley (DD 2003–2008) for
a trip to explore the culture and country of Japan. Follow their journey with extracts from Sebastian’s diary.
“E
ver watched the sun set and
wondered where it spent
the night.” So began our
application for what was to become a
six week journey of discovery through
Japan. Such an inelegant, un-Japanese
turn of phrase scarcely does justice to a
country which, as we were to discover,
overflows with paradox. Where else in
the world do Shinto shrines share the
streets with high-tech arcades? Where
else exists such a technologically
advanced, but socially conservative
culture? Where else, but Japan. What
follows here is not a day-by-day account
of our travels; this would, dear reader,
occupy a book all on its own. Instead,
allow us to tell you three highlights
of our journey and offer you some
insights into this well known, but little
understood land. If at any time our leaps
of geography confuse you, then please
refer to our map for our full journey,
which began in Sapporo in Japan’s
northernmost island, Hokkaido, and
ended to the south in Nagasaki, Kyushu.
Tokyo: 15th – 19th July
The first thing that strikes you about
Japan’s capital is that, for a country
supposedly obsessed with minimalism,
it’s huge. At full speed, it takes three
quarters of an hour by Shinkansen (bullet train) to reach the centre of the city
of thirty million from its outskirts. And
these are not outskirts in European,
suburban sense of the word. Each and
every square inch is built upon until all
you sense is a concrete jungle with skyscrapers for trees, and the gentle
hum of small,
fuel-efficient
cars for birdsong. The
crush of people, and the
intense smell
of humidity
mixed with con-
outdone, the one next to it had four.
The Japanese are particularly fond of
fruit wrapped in marzipan, particularly
bananas, so of course there had to be a
store devoted solely to this delicacy. In
the Maronnier Gate shopping centre,
which had huge frosted glass windows
encrusted with crystals, there were eight
floors devoted to clothes.
But the real shrines to consumerism in
Japan are the electronics stores. The
most famous
crete was all the more overwhelming
considering we had just come from
Takasaki in Japan’s more rural north.
Stepping off the train, we really got
the impression that we had entered
another world.
This was reinforced when we went to
the Ginza shopping district for the
first time the next day. The Japanese,
working longer hours and having less
available leisure time than anywhere
else in the world, demand that the
consumer experience be ratcheted
up when they do
get the chance
to indulge.
One particular
department
store had three full-sized
floors devoted to sweets. Not to be
chain is Bic
(pronounced
“beek”)
Camera, and
its flagship
branch lies
about a tenminute walk
to the north
of Ginza.
Here frenzied
salesman
screamed
“bargain” into
microphones
connected to the
stores loudspeaker
system, and we got
lost between row
after row of laptops.
The experience was
hypnotic, I imagine the
closest thing most people
will ever come to being in a
Tron movie; endless walls of digital
lights and flat screens combined with
robotic voices from all around.
53
OW BURSARY WINNER
–›
Eventually, we were able to explain to
one of the assistants that as nice as his
bargains were, all the technology in the
world would be useless if we couldn’t
find the exit. I was surprised when he
didn’t take the opportunity to try and
sell us a GPS.
To be fair, my last words have not
fully done Tokyo justice. Parts of it are
architecturally stunning; particularly
beautiful was the Tokyo Metropolitan
Building, which opened in 1991, a skyscraper complex with walkways across
the centre that allow you to look down
over 200 metres on to ground floor.
Similarly, the north of the city is filled
with shrines both to the native Shinto
religion, and the Zen Buddhism has
been so dominant in Japanese culture
since in the 9th Century when a monk
called Eisei brought it across from
China. He was also the founder of tea
ceremony. Yet somehow the crush of
thirty million people prevented us from
experiencing the spiritual side of Japan.
This awaited us in Nara…
Nara: 27th – 29th July
Nara was Japan’s first capital, and today
it still retains much of the imperial
majesty that must have impressed its
54
original inhabitants; its Buddhist
temples dominate the surrounding
landscape. It is one of the few Japanese
towns to remain distinctly rural, and we
took the opportunity to feed some of
the tame deer that are held for sacred
and wander the park, growing fat off
the gods’ favour. Two temples warrant
particular mention; the Todai-ji, which
has the largest wooden hall in the
world, and Yakushi-ji, a five-storey
Pagoda sitting picturesquely on the
shore of a nearby lake. The place is
simultaneously peaceful and buzzes with
the past, and it was here that I had my
first conversation with a western observer who has lived in Japan for some time.
His name was John, an American who
was teaching English on an exchange
program. We just happened to notice
him and his group walking by,
introduced ourselves and asked him
a few questions. His single most
important answer went as follows:
Hiroshima: 6th – 7th August
There is more to Hiroshima than first
meets the eye. From the windows of
the Shinkansen it seemed like a typical
Japanese city densely populated and
very modern. However, unlike Tokyo, it
has no older shrines or temples harking
back to Feudal Japan. The first atomic
bombing destroyed the city’s older
buildings. We arrived on the 6th
August, 63 years to the day after
“Little Boy” was dropped.
“What’s the biggest difference between
American and Japan?”
“America had its social revolution in
the 1960s. Japan has not even begun
that process yet. It’s still an incredibly
conservative country dominated by
men. For instance, most of the businesswomen you would have seen so far
come from China, not Japan.”
He was right; all the businesswomen I
had seen so far on the train in Japan
had spoken with the high-pitched
vowels and intonations of Mandarin
Chinese, not in the flat tones of
Japanese. The concept of women in the
workforce is still relatively alien; most
women marry in their late twenties and
then give up their careers. The country
has in recent years worked its way
through a succession of elderly, conservative prime ministers who have been
forced from office over demands for
reform. Whilst I will leave the historians
to debate the reasons for this, the result
is a polite, respectful but closed society
that is very hard for non-Japanese to
decipher. Nara, with its beautiful
temples preaching a religion few outside
Japan would ever know, seemed to symbolise this divide. Perhaps Hiroshima
would put things in perspective…
We took the tram to the Atomic Bomb
Shrine, the building directly over which
the bomb detonated. As soon as we
stepped out, we were met by neatly
dressed political activists campaigning
for causes as diverse as ending global
warming to bringing Jehovah`s message
to the masses. Nowhere else in Honshu
had I seen the Japanese engage in
political protest or even campaign for a
political cause. Ironically, the complete
reconstruction after the atomic
bombing has left Hiroshima more westernized than anywhere else in Japan.
Walking towards the dome, we were
stopped by two men in suits who greeted us politely and asked me my name.
“Sebastian,” I replied.
“Sebastian,” they answered cheerfully.
“It’s hot today, isn’t it? Here, a present
from us.” With that they pressed a
magazine with the headline “global
warming” into my hands and
disappeared. It was then that I realized
that these immaculately dressed men
were the Japanese equivalent of hippies…
The dome itself was saddening. All
around the twisted block of metal and
concrete, tourists stood for photographs,
unsure whether smiling for the camera
was appropriate. The charred shadows
on the building marked where the occupants had been burnt on to the walls.
Those further away from the blast were
mummified by their own burns. Those
further still faced slow deaths from
keloids, wounds that often swelled into
huge cancers. The first atomic bomb
exploded here on August 6th 1945,
vaporizing 140,000 people.
Thoughtful, we went to go and have
a look at a nearby exhibition of newspapers, purporting to tell “the truth” about
WWII. I was shocked. There was not a
word of the mistreatment of allied
prisoners of war, 40 per cent of whom
died in Japanese captivity, nor a whisper
of the murder of millions of Chinese
civilians between 1937 and 1945. The
newspapers gave the impression that the
Japanese saw themselves as victims of
“US imperialism” and reeled of an endless stream of stories of US occupiers
killing Japanese POWs and civilians.
They even tried to pin the blame for
much of the destruction in China on
US bombing raids aimed at “occupying
Asia.” It sounded like the work of
nostalgic Communists longing for the
glory days of Cold War propaganda,
but was signed by the Secretariat of the
Atomic Bomb Museum, a governmentfunded organisation. This was the
official line on WWII; Japanese
blameless, Americans bad, Chinese not
worth mentioning.
I began to think of the choice that must
have faced American command when
considering whether to use the bombs.
Based on their past conduct, the
Japanese seemed likely to fight for as
long as they possibly could when the
invasion of the mainland finally came,
bringing more unnecessary casualties in
a war with a foregone conclusion. Then
along came a new, untested weapon
with the promise of ending the war.
Two choices; begin an invasion with an
unknowable number of casualties or use
an as yet unknown weapon with the
power to destroy whole cities. The propaganda in the park confirmed to me
there was only one option. If this was
the Japanese attitude to the war over
sixty years after its end, then I hate to
think to what lengths they would have
gone to stay in it. Would I have
supported the atomic bomb’s use at the
time? I don’t think anyone who has
never been in a situation where many
lives were at stake can honestly answer
that question. Do I understand and
sympathize with the reasons why the
Americans felt it necessary? Yes. Fully.
We went and got an ice-cream from a
nearby stand. A relentlessly cheerful
assistant took great care in ensuring we
got exactly what we wanted from the
myriad flavours on offer. The same
tenacity that served the Japanese so
well in war-time has turned their country into one of the world’s leading
economies, with a standard of living
and life expectancy even higher than
in the west. Would I ever fully
understand Japan? Never. Yet the trip
left us with a full appreciation of its
undeniable qualities.
55
OLI BENNETT CHARITABLE TRUST
OLI BENNETT CHARITABLE TRUST 2009
ENCOURAGING ENTREPRENEURS
James explains: “It’s about taking people
out of their comfort zone and getting
them into constructive travel. That can
be doing your bit volunteering to build
schools in Honduras or working in a
home for children orphaned by AIDS in
Argentina, or something fun such as
extreme sports trips in Australia, or learning to teach English as a foreign language
and then being paid as an English
teacher in China”. And the business is
still moving forward: James recently
merged Gap Sports with another company to form Global Sports Xperience
(www.globalsportsxperience.com), broadening the business’s interest beyond the
18–22 year old band to people of all ages
who might want a career break.
James is just one of 34 applicants
who’ve been supported by the Oli
Bennett Charitable Trust, which has
Right:The Oli Bennett Charitable Trust supported projects in South Africa.
But if you still need a little more information as to what this is all about,
here it is. A few carpentry tools or a
dressmaker’s mannequin or a display
stand are nothing much to write home
about, are they? They’re functional but
not very exciting. Can they really be of
much significance? Actually, yes. They
have made all the difference in some of
the new businesses that the Oli Bennett
Charitable Trust has supported over the
past six years. All these items have been
donated by the Trust in its role in helping new businesses get off the ground.
And many of these businesses are now
very successful and in some cases have
won awards.
But who are these new businessmen
and women whom the charity has
supported? Aged only 23 when he
approached the charity in 2002, James
Burton was one of its first beneficiaries.
James had an idea to organise global gap
year activities and the charity helped by
giving him the money for display stands
to use at trade fairs to promote his new
business Gap Sports. Six years later the
business now has a turnover of £1.2
million and sends more than 500 people
abroad each year, including a couple of
Old Westminsters.
given more than £41,000 in support to,
among others, wood recyclers who work
with people on drug rehabilitation
programmes, potters, cake-makers,
photographers, and website and clothes
designers. Fashion designer Danielle
Scutt, for whom the charity provided
that dressmaker’s mannequin in 2006,
now makes both a haut couture range
but also has clothes selling on the high
street through Top Shop.
So how did all this come about? Oli
Bennett (RR 1985–1990) followed his
brother Justin (RR 1983–1986) and
father Adrian (RR 1954–1959) to
Westminster. After science A Levels, he
studied Psychology at the University of
St. Andrews, before working in London
and later relocating as a financial journalist for Risk Waters in New York. He also
dreamt of one day starting his own business – perhaps a bar, perhaps a nightclub,
he hadn’t decided yet, but then he was
only 29 and there was still time for that.
Then, on September 11th, 2001, Oli was
covering a financial conference in the
World Trade Center when the hijacked
planes hit and he was killed.
After Oli’s death, Adrian and Oli’s
mother Joy wanted to establish a
charity in Oli’s name. As Oli had been
so keen on enterprise himself and was
also a great believer in people having
equal opportunities whatever their background, they decided that the charity
would help enterprising people between
the ages of 18 and 30 get their business
ideas off the ground. As Adrian
explains: “It’s about turning creativity
into profitability”. The charity works by
buying the beneficiaries a specific piece
of equipment or by funding a particular
aspect of a business, such as setting up a
website, as well as offering advice.
So much for the charity’s good work,
but how do we afford to support these
ventures? By holding fundraising events.
And since 2004 we’ve been holding
an annual fundraising evening at
Westminster. These have always been a
good way for people to learn about the
work of the charity from Joy and Adrian
and the trustees, as well as from earlier
beneficiaries, who come and present what
their new businesses have produced.
And at recent years’ fundraisers, beneficiaries have been able to show their
gratitude to the charity by offering raffle
prizes such as ceramic bowls, clothes
Left:The Oli Bennett Charitable Trust supported projects in Costa Rica.
Y
es, it’s true, a couple of years ago
in the Camden Room we did
auction off works of art by
Gilbert & George, Anita Klein, Nick
Danziger and more than 40 other
contemporary artists. We did very well
for the charity, thank you, but those
artworks went for bargain prices really,
considering the talent. The successful
bidders left very happy. They did very
well. And, yes, it’s true, we’re doing it
all again on May 14th, with works by
similarly high calibre artists. For a very
affordable price you could be walking
away with an excellent piece of contemporary art, perhaps even a classic in
years to come. If that’s enticing enough,
see the end of the article for details of
how to get tickets.
and yoga sessions that are the products
of the businesses that we’ve supported.
So earlier beneficiaries in turn help raise
money for future ones.
in the past has included tickets to the
English National Ballet and West End
shows, and there’ll be a good deal of
wine and canapés too.
We’ve also had speakers drawn from
friends, trustees and patrons of the charity, including BBC News 24 journalist
Nicholas Owen and Roger Graef, both
of whom met Oli’s parents when
making programmes about September
11th. Last year’s speaker was Ian
Campbell, Managing Director of
Venture Out Consultants, which
provides Business transformation for
FTSE 100 companies, although as one
of our patrons Ian has proved himself
neither too grand nor busy to become
very involved in the work of the charity.
This year’s talk will be from David
Hargreaves, one of Oli’s house tutors up
Rigaud’s, now Housemaster of Grant’s
and a friend of Joy and Adrian’s.
And you haven’t forgotten about the art
fair, have you? Which artists’ work will
we be auctioning this year? How cheaply could you pick up a work by
someone like Anita Klein or Nick
Danziger? And still help the charity?
Isn’t that persuasion enough? Come and
find out on May 14th.
And as with previous years we’ll be
entertained by the excellent opera duo
Scarlet Divas, we’ll have a raffle, which
56
KIERON CONNOLLY
(GG 1985–1990)
For tickets to the fundraising evening to
be held on Thursday, 14th May 2009,
please contact Kieron Connolly at:
T: 07957 303467
For information about the Oli Bennett
Charitable Trust contact:
W: www.olibennett.org.uk
T: 01494 717702
57
EXPEDITION ANNIVERSARY
STEPHEN LUSHINGTON
AWARD
1968 MOROCCO EXPEDITION
EXPEDITION REMEMBERED
Stephen Lushington was Westminster’s first Head of English and Housemaster
of Liddell’s and Wren’s.
Peter Maguire (GG 1960–1965) writes on the 40th anniversary of a School expedition to Morocco.
O
f course, we were apprehensive
about a reunion. Forty years is
a very, very long time. We –
in School parlance, Franks, Hare, Kerr,
Maguire, Viney, Walker, Williams –
had arranged to meet at Tim Hare’s
house in South Somerset to remember
and celebrate the 1968 Westminster
Expedition to the High Atlas in
Morocco.
Main image: Gus Lewis in Revelation.
Images (right): Lushington birthday party.
The Major, Ron French, our leader,
could not be there, much to our sorrow
and we drank to him and wished him
speedy recovery. We remembered our
two dear colleagues, Peter Boissard and
Andrew Russell so much part of the
group, but now gone. There is poignancy in the meeting of old friends.
Stephen has always been, instinctively, a liberal:
unless it causes harm, permit it – even if you don’t
like it. However, you are allowed to say you don’t
like it and keep an eye on it. This was a magic
formula for teenage boys who wanted permission to
The first award went to Gabriel Gettman (MM
2003–2008) for his brilliant short film, Revelation,
featuring home grown talent, Gus Lewis (WW
2006– ) and actress Imogen Stubbs (College
1977–1979) – whose appearance in the film is
a tribute to urban ingenuity that Westminster
teaches obliquely – but wonderfully – well.
Mark Lushington (QS 1956–1960)
It was such a treat to see friends from so
long ago and for all to pick up where
we had left off, remembering the jokes –
“Watch it, Maguire!”, enjoying the film
and slides which brought back vivid
moments seen, but also the memory of
We promised to send pictures and tell
tales of the evening to The Major, once
more wishing he had been with us. We
talked of meeting again, but this time
not leaving it quite so long. Forty years
is a very, very long time.
Left:The expedition group in 1968: (standing) Peter Maguire, Nick Viney, Alan Franks,
Robert Kerr,Tim Hare, Peter Boissard, Mike Williams and (seated) Andrew Walker,
‘The Major’ Ron French, Andrew Russell.
The old cine-film and surprisingly
bright slides jogged our fading
memories. Images of cliff-girt
mountains, slopes boulder-strewn
beneath boundless sky: Land Rovers
loaded, springs bent low; Moroccan
guides, djellabad, sandalled, dirham
demanding; the windy dusty camp of
ten tents; ourselves, so young, long
haired and dark, brown-skinned under
the sun; the shepherd by his cave; the
fearsome gorge above the camp from
where our drinking – washing – bathing
– stream flowed; the survey, the central
objective that gave the expedition form,
Left:The expedition group in 2008.
Stephen is and was a remarkable teacher, capable
of inspiring generations of students with a love of
prose, poetry and imagination. The late Simon
Gray, the playwright, paid his own extensive
tribute to Stephen in his much acclaimed ‘Smoking
Diaries’; when both the Westminster School and old
boys celebrated his 90th birthday last year, there was
a roll call of artists and journalists who arrived to say
‘thank you’.
experiment but a structure to restrain them: a discipline for the imagination that didn’t interfere.
To honour Stephen’s contribution to the School
an annual award has been established in his name
which is aimed at encouraging students to produce
creative work focusing on the dramatic effect of
language either spoken or written.
incidents not recorded. For a minute on
first meeting we were silently shocked I
suspect to see how each had aged (it is
others who seem to grow old, ourselves
remain young, although doubtless we
should look more often in the mirror!!)
– and yet as the evening passed, to find
the remembered lissom, perhaps unsure
youths of 1968 now seemingly so confident, generous, wise and such fun.
Wonderful! Westminster must have
done its work!
Our wives, who must have thought
“Heavens! The very thought of an
evening of husbands spouting
‘Remember old – um – Hoowasee?
Whatever happened to – er –
Wotseecauld?”, came too, and our
group, now experienced, with a lifetime
of vicissitudes, jovial, familied – head
master, lawyer, farmer, professor,
playwright, civil servant, naval officer –
ate, drank, laughed and remembered
late into the October night.
Right: At the Lushington award presentation.
I
’ve been asked to describe the reason and
purpose of this new award because I’m
entirely neutral – being his son, who went
to Westminster and, for a term, was taught English
by him. No bias here, OK?
ourselves staff- and theodolite-laden as
we trudged the camel-scrub tracks; the
two day hike to the 4000 metre summit
of Irhil M’Ghoun, the 12 mile airy
ridge to Irhil Jeberdine, the long circular
route over the plateau below Irhil Aori;
the Berber tented camp, the corpulent,
quiet head-man in the shade, and us,
English youths, on cushions, served
mint-tea; and always, always the mountains, the high hot barren backdrop to
our days.
More details about the Stephen Lushington Award
can be found on the OW website.
59
OW ABROAD
We were the inmates of an open prison
of which the warders were an extraordinary assemblage of eccentric talent: in
my own case, the inspirational Jim
Cogan and John Field (English); the
irascible Les Spaull (Art); the vestige
of imperial Pushkinism, Theo Zinn
(Russian); Adolf Prag, always falling off
his rostrum (Maths); my piano teacher,
the diminutive Tamas Rajna and
fencing instructor Bela Imregi (both
Hungarian refugees or ‘’56-ers’, neither
of them on the staff, of course). Our
music man was John Burt, who gave us
the immense pleasure and privilege of
singing the major repertoire, such as
Bach’s B Minor Mass, in Abbey (as well
as the traditional ‘Zadok the Priest’),
and I continue to marvel at the
musicians Westminster and the Under
Ashburnham (1962–1966)
for Kettering/the Professor of History at
London University would have to say
about that?’ – a nice jibe at, respectively,
myself, Roger de Freitas and Julian
Hurstfield.
When I say “genetically programmed”
the point is that (I suspect) whatever
most OWW actually do with their
lives they do it because they were at
Westminster. I sit here, beside the Palace
of Sts Michael and George, formerly the
seat of British administration 1815–64
(before the ‘United States of the Ionian
Islands’ decided to join up to the fledgling state of modern Greece), watching
a game of cricket, while drinking a ginger beer (‘tsitsibira’), all of which ‘we’
introduced, along with roads, sanitation
and a university, and I do so largely
RICHARD PINE
Looking back on the 40 years since I
left school, it seems perfectly natural
that I should now be here in Corfu,
running a series of international
How many schools have a virtual cathedral as their chapel? How many are still
we weren’t destined for desk-life, unless the desk
‘No,
were our own; we weren’t destined for the straight-andnarrow. If we did go into the Stock Exchange or the Army,
or a solicitor’s office, or any of the other regimented
professions, I expect we made a difference.
’
seminars, a study centre and a 4000-volume English-language library (I was,
after all, Bibliothecae Monitor at school).
I think many OWW would agree that
situated in the centre of one of the
world’s greatest cities? How many
schoolboys have competed in the
Greaze? How many have seen (and
the warders were an
extraordinary assemblage
of eccentric talent.
’
the very special form of Greekness to be
found in these Ionian islands, ruled by
Venice for 400 years, and thus protected
from the Ottoman influence which
permeated mainland Greece, the
Peloponnese and the Aegean. These
islands have a unique culture which
long predates the establishment of mod-
Left: Richard Pine.
understood!) a ‘Latin Play’ – and
applauded an ice-cream bicycle with
the placard “Muri: Obsta mihi et eme
unum” on its carrier? No, we weren’t
destined for desk-life, unless the desk
were our own; we weren’t destined for
the straight-and-narrow. If we did go
into the Stock Exchange or the Army,
or a solicitor’s office, or any of the other
regimented professions, I expect we
made a difference. And that difference
was implanted as much by Westminster
as by anything else – because I think if
we were to be tested, we would find that
we carry a ‘DNA Westmonasteriensis’, as
yet unknown to geneticists.
were the inmates of
‘We
an open prison of which
a world
‘‘Awhencityonebecomes
loves one of
its inhabitants.’ Corfu is
indeed a city, but one
needn’t necessarily love
a Corfiot in order to
realise that it is a world,
a kosmos, of its own.
’
School have produced, from Boult,
Norrington, Tristram Cary and Cruft
in previous eras, to my own contemporaries – a brace of Lloyd Webbers,
Anthony Peebles, Jeremy Menuhin and
a clearly possessed Francis Monkman.
And above all, I think, the humorous,
learned and offbeat Charles Keeley
(History Remove and Seventh), who
would read to us from Schweitzer’s Life
of Bach, and would look round the
room mischievously after a historical or
political query to ask, pointedly, and in
a stage whisper: ‘I wonder what the editor of Burke’s Peerage/the hon. Member
Left: Richard Pine.
How did I come to Corfu? Why did I
set up the DSC? And is Westminster to
blame? (Read no further: the answer is
‘Yes’.)
there is a certain inevitability about the
way we have been shaped – dare I say
“genetically programmed”? – by
Westminster. It is, to say the least, an
unconventional place, and produces
unconventional people. If a
Westminster education deviates from
the norm, then those who rebelled
against it have probably turned out
quite normal. In retrospect, it seems to
me that most of us did not go there
merely to obtain the examinations
needed to gain entry to university.
Westminster is, in itself, to use the
well-known t-shirt slogan, a “university
of life” and, after it, ‘real’ university
seemed quite tame.
Left: Plaque commemorating Lawrence and Gerald Durrell,
at the ‘Bosketto Durrell’ on the Esplanade in Corfu.
H
aving read (in the ‘Eliza’ as we
used to call it) accounts by
young OWW who have
become entrepreneurs, I thought that a
very different type of entrepreneurship,
by a much older OW – one that actually loses money – might be of interest.
This is therefore about how, at the age
of 50, I set up the Durrell School of
Corfu (DSC).
us through wonderful Latin texts such
as Cicero’s Pro Milone). Lawrence
Durrell, one of the two brothers for
whom the DSC is named (because they
lived here 1935–39), said “Greece offers
you the discovery of yourself ”, and
whatever I have found of myself has
come to me since I settled here eight
years ago. I remain emotionally and culturally, irrevocably and unquestionably,
a Philhellene (the DSC even has its
premises in odos filellinon!). And my
love of Greece is specifically rooted in
because Westminster was the fons et
origo (or should I say genesis?) of my
fascination with Greece.
My parents, who gave me the privilege
of a Westminster education at enormous
financial sacrifice to themselves, sent me
on the annual school trip to Greece as a
reward for passing all my O levels. That
was the beginning of my love affair with
Greece which has deepened into a
permanent relationship. I recall with
pride being able to explore the acoustics
of Epidaurus as each of us in turn
recited lines from Euripides’ Hecuba
(teacher in Greek Shell: Jumbo Wilson,
Housemaster of Grant’s, who also took
ern Greece, and Corfiots (and the DSC)
will not allow that to be forgotten.
I haven’t been in London (except to
change planes at LHR) – or indeed, in
any part of the UK, for at least the last
ten years, and I don’t miss it at all. I’m
seldom even in Athens. My world is
totally satisfying, provided that I can
continue to meet the challenges of
Corfu, and offer these challenges to our
international visitors. As Lawrence
Durrell also says (in The Alexandria
Quartet), ‘A city becomes a world when
one loves one of its inhabitants.’ Corfu
is indeed a city, but one needn’t necessarily love a Corfiot in order to realise that
60
61
62
Durrell, the third related to Gerald
Durrell’s passion for species conservation.
Beyond this, we also host ‘Study Abroad’
programmes, mostly for North American
groups, putting in place appropriate
expert lecturers and introducing our visitors to the beauties of this amazing island.
‘
Westminster didn’t make me into a leader, and it didn’t
make me into a follower. And I think that is true of
most of us OWW – we simply won’t be told what to
do, and we discover ourselves away from the corridors
of influence, until we are satisfied that what we have
found is really us.
’
Corfu (despite the desecrations in the
name of the great god ‘tourism’), and
relishing the fact that it lies, both physically and culturally between Italy and
Greece, there was no doubt in my mind
that this was the location for a school
celebrating the life and work of
Lawrence and Gerald Durrell who both
found their mission in life in their 4–5
years in Corfu. So this sense of selfdetermination, with a specific cultural
goal, was a late-life revelation which
finally confirmed the formula:
Westminster + Corfu = me.
So since 2002 I’ve been lecturing (and
organising lectures by others) on literature, politics, history, the environment
and ecology, for students from every
corner of the world, from all walks of
life, all ages and cultural backgrounds.
We devise three seminars each year, two
of them related to the work of Lawrence
We also run a ‘Friends of the Durrell
Library’ whose members participate in a
series of cultural events throughout the
year, and an extensive publishing
programme both in books and on our
website, but our core business is the international seminars for which we have now
established a rapidly growing academic
reputation worldwide.
We’ve seen Zionists and Palestinians, Greek
Cypriots and Turks breaking bread together
and making firm friends. We’ve explored
globalisation, terrorism, madness and
creativity, post-colonialism, translation,
the concept of borders and borderlands,
the emergence of modern Greece, the
psychology of war, the ecology of the
Mediterranean, travel writing, modern
love and many other topics. We’re an international community of resident and visiting
scholars who include Anthony Stevens (the
leading Jungian authority in the English-
Without Westminster it probably
wouldn’t have happened. But what
are we – the OWW? ‘Children of
Westminster’? Part of a tradition that
refuses to lie down? Westminster didn’t
make me into a leader, and it didn’t
make me into a follower. And I think
that is true of most of us OWW – we
parents, who gave
‘My
me the privilege of a
Westminster education at
enormous financial sacrifice
to themselves, sent me on
the annual school trip to
Greece as a reward for
passing all my O levels.
That was the beginning of
my love affair with Greece
which has deepened into a
permanent relationship.
’
simply won’t be told what to do, and
we discover ourselves away from the corridors of influence, until we are satisfied
that what we have found is really us.
The unique mix of my years at
Westminster – Yard, Abbey,
Ashburnham House, the proximity to
Parliament, to the South Bank, to
Millbank, even the treks up Fields
and to the ghastly Grove Park (which
seemed to contain more mud than the
Ypres Salient), plus the ‘open prison’
mentality to which I’ve referred – the
openness, in fact, to every positive influence and suggestion (and some negative
ones) – has led, with some sense of preordination, to the uniqueness of what,
in turn, I’ve set up in the DSC.
get is met from registration fees, library
memberships and grants from Greek
charities such as the Costopoulos and
Bodosakis Foundations. Knocking on
financial doors (which is definitely not
my forte) takes me away from teaching
and writing, so I resist it, but I’m trying
to stimulate my colleagues on the (international) board of directors to widen
our financial base. Although I’m now
handing over the administrative reins to
others while I’m still ahead and compos
But this idyllic set-up has to have something wrong, doesn’t it? And it has.
Money. In our first year of activity
(2002) we already had a huge cultural
Left (top): Reed Way Dasenbrock (L), Rector of University of New Mexico, and Ashis Nandy (R), Director of the Centre
for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi. Leftt (bottom): Richard Pine (L) with Nikos Papandreou (R) who spoke on
the music of Manos Hadjidakis and Mikis Theodorakis.
After Westminster, five years at Trinity
College, Dublin (reading English, history and fine arts, followed by a teaching
diploma), fitted me for no known, or
recognisable, entry into the professional
world, so I took the path of least
resistance and for two years went into
PR, that no mans land of the undecided.
Then the job I coveted, as manager of
the Irish National Symphony Orchestra,
became available and gave me the most
fulfilling time of my life until I came
here. However, it tied me into a bureaucratic structure within the national
broadcasting service, and, after ten years,
a palace revolution saw me moving for a
further fifteen (appalling) years into the
Public Affairs division where, I told
anyone who enquired, I wrote the lies –
the only truthful thing to be said about
my work in that office. Why did I stay
there? Because I just couldn’t find the
way out. But it gave me two advantages:
firstly, a hands-on experience of
broadcasting where, parallel to the
‘day job’, I presented and produced
numerous radio and television
programmes, and secondly I established
my reputation as a critic with books (ten
so far) on Oscar Wilde (a Westminster
legacy), on Irish music and drama, and
on Lawrence Durrell. I also worked as
a consultant for the Council of Europe
on cultural development programmes,
which gave me a deep insight especially
into the cultural differences between
northern and southern Europe.
Then, in 2000, at the age of 50,
someone opened the door: I was offered
an attractive exit package which I
employed to establish the DSC – it was,
for the first time in 15 years, a sense of
freedom, my opportunity to act as my
own man. Having fallen in love with
speaking world); the Indian cultural critics Gayatry Chakravorty Spivak, Ashis
Nandy and Harish Trivedi; Gerald
Durrell’s widow Lee Durrell, who runs
his zoo and training centre in Jersey;
Greek specialists such as Roderick
Beaton, Sir Michael Llewellyn-Smith
and Anthony Hirst (all from that extraordinary stable of King’s College London);
Nicholas Gage, the Greek-American
author of Eleni; environmentalist David
Bellamy; travel writer Jan Morris; Mark
Morris, a leading opera librettist based
at Edmonton, Alberta; James Gifford,
Director of Humanities at Fairleigh
Dickinson University, Vancouver; a
professor of neuropsychology at UCLA,
and a former chief scientific adviser to
the Australian government – all of them
iconoclasts and inveterate intellectuals,
people who bend history and resist their
destinies. They are part of our own
university of life, and they could easily
have come through a Westminster education themselves!
Right: A Durrell School field trip taking refreshment.
it is a world, a kosmos, of its own. At
the DSC we try to ensure that what we
do within this kosmos continues to be a
vibrant and relevant contribution to
these islands and the broader Hellenic
community in which we live. Corfu is
not unlike Westminster: a palimpsest
of cultural and political history that
consistently repays excavations in both
the built environment and in the mindscape. Its character is cosmopolitan –
ageless and yet completely up-to-theminute, steeped in Greek, Venetian,
French and British history and language,
a place that was once one of the three
strategic points for control of
Mediterranean traffic, and today a
staging-post for the more discerning
traveller, among whom we number the
students and faculty who constitute our
unique brand of cultural tourism.
Right: David Bellamy OBE illustrates a botanical point.
–›
Left: Richard Pine at Westminster, c. 1962–1966.
OW ABROAD
success, but no one shouted ‘Stop!’
(although my bank manager did ask
how the next year’s deficit was to be
met). In fact, we became the victims of
our own success, with increased activity
leading to increased costs with which
income didn’t keep pace. Significant
losses are not supposed to be a feature
of entrepreneurship, at least once a
plateau of growth has been reached, and
many who hear the words ‘Corfu’ and
‘school’ think that we are running a
language school and therefore making
untold profits – as in fact, the language
schools here do manage to do. Our
annual deficit of 30k euros has been
funded by a private donor who suddenly withdrew support, so that we urgently need another sponsor if we are to
continue our work. The rest of our bud-
mentis, I remain very conscious of the
imperative to increase revenue both in
the short- and long-term, so that, yearon-year, we have less anxieties about our
financial future. In particular, I so much
want to attract extra funding so that,
like Westminster, we can award a significant number of scholarships to the genuinely needy, who cannot otherwise
afford to attend the DSC.
But as ‘Director Emeritus’ I’m looking
forward, at 60, to yet another
retirement, this time a bucolic one, in
which my main practical activity (apart
from tending my peach trees, my vines
and my olive grove) will be a return to
two of my first loves, music and broadcasting, with ‘Music for Middlebrows’,
a weekly programme on the island’s
English-language radio station –
unlicensed, admittedly, but when did
that ever deter an OW?
www.durrell-school-corfu.org
[email protected]
63
OW OLYMPIC REFLECTIONS 2008–2012
British cyclists and rowers and the
unstoppable explosion of Chinese sporting achievements that took them to the
top of the medal table ahead of the
United States. A sign surely of things to
come as the western world deals with
economic meltdown.
xxxxxxx
Wren’s (1959–1963)
DANIEL TOPOLSKI
B
eijing
was the
eighth
Olympics that
I’ve attended
since Mexico
1968 in some
capacity or other
– as a radio or tv
commentator,
journalist, coach
or simple punter – and it was one of the
best, on a par with Sydney and Athens
in terms of organisation and spectacle.
Perhaps Barcelona was more fun
because it was sited within the city and
you could spill out of the stadium and
onto the Ramblas without long train or
bus rides from the Olympic venues back
into town. Mexico too was exciting –
aside from the horrific massacre of
students protesting against the vast cost
of the Games (at least by the then standards), a few days before the opening
ceremony. There Tommy Smith and
John Carlos raised their clenched, blackgloved fists in political protest and long-
64
jumper Bob Beamon propelled himself
into sporting history.
Beijing though has set the bar high and
will probably be the last of the big
spenders. No future host will have the
capacity or control to go to such
too were the
‘Remarkable
social, economic and
political changes in China.
The culture shock for ordinary Chinese as they have
hurtled through the last 50
years must be bewildering.
’
extraordinary lengths: sensational opening and closing ceremonies, exceptional
infrastructure to sweep athletes, media
and spectators to and from the superbly
created and run sporting venues and
thousands of well trained, informed,
smiling, welcoming volunteers
practising their English, Spanish,
Swahili, Arabic or Norwegian. There
was practically nothing to fault. Even
the fabled smog held off most of the
time and it all ran like clockwork.
The Chinese authorities were keen to
control everything, as you would expect,
fearful that an unexpected incident
could foul up their minutely prepared
celebration of China’s arrival into the
21st Century, shining, powerful and
now a match for everything that the
West had to offer.
Two days after the opening of the
Games, a tourist, father of one of the
US coaches, was stabbed to death by a
Chinese man who then jumped off the
famous clock tower to his death. This I
feared would become THE story of the
2008 Games. But the great rollercoaster
of success that followed quickly
overtook the incident as stunning sporting performances followed day after day
– Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, the
There were of course small irritations.
The high cost for journalists, especially
freelance writers, to use the internet was
galling. Petty rules about where to sit –
even when rows of empty seating beckoned – were frustrating; but you could
not in the end argue too much with
charming volunteers in case you got
them into trouble. But a control society
also meant that rules could be changed
from one day to the next. Initially, the
Olympic Park was closed to all but
those with tickets for the events at the
Bird’s Nest stadium or the Cube swimming venue. The resulting TV images of
an empty park during the first few days
looked bad – so overnight the rule
changed, allowing anyone with a ticket
for any venue to enter the park. From
that day on it was full of sightseeing
Chinese families, non-competing
athletes and tourists.
and night club life vibrates as the traditional hutongs – the alleyways and
courtyards of traditional Chinese city
life – disappear under the remorseless
advance of the developers.
The Chinese seem awed by their extraordinary progress and proud of their
achievements, even if the Mao generation
find it hard to cope. International
concerns about Darfur, Tibet and
internal human rights abuse find little
echo in Beijing. The Tibetans, they say,
have never experienced such improved
living standards. And western power
brokers are beating a path to their door.
So how can London hope to compete
in 2012?
Well it will surely be different – any
attempt to match the sheer scale of
Beijing would be foolhardy – even if we
were not enduring the worst economic
times since 1929. Making a virtue out
of necessity, London will host a friendly
easy-going Games. The venues will be
very well run – because that is one thing
the British do very well. The rowing
course at Eton has already hosted a
World Championships and will, like
many of the venues, make the most of
Britain’s great heritage and history.
Rowing and canoe racing below
Windsor Castle, horse riding at
Greenwich, beach volley balling on
Horse Guards Parade, London will surely use its star attractions to great effect.
And hopefully the British talent for
winning gold medals in the sittingdown sports will bring another wonderful medal haul to maintain or improve
on their outstanding fourth place
achievement in Beijing.
The biggest worry though will be infrastructure and transport outside and
between the venues. Getting spectators,
athletes and journalists to their venues
on time and in comfort will present
LOCOG, the organising committee,
with its main headache. Train and
underground has to be the way that
everyone gets to the various centres
since, even with dedicated Olympic traffic lanes, crossing London by bus or car
will not ensure punctual arrival times.
The rowing course also presents some
obstacles. In Beijing a virtually empty
four-lane highway carried us, unimped<<continued overleaf>>
Remarkable too were the social,
economic and political changes in
China. The culture shock for ordinary
Chinese as they have hurtled through
the last 50 years must be bewildering.
In 1966 I had been fortunate to visit
the south during the first weeks of
Mao’s Cultural Revolution. The
transformation when I returned in 1991
was immense – exemplified by a new 10
million strong city, built on the border
with Hong Kong where just a rusty tin
roof railway shed had stood before.
But nothing could have prepared me
for the shiny, new 21st century Beijing.
The equivalent of over twenty Canary
Wharfs now dominate the skyline and
while 17 years earlier everyone, me
included, cycled around the city, now
cars have all but forced the cyclists off
the roads. Four and six lane highways
fanned out from Beijing to what would
soon be large new cities. In Shanghai
the low-lying marshlands across the
river from the British colonial-built
Bund have become Manhattan in little
over a decade. A thriving bar, restaurant
Chinese authorities were keen to control everything,
‘The
as you would expect, fearful that an unexpected incident
could foul up their minutely prepared celebration of
China’s arrival into the 21st Century, shining, powerful and
now a match for everything that the West had to offer.
’
65
OW OLYMPIC REFLECTIONS 2008–2012
the only medal Iceland were to win in
the Games. It is little wonder, therefore,
that the global television rights are so
enormous, in excess of £1 billion being
spent on the 2008 Games. The media
and broadcasting centres are like minitowns, with restaurants, bars, shops, a
gymnasium, offices, a library, lockerrooms and vast workrooms to
accommodate the 20,000 accredited
personnel, the competition for those
places being so fierce that sometimes
there are court cases to obtain those
accreditations. NBC, the US network,
alone had 4,000 personnel in Beijing.
ed, 20 miles to the venue. To get to the
Eton course, traffic has to pass, on a
two-lane B road, through Dorney
village. One resident, parking his car on
the grass verge outside his house, could
create a traffic jam all the way back to
the M4 motorway. Dorney’s residents
will surely not agree to a major road
improvement. In China there would of
course have been no argument. It may
however be possible to park in Windsor
Great Park and then walk to the course
– but whatever happens, it will be a
very British solution.
a virtue out of
‘Making
necessity, London will
host a friendly easygoing Games.
’
From a purely selfish point of view, the
location of the rowing course is not ideal.
It means that I will be heading out West
along the M4 every day, away from
where the majority of the Olympic
events are taking place. If my work
involves the rowing competition, as it
did in Beijing, I will be leaving my
central London home, exactly midway
between the Olympic stadium and the
Windsor rowing course, and returning
there every evening. Only rarely will I get
to go East, to the Olympic park and the
thrill, magic and bustle of an Olympics.
I fear there will be a mundane
ordinariness to my London Olympic
experience. An overseas Olympics allows
total immersion in sport for a full three
weeks. A home Games means that reallife daily issues will constantly intrude.
In spite of my petty reservations, I sense
a great feeling of pride and expectation
in Britain as we enter this four year
Olympic cycle knowing the whole jamboree will be coming here for the first
time since 1948. With the extraordinary
success of our athletes in August, Britons
have got behind these Games in a way
that they may not have done before.
The BBC’s fine coverage was instrumental in creating that excitement and I
have no doubt that London will create
an Olympics to remember in 2012.
Dan Topolski will be the guest speaker
at this year’s Elizabethan Club Dinner
on 12th November.
Liddell’s (1956–1961)
JOHN GOODBODY
John Goodbody, the multi award-winning journalist, covered
the Beijing Olympics for The Sunday Times, his 11th successive
Summer Games. He is the author of the audio book, A History
of the Olympics, read by Barry Davies, the BBC commentator.
ed national facilities, to attract tourism,
to enhance patriotism or, most common
of all, to demonstrate to other countries
just how competent and efficient they
are. Or, usually, their motives are for
mixture of these reasons, as Beijing did,
so triumphantly, in 2008.
T
he Olympic Games are not just
the world’s biggest sports event,
they are also the most exacting
single project that any nation can
undertake outside a war. Countries host
the quadrennial Summer Games – the
Winter Games are a smaller, albeit, still
a demanding, event – for a variety of
reasons. They may use them as a catalyst
to regenerate an area of a city, to arouse
interest in sport, to provide much-need-
In 1964, Tokyo staged the Games to
show how it had recovered from the
Second World War and they provided
further stimulus to the country’s
economic growth. In 1988, Seoul did
the same. In 2008, it was the turn of a
third Oriental nation. The Games last
summer were an opportunity for the
Chinese to reinforce their status as the
rising global business power. They
believed, probably rightly, that the
Olympics would act as a further boost
economically because a successful staging
would attract international acclaim.
The Olympics are such a massive event
because they touch virtually every country. There were 204 National Olympic
Committees in Beijing, with a record
87 of them winning medals. Of course,
the stars such as American swimmer
Michael Phelps or Jamaican sprinter
Usain Bolt become well-known across
the world. However, what makes the
Olympics so far-reaching is the interest
in all countries in their own medallists
across the 28 different sports. Cyclist
Chris Hoy, swimmer Rebecca Adlington
or sailor Ben Ainslie have certainly
become well-known in Britain.
However, they are not famous in say
Russia, China or the United States,
where other figures are celebrated.
Similarly, a sport, such as handball is
scarcely played in Britain but when
Iceland reached the final in Beijing, the
country virtually shut down to watch
the event on television because it was
To cope with the demands of the media
and of the hundreds of thousands of
other visitors, including members of the
International Olympic Committee,
about 70,000 volunteers are recruited
– China had applications from a
million people, while London is also
oversubscribed for 2012 – let alone
the paid staff. In China, these people
seemed to be everywhere, opening doors
handing out umbrellas when it rained
(which it did quite a lot of the time),
and serving in restaurants, invariably
with a smiling face. There is also the
problem of transporting the media and
this was one area where the Chinese
excelled. In Beijing, the service was
impeccable. As soon as one bus became
full to take journalists to a venue or to
the Media Village, there was another
one available and the buses ran smooth-
volume of traffic in the capital was
reduced by only permitting certain cars
access to the Olympic precinct. Vehicles
with number plates ending in odd
figures were allowed on one day, those
with even on the next.
It was a far cry from Atlanta in 1996,
when the transport was chaotic, with
some drivers not even knowing the way
to some destinations because they sometimes lived in a different state, let alone
different city, and, worse still, had not
been taught the way to the venues. The
contrast between 1996 and 2008 was
not lost on visitors and, of course, the
journalists build up a
‘Many
particular rapport with the
individuals on whom they
report, following them
around the world and
being privileged witnesses
at first-hand to their
successes and failures.
’
absence of adverse media coverage was
exactly what the Chinese were seeking.
The message from Beijing was clear: the
Chinese can run things with efficiency,
even if their brand of totalitarian
capitalism permitted scant scope for
liberalism, let alone dissent, something
that the media, rightly, focussed on.
Left: John Goodbody at Westminster (1956–1961).
–›
ly on roads, where a lane was reserved
for Olympic vehicles, a strategy that
London is almost certain to copy. The
But what of the sport itself? Here,
again, the Chinese were supreme. They
topped the medal table for the first time
66
67
OW OBITUARIES
OBITUARIES
Nicholas Macdonald Beyts
(RR/KS 1929–1935) 1917–2008
is not aiming
‘London
to duplicate Beijing. It is
aiming at hosting a more
congenial celebration.
’
–›
with their huge resources in activities
such as gymnastics, diving, weightlifting
and table tennis, defeating the United
States for the first time. Britain, of
course, produced a quite exceptional
performance to finish fourth, largely
because of the ability of individuals to
train full-time thanks to the National
Lottery. Amid the euphoria, I personally
was desperately disappointed about the
results of certain competitors, for whom
I had built up an admiration and affection over the years. Paula Radcliffe had
been hampered by injuries in the buildup to Beijing and was never going to get
a medal but it was still affecting to see
her limp home in 23rd place. She has
still to crown her career with an
Olympic title, which she deserves as the
greatest female long-distance runner of
all-time. By 2012, I fear, it will be too
late. At the rowing finals, I was almost
in tears on the middle Sunday when the
British women’s quadruple sculls crew
was overhauled by the Chinese. I had
followed the career of their stroke,
Katherine Grainger, closely over the
previous eight years, in which she had
already won two Olympic silver medals
and several world titles, and her
ambition to win an Olympic title was
once again cruelly thwarted. It was scant
compensation for her and the many
supporters of this delightful woman that
she had become the first British female
in any sport to take medals in three successive Games. Only slightly less vexing
for me was the failure of heavyweight
Karina Bryant in judo, another
competitor who has won many world
and European medals, but never one in
the Games themselves.
Many journalists build up a particular
rapport with the individuals on whom
68
they report, following them around the
world and being privileged witnesses at
first-hand to their successes and failures.
However, it is often difficult, although
necessary, to be as detached as possible
when writing about their exploits. This
is sometimes awkward. One advantage
of almost all the Olympic sports is that
‘
The Games last summer
were an opportunity for
the Chinese to reinforce
their status as the rising
global business power.
’
they do allow a closeness before competitions to leading figures that is no
longer possible in the national game of
football. When I covered my first World
Cup in England in 1966, informal
access to the players, such as Sir Bobby
Charlton or Sir Geoff Hurst, was readily
available at training sessions. Now, partly for good reasons, this is no longer
feasible and contact is largely restricted
to formal press conferences. The other
Olympic sports are certainly following
in this direction but control remains,
for the time being, still far less rigorous
than in professional football.
However, relationships with officials are
now probably closer than in any previous
era. One of the minor reasons for my
excitement about covering the London
Olympics is because, together with my
close friend and colleague, Neil Wilson
of the Daily Mail, I was given the first
journalistic access to the original plans
for the Games by officials of the British
Olympic Association in March 2001. I
have followed their ambitions ever since,
including, of course, the unexpected victory in Singapore in July 2005 when
London was elected as the host city.
I have watched with fascination the
appointment of the key figures in the
administration, many of them hugely talented, and their concern about how they
will follow the success of the Chinese.
In Beijing, there were about 100 British
observers, noting what was right and also
what was wrong with the Games.
Since their return in August, the
hosting of the Games has been further
complicated by the credit crunch, forcing the reduction, for instance, of the
number of rooms in the Athletes’
Village so that far more competitors will
now have to share in greater numbers.
Despite the belief to the contrary, actually staging the Olympic Games makes
a profit. Most of the cost of £9.3 billion
for London (less than half what it
was in Beijing) is the cost of the
infrastructure, the contingency reserves
and facilities, many of which will be
used for generations to come, such as
the aquatic centre at the entrance to the
Olympic Park.
London is not aiming to duplicate
Beijing. It is aiming at hosting a more
congenial celebration. London will
have far more foreign visitors, more languages spoken (in Beijing, there was less
provision for interpreters in languages
other than Chinese and English than
there will be in London), a more relaxed
atmosphere, in which to stage the
world’s biggest sports event. Can it
achieve this? Yes, it can – but, given the
new financial constraints, it will need a
huge amount of work, massive public
and private commitment and, above all,
a lot of luck.
Nicholas (Nick)
Macdonald Beyts,
brother of Anthony
Beyts (RR 1929 –
1933) was born into
a colonial family in
Ealing, London and
soon returned to Egypt
where his father, Cyril,
worked for the Peel
Cotton Company.
Nick and his brother’s
first languages were
Arabic and French.
This started a life long interest in foreign languages and travel.
As a family that contained Viceroys and Governors of
colonial outposts, their education had always started in
England. Nick was sent to a boarding prep school, Neville
Holt in Leicestershire, at the age of eight.
Arriving up Rigauds in September 1929, Nick sat the
Challenge, entering College as a Classical Scholar in 1932. He
immersed himself in the academic, cultural and sporting life of
the school. As a Classics Scholar he had a part in the Latin Play
and after leaving the School he used to enjoy returning for the
Cena Classica. He excelled in a number of sporting activities,
most notably in boxing and athletics, competing at county level.
He topped it all by becoming Captain of the School in 1934.
Nick had many recollections of those, apparently, spartan
years at school. This includes one story of his fellow scholar
Humphrey Ball, who spent some time in a Japanese POW
camp. Humphrey said that after five years of life in College
dormitory, it was not too bad. Nick’s other memories were
driving a lorry in the General Strike and the young Von
Ribbentrop being dropped off in Dean’s Yard by the German
Ambassador’s car every morning. In a pre-war age where the
school uniform was a top hat and tails, he seemed to me to
inhabit a gilded age of all-round excellence that is rarely seen
in our more meritocratic times.
Gaining an Exhibition to Brasenose, Nick went up to Oxford
in 1935 to read Chemistry. He captained the Oxford Boxing
Team, for which he was awarded a Blue and threw the javelin
for the University, obtaining a further Half Blue. As an accomplished athlete he became a member of both the Achilles and
Vincent’s Clubs. Another claim to fame was that his slightly
bent nose was the result of a blow landed on him by Freddie
Mills, who later won the British and Commonwealth lightheavyweight titles.
After Oxford he took a position with ICI in Cheshire.
However, a reserved occupation was uncomfortable for the
brother of an Army officer and the son of a winner of the
Military Cross.
He joined the RAF, qualified as a fighter pilot and in 1942
was shipped overseas to join Five Squadron in Burma. He flew
Mohawks and then Hurricanes from jungle airstrips in the
infamous Imphal Valley, which was surrounded by the
Japanese in 1944. Their exploits were described in the book
‘Mohawks over Burma’. His flight-log book remained one of
his most treasured possessions until the end of his life, and he
always slept with his air force issue dagger by his bed.
There he lived just off an aerodrome on the edge of the
jungle, in a hut from where he could hear big cats sleeping on
his veranda, and all the wild sounds of the jungle. He used to
recount a story about a talk given by Orde Wingate to his
squadron members, about survival in the jungle, should they
get shot down behind enemy lines. Apparently surviving by
eating grass, (if hunting was impossible for reasons of secrecy)
was rather hard as, ‘whatever way you prepared it, mashed,
boiled, or whatever… it still tasted just like grass’.
Ever a College man, he spent his spare time teaching himself
Sanskrit, to add to his Arabic and French from his Egyptian
childhood and his Westminster acquired Latin and Greek.
After the war ended, Squadron Leader Beyts had hoped to
continue flying but so did many others. He resumed his
career with ICI in England where he met and married Judith,
an ex-WAAF and daughter of a Cambridge Don, shipping
her off to Calcutta, India in 1948 just after Independence.
Here, he began a career in the emerging plastics industry,
running a factory for ICI India in Calcutta. True to form,
he taught himself Hindi in order to communicate effectively
with his work-force.
Being a boarder at Westminster with parents abroad, he had
become extremely adept at using his spare time productively.
Having been a keen member of the School Madrigal Society,
he continued to pursue his musical interests later on. During
his time in Calcutta, he trained as an amateur opera singer
under the instruction of a white Russian émigré called
Shemansky. He took part in many operatic and musical
productions organised by the expat community. His crowning
glory was a regular fifteen minute spot on All India Radio,
performing serious and light operatic arias. What the rural
masses of the great Indian subcontinent huddled round the
village radio thought of the Bizet’s Toreador song and ‘
Willow, titwillow, titwillow ‘ is still an open question.
I was born in 1950 followed by my sister Johanna in 1952.
My parents returned to England in 1958 where Nick ran a
research department at British Nylon Spinners in Pontypool
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South Wales. He sang regularly in the local Gwent Bach
Society. In 1960, my mother showed the head master of the
local prep school in Abergavenny some examples of the
Westminster entrance papers – his face turned white! The
decision was then made for the family to move to London for
my education and Nick became Research Director of Alfred
Lockhart and Co. in Isleworth.
This job, probably one of his happiest, was essentially to
invent plastic products. Two of which stand out. One was a
combination of lead and PVC that could be moulded to
shield reactors in nuclear submarines and the other being
the first non-poisonous and tasteless plastic which could be
moulded to house chocolates in boxes. These had been
individually packed in paper cases until that time. Think of
that the next time you see a box of Black Magic.
Nick was immensely proud that his grandson Milo Beyts
attended the school and fortunately lived long enough to hear
that a second grandson Merlin Beyts had also been awarded a
place there.
Tim Beyts (RR/WW 1963–1967)
Tristram Cary OAM
(KS 1938–1942) 1925–2008
It isn’t long since John
Williamson (RR
1964–1969), a friend
of mine up Rigauds,
wrote a splendid piece
about my father in the
Elizabethan Newsletter.
He did a wonderful
job which covered his
life very informatively.
I’d like to try to give a
personal perspective on
my father, though
some of the facts and
In 1962 life took a darker turn when his wife, Judith was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a slow, wasting, disabling disease
in the days before interferon. Nick approached the challenge
with stoicism and resourcefulness, researching the literature for
standard and alternative treatments.
He juggled with putting me through Westminster and his
daughter, Johanna through St Paul’s, caring for his wife and
working hard at his job. He adapted cars and caravans and
created gadgets to enable him and his wife to travel around
the country and abroad. It is a testament to his care that
Judith lived another 23 years until she was 61 in 1985, shortly
after Nick’s retirement in 1983.
Some time after Judith’s death he found his first fiancé,
Monica Poeles, who he had met in India during the war,
which subsequently drove them apart. She was a resourceful
lady, who had worked for British Intelligence at Bletchley Park
during the war and later started a charity supplying Talking
Books for the blind. Monica was his companion until her
death in 2006.
Nick liked to keep up his links with his alma maters. Through
the Elizabethan Club he contacted some old school friends,
meeting them in Harrods for lunch once a month. He also
accompanied me to some Eliza Dinners, attended a Cena
Classica, Five Squadron reunions and some Vincent’s dinners
at Oxford.
Westminster shaped much of his character. Nick always said
that his approach to life was based on the stoicism of the
Greek philosophers he had studied in College. This stood him
in good stead as a boarder separated from his parents, lonely
night-flying over a featureless jungle in Burma and caring for
his wife and family.
The opportunities that the School offered supported him to
attain great academic and sporting success and allowed him to
enjoy cultural pastimes to the full. Although very capable of
looking after himself both physically and intellectually, he was
a reserved and understated man, with a strong sense of morality and a puckish sense of humour.
figures may well be duplicated.
He was the sort of man you knew had walked into a room, he
had a presence which was unmistakable, and he let you know
what mood he was in even before he got to the door – a big
man not only physically but in his personality.
We grew up in a huge house in Earls Court, long ago split into
many flats. When they first moved there in 1951 it had three
sitting tenants so we lived on the ground floor and basement,
which is why the house was cheap and my grandfather, Joyce
Cary, could afford to buy it for my newly married parents.
Much later I came to say that I was born into the B Class:
British Bohemian Bourgeoisie. Life, even as a toddler, seemed
to be filled with artists, musicians, actors and film people,
mainly my father’s friends from the Kings Arms in Fulham
Road, known as Finches amongst that set. He had made his
debut with Partita for Piano at the Wigmore Hall in 1949,
and now he was a struggling, unknown, composer with a
growing family to support. He had worked at a gramophone
shop in Newman Street to bring in the badly needed weekly
wage, and he built his first electronic music set-up using exNavy radar parts, a 78 rpm disc lathe and a very primitive
tape recorder. It was all built into an old kitchen table in the
corner of the drawing room, and was known simply as The
Machine, which presented a curious child with number of
opportunities for instant electrocution.
In those days we would visit my grandfather in Oxford
regularly, which, although Joyce was by now a world famous
author and part of the literary scene, life was by contrast dark
and Victorian. It was the family house my father grew up in, a
huge imposing semi-detached villa on Parks Road leased from
St John’s College. Here he first developed his interest in music,
fostered by his mother Trudy, who played the cello and organised family quartet evenings. Here he had been brought up on
the top floor with a night nursery and a day nursery, with staff
to look after him and the house, but being reminded all the
time that his father had no money, and along with his three
other brothers, that he must get a scholarship to a good school
or not go at all. Issues around money continued to dog him
all his life.
He wrote his first piece of music when he was twelve, while at
the Dragon School. A year later he was a King’s Scholar in
September 1938, hating having to wear the full rig with top
hat and tails and being mobbed by boys down the Science
Museum tunnel. He took up bookbinding as a pastime and
wrote a charming volume called ‘Science for Backward
Parents’ – he was infuriated by his parents complete inability
to grasp the simplest technical knowledge; the book explains
everything from the principles of electricity to photography
and how a tap works. At an early age he was obviously satisfying his love of science and engineering as well as music.
During that year he knew a boy called von Ribbentrop who
proudly wore his swastika badge. Strangely, he didn’t return to
school in September 1939.
This love of all things practical came in very handy when they
were evacuated after the Phoney War, first to Lancing and
then to Whitbourne in Worcestershire. The first job the boys
had was to rebuild the house which had suffered years of
neglect; lessons were off and, carpentry and plumbing were in.
He loved it. Throughout his life he enjoyed building things
with his hands which he found a welcome break from the
brainwork involved in composition – probably a family trait as
his elder brother Michael later mixed harpsichord and guitar
making with his job as a Whitehall mandarin, and his
grandfather had been an engineer.
It was his brother Michael (by now in the Navy) who had
come to School while they were still in London and taken him
out to tea, explaining to my father that if war should break
out and he wanted to volunteer, to go for the Navy as they
were working on ‘some very interesting things’. When he did
volunteer, in common with most boys he wanted to be a
Spitfire pilot, but his eyesight failed him so it was the Navy
after all and the ‘interesting things’ turned out to be the top
secret Radar project.
He joined as a telegraphist, and the initial training left him
shocked: it was the first time in his life he had come across
people from another way of life. His six weeks at Skegness
(a requisitioned holiday camp) were the worst of his life; he
had to get used to fighting for his food and making friends
with men who came from what seemed like another planet.
But he made friends by discovering quite a few couldn’t read
or write (another shock) and volunteered to help them write
letters home to their sweethearts. It wasn’t just a matter of
simple dictation but advising them on the best way to
express an idea, and in doing so entered into their most
intimate thoughts.
Here was a watershed in his life. On a political level he
became strongly left wing and on a musical level he discovered
that playing the piano for his ship mates gave him a
transcending pleasure. The first was a position he would never
totally reconcile, a middle class man who enjoyed nothing
more than the company of ‘working’ people in a pub. The second was a career decision he would make for himself against
the wishes of his father – his two terms of science at Oxford
were meant as precursor to becoming a doctor, a career his
father had chosen for him. This was the beginning of some
irreconcilable conflicts which became the hallmark of his life.
He worked himself up through the ranks by going on endless
courses in London and Newcastle, and finished up on HMS
Triumph. He was too late to see full action, but the ship was
equipped with the very latest in ship-born radar which was
linked to the guns and could track a moving target at 45
degrees/ second. Although he was a lowly lieutenant he was
head of department for radar and had to fight his corner for
operational testing at weekly meetings. His commanding officer often admonished him for getting too involved in detail,
discovering him under a panel of electronics with grubby
hands and a screwdriver, but when it came to a goodwill mission to Leningrad in 1946 the tables were turned. When they
arrived in dense fog, the Russians had given dire warnings the
harbour was still mined, but my father showed the captain a
perfect screen shot of a line of green blips showing the mines’
position. So they steamed in at 30 knots to the horror of
their Russian hosts. It was an extraordinary visit, and he was
overwhelmed by the generosity of the Russians who even put
on a performance of Sheridan’s The Rivals for them.
Joyce agreed he should go ahead and study music at Trinity
College London but warned he would always be poor. He had
already met my mother in Portsmouth (an artist WRN), and
it wasn’t long before they and a bunch of friends were sharing
a flat in Wimpole Street. My mother had returned to the
theatre and was designing scenery for a series of repertory theatres, and her wages helped them both through my father’s
student period. But ‘living together’ was something they went
to great pains to disguise on surprise parental visits.
The fifties saw a series of events which took my father from
struggling young composer straight into the establishment
(something he would fight against all his life). By chance
Alexander Mackendrick had heard his music on the Third
Programme which led to a commission for the music for The
Lady Killers in 1955. He couldn’t believe the studio would
actually send a car for him – it turned out their usual
composer had let them down and they needed the music in
double quick time. Ealing Studios boss Michael Balcon
offered him £400 for the score to be completed in four
weeks, my father said ‘yes’ and thought about it afterwards –
the freelance philosophy which never left him until the very
end. The Lady Killers led to three or four movies in quick
succession but he did have one major set-back. Joyce had just
died in 1957, and Rank had bought the rights to The
Horse’s Mouth, starring Alec Guinness (who also wrote the
screenplay) directed by Ronald Neame. The obvious choice
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for composer was my father. After two days of recording they
took him aside and said they didn’t think his music was right.
It was a tragedy from which he would never quite recover,
and he felt desperate that he had let his father down.
Commissions for movies never came in at such a rate again
so by the early sixties he had turned his attention more to
radio and television.
Earls Court gave way to Chelsea and the pre-war taxi gave way
to a Sunbeam Talbot sports car. An inheritance from Joyce
funded the purchase of a charming cottage in Suffolk which
they bought from the painter Adrian Ryan. My brother and
I were sent to the Lycée in South Kensington and we were
enjoying skiing trips to Kitzbühel. Soon I was going to the
Under School in nearby Eccleston Square and my father got
a commission for a funny little kids’ show called ‘Dr Who’
which was only expected to last six episodes. The cottage in
Suffolk became the focus of all our attentions and my father
was using it so much for ‘get-away composing time’ they commissioned a massive extension with studio at the bottom of
the two acre garden, and we all moved there full time.
Now those old worries about money started to re-surface and
memories of his own childhood must have haunted him. The
reality of owning a country house, with two cars, boys to send
to boarding school and a lovely young daughter to support
slowly wore him down, as he ground on with endless commercials and TV series which he could do, but was increasingly
disillusioned by. He had been growing his electronic studio for
he last fifteen years and by his forties he wanted to write his
own concert pieces. A chance meeting with Peter Zinovieff led
him into being a joint founder of EMS, a company dedicated
to producing a synthesiser to rival Robert Moog’s. EMS
supported electronic music concerts and by 1967 they held
their inaugural concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
By this time I was across the river up Rigaud’s and my brother
joined me in 1968. EMS continued to thrive, attracting the
interest of Pink Floyd and The Who, and meanwhile there
were more concert debuts with 345, Narcissus, Continuum,
Peccatta Mundi and Trios; a piece involving two turntables
each with a duplicate disk, with my brother and I selecting
tracks by throwing dice, with my father in the middle on the
VCS3 synthesiser. This while he was still writing music for
BBC drama, radio, TV commercials and music for the Oscar
winning Christmas Carol by Richard Williams. These were
heady days of the avant garde, and I got caught up in the
excitement – though not with music. I was producing plays at
school including Stephen Poliakoff ’s first: Granny, and that
led me through to a yen for film and my first job after school
at Larkins Studio in Covent Garden.
I had known my father was unhappy and felt the burden
of maintaining the lifestyle getting heavier and heavier,
dreading the breakfast mail with nasty looking brown
envelopes with OHMS on them. EMS had by now imploded
financially. In 1967 he had founded the electronic music studio at the Royal College of Music and though he had never
set out to be a teacher he enjoyed so many aspects of it,
especially at high level. So when in 1973, Melbourne
University invited him to go over for a term as visiting
composer, he jumped at the chance.
On his return he found he had missed the opportunity to
apply for a teaching post at UEA, but Adelaide University
invited him for six months and later a permanent position.
My mother and sister went out to join him as by now my
brother and I were making our way. It was a tragedy for us,
but it appeared he had found a new freedom in a new
country; a country where class means much less and where
you could start afresh in the tradition of migrants through
history. Sadly for all of us his new freedom included new
relationships and it wasn’t long before my mother and sister
returned by themselves to England in 1978.
He taught at the University of Adelaide until his retirement in
1985, always writing new concert work and being a mainstay
of the artistic scene in Australia, but he was always divided
between his old home and his new adopted country. He travelled back to England frequently to keep up with us and his
old friends, who he missed very much. He loved London and
wondered all the time whether to buy somewhere to live here,
but something always held him back. He took up Australian
citizenship and was awarded the Order of Australia Medal,
and later a doctorate in music by Adelaide University.
In 2000 he and I collaborated on a Christmas special of mine,
Katya and the Nutcracker: he carefully edited Tchaikovsky’s
score to half an hour and we went to Prague together to
record it – we had last been there in 1967 when he took the
whole family around Eastern Europe. During the last few
years he continued to write and to create a meticulously catalogued archive. In 2003 he suffered cancer of the throat which
knocked him sideways but he carried on travelling, including
a trip to Stockholm and then to St Petersburg to relive his
memories of the goodwill mission in 1946. In 2006 he
wrote some music for a film I made about my home village,
Dunwich, based on Suffolk folk tunes, which was effectively
his last commission. The radiation treatment for his cancer
caused necrosis in his jawbone and it was February this year
that he put himself in the hands of the plastic surgeons to
build him a new one. Unfortunately it was unsuccessful and
two months fighting for his life proved too much even for
such a fighter as my dear, dear father.
John Cary (RR 1966–1970)
John Cruft (GG 1927–1930)
1914–2008
John Cruft, who died on May 17 aged 94, had a strong influence on music and dance companies in his roles as Director of
the Music Department of the British Council, from 1959 to
1965, and then as Music Director of the Arts Council (from
1965 to 1979).
A quiet, gently eccentric figure, Cruft was so eager to avoid
giving offence that he would signal his desire not to be
disturbed by putting on a fez, rather than tell people he was
too busy to talk. But despite this diffidence, he had an
innate confidence and never lost sight of the simple need of
music and dance organisations, creators and performers, for
money.
In 1959 Cruft left to become director of the Music
Department (which later included Drama) at the British
Council. His expansion of touring, including trips to Russia
and Hong Kong, did much to raise the prestige of British
music internationally.
Application forms were brief, and the professional staff of both
bodies showed willingness to help those who might not be as
able in the filling out of forms as in the pursuit of their professions. Hoops through which to jump to get money were
lower, and talent was not drowned by a sea of paper work.
Cruft steered policies through the Music and Dance Panels
and Councils that remain beacons of enlightened thinking.
In 1979 Cruft retired, but he was to remain very active with
the Royal Society of Musicians (which he had joined as a
member in 1936, rising to chairman of the governors in 1997
and 1998). He also, for the next 24 years, selflessly worked as
a Samaritan volunteer, befriending prisoners and – until the
very last months of his life – visiting them.
John Herbert Cruft was born on January 4 1914 into a musical family. His father Eugene was a prominent double bass
player, and his grandfather a viola player and founding member of the London Symphony Orchestra; his brother, Adrian,
became a composer and latterly chairman of the Composers’
Guild. John attended Westminster Abbey Choir School before
going on to Westminster itself. Not sure in which musical
direction to turn, he decided to become a conductor, winning
a scholarship to study with Constant Lambert and Malcolm
Sargent at the Royal College of Music.
Oboe was only his second study (with Leon Goossens), and,
realising that he was unlikely to get much work as a conductor
under the age of 35, he opted for a performing career.
Playing in the Covent Garden Touring Company, under
the likes of Beecham, Barbirolli and Albert Coates, before
going on to the BBC Television Orchestra and London
Philharmonic, set Cruft up to enter the first international
wind competition held in Geneva in 1939.
Out of nine entrants in the oboe section, he came joint
second, but Ernst Ansermet offered him a job on the spot.
There was, however, some confusion about the offer. Cruft
had heard the question “Will you come and work for me?”
as “Will you come and walk with me?” and, imagining icy
climbs in the Alps, politely refused. He returned to the LPO.
London music, however, came to a standstill a few months
later with the onset of war, so Cruft inquired whether the job
was still open. It was.
After a single winter season playing with the Suisse Romande
Orchestra, Cruft returned to London. During the war, he
joined the Signals, based first at Putney and then in North
Africa and Italy. In his spare time, he took advantage of the
fact that so many of his colleagues were musicians – he even
conducted the local Radio Symphony Orchestra in Algiers.
In 1946 he became a member of the London Symphony
Orchestra as a cor anglais player, becoming within three years
secretary (or chief executive) of the self-governing orchestra.
Times were hard for the LSO, but Cruft took some bold
measures, not least in hiring three of the most outstanding
players around: Barry Tuckwell, Gervase de Peyer and Neville
Marriner.
John Cruft married, in 1938, Kiki, the eldest daughter of Pat
McCormick, vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields. She died in
2003; he is survived by his two sons.
Reprinted from The Daily Telegraph (13th June 2008)
Simon Gray (WW 1949–1954)
1936–2008
Simon Gray , who has died aged 71, was a prolific playwright
of black comedies, and thrived off professional and personal
conflict; during the last decade he found a new audience with a
series of memoirs collectively known as The Smoking Diaries.
Gray had many West End hits, including Butley (1971),
Otherwise Engaged (1975), Quartermaine’s Terms, (1981),
Melon (1987), The Common Pursuit (first produced in
1984 and revived in 1988), Hidden Laughter (1990), The
Late Middle Classes (1999), Japes (2000), The Holy Terror
(2004) and, on the radio earlier this year, Missing Dates, a
sequel to Japes.
The Smoking Diaries (2004), The Year of the Jouncer (2006)
and The Last Cigarette, published earlier this year, won wide
praise both for Gray’s wit and charm and for his objections to
the “barbarism” of modern Britain.
Despite such successes, Gray was a self-confessed paranoiac
and struck an Eeyorish pose most of his working life. Seen
through his bile-coloured eyes, the world, the flesh and the
Devil all conspired to thwart him, often in league with his
colleagues. He had public spats with, among others, the
critic James Fenton and a falling-out with his old friend
Harold Pinter.
Most of his characters were drawn from the small, introverted
milieu of academe and the media. Many of them were haunted
by the happiness – or horror – of childhood and school which
had turned them into frigid adults in unhappy marriages.
Among the most tragic of Gray’s creations was Simon
Hench, the protagonist of Otherwise Engaged, who spends
the play trying to listen to his new recording of Parsifal while
his domestic world crumbles about him. Eventually he
switches off a recorded telephone message of a man threatening to kill himself.
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Gray revived the character for Simply Disconnected (1996).
When Hench, now retired, is told that his brother, a
schoolmaster, faces ruin after accusations of child abuse, the
most emotion he can muster is a non-committal “ah”. Gray
described Hench as a man who tries to deal with the world by
pretending it doesn’t exist. He both “respected and despised”
this attitude.
“I was bought up in the ‘50s,” said Gray. “Probably the only
courteous decade in the history of this country.” He loathed
“the bestiality of some parts of English life” and bemoaned
piped music and the “politicised and timid” way in which
English had come to be taught. He never drove and wrote on
an old Olympic typewriter.
Much of his work was filled with disgust for the betrayals of
contemporary middle-class life – “that peculiarly English
cruelty of bumbling other people to their own destruction”.
Sexual jealousy went hand in hand with a distaste for the
mechanics of sex; “I’ll catch them at it,” says Benedict in
Close of Play, thinking about his scriptwriting wife and her
lover. “At their f***ity-f***ity, clackity-f***ity, f***ity-clackity.”
A recurring motif was the adulterous husband covering his
tracks by playing squash and showering before returning
home. Disappointment in marriage was contrasted with
enduring – sometimes passionate – friendships between men.
Happiest were those too old to be troubled by desire, like his
senile schoolmaster Quartermaine. Some characters escaped
into drink, some into purgative madness. In Melon, a publisher, driven insane by jealousy, descends into a hell of despair.
Only after recovering can he begin to appreciate the subjectivity of his experience.
A tall, billowing figure with a mop of straggling hair, Gray
smoked 60 cigarettes a day and lubricated his thoughts with
copious amounts of champagne and whisky. Though he
hated much of contemporary life, he could suggest nothing
better; faith, he said, might help, but his religion took the
form of fear. He did write a comedy about a rural vicar,
Hidden Laughter.
In mining his own neuroses for his work, Gray was prone to
lash out. His journals were unsparing, mocking the American
actors in his Broadway production of The Common Pursuit
and portraying Jules Styne, with whom he collaborated on an
unproduced musical version of The Red Shoes, as a whimsical
megalomaniac surrounded by sycophants. His last books
unsparingly examined his terminal lung cancer.
James Fenton, who had written a scathing notice of Gray’s
Stage Struck (1979), took violent exception to the author’s
vengeful review of a book of his collected pieces in which
Gray speculated about the sexual potency of theatre critics.
Pinter was angry at Gray for caricaturing him as the
pompous Hector Duff, “the world’s greatest living
playwright”, in the television play Unnatural Pursuits; the
two were reconciled after Gray sent Pinter a poem about loss
he had seen in The Spectator.
Gray was the victim in the best documented of his public
fights. In 1995 Stephen Fry absconded from Gray’s West End
production of his play Cell Mates, leaving Gray a message on
his answering machine: “I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry.”
Fry had been playing the traitor George Blake. From Gray’s
point of view, it was not ideal casting, as he had wanted his
favourite, Alan Bates, in the role. None the less, rehearsals had
been amicable enough; the producer Duncan Weldon had
invested heavily in advance publicity, takings were healthy and
the reviews were on the whole, encouraging. Two days later,
Fry disappeared, donning a disguise and slipping away to
Belgium, asking his agent to forward some letters of apology.
In faxes issued from his laptop, the fugitive actor gave as his
excuse the indifferent notices he had received personally
(though he had, in fact, been, if not especially impressive, perfectly presentable in the role). These reviews had made no difference to the box-office; but, when news of Fry’s flight broke,
takings plunged. Though Simon Ward learnt the role in three
days to take over, the play closed shortly afterwards.
The Fry story, however, ran and ran. He had suffered a crisis
of sorts, part induced by overwork, partly by a vigorous
cocaine habit, and partly for psychological reasons (he later
became candid about his homosexuality, and gave a moving
account of his being diagnosed as bipolar). But at the time he
seemed otherwise healthy and, when fears of a suicide bid
appeared to be contradicted by photographs of Fry dining in
Bruges, Gray saw his treachery as being comparable to that of
Blake’s, and called him a coward and an inadequate actor.
This had the effect of making Fry a martyr. The comedian was
adored by the British public, who now extended him their
sympathy. Gray was known only as an opprobrious playwright
driven by grudges, though he had lost five years’ work.
In Fat Chance, his diary of the production, Gray made some
concession that he had been excessively bitter about this loss,
and admitted that his attack on Fry had been “homicidal and
suicidal”; but he also sketched, with delicate malice, a subversive portrait of the actor. Emphasising Fry’s generosity, he
recalled that the actor had insisted on a two-week break in
rehearsals so that he could entertain friends at Christmas. He
detailed Fry’s obsession with his computerised personal organiser, his habit of – “in the most charming and eloquent way”
– obviating the writer-director to tell the cast the meaning of
their lines and his cheerful late arrivals for rehearsal. Having
published the book, Gray himself then had a collapse.
A doctor’s son, Simon James Holliday Gray was born on
October 21 1936. During the Second World War he was evacuated to Canada and afterwards attended Westminster School
and Trinity College, Cambridge.
At Westminster he struck up a friendship with a short, ugly,
unpopular Jewish boy named Quass with whom he conducted
a lucrative fraud, using Georgian pennies instead of florins in
Underground ticket machines and pocketing three six-pences
in change. Gray was told to stay away from Quass. Many years
later, he heard that Quass had killed himself. His guilt about
his desertion of the weaker boy was to provide the story of his
television play Old Flames (1990).
In 1965 Gray was appointed a lecturer in English at Queen
Mary’s College. He published four novels under his own name;
Colmain (1963), Simple People (1965), Little Portia (1967) and
Breaking Hearts (1997). He also wrote A Comeback for Stark
(1968) as Hamish Reade. His first effort at drama was an adaptation for television of a short story, Death of a Teddy-Bear.
His first major success was Butley, about a university professor.
The lead was played by Alan Bates, who starred in many of
Gray’s plays. Some people remarked on Gray’s near-obsession
with Bates.
Gray worked incessantly. “I don’t know how to relax,” he said.
“I’m very easily bored by myself except when I’m working.”
His only moment of simple happiness, he said, was when,
after an all-night revision, fuelled by alcohol, a play was boxed
up and he could pour himself another glass of champagne.
In this way he produced more than 20 plays and adaptations.
When not writing a new play, he would revise an old one.
He also wrote a half-dozen plays for television, including After
Pilkington (1987) and Running Late (1992), several plays for
radio, and four early sets of journals; An Unnatural Pursuit
and Other Pieces (1985); How’s That For Telling ‘Em, Fat
Lady (1988); and Fat Chance (1995).
After the debacle of Cell Mates, Gray was forced to enter a
clinic where he hoped: “I would be so massively dosed with
drugs that I wouldn’t notice I wasn’t drinking”.
While in hospital he was told he had cancer. A succession of
“grinning” specialists informed him he had two years to live and
each day revised their diagnosis of the cancer, declaring it more
and more malignant. In the end, they could find only two
aneurysms. Out of hospital, Gray developed pneumonia, a classic iatrogenic condition provoked by numerous endoscopies.
“I’m still drinking and smoking more than I should,” Gray
said. “But at least I’m immune from the worst health-hazard
in life; the medical profession.” His first reduction in his alcohol intake was to swap Scotch for three bottles of champagne
a day. But he eventually stopped drinking after collapsing in a
restaurant in 1997. Harold Pinter raised a glass to him as he
was carried out by Alan Bates. Gray’s daily routine, however,
continued to bear the stamp of his alcoholic years: he rose at
2pm, ate dinner out and wrote through the night, going to
bed at five in the morning.
In this month’s Standpoint magazine, in a dialogue with The
Daily Telegraph’s theatre critic Charles Spencer, he criticised as
cowardly the readiness of the National Theatre to stage shows
such as Jerry Springer: The Opera, which offended Christians,
as a “very easy sort of liberalism”, while condemning the
theatrical establishment’s reluctance to produce similar pieces
that tackled other religions, such as radical Islam.
Simon Gray married, first, Beryl Kevern; they had a son and a
daughter. After 25 years, the marriage was dissolved. He married, secondly, Victoria Rothschild. He smoked to the end,
though he cut down a bit, and switched to Silk Cut.
Reprinted from The Daily Telegraph (8th August 2008)
Robert Clabburn Trevenen James
(GG 1931–1936) 1917–2008
Robert Clabburn
Trevenen James was a
very remarkable man.
While not knowing
him as long as some of
you, I have known him
for 40 years, and came
to love him dearly. He
was a man of strong
character and beliefs,
although he never tried
to push them at
anyone. He was a man
who made his own way
in the world, but was completely non-judgemental about others (unless they dropped litter!). He loved the simple things of
life, but could be a serious bon viveur when the opportunity
arose. He read voraciously, particularly the classics. It was said
of him that he would read the small print on a cornflakes packet if there was nothing else available! And to cap it all, in the
last year of his life he read the Old Testament, and then the
Quran. Cover to cover. Yes, really. Above all he was interested
in people – where they came from, what they did, down to
what appeared to most of us a quite extraordinary degree, and
had a prodigious memory for what they told him.
He was born at Monmouth School in 1917 into the large
well-read family of his headmaster father, the middle of five
children with two elder brothers and younger twin sisters
whom he adored. He was educated at Westminster School and
St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He had a good classical mind, was a
fine athlete and excellent oarsman.
I have no doubt that he also had a pretty good social life, but
I have less detail of that. Perhaps just as well.
Then came the Second World War, and with it the first
evidence I have of his passion for justice, fairness, and the
need to sort out problems in non-violent ways. He became a
conscientious objector, and for that he spent six months in
prison on remand before he was released to help his country
in non-violent ways by driving an ambulance in the London
blitz and helping in soup kitchens. He met and married a
beautiful young Austrian woman, Lisl, who with her mother
had fled Vienna in 1938 to escape the Nazis. Together they
had four daughters, one of whom is the reason I’m standing
here now. In 1961 he married Katie, who kept him largely out
of mischief for the next 40+ years, until her death last year.
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–›
He had to earn a living of course – he first became a
schoolmaster at Summer Fields, and indeed we have had a
lovely letter and reminiscence from one of his pupils. After
that, perhaps realising that a growing family needed a great
deal of money (and I am not surprised to see a few heads
here nodding at that!), he went to work for an international
marketing research company, A C Nielsen, where he rose to
position of Director.
writing kept him going, but we know that he felt the loss of
Katie very deeply. When it became clear, less than a week
before he died, that there was little that could be done for his
health, he categorically stated that he wanted only to be kept
comfortable, so that he could die peacefully and with dignity.
He regarded death, not as an enemy, but merely the natural
process at the end of a long life. And thus he did die, in his
bed with Antonya and Barnaby sitting beside him.
But money was never the be-all-and-end-all to Bob – it was
simply something he needed to live the life he wanted – and
he took early retirement at sixty, as soon as he calculated that
he could afford to, and went down to live in his newly re-built
seaside cottage in Pembrokeshire. Then followed another
example of his complete imperviousness to issues of status and
his willingness to serve the community – he took a part-time
job cleaning the toilets which served Newgale beach and
campsite. The tale of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples
comes to mind, although non-religious Bob might not thank
me for alluding to that. The news of this job came to the
notice of the Financial Times, who printed a small story about
it entitled “Mop at the Top”. Apparently this did not go down
well back at Nielsen’s, let alone the Institute of Directors, who
thought it reflected badly on them and on their pension
scheme. Bob was highly amused. Later, Bob joined Dyfed
RDC as Countryside Officer. Meantime he also took on the
voluntary role of “beach warden”, which involved clearing
away litter as well as other beach nuisances really because he
loved that beach and wanted to do something positive to keep
it clean.
So there we are. I feel at the end of this valedictory that I
should invite you all to raise your glasses etc. but that part will
have to wait until lunchtime. Thank you.
Alastair Cooper
He and Katie came back to Oxfordshire in 1995 when they
realised that as they got older they would benefit from being
closer to family. It was a terrible wrench to leave their beloved
Newgale, but they did appreciate being more accessible to
local relatives. And from our perspective, it was a joy to have
them nearby. We have taken a huge amount of support from
them, as well as the other way around. That applies to our
children also – they have derived tremendous benefit as well as
pleasure from having a close relationship with Bob and Katie,
and the letters of support, anecdote, and advice sent by Bob
to them were always warmly appreciated. My eldest daughter
Tabitha says she has kept all the letters he sent, many in the
dark days following the death of her big brother Hamish, and
says there are over a thousand! A labour of love? Well, yes, lots
of love, but labour willingly undertaken. Bob relished keeping
in touch, frequently by letter, with friends, family and distant
relatives – if Katie were still here she would wince at the very
mention of “the Australian cousins”.
After Katie’s death a year ago, he coped magnificently on his
own. Sure, he had streams of letters and cards from Erika and
Pip, both based overseas. He had frequent visits from Antonya
and me and our children and from Rosie, Chris and their
children, contacts from nephews and nieces – and not least
wonderful support from Sherry Summerville who has been a
tower of strength. But ultimately one could not escape the
fact that he must have spent most of his time alone. He never
complained about loneliness, and his books, music, and letter-
Jim Johnson (RR 1938–1942)
1924–2008
Colonel Jim Johnson, who has died aged 83, was responsible
for running Britain’s clandestine war against Egyptian forces in
Yemen during the mid-1960s, an experience that inspired him
to set up Britain’s first post-war private military company.
Six years after the allied withdrawal from Suez in 1956, the
Yemeni monarchy fell victim to a military coup staged by
Egyptian-trained officers, an event which served as a warning
to the British protectorates of Aden and Oman.
In London the Macmillan cabinet was divided between those
who were ready to recognise the new Yemeni regime (the
approach taken by Washington) and those who favoured supporting a guerrilla campaign of resistance on behalf of the displaced ruler, Imam al Badr, who had been forced to retreat
into the hills.
As the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) dithered, Colonel
David Stirling, founder of the Special Air Service (SAS),
suggested that Jim Johnson, a retired SAS officer, “put
something together”. Johnson was then asked if he might be
willing to go to Yemen to destroy the Egyptian Mig aircraft
which were bombing tribes loyal to Imam al Badr with
phosgene poison gas; and there followed an adventure that
would have done credit to Bulldog Drummond.
Weapons of indeterminate origin were stored at Johnson’s
home in Sloane Avenue, Chelsea, for use by former SAS regulars and reservists, some of whom had left the Army to take
part in the operation.
Among the leaders selected for the operation were Colonel
John Woodhouse, a prominent figure in the fortunes of the
post-war SAS, and Major John Cooper, David Stirling’s
wartime driver, who was now working as a professional
freelance soldier.
A cheque for £5,000, signed by the Imam al Badr’s foreign
minister, was paid through the bank account of the Hyde Park
Hotel, where the SAS’s colonel commandant, Brian Franks,
was Chairman of the Board.
Johnson took leave of absence from his job as a Lloyd’s underwriter and recruited a number of French mercenaries, among
them Colonel Roger Faulques, a veteran of the Foreign
Legion, and the notorious Robert Denard.
Then, the day before the first reconnaissance team, led by
John Cooper, was due to leave London, Macmillan’s war
minister, John Profumo, resigned because he had lied to
the House of Commons. The Foreign Office now became
concerned by the possibility of political embarrassment, and
it seemed as if the Yemeni operation might be called off.
Johnson, however, reasoned that SIS would probably not put
the brakes on before the relevant duty officer took over at
9am the next morning, and Cooper’s team left the country.
When David Stirling then received a telephone call from the
Colonial Secretary, Duncan Sandys, he denied any knowledge.
Immediately afterwards Stirling then rang Johnson, who told
him: “Too late. They are half way across already.”
While they were changing planes in Libya, one of Cooper’s
suitcases broke open and rolls of plastic explosive spilled out;
he explained that the substance was marzipan, and the Libyans
obligingly helped with the repacking.
After the team had arrived in Yemen, supplies were dropped
from a variety of aircraft – some of them Israeli – using the
drop-zone expertise Cooper had acquired during the war in
Occupied Europe. Johnson himself flew in to Yemen later, on
a Canadian passport in the name of Cohen and with a pocketful of gold sovereigns.
Over the next three years he and his men conducted a
resistance campaign, wearing down the Egyptian forces sent in
by Nasser. The Saudi Arabian government, meanwhile, funded
the Yemeni royalist faction and dictated overall strategy, but
the hostilities became a war of attrition which eventually led
to stalemate. Nevertheless, the Egyptians lost 10,000 men.
“Yemen,” Nasser later reflected, “was my Vietnam.”
Henry James Johnson born on December 21 1924, the son
of a Ceylon tea planter who was employed on the Enigma
project at Bletchley Park during the Second World War; one
of his forebears had been a soldier in the privatised East India
Company army who had later guarded Napoleon on St
Helena.
The young Jim was educated at Westminster, where he was a
contemporary of Tony Benn, and as a schoolboy he joined the
Home Guard.
Subsequently he was serving as a junior officer with the 2nd
Battalion, Welsh Guards, near Caen in 1944 when the artist
Rex Whistler was killed.
reached for his revolver, but his companion exclaimed: “No,
Jim! Not from the cathedral.”
After the war Johnson joined Lloyd’s, and in his spare time
rose to command 21 SAS (TA). On retiring from the TA in
1963 he was appointed OBE, and was later appointed ADC
to the Queen.
After his three years running the operation in Yemen, Johnson
wrote a memorandum for the British and Saudi governments
pointing to “the apparent lack of interest by HMG and the
stated indifference to our activities by MI6”, and the “absolute
disinterest” of the Saudis. He identified three possible policies
in such circumstances: to withdraw; to replace resistance with
intelligence-gathering; or to “hang on… and hope we will be
used sensibly again”. But he added the reminder that the operation had “discovered, trained and helped arm tens of
thousands of tribesmen without official help”.
In 1975 Johnson and David Walker, a former regular officer in
22 SAS, set up their firm to operate in the grey area between
the politically acceptable and the officially deniable. Having
begun by providing protection for British diplomats in South
America, and then for foreign statesmen, the firm trained
mujahideen to fight the Russians in Afghanistan.
It also made a substantial contribution to the defence of
Oman after the British-backed victory over Communist forces
in that country. KMS was allowed by Whitehall to set up the
Sultan’s Special Force, an elite unit modelled on the SAS and
trained by former SAS personnel. Now “omanised”, it remains
an integral part of the country’s armed forces.
In later years Johnson recalled that, during his final audience
with a member of the Saudi Royal Family after leaving Yemen,
he had made two requests. These were for the orderly disposal
of the heavy weapons, particularly mortars, under his control,
and for his men to receive an enhanced month’s severance pay.
He had added: “French mercenaries have a habit of blowing up
the aircraft of national airlines if they don’t get paid properly.”
Both his requests were granted, and Johnson and his
comrades celebrated with champagne a month later at the
Hyde Park Hotel.
The final reunion of those who took part in the Yemen operation was attended by eight survivors last year.
Jim Johnson died on July 20. His first wife was Judith
Lyttleton, with whom he had a son and a daughter. After her
death he married, in 1982, Jan Gay.
Reprinted from The Daily Telegraph (14th August 2008)
After his unit had liberated Brussels, he was involved in the
hard fighting across northern Germany until he and a brother
officer found themselves on the steps of Cologne cathedral.
As two armed Wehrmacht officers ran past them, Johnson
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Muir Hunter
(RR 1925–1932) 1913–2008
Muir Hunter, who died on October 18 aged 95, was a leading
QC in the obscure field of bankruptcy whose devastating
cross-examination of the Yorkshire architect John Poulson
brought to light a morass of corruption, forced the Home
Secretary Reginald Maudling to resign and left other public
figures in prison or disgrace.
His scalps included T Dan Smith, Labour’s “Mr Newcastle”,
jailed like Poulson for corruption; Tyneside’s all-powerful
Alderman Andrew Cunningham (ditto); the Conservative MP
John Cordle, forced out of the Commons; George Pottinger, a
senior Scottish Office civil servant; Sir Bernard Kenyon, clerk
of the West Riding county council; staff of the NHS and
British Rail; and numerous lesser fish.
Over 11 months from July 3 1972 Hunter, representing the
trustee in bankruptcy, relentlessly questioned Poulson over some
£500,000 he had given to MPs, officials and others he hoped
to influence, gifts he almost invariably professed not to have
known about or to have forgotten. Hunter told him: “One of
the things you have done with your creditors’ money is to go
around the country distributing largesse like Henry VIII.”
The public examination at Wakefield opened with minimal
interest from the media, but that changed overnight as the
evidence from the very first session forced Maudling’s resignation. Hunter got Poulson to confirm that his firm had set up a
£22,000 annual covenant to the Dame Adeline Genee Theatre
at East Grinstead, Mrs Maudling’s favourite charity, rather
than paying him a salary to chair a Poulson company when
out of office.
In 10 days of questioning over 11 months, Hunter drew on
six tons of Poulson’s paperwork to elicit the extent of his
corruption. The bespectacled QC’s Victorian courtroom manner alternated between grinding detail, and wit and sarcasm.
Listing at one session the number of officials and councillors
whom Poulson had helped – supposedly with housing repairs
– Hunter asked him: “The people you were associated with
seemed to have had the misfortune of having properties which
were extremely badly built and which you put right for them?”
Eventually he told Poulson incredulously: “Here we are faced
with a gigantic disappearance of money on an unbelievable
scale, and every time I have asked you how the money got paid
to Mr MacRae [financial adviser to the president of Liberia] or
the Sultan of Morocco or something, you said you did not
know. Someone had done it while you were not looking.”
Though Poulson was taken ill during the first session, he eventually summoned up the strength to fight back. When, the
following January, Hunter told him that he was digging
himself into “an increasingly impossible corner because you do
not wish to let down your friends”, Poulson retorted: “I do
not have any friends now, thanks to you.”
When Poulson eventually stood trial on corruption charges –
he was jailed for seven years – his defence claimed that
Hunter’s questioning had prejudged the issue. Donald Herrod
QC accused him of interrupting Poulson 40 times to thrust
documents he had not seen for years into his hand and
demand an immediate answer. Those answers, he said, were
given widespread publicity from which many assumed
Poulson’s guilt 18 months before he stood trial.
Others noted that, without that cross-examination, the full
extent of Poulson’s corruption might never have come to light.
Hunter himself reckoned that there was much more to come
out, and in 1975 proposed an independent agency to oversee
inquiries into major allegations of corruption.
Hunter’s style not only propelled him into the public eye but
also enraged Labour MPs, as the party’s “Mafia” in the Northeast was shown to be deeply corrupt. It was all the more
embarrassing to them that Hunter was a senior member of the
Society of Labour Lawyers, and a former Labour candidate.
He was, however, firmly on the Right of the party, objecting
when the 1974 Labour government legislated to lift the
disqualification of the rebel Clay Cross councillors.
With the hearings still under way, Maurice Edelman MP
claimed that Hunter was “in danger of acquiring the same
national reputation as the late Senator McCarthy”. There was
particular irritation that he had mentioned the gift of a silver
coffee pot to the Labour Education Secretary Anthony
Crosland when he opened a school, and that a holiday had
been booked for T Dan Smith and his wife under the names
of Mr and Mrs George Brown. Hunter told the court: “I do
not wish to harm anyone, merely to seek to recover debts
owed by Mr Poulson.” He did indeed recover more than
£300,000e_SLps though much went to meet legal expenses.
Unsettled by the criticism, the Bar Council in February 1973
decided to investigate Hunter’s conduct. There was a furious
reaction from barristers that a QC was being investigated in
mid-case, and within a week he was exonerated.
Muir Vane Skerrett Hunter was born on August 13 1913, the
son of HS Hunter, a senior civil servant, and the novelist
Bluebell Hunter. He was educated at Westminster and Christ
Church, Oxford, where he was a scholar. As a student he went
to Spain at the height of the Civil War to help ferry refugees
out of captured cities. In July 1936 he was selected as prospective Labour candidate for East Hampshire, but the outbreak of
war prevented the general election taking place.
Hunter was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn in 1938, having
been Holker senior scholar; he became a Bencher in 1976.
Initially he specialised in local government, but then switched
to bankruptcy chambers: the combination would prove deadly.
Joining the Royal Armoured Corps in 1940, Hunter rose
through the war to the rank of acting lieutenant-colonel,
eventually serving as a staff intelligence officer in India.
When hostilities ended he became a military judge in anti-
corruption tribunals for the Government of India, returning
to the Bar in 1946.
He became Standing Counsel (Bankruptcy) to the Board of
Trade in 1949, retaining the appointment for 16 years, but
until the Poulson examination few of his cases made headlines.
Exceptions were when he represented the insolvent Duke of
Leinster in 1953, and, two years later, creditors of the boxer
Tommy Farr. He took silk in 1965.
By now Hunter was taking a close interest in post-colonial
Africa, voicing concern that in six states nearing independence
there were just 27 African barristers. A founder-member of
Amnesty International (he threatened to resign when, in 1982,
an attempt was made to install Jeremy Thorpe as its British
director) he was one of its earliest human rights observers.
In 1962 he travelled to Burundi, where four Africans and a
Greek faced execution for complicity in a plot to murder the
prime minister; Hunter concluded that the proceedings to
which they had been subjected were “not really a trial at all”.
In 1969 he monitored the prosecution of the Rhodesian
opposition politician Ndabaningi Sithole for allegedly plotting
to kill Ian Smith. He was later an adviser on law reform to the
governments of Kenya and the Gambia.
He was also founder-chairman in 1969 of the North
Kensington Neighbourhood Law Centre. For several years he
helped local people with their problems late into the night,
even if he had a major case the next morning.
At various times Hunter was a member of the Department of
Trade’s EEC Bankruptcy Committee and its Insolvency Law
Review Committee; Deputy Chairman of the Home Office’s
Advisory Committee on Service Candidates; a council
member of Justice; a governor of the Royal Shakespeare
Company; Visiting Professor of Insolvency Law at
Bournemouth University; a committee member of the BritishPolish Legal Association; and a life member of the
Commercial Law League of America.
He helped with the management of hospices in Gdansk and
Nairobi, and was an enthusiastic member of poetry groups in
Blandford and Salisbury. He published two books of verse,
Tears on the Fence (1994) and The Grain of My Life (1997).
He had been a member of the editorial board of Insolvency
Law & Practice and Editorial Consultant to Sweet &
Maxwell. His legal books included Williams and Muir Hunter
on Bankruptcy; Muir Hunter on Insolvency; Emergent Africa
and the Rule of Law; and Kerr & Hunter, The Law and
Practice on Receivers and Administrators.
Richard Oliver Pagan (BB 1961–1965) 1948–2008
My brother Richard Pagan died at home at Ramsey, Isle of
Man, on 3 January 2008, aged 59, much before his proper
time. He was up Busby’s from 1961 to 1965, and proceeded
to the University of Warwick, then newly founded, where he
was part of the University’s very first undergraduate intake and
read engineering, graduating as a BSc in 1969.
Immediately after university he joined the Metal Box
Company as an information scientist, and he was to spend the
next thirty-seven years in the Information and IT departments
of the Metal Box Company and its successor entities, Carnaud
Metalbox and Crown. These companies occupied a dominant
position in the UK and European markets in the manufacture
of cans for food and beverages, as well as in many other areas
of packaging. The continuous need to protect their patents
against competitors and to develop and register new patents
ensured a permanent role for long-term IT employees such as
my brother, who must have been one of the very few
graduates of his generation to spend his entire working career
in the service of what was essentially the same commercial
organisation.
Richard’s first marriage did not last, but he was the proud
father by it of two daughters, who remained close to him until
the last days of his life. In 2006, with a second marriage in the
offing, he took early retirement and moved to the Isle of Man,
where his dearly loved wife-to-be, Sue Brooks, was working for
Barclays Bank, and they celebrated their wedding that summer
with a large and happy gathering for family and friends. Sadly,
it became clear in a matter of months that something was
amiss with Richard’s health, and the motor neurone disease
which overtook him was relentless, although in the event mercifully swift.
Outside work, Richard’s chief interest was always in boats.
As a sailor, he crewed a yacht across the Atlantic when still a
teenager, and was at home in the waters both of the Norfolk
Broads and of the English Channel. He also possessed a
profound knowledge of the printed literature on the warships
of the British Navy in the 1939–1945 war, and was never
happier than when researching their wartime histories, adding
to his extensive holdings of books in this field, and
corresponding with fellow members of the World Ship Society.
Hugh Pagan (QS 1958–1963)
Muir Hunter married first, in 1939, Dorothea Eason, with
whom he had a daughter. After his first wife’s death in 1986
he married Gillian Petrie.
Reprinted from The Daily Telegraph (23rd October 2008)
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Francis Rawes (Westminster School 1938–1964)
1906–2008
If the sudden death
of Jim Cogan was, in
John Field’s phrase,
‘contrary to reason’,
the same cannot
honestly be said of the
death of Francis
Rawes. Aged 92, his
health and faculties in
steady decline since
losing his beloved wife
Joyce four years ago,
his end was peaceful,
largely painless, almost
fitting – in his own home, surrounded by family and devoted
carers, comforted by the thoughts and prayers of close friends.
But with his passing Westminster truly reaches the end of an
era, for he was probably the last surviving teacher of the prewar generation.
He joined the school in September 1938, just down from
Oxford, appointed by John Christie on a handshake (no
contract, no agreed salary), in the midst of the Munich Crisis.
Despite its time-warp façade – boys wore top hats and tail
coats and carried umbrellas – Westminster was not immune
to political events (one pupil was the son of the German
ambassador von Ribbentrop) and was exposed to the gathering
storm clouds which would shortly sweep it away to exile in
Herefordshire. When appointed resident house tutor of
Rigaud’s, this time his duties and privileges were specified in
writing, including a stipulation as to the time by which he
must vacate the bathroom in the morning, and the
requirement to provide his own sherry. Extra-curricular responsibilities were thrust upon him, the common fate of novice
masters: he became Assistant Scoutmaster – standing on top of
a mountain in Mull with (unbeknown to him) three future
headmasters in his charge – and ran the Junior Debating
Society – whose secretary was the already politically aware Tony
Benn. In the Modern Language classroom he steered a middle
course between the traditional focus on linguistic structure and
a more informal approach based on the spoken language. His
nickname ‘Pinkie’ he attributed to his tendency to blush when
young – the French for pink being ‘rose’, which sounds like
Rawes – but other versions of its origin exist.
Called up in March 1940, he had ‘a good war’. He was
commissioned in the Intelligence Corps in 1941, fought at
El Alamein with the 8th Army in 1942, then took part in the
invasion of Sicily and the Italian campaign, including the fall
of Monte Cassino. In March 1945, still under 30, he was
promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and he was present at the
German surrender at Florence two months later. He was twice
Mentioned in Despatches and was awarded the M.B.E. in
June 1945. He remained modest about his achievements as a
soldier, which he rarely discussed, but military history became
a favourite topic of reading for the rest of his life. Although he
would not have chosen to undergo his war time experiences
they did allow him to develop at an early age an organisational
ability and a steadiness under fire, both useful attributes for
his subsequent career.
Demobilised in 1946, he returned to Westminster, rejoining a
school that was facing the challenges of falling numbers and
of readjusting to its traditional setting after six years of evacuation. He immediately found himself in charge of Modern
Languages, having to give way after three years when John
Christie, seeking to bolster the intellectual firepower of the
Common Room, brought in over his head Ernst Sanger and
Hugo Garten, both experienced heavyweight academics. But
he was a gifted teacher, and many former pupils still recall
with gratitude the quality of his teaching: instilling a solid
grounding in French or German and lighting a spark of
enthusiasm for the literature – he would not have been happy
teaching languages today with its increased focus on sociological issues.
He was a natural choice to become Commanding Officer of
the C.C.F. for five years; a post he enjoyed, freely admitting to
having been a ‘Corps fiend’ himself at school, and perhaps
failing to understand why not all boys shared his enthusiasm.
Some may have been deceived by the image he could project
in such a rôle, of a small, self-important figure in uniform,
missing the humanity beneath. The existence of the C.C.F.
chimed with his traditional view of the need for a disciplinary
structure to school life; and also opened the door to Arduous
Training, challenging expeditions under canvas in the
Cairngorms where real camaraderie could be forged amongst
members of staff and between teachers and boys.
His description of the school Sergeant Major as a ‘firm but
gentle disciplinarian’ could equally be applied to him, as
pupils rapidly came to appreciate his essential kindness and
fairness. As Housemaster of Ashburnham from 1948 to 1953
he was keen that the house should be more than a physical
location where boys stored their belongings, and hoped to create a sense of ‘purposeful unity’: holding regular meetings with
monitors, dividing the house into Upper, Middle and Under,
and involving parents in the working of the house. Aiming to
encourage links with old boys he founded the Ashburnham
Society – he later also set up the Busby Society.
He adopted a similar approach in a boarding environment
as Housemaster of Busby’s from 1953 to 1964, a rôle he
described as ‘schoolmastering at its most rewarding’. He
encouraged every boy to make a contribution and relished the
pastoral side of the job, supporting the house’s efforts on the
games field, and overseeing the production of the house magazine, the Clarion – being less strict as a censor than many
expected. He inherited the tradition of directing an annual
house play and rose to the challenge, undeterred by the
presence up Busby’s of the sons of leading actors Richard
Attenborough, Andrew Cruickshank and Jack Hawkins.
Choosing a repertoire which ranged from comedy to thriller
to war time drama, he ignored the traditional advice not to
work with children or animals, giving the family dog Candy a
walk-on part in one farce, and using his daughter Susan’s
recorded voice to recite the rhyme in Agatha Christie’s ‘And
then there were none’ (it had a different title in those days….)
After John Christie left, he earned the respect of Walter
Hamilton and then John Carleton; the latter became a good
friend, who valued his wise counsel, even though Carleton’s
more liberal approach did not always meet with his approval.
A popular figure in the Common Room he was a leading
member of the post-war generation of Westminster
schoolmasters (including Denny Brock, John Wilson, Henry
Christie and Ronald French) of whom few are still alive. One
colleague recalls his capacity for lasting friendship, another his
‘staunchness and determination, allied with great charm and
friendliness’. The end of his tenure up Busby’s was the trigger
for him to apply for headships and leave Westminster; with
mixed feelings, but he had impressed many with his administrative ability – in particular his part in organising the
Quatercentary programme in 1960 – and felt ready to pursue
his own educational vision.
There followed in 1964 the post which was the culmination
of his career, Headmaster of St Edmund’s School, Canterbury.
Still run at that time by the Clergy Orphan Corporation, St
Edmund’s was a very traditional and somewhat spartan school.
The sight of one dormitory with 70 beds convinced him of
the need to install study bedrooms and make other
improvements to living conditions and he launched a
modernisation programme. But he disliked being typecast as a
‘builder headmaster’, as the structural alterations were but the
outward symbol of the social, pastoral and administrative
changes that he initiated. Joining as the fourth headmaster in
five years, with the school’s finances not particularly healthy,
he provided much-needed stability, significantly increased
pupil numbers and gradually raised academic standards.
He achieved his major objective of putting St Edmund’s on
the map as a good small school with strong local connections
with the city of Canterbury, the University of Kent and the
Cathedral – which helped to defuse adverse comment when,
somewhat controversially but successfully, the Junior School
took over responsibility for educating the Choristers. Rather
to his own surprise he mellowed somewhat at Canterbury.
One of his referees forecast that he would ‘win first the respect
and then the affection of his colleagues and the boys’ and so it
proved. A member of staff described him as ‘simply the best
headmaster I served under – firm and fair with humanity and
humour’. He is credited with leaving St Edmund’s in a much
stronger position than he found it, laying foundations on
which his successors have continued to build.
He retired in 1978, but his connections with education were
to continue. He was the first Administrator of the ISIS
Association and a governor of several schools, including
Westonbirt, where he was Chairman from 1983 to 1991,
when the new Art and Technology Building was named the
Francis Rawes Building. Reforging links with Westminster he
was for 12 years a consultant to the Under School, at the
time when the school was expanding, moving from its
cramped quarters in Eccleston Square to larger premises in
Vincent Square.
There had been three other schools in his life. First the
Oporto British School, his family being part of the expatriate
community in that city, where he was born in 1916; his
great-grandfather had emigrated from the Lake District in
the early 19th century. At the age of 11 he was sent to board
at Cheltenham Junior School, travelling overland by train
in the care of his godmother. In 1930 he moved on to
Charterhouse; keen on all sport, particularly cricket, he was
also a good student, his love of French and German literature
kindled by an Austrian refugee teacher, and he gained an
exhibition to St Edmund Hall, Oxford. Westminsters
sometimes have a tendency to look down slightly on
Charterhouse (other than on the football field), but have
much reason to be grateful to a school that produced Dennis
Moylan, Theo Zinn and Francis Rawes.
On retirement he and Joyce moved to Chipping Campden –
but, far from slowing down, his strong sense of duty and
service led him to throw his abilities and energies into a wide
range of community activities. He was much admired for his
generosity of spirit, as reflected in his actions – in George
Eliot’s words, his ‘deeds of daring rectitude’ and his ‘scorn for
miserable aims that end with self ’ – and will be remembered
for his charming smile, his sometimes mischievous sense of
humour, and the twinkle in his eye. The advent of
grandchildren added an extra dimension of satisfaction to
his life and a new generation of children to learn from his
example; he was at heart a family man.
Two factors were vital in laying a secure foundation for his
successful career and life. One was his deeply held Christian
faith. At Westminster he appreciated the School’s closeness to
the Abbey, not just for the set piece occasions but as a place of
daily worship. At Canterbury he delighted in links with the
Cathedral, and he upheld the strong Christian ethos of St
Edmund’s. Operating at this period at the top of his game,
his choice of career appeared almost God-inspired, recalling
Thomas Fuller’s words ‘God mouldeth some for a schoolmaster’s life, undertaking it with desire and delight, and discharging it with dexterity and happy success’. Finally St James’
Church, Chipping Campden provided the ideal environment
for the practice of his faith to reach full flowering. He was
accepted as a Reader, taking and assisting at services for nearly
20 years; his strong religious belief and his talent for administration came together during two lengthy interregnums, when
he ran the parish almost single-handed.
The other rock was Joyce; for all his achievements were underpinned by their lifelong partnership. It was at Oxford that he
met her, a fellow languages student, in the Taylorian Library
one day and shyly invited her to tea at the Cadena, an event
that was to lead to 63 years of wonderfully happy marriage.
Not long after their wedding they were separated by war for
several years before settling down and starting a family. At
both Westminster and Canterbury she provided unstinting
80
81
OW DEATHS
–›
support, involving herself fully in school activities. But it was
the Chipping Campden years that were especially satisfying
and fulfilling, as together they dedicated themselves to the
community. They formed a notable double act, in their later
days walking around the town arm in arm, mutually supportive and always with a kind word for others. After she died he
was not the same man; and he had to face alone – but bravely
– the years of decline.
At a memorial service in Chipping Campden, attended by
many former Westminster colleagues and pupils, the
Commem processional hymn ‘Christ is made the sure foundation’ was sung, tributes were paid by family and friends, his
achievements were honoured; but the closing image, as the
church resounded to their favourite opera, Puccini’s La
Bohème, was of Francis and Joyce (his ‘Mimi’), students in
love, ahead of them a full and active lifetime of rewarding
service and happy family life.
Paul Rees (Westminster School 1999–2006) 1973–2008
Paul took a top first
at Oxford in German
and French. He was at
Jesus College, although
he had great ties at
Christ Church where
Professor Christopher
Robinson was both
his friend and mentor,
dedicating his critical
study, “Scandal in the
Ink”, to Paul.
In September 1997,
he joined Westminster
School as teacher of French and German and became
instantly popular with pupils and staff alike. With no formal
background in Spanish he took to the task of teaching it to
GCSE with his characteristic enthusiasm. As a linguist Paul
was effervescent. His approach was both academic and fun;
that rare mixture which made for fascinating if lively classes.
Paul quickly became Head of German from September 1999
until August 2006. During this time, he organised and accompanied a large number of exchange visits to Berlin in the
Upper Shell and to Munich in the Remove which were much
appreciated by pupils and parents.
82
Swimming and diving were his great sporting loves and his
knowledge of film was encyclopaedic – hence his enthusiasm
for the Film Society, which he ran weekly for several years. He
was master-in-charge of swimming for a while, too, taking not
only the weekly Station but arranging the House Swimming
competition, a minor but nonetheless keenly contested event!
DEATHS
Walter Theodore Scott Buchan
AHH 1935 – 1939
01/10/1922 – 12/05/2008
Frank Derek Kidner
AHH 1927 – 1930
22/09/1913 – 27/11/2008
John Charles Power
RR 1938 – 1942
14/08/1924 – 23/04/2008
Paul also took on the task of Common Room treasurer,
which reflected his profound belief in the importance of the
Common Room as a supportive and vibrant community.
Tristram Ogilvie Cary
QS 1938 – 1942
14/05/1925 – 23/04/2008
Henry Vernon King
QS 1931 – 1936
02/05/1918 – 11/08/2008
Francis Rawes
Former member of staff
1906 – 2008
In 2000 Paul was the driving force behind the South Africa
Expedition and was instrumental in its great success. Abiding
memories are numerous; he set the tone by strutting in late to
Heathrow Airport sporting a pair of distinctive, red sunglasses
which he wore for the entire two weeks. His enthusiasm for
the Cape Town area and his love of its natural beauty and wild
life, especially the Great White Shark, rubbed off on everyone.
But he will be remembered particularly for his infectious smile
and wicked sense of humour, including endless practical jokes
played on colleagues and students alike. He was unfailingly
patient, kind, interesting and enormous fun throughout the
entire and truly amazing two-week experience. Paul also
accompanied the very first Cultural Trip to New York in 2003
and relished the experience as well as imparting his own enormously varied cultural background knowledge.
Robert Colvile
RR 1930 – 1934
1916 – 2008
Richard Cameron Low
QS 1941 – 1946
30/03/1928 – 17/02/2008
Michael Joseph Rawlinson
BB 1945 – 1949
13/03/1932 – 2008
John Herbert Cruft
GG 1927 – 1930
04/01/1914 – 17/05/2008
Michael Miller
QS 1946 – 1951
28/06/1933 – 20/02/2008
Paul Rees
Former member of staff
1973 – 2008
Brian Roy Cuzner
BB 1946 – 1951
18/07/1932 – 24/04/2008
Tressilian Bryan Nicholas
QS 1934 – 1939
19/05/1921 – 25/07/2008
Mark John Abbott Russell
BB 1973 – 1976
07/08/1959 – 2008
Charles Stuart Anson Duncan
Home Boarders 1935 – 1939
17/07/1921 – 11/06/2008
Richard William Orgill
GG 1965 – 1970
19/05/1952 – 09/12/2008
David William Shenton
GG 1938 – 1942
01/12/1924 – 06/10/2007
In recent years Paul was struck down by serious illness in the
form of brittle asthma. Paul died of a heart attack brought on
by a particularly strong asthma attack. His funeral was held on
18th April 2008. It was a sad yet positive affair led by Willie
Booth, and all of his family were there as well as his great
friends who spoke movingly about the enormous impact he
had on their lives. There were also many of his former pupils,
some from quite a long time ago and others who had only
been taught by him briefly, such was the influence and effect
he had on them. He touched the hearts and minds of so many
in such a relatively short life.
Barrington David Essex
BB 1949 – 1954
29/04/1936 – 27/02/2008
Richard Oliver Pagan
BB 1961 – 1965
31/01/1948 – 03/01/2008
Stephen Edward Smith
RR 1943 – 1947
09/04/1929 – 04/12/2007
Simon James Holliday Gray
WW 1949 – 1954
21/10/1936 – 2008
William Michael Pauer
AHH 1935 – 1940
06/03/1922 – 2008
James Francis Beresford Stevens
QS 1927 – 1932
20/09/1914 – 13/03/2008
Muir Vane Skerrett Hunter
RR 1925 – 1932
19/08/1913 – 18/10/2008
Ralph Hutchinson Pinder–Wilson
AHH 1932 – 1937
17/01/1919 – 06/10/2008
Derek Leyland Stevenson
AHH 1934 –1939
13/10/1920 – 09/05/2008
Above all, Paul will be remembered for his very modern and
sometimes uncompromising wit. He could tell a great yarn,
using his skills of mimicry with great effect and always with
a twinkle in his eye. His warmth and compassion were very
evident within seconds of meeting him and he loved life and
lived it as fully and as passionately as he could. He will be
dearly missed as a friend, a twin, a son, an outstanding
linguist and an inspiring teacher.
Robert Clabburn Trevenen James
GG 1931 – 1936
08/11/1917 – 01/12/2008
David Christopher Plummer
BB 1944 – 1947
08/08/1930 – 19/05/2008
Richard Mark Sweet–Escott
QS 1941 – 1946
25/04/1928 – 05/02/2008
Henry James Johnson
RR 1938 – 1942
21/12/1924 – 20/07/2008
Ronald Edgar Plummer
BB 1938 – 1941
02/10/1923 – 16/11/2008
Ulf Hennig, Jacqueline Cockburn, Maurice Lynn
and Kevin Walsh
83
WESTMINSTER
SCHOOL STORE
All items shown are available to buy
from the Westminster School Store.
To order, or for more information,
contact: Mrs Pat Lancaster
T: 020 7963 1007
RIGHT
BOW TIE (THISTLE)
£24.15
FAR LEFT
TUMBLER
£15.50 (SINGLE)
£41.00 (TWIN SET IN
PRESENTATION BOX)
LEFT
BOWTIE
(BATWING)
£22.80
LEFT
CHAMPAGNE FLUTES
£45.50 (TWIN SET IN
PRESENTATION BOX)
RIGHT
TANKARD
£44.20
FAR RIGHT
SCHOOL MUG
£6.00
FARLEFT
CUFFLINKS (CHAIN)
£19.55
LEFT
CUFFLINKS (BAR)
£22.50
FAR LEFT
SMALL UMBRELLA
(WITH CREST MOTIF)
£10.00
FAR LEFT
SILK TIE
£22.50
LEFT
CUSHION
£55.80
LEFT
SHIELD
£48.80
LEFT
UMBRELLA
£20.85
First published by Westminster School, 2009 © Westminster School
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any shape or form
by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of Westminster School.
The views and opinions expressed by writers within The Elizabethan do not necessarily reflect those of Westminster School.
No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products
liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the
material herein.

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Transcription

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