shirburnian - The Old Shirburnian Society
Transcription
shirburnian - The Old Shirburnian Society
THE SHIRBURNIAN MICHAELMAS 2004 Editors: Tj Ballingall; jRG Barber; IRH Brennan; HjButt; EA Elgood; AC Hermitage; TA Hewitson; jC Horner; RA Howland-jackson; GEj jerram; ON Kirk; BjA Leach; ES Lyon; SP McEvoy; AW Morley-Sm1th; TR Patterson; NP Scott-Underdown; HC Soul: KK-K Tse Art Editor: JM Little Photographs by: jD Adams: PP 8. 122 jR Batchelor: PP 52.53 GO Curtis: P 120 PRDG: PP 9, II. 12. 13.27. 32 33.84 103.107.116. 125. 127. 128 ACFPL Hammick: P 29 CGBY: PP 23. 25 AMH: pp 35. 36 PT Henderson: P 49 Ms K Higgins: PP .;1. 42 DH: p iS Mr R Horne: PP 11s. 119 ON Kirk: pp 47. 48 AJW MacDonald: PP 52.53 AW Morley-Smith: pp49.so DJR: p 125 DAS: p85 JGW: pl6 MFW: pp 20. 31 38. 39 r. 89 n . 93. 94. 96. 98 100. us. 117 Mrs S Wolfenden : P 24 Typing by: Mrs Lorraine Clarke Pnnred by Shelleys The Prmcers SHIRBURIIAI "Protecting People - Reducing Rtsks" reads the slogan of the Health and Safety Executtve. a body which seems to have had increasing attacks directed at it in recent years. It has been blamed at School for everything from the decline in adventurous activtties to the fact that showers must now be lukewarm and not above chest height. There are few at Sherborne who are tn support of the activittes of this deeply unpopular government agency - one which, desptte its unpopulanty. pushes ahead regardless with ever-increasmg demands on the time of teachers. pupils and anyone else who has the mtsfortune to come into contact with the risk assessment process. A recent assessment for a CCF field day cited ''blisters from stamping feet too hard'' as a serious nsk to puptls' health and safety. The solution? A vital bnefing to all members of the cadet force that feet are not to be stamped too hard when standtng LO attention. One can laugh, and many do, but when we have reached the pomt where an educattonal vistt in Sherborne (that penlous centre of urban deprivation) requires a ten-page risk-assessment detailing each and every locot1on at which a party of Third Formers will be crossing the road, alarm bells tend to ring in even the most liberal-mmded quarters of the School. The fact is that agencies such as the Health and Safety Executtve perform a legtttmate functton w1thm the context of the sooety that we have led ourselves Into. We need to have authonties to tell us how to prepare for incidents. because the majonty of people would stmply be unable to cope with not having someone to affix blame to tn the aftermath of an acctdent. Fuelled by a society which is more concerned wtth sooal services than social justice. we have ended up in a deeply worrying situation: one where nsk, accidents and mtstakes are slowly being eradicated to be replaced by blame, punishment and tndictment. We cannot continue to complam about the reqUirements of the government concernmg health and safety until we are prepared to accept the fad that we have. to an extent, bought it upon ourselves, through our apparent inability (or. at least, unwillingness) to accept the word 'acctdent'. Blame must now be attached to every mtstake that takes place today. If I fall down the stairs on my way to a classroom, it's the School's fault for tts fatlure to install proper s1gnage alertmg me to the fact that the stairs are steep, or the architect's fault for his fatlure to des1gn safer statrs, or the builder's fault for h1s failure to ensure that the stairs were fit for my use beforehand. or even the manufacturer of the water bottle I held tn my hand for faihng to warn me that runnmg up the sta1rs with 1t in my hand may result in sp1llages. making the stairs too slippery for safe passage. The question here is. I feel. not one concerning health and safely regulations they are a fact of contemporary life and not somethtng wh1ch we will be able to get rid of with any ease. The real concern lies wtth personal responsibility, and our sheer tnability to accept it. The prevalence of personal injury speoa l1sts and loan companies will be well known to those of us unfortunate enough to subscnbe to dtgital television. Both types of companies have one aim: to help those in trouble Lo shirk responsibility and place blame on someone else. People are unable to accept responsibility for thetr credit card debts and loan repayments: they are forced to shift it onto a firm which claims to be prepared to provide a painless solutton to the1r problem. People need someone to affix blame to for the1r 'trip or fall anywhere'. It is a shameful sttuatton to be 1n. and one which sadly draws many parallels to school life. Arnvtng at a new school is no mean feat: many look back on thet r first few days here and laugh at how unbelievably nervous they actually were. Especially difficult is the adjustment to a new style of working. where ideas, concepts and facts are not going to be handed to you on a plate. It's up to the indtvidual to discover them for himself. As people move into the Sixth Form they are constantly remmded that they need to accept personal responsibility for their own learmng. Few. if any, achieve this. The fact is that the syllabuses. specifications and curricula which pervade 'education' today do not allow people to accept this responsibility. The jOb expected of teachers is no longer to create a thirst for knowledge tn thetr pupils: instead 1t ts to show the individual how to jump through the hoops requtred to achieve the expected grades in public exams. Puptls cannot take personal responsibility for their actions tf the examtnation system tn which they are 1rrevocably involved prevents them from domg so We are told that the new Tomlinson educatton system Intends to resolve thts situation with an tndtvtdual research proJect dunng the current 'A' level system. This IS not likely to be tntroduced for somethmg along the lmes of fifteen years. What does th1s suggest about the system through whtch we are puttmg the ch1ldren of th1s country7 That for the next fifteen years, the 'benchmark' '/\ level is no longer acceptable and will be phased out? Again. one cannot help but feel that it comes back to personal responsibility. The Government is unable to accept liability for the shameful public exam system that they have repeatedly failed to modernise. Instead. they ask a supposedly 'independent' advisor to produce a plan which is doomed to fatlure and ridicule from the very moment 1t is introduced, and makes a mockery of a system which hundreds of thousands of teachers have put fa1th tn for many years. Personal responsibility t n education is vitally tmportant. It ts our duty as pupils in the deeply pnvtleged situation of membership of Sherborne School to strive to take respons1b11ity for what we learn and not to expect teachers simply to 'spoonfeed' us wtth what 1s necessary for a d1stant exam. Educatton ts not about achtevtng b1ts of paper and jum ping through hoops: it concerns making us into rounded 1ndtv1duals wtth a thirst for knowledge and explanatton. The exam system does not help th1s atm, but, as mentioned earl1er. we must be wary of affixing too much blame to 1ts shortcomings. If we are to get a true education from this establishment, we must take responsibility and action to achieve the end goal of being a worthy member of a prestigious school, and not simply sit back and expect it to come to us. As many discover to the1r disadvantage later in life. it rarely does. Hugo Soul SHIRBURIIAI Academic Oxford and Cambridge Places The follow1ng have gained places at Oxford and Cambridge on the bas1s of the1r A level results. House a d d d d g g Nome Kenta Minami lsa AI Sabea Jamie Holdaway jack Milln Anton Mo1seev Reuben Aitken Robert Bain College University Pembroke. Oxford Balliol College. Oxford Christchurch. Oxford Worcester. Oxford jesus. Oxford Caius. Cambridge Girton, Cambridge Course Experimental Psychology PPE Classics Medicine Economics and Management Modern and Medieval Languages Engineering Those listed below were awarded Bugbird Pnzes for ga1ning three or more A grades at A level House a a a b c c c c c c Name d lsa AI Sabea d d d d e Ronald Cheng Henry May Jack Milln Anton Moiseev Nick Thanapoomikul Reuben Aitken Neil Batson Adam Gallimore Hugh Yates Robert Bain Wilson Cheng Michael Hutton-Ashkenny Hugo Blatt r r f r g g g m A levels Chemistry. Mathematics. Further Mathematics, Physics Biology. Mathematics, Further Mathematics. Physics Biology. Chemistry, History Economics. Mathematics, Further Mathematrcs, Spanish English, History. Mathematics. Further Mathematrcs Biology, Spanish, Theatre Studres Ancient History, Geography, Spanish Biology, Economics. Geography Biology, Economics, Geography Economics, Mathematics, Further Mathematics. Physics, Further Mathematics Advanced (AS) Economics. Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics. Further Mathematics Advanced (AS) Biology. Chem1stry, Chinese. Mathematics French. History. Religious Studies Biology. Chemistry, Economics French, Mathematics. Further Mathematics Economics . Mathematics, Further Mathematics. Physics French, Latin. Spanish Chemistry. Economics, Mathematics Biology. Economics. Spanish Economics. French. Italian Mathematics. Further Mathematics, Physics. Spanish Biology, Chemistry, Music Biology. Chemistry, Mathematics. Further Mathematics (AS) Biology. D&T. Geography Tsz-Chung Cheng Kenta Minami Mrchael Pope Tom Gabbey james Dutton Nick Francis O ily Gargrave Paddy Houghton Edward Selfe Li Zhun Lower Sixth Internal Awards As a result of their GCSE grades. the following were awarded Exh1brtrons. House g g a d Name Kit Dorey Gash Mbivzo Oliver Oxenbndge Andrew Williams School Prizewinners 2003-2004 Reuben Artken Alec Russell Seamus Crawford Davrd Holborow Waller Heads of School Waller Heads of School Vigilando School Drawmg Charlie Mmter Kenta Mmam1 Kenta Minamr Edward Selfe james Dutton Michael Pope Alec Russell Alex Simon Matthew Snudden Neil Batson Reuben Aitken Alistair Brooks James Carey Chnstopher Gosling Jamie Holdaway Edward Baker Seamus Crawford Stuart Kennon Tom Excel! Robert Streeter Hugo Soul Alexander Morley-Smith john Barber Edward Selfe Robert Sworder james Dutton Edward Selfe Edward Selfe james Carey Kenta Minamr Reuben Aitken Robert Bain jam1e Holdaway Nicholas Arden Alistair Lax jack Milln Alexander Morley-Smith Henry Siebert-Saunders Matthew Snudde n Robert Symondson Crispin Vollers Ashley Walford Hugh Worskett Wilson Cheng Kenta Minami Alexander Morley-Smith Tsz-Chung Cheng Edward Levine Michael Pope Michael Pope Hugo Soul Charlie Minter Charlie Woolcombe-Adams Andrew Williams Richard Rabone Guy Corlett Gash Mbizvo Henry Dutton Rafe Dance Humphrey Gibbs Beanie Hill Alex Bunnell George Herbert Hugh Knudsen Langmuir Art Ridout Biology School Busmess Studres Edwrn Davts Services Edwin Davis Services Edw1n Davrs Services Edw1n Davrs Services Edwin Davts Services Edwin Davrs Services Driver Chem1stry Wildman Latin Palmer Ancient History Whrtt1ngdale Classics Leweston Anc1ent History Marson Greek Steward Community Servrces Marsh Cricket Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award Wingfield Digby Senior D&T Wingfield Digby Senior D&T Gerald Pitman Cup for Drama Stuart Hargreaves Drama Stuart Hargreaves Drama School Econom1cs Sixth Form School ElectroniCs School English School Geography Bowen H1story Alison Blenkrnsop History Sen1or Plumptre Mathematics Bereny French Aston-Binns Spanish Fletcher German Harley Brass Senior School Music Technology Senior Guitar Clive Carey Vocal Senior Senior Percussion Kitson Vocal School Keyboard Senior School Strings Senior Harley Woodwind Senior Senior Composition Headmaster's Special Contnbution to Music Tunng Physics Tom Bugbird Award for Sailing Morcom Mathematics & Science Smithwick Shooting Uun1or) Sm1thw1ck Shooting Uunior) Hew James Shooting Cup (outdoor) Davis-Weston Missionary Harold Bla1r Divinity Wingfield Digby Junior D&T Fifth Form School Electron1cs Francis Illes Geography 5th Form Geography 5th Form Thomas of Swynnerton Millennia! 3rd Jarrett History Jarrett History Jarrett History Thomas of Swynnerton Millennia! 2nd Thomas of Swynnerton Millennia! Ist Kirby Mathemat1cs Mee Luangsomboon Rtehard $warder Gordon Curtis Beante Isles Franos Pollen Henry Spender Alex Hammick Alfred Heath Edmund Latham Nicholas Newsom Zhuang-Rui Tan Tim Ballingal Andrew MacDonald Archie Mackay-James O liver Madley Owen Skinner Robert Sworder Edward Wicks Kirby Mathematics Kirby Mathematics Junior Composition Junior Percuss1on Junior Guitar Junior Mus1c Technology Harley Brass Jun1or School Strings Junior Clive Carey Vocal Juntor Harley Woodwind Junior Paddy Whelan Prize for Improvement 1n Phys1cs Lyon-Parsons Divtnity Lyon-Parsons Div1nity Lyon-Parsons Divinity Lyon-Parsons Divinity Lyon-Parsons Divinity Lyon-Parsons Divinity Lyon-Parsons Divinity Sport Winners of House Competitions 2003-04 The Digby Senior Michaelmas The Green Rugby U-16 Harper House Rugby Plate U-14 Ten-a-side Rugby The Green U 14 Indoor Hockey School House Junior League Rugby The Green Lent Tnmty Junior Leagues Hockey School House Six-a-s1de Hockey U-16 Hockey Plate U-15 Hockey Plate Senior Cross-Country Junior Cross-Country Senior Squash Junior Squash Individual Fives (Richard Green) Senior Fives junior Fives Swimming Inter-House Sports: junior Senior Inter-House Quiz Senior Soccer 4/Sth Form Soccer Harper House Abbey House The Digby Lyon House Abbeylands The Digby Harper House Abbeylands Abbeylands School House Abbey House Abbey House Senior Cricket Junior Cricket The Green Abbey House Athlettcs: Senior Intermediate Junior Overall Cup Relays Tennis Senior Pairs Tennis junior Pairs The Digby Abbeylands Abbeylands Abbeylands Abbeylands The Green Abbey House Abbey House Abbeylands Abbeylands Lyon House Abbeylands Guess who's bock. bock ogom The Heads o{ School - rei/ your {nends 1 Apologtes lo Eminem: Good morntng: we lcome to Commem! So. while tt's ltpptng down with ram. We hope you won't be sent insane By this, our poetty so bad You'll wish you'd been a Catholic, Dad! But don't blame u s - we're made to do 1t And I'll (appropriately ) rue it! Nevertheless, we'll try our best To welcome each disttnguished guest: Thanks to our preacher, Robert Willis, W ho with wise words consp1red to thrill us: Deans can be rural; deans can be urban Your Deanship, welcome back to Sherborne! So to our speaker. Oliver Letwm. One of a party that may yet wtn Victory w1thin a year (Behold - do Oytng p1gs appear?) He's brave and bold; he's not a coward (He stands quite close to M1chael Howard!) And known for his finanoal flarr (At least he isn't Tony Blarr!); He has great knowledge to tmpart Before we leavers all depart: We're all agog - that's how 1t goes At least you get to speak 1n prose! But now it's time to say goodbye To leaving staff and wipe our eye: And where more fit for us to start Than with beloved Billy Smart? Imagine when he first appears Way back, some thirty-seven years, To Sherborne a sublime addition, He was an expert statistician And so remains: and now his going (Our exponential tears are flowing) Reduces us to a mere fraction; His going ts a sad subtraction; Our admiration's undivided; Our sadness now is multiplied-ed; So here's a farewell hale and hearty: You always have the answer, Smartie! You'll realise it's quite a headache To find a rhyme for Fraulem Dedek; I feel I ought to write a sermon In very nearly fluent German Upon her talents; how she'd climb Unfailingly to he1ghts sublime. She's as original as Werther's; Take care: she'll have your guts for Goethe's! We bid a very fond farewell To Fraulein, our own blonde bombshell. Our eyes are wet: our hearts are heavrng: Can it be true? Our Chaplain's leaving? He leaves us to impart hrs knowledge In Ramsgate, at St Lawrence College Whrch had the rmpertmence to poach Our Chaplarn dear. the finest coach The Third XV have ever boasted But wasn't old St Laurence roasted1 No more we'll see your wrnnrng smrle Perambulatmg down the aisle: Your facral ha1r has gone already· Good luck. and hope you catch rt. Daddy! Mr Millrngton's strong and tough And only the best 1sgood enough: The creamrest milk, the whitest bar: He's phys1cally going far! Our sentrments could not be fonder: He saris rnto the wide blue yonder. We heave a sob and say ta-ra To Julien, William, Nicolas: Best wrshes to them as they're hurled To three of the corners of the world. A funny year. wrth Mr Murph Prepanng to tread different turf, His great career rs nsrng hrgher Whrch can't be sard for Mr Pryor. We w1sh them fortune. health and nches. But what's been happenrng on the prtches? Desprte the mrght of Rhrno Rerd, The First Fifteen drd not succeed: The Seconds put the Firsts to shame And only lost a srngle game. But nothing qurte so much annoys As near defeat for Danny's Boys An outcome that was sure to sicken 'em They fought like heroes down at Twickenham . And Hillie's Billies, under Radders, Went up and down lrke snakes and ladders; And, as for us who like our cncketWe'll wipe the Pilgnms off the wrcket! Our Thesprans the boards were treading: We weren't 'brassed off' to see Blood Wedding: And Spanrsh Passron wasn't blunted; The Sun was right and royally hunted. We could go on like thrs forever We won't: a final thanks, however. To everyone who's taught or fed Or washed the covers on our bed; To everyone who's cleaned. or caught Us dorng what we drdn't ought! And maybe JUSt a passing mentron Of those who've sat in our detentron. Goodbye, prp pip and toodle-oo To all from A lec and from Reu. Reuben Aitken and A lec Russell I thtnk of myself as one of the older members of the staff. but let me put this appreciatton of Davtd tnto historical perspective - when Davtd came to join the staff at Sherborne, tn 1967,tt was one year before I fluked a pass m my Mathematics ·o level' at Bradfield on my first attempt. If David had been my teacher. tt would have not been regarded as somethtng that was a matter of chance. For those who remember David's immaculate preparation over the application- and selection-process for incoming staff-applicants, it might be somewhat surprising to learn that David himself skipped the formalities of an interview and was appointed to a post in the Malhemattcs Department unseen, but on the glowing reference of the Headmaster of Oundle where he had already had two stints of teachtng practtce, havtng been directed there by the Careers Department of Cambridge University. His mother was slightly surprised at the way in whtch David secured the posttton and mttmated that she would have spent more care tn the appomtment of a daily help for the household than Sherborne had tn the appomtment of their staff...... But already two aspects emerge as characteristiC from his arnval at the School - the first is that the chot ce of profession was truly vocational and the second that tt was marked by a commttment to that profession that was to be a hallmark of his ttme at Sherborne. The choiCe of Sherborne was not happenstance. He had chosen the School because it had adopted the 'Modern Mathemattcs' approach that was beginning to establish itself in the curnculum of some schools at th1s t1me. It showed a conviction that things were going t o change and that David wanted to be at the forefront of that change, in the belief that he could bring his talents and skills to bear in his teachmg and Lhat they could be invested in the academic future of the School. In an address that he gave in the Abbey in hts last term, David drew a picture for the congregation of what life was like in those days when he first arrived at the School. Walking down Cheap Street in boaters with House colour ribbons: taking meals in the House Dinmg Rooms; daily Chapel Service for the whole School; House prayers last thing at ntght and fewer teams but a greater predominance of sport within the life of the School: boys returning for seventh-term Oxbridge providing a depth of matunty and experience in the House community. A very different world with very different priorities. In 1971 he was made Head of the Mathemattcs Department and embarked on a path of encouraging his colleagues to face the challenge of SMP, tak1ng them forward to a position where Maths would be in a strong and confident pos1t1on in the School with teachers who could enthuse and take a leading role in the academic life of the community. Nor was this to be a theoretical exerctse for Davtd: he was at the centre of the swell 1n the sea change in the subject. He was selected to develop the testing and the preparation of the text books that were to be at the heart of the teachtng of the subject nationwide. The final fruit of thts project was his authorship of the SMP volume Unear Algebra and Geometry. This was a stgn1ficant achievement 1n ttself but perhaps the advice gtven to the authors of thts proJect is just as important in discerning t he distinguishing features of Davtd's approach to teaching 'Write it in such a way t hat a student could study the course on his own.' These words betray the way that education was moving in those turbulent, exCiting and challengmg days of the 'Sixties and 'Seventies. The accepted un1versal saw of 'How do you do it?' was being replaced by the question 'Why is something true?' Davtd discerned the change of movement and responded to it wtth alacrity and he realised what 1t might mean for Sherborne. All the while he was addressmg teachers throughout England m Teacher Trammg workshops on the implications of the new Maths curnculum and, though considerably younger than many m hts audiences, he gatned the confidence, respect and friendship of Heads of Department throughout the country, the confidence of a network of fnends. colleagues and fellow experts that was to be mamtamed over hts years in teachmg. In 1970 he was selected as a Maths tutor for the fledgling Open Untverstty, again bnngmg a wtder expertise from the world outside to bear on the slightly parochial Sherborne. An wrelevant but telling astde which nevertheless shows David's flexibility and adaptability to new ideas and technology can be seen in the occaston when, tn 1973, the Headmaster, Davtd Emms. had been g1ven a Burroughs L2000. This was an innovative , unfamiliar. prototype computing machtne which had to be constantly fed w1th paper tape and punch cards (a challenge t o wh 1ch Westland's readily responded). It proudly stood m the Vestry. a forerunner of the Computtng Room with Dav1d as Sherborne's f1rst Head of Computtng. Then, a ltttle later, came the discovery that a few boys had a strange machtne whtch made calculations faster than the slide rule whtch was m common use. Dav1d applied the by now famous rule that the 'why' was more important than the 'how' to run to ground the five 'calculators' that were to become the must-have for all Chnstmas shoppers that year. Davtd was ever the courageous adventurer m the brave new world that 1s so famtltar to us now but whiCh was once strange and frightening. He succeeded Giles Mercer as 01rector of Studtes. It is hard to believe that such stock phrases that dommate the life of today's student - GCSEs and coursework- were, 1n 1985, merely wh1spers in the w1nd. But he understood that it would be the next tremendous academiC challenge for the School and set about teastng out the think1ng of the staff as to what such an in1t1ative would mean for mdependent schools if such a common national curnculum were established Where there was apprehens1on on the staff. Dav1d gave encouragement and, aga1n, he plunged 1nto the active s1de of the implications of such a change by organismg JOint training sessions with Sherborne Girls' School and St Antony's Leweston. He became a marker for the new coursework components, a post whiCh developed 1nto a posttion as National Tramer for Teachers. He attended the Deanng Consultations along w1th the Trades Unions, DFeS and politicians, and brought the commonsense of a 'statutory teacher' to bear on the discussions by stating that it would, of course. result in a considerable increase in examtnations. This was greeted by a mixture of surprise and delight by the panel but, again, in Lhe wake of the recent Tomlinson proposals, it shows David's prescient discernment of the fashions in education. His participation in the QCA Consultations on the comparison between IB and A levels reflects on the tmportance he laid on the marking and paper-sett1ng, cntena that he believed were essential for the lntegnty of academiC examination-structure and procedure tn the School. The pace of change in education was swtft in the 'E1ghttes and 'Ninet1es and David relished the challenge of these years. School inspections were introduced: David became the first tra1ned Inspector in Sherborne, conduct1ng s1x mspect1ons at other schools in areas as d1verse as curnculum. assessment. recording and board1ng. Indeed, another measure of the breadth and depth of Dav1d's professional approach can be seen 1n the fact that, while engaged on an tnspect1on at Charterhouse. he 1nspected the class of a teacher w1th whom he had sat 1n dunng his teaching-practice days' Agam the expenence 1n this area was cruc1al tn the two 1nspections that Sherborne underwent dunng h1s tenure as Director of Studies. In these times too, Oxbndge Entrance moved from seventh-term entry to a more competitive post-A-Ievel selectton with condit1onal offers. David made sure that students were equipped for this change w1th the 1ntroduct1on of the Oxbndge Interview Eventng held tn collaboratton with SSG, tnstrumental 1n the He introduction of those staff SAL and the Gryphon. was one of development and appratsal; he encouraged the departments to set timetable periods aside to explore and scrutm1se subject-demands, changtng examtnal1on-patterns and. more than that, to face the challenge of a curnculum-review by asking teachers to articulate what Lhe1r a1ms were and how they were to tailor their teachtng accord1ngly. H1s fifteen years at the helm of timetabltng allowed h1m a clarity of v1s1on over the academiC organ1satton of Lhe School but. more than that, it allowed him to fine-tune the balance between the core subjects and Lhe proviston of a broader and richer extra-mural programme of non-exam1ned subJects which has become the Personal Development programme wh1ch earned such praise in the last inspect1on. Typically he, of course, also taught a number of elements 1n the Fourth Form PO programme and was respons1ble for expand1ng the citizenship module by tak1ng his classes to the Youth Club and the Mag1strates' Courts and ensunng that his students met the Mayor 1n the Council Chamber Although the thrust of h1s career at Sherborne has been on the academic s1de, Dav1d threw himself into the whole hfe of the School w1th gusto and vigour. It was he who, beltevtng that the seventh-term Oxbridge students should have an oppo1tun1ty to blow off steam, started the Fifths Rugby XV and superv1sed it. Many still remember the precision of h1s refereeing in House and School matches although some remember more v1vidly the acid yellow of his refereeing garb. He outlived four housemasters at Westcott where he tutored the sons of some of those he had originally tutored. He was ass1duous in his duties in the House and regarded the pastoral side as an invaluable window onto the personal and vocational aspirations of the boys, and as such he believed it was Lo be taken with the utmost seriousness and sincerity. His own Christian witness was felt in the School through his early steering of the Christ1an Un1on, now known as Crossfire, wh1ch gathered 1n h1s house. He always brought the work of the Brble Society, whrch he supported especially, to the notice of the School. For a man wrth as many mterests as Dav1d rn the commun1ty of Sherborne there was never any chance of a sedate and relaxed ret1rement. He IS a Governor of The Gryphon, contrnues to work on Treasurer's affa1rs for the Deanery and Diocesan Synod and is at present, rn addition to his work for IB, wnt1ng and questron-settrng for MEl. As he and Ann - herself rnvolved rn educatron, and who met David through the offices of B1ce Crichton Miller, housemrstress of Wingfield at the Grrls' School - look back on therr time in Sherborne. they can be content that the family business 1s safe in the hands of Chns. a Classrcs teacher at Eton and Patrioa, teach1ng Maths a l Dean Close and herself married to another mathematicran. In conclusion it rs meet and nght that we honour the contribution of a truly professional teacher whose career at Sherborne spanned f1ve decades. f1ve headmasters. a trme of turmorl and change in the academic world of the public school bul who, through his collected management-style, which eschewed the confrontational and preferred the consensual, provrded a bndge and a link between that wor ld of change and the academ1c lrfe of Sherborne. DPKC Ursula Dedek A eulogy tn eight stanzas co her by a former pupil Lobgedicht in acht Strophen Lehrerin. wie nenn'ich Dich. Gottin der blauen Schar'? 'Goethe. lass' mrch nicht im Stich Eine Diana, sogar? Zuruck rm 'Ha1n' und auf der Lauer Ern Fehler, horch' Ern Schrei' Ern 's' zu v rel ! (Ach Zeus') Wie brst Du sauer Wenn Grammatrk nrcht dabe1.! Man konnte Dich mit ihr messen. Stark und taub gegen Supplik. SIE war mit der jagd besessen Wie DU mit Grammatik. Aus welchem Grun Du da noch bleibst, Ob verpflichtet, ob gebannt, Sicher rst's, das was Du da treibst. Heisst lehren mit Verstand. lm Sherborner 'Hain' hast Du Deinen Sitz. Kein' Sprache ist Dir wirk lich fremd. Tagelang ubst Du Geduld mit Witz. Das Trimester geht zu End'.. Die Mannschaft JUbelt ohne Ende Uisst Duelle um sie fechten. Die Studenten lassen Dir als Spende Blumenstrausse nechten. In Ferien folgst Du dem ste1len Pfad. Steigst schneller als die Gemse Auf Gletscher w ie hinterm Steuerrad Kennt Fraulein D. kein' Bremse. Wohm sie auch Dich nrmmt, Die Zukunft schlagst Du ern. Doch eines wisse n wir bestimmt, Eine bessre Lehrerin kann's nicht sein. Jonathan Conlin b.l989-94 In May 1973 d1saster threatened the modern languages department. Two vacancies for September still remained unfilled. The Headmaster consulted the entrails and declared the gaps be offered to teachers from France and Germany. Whom the gods sent were Fran oise Cheminaud and Ursula Dedek. Ongrnally Ursula was appointed to teach German. Before long she jo 1ned the French Department as well. Later she added the teaching of Arabic for General Studies. The mastery of this language required considerable determination and a great deal of preparatron, for the course led to a public exam. The year's course, open as well to Sherborne School for Gwls. often produced outstandrng exam results and several pupils went on to read Onental Languages at University. Then fifteen years ago her interest in the Span1sh language and culture was awakened. After summer courses in Madnd and Santander, Span1sh became the love of her life and she taught 1t w1th great enthus1asm and success to GCSE. An offshoot of th1s new passion was her delight in South Amenca and its distrnct culture. Apart from berng an accomplished linguist, Ursula was also fully committed to board1ng house dut1es and proved to be a very popular and respected house tutor. But to return to Ursula's origrnal raison d'etre. the teach1ng of German. In this she has been srngularly successful. In those years when Oxford and Cambridge awarded scholarships to entrance candidates, her pupils very often achieved excellent results and many went on to get firsts. Year after year A Level results were exemplary because her pupils were zealous and soundly prepared. The1r early lingu1st1c nuency and the1r familiarity with German life have allowed many to become Involved in the international world. Her own particular interests have been generously put at the service of Sherborne boys. Born in the foothills of the Alps, she was, from an early age, a keen and ded1cated walker. who at Sherborne took boys walking 1n the Peak District. 1n North Wales and regularly through the Dorset countryside. She 1s also an enthusiastic and fastidious opera and theatre fan and felt strongly that to accompany boys to the theatre and to expose them to experiences wh1ch they might. even 1n the holidays. have d1fficulty m enJoying. only served to w1den the1r honzons and to ennch the1r m1nds. There is unden1ably someth1ng gently anarch1c about Ursula, as rndeed befits a student of the '68 generation. She IS not a natural conform1st and, irksome though th1s sometimes could be, she nevertheless obliged her colleagues to question their assumptions. Her former pupils touchingly and affectionately seek her out not for a d1squisition on the use of the subjunctive but rather to rem1nisce gleefully about memorable cultural visits and surreptitious feasts of strawberries and iced coffee. As a foreigner seeing the town of Sherborne for the first time, she was bowled over by the beauty of the buildrngs and by the School's magnif1cent setting. She has never lost that wonderment. Equally she was immediately sensitive to the long tradition of learn1ng. Her pleasure was in berng. for a certain length of time, part of that tradition, to wh1ch she in her turn contributed most generously. Paul Ellis Those of us who spend the largest part of our professional existence working 1n the comparative pnvacy of the classroom or the laboratory our techn1que only occasionally the object of dispassionate scrutiny by an observer, our effectiveness largely established by rumour and the annual inspect1on of our public exammation results can have little 1dea of what 1t is t o be a Schoolmaster or Schoolm1stress-Mus1oan. There 1s, of course, some academic teachrng; but the overwhelmrng proportion of one's t1me IS taken up e1ther in ind1vidual tuition, wh1ch is much less public than what most of one's colleagues are do1ng. or in taking responsibility for what happens 1n the many concerts and performances, which is a great deal more so. And a mus1cal performance IS very public. Onlyslight variations in the competence of execution can turn the excellent into the merely tolerable and the tolerable into the frankly excruCiating; one player or singer out of tune. out of time or out of his league can ruin it for everyone else in the budding, performers and audience alike; there 1s only a hair's breadth separating acclamation from sympathy, and congratulation from that kind of commiseration that only just falls short of criticism. Sports coaches and play d1rectors know something of the sense of exposure that this position entails; but for most of these - in a school. at any rate mvolvement in such thrngs is but a part of what they do, often unconnected with the rest: 'extra cumcular'. For the music teacher it is d1fferent. The performance is always the culmination of everything else that he is do1ng, the result towards whrch all effort IS ultimately directed: you stand or fall by what happens rn front of other people, and sometimes the pressure produces cracks that show. By this criterion. Paul Ellis stood firmly - often tnumphantly- on the pod1um and in the chancel for over a quarter of a century; and if there were any cracks he had an exceedingly deft hand w1th the Polyfilla. Perpetually and enviably youthful 1n appearance even after what might well have been thought the crazmg experience of twenty-five years in the crucible of the Music School, he was, indeed. the Cliff Richard of the Common Room. though he'd not thank me much for pursuing the comparison any further. He came to Sherborne in 1978 as Assistant D1rector of Music, having spent the summer term beforehand deputising for the Director of Music at Sedbergh. A graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, he is a fine keyboard player (he won the West of England Organ Competit1on in 1979; and the list of organs on which he has given recitals includes the one 1n Notre Dame) but his greatest love is for choral music, and it is perhaps in t his area that he both made his greatest contribution to the musical life of the School and found his deepest satisfaction. He conducted the Chapel Choir from h1s arrival until he became Director of Music in 1995. at which point the then Head of Choir. also the Head of House in Wallace, came to see me to express his anxiety that no-one else would be able to command or sustain the standard of performance he felt the choir t o have achieved under Paul's precise and properly demanding (if at times bracingly crisp) direction. He steadily induced the same polish, bite and sophistication in the Musical Society, which he took over in 1989 Uncompromising in the face of the mediocre and robustly dtsinclined to settle for anything less in others than the total commitment that he expected of himself. he could be a hard taskmaster; though he mellowed noticeably as the years passed. his tone modulating gradually from flat incredulity to good-natured bafflement when rehearsals were sluggish or the chorus unresponsive. Certainly. this very amateur repetiteur approached Sunday evenings and the high Ellis standards with more than an occasional tremor of nervousness, knowing that he had not quite got t he accompaniment under his hand and that when the request came to play, for example. "just the voice parts at figure 31" (all six of them - a particularly painful memory of the last movement of the Berlioz Te Deum from january 1990), Paul would be genuinely (and in a way rather flatteringly) surprised at the fumbling coming from behind the piano. That said, in nearly forty years in school. church and university choirs and in a clutch of choral societies. I have never followed a clearer or more consistent beat or sung under a conductor better able to draw the best from his musicians. There was noth1ng feigned about the enthusiastic cheers of the chorus. rising above the applause at the end of those performances in the Abbey: and the wave of euphoria that swept the performers year after year was the best possible testament of his ability to draw from them better than the best of which they had thought themselves capable. Those more widely and more professionally experienced than I held him 1n similarly high regard. I remember a guest soloist of some disti nction commenting with approval on the choral discipline that he had achieved and wondering why he did not conduct professionally: and his twelve years with the Grange Choral Sooety tn Christchurch. his six with the Taunton Camerata and h1s long-standing. stdl continuing relationship with the Sherborne Chamber Choir all underline the appreoat1ve loyalty and respect that his musicianship and his punctJiious commitment to excellence were capable of stimulating. It 1s, moreover, no disparagement of any of hts colleagues either here or elsewhere - to cite the parent who remarked to me last year that when Paul picked up the baton the Symphony Orchestra seemed to play with even more precision and bno than usual. To those in the School not much concerned with music, he may sometimes have been a little difficult to bring into focus because so much of his time was, naturally and necessarily, spent half way up Hospital Lane rather t han in the physical centre of t hings, though he made a point of trying to be in Bow House each day at Break. In his time he tutored both in Abbey, under Christopher Knott and Peter Wellby, and in Wallace: but a glance at the appropriate page of the Blue Book. with its unremitting week ly round of evening rehearsals and practices, suggests clearly enough the musician's legitimate difficulty in finding time to be regularly in a House after hours, and in recent years he had. reluctantly, retired from that particular fray. though he continued to mastermind the Wallace house concert. As Director of Music for the last eight years. he patrolled the bounds of his territory with considerable vigilance: and those who made a tentative attempt to trespass on the music priority times tended to find themselves chased off promptly and in no uncertain terms. He was equally vigorous in using his elbows on behalf of a music scholar who in his opinion needed more time to practise; and I imagine I was not the only Housemaster to find occasionally that I'd barked my knuckles against his determination to rescue a boy from some other activity that was impeding his musical development. Running what is in effect both the largest and (unavoidably) the most disparate department in the School is not a job for the faint-hearted: and enjoining some uniformity of approach on as many as twenty five peripatetic instrumental teachers who know little (and perhaps care rather less) about the workings of a school that touches only a few hours of their working week probably raises the blood pressure measurably from time to time: but he dedicated a tremendous amount of energy to the task. Admirably clear-sighted. he knew what he wanted; and he was admirably unprepared to put up with anything less. It is not. I suspect, for his administration that he will be remembered, however (and. who, after all. could honestly aspire to be remembered for that!). but for his precise musicianship. impatience with half heartedness and insistence on excellence. And if you want a snapshot of the man in his element and at his best. you can do no better than to freeze him at the end of his last Mussoc. performance - of the Mozart Requiem. in February 2003 - still impeccable in his tails. acknow ledging the unrestrained applause of the audience and beaming with satisfaction at the exhilaration and delight of his chorus. He is a great loss. SPHH Mark Aitken When I ftrst met Mark, not long after he had been appomted to the staff, I felt that he knew more about me than I did about htm. Eleven years on. thtngs are much the same. Th1s apprec1at1on must come w1th a caveat, therefore, that it IS not gomg to be what one mtght be tempted in this day and age to call a '360% appraisal', but rather an old-fashtoned collection of observattons. The f1rst IS that 1t 1s qu1te difficult to comment on one of the most important aspects of h1s JOb, because he offered confidentiality to all who saw him. It is clear, however, that he gutded many boys through awkward phases of their ltves, and they will know just how much he dt d for them and how much they are 1n h1s debt. That Mark was an outstandmg school Chaplatn cannot be in any doubt. He took to the JOb like a duck to water. In the early days. he had the benefit of an ass1stant. but when that post was done away with he dtd h1s utmost to continue to provide the same htgh level of commitment to worship across the school. Mid-week serviCes in boarding houses, someth1ng very dear to h1s heart, were maintained almost Without except1on. He rarely expressed his d1sappomtment publicly. but there were t1mes when he was saddened by low numbers at house meditations or commun1ons. However. equally often he would express the v1ew that wherever two or three are gathered. then the serv 1ce is worth it. I do know that his work in the boarding houses was vital. He alone knew what was going on m all of them. and could often shed light on events and episodes because of that unique 1ns1ght. Whenever he had time he would stay after a mid-week service, in order to visit boys on the1r patch or to talk over matters of pastoral 1mportance with the Housemaster, and almost always in that order. because quite rightly the welfare of every boy mattered to him more than the vintage of the wine or provenance of the malt wh1sky. Mark had no classroom teach1ng experience before arnvmg at Sherborne, and that did sometimes bother him. But I do not th1nk that many of the boys noticed It seemed to me that he was able to explain complex theological or moral matters 1n a straightforward way. and 1n relatively few words. That IS not to say that he only ever dealt simplistically with these things. because that was not his way. He needed to know that what was being discussed had been understood before moving on to the next stage of complexity. W ith those who were able, he would engage in fascinating and rewarding debates. often providing more food for thought for himself than for others. He was really enthused at such times. Mark's skill as a preacher was ev1dent to the many hundreds of people who attended services during his time in the School Chapel and in Sherborne Abbey. I remember one of his early services, it might even have been his very first, as he embarked upon what was to become a h a l l m a r k approach to preaching: he strode up the Abbey ma1n a1sle, not a note of what he planned to say in s1ght. went to speak, only to let out a croak and a high-pitched somethmg or other. He cleared hts throat and started again as tf nothing had happened. These odd little croaks, it seemed to me. were one of only a few 1ndJCat1ons of his nervousness. Another was the perspiration that came partly from wearing such magnificent but heavy robes, but also from the responsibility of what he was domg. For somebody who took so many servtces. 1l contmued to take me by surpnse when he commented on h1s nerves and his need to know that everything was go1ng to run smoothly and accordmg to plan. The set-p1ece serv1ces . Commemoration and the Carol Serv1ce, were part1cular cases. because he knew of the Importance of these occas1ons to the community that is the School. When 1t came to the Confirmat1on Serv1ce. he was fully aware of each 1ndiv1dual boy and of what that moment in front of the Bishop really meant. because he (and his expenenced team of group leaders) had brought the boys to that po1nt after hours of careful preparat1on. retreat and a full English breakfast. Mark took h1s responsibi lities lo heart, and sometimes they weighed heavily upon him. But he refused to be downcast, preferring to tackle problems rather than avoid them. He became increasingly involved in the wider educat1onal and manageria l life of the school He could see what was happening around him and, not bemg a teacher and not having to rely upon a teacher's salary 1n the longer term, he was able to challenge the orthodox view of life in school in several s1gnificant and posit1ve ways. A lot of the improvements in pastoral care. for example, are the result of his question1ng and developing policies and approaches He worked tn conjunction with the Pastoral Care Comm1ttee. alongside lan Elliott, and together they are largely responsible for the excellent health of our pastoral care systems. Increasingly, Mark's work went beyond caring just for the boys. He did a tremendous amount for the leaching and non-teachmg staff and for our families. Nothing was too much trouble, or so it seemed. He created space in his day to help colleagues and their families in times of bereavement and illness. He acted as a valued counsellor to colleagues in need of support. When one spoke to him, he had that remarkable gift of letting one know. but without actually saying so, that he was listen1ng to everything one said. The telephone, for example, could ring to its heart's content. but 1t would not be answered; colleagues could form an orderly and long queue, but nobody's conversation would be interrupted; he looked one in the eye and leaned forward. He was always keen to be involved as much as possible and to involve as many as possible. Nowhere was this more evident than in the Lent Term ProJects. His enthus1asm. often 1n the face of mert1a. was what kept thmgs go1ng. He vetted JUSt about every act1v1ty; he showed unbndled support for them all; he JOined 1n as many as he could He even lost h1s beard 1n the course of one LTP. Sums raised seemed to mcrease each time the LTP came round, and 1t is a fitt1ng tribute that the latest raised such a large sum. Then there was rugby: he made the 3rd XV such an excit1ng team to be 1n that it was claimed that boys would tum down the opportunity to play at a higher level because they wanted to be associated with th1s team! Every game mattered, of course. but I think that the fixture agamst the Gryphon School was always special In the past there had been tension in the a1r when matches were played, but he used all of his pastoral skills to create a good atmosphere, and agam 1t was one that boys wanted to be involved 1n, one that helped to build up important links between Shirburnians and boys from the town. Mark's work spread out beyond the school commun1ty. Throughout his time, he was very act1ve as a member of the Pansh team, particularly during the holidays. He was a popular preacher m village churches, in preparatory schools (and espeetally at Sherborne Preparatory School, where at times his role was critically important), at Sherborne School for G1rls and at St Antony's-Leweston. He ran the local Christian Aid group. He contributed to the work of the Bloxham Project. Mark rarely used visiting preachers for whole school services. because he believed that it was his job to lead worship. In so do1ng he set himself a challenge that was sometimes hard to bear On some Sundays he could find himself taking five or six services. each one requiring an address tailored to the needs of the congregation. On these Sundays he would be seen dashing from one venue to the next. robes flying (or trapped in the car door). Yet there was never a sense of hurrying within the service. because it was special for those at iL. There were evidently favourite themes that cropped up in services. although rarely were entire talks repeated e x c e p t of course for his talk at the Leavers' Service. because he was guaranteed an entirely different boy congregation every year! Enthusiasm and passion were two of his watchwords; he was keen on making sure that boys (and adults) said thank you; he believed tn the need for praise; he wanted everybody to look at the beauty of the world around them. as well as the suffering of the less fortunate; he was always aware of the importance of the little things in life. which is probably why he tried desperately to make us all fans of Norwich City FC. tak1ng countless opportunities to work mto his addresses mention of th1s hallowed club! Then there was popular music, whiCh has become now so much part of the routme of Chapel that the foundatiOns no longer shake when rock musiC plays, because they have grown accustomed to it. Fortunately, Mark never regarded the Chapel as exclusively his ternto1y at all times. He encouraged the involvement of both staff and boys in Junior Chapel and Friday Night Euchanst serv1ces. This enabled many to get things off thew chests, to hone the1r sk1lls as preachers, and to show that the hfe of the Chapel IS woven mto the fabric of so much of what goes on 1n School. Because he carried so much of the job h1mself, he was always busy and his diary was usually full, such that for most weeks of the term he would not be at home for a single uninterrupted evening. Supper would be t imed to allow him to lead a House serv1ce, or to attend an event in School, or to attend a committee meetmg m town. However, although he was busy, he managed to find time for h1s family. of whom he is immensely proud and protect1ve. Anybody who has led a life whose pace is determined by that of the School will understand how difficult it can be always to be on hand for one's family. and w1ll sympath1se w1th havmg one's family's every move and mood put under the spotl1ght or microscope. Mark succeeded most of the time in remaining level-headed; and Kim. Jacob and Reuben were all hugely supportive. Times were not always easy, but they held it together well. I could not properly complete this p1ece without mentioning the Aitken family. Let me start with Kim. for although not on the staff, her role in the life of the school community cannot pass without comment. Suffice it to say that. despite the fact that she held down her own teaching post. she was ever-present at Mark's side at all manner of events in School. and was unendingly welcoming to the many who arrived at her front d o o r - whether or not she knew that they were coming - making drinks or food. or chatting (a particular fo1i:e) in order to put the visitors at their ease. A loyal supporter of plays and concerts. for example. she would be sure to let boys know that their efforts had been appreciated. Jacob and Reuben did not always find it easy being the Chaplain's sons. and like many others their paths through the School were not straight and smooth. But they did remarkably well. giving a great deal to the School in ways that many will never have the privilege of knowing about. Mark was a real tower of strength in times of crisis. When colleagues were affected by the sudden death of a family member. or of a close friend, or a member of the teaching staff, or two boys 1n their prime of life. he stood firm in his faith and enabled so many of us to cope better with those dark days. Mark did feel the effects of the job - after all. he is human. and was somet1mes emotionally drained and moved to tears. He did t1y to take some t1me off at such moments, cherishing particularly the opportunities afforded by holidays Lo recharge h1s battenes and to pursue h1s own personal interests: read1ng, fly-fishmg, musiC, dog-walk1ng and latterly a love affatr wtth southern Spain and the treasured home there (it will be fimshed one day...). Mark's appointment to the Sentor Management Team signalled the fact that h1s Interest and experience tn educattonal affatrs had broadened stgnifteantly. In that forum behind closed doors he challenged on behalf of hts colleagues, encouraged others 1n makmg bold deCISions, fought for what he knew to be 1n the best mterests of the School. and ultimately showed that he was destmed to become a Headmaster. That he should have done so IS therefore no surpnse. MAW Andrew Millington We were fortunate to appoint someone as capable and experienced as Andrew to the Physics post in 2001. Following a degree at Bristol, he had spent four years as a Geophysicist involved wtth oil exploration with BP, based in the UK and Jakarta, but that was not the life for him and he spent the next year in Oxford gaining a PGCE as preparation for a new career in Educatton. After four years teaching at the Ryde High School on the Isle of Wight he wtshed to return to the mainland and so moved to Sherborne to work at the Gryphon School, where he was well-regarded . They were sorry to lose him when he moved down Bnstol Road to join us after only two years. Sherborne was Andrew's first experience of a boardmg school, but he adapted very quickly and threw himself whole-heartedly into a busy lifestyle. thriving in the large range of extra-curncular opportunities available. He was already the proud owner of a yacht and so naturally gravitated to the sailing club, where, as an RYA Dinghy Instructor, he was a regular helper at both Arne and Sutton Bingham. He also loved walktng, and a large number of boys benefited from hts selfless enthusiasm. As Lyon House tutor he trained the successful house Ten Tors team and he was a regular helper with the Duke of Edinburgh expeditions. Andrew came to Sherborne to broaden and deepen his expenence with a view t o eventually running h1s own department and so was a valuable member of the Physics Department , ready and able to develop his skills in a range of tasks, as long as it did not involve Electronics! After a few htccups he was able to balance his life ins1de ou classroom, becoming very effic1ent and well organised, and was readily available to give h1s time to boys who requtred extra help. We do not know if 1t was the untform, the marching or the pay, but Andrew was attracted to the CCF. Thts led to the attractton of an officer tratntng course, whtch in turn, led t o the attractton of a fellow officer - called Caroline, let me hasten to add! Caroline was based many mtles north of Sherborne and, after some months of commuting alternate weekends, eased a little by trading in h1s Land Rover for somethtng a little nippier, one of them had to move and thus it was that Warwtck School found the1r new Head of Physics. He was a cheerful, professional and trusted colleague. We miss his company and hts sense of humour enormously and we wish htm and Caroline every happiness together. PRI School Pla y Royal Hunt of the Sun mtght have spent two hours that evenmg watchtng Alain de Botton11 uEqually convmong in anger and m tenderness. dtscussmg 'status anxiety' on Channel Four - demandmg vtewtng, perhaps! Instead. I spent roughly the same time enJoying Dav1d Hedison's Lent Term production - and I found two hours of not undemanding theatre pass very qUJckly mdeed. In addttion to which, I suspect I had mtssed out on very little that de Botton had to offer. Status anxiety - the intellectual buzzword of Lent, 2004, is at the heart of Peter Shaffer's 1964 play. And the handling of status anxiety is essential to the success of a production such as this. Francisco Pizarro (Hugo Soul). the Conqutstador commander, admits that his motive for tnvadtng Peru JS his "dream of a name". He has begun life as an Illegitimate village swineherd. become a soldier, and now hopes for fame and fortune. He is m mtddle age and prostrated w1lh mcreasing frequency by an old war-wound whtch comes to symbolise his more sptritual injuries. Thts is a taxing role for a young actor. but Hugo Soul brought to it a remarkable conviction, carrying off not only doublet and hose but also a mature and ingratned dtslllusionment wtthout either seemmg tn the least out of place. Disillusionment is a difficult starttng pomt for a protagonist, and even as late as the tnterval one was wondering what scope 1t left him for development. One hoped he would find some sense in life, but feared a glib deus ex machma of a moral. In the event, Pizar-ro is offered mean1ng from the most unlikely source, only to satisfy the audience's own cymcism by being deprived of it. He finds gold but is thwarted in the quest for hope itself. Having begun the play a cynic, he ends 1t still a cynic but a cynic of a specific type - a spoiled romantic. P1zarro's character is allowed to develop only when confronted directly by his Indian opposite number, Atahuallpa (David Park), the Soveretgn Inca of Peru. The meeting between the Conquistadors and Atahuallpa's Inca civilisation presents a contrast which could not illustrate more clearly the issues involved in de Bot ton's status anxiety. The Conquistadors, like Pizarro himself, are men on t he up. As mercenary soldiers, they represent an old type of the nouveaux riches, low-born, but quite literally fighting their way to the forefront of society. The fact that their physical enrichment dissolves, though dissatisfaction played out in gambling and violence, into spiritual degradation , confirms de Botton's thesis that the greater the social mobtlity, the greater the unhappiness for those who cannot move all the way to the top . For the majority in Inca society, there is no mobility. Everything is regulated by Atahuallpa himself, who records with pride how he commands every man to marry at twenty-five and bestows on him a portion of land from which he is forbidden to move. He is allotted further land according to the number of his sons and daughters, which he must work until, at fifty, he is 'fed in honour till he dies'. The Franciscan Friar (Ed Patterson) echoes de Botton in commenting that 1n this his own society is shamed by that of the heathen. But Shaffer's play is more complex than to allow a simple moral dichotomy between the European and the Native American , and David Park's portrayal of Atahuallpa quite rightly kept the audience poised between sympathy and revulsion. At the heart of Atahuallpa's character is an emotional detachment which might point either to divinity or to immaturity, and David Park's impotent rages hovered between adolesce nt petulance and divine wrath. Ultimately. it is Atahuallpa's innocence which appeals to Pizarro, the man who has first massacred the man's unarmed followers and then broken his word that he will free him. Estranged from his own men, and having lost faith in both Church and State, the ailing Pizarro stakes his sanity on Atahuallpa's unlikely promise to rise from the dead. He is left singing an Inca song of sorrow over the young king's body. In these scenes. Park and Soul worked very well together. equally convincing in anger and in tenderness. rising admirably to the opportunities offered by a strong piece of casting. There are. if I count correctly. twenty-three speaking parts in The Royal Hunt o{ che Sun. and 1t is impossible to do justice to all even 1n a long revtew. As the narrator. the Old Martin, Ed Elgood grew m stature as the play progressed. His own conventronal character's route from tdeahsm to played out disillusion actors, and is through two Tom Oxenham as the Young Martm. Pizarro's page and then mterpreter, was a model of gauche cht valry flattened by t he massacre of the lndrans. As Felt pillo, the lndt an tnterpreter corrupted by close contact wtth Europeans, Mark Corfield Moore had clearly taken lessons from Tolkren's ore corrupted hobbit, Gollum - an apt and memorable borrowmg from contemporary culture. The good pnestlbad priest duo, Ed Patterson and Rhys Brennan were sturdy but might perhaps have been holrer and fierier, and the group-work from the secular authonties. John joe Regan. Jason Barnes and Matt janng. like the two mam characters themselves. gelled most convincingly in the Second Act. The Incas were appropnate ly impassive and interchangeable, the common soldiers menacrng but perhaps a touch too well-spoken One of the most tmpressrve elements of the evening was - apart from a smgle instance of heavy footed scene-changing- the slickness and imagrnatron of a production wh r ch provided some quite stomach churning moments. One of these, and perhaps the most impressr ve, was our abrupt introductron t o Inca culture. involving the sudden. convulsive disappearance of Panama Cathedral during whrch Carys Wilson's rmpressive stamed glass Christ seemed to writhe upon the cross as it was torn away to reveal a scaffold presentmg the masked Atahuallpa surrounded by hrs court as schematrcally as 1n an Inca relief. The march to and across the Andes was almost equally and surprisrngly rmpressrve - evoked by the Conqurstadors' first marchrng on the spot and almost on the feet of the ftrst row of the audrence and then, reversed, scraping at the backdrop to a soundtrack not unlike chalk on a blackboard. In thrs, Robert Streeter deserves great credit for the dramatic sharpness wrth whrch the sound-effects were handled. Transrttons were spot-on and the volumes of both European polyphony and Inca chant were perfectly gauged to enhance the actors' speech. Overall. thrs was a beautiful and intricate ptece of choreography of which all rnvolved should feel proud. The theme of the clash of cultures - especrally of free and unfree, mobrle and immobile- rs a common one, from Homer's Odyssey to Cold War science fictron but Shaffer's 1s a partrcularly complex treatment of the theme. The problem is that. while one does not wrsh the Incas massacred, one does find them difficult posit1vely to like. The Francrscan's eventua l revulsion at the culture on the grounds of its lovelessness rs compellrng and one cannot entrrely d1smrss hrs equatron of thrs lovelessness w1th the uniformrty and even the unifor-m prosperrty of peoples hves. But Shaffer prefers a realrstrc blurrrng of such questtons, just as the clash of cultures rs itself blurred at the end of the play. Atahuallpa, 1t turns out. is not himself entrrely socially Immobile, havtng krlled his own brother to win the throne, nor is hrs own word -that he will nse from the dead - stronger than Przarro's that he will free him. And Przarro rs won by Inca religton only as the Inca becomes the Chnst - reflectrng rn his own death the death of Ptzarro's Christtan farth The play is replete w 1th matter on whrch to th1nk and rt rs to the credit of all concerned that th1s matter was put across quite so clearly and so memorably DGNB Commemoration Plays Hansel & Gretel and Rabbit uThe threats to. and lim1ts o(. ch1ldhood mnocence Edward Gorey is sa1d to have commented to the effect that people in general are insufficiently uneasy and that his own raison d'etre was to make them more so. The late illustrator will have smiled on this year's unsettling Commemoration Plays - Honsel and Gretel by Carol Ann Duffy and Tim Supple and Robbtt by Dav1d Foxton. Long gone are the days of carefully selected scenes from Aristophanes m the original Greek. Commemoration today must concentrate on contemporary concerns - in this case the threats to. and limits of. childhood innocence. The audience of these two plays saw childhood and adolescence laid out in all their pamful vulnerability and aching cruelty. If the portrait of Myra Hindley in the programme notes went a certain way to setting the scene for HGCL's production of Honsel and Gretel. the strange extended dance-sequence which began the play. mcorporating images of intimidation and disorientation and accompanied by a sound-track reminiscent of The Blair Witch ProJect. completed the preparation. From the weird puppetry and creeping, shadowy forms emerged an eerily compelling piece which displayed. despite its deliberately bafflmg script. some promising talent among the young cast. The play dep1cts Innocence under threat from malign forces which centre on the wicked Mother/Witch (Mark Corfield-Moore. of whom more below) but extend beyond her/them into the very wood of the forest itself. Hansel (Hugo Lynch) and Gretel (Phin Isles) maintained a convincing mixture of old-fashioned stolidity and tim idity throughout. ably supported when necessary by the unsettlingly ill defined Lost Children (Rowley Thompson. Raashad Hasan and Hugh Hopkins). But the seepage of evil central to this play ensured that even these. along with the Storytellers (an almost persecutory Henry Dutton, George Herbert and james Francis) and the Forest Sprites (a creepy Charlie Foot, Freddie Jacobsen and Hugo Sutton ) made the1r own s1gn1ficant contnbution to the atmosphere of threat overhanging all the act1on. On top of these came the memorably seedy Bird Man (Anthony Titley) and startlingly emot1onless Wh1te Duck (William Dam. who deserves mention also for h1s balefully convmcing contributions m a more narrative role). Most frighten1ng of all was Mark Corf1eld-Moore's rendit1on of the terribly contorted, stumblmg. hissing woodcutter's wife and witch, whose voice alone made his appearance seem almost benign by comparison. His pairing w1th the weak and depressive Father (Thea jenkins) created a convinc1ng picture of the sort of destructive home environment which one assumes was to the forefront of the authors' minds in creating this piece. The woodcutter is in thrall to his malignant spouse 11 and then. when she is destroyed. falls apart h1mself. At the culmination of the play, the audience is left uncertam whether the rope with wh1ch he enters the house is intended for his own su1cide. for the murder of his daughter. or for both. and whether Hansel's belated arrival with his father's axe will accomplish more than bloody vengeance. One does not have to pursue the symbolism too far to see the thematic parallels with the second play on this bill, which dealt with children's repetition of their parents' mistakes. Rabbit began with photographic images of war displayed to the accompaniment of soft but insistent music. Pictures of a grinning Bush and Blair at first drew laughter until the increasing horror of the slide show quickly put pa1d to any complacency. The action takes place in a post-holocaust setting in which only children have survived. and deals with one gang's internal dynamics and its relations with others. The sense IS that. if the children had access to bombs. they might destroy themselves too. GTWR's production was appropriately grim. to the point of employ1ng a real. dead rabbit in the title role. to the disappointment of any members of the audience who might still have hoped for emotional relief in fluffy form. This piece of casting set a challenge squeamishness aside - for the actors too: as a dead rabbit. a dead rabbit cannot fail to convince absolutely. and so sets a standard of realism for the rest of the cast. It is to their credit that those involved did not allow themselves to be upstaged. A second challenge for the cast comes in the form of the dialogue - a cut-down and contorted half English matching the characters' monosyllabic names. Deprived of education and of clear memories of conversation with adults, these boys make desperate and pathetic attempts at a semblance both of eloquence and of society. We see one gang, with its chansmatte leader. Mig (Henry Howard). bent on keeping out ·otheruns', especially those 'scorched' by the bomb. One except1on IS M1g's part1ally-scorched and severely disturbed favourite . Tib (Tom Oxenham), another 1s Tark (Lou1s Nunes da Costa). brought m at the beg1nn1ng of the play by the apprehens1ve Sin (Will Day-Robinson). The act1on revolves around the gradual acceptance of Tark and the revelat1on. at the end of a fraught forens1c process, that Tib IS responsible for the demise of the eponymous rabb1t (through 1nsens1t1ve play): th1s discovery leads to Mig's self-imposed exile from the group. In an ensemble p1ece like this, it seems invidious to pick out indiv1duals, though strong performances emerged from those mentioned above. especially Howard, m his wavering moral authonty, and Oxenham, in h1s ferooously manic fury. The rest of the cast Uamie Excell, jam1e Coreth, Kit Regan, James Hamlyn, Ben Carling, M1chael Tavender, Bertie Herrtage. Edward Leakey, johnn1e de Ia Monniere. and Toby Hannam) worked well together, especially 1n the mqu1sit1on-scene, and also deserve congratulation and encouragement. Visually. both plays were impress1ve. though very different t n style. Where Honsel and Gretel created a fluid env1ronment through dance - employ1ng fabnc and sticks to suggest trees and nbbons to suggest the cage and the w1tch's oven - and through the woodcutter's cottage which revolved to become the gingerbread house (mirronng the Mother/W1tch's dual personality). Rabb1t was necessarily more statiC, based around a set suggesttng tndustnal rums. The same product1on-team. boosted by Carys Wilson's talents as scen1c arttst, worked on both plays, developtng schemes of lighting (Harry Moores) and sound (Angus Rance) whtch drew out the characters of the pieces w1th great success. Th1s was not an easy even1ng's entertamment by any means, but one wh1ch served a useful purpose: firstly. 1n showcasing some of the very prom1s1ng young dramatic talent movtng through the School and, secondly, in quest1oning some of our coster not1ons about the nature of childhood. DGNB The Green House Play Brassed Off uWreachs of glory. n Several months have passed since I had the pleasure of watching this Green House play 1n Michaelmas. 2003. It is solely down to gross. unquantifiable laziness that I have only now (in the midst of th1s most English of Julys) set out to write this rev1ew. It has been said that laziness. as an entity. is. in fact, a bigger killer of felines than that most deadly of cat butcherers. curiosity. That may well be. but on this occasion the cat (namely, myself) has survived. thanks wholly t o a quite literally unforgettable performance by The Green. title of The piece, this minus crucial one punctuation. piece m1ght of lend itself to an entirely different p1ece of wnting from what it actually is: a play review. Needless to say. this was one of the (some would say few - others. dressed in yellow and black hoops. would shout them down w1th annoyingly laddish sport1ng catchphrases) occasions when no-one could possibly cla1m to have been brassed off by The Green! Large amounts of credit. and wreaths of glory. must surely be laid at the feet of the directmg team HGCL. VAC. and DPKC - mainly for proving tndefinitely that size. or at least length. doesn't matter. Creeping 1n refreshtngly under the hour mark (fifty-three mmules. to be precise). Brassed Off reminded me of a pocket s1zed d1ct1onary- small. but contatn1ng all the most 1mportant btts. Th1s would not have been achieved but for the slick use of projection to explain the tale of this mus1cally g1fted group of miners and thetr struggle aga1nst bemg struck off. Although. at times. the closing of the scenes seemed a little blunt. Edward Tuckett kept the pace flowing With h1s skilful operation of the projector. The set design was gnmy. Grimley. the place of the action. was indeed made to look grim. The brass was slirring. and cunningly manufactured for the audience through a CD player. The acting, unfortunately. did not disappoint. I say unfortunately because. at house plays. particularly ones that use a large cast. it is almost impossible for any house not to stumble across a thesp1an tn their ranks wrth not the slightest semblance to anything that could be called acting talent. Th1s lame acting duck ts always exciting to spot and can. in a slightly cruel and sadistic way. form the crux of a play's entertainment value. Brossed Off had no such duck. Charlie Habershon and Ollie Gargrave (but particularly the latter) transformed themselves from playful bunny-like figures (tn real life) to incredibly menacing. dark, surly bailiffs. I was. 1ndeed. a tnfle scared. Casting these two in such serious. threatentng roles ts not something I would have thought of but credit. aga1n, must go to the Llewellyn/Ciayton/Carling team for doing so - a work of casting genius. This flarr was displayed once more in the casting of Edward Selfe as District Manager of Collreries- an easier choice, perhaps! All the miners played their parts convincingly, managing to convey both the misery of their lives of drudgery and hopelessness and the spirit and hope that playing in the Collrery Band gave them. It was admirable t o see all the actors with the smaller roles flrcking between these sets of emotions in all the right places. Rupert Howland-jackson as Jim. and Charlie Wilyman as his friend. Ernie. deserve a special mention. The comedy duo of the production were talented enough to be comically playful while remaining true to the underlying harshness of these miners' lives. I recall seeing a television production of Brassed Off a number of years ago. I forget the names of the actors who played Danny, the conductor and leader of the Colliery Band. and his son. Phil. but I do remember being incredibly moved by their performances. I was not expecting james Dutton and Henry Butt to live up to them. I was wrong. Henry Butt's energetic display was never anything but emotional. and James Dutton was commanding, authoritative and simply mesmerizing as Danny. I enjoyed his performance very much. Brassed off by The Green. I most certainly was not! james Emmett The Wallace House Play The July Plot ulnsptrattonal. It is july, 1944. The Allies landed in Normandy a month ago and are advancrng towards Germany. In the East the Russians have reached Warsaw. Certain Generals and Officers rn the German Army have for long realised that the survival of Hitler prevents negotiations for peace, which could save millions of lives. This secret rebellion has by now spread to Paris, Prague and Vienna, but its heart remains in Berlin. One man has volunteered to take the Fuhrer's life a man able to penetrate the Fuhrer's headquarters deep in the forests of East Prussia, 350 miles from Berlin - the Wolf's Larr at Rastenburg. The actron of Roger Manvell's play takes place dunng six hours on 20th July. 1944, in the offices of Generals Olbncht and Fromm in the War Office rn Berlin. DPKC's Lent-term production started w1th the atmospheric howlrng air rard srrens and the sound of bombs explodrng, which immediately captured the audience's attention. while Colonel Count Claus Von Stauffenberg (Tristan De Souza) marched onto the stage depositing an unexplained brrefcase. Throughout the play Von Stauffenburg is allied with two Generals, General Friedrich Olbricht and General Erich Hoepner. played by Richard Perowne and Piers Foster respectively, who are plotting the rise of a new, peaceful Germany without the leadership of a tyrannical dictator. The audience soon understood the relevance of Von Stauffenburg's briefcase, seen early 1n the play, as the plot to bomb the Wolf's Lair. where the Fuhrer is residing, is revealed. 11 Scenes of jubilation follow as Von Stauffenburg returns confident of taking Hitler's life at Rastenburg. However we are later taken to the office of General Fromm (Charlie MacCielland) who has ascertained the General's plan and who remains dedicated to Hitler, refusing to accept his alleged death. Fromm's reaction to the discovery of the Generals' plot is an attempt to detarn them, but owing to the confusion surrounding Hitler's supposed death he has no grounds on which to do so. News soon reaches the offices via radio broadcast as the Fuhrer confirms his survrval to the nation. This enables SS General Count von Helldorf (George Mackintosh) to react immediately t o this news and arrest both the Generals and Von Stauffenberg. Whrle the Generals are impnsoned, Von Stauffenburg rs executed by a firing squad rn a dramatrc final scene resembling the opening, leaving a powerful endnote to the play. Credit must go to DPCK for h1s direction of this inspirational theatrical venture. Mrs Cracknell must be commended on her part rn producing authentic looking German uniform. which helped to conjure up the atmosphere of the period. The play was thoroughly enjoyable and particular praise must be given to Tristan De Souza on his magnificent performance supporting an inexperienc ed. but nonetheless talented, cast. Niall Scott-Underdown and Rupert Howland-Jackson The Lyon House Play Nude with Violin uA {tne performance. " Nude with Violm was an ambittous attempt for a house play. Noel Coward is not the eastest of playwrights but Lyon house managed to pull tt off wtth some style. The four1een-strong cast of etght boys and six girls gave a fine performance under Jennie Ward's direction, complemented by an impressive set designed by Andrew Stooke and Kara Higgins. The actors suited their parts well, and there were seasoned actors as well as debutants in the cast. james Fitzgerald gave a poltshed performance as Sebastian Lacreole, a servant and friend to Prlul Sorodin - il brilliilnt ilrtist whose cleath ilffects all those around him. American journalist Clinton Preminger Junior (Kit Dorey) hounded Lacreole throughout the production, eager for an intervtew, with Dorey giving an enthusiastic and convincing display. James treated the audience to his linguistic talents as well as showmg a great deal of composure and presence on . . - - stage, and proved himself as an actor much-valued by his House and the School. The relatives of Sorodin flock when they hear of his death, and eagerly wait for the will to be read and the truth about the artist's paintings to be revealed. Catherine Saunders gave a witty and entertaining interpretation of Sorodin"s wife, Isabel, and was accompanied by Sebastian Bacon (Colin) and Alice Kennon Uane), playing the artist"s children. who both did themselves justice in their differing characters. Lou1sa Graham (Pamela) gave support to the cast. as did Clelia Watt (Marie-Celeste). a French-speaking maid, and Jamie Boyd (George). Ed Elgood impressed as Sorodin's business manager. jacob Friedland - a part played with gusto and the challenge of not smiling for a whole performance. The plot thickens when it is exposed that Sorodin can take no credit for his art, as he painted none of it! His supposed art went through several periods. the first being his 'Russian period'. Kristobelle Williams-Pearce portrayed Anya Pavlikov brilliantly. a Russian artist responsible for this series of paintings. She offered a lot of humour to the production and her accent was spot on. The second was the 'jamaican period', which belonged to Gash Mbizvo. who gave a sterling recital of ·swing low sweet chariot' in his performance - which certainly entertained the audience. The third was the 'American period', for which Cherry May Waterton. played by Lucy Simpson, took full credit. Lucy also coped very well with the challenge of acting with an accent. and was accompanied by Fred Isles making his acting debut as Fabrice. her French and strong but silent 'partner'. beret and all. The mystery is complete when it is revealed that Lacreole's thirteen year-old son Stotesbury (Phin Isles) completed the final paintings, including the controversial Nude with Violin. The whole cast obviously put a great deal of effort into the play and should be congratulated on the result. Actmg in the Powell Theatre is always a nerve-rackmg experience but the whole cast complemented each other well and a lot of credit should go to the actors of Lyon House and SSG as well as to the dtrector jennie Ward for all her hard work. Rupert Osborne - - - - ....----,,...-- - -..-------. gby House Play 'AIIo 'AIIo "A urumph n Zees Lent ze Deegby bravely decided to tackle ze 'ila1ious, if risque. 'AIIo 'AIIo, a stage version of ze class1que BBC telev1s1on comedy. Enough of the weak French accent' Under the directton of the expenenced CGBH. the audience were transplanted 1nto a surreal vers1on of wa1-time France seen predommantly from 1ns1de the Cafe Rene, the pnde and JOY of sometime (though reluctant) res1stance fighter Rene Arto1s. played with tongue fwmly m cheek by jonathan Horner. Wtth an enthus1ast1C supportmg cast. the courageous dectston was taken by the to production team gtrls, d1spense w1th leav1ng the equally (1f not more) courageous Bobbte Blake (as Yvelle Ca,teBianche), Henry loward U _ - _ (Edith Arto is), Francis Pollen (Mtmi Labonq). Tom Hussey (Michelle) and Tom Foster (Helga) to fill the1r shoes. Fhe unfortunate Rene is given the task, by the German Colonel von Strohm (played by james Dav1es wtth moments of sparkl1ng w1t). of lookmg after the pnceless portrait of 'The Fallen Madonna w1th the btg boobtes' by that 'master knocker painter' van Klomp However, an 1ntngue soon develops as multtplc groups of plotters, German and French. attempt to get hold of the pamting. The German bigwtgs want 1t to g1ve to H tier n order that he may present 1t to Eva Braun, the res1stance want to preserve 1t as a French nat1onal treasure. and the cunnmg Herr Flick of the Gestapo wants 1t 1n order to be able to afford to emtgrate to Argentma with his lover. Helga. to live on a bed of bamboo and pampas grass! In the s1de splitting denouement. multiple Hitler and Goenng Impersonators appear on stage 1n order to tnck General von Schmelling into givmg them the portra1L. Full admtrallon and cred1t 1s due to the male actors who faced the challenge of havmg to act a woman who was 1n turn play1ng a man at this stage of the play. The saga of the pa1nt1ng further complicates Rene's l1fe. wh1ch is already convoluted enough: he 1s marned to E.dtth. a form1dable woman who entertams m the cafe by smging (badly - yet bnlliantly and danngly played by Henry Howard. whose cabaret fl1rtat1ons w1th the unw1ttmg SFE. s1ttmg 1n the front row. deltghted the audience), but. like all good comedy Frenchmen, he IS also enJoymg a passtonate affair. The obJect of h1s lust 1s the beautiful Yvette, a leggy waitress at the cafe, played by Bobb1c Blake who drifted almost effo1i.lessly mto the role. Much mi1th is caused by thew constant attempts to steal a few precious moments alone, which they rarely achieve w1thout coming close to bemg rumbled. Rene himself is the target of the unwanted attentions of the fey Lieutenant Gruber. aide-de-camp to the Gestapo's Herr Flick. Owen Skmner's mind boggling camp German accent for the role was unnervtng. yet unden1ably funny. The patronage of Flick and other Germans causes Rene further problems when res1stance agent Mtchelle embroils htm m her (often ludicrous) secret plans. Crispin Vollers, in h1s swansong on the Sherborne stage, prov1ded some brilliant laughs m his deadpan presentatton of Herr Flick, the Gestapo officer with h1s own agenda, giv1ng an hilanous VIolin reotal while Tom Foster, as Helga, performed a tantaltsing stnptease for h1s benef1t. Fortunately for us. the G-stnng (on the violin of course) snapped before the dance was able to reach 1ts concluston' Simon Dawson as General von Schmelling. the highest-ranktng German officer 1n the town of Nouvion. was convmong and 1nt1mtdatmg. swttching instantaneously and comtcally between mtenuonally wooden emottons 1n order to stress the dtsoplined. German1c nature of h1s character. Tom Patterson's ('It IS I, Leclerc') emergence from vanous unconvinong 'd1sgu1ses'. rangmg from a parrot salesman to Wee Willy W1nky, provtded a superb counter-balance of drsorgantzatton and last-minute opportuntsm on the part of the French to offset the structured d1sctplme of the Germans. The quas1 foretgn accents used by the cast were very effect1ve, provtdmg the perfect balance between rem1nding the audience of the1r nationality and g1vmg the prece the necessary comic edge which stereotyp1ng often provtdes. A prime example of this was Harry Blazeby as Capitano Alberto Bertorelli. a clumsy Italian officer ('Whatta mistakea to makea') l1vmg for the good limes, whose purposefully dodgy accent was the marn focus of the comedy centred around the character. The script played cleverly upon the accent theme in the character of Officer Crabtree (Robert Markham), an intellectually-cha llenged British SOE agent pretending to be a policeman, whose sketchy French was 1ntell1gently represented by his persistent mispronunciation of words. Therefore, for example, policeman became 'poloceman', and the potential for miscomprehens1on calamitous was realized m less fortunate confus1ons . The play was a triumph for The Digby, w1th most of the cast providing strong performances. Credit is also due to the backstage crew. I think that the greatest compliment to Mrs Margaret Cracknell is that the audience did not notice the costumes (except. of course, Edith's splend1ferous cabaret outfit). and this shows what a superb job she did, for it meant that the audience felt the mood of the era Without bemg distracted from the action. The set des1gn was effective. with four separate locations presented, each prov1dmg an 1deal medium through wh1ch to enJOY the comedy. Backstage. Ed Pitt Ford. Jonathan Tremewan. Robert Streeter and jim Foster, gutded by the ever present and efficient Mr Donnelly. worked unnoticed to ensure that everything ran smoothly. Henry Butt and Ben Leach Sherborne School for Girls Play Oh! What a Lovely War uA fantastic achievement. JJ In my time at Sherborne I had never before seen a musical performed. The reason. I presume, is that it requ1res much more skill and hard work to combine the two aspects of acting and singing. Sherborne School for Girls managed to pull off a fantastic achievement in both areas with their Michaelmas production of Oh! What a Lovely War, directed by Sally Wolfenden. Oh! What a Lovely War is a theatrical chronicle of the horrors of the First World War told through the songs and documents of the period. It interchanges Show, the behind-the-scenes international between the 'home front' at the End of the Pier discussions and the trenches at the Front. Written by Joan Littlewood, the various sketches and stories were handed down through families and dug up in libraries to try to create an interpretation from those who knew it best. the ones who experienced it first hand. We are shown glimpses of the arrogant sergeants. the valiant soldiers risking their lives and, of course, the na'ive Germans. The one thing that I p a r t i c u l a r l y liked about this play is that. although it has hundreds of different characters. they were all performed by thirteen girls and four boys. This allowed everyone much more involvement in the play. The one slight problem was that. at t imes. it was difficult to follow who was who but, as the play was predominantly composed of various sketches and most people know what happened in the Great War. this was not a major problem. It was also very brave of a girls' school to attempt a production in which the majority of the characters are male. They exceeded expectations and the girls were able to show their capabilities in performing some of the male characters. If the acting occasionally lacked depth and the continuity of the performance was at times difficult to follow, the singing was an entirely different matter. I was taken aback by the delicate and beautiful voices of many of the performers, particularly those with the larger singing roles, namely Sarah Gledhill, Sophie Pentecost and Sally Neill. I also felt that the male performers from Sherborne School - john Barber, Alex Morley-Smith, David Park and A lex Webb - pulled off their demanding singing roles with immense capability. The set was intentionally very basic owing to the interchange between various scenes and the practicalities of representing the Western Front on stage. This was achieved using a projection-screen at the back of the stage showing wartime images and details relating to the scenes. and providing the audience with information about the progress of the war. However, the outstanding feature of the set was the realistic depiction of a seaside bandstand of the early Twentieth Century. From here the music flowed, under the able direction of john Jenkins . This play managed to combine comedy and sincerity. toe-tapping moments and the shocking depiction of war. We were entertained with Irish dancing, comic trench dialogue and much more. which enabled Sherborne School for Girls to succeed in pulling off so challenging a production with real skill and gusto. Ed Elgood Schooi/St Antony's-Leweston Play Blood Wedding If A stunnmg show. JJ Born on june 5. 1898. in Fuente Vaqueros near the city of Granada. Federico Garcia Lorca revealed his creativity early in his life. As a child, he was known to conduct conversations with inanimate objects. bestowing upon each one a personality and speaking with them as 1f they were liv1ng things and might speak back at any moment. As a child, he studied mus1c. thus enhancing his natural sense of rhythm and lyricism - a quality which shines through 1n many of h1s plays. Much of the dialogue in Blood Wedding is lyrical 1n form and the quality of the interpretation and subsequent recounting of the challenging wording particularly struck me 1n this M1chaelmas production. Even dunng moments of passionate anger - and the play contains many - the sense of the text was not lost; Nick Francis. playing Leonardo, the childhood sweetheart , deserves special mention for this. Set in Spain during the 1920s, Blood Weddmg centres on a small area in the province of Almeria, AndaluCia. Intended to be part of a Trilogy of the Spanish Earth', Blood Wedding restored tragic poetry to the Spanish stage. The play is based on a newspaper account of a bride who ran off with her lover on her wedding day. The two elope but the retribution is rapid and the consequences sour. In this play. Lorca heightens the woman's conflict by placing her in the middle of an ancient blood-feud. This play reveals an intense fascination with women and their nature, and in this respect Lorca is mirrored by another one of Spatn's greatest artists - onematic director Pedro Almodovar. The play is somewhat unique in that only one of its characters -L e o n a rd o - is ever named. He is the clear red-blooded alpha male in the forlorn sexual equation that reaches such tragic conclusion in this masterpiece. Yermo, also part of the Spanish earth trilogy, is the story of a woman who longs for motherhood. but whose husband is incapable of giving her a child. Unable to leave him because of the social customs of the day. and unwilling to satisfy her urges with another man, the unhappy woman murders her sterile husband. Lorca's third tragedy. The House of Bernardo Alba completes the three and is ohen mistakenly referred to as the third part of the trilogy but, in truth, the trilogy was never finished. Bernard Alba tells the story of five daughters. held captive by the tyrannical mother who imposes upon them a strict moral code. Sexually frustrated, and yearning for love, each of these women searches unsuccessfully for a way to escape her mother's house. In the end, the youngest daughter kills herself when she is led to believe that her unforgiving mother has murdered her lover. Blood Wedding begins, as many of Lorca's plays do, in a quiet, rural Spanish village. The set was simple but sufficient- bland, white walls 1n keeping with early twentieth-century Spanish architecture. The opening scenes of the play begin the build-up of tension that reaches shattering termination at the play's close. The last son of a bereaved family breaks the news to his mother that he will marry a wealthy landowner's daughter, meaning that his mother will be left alone to grieve the loss of yet another man from her tragic family. What makes this proposal tainted is that previously the Bride had been connected to Leonardo Felix, a relative of a man who had killed the Bridegroom's siblings and father. The Mother takes advice from her neighbour. Preparations for the wedding go ahead and. finally. what should be the happiest day of the girl's life arrives. Alas, the scene would not be complete without the entrance of the brooding rival! Leonardo, who had made himself scarce, arrives at the house t o confront the Bride and reveals to her the burning passions that he has always felt. The two elope and - in true Lorca style - the Mother dispatches a vicious lynch mob. Both Leonardo and the Bride take refuge in the forest. However, Death (clothed as a Beggar) and assisted by the Moon reveals the pair's hiding place, bnng1ng a sw1ft. brutal - but inevitable - end to both Leonardo and the Bridegroom. For the first lime ever a Sherborne School and St. Anthony's-Leweston collaboration was presented in both venues. Nick Francis - a veteran t o the Powell Theatre, last seen in his award-w inning performance as Eddie Carbone in A View {rom the Bndge in 2003played Leonardo and showed us the heated love that knows no restraint. He managed to balance the clear anger of h1s character w1th the warm tenderness towards the Bride he stole. He flew 1n th1s part and we could only watch m terror as we saw h1s impending doom approaching. As the Bride, Lucia Barber was the object of h1s affection and she showed us the pam of be1ng loved too much by someone . If Leonardo was the fire, she was the firewood, the two be1ng intrinsically comb1ned . She also played alongs1de NICk 1n A V1ew (rom the Bndge last year. as Cathenne, another woman he was not allowed to love by social convention. Charlotte Eagles shone as the Mother throughout. bnngmg depth and smcerity to the role and allowmg the audience to feel the prospect of the impending ordeal await1ng the protagonists. While often the voice of doom m t he play. Eagles was able to reveal the irony and humanity of the part. The play ends with a v 1S1on of feminine strength and solidarity. show1ng the Mother standing stoically surrounded by weepmg women. Fergus Thompson. the cuckolded Bridegroom, provided a fresh interpretatiOn of th1s central character. assum1ng a new perspective on this often-stereotyped theme. Special congratulations must surely go to Rupert Osborne, playing the Bride's Father, who managed - I am sure through much careful scrutiny of the text - to extract a modicum of comedy from th1s p1tch-black play. He brought relief to an exhausted aud1ence though his humanely ironic delivery. and blew a warm, distinctly Spanish breeze to the stage - a welcome change from the bubbling. unrelenting heat of prev1ous scenes. Another· first was the use of two directors. Both Giles Robinson and Rebecca Peacock made what could merely be seen as a challeng1ng translated and perhaps outdated - play very real and very relevant. N ovel techniques were used in order to clarify what is m places a complex plot. The play opened w i th a series of masked tableaux, showing the death of t he Brrdegroom's brother. Wor k1ng in different venues and under a great deal of pressure to ach1eve high goals. these two made the performance a pleasure to watch and a v1sual and intellectual feast. The set - des1gned by Mark Friend was multifunctional and flex1ble, as was the requirement for performmg 1n two separate spaces. The play's success part1ally rested on its sliCk scene-changes, g1ving the aud1ence t1me for l1ttle else than a rap1d mtake of breath. Lorca's wrilings were outlawed and burned m Granada's Plaza del Carmen. Even his name was forbidden . The young poet qu1ckly became a martyr, an mternat1onal symbol of the polit1cally oppressed. but his plays were not revived until the 1940's, and certain bans on h1s work remained m place unt1l as late as 1971. under General Franco's dictatorial Nationalist reg1me. Today, Lorca is cons1dered one of the greatest Spams h poets and dramatists of the Twentie th Century. When productions of hts work are performed to such a high standard, one finds it hard to refute th1s accolade. It was a stunning show. Edward Selfe Music Society Concert 11th February 2004 uSupreme con(tdence in all parts. " This was an occasion of h1gh achievement and of high appreoation it is still only February, it takes nerve for the more mature citizens to go out on a cold dark ntght and there is slill lhe quesLion of the when Abbey approached pews with or without cushions! All the music for this concert was of the Twentieth Century, which can still cause many to rapturise about Mozart. But the Abbey was full, each item on t he programme was received with great enthusiasm and appreciation, and this grew even when the pews were taking hold of the patrons The first item suggested, if it is needed, the very considerable variety of Shostakovich 's musical output; this variety depended partly on the uncertainty and insecurity of artists under the interfering Soviet system, but it is also the result of the width of his approach to music -operas, ballets, chamber music, fifteen symphonies of varied kinds. The concert opened with his Festival Overture of 1954, excited and emphatic, rhythmically varied, employing a large orchestra which this evening revelled in the opportunity it afforded them of waking us up (not that we needed it, as our vigorous performance over the whole evening made obvious). The sombre effect of public occasions in the USSR as viewed from the United Kingdom, requiring tanks and large numbers of unimaginatively red flags, parading past the corpse of Lenin and viewed without charm by mature officials on the Kremlin balcony, did not suggest festival, but this did triumphantly. and it was enthusiastically appreciated. The second piece. a Stabat Mater written in 1926 by the Polish composer Szymanowski, is in complete contrast; the Mater is the Virgin Mary, standing grief stricken by the Cross where her son is hanging; as forecast by Simeon in the Temple, a sword has pierced through her own soul. At once the harshness of the full orchestra hurled the pain at us and established the complete change of tone confidently and certainly, with the addition of the soprano soloist Ueni Bern) and the sopranos and altos of the chorus: in the Abbey there is often a lack of balance between voices on one hand and a large orchestra on the other, at least in some parts of the building; but there was no such diff1cultyin this section; though in some parts of the Stabat Mater and in the Carmma Burana soloists and chorus lost the battle set grief-stricken behind my particular emotions of pillar. After the richly four more sect1ons of the poem the last number, meditating on death 'Chnste, cum sit hinc exire', which finally addresses Christ himself with all the soloists and the chorus, evoked the whole work with extreme conviction. One can from long experience expect this high standard of the soloists and orchestral players on these occasions; they are after all carefully chosen professionals; but, especially this evening, though of course we are used to the high standards of Sherborne choruses, the chorus in this piece and the Carmtna Burano (including the children's chorus) were entirely convincing and admirably on top of the ir music. In the first MusSoc. Concert in which I was myself involved, Haydn's Creotton in 1961, the conductor happened to turn over two pages of his score at once in the final grand number and greeted this event by turning absolute ly white, whereupon the chorus lost their nerve and fell largely silent, until t hey were rescued by a solitary tenor (w ho taught Physics in real life) who bravely led us back to what Haydn intended! This would not happen today, I dare say. Two years later he played God in Noe's Fludde in the Abbey. Conductors are rare who, like John Jenkins, are capable of stepping at very short notice into the charge of a large orchestra and chorus and a complex programme (including Carmino Burona, consisting of twenty-five shortish sections and involving considerable changes of approach and of beat). Supreme confidence in all parts was obvious throughout. The poems set by Orff tn Carmino Burona were found in the Hof-Bibliothek in Munich early in the Nineteenth Century. They do not seem to have been quite respectable; they do not appear in the library catalogue; they come from the monastery of Benediktbeuren in Upper Bavaria, which is not to say that they were written by monks. The handwriting is of the Thirteenth Century and forty-three of the poems were intended to be sung. Complaints about Fortune, recruiting songs for the Crusades, laments from the defeat in Palestine t n 1187 and for the death of R1chard Coeur-de-Lion 1n 1199, love songs, songs in praise of wandenng scholars, a Gamblers' Mass, begging songs, drinking songs, songs of nature, written in Mediaeval Latin, French or Middle H1gh German, with bits of Ovid, they are mostly anonymous, but they give the 1mpression that thew authors were young. The performance reinforced that1mpression, with strong rhythms and a sense of enjoyment. Perhaps th1rty years ago it was performed tn the B1g School Room as a Commem. cantata, tn the setting of a huge wooden wheel representing Fortune and w1th some dancing: it was very well received and it was remembered in the Abbey where it had been received enthusiastically, having been vigorously sung and played with much noise and good temper and understandtng In all, a very 1mpressive event indeed, with three very different and demanding p1eces, tackled with the greatest success. RSG Joint Schools' Concert uA vast array of mustcal talent. " The joint Schools' Concert in Michaelmas Term featured, as usual, a vast array of the musical talent in all three schools: each school provided a group of its own, in addition to the two orchestras. It opened with the Sherborne School Concert Band, under its new directors Bob Spiller and Miles Hewitt. This was their second public display of the term, since they had already taken part in the CCF Inspection, and t heir first number was one they had played then: Swmg March. All the sections shone (particularly the brass. both directors being brass players themselves) and this was an excellent start t o the concert. The band looked somehow different to their previous incarnation under Owen Clarke, but though they had lost their uniforms, they were not lacking discipline in their playing: Mr Spiller's conducting was very clear but totally unfussy. They went on to play a Celttc Carol, a setting of Greensleeves with prominent bodhran and spoons: I was not sure where the carol came into this - it felt like a cross between Merrie England and the New York St Patrick's Day Parade. That said, 1t was well played, particularly by the percuss1on sect1on.The Concert Band concluded with Heartland, another band classic with prominent woodwind and flattened 7ths. Next came the SAL Chamber Orchestra under David Pnce, who would seem now to have done the rounds of all three schools as head of strings! They performed the first movement of Bach's fifth Brandenburg Concerto, featuring Helen Roche on harpsichord, Emma Price on flute and Marta Fontanals-Simmons on violin. There was some excellent play1ng, though the general stnng sound was, at times, a little thin. The harpsichord cadenza towards the end of the movement was extremely Impressive, and Helen did not let the instrument's quirky tuning faze her (it is here that I should apologise for the poor suspens ion of the school Works Department van, the extreme height of the Leweston speed humps and my own inability to tell first gear from reverse 1n that van, particularly when there is a harpsichord in the back!) Again, we were treated to precise but unaffected conducting. The next a d was the joint schools' Sinfonia (that is if one does not count the lengthy stage-management interlude). This opened w ith Round Dance and Trumpet Tune, two pieces which showcased the woodwind and brass sections to good effect: again. it is unfortunate for some excellent players that there is such stiff competition for so few woodwind chairs in the Symphony Orchestra, but good news for the Sinfonia. Next came an arrangement of Rimsky Korsakov's Sheherozade: this technically demanding music really came off and again showed off all sections to good effect. The last single-school act was the famous SSG Madrigal Society. They sang four numbers, three madrigals and one folk-song, Blow the Wmd Southerly, featuring the solo vo1ce of Sara Gledhill. As ever, they sang together extremely well and made a beautiful sound (though I did wonder about the Yeovil insplred burr in the word Southerly) ... The concert ended with the Symphony Orchestra, whose set began w1th Hummel's Theme and Variations (or Oboe and Orchestra. Harriet Hawksley played her solo part accurately and with real feeling, and the orchestra supported her sensitively, directed by john Jenkms. Th1s was followed by Sternhammer's Senttmentol Romance for violin and orchestra: for the soloist, Fel1cia Line, of Swedish stock, this was a patriotic choice. This was also the f1rst outmg of the SSG head of strings, Tony Urbanczyk. on the podium with a quite remarkably long baton! Fel1cia played with spirit, but perhaps the sentiment and romance were a little arctic at times... The rinale was the fourth movement of Dvorak's Ninth Symphony (From the New World). A challenging work to play. at t1mes the orchestra might have appeared more to be tread1ng water than to be bask1ng in the delights of the musiC, but in general they stayed together Impressively. The performance boded well for the1r next public outing 1n Bristol 1n the spring. PMR Concert in The Courts 11 The atmosphere was Immense. JJ The eagerly-antiopated return of the Concert in the Courts on the first weekend of the Summer Term brought with it one of the best Saturday nights that many people had experienced at Sherborne. W ith over a thousand people present, from all t he local schools, the atmosphere was immense and it turned out to be a night to remember. I don't know if it is just me but I'm sure that the standard of mustc has improved dramatically since my first expenence of a live concert at Sherborne. For the second year running we were fortunate to welcome the guest band. Homer's Doughnuts, together with their scantily-clad dancers, who entertained many a red-blooded male in the audience. They treated us to songs such as Rolling by Limp BIZkit, Bombtrack by Rage Against the Machine and Smells L1ke Teen Spirit by Nirvana, which were performed with such energy and vibrancy that the evening ended on a great high. The event was hosted by Tristan de Souza and Andrew Tongue who, despite exciting the crowd and presenting the bands as only professionals could, still managed to disappoint the crowd by not wearing the kilts which they showed off at Rocsoc 1n the Lent term. Tris managed to juggle presenting the event with performing in the band Zenith, along with Hugh Worskett, Sean McEvoy. Gash Mbizvo and a cameo from Ed Lyon. For me this was one of the highlights of the night, with songs such as Time is Running Out by Muse. Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes and Yellow by Coldplay. (Could we have witnessed the new Chr-is Martin?) The Girls' School also showed that they could perform wit h the best and their band, Queen Pin, consisting of Felicia Line, Tamstn Marshall, Hannah Elder and Kristabelle Willtams-Pearce, entertained us with some great numbers. Other bands included State Circus, Helicopter Game, Gash Bash, Pare Era and Goat wtth a wide range of music from all of them, including I Believe m a Thmg Called Love by The Darkness, Ploy That Funky MusiC by Wild Cherry and Sex Machine by James Brown. All in all, the event was a resounding success and everyone felt that they had certainly recerved their money's-worth . A large thanks must go to the organisers of the event, Hugh Worskett, Ed Ward, JS and, in particular, SMS as without his technical mind and musical expertise this event would never have got off the ground. Violin Recital uThe utmost technical control and mustcality. " On 28th February 2004. Mr Oliver Nelson, who taught the v iolin and viola at Sherborne for two terms in 200212003, gave a violin recital in the Old Music School. Mr Nelson. who was trained at the Royal Academy of Music as a violinist and conductor, performed a hugely varied programme ranging from Bach to Bartok: a spectrum of music dating from the mid-Eighteenth Century t o the late Twentieth Century. However all the pieces that he played that night had one thing in common: they were all unaccompanied. Unaccompanied v iolin music is his speciality and his love. His first piece was the Fuga from Sonata No.2 in A mmor by Bach. This ptece, well known as it is. was played with the utmost originality, since Mr Nelson played the entire piece without vibrato. Those who have a faint know ledge of the violin and violin technique will know that vtbrato - although it was not used in Bach's day and an authentic baroque player would not use it - is absolutely essenttal in modem violin technique and t hat without vibrato the v iolin can sound incredibly dry, and so, although the piece was played in an authentic way, it was perhaps not as well-received as it could have been. Nevertheless the piece was played with much vivacity, bow-expression and textural awareness, conveying the contrapuntal texture of the piece well with an instrument t hat is often perceived as monophonic. His second piece was the Solo Sonata by Bartok. The sonata was in four movements- Ciaccono, Fuga , Melodia and Presto - and much better received that the first one, being played with much more tonal expression than the first. The nat ure of the piece. however, was not appreciated by all since its faint (or sometimes non-existent!) tonality was not perceived as pleasant by everyone , especially as the piece was unaccompanied. The absence of the piano, which could have provided some harmonic support made the harmonic progression of the piece unperceivable. and so the only aspects of the piece that most people could enjoy was the melodic complexity and the sheer virtuosity of the performer. The piece had huge contrasts in character and style and Mr Nelson put across t he contrasts well as he adapted himself to the different moods of the movements with great speed. The next piece was Caprice No.I. Opus I. by Paganini. These caprices by Paganini are extremely well-known and well- loved by all. and this was one of the most famous in the collection. Although everyone in the audience perceived that the piece was fiendishly difficult. Mr Nelson played it at great speed and with the utmost technical control and musicality, and the final flourish was effective. The final piece was the famous Sonata No.6. Opus 27(no. 6) by Ysaye, who is one of the greatest composers t n the violin repertoire. The piece was a stunning piece of music that seemed t o break every hearer's heart, combining melodic and harmonic beauty, whilst remaintng subtle in every way a piece of music could be. But a great ptece of mustc has to be performed by a great player in order to be effective, and Mr Nelson lived up to his reputation as a technically-accomplished and musically-sensittve player in this piece. The piece was very well received, and given that i l was the final ptece of the programme the concert came to a fulfilling end. Keith Tse The Lent Term Project ul was struck by rhe amount o( work that was put inco evety event and che ease with whtch year groups were able to interact and enjoy each other 's company 11 This year I have experienced my final biannual Lent Term Project and th1s has undoubtedly been the most entertaining and varied in my memory. Sherborne School has many things to thank Mr Aitken for as a contributor to, and supporter of, such a variety of events around the School. As a result of his enthusiasm and vigour the Lent Term Project has become a huge event in School life and this year's project has been no different. However, despite the Chaplain's unique dedication to t he project, the Lent Term Project is not about individuals. Teamwo rk, community and supporting a charitable cause characterise the project and every boy and member of staff has been able to experience these factors as a member of the School. This year's cause was the Parkinson's Disease Society and early in the year two men whose lives are dominated by the disease gave the boys a very powerful talk in a Wednesday morning BSR. The talk and the willingness of the members of the School to participate in activities for charity led to a phenomenal response. I can say with confidence that no other single cause could combine such an inventive. absurd and ingenious collection of activities. On Wednesday. 23 june. three boys set out from Sherborne with their bikes to drive down to Land's End where they began their mammoth journey up the length of the country to the farthest point of the land at john o' Groats. Boys also showed similar physical prowess at the 'Hard Man· competition where members of every House competed in a series of gruelling tasks to gain the Litle of 'Hard Man·. Members of the Digby and Harper held a twenty-four-hour football match in the Sports Centre and were able to show off their skill and endurance during taxing two-hour sessions. The Green completed the incredible feat of carrying the legendary 'Flame of Hope' in a continuous run around the Courts with each boy and member of staff taking the torch for half an hour. The Courts was also the setting for dozens of boys who volunteered to sleep outside in a so-called 'Cardboard City'. However. the Lent Term Project did not rely solely on physical endurance. Two auctions were held by the Green and Harper to sell off items ranging from signed photos and pens to V !R holidays in exotic locations. The extent of the support for the project was not only restricted to our humble, rural community in Sherborne: parents. celebnties. politicians and sports personalities were willing to contribute to the cause and have helped to make the Lent Term Project the success 1t was. The Lent Term Project highlights the capabilities of Sherborne School as a · - ·- community and a centre of learnmg. The School's facilities were taken advantage of in the brand new equ1pment of the Sports Centre and, in - .......-.... . contrast, the privilege that we enjoy 1n being surrounded by miles of gorgeous countryside was shown in the various outdoor activities that took place. As a participator and co-ordinator in the Twenty-Four-Hour Football, I was struck by the amount of work that was put into every event and the ease with which year groups were able to interact and enjoy each other's company. In reflecting on the Lent Term Project it is apparent that its success is not solely in the tremendous amount of money raised for a worthy cause but also in the way in which it allows people, friends and strangers, pupils and teachers, to all come together with ease. Thomas Patterson John o' Groats to Land's End The Harper way of doing things t osh got a puncture, and then another, and then another. 11 On Sunday, August Ist, amid glorious sunshine and Schumacheresque celebrations, the Harper cycle team concluded their adventure. It had taken us just short of sixty hours in the saddle to complete our journey, spread over twelve and a half days and, whatever certain boys in School House may say to the contrary, I can confirm that that is still sufficiently hard work to ensure that there was not a single ache free backside for many days after our arrival! The start could not have been more different. We arrived at John o' Groats on July 19th after greatly varied preparation; Josh having cycled daily to the local hospital for his work experience, while Jack and I had not so much as touched a bicycle in a fortnight having spent a week on a cadet course in Scotland and laughing at Smibert (George) in Trebetherick respective ly. We reached the northernmost settlement in the British Isles to be greeted with little if any excitement bar, of course, the torrential rain which lovely people at the Met Office promised would pursue us for the duration of our journey. The following morning proved more promising and, in spite of passing a sign which confirmed what Toby, Jack and George had been telling us for months about the way in which this r ide should be undertaken by saying, simply, 'Finish', we set off in bright sunshine and high spirits. These were somewhat deflated within a matter of minutes when I managed to pick up the first puncture: it would not be the last. josh was also horrified by some of the darkened hillsides that frequently emerged on the horizon, directly in the path of the A9. It soon emerged that, amidst the enthusiasm at the start, we had all managed to forget to grab any form of sustenance to keep us going till the lunch break. We therefore dropped into a small shop. just south of Wick, the first we had seen for several miles, in the hope that we would be able to acquire some chocolate, only to be told that such luxury goods could not be found until one had gone at least another five miles south, bringing home to one and all the remoteness of the area. Nonetheless, the lunch rendezvous was made when we had conquered the first mountain of the trip in Helmsdale, and from there we pressed on to Dornoch, before packing up the bikes and heading for the palatial Carbisdale Castle Youth Hostel. Day Two brought equally wonderful weather as we headed for Inverness, following the A9 along the coast and spotting several seals as we did so. We lunched and flew our kite above Inverness, after a very hairy crossing of the Firth during which all the winds under the sun seemed united with the common goal of toppling us from our bicycles. From there we headed on to Aviemore and then Kingussie, p u s h i n g our mileage over eighty miles for the second day in succession. Day Three was less pleasant as. although the rain held off, we were forced to sweat through twenty miles of headwinds as we ascended the imposing Slochd Summit. From there, we headed for Perth via Pitlochry and then Dunkeld. It was here that the curse which was to pursue us as far as Warwickshire set in: Josh got a puncture, and t hen another, and then another. Day Four brought the first of the major cities we were required to negotiate, in the form of Edinburgh (needless to say, we managed to get lost but fortunately managed to escape before rush hour and were soon in Galashiels). The fifth day brought the crossing of the border, a well deserved triumph coming as it did after the conquest of the longest sustained climb we were to face. The elation was short-lived and we were no more than two miles into England before spirits were again depressed by josh's troublesome back wheel, a problem which recurred the following morning, forcing him onto the spare bike. This was a most degrading experience by all accounts but one which inadvertently brought good luck as, having crawled for forty miles prior to lunch, we felt unusually energetic afterwards and were able to push on to York, bnnging the day's total to ninety three miles. Despite Day Eight's bemg our 'rest day' we managed to get very lost 1n the maze that 1s South Yorksh1re while domg a thirty-five-mile leg between York and Thorne. Th1s did, however, lighten the load for the followmg day considerably, reducing 1t from nmety-five miles to a mere Sixty. Day Ten began 1n a blaze of 1ronic agony when, having joked that his five punctures had all come on our hosts' severely pot-holed quarter-of-a-mile stretch of drive, josh suffered a further three over that same treacherous ground the following morn1ng, thus buy1ng h1m a ticket back on to the spare bike. From that pomt onwards the day passed by fa1rly uneventfully wh1le the sun scorched down on our backs and all were del1ghted to reach the Wingfield Digby Lake early that afternoon. The following day saw josh's (now ten) punctures consigned to the past as we rocketed 1nto the South West via Cirencester, Ch1ppenham and Bath, bringmg to a close our epic n1nety-five-mile day 1n Westholme, home to the Franklin family. whence we set off into the 'mountains' of Devon and Cornwall with a further hundred and ninety miles to cover. This brought a vanety of excitements, ranging from a seas1de barbeque, the crossmg of Dartmoor, and my collect1ng the final puncture, to add an air of symmetry to the whole event and bnng us back to where I began after a total distance just short of nine hundred and fifty miles. james Moubray < The School House team, George Tensham. Toby Edwards and jack Sutcliffe. who did the ride first - the other way round! Twenty-Four Hour Hike Dartmoor uQuite an ordeal. " After the insane idea was thought up by james Cromb1e and others, an a1r of determinatron settled over the whole project. The plan was to hike ninety five km (sixty miles) around the circumference of Dartmoor National Park. with three km (two miles) of ascent. inside twenty-four hours. After doing our sums. we discovered that this would require us to walk at a qUick pace almost non-stop through the night. w1th minimal time allowed for breaks. At first, some of the staff were sceptical about the possibil1ty of completing such a challenge, though they admrred our team's enthusiasm. but later they came to believe the challenge to be just about possible. The po1nt of the challenge was to make our contribution to the Lent Term Project, but we wanted to have some fun at the same t1me. Some m1ght th1nk our interpretation of the word 'fun', slightly odd. but our trght-knit group of five Uames Crombie, Ed Knudsen, Nick Bartrum. Mat Cowan and David Kirk) were up for the challenge. After some preparation-work involving walk1ng large chunks of the route to famliianse ourselves w1th the terrain, the initral route was altered here and there but rema1ned largely unchanged. Since boys. girls and staff from the School and from SSG sponsored our cause generously, the pressure was on to complete the task in hand. We slept the night before the walk near the start of our route, on Dartmoor. This was only possible due to the kindness of the Lathams. who took us m and fed us up before the brg event! We started out at 6pm, on Sunday, 29th August. 2004, moving around Dartmoor anti-clockwise. We progressed well and the weather was perfect for the occas1on. During the night, the sky was clear, allowing the full moon (which we had planned for) to help us w1th our night-navigation. Everyone was in high spirits, helped partiCularly by our mobile support team, whrch supplied us wrth hot drinks and food at vanous pornts around the moor. manned constantly by Mr Smrth and Mrs Kirk, along w1th different members of staff at different times. The preparation walk1ng proved invaluable in findrng certain junctions and paths in the dark, though MFW's GPS was also very useful at times. By dawn on day two, we were two hours ahead of schedule and things were going well. Our good fortune. however, was soon to run out. One of our team members' h1ps began to play up during one of the part1cularly long legs between checkpoints. For his safety, we had to slow our pace right down. By the time we reached the checkpomt, we were forty-five minutes behind schedule, having lost our prev1ous massive lead We continued, however, in the hope of making up for lost time after dropping off the injured member at the checkpomt. We did really push the pace hard. which was quite a challenge when we had already been walking continually for no fewer than eighteen hours. When we reached the last checkpoint, time was running out but our injured member had recovered a little and rejo1ned our party for the final leg. Again, we dug deep and walked incred1bly quickly given the circumstances. but the distance was too great. With half an hour to go, james Crombie and David Kirk (supervised by CGBH) made a last push to the finish, running the last few kilometres. They finished just twenty minutes past the twenty-four-hour mark, but, given the circumstances. everyone agreed that the group had given it the1r best shot and performed very well. None of our sponsors denied us our sponsorshtp when we explained the story! When everyone had fintshed, an enormous wave of relief rushed over us all. It had been quite an ordeal. Everybody checked thetr tired feet for blisters and hot spots, before trying to look energetic for photos! It must be said that w1thout a number of the staff givmg up free time in the1r holidays to help out, the event would not have been possible. Most notably. without the support and help of MFW, the proJect would not have got off the ground. Thanks are also due to Mr Bartrum and a friend of Mr Knudsen, who accompanied the group the enttre way around Dartmoor, helping out with nav1gatton and offering advice when needed. David Kirk Hellfire Club uHeated debate in the Westcote Room. " The Hellfire Club gives Lower Sixth boys the opportunity to prepare and deliver a short talk to their fellow histonans. The topics chosen this year were wide-ranging and imaginative, with the whole enterprise being ushered smoothly along by the ever-resourceful and conscientious Arch1e Mackay james . whose tactful employment of posters advertising the event ensured a regular turnout from a select group of the School's historically-minded intelligentsia. Dav1d Park set the standard with the first talk of the season, 1mpressing us with a thorough and ins1ghtful examination of Bnt1sh imperialistic action during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centunes entitled 'The fall of the old and rise of a new Bnt1sh Emp1re'. The power-point-aided talk provoked much discussion, a highlight being the engagmg showdown of discussion between HWR and Hab1b Shahbaz1: a stalemate situation arose. and Archie stepped in to call time on the evenmg's lively debate. Sticking w1th the theme of 1mperial1sm, Tom Patterson. Arch1e Mackay-James, Ed Gold and jam1e Boyd stepped Into the fray w1lh a series of shorter. more direct talks, all under the banner 'Can the motives of 1mpenal expansion be JUStified?' Tom argued that, in the case of the 1066 Norman invasion, Prince Will1am JUStified hts act1ons by h1s willmgness to rule as an English King - a well delivered. if brief, speech. Ed Gold used the example of the Crusades to give substance to his argument, attempting to persuade us that they were, ultimately, not JUStifiable, as lhey came a century after the actual fall of the Holy Sepulchre. Jamie Boyd then stood to convey hts views on imperialism, using the case-study of Napoleonic expans1on. He concluded, in a well balanced talk, that desp1te an increase in national pride and content (due to the winning of wars). Napoleon's selfish motives made it hard to JUStify such expansion, and that the spreading of ideas by force was 1mmoral, no matter what the outcome. Archie declared that British imperialism in Africa was unJUSt, claimtng a disregard for other cultures and the use of 'power politics' rendered British activity there unreasonable. even tn the context of that day and age. A lively quest1on and answer sess1on followed, with Goldy responding particularly well to a senes of challengtng questtons from the likes of HWR. GDR, PSF and RMW. The only s1gns of real pressure- as a result of the roasting from the ever-demanding histo1y-masters - came in the form of sweat-parttcles on Archie's brow. as the heated debate tn the Westcott Room came to a climax. Sean McEvoy, T1m Ballingal and Rhys Brennan d1d School House proud in speaking eloquently and 1ns1ghtfully abouL the Crusades and how they benefited the lives of the people liv1ng 1n Western Europe. A low-down of the nches and advanced nature of all aspects of life in the East was given, followed by a view of how the Europeans would have responded to and ult1mately adopted some of these customs. Thanks to HWR, GDR, RMW and PSF for their regular turnout and enthusiasm. and to all who spoke during the year. Tim Balltngal Pringle Trophy uPyrotechniCs whtch are never available tn School CCF ttme 11 On 4th and 5th October, e1ghteen Royal Marines Cadet teams took part 1n the 2003 Pringle Trophy competition at Lympstone. These teams were from across Bntam: schools such as Strathallan (from Scotland) and G1gglesw1ck (from Yorksh1re) show how far reachmg th1s compet1t1on was. However, there was one 1mportant element 1n common among these teams: they had all tramed ngorously for th1s compet1t1on. and were there to g1ve 1t the1r best effort. The Sherborne School team tramed at 7am for four morn1ngs a week for several weeks. and managed to fit m extra f1rst a1d sess1ons and luncht1me map-readmg lessons. The Pnngle Trophy 1tself cons1sts of two days testing the teams on mil1tary sk1lls, endurance and dnll. Arrivmg on a Fnday. the teams set up camp in the sports centre. We set out sleep1ng bags anywhere we could find on the sports hall floor. After an introduction to the compet1t1on, the teams readied their gear and prepared themselves for the next day. The first day was centred on military skills: the cadets were tested on the r sect1on-attacks. battle exemses. map-reading, first a1d, weapon-handling. observat1on, camouflage and concealment and fire control orders. These all took place on Woodbury common, and most groups were up by 05:30 to get there for 08:00 The scrutmy was constant. but the opportunity of really gett1ng mto a m1htary envwonment was too good to m1ss. One aspect that has always struck me about the Pnngle Trophy IS the opportumt1es ava1lable. W e were ISSued w1th plenty of blank rounds and were g1ven the opt1ons of smoke grenades and other pyrotechmcs wh1ch are never available in School CCF time. So, when we were presented w1th these in abundance, 1t was a fantastiC change. It gave even a brief exerc1se a realistic atmosphere. There was obv1ously great effort and organisation mvolved m all the stances. They were all made to be challenging, realistic and good fun. From getting information about a downed pilot from a foreign contact (complete with AK 47) to trying to remove two casualties from a minefield, the scenarios were wide-ranging and exotmg. In my op1nion. the highlight of that day was the battle-exerc1se. where we had to make contact with a friendly agent (who d1dn't speak much English) and find out from h1m where we could find our objective. a wounded pilot shot down by the enemy. We also had to cross under a 'mmefield' by means of a tunnel placed 1n a very convenient mud-puddle. On meeting the agent. we began bargaining. Our team eventually had to trade a Mars bar for the information. and we proceeded to follow him to the casualty, who was domg a fantasLic JOb of shouting his head off. As half of our group formed a defence and the other began to apply field dressings to the casualty's realistic hand wound, an enemy loudspeaker could be heard in the forest. demand1ng that we surrender the p1lot. When the enemy could be seen, half the team retreated w1th the casualty while the other half prov1ded covenng f1re. Having d1sengaged the enemy. we moved back to the safe ground w1th the casualty. whom we proceeded to bandage up The next day was the dnll, the endurance course and the onenteenng compet1t1on. The endurance course was a test of the cadets' mental strength. show1ng how much gnt they really had, running through the endurance course and all 1ts accompany1ng tunnels, four m1les from Lympstone. The orienteenng was run m tandem with the endurance course, and mvolved a small team micro navigating to specific po1nts and then finishmg back at the start. The drill sect1on took place m the drill shed. and was all centred on uniform movement and precision, and the sligh test slip lost vital pomts. It involved a sect1on being paraded around the shed under constant inspection. In the afternoon of the second day was the prize g1v1ng. The stances all had their wmners, but the second place pnze went to Malvern and the first pnze went to Sherborne. The interesting pattern with the pnzes was that. although Sherborne d1d not rece1ve any 1nd1v1dual troph1es (desp1te having come f1rst equal 1n fire-control orders and dnll). we came consistently high in all the stances, and that is the reason why Sherborne emerged in the top position. We received the trophy from General S1r Stuart Pringle himself, an old Shirburnian. This was an honour and, combmed with the winning of the competition, made all the training very much worthwhile. This was also to be the twentieth and last 'Pnngle Trophy'; the name is being changed to 'Royal Marines Cadet Competition' for 2004. Boys involved in the Pringle Trophy: JEH Foster (capt); JW Dutton; TE Pitt Ford; PO Dillon; LRH De Watts; ACFPL Hammick; H N Pentecost; SO Sherman; JT Willasey-Wilsey. Jim Foster House Singing ul was a sm . ger-songwn.ter. " - Dav1.d Brent This year's house singing competition was an exiting event, if not a bit wild, with a variety of different musical genres, ranging from The Green's funk groove rendition of Elton John's Are you ready for love? to Abbey House's melancholy version of Ave Moria. The Green started with their immense anthem by Elton john setting a euphoric scene for the night. The song was led superbly by the four semi-clad soloists at the front of the stage where Charles Wilyman may have been too shy to strip off but certainly made himself heard and got some much-needed experience in his quest to become the winner of Pop Idol 2008. The Sixth Form led the singing and did brilliantly to drown out a certain rustic growl, which had dominated previous rehearsals. However the true excellence of The Green's effort came in its superb organisation of both the talented band and the enthusiastic singers. coordinated by HGCL and musical genius Nicolas Oxley. The second contenders were Abbey House with Ave M o t t O boasting the house's Catholic associations. Here Abbey not only demonstrated their musical talents but also kept the audience on the edge of their seats with its most ferocious beat. The song started we ll with jason Barnes. Matt Snudden and David Park in a tremendous three-way before the rest of the house joined them in the chant while Matt Snudden orchestrated the entire event. Credit must go to Matt Snudden who was central to the song and a special mention is deserved by David Park, who played the piano and sang and swung so actively. and Robert Symondson, who was vital on bassoon. In all it was a good piece, heightened in style by Abbey's slick mafia-style dress and ability to memorise lines so effectively. Next came Wallace, who were apparently champions of 2001. with Spirit in the Sky by Gareth Gates. Tristan De Souza headed off the song showing his singing expertise for the first verse of the song before the remainder of the House joined him for the chorus and some interesting swaying where some of the Third Form looked as though they had recently been drinking. Perhaps the highlight of the song or the evening was the cameo role of Wallace's own jesus Christ whose mere passing across the stage a few times during the song caused the BSR to erupt in an orgy of applause. In all it was a good effort held together by De Souza's singing talent and Mr Haigh's electric keyboard performance. Despite copying The Green's outf its, Harper House's song was still merely average. Ronald Cheng was riding high during his solo performance and Jack Milln got a chance to show off his raw, naked musical talent. However these two couldn't prevent Harper's downfall as lhe rest of the Houses' efforts at synchronised clapping were. one could say, varied in quality. The singing itself of a collection of songs from Godspell was a fine effort and the only problems came in the coordination of what was being sung when in a complex arrangement. Abbeylands came next w ith You're just too good to be true. Mr Weston's exit from the House at the beginning of the academic year has certainly improved the standard of the singing in Abbeylands. led by the consistently sw itched-on Mr Bool, as shown in congregational practice. They started with a rotating circle which cons1sted of the verse-singers, whilst the rest of the House lay on their backs surrounding them and popped up for the chorus. Both the singing and the choreography were impressive and at times humorous. Ralph Aiken and Hugh Yates performed a lustful dance in the background providing a comic setting to the song; however, some critics have suggested that even more humorous was Benjamin Trepess's slide onstage at the end of the song. The Digby marched on confident of a victory after previous years of success. However, before they had even taken stage the crowd had already performed a raucous rendition of England's rugby anthem in the knowledge of the song to come. Therefore Digby's ow n version of Swing low, sweet chariot was always going t o struggle. Yet another House copied The Green's hip style by placing a sweaty foursom e scrummaged at the front of stage and they led with volume. perhaps a little too much volume in Theo Crutcher 's case. The anthem was loud and ambitiously carried out and this could have been one of its downfalls. The song ended on a high note with an original, if not a little cliched, finger click. Crispin Vollers' direction held the piece together and his technique looks much-improved - clearly his extra lessons are paying off. Lyon entered next, angry to have missed out on victory in previous years, with Billy joel's In the middle ofthe night. Lyon donned suits, sunglasses and slicked hair for the number where W ilson Cheng's direction and piano-playing skills were fundamenta l alongside Gash Mbizvo's constant beat on the cymbal. showing improvement from his earlier days. The catchy tune accompanied by non-stop dancing made Lyon's song so successful, but the entertainment was definitely heightened by Tom Hewitson's moonwalk across stage. Lyon finished the song well, ambitiously singing the chorus repeatedly in diminuendo and crescendo -this was we ll-undertaken and brought an atmospher ic end to the piece. The final piece was School House's stirring effort at re-creating the magic of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. Here there was a delay before the boys were ready to perform their great masterpiece; unfortunate ly not everything went according to plan. The song started well wit h Ollie Madley singing a solo: however most people couldn't fully appreciate the music as they were transfixed by the bright pair of tight. lime green jeans on display in Freddie Mercury style. The extreme costumes didn't end there as David Kirk wore a delightful pink leotard and let's not even get started with Rhys Brennan. The large error came when the electnc guitars were due to kick in but however well Sean McEvoy played his guitar, the huge riff just didn't sound great - this was probably because the guitar wasn't actually switched on. Even KLM got involved, playing a humorous vignette role, entering as the boys chanted the words. 'Miss Millar no, we w ill not let you go!' The song was ended by another solo given by David Kirk, whose voice was commented on by the judge - the Head of Music at Radley - as being superb, and bought the song and the whole competition to gent le, sombre end. Result: I. Lyon, 2. Abbey, 3. Abbey lands, 4. The Green (robbed) Henry Butt and Rupert Howland-Jackson Jenny and Jon welcome you to The Grange at Oborne Hotel & Restaurant This small privately owned hotel and restaurant provides a very individual and professional service visitors and guests - those that are new and those that return year after year. AA 3 Star- Visit Britain 3 Star and a Silver Award- RAC 3 Star and 2 Dining Awards The Grange at Oborne, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 4LA Telephone: 01935 813463 Fax: 01935 817464 Email: reception@thegrange .co.uk www. thegrangeato borne.co. uk to all CCF Contingent Camp Nescliff, Shropshire uSw1tched on and intelligent. " The CCF Contingent Camp this year was enJoyable and highly successful. With just three Officers, two (cadet) NCOs and twelve cadets, the Sherborne School Contingent proved to be effective and competitive despite 1ts relatively small s1ze. We came first in the I n t e r contingent competition for our week (beating ten other schools' contingents). In the competition tidinesswere of our living we assessed areas, athe timed run, a on shoot, and an assault course. We were awarded an Impressive 49/50 marks for the cleanliness of our accommodation - we made all our beds identically with hospital corners! The blankets on each bed came up to precisely the same place on the bed, and the amount of sheet shown was also standardised. Due to the time-consummg nature of this preparation. over half of us made our beds the evening before the Inspection and slept on the floor 1n our sleeping-bags so that we wouldn't have to make them again at 6.20 the followmg morning! Such was the dedication of the boys' In the run we outpaced all of the other schools by a decent margin, completing the 4.5 km route as a group in just twenty-eight minutes. In the shoot (on a SAT [simulated] shooting range), we averaged 22 points out of a possible 25, securing a joint first place 1n this part of the competition. We also came firsl in the Assault Course, though the school which came second took just ten seconds longer than us to complete the circuit. We enjoyed ourselves in the kayaks and Canadian Canoes, though there were less enjoyable aspects to the day too (such as having to swim in the freezing water out to a point. under a kayak and back to shore. to prove we could swim, and capsize-drills which. again to our collective horror. meant ducking completely underwater for another good ten seconds!). The instructors who took us for the day were impressed with us, our enthusiasm. and our w1llingness to follow them in line-dancing in front of a sizeable audience (members of the general public) repeatedly chanting phrases like 'Eh-oh' and 'GET ORFF MY LAND!' li Another day was spent abseiling and rock climbing. This was popular, the climax berng a couple of abseils each down a one-hundred-andtwenty-eight- foot vertical rock face. For those who'd not abseiled before, and for many of those who had, th1s was a daunting prospect, but everyone got to gnps with 1l and descended without any problems. For old hands, particularly JRS, BJS, Stuart Kennon and Timothy Crowley. the abseil was an entirely pleasurable experience! In our free time, we happily whiled away hours over the course of the week, socialising w1th a group of rather attractive gwls from RHS (The Royal Hospital School, Holbrook. near lpsw1ch). This may have made us slightly unpopular with some of the boys from RHS, but we got on well with some of them too! RHS people meritmg special mention are Bosher (their Contingent Cdr), Alice, Claire and Daisy, w1th all of whom some at least of us have kept 1n touch. Some friendly rivalry was generated between the two schools but, needless to say, Sherborne was victorious in almost all cases! One afternoon we went into Shrewsbury and another was spent on mountain bikes riding around the training area at high speeds until we found a suitable spot to have a barbecue. Linked in with th1s were a few games of 'forty-fo1iy'. Cpl Kirk's efforts in successfully reaching the minibus and freeing all the captives 1n each of the four games is to be commended. On Military Day, we were instructed in bayonet training, grenade-drill and anti-ambush drills, as well as practising Section Attacks. We were transported to and from the training area 1n a convoy of four-tonne trucks. On the return journey, two of the girls from RHS were put m the back of our truck with us and, by the looks on their faces when they got off. I think they thought our rugby chants, which we performed as loudly as possible, were a little strange! Finally, the two-day exercise, a time to put into practice many of the skills we had learned and practised over the course of the week, was excellent. OUI- enemies were the stealthy and skilful Lt Storey and Sgt Kennon, who together formed the 'GRA', or Ginger Rebel Army. They attacked twice in the night forcing us to flee. but revenge was ours by the end of the second day, when we had hunted down the enemy force. Sgt Kennon was run down by Cpl Kirk and his fire-team. and made a POW briefly before being let loose again, back into hostile territory. The Sherborne School contingent. led by Cpl Kirk, was described as 'hard core' by other schools and 'switched on and intelligent' by instructors. This could have had something lo do with the fact that every morning, voluntarily (as a contingent) we did early morning PT. getting up al 6am1Other schools did try to copy us after the first few mornings, but none of them got up so early or trained for as long as us. Otherwise, it might have had something to do with the exhausting 'trim-trail' circuit which Storey and Kirk, and later others, learned to love. Thanks must go to Lt Sunderland, Lt Storey, 2 Lt Malcolm and Sgt Kennon for all the hard work they pul into the preparation, administration and organisation of the camp. All Lhe boys enjoyed themselves thoroughly and many are looking forward to attending again next year! David Kirk Conttngent Camp Nominal Roll: Officers: Lt Ben Sunderland (i/c), Lt John Storey, 2 Lt Stuart Malcolm NCOs: Sgt S Kennon, Cpl D Kirk Cadets: N Bartrum, T Crowley, R Cumming, L De Watts, K Dorey, C Duncan, C Hallam, M Skipsey, E Willasey-Willsey. A Aroskin, A Latham, R Sworder The Inaugural Stephen Lawn Memorial Lecture: PAJ Cordingley uReligious intolerence is still a major problem even tn Europe. " The family of Stephen Lawn, the Old Shirburnian tragically killed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre two years ago, chose to honour Stephen in Sherborne by setting up lectures to take place on September lith each year. With the issues of religious tolerance and international terrorism at the forefront of current affa1rs, 1t was fitting that the first lecture was to discuss these ideas. The speaker for the first of these lectures was Major General PAJ Cordingley, OS, somebody who is undoubtedly familiar to many. Hav1ng led a distinguished career in the Army, serving, in particular, 1n Iraq and Bosnia, he now combines a variety of smaller jobs (He commentated for Radio four on the Today Show during the recent Iraq conflict) and is a very well-respected voice within the m1litary world. It would have been understandable if the mood was somewhat downbeat, but Cordingley refused to be. He opened by amusing us with some anecdotes from his time at Sherborne, when, he explained. the Downside match was quite literally a bloodbath. However, if the School was seen to be single-minded in its rugby, it was even more so when it came to religion. In divin1ty they were taught about Christianity only - for all the eighteen-year-aids Cordingley knew when he left Sherborne, there was only one religion! The first Gulf War was all about different religions, and seemed to have been an educating experience for Cordingley, who found himself in charge of one hundred and fifty tanks. The British troops took thew religion with them, holding serv1ces in the desert. Religion may well be the cause of many wars, but even when it IS not the cause, it usually plays a fundamental part in the soldiers' lives when engaged in conflict. The conflict, which killed over twenty thousand people, has obviously had an impact on Cordingley and he questioned whether this number of casualties would ever be reached in the Middle East again during the course of one conflict. The Bosn1an conflict's roots were religious. With potential problems everywhere. war such a diverse range oflay ethnic groups in theThe country, showed that religious intolerance is still a major problem even in Europe. In this religious war, two hundred thousand people perished, and two million were made homeless. As Cordmgley noted, there are still problems in that area - why, he asked, had the Bosnian Muslims decided to spend the money given to them by the Saudi princes to build a mosque in central Sarajevo, amongst bullet-ridden apartment blocks? Was this the best way to spend the money? Lessons need to be learned, and people need to be educated as soon as possible. Cordingley went on to describe what he saw as the immensely unsuccessful campaign the Ame ricans waged on Afghanistan. As yet no evidence has been found to support either of the last two American wars and, as he explained, they have only served to damage America's reputation throughout the world. Does the USA really want Iraq to be free? Can it be a democracy? It took us a hundred years to warm to a democratic system - how can we expect it to happen in two years? Is it even right, he asked, for the West to simply impose our systems throughout the wor ld? He finished with the shockmg fact that no fewer than fifty million have died as a result of war since 1945. His solution - taken from his own experience - was to educate all youngsters throughout the world about different religions and teach them to be tolerant. He said that this would be a most fitting legacy to Stephen, and one could not argue. His words were carefully chosen and tackled sensitive issues intelligently; it was a pleasure to listen to Major General Cordingley. Henry May Stuart Hargreaves Prize Edinburgh Fringe Festival uwe gamed a huge amount from this trip as actors, and perhaps more importantly, as people. " What do a famous television presenter (or that random guy from T4's 'Popworld', who claims to be funny), some 'Creatures 1n Cream ' and your current Head of School clambering into bed with a lice infested, bearded Mexican backpacker have in common? No, this isn't my twisted fantasy. but some of the more interesting moments which arose during our exhilarating Edinburgh Fringe extravaganza! Maybe I'm going too fast. W hat I'm trying to tell you about is the incredibly enriching tr ip taken to Edinburgh's Fringe Festival in August, 2003, after winning the Stuart Hargreaves Drama Prize. Stuart was the former head of drama here at Sherborne, who sadly passed away in the summer holidays four years ago. He is greatly missed by his colleagues and pupils alike. That is why we hoped t hat we could help to commemorate his role in School life by making the best use of this award kindly left in his memory. We set off in the early hours of a late August morning, having camped at Gatwick Airport for the best part of the night before. While we could describe this accommodation as 'open plan', I wouldn't recommend this owing to the lack of en suite facilities. beds, privacy and pretty much anything else that you could wish for including any member of British Airways' 'helpful' team! The previous night's production of the play Tope in London's Soho had been...well, let's just say less than memorable ...and we were looking forward to what Edinburgh had to offer - apart from kilts and haggis. Tired and dishevelled. we both craw led onto the plane for our short hop up north. Unfortunately, Nick had had somewhat too much of a good t ime the night before. trying to forget that woeful performance of the previous evening. Regrettably, the sig h t - and smell of BA's lukewarm brekkie, sent him reeling into the a1sle, taking an unsuspecting passenger and her breakfast with him, meriting some odd looks from the stewardess! Moving swiftly on, we were fortunate enough to squeeze in twelve shows, and even saw one more than once. The standard and quality of the theatre on offer was breathtaking. Our trip encapsulated all genres of theatre: from drama and thrillers to comedy and improvisation and even a one-woman extravaganza. Howeve r, it would be unfair to describe every performance as A+. Despite an int riguing blurb and title, Sex was not all it was cracked up to be, meriting our premature escape from the dire production. Not recommended. However, this was countered by the talents extraordinaire of the Chicago-based 'CarniKid ' t heatre company whose completely improvised show Choirs was second to none at the Fringe. The advantage of an improv group is that any one night will be totally different from the last. This company travels to Edinburgh every year and is highly recommended, and would most certainly be our highlight of the week. Also, the play Thin Walls, expertly acted by one American woman, is a must see. W ho ever thought that an eighteen-stone mental patient could beggingbefor soherhilarious? medicationSome to be changed lowlights included the play Hordcore, which still gives me nightmares now. We were all relieved to escape before any 'audience participation' was required I As vtrgtns to the Fringe, some inexperienced 'fumbling 1n the dark' was reqUJred...with regard to accommodation, that is! Staymg at the festtval can be an expens1ve expenence. However. we booked early and parted w1th only L 160 on am val at the 'Caledonian Backpackers' Hostel'. This was relattvely central to the Royal M1le - the heart of the Fringe and provided easy access to the life and soul of the oty. We were placed tn a six-person dorm, whiCh was certatnly d1fferent to any dorm I've ever slept 1n. Stnce we were the only native speakers - seemtngly in the entwe establishment - sleeptng arrangements were confused to say the least. After the experiences of our red-eye flight. we were both ready to grab a few hours' kip on arnval. N o such luck! Reuben did not bank on sharing his creaking bunk bed w1th someone called Senor Sanchez, who was - although rather tired and disorientated - an unwelcome bedfellow. Introducing our new friend Sanchez to the standard Roman numerals on each bed, which correspond to each ticket, soon rectified the problem. We soon became unpopular, however, with our roommates, consistently stumbling in 1n the early hours of the morning. Well, who can blame us for try1ng to make the most of our Fringe expenence! Of course, there is so much more to Edinburgh during festtval t1me. The n1ghtlife plays an integral role. Although some plays took up the early evening. th1s c1ty only seems to wake up at about midnight. That's a good twelve hours before the next day's shows start. Of course we took advantage - all 1n moderation of course! Many bars latd on ltve mus1c from qUJte random bands each evening. We were lucky enough to spend a couple of days of our tnp with Fergus Thompson and Harry Lucas (AKA Plum, who had a few 'hatry' drinktng experiences). Fergus also tried h1s hand at betng a bouncer. N o wonder the six-foot-four th1rty-year-old took offence at be1ng asked for ID by the wee ladd1e. Enough said! In conclusion, what we d1d vaned from engaging in thought-provoktng, senous drama to the p1cktng up of and the runntng away from three rogue thirty year-old Canad1an make-up art1sts - don't ask! We feel we gained a huge amount from th1s trip as actors, and perhaps more importantly, as people. It is only left for us to say that we cannot recommend enough applytng for this grant. It has opened up for us a world wh1ch we could never have tmagtned. Whether you go to the Fringe, or to New York (as last year's winner Dave P-W did) we hope that 1t is both as useful and enjoyable as The Stuart Hargreaves Prize was for us. Thrs text rs adapted from talk grven 1n BSR to the school by the two wmners of the pnze Nick Francts and Reuben Aitken tudy Tour to Rome ((Peerless works on panel and canvas. " At 8.40am in February. 2004. thirty art students set out for the Reppublica Hotel in Rome. The main contmgent of the group came from the Sixth Form. and we all looked forward to the brief but vibrant vistt to the anCient city. As soon as we arrived. we were absorbed by the un1que h1storical culture and so we were eager to get underway. Although visiting up to four museums a day might not at first seem the most exciting prospect for a half-term. the fact was that. for the most part, this was most students' second or even thtrd tour w1th the Art School. The Art Department has a un1que way of getting us up every morntng at 7.00am and managtng to unveil the magic of the galleries to even the most fat1gued of students! Our first visit was that very eventng and AJS led us to the Trevt Fountatn. The flowing water over the magnificent Roman sculptures creates a very romanttc feel, and this obviously had an effect on Paris Kennard, who bought a rose and offered i t to a young Italian girl in exchange for a kiss. After about two minutes of trying to understand each other, there was finally a romantic moment. Next on the agenda for that evening was the visit t o the Spanish Steps, where we were able to view true Roman culture at it s finest: the great throngs bustling in the street, and groups of people of all ages gathered on the Steps. The Steps were really quite impressive.but walking all the way up t hem the day after the cross count ry is certainly not healthy! T he group then retired to a restaurant near the hotel and. after a typical Italian meal of either pasta or pizza, we were allow ed to acdimatise ourselves t o the city and explore t he surrounding areas. The next day, we set off for the Vatican Museum, its vast interio r filled with peerless works on panel and canvas as we ll as th e timeless pieces by Michelangelo and Raphael. But I was most impressed by the Sistine Chapel, w h ich in many ways is overwhelmmg because of the intricate detail and sheer complexity of the architectural detail. After lunch, we prepared ourselves for a visit to St. Peter's, with which no one was disappointed. This perfect setting for Michelangelo's affecting Pieta amazed us all. The Museo e Galleria Borghese IS effectively th e Italian Natio nal Gallery, and the next morning we travelled to the centre of Rome to see its collectton m 1ts beautiful setting. The collection contain s masterpreces by Michelangelo, Caravaggio and Tittan. Th1s study of the Renaissance and Baroque periods was ended when after lunch we paid a visit to the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. Th1s IS the greatest collection of Italian artists' work in Rome dat1ng from the 1800's up to the present day. Nearby. we found the Italian version of the Tate Modern housed in a radial building conversion. MACRO was a small collectton of modern art w1th a host of projection and pa1nt1ng. all of which was inspiring. After an action-packed day, i t came as a relief to us all to learn that the evenmg meal was the final thing on our schedule! On the penultimate day. we visited the Capttoline Museums, the world's first public museum housed in a suite of palaces designed by Michelangelo. The collectio n contains highly-regarded, important works from the ancient world. To our great pleasure, we discovered that we had the afternoon off to go shopping, and i t was then that Bobby Vining bought his infamous boots which at the time looked good, but had effectively crippled him by the end of t he tnp. On the final day, we explored t he city in groups some went to the flea market and o thers to various galleries. There was only so much of the city that we could see in fou r days, but everyone left for the airport satisfied. The Art Study Tour to Rome was beneficial In very many ways, and our thanks go to AJS, MJG and the rest of the Art School team for 1ts organisation. The Art Tnp. as usual, was stimulatmg. memorable and something which I am sure t he Art School will repeat again and again. jack Little Interview with DSS Ketth Tse mvervtewed Davtd Smart on hts ttme at Sherborne School. KT Why d1d you come to thts school in 1967? DSS. The 1960s saw the begmnmg of maJOr changes 1n the teach1ng of Mathemattcs 1n thts country wtth the development of 'modern mathematics' courses. As Sherborne was one of the schools 1nvolved tn ptoneenng these changes, I thought that tt would be a good place to start my teachtng career, KT: You were Head of Mathematics from 1972 to 1987. What changes dtd you bnng tnto th1s school 1n terms of MathemattcsJ DSS: As a department we worked closely with the School Mathematics ProJect (SMP) so were able to be tnvolved 1n the development. wnttng and testtng of some of the new textbooks . We had to tnclude m our teachtng a few new topics as well as embraong a w1der range of teachtng and learnmg strategtes. The development of technology m the 1970s meant that the calculator replaced the sltde rule and the computer the calculat1ng machtne, so more reahsttc work tn stattStiCS and numerical analysts was possible. My expenence as a Mathematics tutor wtth the Open Un1versity gave me further 1deas and approaches, w hich I was able to tncorporate into the departmental schemes of work. KT Havmg been a MathematiCs teacher tn thts school for so many years, have you notiCed any changes tn the mterest 1n. and standard of. mathemattcs? DSS: Dunng my years at Sherborne there has always been a cons1derable mterest tn mathemattcs and 1t has been a popular A-level subject Whtle nattonally the number of candtdates studying Further MathematiCs has been decreastng, we have been able to mamtatn the tradttton of 'double mathematics' (w1th two other A-level subjects) in School. I am sure that today's students do not have the same competence and abtltty wtth mathemattcal techntques as thetr predecessors. but they probably have a wtder grasp of the basts of what they are studytng and can employ a more nextble approach towards thetr study of the subject. KT: You were D1rector of Studies from 1985 to 2004. What changes have you noticed in terms of academ1a in the School? DSS: I have occastonally been referred to as Dtrector of 'Change' as dunng my ttme as Director of Stud1es I have seen maJor and rad1cal changes to both the curnculum and exammat1on system The Nat1onal Curnculum, 1n wh1ch the government took a greater role in d1ctating what was bemg taught than prev1ously, was 1ntroduced in 1986 Th1s was the f1rst maJor curnculum rev1ew in th1s country for many years. but fortunately as Independent school we were an not requ1red to follow 1t exactly (though we had to follow the national syllabuses in each subject). so we developed our own Lower School curnculum, the first of several revtews w1th which I was 1nvolved. The Nat1onal Curnculum tntroduced new syllabuses. new exam1nat1ons (GCSE replaced 0-level) and coursework all changes wh1ch made us recons1der our methods of teach1ng. The subsequently to change from 0-Levelled to GCSE the rev1s1on of many of the Alevel syllabuses so that there would be conttnUtty of study. Further changes I had to deal wtth were the 1ntroduct1on of the 'half A-level'. the AS (Advanced Supplementary) exammation. the new A* grade at GCSE and two more revisions of GCSE. Then. during the 1990s, Lord Dearing conducted a maJOr review of the 16- 19 provision. which led to Curriculum 2000 and the current AS/A2 structure. One aspect of all these changes that saddens me is that practising teachers have had relatively little 1nfluence and the new systems have largely been the work of profess1onal administrators. KT. What do you th1nk of the 1ntroduct1on of the new AS/A2 system? Do you th1nk that it IS benefioal to A-level studentsJ - - - - DSS: The key features of the A5;A2 system are that 1t 1s modular and the f1rst three modules lead to the new AS (Advanced Subs1d1ary) qualification. whtch many students take 1n the Lower Sixth. I can appreoate that the government w1shes to provtde the opportunity for those students who did not succeed 1n the former A-level system. to gam a lower qualification. but I don't thtnk that 1t has been helpful to our students. Also. the modular structure is not necessanly appropnate for all subjects. I feel that the basrc problem here. as tn the other structures we have. is the assump lion that one system fits all subjecls. One of the aims of the AS/A2 structure was to encourage greater breadth of study in the Sixth Form. It probably had the opposite effect with us, as we were not able to continue wtth our successful General Studtes programme. However. my main concern is that there are now too many public exammations, and 'examination fatigue' is common in many schools. When I was involved in one of the Deanng consultation meetmgs in 1998 I was 1n a m1nority when I suggested that schools were in danger of becom1ng examination factories, a v1ew that gets much more support today. So, as far as the majority of students at this school are concerned, I do not think that the new AS/A2 system 1s benefic1al. is that today, with the more exarnrnation-based AS/A2 system, fewer boys and girls are Involved 1n jo1nt courses. I feel that the JOint A-level courses are valuable for both schools because they increase the range of subjects available. The JOint societies. sem1na1· groups and rnterv1ew sessions also contribute pos1t1vely to the links between our schools. I am sure that 1t 1s benefioal for both schools to work closely together where possible. KT: What do you th1nk of the academic lrnk between this school and Sherborne School for Girls? KT: Do you have any plans for the future after you have retired? DSS: This school has had academic links w1th SSG since the 1970s when a JOint General Studies programme was established. It provided a very successful and varied programme. One of the ironies DSS: I don't know! I will wait until I have retired before committing myself to new activities. but I will certainly continue my work with the International Baccalaureate and perhaps do some more wnting. Crete 2004 uThe night-life was fantastic. Our adventure began in the early hours of the morning at Gatwick Airport half asleep. The mood in the camp was buoyant and there was a great sense of anticipation as we took off for Athens Airport. Since Greece had won Euro 2004 the day before, the atmosphere in Athens was electric and we thought we might have made it onto TV since there were so many cameras there. From there we embarked from the port of Piraeus for the long journey across the Aegean. The evening sunshine on the open water was a great start to the holiday. As we arrived, there was almost a stampede as the doors opened in Hania and the crowd rushed for the taxis. Armed with only a phrase-book, you could say the communication was a little difficult at first. with none of us able to speak a word of Greek. We were soon ushered into one of the silver Mercedes. the more expensive type of taxi which the Greek people were not taking. Eventually we arrived at our first destination in Hania under the name of Pension Lena. The owner of the apartment was very welcoming and the place was more than adequate with the highlight of a Turkish bath m the basement! After acclimatising. we decided to explore the nightlife around the harbour. There were a number of very interesting clubs and bars but we found a very reasonable bar down a local back-street. There was real sense of achievement and rel1ef as we settled down for the first of many Cretan beers. We were kept very busy during our stay in Hania and spent much of the first day exploring the area. We took in sights such as the ancient Turkish mosque. which is a promment sight on the harbour front. We also took this opportumty to buy some early essentials from the local supermarket, which we found to be easily the cheapest way to eat in Crete. We explored some of the more cultural back street shops purchasmg some traditional beads, which we had seen most of the Cretan men wielding outside their tavernas. George also, rather worryingly, took keen interest in a handcrafted Cretan axe, which left us watching our backs for the rest of the holiday! After consistent nagging from George, we soon v1sited the Naval Museum on the harbour-front, which was much larger than we had expected and kept us occupied for the afternoon. After th1s, we headed off to take a closer look at the lighthouse. which dominates Hania's harbour, ensuring that we stopped to look at Crete's oldest anchor, which was in pride of place outside the Naval Museum. In the middle of our stay we thought it was a suitable time to depart for the Samaria Gorge. This. however, meant an early rise followed by a two-hour journey through the rugged Mediterranean landscape. The gorge was enormous and we hardly managed to make any distance into it owing to the JJ scorching heat. On our final day we surrendered to the heat and took another two-hour coach journey to Elafonissos. a glorious white sand beach found on the west coast. This was a real highlight of the holiday as we snorkelled, swam and played Frisbee for most of the day. Now we really felt we were on holiday! Unfortunately. our five days in Hania passed in a flash and we soon found ourselves on a coach heading for our second location. Rethymnon. On arrival, we stepped off the air-conditioned coach and were again hit by the heat. As a result we were all keen to find our accommodation as soon as possible and before George's t -shirt became completely drenched. Although we had three geography students in our midst. this wasn't going to be easy! After forty minutes of wandering through back streets. Niall and Charlie finally admitted we were lost and AS geography had failed us. but we managed to find a taxi and headed of for our accommodation. On arrival we were met by a large concrete tower and a Greek man called Manos whose grasp of the English language. although better than our grasp of his own, was a little bit thtn and all that he could tell us was 'you will be very much more comfortable here'. The tower was situated in the new area of the city and the room. whtch became known affectionately as the 'concrete dungeon', was no better than the building. But we had a talk and decided a trip into the old part of the city would be the solution to the problems and. sure enough, within an hour we had found a small apartment on the sea-front of the old city, which was actually cheaper than the 'concrete dungeon'. So we moved in and went to see what the c1ty had to offer. Rethymnon was a great city with thriving back streets and restaurants lining the sea-front, the view only being spoiled by the developed area, which we were glad to have escaped from. The prices in restaurants were so reasonable that we ended up eating out for most of our meals and making friends wit h most of the restaurant-owners, wh ich we soon found meant free raki - and we are still not sure whether that was a good thing! On the back of their Euro 2004 success, the Greeks were keen to challenge us to a game of football on the beach. We soon found out that Greek men. aside from being extremely tanned and hairy, felt no pain in their feet. As a result, Charlie's arrogant taunts were blown away and we were left hopping as the sand singed the soles of our feet. But the undoubted highlight of the trip was going to see the Olympic flame ceremony in the Fortezza and the parade through the city streets. It was good to have a I st XV prop with us for the occasion. as when we entered the castle where the flame was being lit, the crowd quickly developed into a serum. As a result, we thought we'd have a qUick look, take some photos and escape for a11-: But we ended up standtng tn the tntense heat. walttng for the tncessant stngtng and danong to cease and for flame to be lit. Later that day we purchased some outhenrtc Greek orange li-loes, and dectded to spend a few hours in the tranquillity of the emerald waters. Charlte, however. found tt unusually difficult to get back on, having been pushed off by an enormous Albanian man tn a thong. just past the halfway-point tn our trip we arnved in Agios Nikolaos, a beauttful harbour town, which not only sat on the sea, but surrounded a man-made lake, whtch made the town a beautiful spectacle at night. Our accommodation was situated tn a small cluster of buildings just outstde the town tn the barren countryside, but was perfectly positioned, betng only five minutes from the beach. As a result. this was the most relaxed part of the tnp, and we often found ourselves playing cards on our terrnce late in the afternoon. When we dtd venture into town, we found it to be a thriving tounst-cenlre, with plenty of shops, allowing us to partake tn some senous present-shopptng. We also vtstted a small El Greco exhtbttton 1n a small Cretan gallery, allowing Charlie and Zeddy to explOit their knowledge of the history of art. George and I were left just nodding and smiling. The ntghtltfe tn Agtos Ntkolaos was very relaxed, but there were many bars and restaurants to choose from as they lined both the harbour and the lake. all offering great food and drink. On our final day in Agtos Ntkolaos, we took the opportuntty offered by the local bus-service to vtstt the anoent Minoan rums a few miles outside the oty. We really got a great feel for how anctent civilisatton operated, desptte much of the oty betng made up of knee-high walls. For our final two days tn Crete, we vtsited Hersonisos. where we stayed tn a small and friendly complex run by a young Engltsh couple. Since the complex was some dtstance from Hersontsos. we were able to enJOY a huge and virtually deserted beach. allowing Charlte to practtce hts place-kicks without caustng any mortal damage to unsuspecting tounsts. The complex also had a great pool where we were able to teach George to swtm and relax with a cold drink and something to eat. The night-ltfe was fantastic in Hersontsos. but espeoally tn Malta (the town next door), where we suspected the English had had some influence, gtven away by the subtle advertisement on one parttcular restaurant for 'Beans on Toast' and the appearance of several penalty shoot-out competttions ltntng the street. Charlie, after much deltberatton, decided that he would definitely be able to slot the ball past the keeper and w in the bottle of champagne. Despite the lack of Cretan culture in this part1cular area, the night-ltfe was thnving and exciting, with a huge street lined only wtth bars and clubs, maktng it practically tmposstble to drag Charlie away. We were absolutely gutted when the trip home finally came and at thts ttme of reflection we realised what a great ttme we had had and how well we had succeeded as totally tndependent travellers. Ntall Scott-Underdown, George jerram , Charlie Wilyman and Zeddy Seymour Rome, The Sorrento Peninsular and the Amalfi Coast uwe enJoyed ottemptrng co speak Ito/ion. " On our travel grant, we - Sam Cooke, Alex Peat, Nick Howe and Dave Kirk - specifically wanted to get a real feel for Italy. As a result, we agreed that it would be a good tdea to spend two full weeks in Italy. We based ourselves tn Sorrento Uust south of Naples) for the first week and in Rome for the second. Though we planned to see many archaeological sttes. museums and the like, we wanted to stick around in one area for a reasonable length of time, to soak up the atmosphere properly. We left Sam's house in London at 4.20 am, to make sure we got to the airport and through passport-control in time to catch the aeroplane. which took off shortly before 6.00 am. When we arrived at Naples Airport and got off the aeroplane, we were greeted by a huge wave of heat. We had arrived. During the flight we had flicked through the in-flight magazine and we bought a 'chocolate scented fluffy bunny' which we named Cedrick. We made htm our mascot for the trip, and he features in many of our photos as a result! We took a bus from the airport. It seemed forever, though i t took less than two hours to wind our way down the coast to Sorrento. After asking locals for dtrections and eventually finding our hotel. we checked in and hauled our (now seemingly very heavy) luggage up the six flights of stairs t o our room at the very top of the building. At first we weren't too keen on this. but soon warmed to the idea when we dtscovered we had the luxury of a large roof balcony. After unpacking and relaxing for a while, we changed and went swimming in the sea - just two minutes' walk from our room. Predictably, the weather was fantastic for the duration of the trip - even after dark. while chatting on the balcony late into the night. if you were wearing anything more than a t-shirt on your top half, you were uncomfortably hot. During the first week. when we were travelling around the Sorrento Peninsular and the Amalfi Coast. we visited Capri. a small island about eight miles south west of Sorrento. Capri was the island where the Emperor Tibenus (40BC-37AD) had his res1dence. A surprising amount is still intact and walk1ng around the remains was fascinating. We also saw the 'Arco Naturale.' a huge natural stone arch, and the 'Faraglioni'. some enormous stacks ris1ng some 350ft vertically from the sea. We enjoyed an excellent lunch w it h a stunning view of t he Marina Grande bay and the sea. We all agreed that though Capri was busy and full of tounsts during the day, at n1ght 1t would have been an amaztng place to stay. Pompeii and Herculaneum were 1mpress1ve (Herculaneum was sl1ghtly more manageable, be1ng a quarter of the s1ze of Pompe1i), though the general consensus of op1nion was that the long climb up Vesuv1us wasn't qUite as rewarding as one m1ght have hoped for (though on a clear day the views from the top would have been marvellous). It was a long journey to and from Cumai (a 90minute train journey into Naples, a metro journey out to Pozzuoli, then a bus to the 'Cuma' (Cumai) area and then a fifteen-minute walk on foot to the actual ruins). The return journey, of course, was the above in reverse order. The ruins (scovt) at Cumai were interest 1ng and seeing the Cave of the Sibyl made the journey worth it. During a day-trip to Naples, we visited the National Archaeo logical Museum, w hich had an extensive range of excavat ions and artefacts (usually the better quality ones, or the more interesting ones) collected from, among o ther places, Pompeii and Herculaneum. The museum was vast and we saw the famous mosa1cs kept there. Paeslum was a very long way away from Sorrento, but again well worth the JOUrney. Among other ruins, three vast temples still stand, some thirty metres across and up to sixty metres back, with all of their columns still proudly upright. During the evenings, we m1xed with the local population and ate out in a variety of differe nt restaurants. Afterwar ds, we entertained those present at a particular bar by jo ining in with the karaoke! Our renditions of such timeless classics such as Robbie Williams' Angels will live in our memories for many years to come! A fter an acti o n - pac k ed week down south. checked our one very central, just off the Campo de' Fiori. After find1ng our way there. we collapsed for a while from the exhaustion of our travels and the h1ke across Rome from the Roma Termini station. In Rome there was a lot to see. The Flavian Amph itheatre. or Colosseum, was the obvious site to visit. We also saw the Pantheon. the Foro Romano, the Catacombs. many of the churches in Rome (San Pietro m Vmcoli was amazing) and the Vat1can City. Eatmg out 1n the Piazza Navona was a great expenence. a must-do for anyone who ever v1s1ts Rome. A meal on the other side of the T1ber. in the qu1eter square of S. Mana 1n Trastevere was also very welcome. The famous Spanish Steps were quite a s1ght. and the fountams everywhere were lovely. The Trevi founta in did not particularly appeal. but the scores of other, more delicate fountains more than made up for that. One of the most challenging thmgs to do in Rome, perhaps surpristngly. was to buy stamps. After a huge amount of searching we managed t o find what seemed the one Tabacchi which sold stamps in the whole of Rome! The Italian dustmen seemed to be out to wake up everyone in their immediate vicinity at 5.15 sharp every morning (they wou ld slam their bags of bottles and rubbish into the back of their vans, making an intolerably loud crashing noise). Visiting the market m Campo de' Fiori was great fun, and managing to find out about and attend, free, a Simon and Garfunkel concert (with the Everly Brothers making an appearance) on the last n1ght of our travel grant was great! Our travel grant was fantastic - we enjoyed attempting to speak Italian, observ ing the extraordinarily relaxed attitude of the Italian people, soaking up the weather and eating the delicious food. Our trip highlights would include the visits to Capri, Herculaneum and Paest um, and Rome generally. We had a good balance of seeing a lot of sites and relaxing and enjoying ourselves in the evenings. All that remains to be said IS a huge 'thank you' to the Travel Grant Committee for giving us the opportunity to go to Italy, and to thorough ly recommend the travel grant system to anyone who IS • · considerin g going on one. rn David Kirk, N 1ck Howe, Sam Cooke and Alex Peat Barcelona uCombming culture and reloxar,on. " As we set off from a damp Bnstol Airport on a fairly miserable morning in late March, we perhaps hoped to be greeted by some rather more pleasant weather at our destination: Barcelona. Th1s was probably a ltttle hopeful, and Fate deoded to chast1se our optim1sm by allowing us only one sunny day 1n the entire trip. However. we were not about to let a l1ttle ra1n put us off, and we were able to do all the thmgs that we had wanted to do. Apart from havmg to wait longer than expected to retrieve our bags at El Prat a1rport, our arnval went according to plan, and we got to our accommodation w1thout any mishap. We had decided, m the mterest of savmg money, to stay m a youth hostel. None of us had had any prev1ous expenence of youth hostels, and our expectations were low enough to guarantee we would not be disappomted. We did, however. find the hostel very satisfactory. aside from the perils of having to share rooms with, for example, a pair of girls who had 1nterest1ng ideas about when to go to bed. Having sorted out where we would be living. we addressed our next priority: where we would eat. First Impressions showed that our area had little more than a 'P1zza Hut' and a very dubious looking Chinese restaurant. As it was our first mght, we decided to settle w 1th the former, letting more cultural eating expenences wait untJI we were settled. On our first full day 1n the oty, we had deoded to visit Barcelona's most famous landmark: Gaud1's 'La Sagrada Familia'. After manag1ng to make our way through the hoards of tourists, we looked round the 1ntenor of the cathedral, still under construction. It is hoped that it w ill be completed in the next twenty years, though since 1t has taken more than a hundred years already we won't be holding our breath We also visited the Casa Mila and the Gothic cathedral. both of which are part of Barcelona's architectural style, although very different. Our first dest1nat1on outside Barcelona was the town of Tarragona, which holds many remnants of the Roman occupation of Spam. The amphitheatre and the Roman circus were 1mpress1ve. as was the more modern cathedral. We ate at an unsavoury, but very Span1sh. cafe. and tried, unsuccessfully, to fmd a way to the beach. Th1s was due to the ra1lway line wh1ch ran between the town and the sea. w1thout any way to cross it. The next day saw us in F1gueres, home of the DaJ1 Museum. After v1ewmg some of the art1st's most 1mpress1ve p1eces. we took the bus to the seaside village of L'Escala, close to the Graeco-Roman town of Empunas. For us, the h1ghlights of the town were the Roman forum and the nearly intact mosaics, still in place, and swimming in the sea off the beautiful beach. After wa1ting for what seemed like hours for a bus to take us back to Figures. we leapt on the first one that appeared, only just discovenng that 1t was not the nght bus before 1t left. Perhaps we should have taken that bus, wherever 1ts destmat1on, because the dnver that took us to F1gures seemed to del1ght in making the JOurney as nauseating as poss1ble: we were all glad to get off. The following day was our last full day in Barcelona, and we vtstted the area of Montjuic, to be rewarded with stunn1ng v1ews of the whole City. We vis1ted several museums as well as the castle on the top of Montjutc, which we reached by cable car. T his was a particularly hot day, and we spent plenty of t ime in the vast marbled halls of the galleries. We finished the day playing golf on the roof of the hostel, by now more in tune w1th the two girls' hours of rest. On our final day 1n the city, we had time before the flight to vtsit the Museum of Catalan History next to the harbour. This gave us an 1nsight into the htstory of Catalon1a from prehistoric times to the present day After thts, we made our way to the airport, and were able to see many of the sttes of Barcelona from the bus. Overall, the trip was a huge success, combintng culture and relaxation tn a beautiful part of the world. Peter Henderson, Alex Morley-Smtth and Keith Tse Trans-Switzerland Pilgrims uTrue to 1rs nome. Au provided much pam. " It's 19:00 hours. Building after building of the Konstanz industrial estate passes by as we walk slowly into its heart. We have no food, no gas for the cooker, and no accommodation. We are already 20km behind schedule. An approaching thunderstorm lines the horizon. Lonely deserted warehouses watch Silently as the final bend renders a dead end. After retracing our steps. we meet a Swiss couple who point us in the dtrection of a camping ground. We arrive and spend the ntght It appeared that the first part of our travel grant had not tn fact, been a smooth journey. After a brief thunderstorm, we moved early m the morning to catch a train to Munchwilen. where the signposts actually started. We were now on our route, on lime, having found the path that had evaded us for so many hours tn Konstanz. From Munchwilen. we walked through the woods and valleys, hills and towns of the Sw1ss German countryside unttl we reached our destmation 'town' (ftve houses, a church and no obv1ous stgn of human habttation) of Au. Hot and bothered, we were deltghted to fmd that our accommodation was not. as one would have expected. stnctly m Au, but one kilometre south and two hundred metres h1gher than our current posit1on. True to its name, Au provided much patn as we walked up a hill to our ·accommodatton'. Out· kind host turned out to be an innocent but very strange Swiss individual whose only apparent interest was watching the grass grow (literally) and feasting on lettuce in the company of his three friends (all of whom domesticated members of the feline species). Our rather random arrival was not helped by the fact that we had virtually no overlap in languages. As you can imagine. therefore. when our host ins1sted on eating salad with us. there was a predictably quiet ambience, punctuated by broken German (us) and broken English (him). We spent that night in the attic of his house on mattresses. The subsequent days were very like their predecessor: steep hills with narrow valleys. The woods were cool and often set on slopes: many a heavy climb was l1ghtened by the lush greenery of the htllside forest and woodland. The civilisation we travelled through was small hamlets usually, sporttng more rivers than houses. Thts was perfect walktng: wooded htlls and small, quiet towns nestled in the valleys. One espeetally memorable place was an area called Honlt Beacon, near Au. Havtng cl1mbed up a masstve htll, densely clad in thick forest we emerged to the brow of the hill. out of the tree- line, and beheld an unspotlt green landscape sprawltng away from us for miles. For a long ttme, we sal watchtng the clouds roll by beneath us. The lowest po1nt of the travel for Ed was Apthal. on Day Four. Th1s was our second mass1ve walk of the route: th1rty-six kilometres over undulat1ng terram the prev1ous day. an uncomfortable sleep and an early start had all taken thew toll. We continued walk1ng at qu1te a pace. but each footstep brought s1gnificant pam. and l1me passed slowly. Inches slowly turned mto feet. and eventually feet mto miles, and after twenty of those we finally reached Apthal, a small mountam town. We found our accommodation. and, after a bl1ndmg torrent of German from our host's mother, we managed to d1scern where we were to sleep: a cellar with walls made of stacked firewood with mattresses. To our horror, t here were no restaurants or boulongenes in Apthal. and we were m far too bad a condition to walk to the next hamlet. I crawled into my sleeping bag and fell asleep. Ed however could not follow suit, but instead lay. now feeling nauseous from bad water, turning the situation over in his mind. Realizing that we might have to survive off little food till the next morning (and already being very hungry at 16:00), and reflectmg on the day of silent pain. the thirteen rema1ning days spread before h1m m dismal parade. Thinkmg of home, he began to attempt to p1ece together a working phone from the mynad phone-parts he had brought, in order to keep h1s prom1se of daily contact. This proved more diff1cult than expected - the comb1nation of an electrical error and the lack a plug-adaptor made the task near Impossible. Eventually the fam1ly in whose house we had set up camp returned to find to rather bedraggled and tired-looking refugees in their cellar. Their many children stood gawking, and we. feeling rather like caged specimens, made our introductions. Having discovered that we were pilgrims, they offered us supper. We eventually retwed for the night, feeling genera lly much better about our Situation. We learned never to underestimate the boost of morale t hat a full stomach brings. Our next significant lodging was a converted farmhouse at Buochs, where they offered us straw for Fr 25. and beds for Fr 28. The deCision was long and arduous. We had our own room there. and found that. as we had finished our walk so early in the day, we had nothing to do. This was where we really learned about how to counter our worst enemy of the trip - boredom. When finishing a walk. your body does not particularly feel like moving. but you may not necessarily be able to go to sleep. H o w e v e r . we found some books which we had read as boys: T1m und Strupp1. or Tintin. which (while being somewhat simple) gave us the valuable distraction and familiarity we needed to hold off boredom and, with it. homesickness. Our last type of accommodation was Z1mmer m1t Fruhstuck . The first one we came to was in Amsoldigen, where an extremely nice couple who owned the place offered me various creams for the swollen foot which I had acquired. Our walk continued much like this: mountains. lakes and. eventually. the flat countryside of the French-speaking part. We deCided, on the last night before Geneva. that we wou ld walk the last rema1n1ng s1xteen kilometres in the dark and reach Geneva to watch the sunrise. At 1.00 am. we woke and took down our tent and b1vi, and departed from the camps1te. which had been right on the edge of Lake Geneva. two days walk from Lausanne. After walk1ng for four hours along deserted, dark roads, we reached the c1ty, our destination, and hobbled to the cathedral Havtng arrived. we walked to the Pont du Mont Blanc, and watched the sunrise over Lake Geneva. Sixteen days of hard walk1ng was completed, and although we had really enjoyed 1t, it was ve1y tough. and taught us a lot about ourselves and the world. The travel grant could on ly really have been improved by booking accommodat ion ahead of time, which we found to be necessary. We were probably saved by t he fact that not many people knew about the pilgrim-lodging. The only other aspect was lack of activity after walking. We eventually acquired some proper books along our route. but there was many an hour before of boredom, whtch quickly led to homesickness. They are worth the weight. After a celebratory Italian meal in Geneva. the travel grant was drawn successfully to its close. james Foster and Edward Pitt Ford Portrait commisions b)' DAVID RISK KENNARD 1\I ERR IOT T HOLSE, PO\\'ERSTOCK. BRIDI'O in . 0 0 RSET DTG : Sf. L K Tel: (0) 130H --18:1529 Fax : (0) I :SOH -IH:,OSD email: akenm11d (ft hig foot.t o m o r " '' ' 1\'.rist..kc llllarcl .('o.uk The Haute Route uFive minutes later. we were in a blizzard. " The day started early at about 6.30 am. Andy's dad gave us a lift to Gatwick from where we flew directly to Geneva, arriving in the early afternoon. It was at Geneva airport thal we encountered our first problem. We had intended to take a coach from Geneva to Chamonix, taking about two hours, but arriving at the airport we not find the bus and, as it was the weekend, everywhere was closed, including the bus-ticket and i n f o r m a t i on office. So, in danger of not making to Chamonix in time to start the walk, we decided to take the train. The was twice the price and did not go straight to Chamonix. but in a big loop down the Rhone valley and then through the Mont Blanc Massif taking about four and a half hours. A plus, however, was that we got a ride on the famous Mont Blanc Express mountain railway which was part of the connection. We arrived Chamonix at in about 7.00 pm. planning to stay at one of the campsites. According to our guidebook, there were two campsites in Chamonix. though we could find neither even using a map of the town. Luckily, we got to the tourist office just before it was closing. and they were able to direct us to a campsite. We woke up on our first day hoping to see good views of Mont Blanc, which towered above our campsite. but were disappointed. The weather mirrored the weather we had left behind in England, being gloomy and cloudy. We had a long walk on our first day as we had combined two stages. Our walk took us up the Chamonix valley, over the Col de Balme and down to the tiny village of Le Peuty. After a couple of hours walking, we managed to complete the first stage and get to Argentiere. Even though the walk had been only gently uphill. we were both feeling quite tired and our rucksacks very heavy. So we found a small restaurant and both ordered a full Fngli<;h breakfast and, as it was France, it tasted better than most I have had in England. With our spirits -:-;:.,_-;to• -:.:. .. revived, we made good time toLe Tour at t he head of the Chamonix valley, but it was here that the real walking began. We had to climb nearly one kilometre, across ski runs, to the Col de Balme. We probably had to stop about fifteen times on the way up, including a stop at the mountain restaurant for but food, eventually we the reached top. By the time we did, the wind had risen to a gale and there were interm ittent showers of rain and snow. After a steep descent, we reached the village of Le Peuty. We actually walked about five hundred metres past the campsite because all it was just a triangular patch of grass with a couple of tiny buildings and no tents. We awoke to heavy rain beating on the roof of the tent. and were faced with the decision whether to try to take the tent down in the rain and continue or stay where we were and wait for the rain to stop. In the end. we left the tent and had breakfast in one of the campsite buildings while waiting to see what the weather would do. We were faced with another decision as there were two routes for this stage: a lower. bad weather, route which skirted round the mountains to Champex. or a higher. much more spectacu lar. route which crossed the Fenetre d'Arpette. A patch of blue sky appearing over the mountains persuaded us to try the higher route. The choice seem justified when. about half-way up. a large gap in the clouds revealed the full extent of the impressive Glacier de Trient. But about fifteen minutes later the clouds had closed in again and it had started to snow. Five minutes later we were in a blizzard. With our visibility greatly reduced and our fingers numb, we were faced with the steep and rocky final climb to the Fenetre d'Arpette, which was made more difficult by a succession of people the other way. When coming we did reach the top. the clouds parted again, revealing I P J ' I I i i l ' i J : ! .· magnificent views down the valley to Le Peuty and Trient. I I I I P The climb down involved crossing numerous rocks and the occasional patch of snow. The weather continued to be erratic but by the evening it had mostly cleared. We reached Champex in the early evening and found the campsite much more easily than the previous night. We had supper at a restaurant that had beautiful views across the Lac de Champex. The next was an easy stage and involved no climb to cross a col. but a valley walk down and then up to Champsec. The day was pretty uneventful. apart from going the wrong way a couple of times. We got to the campsite in the mid-afternoon but found there was no attendant there. We decided to go into the village and buy some food but found that the shop was closed. This meant that I had to walk a couple of miles back the way we had come to get some food. When the attendant did arrive at the campsite, he gave us a welcome drink of a couple of shots of schnapps each and, considering that the campsite was only a couple of Swiss francs each, it was pretty good value. The next stage tnvolved a steep 1650m ascent, across the ski runs of Verbier, up to the Cabane du Mont Fort. It was the first completely clear day of the walk and the heat became oppressive during the climb. Luckily, most of the climb was in the shade of a forest. The route rose steeply through the forest, avoiding the development of Verbier until it emerged out of the forest to what must be one of the best views in the Alps. The Sprawling resort of Verbier wtth its network of lifts lay below us. To our left and tiC e in front of us was the Val de Bagnes. the biggest valley in the Pennine Alps, beyond which we could see the Rhone valley and the Vaud Alps. Across the Val de Bagnes we could see the Mont Blanc Massif and, for the first time, the Peak of Mont Blanc, which was now a smallish white hump of t he horizon. We Continued up to the Cabane du Mont Fort which had equally impressive views . The Cabane was probably the best place we stayed during the whole walk. For Fr 75 we got a I!Hiillllillll small room with two small beds, a three-course ndinner,and breakfast, but adding !S;* the amazing views and the sunset it was well worth the money. The book told us that we were now on probably the most difficult stage of the walk. involving the crossing of three Cols and a glacier. Even so. we decided to extend it by a couple of hours and an extra col to avoid staying at the expensive Cabane de Prafleuri. The climb to the first col was easy, traverstng the Sentier des Chamois. This was not the most relaxing morning's walk as the path was traversed one and half kilometres above the floor of the Val de Bagnes. and if we had tripped we might not have stopped rolling until we hit the valley floor. Luckily, there were chains to cling on to on the most exposed sections. The view across the valley to the Grand Combin was impressive. The climb to the second Col, The Col de Ia Louvie, was more difficult but we made it in time for lunch. The descent from the col was interesting as the most of the slope was still covered in snow. We tried to ski down on walking boots but fell over so much that we spent most of the time sliding down on our backsides. At the bottom we trudged across the snow of the snout of the Grand Desert Glacier, which was well-deserving of its name. It was an empty landscape of broken rock, scree and snow. The climb to the next col took us to us to the highest point of the walk. It was a difficult climb as most of it was on snow. From the top we could see the impressive spire of Mont Blanc de Cheilon but below us was the gloomy Val de Prafleuri, which used to be a huge quarry. At the bottom of the old quarry, we came to the Cabane de Prafleuri, where the stage ended. We were both exhausted and would have gladly stayed there if we had had enough money. The climb up to the next col. though less than five hundred metres, was the most difricult climb of the whole walk. The slope was extremely steep over a mixture of snow and thick mud. It was agony for our legs and we were only able to climb about ten steps at a time. Eventually at the top we were greeted with another impressive view, this time of the Lac des Dix. After another hours walking, we staggered 1nto the Cabane de Barmaz. Th1s was a basiC cabane t hat did not prov1de food and, as we had not been to v1sit a shop for a few days, we were pretty low on supplies. From here we had to walk all the way around Lac des Dix before we could start climb1ng. Once we had crossed the bridge at the top of the lake, we could start. The way up began with a series of switchbacks set 1n grass past various marmot colonies. At a higher altitude, the grass passed to stone and scree. On our right lay the huge Glaoer de Cheilon. The ascent took a good deal of time as we had to ascend to 2919m. The final hundred metres were, to say the very least, dangerous. We had to scramble up a slope consisting of loose rocks. From the top we had to descend down into the valley above Arolla. This valley is somewhat modified as a result of t he ski industry in Arolla. The town of Arolla is small and picturesque; the campsite at the bottom of the village by the river had great facilities. Oddly enough there was a large contingent from Hereford Cathedral School who were here on what appeared to be an activities week. Unfortunately, the weat her took a turn for the worse. Thunder and lightning during the night caused us to worry ourselves to sleep inside our tent. The next would be a relatively undemanding day with no mountains to ascend or glaciers to cross. and so an extra hour in bed was allowed (which was cherished). The weather after the thunderstorms of the previous night was beautifully clear, with not a cloud in the sky. As our campsite at Arolla was some way from the actual centre of town, a small hike was necessary before we could actually start the day's trek. The first stop on t he way would be at Lac Bleu which, surprisingly, is a blue lake. The signposts directing us there were not at times exceptional ly clear and so a minor detour was made. There was no vast difference in distance, but somehow we had to gain an extra three hundred metres. At the lake, we stopped for t he brunch which we had bought earlier on in the day. The remaining journey down into Val d'Herrens was simple and easy along gentle downward sloping paths. We arrived at our campsite at about 2.30, and found that not only did it have a swimming pool, but they took our Euros. This was particularly useful, as in Arolla we had run out of Swiss francs. We pitched our tents and then decided that we needed to stock up on food for the next few days, as we would be away from civilisation for two days. Thus, to find food we had to walk for half an hour down valley to Evolene. There we withdrew some Swiss francs and bought food and supplies for the next few days. We returned t o the campsite to see that the weather was turning the same way as it had the previous night. We had just enough time to swim before the rains came. The following day would be a long one as we were sitting in the bottom of a valley at 1452m and we wou ld have to cross the Col du Tsate at 2868m, then walk up to the Cabane de Mo1ry. Thus, after an early start, we started climbing through fields at first then a forest of larches. However, after three hours. we passed the tree-line and emerged onto the high alp. There we passed various huts and small hamlets on the way to the Col. Today the sky was covered in a loose blanket of cloud, obscunng the sun. making it easier for our ascent. From the top of the Col a new world confronted us. Th1s was not a green valley l1ke the Val d'Herrens, but a high barren one with a lake to the north blocked in by the Barrage de Moiry and to the south the Glacier de Moiry with its impressive icefall. The Cabane de Moiry was JUSt viSible, as a speck next to the huge icefall across the other s1de of the valley. Once at the bottom of the valley. we had to walk for one and a half hours first along the lateral moraine of the glac1er and then up an almost vertical switchback with over twenty-five turns. It was in this location that the Swiss Alpine Club had decided to build its mountain refuge. Despite the climb, t he route up to the hut was crammed with tourists and day-trippers. This is understandable as the view on a good day from the hut would be outstanding. But today was not a good day. The v1ew of the icefall this close up was still remarkable despite the weather. which was rapidly deteriorat ing to snow. This hut was the highest place where we would sleep (282Sm) and, as the altitude dictated, using the outside toilets was quite chilly! As we had climbed to reach the hut, we would first have to descend t o enable us t o proceed. Once this descent was achieved, we walked along the eastern side of the valley past Lac de Moiry and the Barrage de Moiry. From there, we climbed up along a large switchback through a field of cows. When we were near the top of this part. the weather once again clouded our views with mist. And so. with our visibility reduced to ten metres, we reached the Col de Sorbois (2840m) . Here we stopped for some lunch, surveying a somewhat misty Val de Zinal. The high alp above Zinal was littered with ski infrastructure. which seems ugly without snow. Having walked down from the Col. we stopped off in the ski and cable-car station for a drink. From here. all that remained was to descend into the lush green valley. We descended into the town of Zinal, which has many parts - a new modern region containing the supermarket and hotels. and the old town. containing picturesque chalets. The campsite was at the far end of town. Once there. we erected our tent and set off for the supermarket. Unfortunately, when we returned to our tent, the weather had once again turned and we were forced to shelter inside from the rain, The next followed the same pattern as the previous days: get up. walk over a mountain pass, and then descend into the next valley. Today the weather was fairly poor. with almost constant cloud cover. To cross the Col de Forcletta (2874m) we had to trek alongside the ride of three-thousand-metre peaks to our right until we could ascend and cross at the lowest point. Once we were over the Col. we were in the German-speaking region of the Valais. On the descent. the weather really turned on us. Thick mist and ram descended so that our descent was long and depressing. Eventually we arrived in the small village of Gruben. It is only inhabited in the summer, but signs of technological advancement were apparent as we witnessed the assembly of a mobile telephone mast. We stayed in a matratzenlager, which was above a small restaurant. The following day. we crossed our last mountain pass, the Augstbordpass (2894m). From Gruben. we walked almost due east up the side of the valley. following the path of a river. first through a forest then out onto the Alp, and eventually up onto the rocky mountain pass. The final section of the pass was another exercise in scrambling, where we had to use all four limbs to haul ourselves (and our packs) over the pass. From here, we descended into a rocky basin and then we walked around an arcte. On the other side, the v1ew that confronted us gave us an excuse to stop and take a break. Stretched out some 1.3km below us was the lush green trench or the Mattertal. And across on the other s1de of the valley lay the Ried glacier s1tt1ng above the town of Gasenried. We carried on descending mto the small village of Jungen. Th1s village is perched on the s1de of the valley some eight hundred metres above the floor. We rested here for what would be our final descent. The path down to St. Niklaus has along the way small shrines dedicated by the great mountain- guide families of St. Niklaus, depicting the Stations of the Cross. Upon arriving in St. Niklaus we stayed in a relaxing hotel. which was the only place in town which had spaces. Despite the distance, we would have no difficulty with the valley-walk on our last day. The weather had cleared up and it was fairly hot w ith large clouds scattered across the sky. We found the val ley littered with transport infrastructure. This aside, the path followed the river all the way into Zermatt. Upon arrival, we collapsed onto a park bench and decided what to do. First, considering we had been deprived of unhealthy food for two weeks. we feasted on a Macdonald's meal, and only then did our minds turn to sleep. The town of Zermatt has some fifty or more hotels, hostels, and campsites. We stayed in a delightful guesthouse. To catch our flight, we had to get up at a disagreeably early hour so that we could catch our train and the subsequent connection so that we could get to the airport. The weather was mixed but now of no relevance. The night departed on Lime and was empty. Once we had landed at London City Airport and collected our bags, we stepped out into the sunshine. From there we took a shuttle bus and then the tube and finally we crammed into a train bound for home. James Batchelor and Andrew MacDonald sampson Symonds. \1\tl IH N A PNtJ/'I R t• l.U.\\11 /I A'I;I\ 0 www.symondsandsampson .co.uk I JI \ ' t J. \ \ • I J f 1 A' ' I I • U' I I I ' I I I A' I • \ rJ H I N\ I I • I t J \ JJ t J 1 .,cl? .hon Animal Farm by George Orwell Keith Jarrett Pnze Book Revtew Th1s novel is about a group of slave-driven animals who. inspired by the most revered animal on the farm. an intelligent boar named Major. decide to stage a revolution. Under-nourished by the1r lazy owner. Mr. jones. they attack the food bins. The farm workers seize the opportunity to whip the animals. who promptly retaliate and dnve them all. including their sadistic owner. out of the farm gate at the end of the drive. A certain pig named Snowball assumes the position of leader, and he creates seven commandments. saying that anything on two legs is evil and that all animals are equal. They also rename their habitat as Animal Form. For a while the animals live in harmony, as free beings. but they still work in order to maintain the crops. Snowball also introduces special days of the year. and creates songs and awards for bravery and suchlike. His second in command, Napoleon. loathes him. Napoleon secretly trains up seven puppies into ferocious dogs. devoted to Napoleon Under his orders they mercilessly drive Snowball from the farm. and he takes the pos1tion of leader. For a short time everything continues as normal. but slowly the work becomes harder, food becomes shorter and the 'superior' pigs rece1ve more privileges than the other creatures. Napoleon, upon hearing of Snowball's having links in the farm. savagely executes dozens of 'traitors.' Napoleon changes the commandments frequently. and goes nowhere without his escort of dogs. Gradually, the w1ser farm an1mals begm to real1se that the equality that once ex1sted upon An1mal Farm IS slowly melting mto extinct1on. As the ptgs' act1ons become obviously unacceptable. they start creatmg intelligent excuses which always fool the more stupid an1mals. Us1ng their intelligence. they are able to manipulate the an1mals to the1r hearts' content. The an1mals' old motto of 'Four legs good, two legs bad' IS replaced by 'Four legs good, two legs better' and Napoleon bans the an1mals' favounte song. 'Beasts of England'. In the end the pigs start weanng clothes. eating off plates, sleeping 1n beds, and even drinking beer. Finally they form a friendship with the once hated neighbouring farmer, Pilkmgton. and are seen playing cards with him and his friends through the kitchen window . The theme of An imal Form is not d1Hicult to understand. Th1s novel by George Orwell is 1ntended to cnt1cize the communist reg1me he saw sweeping through Russ1a and spreadmg to Europe and even the U.S. dunng the Second World War. Though he agreed with many Marx1st principles. Orwell was unable to accept the Communist interpretation of Soc1al1sm. because he noticed similarities between the Commun1st governments and the previous Czarist regimes that existed in the old Russia. He saw Communism as 'inherently hypocritical'. In h1s self-proclaimed 'fairy-story', Orwell uses the allegorical farm to symbolize the Communist system. Though the intent1on of overthrowmg Mr. jones, who symbolises the Czars. does not seem evil. Napoleon's subsequent adoption of nearly all of Mr jones' prinoples and harsh mistreatment of the an1mals proves to the reader that Communism IS not equality. just another form of inequality. The pigs and dogs. thinking that they are the most su1table administrators of the government, assume most of the power for themselves . Eventually the power corrupts them. and they turn on their fellow-animals using propaganda and bloodshed, thus elimmattng competitors. Therefore Napoleon here corresponds to Stalin, who used JUSt such methods to maintam a powerful stranglehold upon h1s pos1t1on as dictator of Russia. Humphrey Gibbs Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks Keith Jarrett Prize Book Rev1ew B1rdsong IS the story of Stephen Wraysford. before and during the F1rst World War. It follows his pre-war life and how everything he had was lost for the love of h1s life. Isabelle Aza1re , a woman marned to a factory-manager 1n France, whom Stephen IS staying with. After they run away together, Isabelle discovers she is pregnant. When she finds this out she leaves Stephen and goes to stay with her s1ster. Stephen has no idea where she has gone. He remains in the1r house hoping for her return but she does not come. His depression leads h1m to JOin the army for the War, dunng which the ma1n bulk of the story takes place. Th1s part of the story is deeply moving and obviously a large amount of thought and research went 1nto it. It follows Stephen's command of his unit and his relationship with his men. There is. however, another s1de to th1s part - his battle with h1mself for san1ty. He is partly kept sane by his friend. Captain We1r, but when he dies Stephen finds h1mself los1ng the battle until he meets Jeanne, Isabelle's sister. Stephen relies on her for his sanity and she sustains h1m. The book. I think, is one of the best war books I have ever read. Its descriptions of the war are sensational. It describes every aspect of life in the trenches. from what you see to what you thmk. After a wh1le you feel that you know the soldiers' personalities and that you know them themselves. There are some points in the book that compel me to stop and th1nk. It is tremendously powerful and moving. To someone. like me, who does not know much about trench-life, the book is really shocking. However, through all this darkness. a beam of light protrudes: Elizabeth Benson. In between the chapters set m the war come chapters set 1n the 1970s. Dunng these chapters the book follows her relationship w1th her lover, Robert, and also her search for knowledge of her grandfather. Stephen Wraysford. Elizabeth, in her search for knowledge goes to meet Tom Brennan, who served the whole war w1th her grandfather. and she also discovers her grandfather's diaries that she has translated by a fnend. In these she discovers that another of her grandfather's friends, jack Firebrace. who died in the war, had lost a son, called john, while he was at war. At the end of the book Elizabeth names her own baby john after him. Overall, I th1nk that Birdsong is an amazing book. The truth shown in the book IS quite disturbing 1n some places. The characters do not know where they are going the whole time, all they have IS road s1gns. The reader 1s also left in the dark about what is happemng. I liked this because 1t made me feel part of it. I enjoyed the book very much and I think that the amount of time Sebastian Faulks obviously took to make it seem real really pays off. Rafe Dance Iraq Red, white, stars and stripes, not black and white, there is no light. Propaganda, why not brand her. a country suffers from treacherous slander. Allied forces, damage causes, time pauses while cavalry charge on w1nged horses. ASRAAM fired, a side inspired - the other tired. explosives wired. Missiles fly. multi coloured sky. people cry, the end is nigh. Buildings infiltrated. cities obliterated, weapons outdated, prisoners rated. Death to all, numbers fall, tales grow tall. they hit a wall. A leader not killed. expenses billed, all the graves have been filled. The West make their mark, some leave on ark, the East stays dark. Why did we g o - go to IRAQ?, Leo De Watts Exeunt This story and those by Thomas Royle and Chtts Gilbert were wntten under the rnruence of a short story by Romond Carver called 'Popular Mechonrcs '. Carver's style rs drstmwvely terse and spore. and he deals uncompnsmgly wrth themes o{ love, jealousy and conrra wtthrn mamage. As the sun reflected off the burnished surface he was momentanly uns1ghted. Yet the warm sun that had appeared later than usual this ch1lly day could not penetrate the deeper chasms of his darkened soul. He was acutely sens1t1ve to its blind1ng hght as if a pnsoner to the shadows and so he scuffled away mto the only corner of the room that d1d not fall under the sun's gaze. Aga1n he looked down at the glassy smooth surface of the object tn his hand. It was obv1ously heavter than he had anticipated for the wrist hung shghtly down and there was an odd qu1ver every so often as 1f the hand was trying to keep the 1tem steady, mak1ng h1m appear more val1ant than he really was. It could have been nerves tak1ng control of h1s weak body. He could almost taste the hard cold metal m his mouth JUSt by looking at 1t. Th1s made htm fidget a b1t and almost drop it. But he repositioned his sweaty hand around 1t and started to squeeze 1t so hard that the t1ps of his fingers turned to blue balls of lead. He had to let go as the pam grew but that pain was nothing compared to the torture h1s mother had received over the past few years from the hands of her own husband. In h1s mind he'd lost the title of husband the first t1me he h1t her many years ago. He had been transfixed for around an hour 1n t he gloom but time was no more for him than just one more obstacle to manoeuvre around. For that hour he had been drawn 1nto a sort of trance where his brain had d1sappeared and he JUSt stared at the entity m h1s hand that had now become his master. He was awakened by a h1gh-pitched yelp from downstairs and then tender moans. The moans started to draw nearer to h1m as his mother dragged a body upstarrs. Her body. She twisted herself rnto her room and slammed the door shut. He looked over to the window and. be1ng careful to avo1d the hght from the still-fiery sun, glanced out. What was he going lo miss 1n th1s world? It was a mess anyway and it was giv1ng h1m no sat1sfact1on . He could hear the sound of large boots beat1ng on the krtchen floor below. This was his cue 1n the play that was rapidly drawing to an end. It was t1me to put everythtng behmd him and finish what h1s 'father' had started all those years ago when h1s fist first came mto contact with h1s mother's face. He gave the gleaming object m his hand one last look before Inserting 1t into the back of h1s frayed jeans . A s he dragged h1s feet out of his cave of a room he could hear the soft wh1mpering still surging out of his mother's room. As he opened her door she tned to h1de her face but he still noticed the purple marks where that man had clasped his hand round her neck and the black eye had started to appear. He closed the door and the moanmg started agam. He could feel the object digging 1nto his back like a monster clawmg at h1m: it wanted to be used. He went down to Lhe k1tchen where the other actor 1n this play was wait1ng. He had not a care in the world for h1s bra1n was no longer controlling him: it was the metal structure 1n the back of his trousers that was in charge now. He stood before the kitchen doorway, feeling for a moment as though he was hovering on air in a moment of peace. As he stepped in the man turned to face him 'What you want!' The man had no t1me to say anythmg else or draw any more air to feed his body for a bullet had entered his head from the gun that had come out of h1dmg from the boy's trousers. Then the boy could taste the cold metal in h1s mouth; as a scream came from upstairs the gun barked once more. Then darkness. Ed Rogers Life When all around you you can see, 1s l1fe as fa1r as 1t used to be? Life grows old, you're feeling cold, you'll tell the stones you once were told. The heart beats twice, then twiCe again. how long IS it until the end? The muscles ache. your bones are brittle. it pains you to walk a little. Your fnends have d1ed, you are the last, how long has 1t been now? You've been livmg in the past. Breathmg hurts, coughing worse, your last gasp is a curse. When all around you you fail to see, life only creates m1sery. Leo De Watts Family Politics The vem on Brian's forehead was a very accurate barometer of hrs state of mind. When his drsposttion was sunny the vein was invisible. However on a mornr ng like thrs the blood vessel was tense and ready to burst. JUSt like its owner. The storm was about to break. Alex was a lively seventeen-year-old with dark tousled hair and was havrng a wonderful trme w1th fifty simrlar friends at a party in his parents' house 1n Surrey. Brian, his father. was a somewhat dull middle-aged and balding accountant who was at a conference in London for two days while Alex's mother Margaret was visiting her srster in Portugal. Alex snatched the opportunity with both hands. How useful e-matls can be in this situation! Unfortunately Brian was included in the address book of those 1nv1ted! Brian was cool with figures on a piece of paper but had a short fuse at home. The unttmely and annoymg e-mail caused Brian's rapid exit from the hotel. Brian's mood was nottmproved when he had his photograph taken. Thrs was by courtesy of a speed camera on the A316 as he drove raptdly out of London. A policeman in a bnght yellow BMW had already given him a black look as he was dialling the home number on his Nokia. The mobile phone had ended up wedged out of reach under the passenger seat Brain's careful thoughts on how to deal calmly wrth the situation were left 1n the car as he crunched up to his front door. 'What do you think you are doing!' exploded Bnan as Alex appeared in designer ripped jeans and one of Brian's blue striped Paul Sm1th sh1rts. 'Who are all these people in my house and who gave you permission?' Alex looked astonished but said, 'Sorry if I forgot to tell you. Mum always says it IS important to have friends. They have been told to only smoke in the garden and not to put glasses on the mahogany furniture.' replied A lex with practised casualness - perhaps a little too casual for Brian. Brian strutted with stiff legs and short paces through the front door and into a wall of noise. The beer bottles on the Georgian sideboa rd were dancing to the beat of the music. Brian's rate of breathing increased alarmingly. His eyes glared and nostrils flared at the sight of his own contribution, his very own ten-year-old claret, being enjoyed enthusiastica lly by the teenage party animals. 'The sound would be less if we had fitted carpets rather than those old rugs.' shouted A lex who had remembered that sound reflects well off solid surfaces like the wood-b lock floor. He had had a close encounter with some angry neighbours and the polished surface was not in his opinion ideal for dancing. 'Who is going to clear up this mess and where are your friends staying?' 'Everyone has parties all the time. This rs no b1g deal. This is my home as well as yours. Please stop overreacting and embarrassing me.' said Alex. Bnan wasn't sure how to deal w it h the situation. As usual, he phoned his wife. 'Give the boy some responsibility and speak to him as an adult. Calm down and go back to your conference. I'll be back in two days to sort things out.' Brian thought what a good politician Margaret could make while Alex thought what a great party he was having. Brian t urned to the mirror: the vem was no longer v isible. Thomas Royle Andando en cfrculos Un faisan se remonta en las nubes encima Alegre, inocente y libre. Pero serpient es rientes: nada salvo lo suyo Ven volando en su reticula. Engatusandose, enrollandose el uno al otro Escupiendo; del interior, se eleva Una sola cabeza, levantada al cielo, El faisan planeando en su ojo. La lengua ataca, AI faisan le golpean, La inocencia queda; La libertad no. El faisan. Encabritado por serpientes. Creaci6n, Cayendo a Ia tierra. Rich Rabone Mummy's Boy The first one missed, but the second one caught h1s left eye. The knuckle tore off the scab that had only JUSt healed from last n1ght. He w1nced with pam and tried to protect h1mself w ith his forearms. Mother took the vodka bottle and finished the last third. She had been drink1ng since ten o'clock in the morning. Now, at four-thwty, Ryan had only been home from school half an hour. She fell onto the red sofa, tak1ng a new bottle with her. She ordered Ryan to make her supper. He knew that if he d1dn't. he would be h1t e1ther by f1st or bottle. Ryan prepared some old sausages; the smell made h1s empty stomach crave food. He handed over the supper and was commanded to s1t on the sta1rs wh1lst Mother ate. He had not eaten for two days. He dec1ded to try h1s luck at qu1etly stealing food. The l1ttle food tn the house was hard to reach but he was starving. He crouched by the rusty metal table and felt for some b1scuits. He took one and retreated before swallow 1ng the biSCUit 1n one gulp. He could not res1st the temptat1on of another one. O nce agam he crouched by the old table father had left behind. He reached out for the t1n but th1s t1me Mother caught sight of him. She stood up m rage and marched over: Ryan stood up to confront her. Th1s was a mistake: no one could stand up to Mot her. She curled her thin, bony fingers around his collar and pulled h1m towards her face. Ryan could smell the poison in her breath. He felt nauseated. Before he could protect himself, Mother Jabbed h1m in the ribs. It took the w1nd out of him. She pushed him onto the bare wooden floor and retreated to her sofa l1ke a lizard. Ryan felt dizzy; the little strength he had had been sapped by Mother's punch. He tried to focus on her red blouse but was unable to. The room began to sp1n and h1s head dropped to the floor ... 'He should be fine. He only needs some food and water.' Voices began nnging 1n Ryan's ears. 'How long before he'll be able to mountam-bike aga1n?' another vo1ce rang. 'Shouldn't be long: hopefully a month', was the reply. Ryan started to come round. He tned to open his eyes but could not summon the strength. Minutes passed before he managed to force his eyes open. He opened his leh eye a crack and caught a glimpse of his surroundings. The room was white with no decoration. 'Ryan. are you awake?' a woman's vo1ce inquired. 'What?' he murmured. He forced open h1s eyes and saw a nurse dressed 1n a wh1te overcoat. 'You must have somethmg to eat and dnnk. You have not eaten a solid for over a week.' she sa1d. 'What am I do1ng here?' He struggled to put together the sentence. 'You were knocked out when you hit a tree mountam-bikmg.' 'What?' he couldn't remember mountain-biking: he d1dn't even have a bike. 'Your mother...' As the nurse spoke softly his m1nd wandered back to t he v1olent ep1sodes m h1s past. '...told me that you have been on an exped1tion cyclmg. You w ill be d1scharged home in one hour.' Ryan could not believe it. Her capac1ty for lying aston1shed even him. He could not argue; no one argues with Mother. He began to think into the future and drifted off... 'Wake up Ryan. Wake up.' a voice coaxed. He opened his eyes. Mother stood there with her p1erong brown eyes stanng 1nto Ryan's. Beh1nd mother was the nurse. He was go1ng back home. Chris Gilbert Wounds of War I can see you. bleeding in the dark. Your wounds are fresh. my teeth are sharp. Your sword is drawn, but you shed a tear. Will you attack? I sense your fear. You clutch your side. does it hurt? I can hear your vessels burst. You've made a lunge but I've knocked you down. I look larger when you're lying on the ground. You sword is gripped tightly in your fist. It's just too bad that w hen you had a chance. you missed. There's just you and me, no one about. Let me tease your innards out. Attack again. see if you can. just as I thought, you tried, but ran. I've caught you up and pushed you down. Where were you running? I'm the only one 'round. My kn1fe 1s held at your neck. You have become a gibbering wreck . Now let us see if your blood is red. You've made a jolt. Your blood is shed. You move no more. you lie there, still. A gallon, your pool of blood would fill. When I look again to see. there is no you, but only me. Leo De Watts Fearing nature: the nature of fear I am here because I have to be: the stench of suffering ubiquitous in a hospital, I ordinanly nee from: l must hope that. tn a day. I am still able to smell it. The damaged kidney whtch affltcts my health also condemns me to the agonizmg uncertainty of watting: I have waited for my suffenng to end for two years, whether from kidney-fatlure. or the news of donor-acceptance. It is tronic that only now I realtze that a successful operation will not cure the watting, merely change its nature, as I will still have to watt for rejection. The white of the walls polluted by the aura of death, the v t le green cloth of the tnstttutlon. makes your skin crawl: fuelled by fear, there is no ltmit to the power of paranot a. The ticks of the clock grow malevolently louder, consummg the remainder of my ltfe. The four walls close 1n The bedclothes ptn me down Res1stance IS fut1le: l am trapped by my mmd. My remnants of sanity cling to the last, fleerng, strand of hope: salvatiOn tn company. Yet those w1th the power to provide thts, my family. cannot: they glare, rapt, at the flecked headboard behind me, unable to conceal the feeltng that to look at me is to look at a dead man. We share the depnvatton of choiCe tn betng here, yet tt ts a barrier between us. All attempts at conversatton are tatnted by the guilt whtch forces them to be here. I feel as if I have forced them to come and share. not atd, my suffering, for the pain IS etched on thetr transfixed faces. Urging my family from the room, t he doctor strides in, businesslike, hts compassion suppr·essed by necessity. Both he and the accompanying nurse wear smiles intended to reassure: neither smile achieves rts purpose, for the smiles do not extend from their mouths to their eyes. The nurse's eyes are glazed. for she is young. and as yet unused t o the professron, and the ubiquttous suffenng rs strll a shock to her: The doctor's eyes, hardened by expenence, are intent wrth concentration. Both smiles are merely token gestures, made in an ignorant belref or wrshful desire that they help, or perhaps even to help the doctor and nurse deal with what they face. However, being so clearly a mask to therr true feelings. they cultivate in me a fear for my life whtch grows with every passing moment. Then. after the smile. comes the doctor's vorce from on high: slow. deliberate, patronrzing, as an adult would speak to the young and ignorant. If I had any doubt before. I now know myself to be powerless over the future of my life. The realization of this causes my sense of anger and frustration to grow, temporarily consuming my fear. Blood rushes to my head, my temples poundrng as the blood courses through by veins, propelled by rage. I feel my eyes strain as the pupils dilate funously. A taut, clenched knot forms in my stomach as instinct tnes to suppress my fury. I struggle agarnst my emotrons. concentrating so hard that I can no longer hear the doctor's words. Seemrngly oblivious of my tnternal struggle, the doctor continues, his features blurred rn my unfocused v t sron. untrl. suddenly. 1t rs over. Bnskly, coolly. the doctor leaves the room, followed by the nurse. and seems to take my anger wrth htm. W ith the all-consuming rage departed. my mind ts allowed a moment of calm, of respite. a moment in whrch it can wander freely. Alone once more, my mrnd loses 1tself tn the labynnth of the paradoxrcal nature of our need to talk about our fears: the bigger the fear, the fewer people you can confide rn There is no greater fear than that of death, but to talk about it often evokes in the listener a sympathy so great that for them to listen becomes torture. However. preparing for death alone tortures yourself: the prospect of judgement Day, never really consrdered before, becomes ternfyingly real. Waking and sleeprng dreams, whrch remain viv r d in the memory. are haunted by rmagrn1ngs of what rs to come. You recount your life, stns hrghlighted by fear, and Judge yourself: you are condemned. My chamber IS opened, my room entered by nurses, my world moved. The walls flash past as I am taken, helpless. to my place of death or resurrectton. The fear swells, throbbtng against the rnsrde of my head. rn rhythm With my heart: my self and rts terror are one. Though we try to prepare for death. what we do not and cannot prepare for rs the uncertarnty of not knowrng whether we will ever wake up. As I lie here. the tmage of what may be the last room I ever see rs burned 1nto my mtnd. The pure whrte wrndowless walls gleam. reflectrng the glare from the dazzling strrp-lrghts. The doctor, clad tn hts green plasttc apron. caresses the edges of hts scalpel. Only now do I fully comprehend that this COLIId be the end, and cling to conscrousness wtth all my power. The masked face of the anaesthetist fills my vtew as he lowers the transparent piastre mask whtch could be the gateway to the end of my life; in no way am I ready to die. Fightrng the consumrng nothtngness, one last thought escapes: 'Is thrs the last thought I will ever thrnk? And will I ever know 1f rt was7' Rrchard Rabone Port Vila and the First World War Keith Jarrett Pnze Book Revtew Port Vila IS the cap1tal city of Vanuatu. It is situated on the island of Efate and IS four hours' flying time from Sydney into the Pacific. The country used to be known as the New Hebrides and was ruled by a Bntish and French jomt government (the Condomm1um) unt1l July, 1980, when 1t gained independence. In Vanuatu there are several old French and English families who settled there during the Condommium and stayed after Independence. We spoke to a member of an old British family who sa1d that there were no effects of the F1rst World War here; he just simply answered 'none whatsoever.' We then asked an old French resident and he sa1d that commumcat1ons were so slow that hardly any people, especially on the outer 1slands of the nat1on. even heard about 1t so only a handful of people ever left to go and fight. But he also added that no ranch ever failed as a result of its owners' dying in the war. A local hotelier whose family has been here for generations backed up this opinion. I subsequently asked a member of Peacecorp and she told me to check on the war memorial for names. However, when we went to photograph it there were no names on it and so we had no 1dea how many men wenl and died in the war. We tried to look the subject up in the nat1onal archives but they were being moved from the place where they had been for the past twenty-four years to the place where they should have been for the past twenty-four years. So 1nstead we asked the curator of the National Museum and Cultural Center, Ralph Regevanu, who is wtdely respected throughout the pacific for his knowledge. He told us that the First World War had no effects on Vanuatu but that the arms race and the build up to it did. He said that there were two early settlements in Vanuatu, both on Efate. The British settlement was in the north of the island and the French settlement was where Port Vila is today. In 1904 the German Fngate Undine entered a bay 1n north Efate now called Undine Bay. At the same time the British settlement was being decimated by an outbreak of cerebral malaria. After this outbreak the British moved down to the French settlement and, as they believed Germany was interested in the country, the French and Brit1sh agreed under the Entente Cordiole that they would have JOint rule over the nation and so the Condominium was born. Alexander Hill Superstar I remain with my back in the grass where I have been felled. Sounds of battle and camaraderie echoing off the moist soil Slowly fade away; I have not observed the stars for so long: The minute pomts of light wh1ch remind me of my insignificance, These celestial bodies float 1n the same space, yet in a different time, Mortal as I am, yet so invincible. I focus on a single star and sh1ver - l realize, To look upon these stars is to look upon my fear of falling; The plummet to the stars so very far below me. These very same stars gaze up from underneath me Wishing for the modest mouse life I live. Zhang Rui Tan Persecuted by Paranoia A shadow of illness has loomed over my family for all the fifteen years of my life: stnce before I was born, my Dad has suffered from dystonia, a nervous disease w h ich can cause crippling pain and spasms. This has left him unable to work. which means he is always at home in the holidays, but because of this, my sister and I have more responsibility to take it upon ourselves to help: he is tndependent. and refuses to let his illness stop him from gardening and helping around the house. However. much physical exertion often causes him a lot of pain. so we must help when we can. as it doesn't hurt us. W hilst dystonia not fatal, it has been for years incurable, until an Oxford professor pioneered the surgtcal technique used to help sufferers of Parkinson's, and adapted tt for dystonia. For the first ttme, a ray of hope attempted to shine through the darkness of pain. a ray with the medical title of Deep Brain Sttmulation. I have never liked hospitals: the smell of disinfectant attempttng and failing to conceal the stench of suffering wafting around, entenng my nostrils and breeding guilt in my mtnd: guilt for merely being healthy. Everywhere I look ts the stght of a human. lying helpless on a hospttal bed, tubes protruding from almost all areas of sktn that are allowed to show: my Dad. tn my eyes a complex, emotional person, reduced to a s1mple survival machine, with no real influence over his future. I look at htm, barely conscious from the effects of the anaesthetic administered for his earlt er brain-scan. the unbearable thought t rrevocably lodged in my mind: will this tmage, frail and fragile, be my final memory of my father1 SurlrlP-nly ilware of questioning eyes upon my face. which must have been showing my inner turmoil. I gtve a weak smile and turn away. Whilst we were struggling to find the money needed to pay for the operation. which was far more than we could afford, simply living out my life while my Dad was away had seemed easy. However. while he was in hospital I lived much of my life in a dream world, but it was a world in which I was tormented and tortured by my imagination: time after time, I watched the operation through my mind's eye, yet no matter how many times I saw it, it never succeeded. Through the medium of my imagination I saw cerebral fluid leak out through the holes drilled by the doctors to insert the electrodes: your eyes, both your physical eyes and that of your mtnd, stmply see. Your brain does not know tf they see truth. Unable to banish Lhe possible imminent death of my father from my mtnd, the question of where he wou ld go next nagged at my mtnd. W ith a single phone-call, during whtch he dtd not speak, the only evtdence I had of the safety of my father, my imaginatton was allowed to run riot, seeking out all posstble conditions the words 'as well as can be expected' can descnbe. W ith adrenaline. the product of my nervous state, heightentng my senses, the feeble cutLain drawn around the hospital bed became a translucent barrier, providing teasing, but unwelcome, glimpses of the slumped form behind it as I approached. W ith my hand no steadier than my father's normally was, I looked on. through apprehensive eyes, as the genially smiling doctor twitched the curtain aside. reveal1ng the post-operative form of my father. his face pale. his eyes closed: he was sleeping. The doctot- gently pronounced the sleeping man to be well. and we left. reassured. As time ticked on. the self-pronounced 'bionic man' began to feel the rehabilitating effects of the operation, and though he frequently clatmed that he had expected a more dramattc improvement , his recovery was clear for all others to see. His independence and mobility were heightened, his stamina increased: even his personality became more affable as he recovered. He had been given a new lease of life: the change was Incredible, but he must have had to undergo a readjustment of his view of himself which I cannot even imagtne as he began the journey back to a relat1vely normal life, somethtng he had not experienced for twenty years. N o matter how great man's advances in technology are, we will always be dogged by the perennial problem of machtnes: sooner or later, they wtll break. In a cruel twtst of fate, as tf health was a luxury beyond his reach. one of the crucial wires leading into my Dad's bratn tnexpltcably became detached, instigating a descent back into the pain from which he was beginning t o recover. However, we only see the symptoms, not the cause, and so for months the problem was left alone: the obvious conclusion for us was that the operation had given as much benefit as it was ever going to. for we were told that it may not completely cure him. Fortunately. regular check-ups are insisted upon by the hospital, and they found the problem on the next of these visits. Having found the problem. the solution was another operation, identical to the first one. to replace the broken wire. The cruel cycle of emotions restarted, but this time thetr intensity was lessened: having suffered from an tllness once, the body often creates anttbodtes to fight the dtsease. so I can only assume that the mtnd has similar capacity to fight infection. I was cons1derably more relaxed during the period of his hospital stay, though still scared during the operation itself, as some things even the human brain cannot disregard. and the operation ttself was, as far as can be obtatned from data readouts, an unqualified success. It was also an tmprovement over the original operatton. which. although tt was beneficial to my Dad's health, gave dubtous results on the data readout. If he makes a stgntftcant or full recovery. he may be able to work . and our famtly holidays would be more exciting. as the illness would no longer constrict our plans. The greatest effect if would have on me would be to ensure freedom: more time for myself, as Dad could do the jobs he ltkes more often. and freedom from the worry that he was caustng himself pain. I live tn hope that, with luck and ttme , the shadow of tllness may yet be permeated by the light of health_ R1chard Rabone Kung Fu for Dummies Next t1me someone asks to see some jack1e Chan, Bruce Lee or R1cky Tan, I want to surpnse the oblivious customer. Tear off my coat to reveal a full set of angry pyJamas. Brandish a wooden board only to smash 1t with my forehead. 01smiss the five nrnJa extras rn six simple steps. Then stroke my long wh1te beard, Before givrng my best 1m1tation of a flying kick. All the wh ile denyrng their pathetic pleas, 'Me-no-speaky-eng- lish!' Z hang Rui Tan Colour inside the lines The author was awarded o splcndrd bowl by the lntematronal Society of Poets for thrs poem. W hy IS there shame rn spilt milk? W hy rs your aspect superior, mine inferior? W hy must I walk on the pavement? W hy can't I defy this enslavement? 1mprison my mind, chast1se my nature, set rules for my soul, determine my role. Force me to colour inside the hnes. Zhang Rur Tan SHIRBURIIAI Firsc Pnze - lmermedwte Sec(lon Glass Factory Ottery Lane, Sherborne Part of the history of Sherborne that rs not appreoated much rs the effect that the Industrial RevolutiOn had on the economy of the town. The butldrng that I have chosen has a lot to do with the change that happened alongside the Industrial Revolutron. The butldrng that I have chosen rs the Glass Factory at the end of Ottery Lane on the outskrrts of Sherborne. This burldrng rs modern and is made out of green corrugated metal. This site has been used for industrial purposes since 1570. It was then a mill on the River Yeo, probably for the production of flour or wool for the town. The mill was called Oakes Mill and was on the same site as the glass factory is today. The next big change to this site was in 1740 when a silk-thrower settled in Sherborne. Hts name was john Sharrer. He leased the mill, then called Westbury Mills. from Lord Digby. The site was incorporated tnto two buildings opposite each other at the end of Ottery Lane. In 1755. john Sharrer was allowed to pull down the old premises and burld new premises for his silk throwing. Silk-throwmg is the process where silk is taken off cocoons and put onto bottles ready for weaving. john Sharrer dted in 1767 and his wife became the owner until 1769 when William Willmott took over the business and his family owned the business for three generations. In 1825. as many as six hundred people were employed rn Dorset at Westbury Mtlls. The company expanded in 1840 as factory butldrngs were erected along Ottery Lane for future industrial use. Albert Willmott (W illiam's grandson) allowed the business to decline to such an extent that the Sherborne mill closed in 1885. In the same year rl was reopened by Rev. joseph Ogle and called J. and R. Wrllmott Ltmited. In 1887 the company changed from silk throwing to silk-weavrng. By 1907 the busrness was very profitable and was sold to the weavmg firm called A.R.Wright & Co. Thirty years later the company was sold to a Swrss called Henrick Spttz He re-equrpped it with the best type of up-to-date srlk looms but could not pullrt out of rts financial debts. Mr Fredenck Marsden bought it rn 1937 and twelve months later the Sherborne mill was agarn rn full production. Dunng the Second World War. Mr. Marsden wove silk parachute-fabrrc for the Ministry of Aircraft Production He also drscovered that glass yarn was coming into fashron and Marglass was formed. They wove glass ribre primanly for industrial purposes. After the war the company was expanded and they bought new buildings. By 1956. silk weaving had ceased and after a fire the modern building was constructed. Glass-weaving and productron has continued here ever- srncc. Today. after two hundred and sixty-one years of tradtng, the name has changed to lnterglas Technologies Lrmtted They now produce glass for opera houses. high rise office buildings and car windscreens. The Managtng Director, Mr Davtd Puckett. told me that hts business is very prosperous and well-respected. He told me that he employs one hundred and fifty people. This site has changed from a small mill in the 1500s to a large-scale glass-manufacturing company. One of the original buildings is used today for ltght industry and owned by West Dorset Council The glass factory is rn a new building as the old one was burnt to the ground rn the 1950s Who knows what will happen to t his site rn the next four hundred years? Hugo Sutton SHIRBURIIAI Photograph taken from a fteld adjacent to the A30 First Prize - Senior Sectton Sherborne Old and New When I thought of 'Sherborne Old and New' I Immediately thought of my favourite penod in Engltsh history. the first Civ1l War 1642-46. It was at th1s t1me lhat Sherborne Old Castle came Into 1ts own as an effect1ve fortification, holding out for s1xteen days against a s1ege by General Faitiax and the New Model Army. Th1s was also its death knell, rn this partrcular penod of 1ts hrstory. as it was only the following October that the castle was d1smantled to prevent further Royalist support. In the past the Old Castle was a fort1fied home for our ancestors. Today the New Castle continues to be a pnvate residence. with the Old Castle as a picturesque feature 1n 1ts grounds. Isn't this like the modern Sherborne Town today? The anstocracy ruled over the Town in the period of the Old Castle's supremacy. Today the New Castle estate IS pnvately owned, adjacent to the town. where the town uses it as a tourist attraction. The Old Castle stood on its own, a symbolic defensive position that was then absorbed by the estates of the New, following the gift of the land to Sir Walter Rale1gh. The civic ambrtions of Sherborne have developed. s1gn1fying a change rn the relationship between the people of Sherborne, the aristocracy and the town Itself. My 1dea for this image was to f1nd a suitable way of bnnging together Sherborne's Old and New Castles. I wanted to view the two together from a hrgh v1ewpoint. Havrng located my vantage-po1nt. I returned many times to seek the best hghting condrtions. but it was not until the final day of the Pitman Prize Competition that a new drmensron occurred to me. The historic site of the anoent castles was further transformed by a fall of delicate new snow. The unusual condrtrons brought about by the snow also soften the background terrace of trees: the mauve-brown colour remrnds me of an altogether more primeval period. The New Castle is sandwiched between rts old forbear and the forests which once would have covered the landscape - before there was a town. before there was a School, before Gerald Pitman himself! Sebastian Ross SHIRBURNIAI Second Prize - lntermedrore Sectron Change in Sherborne The town of Sherborne in Dorset has often been described as a town that 'never changes'. If you were to take a drive through the town, you would find that most of the buildings are built in the yellow Sherborne stone, and have been for many hundreds of years. On first appearances, the town therefore has not changed much, yet as you go further into the heart of the town, change has happened more than you would expect. In this essay, I shall discuss the major change, which has kepl the town prosperous for many years. The name 'Sherborne', originally Scireburne, means 'clear stream' or 'water'. and an important change is based around this. When the Industrial Revolution started rn Brrtain in the Nineteenth Century, the main source of power for the new machinery was not coal. but water. Therefore as the river Yeo runs to the south of the town, this energy source could be harnessed, and a major change now started. The accompanying picture is of the southwest mill, which became the most successful of the three mills. and of the company lnterglass. which is a company now advanced beyond the water mill, yet still using its power. These mills are rmportanl in the history of Lhe town as they brought money and many jobs but. apart from that. they proved that this small town was still able to lead the way tn new technology at the start of the Industrial Revolutton, yet fell behind later on when coal overcame water-power. The basrs for industrralisatton that these mills had left was a very strong one, whrch could he built upon later. Otherwise the view of a town that never changes would be a correct statement for the town. Hugh Knudsen The season started in late August when the crowds were still on the beaches in Cornwall. T he pre-season visrt to Perranporth gave us both excellent weather and a valuable insight into t he boys and what we could expect over the course of the season. Although trai ning was good, there was a realisation that a number of positions were not well covered. If injuries did occur then we would have massive problems. A squad game was played against Truro Schoo l followed by another squad game on the upper against Eton College. They were returning from a similar visit to Cornwall. With everyone fit and well the v ictory over a very experienced Canford side was indeed a pleasing result. This unfortunately came at a cost wrth the loss through injury of Michael Saunders at outside half. W ith the majority of the side from the Lower Sixth, experie nce was very much at a premium. Only Adam Reid, the captain, had played last year. A further victory came on the Upper against Bishop Wordsworth; their power was overcome by our speed and skill. It had to be said the writing was on the wall: if any side could hold onto the ball close to set play, we would have the greatest degree of difficulty in countering it. The lack of bulk in the forwards was an issue throughout the season. As in the Six Nations. sides can stay close to England for a certain length of time, then England's power will tell. We were in a similar position with late scores dominating results in the vast majority of games. A good win over old rivals King's Taunton was very pleasing though further long-term injuries in the backs were coming to haunt us. Seamus Crawford lasted only twenty minutes and was not seen again that term. This was a big loss, not only for his skills at thirteen. but also for his size. The game against Wellington was, to put i t mildly, a fantastic forward effort. Wellington were driven onto the back foot for much of the match. We had a number of scoring oppor1unit ies, but failed to be clinical and goal-kicking on the day was very poor. When you fight to get into t he right areas of the field and gain a penalty, you have to conver1 these chances. We failed rather dismally, whereas Wellington had three scoring chances and capitalised on each one. It was certainly a lesson for all those w ho played. Pressure is all very well but you have to turn it into points. Credit on the day had to go to the front row where A lex Simon and jack Milln at prop plus Archie Mackay-james at hooker gave as good a display as you could wish to see. The defeat at Clifton was based on yet another injury when our hooker left the field late in the first half. Obviously t his disrupted not only the scrummage but, more so, the line out. Without first phase possess ion it is very difficult to control areas of the field: you are always in defensive mode and therefore unable to control field position. Despite another injury, this time to fullback Giles Maber. the boys did extremely well to be in the lead until the last few minutes. The loss of the fullback proved again to be long-lasting. Losing our cutting edge made scoring even more difficult. Not only were the injuries causing problems. t he speed of the ball through the halfbacks was also causing problems. If we could get the ball to David Holborow on the right wing. then we had every chance of a score. His sidestep at full tilt certa1nly took opponents by surpnse. I certamly remember wonderiu l tries against King Edward's, Bath, and Millfield almost appearing from nothing owing to wonderfully mesmeric footwork. King Edward's, Bath, was probably t he most drsappointing fixture. It was there to be won. but through sheer lack of rugby nous we managed to hand them the game on a plate. Cheltenham hit us with three early tries: as the saying goes, we were still on the bus. It was not until half-time that we had worked out exactly what was going on. During that nrst spell there was a certain lack of commitment. whrch is not something I have ever associated with Sherborne sides. If you are going to come second, make it a close second. This was not applicable to the forwards where Alec Willrs was turning into a very good number seven. He has now come under the wing of Bath Academy, as has Archie Mackay-james: both will benefit enormously from the experience and hopefully will be top players in the Upper Sixth. Millfield came with their normal rash of internationals and an unbeaten record to be given the biggest surprise of the season. On the day the commitment was huge and could not be faulted. The skill-level had certainly gone up a notch and. as their coach expressed it at the end. 'that is the most pressure we have been under all year'. The questron has to be asked why this performance had not been seen at an earlier stage. A number of boys returned from injury, which did give greater stability, and the experience of the term may finally have borne fruit. The character and psychology of thrs side was very difficult to interpret. Hopefully for those returning and there are nine - it wtll give them sufficient confidence to move up a level. Adam Reid as captain certainly sold his soul for the side: his commitment could never be faulted. If all others follow at this level then we should look forward to a promising season. I am a great believer that whatever you put in, you wr ll get back. If you work hard at skills and fitness then you are half way there; add some commitment then you are almost complete; throw rn some awareness and you have a very good player. Unfortunately a number of the XV expected success, both individually and collectrvely, to arrive on a plate. Attitude is something which 1s an impossr ble commodity to coach - possrbly a psychologist IS required, not a coach! This was a season whrch. regardless of all the team's efforts, will not show up well in the record books. Team: AB Reid (Captain): GA Maber; DSE Holborow; NJT Howe; TO Hrllard; RHO Yates; K Doherty; ERP Heath; AMd'A Willis; ACF Simon; JM Milln; MP Erskine; RJR Blake; GW H Armstrong; DO Nicholls; EjO Wicks; MH Saunders . Also Played: AJ Russell; ME Snudden; JF Titley; OW Gargrave; PJT Houghton; JT Holdaway; GC Stebbings; SA Crawford; OJ Brown; SJR Dawson; MS Hutt. Results: Played 12. Won 3, Lost 9. Canford Bishop Wordsworth's Downside King's Taunton Wellington College Clifton College Marlborough College King Edward's, Bath Bryanston Cheltenham College King's Bruton Blundell's Millfield w w 2 0 - 10 2 0 - 10 Cancelled hard grounds w 10- 3 L 0 - 34 10 - 16 6 - 17 13 - 22 3 - 26 II - 29 16 - 20 3 - 12 9 - 17 L L L L L L L L DAS 2nd XV ''Team spmt went from strength to strength. " The 2nd XV of 2003, with an Upper Sixth contingent who hadn't had lhe best htstoty of sporting success, were lucky enough Lo have what can only be descnbed as a remarkable season. After a slightly dodgy start on summer-hardened ground against Canford, only managmg a draw, we began to pull together to become a close Learn wtlh a very pleastng season, losing only the Wellington match after the loss of three players through mjury The power of Lhe forwards, combined with the agility and pace of the backs, a sprinkling of skill, and the 'Beefy' coachtng tactics of an inspirattonal expert, produced firsL-class rugby whiCh ended the dreams of many an oppostllon. Team sp1rit was h1gh throughout the season and went from strength to strength as ever more-testmg oppos1t1ons were dt spatched. This was helped by the encouragement of PT. the rantmg and ravings of 011 Gargrave, and Ed Radcltffe's ability to amuse in the most desperate of sttuat1ons, ensuring that morale never drooped. Our pnde tn our performances almost overcame us on a couple of occas1ons but we qu1ckly realised that wmning was by no means guaranteed, and worked hard as a result to produce wms that surpnsed us, such as a fantastic VICtory over long-t1me nvals Millfield in the final week of term. and a convinc1ng win agamst Bryanston. The loss of Chris Nott wtth a broken arm early on 1n the term was a blow for the pack, but james Titley stepped in and filled the role superbly for most of the term before sustaining a nasty knee-mjury h1mself tn the match against Bryanston, tak1ng h1m out for the rest of the season. As a result, Reuben A1tken. who had already made a couple of appearances, JOtned us from the 3rd XV (much to hts father's disappointment/joy ) and proved an able lock forward, putting his he1ght and strength to good use. The rest of the pack remained much the same for the whole season, and as a result worked very well together. frequently outplaying teams which were phys1cally larger than us. jack Little ( I) is a dependable prop and. although not the most mobile pack member. worked hard and used his size and power effect1vely. Oh 'Pidge' Gargrave (2) is a tenaoous hooker and tackler with a mcredible turn of speed and an accurate arm m the line-out, and is a dangerous opponent for any front row. Matt Snudden (3). the 'Pocket Rocket', l1kes to see h1mself as a fullback (and doesn't do too badly at 1t) but IS more su1ted to getting down and d1rty m the front. Th1s he does very effectively and h1s scrummagmg was something to which many a prop asp1res. H1s team spirit was mdefatigable and always h1gh. james Titley (4). one half of our second row for most of the season, is a terrifying opponent. partly because of h1s size but also because of his reperto1re of faoal expressions. Hls ability to make ground carrying the ball and to recycle the ball afterwards gave the team a huge advantage and set up a good few try-scoring moves. Ru Howland-jackson (5) was the tallest person on the team by about three feet and this stood him in good stead for line-outs (of which he was a key member, involved in every combination of lifts and JUmps) and second-row power. He seemed to pop up in every situation and his reltability was an asset to the team. Fred Isles (6) knows a thing or two about playing on the edge of the serum and as a bl1ndside flanker was faultless . His tackling, scrummaging and line-out lifting were excellent and he proved a dependable Vice Captain. The team was supported throughout by Simon Dawson (7) from the pos1tion of opens1de flanker. leading by example w1th h1s quiet but effect1ve captaincy. Along with other members of the 2nd XV, he was on the edge of play1ng for the Ist XV. mak1ng one appearance for them. Never the most vocal member of the team, he guided nevertheless wtth style and flair. Ollie Brown (8) prov1ded the dnve from the back and was Incredibly effect1ve m our N o. 8 moves, surpnsmg. overpowenng, or outwitting any opponent who dared to take on the m1ght of the 'Blond Bombshell'. The backs changed around a b1t more, through lnJUiy, promotions to the I st XV. and Charlie Wilyman's ability to play with equal skill at the well known combination of prop or outside-centre (as well as taking the odd k1ck...). 'jammy' Jenkms was another player who made numerous appearances for the s1de, although his chosen combmat1on was No. 8 or 1ns1de-centre. Again, he was able to play at etther w1th equal ability. Matt Hutt and Ed WICks both started the season in the 2nd XV but ended wtth the Ist XV - deserved promotions tn both cases. Desp1te these changes. our un1quely-named moves (Chocolate Love, anyone?) were executed near pe,fectly time and time again, a 'Cohen Ball' be1ng. when 1t worked, the p1nnacle of our achievements. Our serum-half changed qUite often and, at d1fferent limes, Guy Stebbings, Dave Nicholls. and George Armstrong wore the No. 9 shirt. They all brought panache. deos1on-makmg ability and good rugby to the posttion and thts was shown by the fact that they all played for the Ist XV during the season. They all worked very effectively with Ed Radcliffe ( 10). who at fly-half was the team's 'Golden Boot', regularly prov1ding perfectly-placed Cohen Balls and beaut1ful convers1ons. His squirrel-like dartmg and weavmg managed to get him out of the tightest of situations and free up plenty of ball for the rest of the backs to work with. Paddy Houghton ( 12) spent his second season in the 2nd XV playmg with ruthless tacklmg efficiency. and attemptmg to sway the referees' decisions by calling before the ref. had had a chance. His fast hand and eagle eye ensured that the ball got out to the fnnges and. when that wasn't possible, his ability to secure and recycle the ball was second to none. His 'sacrificial lamb' role at ins1de centre was both useful and enterta1ning to the rest of the team. Tom Gabbey ( 13) at outside-centre was another quiet but very effective player, who always knew exactly what was going on around him and, as a result. was valuable in both attack and defence. His expenence on the flank of the serum meant that he was a fearsome tack ler. Jamie Holdaway (II). one of our back three speed-merchants, was our man on the left and h1s ability somehow to swerve around players who seemed almost certain to bring him down meant that he notched up a very respectable try- tally, while successfu lly defending his channel of play. Hugo Blatt ( 14), our highest try-scorer. relished his posit ion on the right wing, and his combinat1on of speed and power meant that any potential tacklers would f ind themse lves, w ith a number of the1r team mates clinging on, a good few yards further back than they had been originally. Hugo's 'Cohen Ball Special' against Marlborough w ill not be forgotten for a long time. Tim Ballingal ( IS) jo ined us from Truro this year and quickly showed his pace, slicing apart the opposition. His fullback tackling was reliable, and it was a relief to know that Tim was waiting ready to pounce like a puma if someone managed to slip through our defence. Having run through our players, there is one person left to ment1on. PT was the coach who transformed us 1nto the giant-killing unit we were at the end of the term from the group whose future in the early days of September 2003 was not at all sure. He managed as well as coached the team. and guided us calmly through frustrations and difficulties. His wisdom and expertise was soaked up by the boys and the gratitude and respect felt for him by the whole team is enormous. He was deserved ly awarded his 2nd XV colours. along w1th the large majority of the regular team. This does not. I hope, detract from the ind1viduals' performances or efforts. Roll on. 20041 We would also hke to thank Don Rutherford and DAS for their coaching; also Tom and Ben Scott who t urned out on a Fnday, adding the final polish to the backs and passmg on mvaluable snippets of expertise. Results: Played 14, Won 12, Lost I. Drawn I. Simon Dawson and Hugo Blott 4th XV uUps and downs. " The start of t he season had some promising signs. The 3rd >0/ looked like a reasonable side. and we had an excess of players to choose from, particularly in the backs. This situation is never a bad thing, particularly when many of the players display equal promise and skill. The only disadvantage was that it took a while to establish a consistent team, and therefore we didn't seem to work together as successfully as we might have wished. Any serious concerns, however, were quelled by the convincing win over Canford in our first match. We had a choice between Ed Ward, Paddy Horsington and Piers Collins in the centre, all of whom were strong players. Ed Ward seemed particularly creative in the centre and at fly-half and was vital in many of the tries scored through t he three-quarter line. Paddy was a very determined runner in the centre and challenged the opposition defence on countless occasions. We also had a very strong and powerful pack. The strength and weight of lsa AI-Sabea combined w ith the agility and enthusiasm of Tom Blanthorne and Nick Thanapoomikul created a very useful trio in both attack and defence. The difficulty we had in choosing the right serum-half for t he job only proved the strength we had among the forwards. Both Crispin Vollers, who was able to secure the position for most of the season, and Tristan de Souza were able to work very well with the back row forwards to create some very powerful and threatening attacks. It was a shame that. just as Crispin had managed to secure his position in the team and begun to create a formidable link with Ed Ward at fly half, he suffered a cracked rib early on in the match against Wellington. Tristan took over the position very competently, and became renowned for his sneaky, Matt-Dawson-sty le breaks from the base of many a ruck or mall. The Well1ngton match was perhaps both the h1ghest and, at the same time, the lowest point in the season! It was by about this time that we had been able to finalise our team for the season and discover which players would be taken by the 3rd XV and which ones would be ours or so we thought! Therefore. at the start of the Wellington match (at home), we thought we had produced the strongest team we could, and we began the match as confident and enthusiastic as possible considering the strength always displayed by Well ington s1des. An early Wellington try did nothing to dispel the team's enthusiasm, and th1s was proven by the try quickly scored by t he home s1de. It was just before half-lime that we lost Crispin to mJury, and although we ended the second half only a try behind, it was downhill from here. This rapid drop in the team's performance was even more distressing owmg to the fact t hat it was no faul l of our own! The problem was. as it had been for much of the season up to this pomt and would be from thts point forward. the numerous tnjuries suffered by the higher ranks of the 3rd XV We first lost our fast pace winger: Toby Ovens. closely followed by his opposite winger. Ollie Madley. These weren't the only players to be called from the fteld. and the game ended with a very disappointing (but unsurprising given the situation) score-ltne Perhaps the strangest match of the season was agamst Clifton College. We weren't really sure what their stde would be like. but assumed as usual that they would be of reasonable quality. We started the match well and scored a fairly easy and very early first try. From then on. everything seemed to go backwards and forwards They scored their first try fairly soon after us. and although we always felt like the stronger side we could never really perform and felt as though we were being constantly held back and were unable to get through thetr defence. We ended up letting them score a couple of soft tries and a great drop-kick by Paddy Horsington. whtch sailed nght through the mtddle of the uprights was, astoundingly. dtsallowed by the Referee. who tnststed tt missed the nght-hand post! W e just about managed to hang on to our lead. and narrowly won the match The season overall was pleasing. We won more matches than we lost and performed well tn some of those that we were less successful in. The Wellington match. as stated. was an enjoyable game even if it was infunating in many ways. We had ups and downs. victories and losses. but I think the season was enjoyed by most. particularly those Upper Sixth who played their last r·ugby as Shirburnians. Colours were awarded to many of the team who performed to a high standard. and thanks go to Mr. Burn who helped in the training and accompanied us to all our matches. Michael Pope 5th XV ul screamed at cheil backs to stand s£ill. 11 If you look immedtately at the stattsttcs followtng this report. you may well wonder what has happened to the expansive. runnmg rugby for· whtch the 5th XV IS famed. The answer is that it ts altve and well. but that DAS matched us so well wrth our opposttion that tn most games the teams simply neutralised each other. We opened our campaign wtth a brursing encounter against Wellington. Mtd-way through the first half, we landed a penalty, but failed to fintsh off other chances before turntng round After the re start, tt was virtually one-way traffic as they became ever more desperate to score. On one of our rare sorttes, we gamed an easy penalty, whtch we spurned. We tackled herotcally, held our nerve, rode our luck and were exultant to hear the final whistle. A home defeat to Marlborough was a downer, but we had to acknowledge that they played better on the day, that we were always playing catch-up, and that they were therefore worth their wtn. An inaugural fixture agamst King's Bruton 4th XV found us depleted and outnumbered. That we were due not to wtn became obvious, so we had to grit our teeth and accept the mevitable, albetl unwillingly. Cheltenham proved a tougher nut to crack than expected, but we never looked tn danger of conceding. The final fixture was another cliffhanger, with scores tied 0-0 until the final two minutes. We were attacking: they turned over possesston vrrtually on their line, and passed to the fullback. who kicked; the ball went in-field to one of our players; I screamed at thetr backs to stand sttll, since they had all been tn front of the kicker, but one of them refused. charging our ball-earner; I gave the penalty 3-0 to us; end of game. Qutte understandably, Warmtnster were upset. They found it dtfftcult to believe that tn the reverse orcumstances I would gtve the penalty against us, but I would. You see t he play. you give the deosion - and then you lhtnk about the consequences. As ever, we had a great deal of fun throughout the term, whether training wtth the Thrrd and Fourth XVs or on our own, and I am tndebted to my elders, CW MA . WAMB and RGP for thetr sagaoty. advtce and attendance. Team from . CW Habershon (capt); AGH Daubeny; FC Berihon; MD Barber, CP Goldman; RM Symondson: ERS Kelly; JP Torrens-Spence; RAC Vtnmg; ECJ Sweet; CHW Cheng: MRF Janng; SP McEvoy; GR Maltby; AP Stone; HJC Blazeby: JME Fitzgerald; TFS Fletcher; CJ Ball; EA Elgood: JJL Boyd; CES Clifton; TJ Tumer; TR Patterson. Results: Played 5, Won 4, Lost I Wellington College Marlborough College King's Bruton 4th XV Cheltenham College Warminster 2nd XV w w L w w 3 0 3 - 0 17 - 3 2 II - 0 3 - 0 DBC Colts A XV uThey play for the love of the game and pnde m the1r School 11 S1nce I had worked w1th these terrific young people as jun1or Colts, rt was decrded that I should have the honour of coaching them for the second year and, in doing so, renew my coachrng partnershrp wrth GDR. The boys also seemed to be genuinely satisfred wrth the decrs1on and so we began our campa1gn where we had left the last one - o n the up' The first game was aga1nst Canford: last year it was one of our heaviest defeats and understandably we were a little bit wary after berng thrashed by more than fifty points. But we had made a huge amount of progress since last year's encounter and the coaches were optimistic. After a spirited performance we narrowly lost 15-12 but the tie was always 1n the balance until the final w histle. Next up was Bishop Wordsworth's , and the boys paid little notice to their reputation as a high flying Daily Marl team. They threw everything at us but still only managed three tries and those came in the last quarter of the game. Even rn defeat we could see that we were a much stronger outfit than the previous year and this gave us heart for the next difficult matches against Krng's Taunton and Wellington, both the scenes of heavy defeats prevrously. We lost 22-10 and 32-10 respectively, but we competed in both games tenaciously and always looked as though our speedy wingers . Hurst and Moubray. could always conJure a try by magic rf given the ball. Clifton College was 'the one that got away' and should have been our first victory. We lost. after an alarming number of injuries, to a late dubious penalty-kick to make the score 13-15. One doesn't mind losing to a superior team after having given one's all, but this was a poor performance by any standards and one which must be improved upon for next week. The comment after the game was that 'if we play like that against Marlborough. we are likely to take a beating'. Unfortunately, the statement proved to be accurate: we lost 4 1- 3. It was probably the worst performance during my two-year tenure and one to forget in a hurry. But this group of boys wear their hearts on lherr sleeves: they play for the love of the game and pnde rn thetr School; they are not the sort who would let defeat gnaw away at them. We worked hard for the Bryanston match and we played some of our best rugby but could only manage a S-5 draw. As the season neared a disappo1nting end, we were faced wrth a long JOurney to Cheltenham where we were beaten 29-12 desp1te threatening victory for most of the match. An easy w1n over King's, Bruton, 44-12 restored some sort of balance but then a disappointing defeat agarnst Blundell's 022. after jos h Edelman was butted early on, was again a story of what might have been. The last game of the season was against Millfield. and thrs followed the same pattern as most of the games: we would defend solidly for most of the game and then they would score. It was a pity because this was not a memorable Mrllfield team and so it would have been nice to end the season by stealrng a victory. The frnal outcome was a loss by five tries after drawrng 0-0 at half-time. Workrng wrth boys like thrs makes you apprecrate 'the game' more. g1ving it perspective. One ts reminded that rt rs a game and should be played prrmanly for enjoyment: wrnning and losing are lessons whrch need to be learned and addressed in different ways. but how one plays the game rs also hugely important. It is a real preparation for lrfe's rollercoaster and highlights the essential co operation with others that is necessary rf one is to find peace. These boys have shown more determinatio n in the face of adversity than most that I have known. and have been remarkably good company along the way. They have trained hard and learned much which I am sure will stand them in good stead for Ist X I places next year. Good luck to them all! SJC Colts B XV uThe sound of battle p1erced the a1r. 11 'lnvrncibility Ires 1n the defence; the possibility of vrctory rn the attack.' Although Sun-Tzu, 1n the Fourth Century BC. was never fortunate enough to play rn the Colts B XV, he was certainly sufficrently presc1ent to summarise our season. On the first Saturday of the term. the Colts B assembled to open the season against Canford. On a hard prtch and blazrng day. Will Barnard and Ben Bradish-EIIames played wrth panache and elan to ensure we were victonous by a 20-8 margin. For the next two weeks. nerther Downside nor The Gryphon could match our sprrit, such was the reputation of the mrghty men. When finally Krng's Taunton arrived to challenge our domrnance. they were put to the sword m a clinical display of swift hands and finrshing. A rifty-por n l vrctory was earned, and the ever impress1ve Ben Brad1shEIIames and Charlie MacCielland were agarn to the fore. W ith th1s victory we yet again grew in confidence and felt ourselves ready to take Lhe field agat nst our most deadly foe, Wellington. On a scorchingly hot day, our forwards worked tirelessly and our backs dug deep but to no avail agatnst the bigger and more direct Wellington side. Defeated, but not disgraced, we returned to lick our wounds and plan revenge: the score was 20-10. Special mention must go to Ball Chonecadeedumrongkul, who scored a magnificent try at the end of the game, displaying both pace and power. W ho would try to take advantage of the defeat and attempt to heap more shame on our heads? Clifton thought they were the men to lay us low once more. On Saturday, lith November, we made the long journey to Clifton . Some deft trickery from John Cain and Oily Bendall soon broke their spirits and then the forwards moved in for the kill, grinding the opposing pack to dust with their raw desire for the ball and commitment. With our confidence reborn we strode onto the pitch at Marlborough expecting a bloody and bruising encounter and were not disappointed. Luke Nitch-Smith, the human terrier, was houndmg down backs and scrabbling in the dirt for the ball. while Oily Bendall, the thinking man's fly half, was making rapier-like incisions into their terrified backs. Sadly, the gods weren't with us and we tasted bitter defeat once again by a six-point margin. Bryanston were our next opponent. Thts t ime, Edwin Tucker and Campbell Reid strode forward with power and skill to sweep the field and allow our backs to run in many well-worked tries. The day was won 30-17. Cheltenham were made of sterner stuff, and despite our putting our bodies on the line many a time, we fell prey to the sucker punch when a last-minute try handed them victory 17-15. Blundell's were then dismissed contemptuously by a team not determined to lose again, jack Lloyd and Tom Russell covering themselves in glory this time. On the last Saturday of term we roused ourselves one last time to meet Millfield. When the sound of battle pierced the air, our 'Braveheart' Charlie MacCielland stormed over for a try. Oily Bendall emulated jonny Wilkinson and slotted t he winning points. Finally l would like to thank, on behalf of the team, our generalissimo Mr Willows who was never short of Machiavellian schemes to target the fly halves we encountered. Team: JAC Lloyd; BJM Bishop; P Chonecadeedumrongkul; CM Reid; CG MacCielland; LAj Nitch-Smith: EC Tucker: MRJ Oates-Wormer (capt); TAT Russell; JO Bendall; JD Cain: BJM Bradish-EIIames; NEC Pope; JWC Barnard; OJ Lloyd. Reserves: GRF Fry; WTM Pope; jAF Bell; GPR Densham. Michael Oates-Wormer Junior Colts A XV uPower is a key factor tn modem-day rugby. " It started out as a season of heavy expectatton, with a team unbeaten as Mini Colts; the junior Colts would make the first foray tnto the Daily Mail Cup, a national competition with a field of three hundred and fifty-one teams. The season ended with an appearance at the home of Rugby Football. Twickenham, in the final of the Datly Mail Cup. On the day, we finished a close second to a strong john Cleveland College side. The most tmportant lesson learned: power is a key factor tn modern-day rugby. The team had played some fantastic rugby to get there, as they did on the day. Sport can be cruel; it is unfortunate that one of the teams had to lose. The players can be proud of their performance, and the dignity displayed tn defeat is a true measure of the character and maturity of these young men. The first game of the season, against Canford, was a free-flowing affair with Sherborne running in eight tries. Tom Williams, starting the game as hooker, was unlucky to miss out on a brace of tr ies, a tackle off the ball allowing Pen Try to go in at the corner. Good wins followed against Bishop Wordsworth and King's Taunton. The first highlight of the season was the emphatic defeat of Wellington College, scoring seven tries against them on their own first-team pttch - little wonder we played them on a postage stamp the second t ime around! A steady performance was put tn against Wellington School in the first round of the Da1ly Mail Cup. Six tries were scored; the piCk of them was from Chns Holdaway follow ing a sublime chip from Tom Williams. This game marked the debut of James Bowker at open side - an inspired choice. He was to prove htmself to be a thorn in the side of most of the opposition to follow. A strong second half performance against Clifton College allowed the Sherborne side to run in five tries to add to the one scored in the first half. The second highlight of the season was the demolition of Marlborough. without the influential 'Super Bunners'. This had been the closest game of the prevtous season, and excellent defensive organisation and a little 'dog' kept the opposition scoreless, whilst running in five tries. This is the game where George Mackintosh started to emerge as a true leader. Tom Williams scored a second-half hat trick against Poole Grammar in the next round of the cup. A warm day, a dry pitch, some excellent support play and a little flair helped Sherborne to score nine unanswered tries. Bryanston (good play. Archie) away was always going to be a tough fixture following a close game the previous year. Without four A Team regulars, the players who stepped in demonstrated the depth of the talent present in what rs an exceptional year group. Six Sherborne tries followed, although I have to say the best try on the day was scored by the Bryanston number thirteen: he is a good player and I am sure he will be a handful in subsequent years. This was an excellent performance from the Sherborne pack to deprive the opposition of the ball. Colston's were beaten on the Uupper by four tries to one in the next round of the cup. This was a very physical game, Chris Holdaway being unfortunate to break his wrist as early as the first minute. A steady performance followed against Cheltenham College, with Sherborne adding four tries to their tally and conceding none. Then came the pitch to end all pitches. I never realised that rugby could appear to be so much fun. playing uphill and into the sleet and wind at West Buckland. The chaps put in a hard-working performance. George Berthon and Jamie Payne came on for the last ten minutes and enjoyed themselves, looking fully at home with their peers from the year above. Four tries to nil, and another clean sheet. A well-organised. dogged Blundell's side were beaten by six tries to nil. The pick of the tries was scored as jonti Dampney sprinted clear to go over from half way. A conversion from junior ( c o lts C to junior Colts A completed in one step. And then Millfield (ah. hmm!): if you do not turn up to play. you wil l not win, enough said. The try of the season came against Dorset U IS in a warm-up for the quarterfinal of the Cup. Super Bunners broke from the serum. beat a couple of defenders. and then fed jack jenkins who tickled the ball instant ly to Charlie Esson: coming at pace. he straightened the line. drawing the fullback. to put Jamie Smibert in under the post - pure poetry! Back to the postage stamp at Wellington. A nervous performance. A couple of try-saving tackles from Jamie Smibert and the banana skin was successfully avoided. A home quarterfinal in a national competition on the Upper. the stuff that players' dreams are made of. A hard game. A great deal of excellent defence from the Sherborne side. The now-mandatory try-sav ing tackles from Jamie Smibert, and an individual try from the same chap. KCS Wimbledon can count themselves very unlucky. They put in an exceptional performance and lost the game to one moment of brilliance. It is often a fine line between success and failure Jn sport. One of the highlights of the season for me was after the KCS game. The players had (apparently) all changed and gone upstairs for tea. Rob and I went back rnto the changing-room to find Charlie Esson. still sitting in his rugby-kit, clutching his water-bottle, just srmply smiling to himself. When asked if he was okay, he replied, grinning like the Cheshire cat, 'Yeah, we're in the semifinal.' The trip to Castlecroft for the semifinal was in itself a event. Top special trumps on the coach and a showrng of the mandatory allowed DVD a fourhour coachjourney to appear t o be short. A most relaxed threecourse dinner, Jasti ng the best part of two hours followed an early evening Captains' run led by Ben and George. The team meeting in the evening consisted mainly of a forwards versus backs game of 'Who's in the bag'. Ricky stole the show. The team-meeting in the morning was a more serious affair. with Rob rallying the troops for the big game ahead. And the match? Probably the best performance of the season. The XV who took the field were about as relaxed as they could be given the circumstances. A lesson in support-play by Bondy led to two tries for the winger. after excellent breaks by Jamie Smibert. with Tom Fleming barrelling over in between after some excellent work by the forwards. Northampton scored two excellent tries of their own and they can count themse lves unlucky to have lost a match that could have gone either way. Commiseration too to Jonti Dampney: after breaking into the team straight from the C XV. he would go on to break his collarbone in the semifinal and miss out on his place in the final itself. And so to the final, an experience that none of the twenty-four involved is ever likely to forget. Twickenham is a special place - only a few rugby players ever get to play there. The two sides put on a fast, entertaining game of rugby containing a great deal of skill and pace. W e came second, just. Any regrets? None from me. I have never enjoyed coaching a group as much as I have done this year. The players were always willing to absorb new ideas, and they demonstrated phenomenal progression during the year. There are many people that I wish to thank for their efforts and support during this momentous season. Thanks to the hockey coaching-staff for their patience and understanding. Thanks to Don Rutherford and to David Scott for their technical support. Many thanks to the Sen1or Colts A team who trained and played against us dunng the year: they helped to 'battle-harden' the players. Special mention must be made of the players numbering 16 to 26 in the squad. Without them the training would not have been as competitive. and the improvements made by the players would not have been as great. Thank you all. Many thanks must go to the parents for the Immense support g1ven to the players and coaches, especially to the Van Geests for their wonderful hospitality. Special thanks go to Rob Hill: he JS undoubtedly the best motivator of players that I have ever had the pleasure of working with. The captains, Ben Lyons and George Mackintosh. led with a maturity seldom associat ed with fifteen year-old young men, and I must congratulate them for their effort s during the season. Rob and I offered them responsibility, and they bot h grasped it and exceeded all expectation w1th t he assured and conndent manner in which they ran several t raining sessions. I think that all coaches can learn from t his and give the players more responsibility. This will empower them to make better decis1ons on the fteld of play. Team and ines scored: JE Smibert 17; TR Williams 13; PD Anscombe 12: HPA Bond II; CAR Esson 10; CJ Holdaway 7; OM Cripps 5; TC Fleming; GJF Mackmtosh 4; BE Lyons 3; AJ Bunnell 2; JA Bowker. JN Dampney, JHC Jenkins, JRM Stratton MV Barnes; HAS Rose; W CA all I ; Bulle1d; RAJ Newsome; Rl Mayo; JMJ Payne; NC Batchelor: JA Nott. Top points scorer; Charlie Esson 158. Player Awards: Players' player of the season: Coaches' player of the season: Players' most improved player: Coaches' most improved player: Coaches' team man of the year: AJ Bunnell JE Smibert WCA Bulleid HPA Bond JA Bowker Results: Played 20, Won Pomts against 122. 17, Lost 3. Pomts for 590, Canford Bishop Wordsworth's King's Taunton Wellington College *Wellington School Clifton College Marlborough College * Poole Grammar School Bryanston Colston's Collegiate Cheltenham College *West Buckland Blundell's Millfield Dorset UIS * Wellington College * KCS Wimbledon Bath Club * Northampton BS * JCC w w w w w w * Doily Mot/ Cup w 4834 5143 34 38- 8 0 10 7 7 0 w w w w w w 0 w L w w w L 33 - 0 55 - 0 40 - 10 30 - 7 24 - 0 2217 -25 38 - 0 18 - 7 24 7 - 12 0 5- 7 17 - 12 12 - 17 L DAW hange For all your Christmas pres en ts and mor e . www.thepresentfinder.co.uk We deliver worldwide! Visit our shop in South Street to see all our latest wacky ideas South Street, Sherborne 0 l 935 8 15 195 www .thepresentf inder .co .uk Ski Clothing for Hire for All the Family Ski Accessories for Sale Belinda Hayler Highfield House Carton Denham Sherborne Dorset DT9 4LT Gay Fegen Wistaria Cottage Marston Magna Yeovil Somerset BA22 8BY Tel: 01963 2203212 Mobile: 07899 925266 Tel: 01935 850439 Mobile: 07789 717540 Email: [email protected] Junior Colts B XV " 1can't really remember what happened. " Wrth so much of the focus on the Road to Twrckenham, one mrght be forgiven for missrng the tnumphs of the JCBs. By no means the 'Darly Mail Rejects', they worked trrelessly to gel again and agarn as a group whilst seeking to develop therr rndrvidual skills. Times had changed srnce the Minr CoiLs different body-shapes and sizes meant learnrng new positrons and scores of lots-to-nil were less frequent. Just take a look at how close the Wellrngton. Marlborough and three A-team fixtures were. Captarns Goldman and Saunders led the forwards and backs respectrvely wrth quret convictron and 'Mr Versatile' Will Clark, playrng at flanker, number erght and rnside centre was also Lop krcker with 20 pornts. Lintott made a fruitful move from serum half to fullback, from where he was able to make many dangerous runs, resulting rn his becoming top try scorer wrth nrne (four in the Cheltenham match). Bearing in mrnd fifty-seven tries were scored overall and only five players scored fewer than three, it was a real team-effort. Nearly every match was memorable, my particular favourite moments being the followrng: Wellington, a game of two prtches: Windle's skill and Clark's krcking at Clifton; a narl-biting finrsh against the towering Poole pack; Day-Robinson's 'naked' try at Cheltenham (having lefl his shrrt and tackler some ten metres back!); Gilbert's touch-line conversion in the dyrng seconds at Thomas Hardye's. And so to Mrllfield on a freezing and foggy day at the end of a very long term. To be honest, I can't really remember what happened. Along wrth most of the boys, rt was the first match I'd ever lost at Sherborne and, to be honest, 1t hu1i a lot. Thrnkrng back now, though, glancrng down the list of results (and sometrmes glancrng over to watch the Senter CoiLs trarnrng and smrlrng to myself - but don't tell them that), one narrow loss can't take much away from a really great season. Team: AA Aroskin; ER Atkins: SEW Bacon: W N Capel; W A Clark, MW H Corfreld-Moore; WJ Day Robinson; JC Erskrne; Cj Gilberi; NJ Goldman (Capt.); GDV Hayler; HO Hughes; JB Kinnersly; OJG Lintott: JM Player: GT Pullen: TJ Saunders (Capt.): AB Tollast; PWH Wrndle; MD Wrnter. Results. Played II, Won 10, Lost I. Canford King's Taunton Wellington College Clifton College Marlborough College Thomas Hardye's A XV Bryanston Cheltenham College Clayesmore A XV Poole Grammar School A XV Millfield w w 58- 0 w w w 0w w w w w L Junior Colts C XV 48- 0 17- 7 4710 - 3 19- 17 670 29 - 3 1HGCL 5- 12 13 - 12 7 - 12 " 1doubt i{jonny Wllkrnson would hove held down o place m thrs team. n It was a joy and a privilege to be associated wrth the Junior Colts C's in the 2003 season. It was a vintage year in which the rugby was played with an elan and flourish which gladdened the hearts of spectators and coaches alike. In most games the team exerted total control. but what was most gratifying was what they did with that control: no phase became excessive, effete or otiose. The a1m was to play attractive football and since both pack and backs had a contribution to make. both were called upon. The tackling was gladiatorial and here the strength of jeremy Player must be mentioned. The rolling maul sometimes approached the finesse of the peeling of a bookie's wad on Derby Day. The standard of handling in the backs will, unfortunately, never be seen at Heathrow. The coach was publicly taken to task when he ran a parallel team which he ran on to the pitch on a rota basis for some fixtures. but in mitigation he pleaded that he was doing no more than some Premiership managers who had strength in depth at their disposal. We drew away at Wellington in a tense contest that went nght to the wrre. We missed an unbeaten season by a final minute conversion by Radley but the team faced that defeat with storcism and came back to play even better rugby m the second half of term. One achievement must not go unrecorded Wrll Stebbings. in one match. k1cked all twelve conversions for all twelve tries. some from the touchlmes and then finished the match with a drop kick. I doubt if Jonny Wilk1nson would have held down a place m this team. Team: HCB Balfour: TL Bryars: MSC Bulman, N M Cooke: MJ Tavender: WJ Day-Robinson; AR Harking; OJ Hopkins; HGW Lang; AG Le May: EAC Leader; RG Masterson. JN Dampney: JM Player: GT Pullen: HOG Rowe: WAJ Stebbings: Aj Vlieland Boddy: HGM Walker: TA Andrews: EP Dale-Harris: HRM Dutton. DPKC Junior Colts D XV uAnd run chey did!. n It says a lot for the Fourth Form that there have been enough good players to have a JCD team. Sadly thts was not often the case with other schools , and we struggled to get fixtures. In the end we had four games, against Well1ngton, Marlborough, King's Bruton Bs and Mtllfield Cs. A fifth, against Milton Abbey Bs. was unfortunately cancelled ow 1ng to a v irus at Milton Abbey. For both Nick and myself, coaching rugby was a new experience, and we were somewhat nervous before our first practice. However, the enthusiasm and ability of t he boys not only made the job easier than expected, but also incredibly enjoyable and rewardtng. The first match, away at Wellington, was a bit d1sappointing - and closer than the score-line suggests. The boys played poorly in the first half, l o s i n g a lot of ball at the breakdown, and were lucky to go to the break only 5-0 down. They played a lot better tn the second, but conceded an intercept try and lost 10-0. Agatnst Marlborough, two weeks later, we were up 7-0 1n the dying minutes when they scored tn the corner - and the1r kicker salvaged a draw by converting out wide . Again, a little disappotnting, but I feel it was a fair result against a good team. The highlight of the season was against King's Bruton Bs. The forwards were outstanding, secunng quality ball go1ng forward. gtvtng the backs a chance to run. And run they did. with Mtke Bulman and Tom Andrews putting thetr outstdes 1nto space ltme and again, the final score 22-0. After this, the final game, against Millfield Cs. was somewhat depressing. We started brilliantly. spreading the ball from right to left and then back to the right for A lex Milward to open the scoring after only two minutes. After that, however, the opposition's huge size advantage told. and we did well to be level at 5-5 at half- time. I thought we had a chance, turning w1th a strong w1nd at our backs, but our lack of match practice and of a really good kiCker told against us even playtng wtth the wtnd we spent the entire half on defence - and tt was tnevitable that Millfield would score - the final score be1ng 17-5. Several players stand out for the1r efforts th1s season - serum half Harry Brown always caused his opponent a lot of problems, as did Harry White at blindside. Tom Royle, generally the smallest player on the field by a fair margin, made some amazing tackles at fullback, while Jonathan Hacking, at outs1de centre or on the wing, constantly forced h1s markers to do the same. I would like to thank all the boys who played in the team - from those who played one game and then got promoted. to those who came along to practices all season and didn't get the chance that their commitment deserved. I'd also like to thank DPKC for all h1s help throughout the season, and Nick Marshall for his until he had to return early to Australia for Un1versity Interviews. Team. ARP Ambler: H D Andrews; TA Andrews; GS Aplin: GA Beattte; JAC Bolesworth; HC Brown; MSC Bulman: RC Carter; PH Chung; AJ Dunlop; HWF Gtbbs: JR Hacking: NWF Hutley; RAW Keane; HGW Lang; JG Livingstone: RT Morgan; AGG Milward: SMMc Ross: TVR Royle; RCA Weterings; HG White; JJ White. Results: Played 4, Won I, Lost 2, Drew I. Wellington Marlborough King's Bruton. B XV Millfield C XV L D W L 010 7- 7 22 - 0 5 - 17 Tim Bond Mini Colts A XV uDo the Welsh know something we don't? 11 It was an enormous pleasure coaching thts year's Mint Colts rugby s1de. As a coach one has three main objectives to fulfil: To choose the best players 1n each pos1t10n; to mould these mdtviduals into a cohestve un1t; and to encourage them to enJOY the1r rugby by playtng m an attractt ve and excittng manner. By December, we believe that the Mint Colts had fulfilled all three objectives - but 1t took ttme! In September (or was 1t August?) PjW and I looked at one hundred and fourteen thirteen-year-aids (and Jamie Payne) w ith a distinct sense of trepidation and concern. W here was the size we had come to expect as Under 14 coaches? The speed? The skill? There was cons1derable unease. We knew that it would take t 1me and effort to mould these boys mto four teams to represent the School - we accepted that some selectorial mtstakes m1ght occur as we s1hed through the hundred and fiheen players. Five whole days later and on a botling hot Saturday 1n early September we were off W ith JMOC slipping back into the referee1ng hot seat, as tf he hadn't been out of a comfy cha1r all summer, the Mini Colts played well in patches and scored three excellent tr·ies but lost 15-20 to Canford. Canford boasted an enormous pack and as even bigger back l1ne who took control but we were most hea11ened by the gutsy performance from Sherborne, even if 1t was the first defeat for PJW and JMOC s1nce 2001! One week later on hard. dry pitches over at B1shop Wordsworth's. Salisbury. Sherborne won in tmpressive style (36-5) against a well-drilled side, many of whom play for Salisbury Rugby Club. The character of the team was beginning to show with Jamie Payne show1ng a commitme nt to the cause which was hugely impressive. For the next two games in September the s1de played 1n a robust and disopltned way but lost out to a strong K1ng's Taunton (5-10) and a phys1cal Wellmgton College (0-20). By now, however. some real talent was starting to rise to the surface, most notably tn Xander Brinkworth at fly half and George Berthon at tns1de centre. With a combative back row tn Jamte Payne at number eight and Alexander Sumption and Jamte Excel! on the flanks. the sptne of the team was begmn1ng to take shape. Through October the side began to play some wonderfully expans1ve and exciting rugby. Despite one further loss at Marlborough (22-31 ). the Mini Colts put together an impressive string of victones (Clifton 38-12; Thomas Hardye 78-0: Bryanston 38-5; Cheltenham 36-0; King's Bruton 36-5: Blundell's 2015). By now we had taken the decision to select Jamie Pearmund at fly half to complement Beanie Isles at number nine. The purpose of this was to produce quick ball to the backs with George Berthon's straight and powerful running opening up holes in opposition defences and then putting the lightning quick Xander Brinkworth away in the outside channel: it was work1ng a treat. espeoally w1th the equally quick NICk Batchelor coming 1nto the l1ne from Full Back. On the w1ngs james Pnngle and Alex Koban more than held thetr own and often threatened. With such a ped1gree back line all we needed to do was w1n htgh quality ball and watch the tnes roll 1n. In the final game of the season, at Millfteld, PJW and I witnessed one of the best junror games of rugby seen in recent years, a fact confirmed by our opposite coach at the end of the game. Although we lost 19-24, either srde could have won. jamre Payne and George Berthon were magnificent and had Xander Brinkworth been ava1lable for selection, we probably would have won. What was part1cularly pleasing that day was the performance of the pack. The forwards trundled along effecttvely all season but definitely 1mproved towards the end and M1llfield was a great way to s1gn off. In the front row, Gordon Wh1tley, Edward Capel and the impressrve James Stockings more than held their own, ohen against much b1gger packs. The second row partnership was not settled unt1l October but from that moment on the fearless and tndustnous Sam Jenks and the rangy, qurck Will Solomon made up the smallest lock comb1natron in recent years, but they were brave and comm1tted LBURY GfiLL€RY Exciting Clothes by Sandwich • Oska • Sahara East • oaNoa • Adini Complim entary scarves & bags • Designer Jewellery • Distinctive Lighting • Sumptuou s Cushions • LOOOs of Gifts cisil .tor that special bar,qain Half Moon Street, Sherborn e, Dorset DT9 3LN Tel/Fax: 01935 814027 The 2003 season was thus hugely en1oyable. We were very well supported by the parents who wrtnessed a steady rmprovement in the performance of the team. PJW and I enjoyed coachrng the srde because they were prepared to work hard and listen to our advrce, even if that meant listening to PJW extolling the way 1n whrch Amencan Football and rts tactics could benefit the future of Enghsh rugby. Do the Welsh know somethrng we don't, we wondered PJW and JMOC Mini Colts B XV " Some qu1te literally crocking tackles. JJ Our first rugby season at Sherborne was enJoyable and reasonably successful. In spite of all the changes that were made in order to form the best side, players selected worked together amazingly qurckly to make a very posrtive team. In my opinion every player m the srde improved srgnificantly over the season. Individuals put m a great deal of effort and the coaching from MDN was excellent. He introduced us to many brilliant new skrlls whrch, after consrderable practice, we were able to apply effectively in matches. Perhaps the most important aspect of his role was his consistent support, even when thrngs were not going so well. We struggled agamst Poole Grammar '/\ team (several of their team were giants!) and against Millfield. A Big Thanks Mr N! The backs always played an exerting and skilful game in attack and thrs was achieved through some great coaching moves whrch I'm afraid cannot be revealed. The backs were also as solid as a rock m defence and made some quite literally cracking tackles. The pack was tremendously strong and always won good ball, never failing to do the hard work. Our best success was probably the match agarnsl Cheltenham when we won 27-7. After a period of equality, we were able to remarn solid under pressure and then build on a well-deserved try. It was a real team-effort. There were some individual moments of brilliance like Kit's breakaway try at Marlborough, Chnstian's kicking at Cheltenham and Louis. George and James' C-O's tackling rn several of the matches. The most significant plus for me, however, was the attitude of determrnation. support and encouragement shown by every single member of the team. We are all greatly looking forward to next season. Team: RBD Dance; TR Jenkins: JO Liddell; EHJ Levine: HCW Stoot; RJW Thompson: JH de Ia Moriniere; GH Franklin: JAC Staib; CWCC Maclaren: KM Regan: Jl Cochrane-Dyet: JB Maciver: JE Kipling: TP Atkins: TAW Oxenham: BM Martelli: ABB Bulman: AR Ferris. Results: Played 9, Won 4, Lost 4, Drawn I. jamre Starb Mini Colts C XV " The commitment from the players was odm1roble The season started with the usual mixture of optimism and chaos; we were optimistic about the boys but sortrng them out during trials is always a nrghtmare. It appears that most prep. school teams consist of back row forwards and serum halves because this is the preferred position of most players. We do sometimes get a three-stone prop and twelve-stone fullback but we did manage to get teams ready for the first weekend against Canford. The first fixture is always tough and thrs year was no exception: we lost to a bigger. faster team and failed to trouble the scorers. It was an experimental game in some respects and helped coaches of all teams to refine their· selections. It was clear. however, that we would be a small side (like the coach) and t hat we were likely to be overpowered by the larger and more physical teams. With this in mind. playing Wellington College in your second game is not what you want. They put over fifty points on us but we did not give up at any JJ stage. The commitment from the players was admirable and it was a shame that Ed Gidney's perfectly-struc k penalty rebounded off the crossbar to prevent ours scoring in the match. A win was required and this came from a good home victory over Clifton. To win was important but not to concede was equally necessary. A solid performance and some excellent running rugby gave the spectators plenty to cheer about. Our new weapon had also been unveiled: Sam Kim (the Korean Express) had not played rugby before coming to Sherborne. He is a sprinter and made this clear with his strong running down the wrng. In fact, he was practically unstoppable and needed more than one tackler to bring him down. At times. we became one-dimensiona l - give the ball to Sam and let him run. However. when your Oying winger is scoring tries, who wouldn't pass the ball to him? Our next two games proved to be a physrcal mismatch. The match against Corfe Hills was a remarkable performance if you consider that we were playing the1r A team and only lost by six po1nts. This was followed by an away fixture at Marlborough where we k1cked off late after see1ng England beat South Africa in the World Cup. Unfortunately, we could not emulate the performance of Martin, Jonny and Co. and lost heavily. The penod 1mmedrately after half-term saw us play our best rugby of the term. W e amassed over fifty po1nts against Bryanston and forty in our encounter with Cheltenham. Not only were we scoring tries, but we had started to play as a un1t. The forwards we winning good ball and providmg good opportunities for the backs to run. Ed Gidney was kickmg goals from all corners of the freld and the try scoring was being shared around backs and forwards. Now that we had momentum, we came up against two teams from higher levels. Blundell"s B XV put us firmly in our place with some good rugby and Warmmster gave us a good lesson in brawn beatmg brain 1n some miserable cond1t1ons. In all, desp1te results, th1s was a successful season. The progress made by the players was excellent; everyone rmproved the1r rugby and. I hope, enjoyed play1ng. I am sure that they will become a good unrt as they progress through the School. Results: Played 9, Won 3. Lost 6 Canford Wellrngton Chfton Corfe Hills Marlborough Bryanston Cheltenham Blundell's B XV Warminster A XV L L w 0-20 0-58 22- 0 L L w 13- 19 5 -3 6 52- 0 w L L 0 - 12 7 - 38 7 MAP - 42 Hockey 1st XI excel/em leadership by 'Radders' n Sherborne School hockey has traditionally played a 'Prem1ersh1p' f1xture list and w1th the new sand dressed Astroturf so ktndly donated by the members of the Foundation, chnstened 'The Hughte Holmes' last summer, we now have 'Prem1ershtp' facilities to match any school on our play1ng circuit (with the exceptron of Millr1eld and the1r three water-based p1tches!). The season began at the end of the M1chaelmas Term w1th the tradrllonal Staff Match. Thts always g1ves me an tdea of what talent we have for the forthcommg Lent Term. so I was not too concerned when the Staff managed a 2-1 v1ctory. as the Staff team was 'loaded w1th expenence" The pre-season tournament. wh1ch consisted of games agatnst Wellington College and the Pilgnms. was d1sappo1nt1ng 1n 1ts results - we lost both games - but very 1mportant 1n getting match practice for the first School fixture on the next Saturday. King's Bruton was the first officral school match on the Hughie Holmes p1tch. Wtth it came an excellent crowd. good wea ther and a superb d1splay of attack1ng hockey resulting 1n a 6-1 win. Two goals each from Ben Billman and M1ke Saunders and one ap1ece for jam1e Holdoway and Paddy Houghton showed that we had the ab1lrty to score from open play and from set p1eces. Monkton Combe IS a traditiOnally tough fixture that we have been edged out of tn recent years Th1s year was no exceptton. To the boys' cred1t. they played some of the best hockey I have seen them play, dom1nat1ng the game and creat1ng chances on both sides of the p1tch, yet we d1dn't convert the pressure and chances rnto goals and th1s resulted rn our go1ng down 1-2, our only goal coming from an excellent 1nd1v1dual effort from Charlie Wilyman. Dean Close School, wh1ch we play at a neutral p1tch 1n Clevedon, rs a very strong hockey school. boast1ng a clutch of International players, and is the current Under-16 National Champion. This team ts now play1ng at F1rst Eleven level. Although we started very we ll, scoring in the fifth minute to take the lead wi th Mike Saunders turning in a excellent move down the r1ght hand s1de, they completely outplayed us 1n all departments. seemrngly scoring at w1ll, wh1ch resulted 1n a humtliat1ng 1-9 defeat. The snow came and, wrth It, reduced practice ttme before we played Taunton School. whose aggress1ve and athletic style of play overran us. The 1-4 result flattered Taunton, jam1e Holdoway sconng from a well-wor ked short corner. The players now realised the importance of takrng your chances and not making mistakes in the 'Prem1ersh 1p fixture list' as you will be pun1shed for 1t. The Bryanston School match aga1n illustrated the importance of tak1ng our chances We overran them 1n m1dfield and set up lots of goal-scoring chances. The Bryanston goalkeeper was outstandrng. but we dtdn't score goals. The 1-2 score was equally d1sappo1ntrng for the players as 1t was for the coach! Alex W1ll1s and Ed Radcl1ffe were excellent rn m1df1eld The County Cup compet1t10n gave us an easy v1ctory over Mtlton Abbey. wh1ch brought us up agarnst Bryanston School 1n the sem1final. The game was played at a pace that the ump1res could not live With, resulttng rn some nd1culous decrs1ons agamst both s1des. Reduced to ten men as a result of th1s 1nd1fferent ump1nng. Bryanston scored 1n the dytng seconds. putting us out of the Cup. It 1s not profess1onal for me as a coach to compla1n about umpinng but 1f we are cont1numg to 1mprove the speed and sk1ll of our players at school-level, the umpires. for the players' sake, need to get up to speed too (I am now off my soap box!). King Edward's School. Southampton. was t he last game before half term. Th1s was a 'wtn IS all that matters game'; the boys rose to the occas1on, played w1th pass1on. fla1r and professionalism, wh1ch resulted 1n a superb 4-1 v1ctory. A Charlie Wilyma n hat trick and a W1ll1s goal from h1s new pos1t1on as centre forward on a lovely sunny day gave the boys a well-deserved w1n. Thts game and the result further Illustrated the compet1t1ve nature of the School fixture lrst as K1ng Edward's had beaten Bryanston 1n thetr prev1ous game. After half-term we travelled to Ktng's Taunton. A good-quality and evenly-contested hockey match was won by the 1ndiv1dual Influence of one outstand1ng King's player who created chances and scored 1n the 1-3 result Charl1e W1lyman also scored agatn Millfield at Mlllf1eld was the next fixture; we played the worst hockey of our season against the strongest opponents for the first twenty mtnutes. which resulted 1n our be1ng 0-6 dow n. the Millfield short corner speCialrst cla1m1ng five After a halftime talk to sort the players out tact1cally as well as mentally. the boys came out and played some excellent hockey. They never gave up and worked very hard at trying to Implement the game plan. The fmal result was 19, which reflected the d1v1sion between the teams. Twe-term-hockey schools. and schools l1ke Millf1eld who can get four to five hours' practice-time on the Astroturf. will always attract speoalist hockey-players and prov1de the benchmark for Individual sk1lls for us to aspire to. Wells Cathedral School cla1med t o be very weak this year and requested an 'A' team fixture wh1ch l filled w1th all Upper Sixth players 1n the First and Second Teams. We ran out comfo1iable winners 8-1. Due to a fixture problem we had lost the Canford School match as 1t clashed with the County Cup, but we managed to rearrange the game to midweek. Canford by trad1tion place more emphasis on hockey than rugby and as a result are usually strong. This game agam highlighted the compet1t1ve nature of the Sherborne team which created chances and played with passion in defence, yet lacked the real 'class' to finish the chances they created. At the other end, Canford had relat1vely few chances yet seemed to put them away, resulting in a frustratmg 3-6 defeat for Sherborne, which, on another day, with luck. would have been 4-4. Two short corner goals from Paddy Houghton comb1ned w1th a superb open-play effort from Mike Saunders. Kmg Edward's, Bath, was a mirror-1mage of the Canford game. We played well, created chances at regular intervals throughout the game. yet didn't finish them off. We defended well, yet K1ng's scored two well-worked penalty corners 1n the first half. The result was always there to be had as the chances were arriving regularly: we h1t the bar. post and most b1ts of the goalkeeper. yet d1dn't get on the score sheet losmg 0-2. The Pilgnms brought out a talented team. wh1ch played some excellent attackmg and some equally spectacular defensive hockey. The result was an excellent match that finished 4-4 on full t1me, w1th Mike Saunders and Charlie Wilyman both scoring two goals each. The deodtng penalty fl1ck competition was won by the School 8-7. The final match of the season was against Muir College, a South African school team over on tour. We started the game very well, scoring early on w1th a rare 'Radders' goal to take us into half-time leading 1-0. We extended the lead quickly after half-t1me through Giles Maber, but under constant pressure from some extremely quick forwards. Muir got a goal back and had a goal disallowed 1n the dy1ng seconds (thank you. Mr Scott!). Congratulations to George Berthon for mak1ng an excellent debut as a Th1rd Former, wh1ch enabled us to sneak home 2-1 and finish the season on a win. I hope he w1ll become a fixture 1n the I st X I for four more years! To summanse th1s season. I would po1nt out that we do play 1n the 'Premiership' where the marg1n between win and lose IS very small. yet the gulf 1n ability between the top of the league and the bottom 1s huge. Sherborne are m1d-table: we w1ll always struggle against the 'big boys' such as Millfield. but they are the scalp we have to set our s1ghts on wmnmg 1f we want to compete with the best. The rest are within our sights. We have the facilit1es and the ability as players and coaches throughout the school to compete and beat the teams in our 'league' and this has been ev1dent this year. The boys have worked very hard with excellent leadership by 'Radders', Edward Radcliffe, who was an excellent captain who led by example and even though the results proved disappointing he was always the first to pick his team up and focus on the positive. School colours were awarded to. Paddy Houghton for his tenaoous defending and hts excellent support as VICe-captain . jamte Holdaway who was our most potent forward; whenever he had the ball he caused the opposition defence problems: with h1gh-quality skill combmed w1th electric pace he created many chances for the other forwards. Adam Rerd who returned to hockey from football and was outstanding in goal with some breathtaking reaction-saves to keep us in the game. Benedtkt Billman whose quality individual skills gave all the players around him space and time on the ball. His role in midfield as prov1der created plenty of chances for the forwards. Alex Webb was superb as the last defender. H1s tacklmg and Simple distribution to m1dfield provided the team with quality possesston. My thanks to JJBW who has worked very hard to ma1nta1n the standard of our fixture-list. and promote and support the I st X I 1n any way he can both on and off the p1tch. I look forward to next year wtth so many players returning for their final year. I hope we have learnt from our experiences this year and that we can improve for the season ahead. Team from : EM Radcliffe (Capl): PJT Houghton: B B1llman; PWJ Horsington: AA Mackay-James: ATB Webb: AB Reid: OJ Madley; AMd'A Willis; GA Maber: CJWilyman: MH Saunders; JT Holdaway; ERS Kelly. Results: Played IS, Won 6, Lost 9. RH 2nd XI ult become almost habiCual to be lostng at hal[-ttme and then come bock and wtn. JJ The 2nd XI enJoyed the season with excellent performances. and were arguably the most successful team in the School, with thirteen matches played. and only losmg three lost. A combmat1on of a highly motivated and determmed team combmed wrth a willingness to train hard ensured that we had, for the most part, a wmning season. We had some excrt1ng results agarnst Bryanston. Milton Abbey Ist XI and Taunton. and some d1sappo1ntrng losses, notably aga1nst Mrllfield, where we lost to a team who were not much better than us. Our tendency to let the opponents score first became qurte regular, and 1t became almost habitual to be losing at half-t1me and then come back and wrn. Our impressrve goal tally (both for and agarnst) reflects this. Our captain. Charlre Habershon, was the centre of the more-than-able forwards and an insprrat1onal leader both on and off the prtch. desprte being told by a member of the coachrng staff that after one partrcular performance he was tempted to send hrm to the San for a drugs test (we won anyway)! Alex Russell displayed dynamr c pace and agility at central defence. and the accuracy of his hard hitting was vital rn play-making and creating space. His man marking was always relrable and he was always strong rn the tackle Rob Eglrngton was our most rmproved player of the year, his ball skills improvrng dramatrcally as the season went on, whrch proved to unlock the tightest of defences. Ash Walford, along w1th Hugh and Alex, was the pacemaker of the team. Hrs runs down the right side of the pitch on numerous occasions created goal scoring opportunities for both hrmself and other members of the team. Fred Isles was always strong rn defence alongside Ed and Alex. and hrs accurate distribution of the ball was almost always relrable. Zeddy Seymour showed flare and aggression at all times. but unfortunately his season never really reached its full potenllal owing to a knee-InJUry. Nevertheless, hrs determination shone through, and his skill often made hrm elusive to opponents. Ed Wicks' comb1natron of pace and skill was crucral at left-back. Hrs performances were always solid. and definitely show promise for next season. Oily Gargrave was another who showed great determ1nat1on at all limes, and his ms1stence on our potent1al to w1n at half t1me was always a great insprration. His skill led to a flurry of goals. Ed Selfe, immaculately dressed at all times, was equally t1dy 1n his defence. He too was solid rn the tackle and h1s marking of his oppos1te man was excellent. He was particularly fearless rn hrs defence of short comers. Andrew Ostroumoff kept the team laugh1ng whilst provrding fierce oppos1tion rn midfield. What Ozzy lacked rn pace, he made up for rn skrll and ball distributron. leadrng to goal-sconng opportunities. Hugh Yates' tremendous pace down the right srde of the prtch was a threat to all our opponents. H1s playing rn a skirt on a par-ticularly windy day against the girls' school was certainly memorable! Lastly, much thanks to Rob Hill. whose encouragement and expertrse were of rnfinrte value to the team's season. Results Played 13, Won 8, Lost 3. Drawn 2. Monkton Combe Taunton Bryanston Canford King Edwards, Southampton King's Taunton Milton Abbey Millfreld Clayesmore Wells Cathedral Krng Edwards, Bath w w w L w L w L D w w 2I 65 42 04 42 0 - I 75 2 5 3 3 8I 4- 2 3rd XI uCons1derable natural sk1ll. and no d1scernable mscmct {or self-preservation. n With a core of last year's 3rd XI and an infusron of enthusiastiC new blood from the Lower Srxth. this was a team wrth potentral. The commitment of the whole 3rd/4th XI squad was outstanding throughout the term, and RCFG and I very much enJoyed working with them all. Of course we had the usual problem at the start of term - w h o was going to play in goal? M1ke Pope was coerced 1nto playing two games again and the Colts B lent us George Smibert for a couple more. However, in the end we were indebted to a Fifth-Form volunteer, Hal Pentecost. who demonstrated consrderable natural skill, and no discernable inst1nct for self-preservation - what more could one ask for! We didn't find the frrst half of the season easy. We probably should have won our first match. against King's Bruton because when we played as a team in the last twenty minutes we were all over them throughout the season we seemed to find it most difficult to score rn the games where we had the most chances! The match against Taunton was played on grass, and once we changed our tacttcs to sutt the surface, we produced an excellent display t o win. The Bryanston match was without doubt the most frustrattng of the season, as we must have had at least twenty-five good chances but. due to a combination of bad luck and good goalkeeptng, we only managed to score a single goal, whtch wasn'l enough. Canford are always a good team, but this year we had an excellent chance t o wtn as we were level at 2-2 early on tn the second half, until thetr supenor sktll and tacttcs told tn the end. The last four matches were all victories. A good even match against Kings Taunton agatn played on grass, resulted in a narrow victory. This was followed by two routs of 2nd XI opposttton - the first a 6-1 drubbt ng of Milton Abbey and the second a 5 -2 thrashing of Clayesmore. Everything worked - passes were firm and went to sticks, hits were crisp, shots went tnto the goal and we played together as a team. The final match, agatnst Wells Cathedral, was btzarre - admtttedly we didn't play well, and two of our goals were dubtous, but several of the opposttton seemed to have been down to the pub to celebrate before the match had even started, and tempers were short. Overall, this was a thoroughly enJoyable season my abiding memories wtll be of Hal Pentecost maktng saves with some of the more senstttve parts of hts body, more than 20 players turntng up for voluntary Friday practtces and Ben Groves lobbtng the goalkeeper while on the run in a practice game. Thanks espeoally to Matt Snudden for leading the team so sktlfully. Team: ME Snudden (capt.); CES Cltfton; DP Combes; Jl Cull; MP Ersktne; BP Groves; OJ jennings; BJA Leach; CG Minter; H N Pentecost; NP Scott-Underdown: CHJ Wyatt. Also Played: R Eglington; GEJ jerram; NA Oxley; MTB Pope; ERA Selfe: GN Smibert. Results: Played 8, Won 5, Lost 2, Drawn I. King's Bruton 3rd XI Taunton 3rd XI Bryanston 3rd XI Canford 3rd XI Kmg's Taunton 3rd XI Milton Abbey 2nd XI Clayesmore 2nd XI Wells Cathedral 3rd XI D W L L W W W W I 3 I 2 3 - I - 0 2 - 4 - 2 6- I 5 - 2 4- 3 MFW 4th XI " The htgh level o( sportsmanshtp was tn the best tradtttons o( the 4th XI. " Thts was an enjoyable season in whtch some very good results were achteved. The enthusiasm whtch brought us together several times a week, tn some tmprobable locations and in spite of ratn, snow and occasional sunshine, was matched by some entertaining hockey. The increasing use of Astroturf encourages rising skill-leve ls and the team took to heart the adage that 'the best form of defence is attack.' We were only outplayed in one match by a very good Canford side and the three victories were well-deserved. Will Harder was a popular captain, not least because he enticed Max Barber to undertake the unenviable role of goalkeeper behind a generous defence! The goals were shared around, although George jerram showed considerable ability as a goal poacher when chances arose in the D. There were a number of worthy recipients of their colours, as indicated by a star on the list below. The high level of sportsmanship was in the best traditions of the 4th XI. This was particularly appreciated by those who umpired and the tolerance of erroneous decisions made a difficult task much easier! Gratitude is also due to MFW for his much needed but frequently-ignored coaching! Team: WA Harder* (capt); MD Barber*; GEJ jerram; MTB Pope*; PFJ Hames*; CA Fox-Andrews*; NA Oxley*. JAG-M Roberts; TA Fineman; ASL French; JE Butler*; PT Kennard; TA Hewitson; CJP Hallam; CE Woollcombe-Adams; CA Gordon Creed. Scorers. GEJ Jerram 7; CA Gordon-Creed 2; JE Butler 2; PFJ Hames 2; N A Oxley I; CJP Hallam I. Results: Played 5, Won 3, Lost I, Drawn I. Goals For IS; Goals Against 14. RCFG Senior Colts A XI " There ts a great deal of potential here. 11 To play hockey at a h1gh level is not an easy task: there are numerous hurdles to overcome, perhaps more than in many other sports. Lack of practice t1me on the pitch, the lack of act1ve support for the game from w1th1n the School, and the weather in january all provide their own challenges, and this is before considenng the mtncacies of play1ng a game with an odd-shaped stick that you can only use one side of. And yet the game has much to offer many boys, and this year-group, who had not achieved the greatest of sporting successes in the past, tackled all this with tremendous energy. commitment and, yes, success. The difference in their conf1dence and self belief, and the higher expectations that they set of themselves between the start and the end of the term, was tremendous t o see; and all th1s was achieved wh1lst matntain1ng the true values of sportsmanshtp that are all too rarely seen these days 111 the era of profess1onaltsm and the 'wtn at all cost' attitude that dominates much of our sport. This ts not to say that a more professional attitude was not taken 111 tra1ntng and preparat1on for match days, but perspect1ve was mamtained both on and off the pitch, allowtng the boys to experience a thoroughly enJoyable and rewarding ttme through their hockey. I certainly found coachtng this great group of boys to be one of the most enJoyable for many years and I hope that they feel likewtse. The Introduction of a pre-season tratntng day certainly helped to set the tone for the term ahead. Those that had played tn the tndoor before Christmas were clearly at an advantage. but tt dtdn'l take long before it became apparent that there was an excellent squad of players all compet1ng for a place tn the A's. This healthy competttiOn continued throughout the term and meant that complacency never set in, especially as the des1re to stay tn a successful team remained strong. What was especially pleas1ng was the way many players were prepared to put astde personal asp1rat1ons for the better of the team, and yet still rematn as committed as ever to 1mprovmg thetr own game. The Introduction of some juntor Colt players. who had been play1ng tn the Daily Mail rugby side for most of the term. could have been very disruptive, but it was felt necessary to gtve these boys some exposure to hockey rather than m1ss out a year altogether. The three who stepped up a year all ga1ned much from the extra pace and 1ntens1ty of Under 16 hockey, which will hopefully prepare them well for the challenges of wtnnmg the County Cup and D1v1sionals next year, 1n order to progress to the Nationals. Th1s is unquestionably the realistic goal for next season. But back to this year group. As I have mentioned already, they had not tasted significant success on the sports field before, so to w1n eight school matches out of ntne IS an excellent ach1evement. Beat1ng King's Bruton on the first Saturday was always go1ng to be cnt1cal in establishtng the winning habit, and the team qu1ckly grasped the tactical game that had been set out in pre-season and in the team briefings to steal a march on an opposition that had not been beaten in prev1ous years. Good wins against Bryanston and Monkton Combe followed before one of the highlights of the season, a w1n against the very strong hockey school of Dean Close. King Edward's Southampton. King's Taunton and even Millfield were beaten by an increas1ngly confident side who now had real belief in themselves and who were playing attractive, high quality hockey throughout the team. It was a pity that the last two school matches were not played, so the last game, aga1nst what turned out to be a very strong Pilgrim's Ist XI, was perhaps a good way to finish as it rem1nded the boys that, whilst they had made great strides 111 the1r tnd1v1dual and collecttve hockey ability, there IS still some way to go before they w1ll be competing w1th the very best at sen1or-team level. On the negattve s1de. the only loss came after a much-d1srupted week against an athletic and poweliul Taunton s1de. who modentally went on to beat Millfield in the Somerset Cup. The Dorset County Cup was another disappointment, when once aga1n the standard was set by Canford. This is an event wh1ch must take an important place 111 the a1ms of any team 111 the Lent Term, and again 1llustrates that there IS still much to be worked on. Overall. though, the pos1t1ves vastly outwe1gh the negatives and all the boys mvolved can be rightly proud of what they ach1eved th1s term. Many of the team had to adapL to new positions, a new formation. and new tactics, but they can all be proud of the r record: scoring forty-three goals in twelve games is an impress1ve tally, espeoally when goal sconng was one of their weaknesses the prev1ous year Defensively they still have to learn to position themselves better in the tackle, be more aggressive. and to show a little btt more composure on the ball. especially when leading in a match with not long to go. However, the manner in which all of them took responsibility for the1r defens1ve duties, from the front men to the back, was a feature of this team's success. I have deliberately not mentioned anyone 1ndiv1dually as th1s was very much a team-effort. Success was based on collective responsibility and not on relymg on one or two stars to win games on the1r own. There IS a great deal of potential here and, if the1r enthustasm and commitment to hard training IS maintained then this particular group of boys (and I include the whole squad of players who represented the team this term, a total of twenty two boys) could find hockey to be a real area for possible success - but it will not come cheaply. Thank you for making thts a most enjoyable term and good luck 111 the future. Team: RPM Hawksley (Captain): TP Bowker; Taunton L LAJ Nitch-Smith: TAT Russell: JO Bendall; GH Berthon: NWD Crew: DJ Lloyd; ACFPL Hamm1ck: FR Pendarves; CAR Esson; JE Sm1bert; CJ Holdaway. Bryanston 3rd XI King Edward's, Southampton King's. Taunton Millf1eld Bradfield College King Edward's. Bath Pilgrims I st XI W Also played : G N Smibert; BJM Bishop; JD Adams; RPF Cummmg: HTP Marks; ORW Oxenbridge; RP Horne; JA Brook-Fox: GSE Corlett. Results: Played 9, Won 8, Drawn 0, Lost I King's, Bruton Bryanston n o n m b e 3 Dean Close W W W W 42 32 60 4- I w w w L County Cup Played 2. Lost 2 Canford Bryanston I- 4 L L 12- 0 53 Cancelled 3Cancelled 2 05 l 4 l 2AMH Senior Colts B XI 3I uA great season w1th a smashmg bunch of boys. '' Th1s has been a very successful season for the year group as a whole and thts team tn parttcular. A combmatton of gritty determmation, 1mprovmg sttck skllls and outstandmg goal-scoring proved a lethal m1x, which most oppos1tion was unable to combat. That sa1d. all the boys could improve further and that was well demonstrated when we watched the Sherborne A XI destroy Bryanston 1n a fifteen minute purple patch in early February. Rory Horne captamed the stde w1th qu1et eff1c1ency leading, as ever, by example with tenac1ous tack ling t n the m1ddle of the field. Henry Marks was a pillar of strength at the back, and h1s improvement in stiCk-ski lls was the most marked of all. Guy Corlett and Rory Cunning ass1sted htm ably. Rory really improved when moved mto m1dfteld and we got the full benefit of hts tweless running. James Brook-Fox was much 1mproved when moved mto the midfield. john Cain and Chris Hallam both worked hard and enJoyed go1ng forward but need to track back w1th equal determination 1f they are to play 1n their accustomed positions 1n the Senior School. Tom Taylor's work-rate pushed these guys hard for the first-team places. Meanwhile, upfront. Ben Bradtsh-EIIames rematned unconventtonal till the last. but is an effecttve nght-wing and goal-scorer His final goal came, after his shoulder had dislocated, wtth a one-handed reverse swoop to put a smile on anyone's face. Gordon Cur1is showed commendable effort on the tnck1er left flank and Oily Oxenbridge's fine skills at centre-forward meant goals were always gotng to come. One or two ended up tn the ngg1ng w h t c h ts always going to faze the coach. Last but by no means least. George Smibert performed heroically, not least of all against Canford, who fielded many of thetr A team tn a natl-biting contest. Sometimes it is easy to forget how many goals one doesn't need to score if the goalie plays we ll. All in all, it was a great season wtth a smashmg bunch of boys who remind me why I enjoy coaching so much. Many thanks to them and also to AMH for all the techn1cal stuff, of whtch I know so ltttle! Team: BJM B1shop; BJM Bradish-EIIames; JA Brook Fox; JD Cam; GSE Corlett; RPF Cumming; GO Curtts; RP Horne (Captatn); HTP Marks; ORW Oxenbridge; G N Smtbert: TM Taylor. Results: Played 6, Won 5. Lost I. GB-E Junior Colts A XI uA typiCal Shtrburntan performance - full of vtgour, spint and skt/1. " Following the success of the junior Colts in the Daily Mail Rugby Competition, it was a somewhat depleted team that started the hockey season 1n january. ln1tial thoughts were that there was enough depth 1n the year group and that it was a good opportunity for other players to shine. Most Important for the players to realtse was that. when they played in the first match at Bruton, they were the Juntor Colts A and that could not be taken away from them. This first match was typtcal of many encounters early in the season: the skills were not yet at full speed, players were not as fit as they could be and we should have scored many more goals. However. we drew the match and left feeling satisfied but a little disappointed that we had not started the season with a win. Our next game, against Dean Close at Clevedon, was played in terrible conditions. We did not start too badly but were not in the game for many periods. We were desperate for a win and managed thts with a professional performance at Blundell's, but followed this up wtth a 5-4 thriller at Taunton. Unfortunately, we were never ahead tn this match so our four goals were never enough. It was then that we played two matches in three days against our two main Dorset rivals, Bryanston and Canford. Bryanston beat us heavily on the Leweston astro: they appeared to have some of thetr star players in their side and we were distracted by the progress of the rugby team m their latest conquest on The Upper. Canford also gave us a lesson in hockey and we needed to put in some hard work during the coming week. King Edward's, Southampton, is always a hard fixture but they appeared to be going through something of a trough. It was exaclly what we needed: to win 8-0 is always flattering, but we were clinical in our finishing and professiona l tn our approach. Th1s gave some much-needed confidence to the team. It was disappointing then to return from half-term and lose to King's Taunton. Everything that was good at Southampton was bad against Taunton and we deserved noth1ng more from the game. The most thrilling game of the season is often the match agamst Millfield. Thts was no except1on and a 4-4 draw had everything that a game would want. In the end we were disappointed not to win: we had played so well and could easily have sneaked victory. This was a typical Shirburnian performance - full of v1gour, spirit and skill. I was proud of the team. This had lifted us to better things and the season finales against Clayesmore and King Edward's, Bath, provided us with two w1ns to conclude the term. These were both good victories and allowed us to demonstrate the progress that we had made. It is always d1fficult to name players. particularly when t here were so many changes but I would ltke to pick a few who deserve special mention. Mark Erskine captained the side and always led by example. He is a good hockey player who will go on to much better things. Harry Rowe proved that he could score goals and Ed Atkins proved to be the pillar (literally) of our defence. However; one player· deserves special mention. Will Clark is probably the most uncouth defender I have seen at this level: he never looks in control of the ball but never mtssed a tack le and made many breaks up the field. He was the model of effectiveness and could be relied on to make a diving, saving tackle anywhere on the field. He started the season in the C team, so this IS proof to players of all sports that anything is possible. My thanks go to many people who have helped thrs team, particularly DAS, who umpired many of our matches. Results: Played II, Won 4, Lost 5, Drawn 2. King's Bruton Dean Close Blundell's Taunton Bryanston Canford Ktng Edward's, Southampton King's Taunton Millfield Clayesmore King Edward's, Bath D L w L L L w L D w w 2- 2 2- 5 2- 0 4- 5 I - 4 0 - 3 8- 0 2- 5 4- 4 7- 0 2- I MAP Junior Colts C XI uA/1 the boys operated as a team . " This season was not unusual in some respects, and yet in others it was atypical. The commitment of severa l good games-players to the rugby competition enabled a number of players to fill spaces in teams at a higher level. What this meant was that boys who would otherwise have had to content themselves with a place in this team were lured away by the bright lights of the A and B teams. It 1s to their credit that they showed just how good they were, and that little or nothing was seen of them after the first match or even practice! Equally, it enabled a number of boys to represent the School who might not otherwise have had that opportunity. This year, and despite the efforts of JJBW. matches were regrettably rather thin on the ground, but the boys' commitment to practice-sessions in all weathers or to the House Leagues competition was commendab le. Rarely was there any difficulty in producing at least eleven capable players for each match. I should mention the D team squad-members at this point: firstly, because a number of these boys were always willing to fill gaps at quite short notice and, secondly, because the opposition (who will remain nameless) in their only fixture cried off at the eleventh hour. What of the playing-record? It is heartening to report that the team remained unbeaten, as one of only two sides to achieve this feat. In all matches the level of industry on and off the ball. the mutual support, the eagerness to impress and the sheer enjoyment were evident to even the most neutral of observers. I feel that it would be invidious to attempt to pick out any individuals, because all the boys operated as a team. Therefore, they were congratulated as a group on their successes, berated on their missed opportunities to score even more goals than they did, and asked to calm down in the face of agricultural opposition or interesting umpiring decisions (not only from the opposing teams' men!). They were a pleasure to work with , and I would encourage as many as possible to stick with this game - and carry forward their unbeaten record. Thanks are due to JJBW, RWH and MA r for their support and assistance. The followmg made up the C and D teams squad. some fleetingly : RT Morgan (Captain): TA Andrews: HCB Balfour; GA Beattie: RC Carter; WA Clark: NM Cooke: MAl Cosby; WJ DayRobinson; Aj Dunlop; HRM Dutton; JPS Fletcher; Cj Gilbert; AR Harking: GF Herbert; OJ Hopkins: JB Kinnersley: AG Le May; GT Pullen: TVR Royle: RPA Sworder: MJ Tavender: AJVlieland-Boddy. Results: Played 4, Won I. Drawn 3. MAW Mini Colts A XI uWhen they got everythtng ught. their hockey was spectacular. " My overall 1mpress1on of the season IS of a young stde with plenty of potential but one whtch struggled to realise 1ts potential on a regular basts. When they got everythtng nghl. thetr hockey was spectacular and a pleasure to watch. Far too often. however. both in training and matches. the application and discipline were lacking. Thts IS somethtng that I am convtnced will come in the next few years as they become more mature. They are certainly enthusiastic about the game. Thanks to the third-form indoor competition during the Michaelmas Term. I had already earmarked a number of players for the Leam and was delighted at the Lent Term trials to dtscover more talent. Havtng only one full training-sesston before the first match is far from ideal, so 1t IS to 1ts great credit that the team stitched together a confident vtctory. albett against an ordrnary K1ng's Bruton stde. The defending was parttcularly pleasing, espeCially the shadow-defendtng of jamte Staib, who refused to let his wmger past. The followmg game. against Dean Close, was another story. against one of the top hockey schools 1n the country. The midfield of jeremy Maciver, Beanie Isles and Xander Brinkworth competed well, but there was little firepower up front and we tnevitably conceded a handful of goals. It was already becomtng apparent. however, that the short corner routrne had much potential and was worth working on. Monkton Combe was a perfect example of the inconsistency of the team, all within one game. At 20 up at half-time and cruising, the game was virtually won. One goalkeeping error and panic ensued allowing the opposition to steal the game from under our noses. ConfirmatiOn the following Saturday robbed us of Xander Bnnkworh and Beante Isles. two of our most influential players. meantng that the necessary changes could not be made. Desptte james Ktpltng's fourth goal 1n three games. the game was surrendered largely due to poor team-disCipline and lack of composure. So i t was with ltttle confidence that we entered the County Cup evening. and I was expecting a long patnful ntght. We were lucky to face an average Clayesmore side first. agarnst which the team was able to gain confidence and stick to the game-plan. They earned this forward into the next game. playing with great intenstty and better discipline to pull off an unlikely victory against Canford to become county champions, thanks to another goal from the prolific James Kipling. The tackltng was terrif ic, especially by the rapidly improvmg jamte Ltddell. They had now set the benchmark standard. Certamly the team's self-belief was much stronger from th1s point onwards. The following Thursday, against Bryanston, much of the shape and disCipline was still evtdent although they were unable to recapture the intensity. The short-corner routine was begrnning to fire on a regular basts, allowtng us to earn a worthy draw. Two days later. Canford sought thetr revenge. Despite an early beautiful short-corner strike from Jack Renner stratght from the training ground, Alex Powe was left too exposed at sweeper and Canford cruised to an easy victory. At half-ttme they were made aware of the free men and the tmportance of markrng. but to no avail. Lessons were learnt and a close-fought victory was earned against a King Edward's. Southampton. side containing one outstanding player. He was dealt with admirably by our not diving in and making him go around us. This was followed up by the most comprehensive performance of the season against King's Taunton. From the moment that Kit Regan began the warm-up w1thout being prompted, to the moment he ran the warm down, the team looked completely profess1onal. Our first five short corners were all different rout1nes and any one of them could have found the back of the net. Despite berng 0-0 at half time. they had confidence that the goal would come and, sure enough, Anthony Titley broke the deadlock soon after half-time. They could easily have scored more than three in the second half. One cannot help but wonder what other v 1ctones could have been achteved with this level of focus on every match-day and rn every training-session. We had been warned that the Millfield side were pretty specia l this year and. at 0-7 down at half-time. it was clear that this was no understatement. It was a commendable performance, therefore, to draw the second half and an excellent workout for Henry Stoot in goal, but hardly tdeal preparation for the div1s1onal tournament. Although this tournament was useful experience for them, they grossly underachieved. Thetr only narrow success was aga1nst The Downs, whtch IS a Prep School. They seemed to feel the pressure of the situation and, despite trying thetr hardest, were simply not able to play to the1r potential, making far too many basic errors. We were keen to regroup and finish the season strongly. The score-line against Bradfield was rather harsh in what was a close-fought encounter. But the final game of the season. against King Edward's, Bath. played in torrential rain. was a morale-boosting and confident victory. Jamie Excell finally managed to get himself on the score sheet. much to his relief. With a number of players with great potent1al and with the best Mint Colts shor-t-corner routine I have seen at this school, they must gain better results 1n future years. It is up to them. They have the enthusiasm, their basics are good and with more maturity and more consistent commitment they can asptre to the standards being set by the year above them. Team: KM Regan (capt); AC Bnnkworth; JWW Excell; PES Isles: JE Kipling; JO Ltddell; JB Maciver; AW Powe; JEM Renner; JAC Statb; HCW Stoot; AW Tttley. Also played: GH Berthon; Boughton; JA TR jenkins; LFT Nunes de Costa; CWCC Maclaren. Results: Played 16, Won 7. Lost 8, Drew I. King's, Bruton Dean Close Monkton Combe Taunton Clayesmore (County Cup) w L L L w 3 - I I - 5 2 - 3 I- 3 4- 0 Canford (County Cup) Bryanston Canford King Edward's, Southampton Kings Taunton M1llfield Millfield (Reg1onal Champs.) Dauntsey's (Reg1onal Champs.) The Downs (Reg1onal Champs.) Bradf1eld King Edwards, Bath w I - D L 0 22 w w L L L L w w I - 4 43 30 2- 9 0 - 5 I 3JJBW 2- I I - 4 4- I Mini Colts C XI ul even smiled (a little). " This season seemed to me to occur 1n the wrong order - a dull start and a d1sappomting finish with all the exCitement in the m1ddle. Led by Andrew in the centre. they became a fiercely close-knit group, even fiercer with stick 1n hand! The ever-vocal Hooper up front and 'Super-Speedy' Sk1psey on the left wing battled 1t out for top goal-scorer (who did come out top? My records say six all...). Memorable moments 1ncluded: Sk1psey's hat trick against Sherborne Prep.; the battle on the lawns of Canford; a big win aga1nst what seemed like Mtlton Abbey's 4th XV rugby team; the sheer pace at Castle Court (where we all started to feel a bit old and past it!). The biggest tnumph had to be Millfield on that gloriously sunny day. Koban was on usual acrobatic form, Mace was solid at the back, Sutton impressed on the right, and Madley created the chances. It was best hockey they played all term - I even smiled (a little)' Team. AJ Andrew A (Capt.): Jl Cochrane-Dyet; W G Hooper; FM Horne; Dj Horwood; TMH Hussey; SJC Jenks; OW Kesley; AW Koban; TRC Lloyd; BD Mace; HL Madley; OJ Marks; JW Pringle; LT Skipsey; HGR Sutton: HW Tomlinson. Resulcs· Played 9, Won 5, Lost 2, Drawn 2. n o n m Sherborn e Prep. Canford Sandroyd M1lton Abbey Millfield Clayesmore Castle Court KES Bath D W W L W W W D L 0 - 0 5 - 0 2 - I 0 - I 6 - 2 5 - 3 2- I 4 -4 0- I HGCL Mini Colts D XI uThey put up some {nghtenmg oppos1tion. " As usual, the list of results never tells the full story. In trainmg, I could not fault this squad for thetr commitment. They put up some frightening opposition for the Cs - perhaps they had used up all their aggression by Saturday! Not wanting to make excuses. it is often the case that, while the sun IS disappearing over the horizon and most teams are getting warm indoors, tucking into tea and cake, the D-teams are only just starting to play. It's also hard to keep spirits up when, desp1te pressure and possession, the chances still seem to go the opposition's way. As well as applauding the whole squad for their efforts, I must commend Captatns Rance and Hannam for leading the team, Martelli and Franks who displayed growing confidence and Capel as a strong sweeper. Team: RGH Blackman; Ej Capel; W T Dain; jDH Duncan; TJ Franks; TW Hannam (Capt.); ADR Hill; HStj Hopktns; A] Kerr; W M Leith; TC MacDonald Watson; BM Martelli; AM Rance (Capt.); HCB Spencer; JC Turner. Results: Played 7, W on I, Lost 6. Drawn 0 King's Bruton 'B' Canford King's Taunton Sandroyd Clayes more Bradfield King Edward's, Bath W L L L L L L I - 0 0 - l 0 l I 0 0 3 3 6 3 - 4 HGCL Cricket 1st XI usome 1/·Ve1y m· drvr·dua1s. " 'As the ball came to me rn slo-mo, I suddenly understood why the Bntish taught boys to play cricket, taught them to stand and watch as something comes hurtling towards them - a ball. a torpedo, a tribe of Zulus - and to stay calm and do something. pronto. I understood for the first trme about straight bats, and self-reliance, and grace under pressure, and why the British Empire was a natural extension of a national sport'. john Walsh's recent comment on his first cricket match still has some resonance for cricket today. The Zulus may be confined to the television every Christmas, but cricket is still a supreme test of coping under pressure. A sport where there are no second chances for the batsman, where patience and subtlety have just as much a part to play as power and athleticism and where the refuge of the draw IS not possible in school matches- all these make for a great challenge. Cricket is also great fun; the length of time spent together provides great opportunities for amusement and banter. In many ways it is a wonderful counterweight to the 'if it ain't broke. get a new model anyway nghtaway' approach of today. Even 20f20 lasts at least three hours! This was a great season - a side containing only three Upper Sixth boys secured nine wins. the same number as the very successful side of the year before. Best of all. it was the team that achieved victories: only two individuals received their colours - Seamus Crawford and Archie Mackay-james. A look at the results below indicates that no bowler took five wickets in an innings. partly due to the limrt of ten overs per bowler in most games, but also due to the fact that our quartet of seamer·s. Seamus Crawford. Alex Willis, Piers Foster and Charlie Clifton. along with our two leggies. Crispin Vollers and Ed Kelly. would all chip in with wickets. The most pleasing victories were over the two Taunton schools: King's. Taunton. were 98-2 chasing 150 and fell 19 short. while Taunton were 127-4 chasing 163 and finished 151 all oul. The fielding in both these games was outstandrng, especially one catch by Mrchael Saunders. Big victones over Canford and Bryanston were also pleasing, as was our chase of 231 against Hatleybury 1n the festival. In school fixtures we arc still some way short of M1llfield, who gave us a masterclass; our other defeats were games we might have won if we had played to our potential. Defeat against King's, Bruton, in our first game actually helped make the season though. as the boys' response to it was outstanding. The matches against club sides were very beneficial in teaching us about some of the finer arts of the game and gave us a chance to learn from some good adult cricketers. The team's batting was patchy. partly because of the rnconsistent nature of the Upper wicket, despite the best efforts of jeg Francis. Only the captarn averaged over 30. although Archre Mackay-james scored 400 runs. Michael Saunders learned to apply himself well and wrll, I hope. score plenty of runs next year. Ned Kelly has great talent and hrs knocks agarnst King's. Taunton. and Haileybury won matches that might otherwrse have been lost. jack jenkins. a junior Colt. played some splendid knocks despite a mid-season wobble and with three more years in the XI will be a force to reckon with. Alex Willis and Charlie Clifton showed hints of batting promrse and Charlie Esson, another Junior Colt, played good knocks agarnst Millfield and the Pilgrims. Alec Russell scored fewer runs than hoped for but caught some rmportant catches behind the stumps. Seamus Crawford scored two centuries against the Town and the Pilgrims, the latter before lunch. He captained by example and led the team well. especially considering he was 1n the Lower Sixth. His selection for England Under-17 was well-deserved . The three Upper Sixth boys rn the team. Crispin Vollers, Alec Russell and Piers Foster. were all great ambassadors for the School; I hope they continue to play after Sherborne. The team blended together incredibly well especially considering there were some lively individuals in the team. My thanks must primarily go to Alan Willows. whose enthus1asm IS infectious and whose technical skills are very cons1derable. The Reynolds/Willows lap-count around the Upper persuaded me that runn1ng a marathon would be easy in companson. My thanks too to Mark Pryor for all h1s years runn1ng the cncket administratiOn. to ]eg Francis. one of the best groundsmen on the c1rcu1t. t o all staff and boy supporters who found The Upper a congenial place and to all the parents whose good cheer and loyal support helped make th1s a speoal and very exciting season. The signs are good for next year w1th fourteen boys returning who have had Ist XI experience and a real buzz about Sherborne cncket. The game suits the character of the School well, and all that the exam season, term dates and the weather can throw at us cannot dampen that character. Sherborne 18S-4 (40 overs) Ujenkins 51*, S Crawford 50, A Mackay-james 47) Canford 94 all out (27 overs) Won by 91 runs Sherborne 293-6 (SO overs) (S Crawford 164*, j jenkms 38, A Will1s 34*) Sherborne Pilgnms 196-9 (50 overs) Won by 97 runs Sherborne 163-9 (SO overs) (M Saunders 37, A Mackay-James 34) Won by 12 runs Taunton 151 all out Results: Played 16, Won 9, Lost 6. Abandoned I. Sherborne 228-6 (SO overs) (A Mackay-james 76, M Saunders 37, E Kelly 34) Blundell's 222-9 (50 overs) (A Willis 4-40) Won by 6 runs King's. Bruton, 145 all out (45 overs) (P Foster 4-19. C Vollers 3-18) Sherborne 57 all out (30 overs) Lost by 88 runs Sherborne 170-8 (50 overs) (C Clifton 33*. C Esson 33) Millfield 172-2 (40 overs) Lost by 8 w1ckets Sherborne 219-5 (50 overs) (S Crawford 107, A Mackay-james 54, G Stebb1ngs 34*) Sherborne Cncket Club 100 all out (30 overs) (C Clifton 3-9, C Vollers 3-2S) Won by 119 runs MCC 187-8 (S Crawford 3-27. A Willts 3-43) Sherborne 141 all out (M Saunders 41, A Mackay-James 3S) Lost by 46 runs Sherborne 140 all out (C Vollers 32*) Free Foresters 141-5 Sherborne 209-8 (50 overs) (C Esson 48, A Willis 37) Sherborne Pilgnms 130 all out(43 overs) (A Willis 3-26) Won by 79 runs Lost by 5 w1ckets Sherborne 220-7 (40 overs) (S Crawford 55, A Mackay-James 44) Bryanston 71 all out (29 overs) (S Crawford 3-21) Won by lSI runs Sherborne 150-9 (50 overs) (E Kelly 41*) King's Taunton 131 all out (49 overs) Sherborne 94 all out (40 overs) Ujenkins 34*) Marlborough 95-6 (29 overs) Sherborne 90 all out (38 overs) Cheltenham 91-1 (17 overs) Won by 19 runs Lost by 9 w1ckets Haileybury 231-8 (55 overs) Sherborne 235-6 (51 overs) (J jenkins 81, E Kelly 40) Won by 4 w1ckets Sherborne 162 all out (53 overs) (E Kelly 35, M Saunders 30) Marlborough 65-2 Match Abandoned Lost by 4 wickets Averages: Batting (qualification ISO runs and 3 completed mnmgs): lmtwlslsurname Inns Not Runs Outs SA Crawford JHCjenkins AA Mackay-james AMd'A Willis ERS Kelly MH Saunders *not out 13 I II 16 14 IS 16 2 0 4 4 0 H1ghest IOOs Score 493 25S 400 204 219 2SO 164* 81 76 37 41 * 41 2 0 0 0 0 0 Average (2 deCimal places) 41.08 28.33 25.00 20.40 19.90 15.62 Bowling (qualification 10 wickets): lmualslsurnome SA Crawford AMdf\ Wilhs ERS Kelly CHO Vollers CES Clifton PB Foster Overs Ma1dens 100 128 35.2 81 103.1 98.4 20 35 5 7 12 14 Runs 285 353 170 311 324 347 Wtckers 19 23 10 16 16 17 Best Bowlm g 3-21 4-40 2-9 3- 18 3-9 4-19 Average (2 dec1mol places) 15.00 15.34 17.00 19.43 20.25 20.41 GDR 2nd XI uThen coach commented on our superb enthusmsm m the field " Th1s season was exceptional for the 2nd XI. w1th only one loss. The team spirit was fantastic and this proved to be a tremendous help when w1ckets were needed at cruCial t1mes. Our support for each other was unnvalled by the opposition . a prime example of th1s bemg agamst Marlborough where their coach commented on our superb enthusiasm in t he field. john Barber opened up our innings. The Solid JB had an excellent run of scores - 46, 62# and 72. and we could always depend on the old boy to keep the scoreboard t1ckmg over slowly. At the beginning of the season. we had the pumpkin-head Ben Trepess support1ng jB. Unfortunately he was stolen from our grasp after a fine undefeated ton agamst K1ng's. Taunton; he also added an extra bowling opt1on. We had ginger for a gmger as Guy Stebbmgs was sent our way for a bit of batting rehab.. and he qu1ckly helped us pull out of t he darkest days of the Bryanston match to help our cause. In his first few games he fell just short of the half century. Then, against Taunton, he clubbed an insp1rational attack to get 64 off the f1rst n1ne overs, whtle JB took up the Atherton role and was still there on three We also resurrected h1s bowling career as a medium pacer, p1ckmg up s1x Wickets 1n those sticky S1tuat1ons when a breakthrough was needed. After the openers. there were three batsmen asked to score the majonty of the runs. Commg 1n at three we had the Ist X I veteran join us: Paddy Houghton - Sme - bought us a wealth of expenence yet not runs. He would ohen spend a lot of t ime at the crease and take a while to get his eye 1n, but he would always B a MaJor part 1n the field! Com1ng m at four we had the sk1pper Charhe Habershon- Habo - and h1s mullet. who started the season off with three consecut1ve run-outs. He later h1t a b1t of form when he scored a very handy 35 agamst Canford tn the closmg overs to ensure that we posted a decent score. Next to bat was Paddy Hors1ngton· he took the reigns as a makeshift keeper and also took a number of superb catches. but he will never be able to show h1s true ID as a keeper. Mufty managed to cling onto seven catches beh1nd the sticks and could also bat 1f called upon to try to steady the sh1p Onto the all-rounders - and at s1x was Olhe Gargrave. The warhorse could steam m all day for you and was as ch1rpy as a p1geon tn the f1eld. He bowled his military medium on the spot every t1me. The veteran had been around a while and knew the best way to exploit a 2nd XI line up. He p1cked up 5 for 12 agamst Kings Taunton and a particularly comme ndable 5 for 5 against Blundell's, wh1ch saw t hem fln1sh all out for 691 He averaged an astonishing 7.94 w1th the ball and was the top wicket-taker with 17. Next to the crease would ohen be Giles Maber. Gilo was a bowler who could bat. as he proved with some destructive h1tting aga1nst King's, Bruton, and Bryanston. He would roar 1n and sling the ball down the track: although often erratiC. th1s didn't seem to stop him picking up the odd Wicket here and there. Ed Radcliffe was the next man to be called upon, and Radders' highlight of the season was h1s 9 off an over when 'squirrel head' himself threw off his stodger image and hit it off the square. He could also bowl some rather useful right-arm med1um but unfortunately the groin kicked in and prevented him from bowl1ng early on 1n the season. He often cla1med to be a veteran but he was never the real McCoy. bemg far too bright and al1ve m the Geld The bowhng department began w1th George jerram. jezza was a very styl1sh batsman and always seemed to look as though he would never get out and then he d1d, for example m the Bryanston game. w1th a baseball-like sw1ng. He could bowl some useful left-arm Chmamen but his most effective delivery was ohen a short longhop or daisy-cutter. He had a knack of bowling the worst balls and p1cking up the most Important w1ckets. finish1ng with 14for the season. Once jezza was walk1ng back to the pav11ion. we really d1d get 1nto the walkmg w1ckets T h1sstarted w1th Freddie Berthon: a good team man, Chucker was always w1llmg to g1ve you a few throw dow ns 1n the nets. The Shoaib-Akhtar-ltke bowler bow led at a quick pace and was often unlucky not to pick up more wickets. beat mg the outs1de edge on a number of occasions. He had a bnef flutter with the Ist XI. p1ck1ng up a w 1cket w1th h1s first ball. P1ers Collins was our final man to the wiCket To be faw. h1s batting is on the up. but number eleven seems to suit him well. The Goat makes up for this with his bowling as a bnsk medium-pacer who can get through the oppos1t1on's batt1ng line up faster than a chicken curry from the RaJpoot. His peliormances were of the highest standard with the ball and this was commended with the Young Player of the Year award and a framed 'Fradge' photo. On to the extras. Ollie Jennings. who would always be first to knock the Goal from his perch at number eleven, could bowl some handy med1um pace and piCked up four w1ckets very econom1cally at 3.21 runs an over, but he got the nod from DAW and had to take the walk of shame. Jammy Jenkins was the next to catch the eye of Mr Watson when he was on his rounds: perhaps it was his ground f1eld1ng, since he was always willing to put h1s body on the line and take one for the team. Finally, we must thank our sk1pper, Charl1e Habershon, for be1ng such a role-model to the other players and capta1ning the team extremely well. We musL also thank AMH for look1ng after the team so well and being a great motivator tn the dressmg room, and for helptng Fradge to settle into h1s new role as the undefeated team mascot. Fradge is getting very excited about the forthcommg tour to Holland. Paddy Hors1ngton and George Jerram Team: JRG Barber; BDH Trepess; GC Stebbings; PJT Houghton; CW Habershon (Captain): PWJ Horsington; OW Gargrave: GA. Maber; EM Radcliffe; GEJ Jerram; FC Berthon: PEH Collins. Also played: OJ Jenntngs. JHC jenk1ns. Results: Played 9, Won 8, Lost I, Drawn 0. King's. Bruton Bryanston King's, Taunton Marlborough Canford Milton Abbey Ist XI Taunton Blundell's Winchester Won by 6 wickets Lost by 29 runs Won by 76 runs Won by 34 runs Won by 20 runs Won by 23 1 uns Won by 52 runs Won by 10 wickets Cancelled - rain AMH Colts A XI {{Thoroughly enJoyable and relaxed seasont " The Colts cricketers proved themselves to be a delightful and talented group of boys. The batting was fairly solid and the bowling generally excellent. Excellent wins against Sherborne Town 2nd X I, Millfield, King's Taunton and Marlborough were a fatr reflection of their ability and the progress they have made over the last couple of years. The following player-by-player commentary 1s provtded by the captain, Tom Russell, and George Smibert: Gordon Curtis - Good season with the bat; unfortunate to have been run out on high scores by Captain (qUite a few times): took an amazing catch at slip; otherwise slept tn the field. Ollie Bendall - A n awesome opener with bullet time field1ng: never dropped a catch; must have got run out by Russell at least once; a calming influence on the team. Henry Marks (Marey) - Good th1rd season - not bad for his age; also unlucky to have been run out by the Captam again, and again and again: his military medium was often dispatched, espec1ally by the twenty-two-stone monstrosity that was Millfield's team. Tom Russell (Russ) - Had a good season with the ball; he took more wickets through his runnmg than through his bowling; but his prize wicket was Gordon on 92! He thanks Henry for captaining his team! James Davies Uim) - Was more successful with the ball than with the bat - we'll leave it at that! He damaged the morals and pavilions of many of our oppOSition; was I l l sptnner and an amazing team player, inspiring us all. Archie Isles - Having played with Isles for three years, we've discovered that hts main talent is dtsposing of the team teas! The strike bowler and anchorman of the middle order (and incidentally the tug-of-war team), he had a great season and Mrs Isles' support was much appreciated (as was Mr Isles'). He was the Joker of the Team. Angus Radford - His 17 in 6 balls to win us the match against Marlborough was awesome. Thanks to hts dad for scoring: wtthout it we wouldn't have him! Made a b1g Impression after comtng up from the B's; cla1med position of Pinch-Hitter! George Sm1bert - An Interesting season with the gloves: somet1mes difficult to say wh ich side he was playmg for! A big h1tter. usually out for a duck: the Bool he hit hardest was the coach! James Willasey-Wilsey- Had a very long bat (every game and practice!): became a key bowler and team member. Gash Mbizvo- Gash perfected the tacttc of beguiling the opposition into a false sense of security by bowling on the wrong wtcket and then taking a wicket out of the blue: with his batting however. there was no sense of security! Michael Oates-Wormer Doubled last season's average with a huge 1.4 runs per innings! Once again a key bowler and slip fielder: his sledging is second to none! Comedian on and off the pitch. As Wilsey found it too hard to field at 'short third leg' Russell sent Oatie there instead! He would be missed by all but Isles as he was tough competition for the team teas' Had numerous catches put down by suspect w1cket-keeping. Mr Willows - High hands, full-bungers, long hops, donuts, 'would I do that?' and the most expensive shop this side of Harrods' Have fun in SA and thanks for the season. Boolash - I in 3 is out, unless you are knocked over by the batsmen; he was threatened with tardy book as he was sometimes late to practices (the other time he failed to show up at all). Thanks from the team for a most enjoyable season and a quality BBQ. Ashley- Top scorer: enough said! Enemy of Oat1e and Arch as he dug in to the team teas with renewed gusto! Highlights: Beat Millfield and Marlborough and watching the Millfield Honey Monster bat and witnessing Isles and Oatie dwarfed and dispatched . Lowlight.s: Lost to Clayesmore and Canford Overvrew: Thoroughly enjoyable and relaxed season' RWB, Tom Russell and George Smibert Junior Colts A XI " They conduct themselves superbly both on and off the field . " There is often a tingle of excitement when the cricket season is just around the corner. and this year was no exception. A lot of work had been done during the winter months both indtvidually and collectively and we were ready for the start of the season. The normal early season weather put paid to outside practice but our first game, at Clayesmore, was on one of the hottest days of the season. This meant that an uncovered pitch that was drying gave boys a demonstration of how cricket used to be played before covers were continually wheeled on and off. To play against a full Ist XI as your first match at Under IS is a difficult task. To win this game by 31 runs was a great achievement and was the pe1iect match-practice to start the season. A gritty 37 by Ed Atkins was followed by a rapid 41 by Jamie Smibert and this helped post a good total. Some good bowling, particularly from Humphrey Gibbs, helped us ease to victory. Our next match, against Canford, was a comfortable win; we managed to pass their low score for the loss of only one wicket. This game was memorable for two things: Jack Jenkins scored 76 n.o. from a total of 117 and Richard Sworder scored from a shopping trolley (in aid of the Lent Term Project). This game, like the match against Clayesmore, was helping us to prepare for our first match in the Lord's Taverners Competition. This was away to Winchester on t heir small 2nd XI pitch. After losing a wicket in the second over, we managed to pull things around, with Charlie Esson battling his way to 52 and Jamie Smibert (again) thwacking a quick 19. However, the star of the innrngs was undoubtedly jack jenkms, who batted for forty overs accumulating a score of 105 n.o. This was a feat of both skill and concentration and it was unbelievable to realise that this was his first century. To manage to get to 200 on a damp pitch was fantastic and i t was always gorng to be difficult for Winchester to chase such a high total. They tned to get close and. at times, gave us some nervous moments, but we managed to bowl them out for 138 and secure our path mto the next round. Jack's century led to hrs promotion into the XI, and we faced King's Taunton wrthout him. However, not to be outdone. Charlie Esson played a captain's innrngs and scored our second centUiy 1n t hree days. Thrs was another great innings and Charlie's determrnation not to be outdone by jack was evrdent throughout. We won this game by 9 runs having bowled poorly and really made hard work of whal should have been an easy wm. The second round of the Taverners beckoned and Marlborough came to The Upper. At one stage they were 10-4 following a hostile spell of bow ling by Ben Lyons and Henry Bond. They were later 45-7 and managed to creep to 80 all out. Whilst we were not complacent, we were confident of getting t hrough to the next round. We lost our first wicket at 13 and then a collapse saw us go from 33-l to 43-8. We were down to the last three batsmen and still needed 38 to win. The two Humphreys won the game for us - both Humphrey Grbbs and Humphrey Rose battled in difficult match-conditions to pull us around to 79-9. Then, a nervous Henry Bond went to the crease followmg nearly an hour of Willows tellrng him what to do! Unfazed by the pressure, Henry blocked the first three balls and hit the next through cover for two to win the game. This game must rate as one of the most gripping to be seen on The Upper rn qurte some lime. The following Saturday saw our relurn fixture at Marlborough and. followmg the previous game. this ended as an ill-tempered draw, the only highlight being a battling 50 from Charlie Cooke. The third round of the Taverners saw us beat Pate's Grammar- Schoo l by 25 runs. Defending a score of 195, with 82 from Jack jenkins. we were always ahead in the game and Pate's did well to get within 25 runs. We were through to t he regional final - in effect the National quarter-final. An easy win at Taunton was not ideal preparation for the Taverners match at Millfield but it did give us some time in the middle. The biggest game of many boys' cricketing life was at Millfield in the quarter-final of the Lord's Taverners. We started the game badly. losing Jenkins, Lyons and Esson with only 4 runs on the board. A good 22 from Ed Atkins and a fantastic contribution by the continually unfazed Humphrey Gibbs helped us to creep above 100 and post a score of liS. We knew that we needed early wickets and we got them. However, one player, Tom Maynard, remained at the crease. We managed to take 9 w ickets but Maynard batted through the game for an unbeaten 80. The remaining ten Millfield players scored less than 30 between them. The team was devastated and it was difficult to pick up after this. One player made the difference between our progressing to the semifinal and berng knocked out. After this. 1t was hard to put the season back together. We had worked so hard towards one goal and, now that it had gone, players found it hard to get truly motivated. We beat Blundell's easily and progressed through to the final of the Dorset Cup. but we were truly mrssing that bit of spark. The end of the season could not come soon enough and. to make matters worse, we lost the final of the Dorset Cup to Poole Grammar. Again, we were beaten by Lhe skrll of one player but our rnabrlity to close the game off cost us dear and we were left without any silverware - a disappointment for such a talented team. The penultimate day of term saw us at Millfield in terrible condrtrons. We bowled well and were out for revenge, but could not bat our way through to victory. Undoubtedly, thrs rs a very talented year group. Not only are there a lot of good cricketers but they conduct themselves superbly both on and off the field. They will, I am sure, turn out to be members of highly successful 1st XIs over the coming two or three years and I wish them every success. I must thank Andy Nurton and Ben Scott for all their help, encouragement and support during the season. They are both highly-skilled coaches in their own rights and much of our success is down to them. I must also thanks Alan Willows for his continual work with Sherborne Cncket. Results: Sherborne Clayesmore Isl XI 149-4 118 Won by 31 runs Canford Sherborne 116 119-1 Won by 9 wickeLs Sherborne Wrnchester Sherborne King's, Taunton Marlborough Sherborne Sherborne Marlborough Sherborne Pate's Grammar 202-4 138 Won by 64 runs (Lord's Taverners Round I) 186-3 177-7 80 81-9 Won by I wicket (Lord's Taverners Round 2) 132-9 117-7 Match drawn 195-6 170 Won by 25 runs (Lord's Taverners Round 3) Taunton Sherbor·ne 102 104-2 Sherborne 115-8 Millfield Won by 9 runs Won by 8 wickets 118-9 Lost by I wicket (Lord's Taverners Round 4) Blundell's 68 Sherborne Canford 69-1 65- 1 Sherborne 69-2 Thomas Hardye 51 Sherborne 53-I Sherborne 169-4 Won by 9 wickets Poole Grammar 170-8 Won by 8 w1ckets (Dorset Cup) Millfield Sherborne 107-7 94 Lost by 2 wickets (Dorset Cup) Lost by 13 runs MAP Won by 9 w1ckets (Dorset Cup) Junior Colts B XI {(Considerable potenttol for the future. " A season of extremes, indeed! We knew at the outset that we had a very talented side with the potential to outplay easily most of its opposition. and some of the performances fully lived up to this expectation. What we had not suspected was the extent of the frag11ity 1n the batting. The defeats by Bryanston and, 1n particular. Marlborough threatened to cast a shadow over the whole season. We should not allow them to do so. however, for t his was a year w1th much that was positive and in which some very prom1s1ng cricketers gave us at least a glimpse of their cons1derable potent1al for the future. Not the least striking feature of this season has been the depth of talent available at Sherborne. Although the composition of the JCB s1de remained largely constant throughout the season. House cricket showed that this was a year with several capable and keen cricketers who could not even find a place in the 'C' team. W ith a side that had several batsmen capable of play1ng long attacking mnings, a strong seam attack, a choice of two capable wicket-keepers and at least one usually reliable spinner, we had justifiable hopes for an outstanding season. We began well w1th a very comfortable v1ctory over King's Bruton but confidence was shattered when our battmg collapsed alarmingly agamst Bryanston; our opponents were an 'A' team and we were under pressure for the f1rst t1me. but there were signs of defic1enc1es in technique. A perfunctory win over Kings's Taunton usually a worthy adversary. seemed to have set matters right; but then came the debacle at Marlborough. Over confident tn the field, we underestimated the value of the total that Marlborough had amassed under difficult conditions. When we batted, we lost early wickets to fast, straight bow ling and subsequently seemed paralysed by the situat1on. W ith the exception of W ill Stebbings. who added a semblance of resistance. our batsmen managed a total of 5 runs. This was the lowest total scored by a Sherborne JCB side in at least 25 years, and yet it was scored by what was potentially one of the strongest batting sides t hat we have fielded in that time. This match. to Marlborough's considerable credit, demonstrated the importance of a tight, disciplined approach and of pressure intelligently applied. It was. in turn. a great credit to our team that they came back magnificently in the following match. If the previous game had seen the lowest total in twenty five years. this one brought the highest stand in that time. The Milton Abbey bowling was tight for several overs. but Moores and Kinnersly gave an object lesson in how to build a partnership carefully and accelerate at the right time. Equally powerful batting aga1nst Clayesmore. though this time after the loss of two early wickets, was accompanied by an outstanding performance in the field. and the pattern was repeated against Taunton. In an exhilarating match agamst a very strong Poole Grammar School s1de. a defeat by one run brought no disgrace: james Erskine had a fine all-round game. Then. sadly. came anti-c limax. with the final fixture of the season lost to rain. In some respects. the season disappointed. partly because we had expected so rnuch. It is difficult for a team, however talented. to show its true worth in so short a season, with fixtures inevitably concentrated in the first hectic weeks of the term. If only. we all agreed, we could have played Marlborough again in june! This IS, Indeed, a very strong team. Harry Moores. James Kinnersly and Will Stebbings played a number of major Innings and were extremely well backed up by George Pullen. jack Stratton and Patrick Windle. Tom Saunders was invariably effective with the new ball and, together with Ed Shackleton, Tom Andrews. Alex Bunnell, jonty Dampney and james Erskine. formed one of the best seam attacks that a JCB team has possessed 1n several years. james Kinnersly's leg-spin took IS w1ckets to accompany h1s 225 runs scored at an average of 45. W e had the very unusual luxury of two highly competent wicket keepers in Harry Moores and Patrick Windle and jack Stratton was an exceptionally good capta1n. There are cricketers here who w ill go on to ach1eve much in years to come. Team (from): TA Andrews; Aj Bunnell; JN Dampney; Aj Dunlop: MP Erskine; JB Kmnersly: HJ Moores; GT Pullen; Tj Saunders: PGA Selfe; EAW Shackleton: WAJ Stebbings; JRM Stratton (capt.); PWH Windle. Results: Played 8, Won 5, Lost 3. Sherborne 205-3 (30 overs) (Moores 40, Stebbmgs 61, Pullen 42*) Clayesmore 30 Won by 175 runs (Shackleton 3-4, Saunders 3-7) Sherborne 151-6 (35 overs) (Kinners ly 51*) King's. Bruton 90 (Andrews 4-17, Kmnersly 4-23) Won by 61 runs Bryanston 151-6 (30 overs) Sherborne 39 Lost by 112runs King's, Taunton 53 (Saunders 3-9) Sherborne 54-2 Sherborne 178-5 (30 overs) (Kinnersly 60) Taunton 30 (Bunnell 4-0) Poole G.S. 151 (Erskine 4-8) Sherborne ISO (Erskine 39) Won by 8 wickets Marlborough 138 (Saunders 3-17. Stebbmgs 3-7) Sherborne 18 Lost by 120 runs Sherborne 208-0 (30 overs) (Moores 89*, Kinnersly 84*) Milton Abbey 114 (Kinnersly 4-10) Won by 94 runs Won by 148 runs Lost by I run RCFG and PTS Mini Colts A XI ((Sherborne. tasung success. barted w1th a calm assurance The f1rst game of the season was away to King's Bruton. On a wet wicket Sherborne were put mto bat. with very little pract1ce-t1me before the game because of the Inclement weather, and slumped to 63 all-out from just IS overs. George Berthon top scored with a powerful hit 45. W ith an hour before tea, the signs of a successful start to the season did not look good! The boys, under their captain, Xander Brinkworth , rose to the occasion and bowled and fielded superbly well, keeping Bruton under pressure at 35 for 5 at tea. Sherborne kept up the pressure and wickets fell at regular Intervals, leaving Bruton with 5 runs needed with their final pair of batsmen at the wicket. Bruton took a quick smgle only to be run out with an excellent bit of fielding from Jamie Excell leaving them one short of the Sherborne total. Canford at home was always going to be a tough fixture and on a wet w1cket Canford elected to bat. Good bowling from Tom Atkins and James Kipling taking 3 w1ckets each restncted Canford to 155 for 8 in 35 overs. If the boys applied themselves they had a very good chance of winning. At 13 for 3 m reply to Canford, 1t looked like a very steep uphill battle to get a result out of th1s game. Enter George Berthon and Tom Hussey. This pair batted pat1ently, hitting the bad ball for 4 or 6, Tom rotating the strike to let George take the game to Canford's bowlers. Hussey was out for 20 and Berthon (60) wh1ch left Sherborne's 'tail' with some wagging to do! james Kipling with IS and Nick Batchelor with 10 not out gave support to the match-winner jam1e Excell who, with 24 not out. smashed a 6 over midwtcket to win the match with 8 balls to spare. JJ Bryanston away was moved to an all-weather WICket owing to the continuing bad weather. Sherborne won the toss and put Bryanston in to bat. Tight opening bowling from Nick Batchelor kept the Bryanston batsmen under pressure. Good support from james Kipling and Xander Brinkworth ensured that Bryanston were bowled out for 121. Sherborne's opening partnership of Tom Atkins and Sam jenks gave the team a good start and a solid platform from which to launch an attack on Bryanston's total. Sherborne made steady progress with nobody really dominating the bow ling, so it was left to james Kipling ( II not out) to see Sherborne home in the thirty-fourth over. King's Taunton. away would prove to be a tough fixture: their Academy status attracts a lot of very talented cncketers. In wintry conditions we fielded first: the w1cket was surpns1ngly qu1ck and, combined with the short boundanes, any wayward bowltng was pun1shed. Sherborne's bowling didn't really threaten the King's batsmen as they soon established a large total, fin1sh1ng on 215 for 5. To add to Sherborne's woes. jam1e Staib broke a finger badly in a run-out attempt, wh1ch left us one batsman short. The game plan was to remain pos1t1ve and attack their bowling. Tom Atk1ns played some excellent shots before he was out for 16. Xander Bnnkworth wa1ted patiently for the bad ball and batted a long t ime for his 45. In support of h1m. jamte Payne ( 14) and Nick Batchelor ( 17) kept the score tiCktng along, but soon we were behind the run-rate and the game was lost, Sherborne all out for 163. The first round or the Dorset Cup was against Milton Abbey. Sherborne won the toss and put Milton Abbey rn to bat. accurate bowlmg from Gavin Maclaren and Ollre Kesley takrng 3 wrckets each and good fieldrng, including an excellent catch from George Berthon at square leg. restncted Milton Abbey to 117 all out. Tom Atkins (41) opened the battrng and punished the bad ball well. W ith good support from George Berthon (35 not out) Sherborne were allowed to move comfortably into the second round. Marlborough proved too good rn every department when they came t o Sherborne. They scored 171 for 5 from 30 overs. Gavin Maclaren was the pick of the Sherborne bowlers with 2 wickets. but the w ides and no balls from the other bowlers led to 39 extra runs, and Marlborough with 6.5 extra overs to bat. Tom Atkrns and Sam Jenks got Sherborne off to a good start. but trght bowling from a partrcularly good left-arm seambowler pushed the run-rate up and the pressure on. Thrs pressure resulted rn a mrddle-order collapse, wrth the exceptron of Tom Hussey, who played very well for hrs 20, and a drsapporntrng 117 all out. The next match, agarnst Clayesmore away, proved to be a total mrsmatch. Clayesmore batted first and were bowled out for 38, whrch was a good recovery for them when they were 19 for 9 at one stage. Tom Atkins and Sam Jenks knocked off the runs in 9 overs to give a comfortab le 9 wicket win. The next round of the Dorset Cup saw Sherborne drawn agarnst Winton School from Bournemouth. Sherborne lost the toss and were put into bat. Apart from loosing Tom Atkins in the first over. Sherborne moved swrftly to 184 for 7 from 30 overs, with both George Berthon (67) and Xander Brinkworth (45) playrng good shots all round the wicket. Sherborne bowled very well and soon dominated Winton who were bowled out for 57, with both spinners, Beanie Isles (4) and Ollie Kesley (3) taking the wickets. Taunton proved to be the most frustrating game of the season for me as a coach. Havrng put Taunton rnto bat, Sherborne reduced Taunton to 15 for 5 after 12 overs. Taunton struggled against accurate bowlrng to a total of 114 for 6. When Sherborne slumped to 13 for 5 after 10 overs. I feared an embarrassing defeat. but an excellentrnnings of real matunty from George Berthon (40) and Jamre Starb ( 10) gave us a real chance of an excelle nt vrctory. Unfortunately George was run out and the tail collapsed. Sherborne finished 29 runs short of the targel. After the disappointment of the Taunton game, Sherborne faced Blundell's. Havrng lost the toss and been invited t o bat, Sherborne struggled to 136 for 6 from 30 overs. without anybody really berng able to dominate the bowling. This total was always going to be difficult to defend on the short boundary and fast outfreld on Pitch One. Blundell's made easy work of reaching our total with nobody being able to restrict their batsmen from scoring or more importantly take wickets. The quarterf inal of the Dorset Cup was against Sturmrnster Newton School. This was played twiCe after the rarn washed out the first attempt. Sturminster batted first and struggled agarnst the openrng bowling of Gavrn Maclaren and George Berthon, but the offsprn of Beanre Isles domrnated the Sturmrnster batsmen and he was rewarded wrth the only 5 wickets in an innings of the season. as Sturmrnster were bowled out for 64. Tom Atkins and jack Renner made comfortab le work of the Sturmrnster total. The semifinal of the Dorset Cup took Sherborne to Canford. Sherborne lost the toss and were put into the field. Canford posted a good but attainable target of 176 for 6. with jack Renner. the pick of the Sherborne bowlers, taking 3 wickets. The Sherborne innings got off to a bad start with Tom Atkins joining the Primary Club! Sherborne batted well but always seemed unable to push the run-rate down and finrshed on a respectable total of 154 for 8, desp1te some good hrtting from james Kipling at the end. The final match of the season look Sherborne away to Millfield, who had beaten all the opposrtion Sherborne had played against. On a wet and wrndy day Sherborne produced the best result of the season agarnst an obvrously talented Mrllfield team who drdn't apply themselves. Sherborne d1d apply themselves and bowled Mrllfield out cheaply for 69. wrth 3 wrckets for jack Renner and 2 apiece for Xander Brrnkworth. Nick Batchelor and Gavm Maclaren. The Sherborne fielding was athletic and good catches were taken to compliment accurate bowling. Sherborne, tasting success. batted with a calm assurance that the small total would not cause the potential banana-skrn the coach had secretly feared' It was left to the captain. Xander Brinkworth. to steady the coaches' and watching parents' nerves and knock off the Millfield total with 3 wickets lost. The Minr Colts have had a very successful season, and I would l1ke to thank DAS for all hrs help with the coaching and umpiring. I would like, on behalf of David and myself, to thank all the boys involved in the Mini Colts 'A: for making the season so rewarding for us as coaches and for the parents watching. The boys have made a good start to the1r Sherborne cricket career, but there rs lots of rmprovement needed. especrally agamst the better teams, for them to become truly successful. Team (rom: AC Bnnkworth; TP Atkrns; SJC jenks; GH Berthon; TMH Hussey; JAC Starb; ]EM Renner; PES Isles; NC Batchelor; JWW Excell; OW Kesley; JE Kipling: CWCC Maclaren; JMJ Payne; JED Pearmund. Results: Played 13, Won 8. Lost 5. Sherborne 63 all- out (Berthon 45) King's. Bruton. 62 all-out (Berthon 3 for IS) Won by I run Canford ISS for 8 (Kipling 3 for 23, Atkins 3 for 34) Sherborne 156 for 8 (Berthon 60, Hussey 20, Won by 2 wickets Excel! 24 not out) Bryanston 121 all out (Kipling 3 for 10, Atkins 2 for 31, Batchelor I for 6) Sherborne 122 for 7 (Atkins 15, Bnnkworth 10, Kipling II not out) King's Taunton, 215 for 5 Sherborne 163 all out (Brinkworth 45, Batchelor 17) Taunton 114for 6 (Maclaren 4 for 13, Berthon 2 for 12) Sherborne 85 all out (Berthon 40, Starb 10) Lost by 29 runs Won by 3 wrckets Lost by 52 runs Milton Abbey 117all out (Kesley 3 for 12. Maclaren 3 for 21) Sherborne 118 for 3 (Atkins 41, Berthon 35 not out) Won by 7 wrckets Marlborough 171 for 5 (Maclaren 2 for 5) Sherborne 117all oul Uenks 21, Atkins 21, Hussey 20) Sherborne 184 for 7 (Berthon 67, Bnnkworth 45) Winton 57 all out {Isles 4 for 4. Kesley 3 for 6) Lost by 54 runs Won by 127 runs. Clayesmore 38 all out (Batchelor 4 for 3, Bnnkworth 3 for 8) Sherborne 39 for I (Atk1ns 22. jenks IS) Won by 9 wrckets Sherborne 136 for 6 (Staib 34, Breton 24, Atkrns 23) Blundell's 137 for 3 (Maclaren I for 20. Batchelor I for 22) Lost by 7 wrckets Sturmrnster Newton 64 all out (Isles 5 for 18. Maclaren 2 for 13) Sherborne 65 for 4 (Renner 20 not Won by 7 wrckets out, Atkins 16 not out) Canford 176 for 6 (Renner 3 for 26) Sherborne 154 for 8 Lost by 22 runs (Bnnkworth 29, Hussey 20) Millfield 69 all out (Renner 3 for 12. Batchelor 2 for 3. Maclaren 2 for 10) Sherborne 70 for 3 (Bnnkworth 22 not out) Won by 7 wrckets RWH Mini Colts B XI ((Immense enthusiasm and determtnation . JJ It is a rare honour to be blessed with both good weather and good cricket one does not necessarily follow from the other - but Lhe two conspired to occur together this summer, providing us all with plenty of entertainment. Rain cost us two matches. one at either end of the season, but dunng the intervening six or seven weeks of near continuous sun. this Mini Colts 'B' side produced some excellent. absorbing cricket. even in (our singular) defeat. The problem for the author comes rn tryrng to define the 'highlights'. Our first match, against King's Bruton gave some rndrcatron of what was to come for the rest of the summer. From the first over. Krt Pelham launched at the batsmen wrth impressive pace and devrous out swrng, picking up hrs first three wickets of the season rn two maiden overs, before trring a little and ending wrth frgures of 4 for 2. Not to be outdone. Jack Renner, another able Abbey House cncketer. took another four wickets, three of them rn one over. He had the grace to concede 10 runs rn total. all of them in one over, but later in the match, his 23 runs at number 3 helped the s1de easily reach the score set by King's of 50 all out. Two weeks later, the bowling attack was unleashed on Krng's Taunton. This srde were also easily beaten: their score of 33 was reached rn JUSt 71 overs. It was on the back of two assured victories that we met Marlborough. who were to frustrate us just as the final hurdle in a tense contest had looked to be cleared. By this match, midway through May. we had been depnved of the services of Christran Maclaren. an excellent, compact bowler who was promoted to the 'P\ side, for which he performed very well for the rest of the season with both ball and bat (never havrng had the chance to bat for us). A revrsed line up incorporated Freddy Mrlls and Jamie Pearmund, both of whom took three wrckets with some clever bowling. Some shrewd field-placement on the part of captain Will Solomon was also rnstrumental 1n limiting Marlborough to 124 for 8 off therr allotted 30 overs. In reply. our mnrngs started shakily- Robin Irving, a patient opener w1th a penchant for running himself out, and his partner. Ed Gidney. were dismissed early on. leaving us at 7 for 2. At this pomt. the Jamie Liddell wagon rolled into town. Partnering jack Renner (24). this Bahamian baseballer took the attack apart with ease, scoring 9 fours on his way to 56. before being bowled when trying to play defensively. Wickets then fell quickly but. at 99 for 9, the match was still evenly po1sed. Will Solomon and Freddie M1lls made a valiant f1ghtback with some good stroke-play and it took a superlative catch at mrd-on to depnve the captam of a certa1n four and perhaps the team of another v1ctory. The Liddell show continued at M1lton Abbey the next week. A close boundary-line was easily and frequently passed, 10 fours blazmg off his bat. taking him to 45 off 36 balls. He was denied another half century in extraordinary orcumstances. A bizarre local rule meant that the elegant willow tree. which shuddered v1gorously on reception of a firmly struck ball, contnbuted five runs to the team score (and not his) for 'obstruction'. A couple of overs later. whilst going for an eleventh boundary, he fell and d1slocated his knee, forong him to ret1re for the rest of the season hurt. The ball landed JUSt instde the boundary rope. The match cont inued (my thanks to Mr John lrvtng for donn1ng the umpire's coat): Charles Whitcombe was to hit the first six of the season; Kit Pelham to score a creditable 28* and claim the Milton Abbey opener for some variety of Jewelled duck on the first ball of the mn1ngs. With jamte Liddell restricted to crutches. jack Renner took on the mantle of chtef run-scorer. Aga nst Taunton School. Rob1n lrv1ng and Ktt Pelham provtded the necessary support to help htm reach 61 * off 54 balls, sconng the w1nning runs w 1th hts eleventh boundaty of the tnnmgs. He was quite promptly and deservedly snapped up by the M1nt Colts 'A: team. The last match we played, agamst Poole Grammar School. was by far the most nail-bit1ng of the season. We were set a target of 74 after Will Solomon bowled extremely well. tak1ng 4 w1ckets for 5 runs. Poole Grammar then produced a f1rst-class exhtb1tton of accurate spin-bowling that our batsmen found extremely dtfficult to cope with. Patience was the key and a number of w 1ckets fell after careless or hasty strokes. Sam jenks. newly jotned from the 'A' team. Kit Pelham and james Pnngle played soltdly to take the score to 70 for 7. The score then advanced slowly. reaching a deltcately poised 73 for 9 before Charles Whitcombe (cheered on from the side by shouts of 'cucumber', etym WhJtcombe. Wh1tcumber) scored a bounda1y to w1n the match and slow the heart-rate of a rather nervous square-leg umptre. Th1s turned out to be the last match of the season and was a f1tt1ng end to the term. It h1ghl1ghted the need for Improved techn1que and cnckettng nous but also the immense enthustasm and determmat1on the boys had for the game. It 1s these latter two that will ensure more good t1mes and good cricket in future years. By this potnt tn the art1cle. Tom Oxenham will be wondenng why I have failed to mention his name. He need not worry, for he deserves a paragraph of h1s own. Th1s dtmmutive (yet loquacious) wicket-keeper could easily star in his own sitcom. Keenly (and loudly) proud of his Australian and Cornish roots, he set about winntng every match with his friendly on field banter. From hts second-ball call of, 'Come on. thts guy's been in too long,· to his admontshment of both bowler and ump1re when a ball was not w1de enough to be called so, but to cost h1m several byes, he was a source of endless amusement. It might also be said that hts batting was worthy of that accolade. Team· RBD Dance; EC Gidney; JRE Irving; JO Liddell; FG Mills; t TAW Oxenham; JED Pearmund: COG Pelham: JW Pringle: JEM Renner; *WJ Solomon; AJJ Sumption, CR Whitcombe; tJA Boughton: Jl Cochrane-Dyet; SJC jenks: Aj Kerr; CWCC Maclaren; LFT Nunes da Costa. Results: Played 6, won 5, lost I. King's Bruton 50 all out Sherborne 51 for 2 (Pelham 4 for 2, Renner 4 for 10) Won by 8 wickets King's Taunton 33 all out Sherborne 35 for 2 (Maclaren 3 for 3) Won by 8 wickets Marlborough College 124 for 8 (30 overs) Sherborne 110all out (Mills 3 for 20. Pearmund 3 for 8; Liddell 56) Lost by 14 runs Sherborne 153 for 5 (26 overs) (L1ddell 45*, ret'd hurt) Milton Abbey School 63 all out Taunron School 91 all out Sherborne 94 for 8 (Renner 61*) Poole Grammar School 73 all out Sherborne 77 for 9 (Solomon 4 for 5) Won by 90 runs Won by 8 wickets Won by I wicket ICS Mini Colts C XI uThe future (or Sherborne cncket rs safe. " Alan Willows had gt ven me hts usual pitytng look before the season's start, but the evidence of the opentng net-session suggested that things would not be so bad after all. Our tnp to Bryanston proved to be a nasty surpnse. when a Bryanston team far superior to the prevtous year's offenng achteved a stranglehold almost from the start. Only Rafe Dance put up serious reststance wtth the bat, and somewhat wayward bowling, more enthusiastic than accurate. allowed their openers to stroll home. King's Taunton on the other hand, were rather weaker than usual, and eight of our side took turns bowling. Dance was the ptck, allowtng only three scoring strokes tn hts seven overs. Anthony Tilley opened the batttng and led the way to a comfortable wtn. A promtstng star1 agatnsl Marlborough was bolstered by a powerful batting dtsplay by Louts Nunes da Costa, but we were disappotnted to frnd our opponents tnching steadtly but surely past our score. The next match produced a most extraordtnary fintsh. Thtrty-ftve overs were agreed for each side, but the Millfield stde made their apologies and left with ten overs of thetr tnnings sttll to be bowled. The match could have gone etther way and the Sherborne boys were JUStiftably dtsappomted to be depnved of the chance of a proper wtn. There had been a short delay caused by an injury to Hugo Sutton behtnd the slumps, but we fell that the desires of Mtllfield's more sentor teams, whose matches had fintshed earlier, lay behtnd the debacle. At Clayesmore. Harry Madley at last gained due reward for hts accurate bowling and stylish batlrng. His four wickets were followed by an opentng partnershtp in whtch, although he played the mtnor role to Tttley. the wtn was never tn doubt. We hoped that Blundell's would provide us with a glonous fintsh to the season, but they also surpnsed us wtth a better-than-usual team. Thetr openers proved difficult to dtslodge, and the number three tmposstble. Other wickets fell steadily. but an om t nous total was accumulated. There was a defintte end-of-season feel to our batttng, which, wtth the exception of Freddie jacobsen, succumbed ltmply. Targets of that stze are stmply more tnttmidating than they should be. The mamstays of the side, apart from those already mentioned, were Charles Whitcombe, who was soon promoted, Angus Rance, who captained the srde throughout, jonathan Titchin, whose sptn wtll take more wickets when he ts allowed to bowl more than seven overs per match, James Cochrane Dyet. Tom Franks. Bertie Herrtage and Nat Kerr. james Hamlyn shared the wtcket-keeptng with Sutton. Cameos were performed by Edward Gtdney. and Ktt Regan, both brought into the stde from the D team. Henry Stoat, and johnnte de Ia Moriniere. The year group produced five teams against Marlborough, so the future of Sherborne crrcket ts safe! I hope that all these boys play a part tn tt. Team from: jl Cochrane-Dyet; RBD Dance; JH de Ia Monntere; TJ Franks; EC Gidney: jWJ Hamlyn: Aj Herrtage: jFL Jacobsen: AJ Kerr: HL Madley: LFT Nunes da Costa; AM Rance; KM Regan: HGR Sutton: HCW Stoot: JP Titchin: AW Tttley; CR Whttcombe. Results: Played 6, Won 3, Lost 3 Sherborne 78 Bryanston 79-0 (Dance 24) Lost by 10 wtckets Ktng's Taunton 59 Sherborne 61-3 (Dance 4-10. Tttley 38*) Won by 7 wtckets Sherborne 112 Marlborough 114-6 (Nunes da Costa 36. Dance 23) Sherbor·ne 113 Millfield 89-6 Extras 55 Clayesmore 84 Sherborne 85-0 (Madley 4-20. Titley 41*) Blundell's 169-6 Sherborne 61 (Madley 3-27, Jacobsen 26) Lost by 4 wickets Won by default Won by 10wtckets Lost by 108 runs Fixtures agatnst Canford and Winchester were ratned off. jAT Soccer 1st XI ff The rest, as they say, IS h1story. " The I st XI enjoyed a largely positive season. under the quietly-spoken guidance of Mr. Willows. Guy Stebbings captained the side, proving himself a solid leader and at times a fantastic footballer. Goal of the season had to go to Henry May. who against Clayesmore struck a vicious, dipping • half-volley from just outs1de h1s own half and the rest, as they say, is history. The other centre-back didn't, unfortunately, enjoy quite the same success in the opponents' half of the field, but well done to Chris Nott for a typically solid season at the back. Ali Brooks at times resembled a leaping salmon in his (mostly) successful attempts at keeping the ball out of the Sherborne goal. and must be commended for his commitment, remarkable agility and professional manner. Ahmed AI-Duhaim had a lucrative season in front of goal. smashing the previous record and scoring well over one goal per game; congratulations to him for this ach1evement and for his. at times, selfless loyalty to the tram1ng sessions. Thanks must go to Alan Willows and DBC for their coaching expert1se, time, effort and encouragement. Tim Ballingal 2nd XI - Coaches' Report " It could be a vintage year on The Lower next Lent. " We, the coaches, had a very enjoyable and successful season thanks to a ve1y good group of boys. It was a particular pleasure to see the Ist Xi's team-sheet lookmg quite so familiar by the end of the season. Two matches were lost but the boys would point to our winning the second half aga1nst Clifton as a big plus. We did not have a regular XI and Lhe following boys all contributed greatly over the season: jonathan Batson - A huge presence in goal who made some outstanding saves to keep us in games; sometimes a little too vocal when castigating h1mself for (infrequent) poor kicks. james Emmett - Appeared much happier when he moved sideways to right back; a huge throw and a sweet right foot launched many attacks. Reuben Aitken - Very unlucky to lose his place towards the end of the season; often a substitute and we never conceded a goal when he was on the pitch. Robert Bain - Quite rightly ended up in the I st XI after a season of outstanding displays in matches and in practices. Eric Heath - Often a reluctant defender but has the potential to be one of the school's outstanding footballers; also represented the Ist XI. Daniel Lee - Another to get a chance in the Ist XI towards the end of the season: two goals against Bristol Grammar (one from 35 yards) were the highl1ght of a very consistent season; very promising for next season. Ed Ward - Grabbed his chance when promoted from the 3rd X I and never lost his place; strong on the ball and a fantastic team player. james Fitzgerald - Spent the season battling for a place and ended up playing for the Ist XI; somet1mes brilliant; always entertaining. Ralph Aiken -Another to end up in the Ist XI; got stronger as matches and term went on; often the most likely player to create something; rarely lost the ball. Tim Ballingal - Another skilful midfielder who could produce moments of brilliance; played in patches and needs to be more consistent next year if he is to have the influence he should do on the Ist XI. Tom Hillard - Two different players; as an attacker, Tom has so much to offer with his goal against Clifton a real highlight; as a defender, Tom tends to switch off at times: this needs to be eliminated if he is to grab a place in the I st XI. james Batchel o r - Loves his football and possesses more skill t han anyone could need; james suffered from not having a regular position on the pitch; can be a major player for the Ist XI if he makes a position his own. Sam Cooke - Scored a lot of goals; we wondered whether he wou ld conlinue to net if he got a chance in the Ist XI: we need not have warned: can now turn thoughts to next year and how he can 1mprove his all-round game. lsa AI Sabea - Our super sub; lots of sk1lls and a great finish but sometimes struggled to get into dangerous positions. George Armstrong - Played a few games on his way to the Ist XI; lots of pace and great close control; needs to work on his finishing if he is to become even more of a threat next year. Felix Curry - jo1ned us towards then end of the season and looks a very intelligent player 1n the second-striker role; should have a major say in the make-up of the Ist XI next year. Six of the Lower Sixth boys represented the Ist XI at some stage of the season. It could be a vintage year on The Lower next Lent. RTBH and ADN Captain's Report The all-star 2nd XI played consistently well throughout the season. despite dramatic reshuffles courtesy of the Ist XI coaches. They repeatedly embarrassed the Ists in training, showing what true class existed in the top football squads this season. The season got off to an exciting start against Downside, with Tim Ballmgal tak1ng just under a m1nute to open h1s goal-sconng account in a Sherborne shirt. Solid performances were put m by the likes of Tom Hillard on the right and Ralph Aiken in the middle, and a fine season from Sam Cooke saw him notch up 17 goals - one to watch next year. perhaps. james Emmett's composure at the back and diligent attitude in training was a fine example for the younger boys in the squad. By the end of the season, more than half the side had played For the l st XI, showing the depth of quality m the squad. MDN and RTBH ensured the season was both successfu l and entertaining. and thanks must go to them for their enthus1asm and Inspirational skills, demonstrated all too rarely on the training pitch. Tim Ballingal Cross-Country uYow attitude has been unfailingly posittve . " ......." " -.......= - = ' - - - - _ . _ . . . ; . . . . ;...='--'-----''-----.::ILl Those of us involved on the coaching side of the sport would like to congratulate everyone in this year's squad on a truly magn1ficent season. The spirit has been superb, and has been remarked on by a number of outsiders, including the masters in charge at Canford and Bryanston. SjC commented on Saturday on Lhe mutual support in the team. Numerous parents have made similarly complimentary observations. Our victories this season - and we have won practically everything - are as much a tribute to dedication and determination as they are to talent. It has always been the team result that has counted with us. This spirit is evident in training, where attendance has been very good, and effort equally so. It is also evident in the fact that we nevet once this season had to go rushmg around seek1ng replacements, or searching for latecomers. We are the only school on our circuit capable of putt1ng out full teams, and often two teams. m each age-group. Individual winners and members of winnmg teams have had the satisfaction of the1r victories, and deserve all praise for their outstanding achievements. Those who have competed w1thout necessarily winnmg or be1ng part of a wmning team have served the sport well and made a valuable contribution. Some have trained regularly and hard, and have not quite made it into one of the teams: their chance will come. Their efforts do not go unnoticed, although it must ohen seem to them that they are labounng for scant reward. We would like to thank everybody for their good humour, courtesy, and willing co-operation in everything we have attempted even where conditions have been less than 1deal. Your att1tude has been unfailingly posit1ve, and you r efforts have been generous and sustained to the very end of the season. We can look forward to next Lent with every expectation of another successful season. BjH. MPO'C and JRS Fives uWmners lost yeot {inoltsts th1s year - well done, Sherborne! " After the success of last year 1n the National Schools' Colts Doubles Championships expectations were high for the season as the play1ng personnel were the same. How would they perform after the1r success and how would it affect the other players? The West of England Schools' Championships were again held at Marlborough - hopefully in Sherborne 1n 2005 - on the first weekend of term. Both David Kirk and David Park - now in senior ranks and with virtually no practice - reached the last sixteen in the singles and the last eight in the doubles where they lost to Chnst's Hospital in a closely contested match. The term proved to be the most successful for many years with the Ist IV gaining victories over Blundell's. Clifton. Marlborough. the Old Tonbridg1ans, King's Bruton (tw1ce) and the Pilgrims. What is pleasing about these results IS that adult sides who are able to play a very different game. are now bemg defeated. The Ist IV only lost to the except1onal Winchester s1de. the RFA and Wessex. Lessons have been learnt from last year. where points were fnttered away. and now the necessity of competing for every po1nt has helped produce these excellent results. In many ways the success of David K1rk and David Park has seen a huge upsurge in the popularity of Fives m the School. Numbers playing in the Junior School are the highest that they have ever been and there has been a very successful season for all the jun1or teams, as well as an internal singles competition and House matches, where all Houses took part. The National Championships were once again held at St Paul's in the first week of the Easter holidays. Expectations were not too h1gh as David Kirk and Dav1d Park were 1n the Sen1or ranks- a year young. They both reached the last s1xteen m s1ngles, w1th David K1rk having a real chance of progressing agamst a strong player from St Paul's. Perhaps overconfidence after an excellent first game success was h1s undomg: focus must be retained right the way to the end of a match. In the doubles they once again came up against Chnst's Hospital in the last eight, who again proved the more consistent players. In the Colts' competition, Michael Oates-Wormer lost in the first round of the singles to a very strong St Paul's player but went on to win the Plate Competit1on. defeating two players from St Olave's on the way. Edward Leakey, who had only played half a term's Fives. reached the last eight of the singles a year young! He showed great composure 1n defeat1ng players from St Paul's and St Olave's in the group stages and then a seeded player from St Paul's 11 -9, 12-10. Heads were turning 1n the gallery to the young Sherborne player. Past British champions were saying that Edward IS a rare talent who should be nurtured and encouraged. They can't wait to see him next year. In the doubles competition. the draw was most unfavourable. In the second round Sherborne gained a walk-over to come up against St Paul's I, the first seeds, who were unceremoniously put out of the competition 11-4, 11-6. Michael Oates-Wormer's power and Edward Leakey's consistency on the left hand wore them down. The semi-final against St Paul's IV (!) was a long and often tetchy match with St Paul's using all tactics possible to win. The final score of 11-4, 8-11, 12-11 shows how close it was and the victory came because they kept calm and a steely determination to win became ever more apparent. And so to a very unexpected final agamst - yes another St Paul's pa1r! This pair was certa1nly the best of them all, wmning in a very closely contested match 3-11, 11-3, 9-11. Congratulations must go to Michael and Edward for commg back from a heavy first game defeat to take the second and recover from 8-3 down in the third to lead 9-8 and then lose a very keenly contested match. Winners last year. flnal1sts this year - well done, Sherborne! DPCK has again been an inspiration to all players with his enthusiastic coach1ng, fun and omnipresence. GDR has been a regular player this year and has shown the boys how useful the volley can be. It was good to see Rick Brewer playing again after half term as well. My thanks to them all and to all the support, both home and away! Sentor Squad: ON K1rk; OM Park; JRG Barber: MRJ Oates-Wormer: PB Foster; TJ Maber. JR Barnes; MD Barber: junior Squad: MRJ Oates-Wormer; EF Leakey: BWT Skinner: LRH De Watts: AE Carrow; PH Chung: AC de Candole; TL Bryars; NW C Newsom; JR Coreth; JD Leacock; JE Eddlestone. Abbey Abbey House Senior Cup: House junior Cup: The Richard Green David Kirk (A) Sen10r Smgles Trophy: Edward Leakey jumor Smgles Trophy: (B) Results· Played 19, Won 12. Lost 7. Ist IV 1st IV 2nd II 1st IV Marlborough Jun1or Colts IV Mi n Colts II Blundell's Ist II Colts II Junior Colts IV Min1 Colts II Winchester 1st IV Colts IV Jun1or Colts IV Wessex 1st IV The Pilgnms Ist IV King's Bruton 1st IV 2nd IV King's Bruton Ist IV Old Tonbndg1ans Ist IV Clifton RFA w L w w L L w L w w L w L L w w w w w 103 - 91 110 - 167 5 8 - so 124 - 56 74 - 124 35 - 60 6 6 - 52 22 - 52 118- 92 61 - 24 41 - 164 84 - 83 41 - 133 115 - 131 227 - 190 132- 1 7 132 - 23 147-- 120 132 35 MJC Polo Roger Horne writes: This is the third year that Sherborne has been part of Schools Polo, and the first year that it has been recognised within the School as an official sport. Two teams played regularly throughout the Trinity term. 'Once again we used Taunton Vale Polo Club as our home ground. Last year's fixtures were repeated against Taunton Club, Millfield, and Marlborough. in most cases also featuring a 'B' team. New fixtures included Milton Abbey and two adult tournaments over two days. At this point both teams had had an unbeaten season. 'On 20th june, the 'B' team took part in the Intermediate Schools Competition at lnglesham and did very well to win Division Two. On 27th june, the '!\ team travelled t o Warwickshire to contest the National Schools Championship. A total of sixteen schools had entered their 'A' teams, which were subdivided into two sections of eight on age and ability. Sherborne was rightfully placed in the top d1vision, and finished fourth overall after only losing the semifinal at the eleventh hour to Cheltenham, the eventual winners . Harrow came second and Wellington third. George Mackintosh won the cup for the most promising player of the tournament. This was the first year that boys In the F1fth and Sixth Forms were allowed to attend tra1ning sessions at Taunton on Wednesday evenings. It really made a huge difference. There is no substitute for time in the saddle and practice with stick and ball. ! @ i _....,_o 'As reported last year, there is enormous enthusiasm amongst Polo-playing Old Shirburnians for a match against the boys on the afternoon of Commem. Only a venue in the Sherborne area is missing, but no progress has been made to achieving this. 'Prospects for 2005 look good with no leavers and at least two promising new players in the Third Form. 'Once again, the parents would like to take the opportunity to thank GDR, MFW and Claire Miller in the Sports Department for all their support, and the catering staff for the supply of wonderful match teas for visiting teams.' I am extremely grateful to Roger Horne for all his tireless work on behalf of the school to give Polo such a high priority. For 2005, Miss Julia Skippen will also be helping with Polo on behalf of the School. GDR Riding ult is such a shame that more boys are not involved " Riding at Sherborne rs drvided into two categories: riding for pleasure and representing the school at national competitions. September, 2003, saw Harry Fry (L6th, Harper) represent Sherborne at the Inter-Schools One Day Event Championships, held annually at Stonar School. His younger brother, George Fry (5th, Harper) was also due to compete, but was injured in a rugby match, fracturing his wnst, so was unable to ride. Harry, like many boys, only does dressage rn order to be able to tackle t he more excrtrng phases of show-jumptng and cross-country withrn the format of One Day Events. As such. his rather average dressage test left him well down the scoreboard after· the first phase. A clear round show-jumping was more encouraging, but we knew his horse would find it difficult to complete t he cross-country phase withtn the allowed time. Although he went clear cross-country, h1s f1nal score mcluded a large number of time-penalties wh1ch did not help him improve upon h1s early position. Withm the school there are a few boys who ride, or would like t o learn to ride. In order to sat1sfy the demand for riding lessons, a new venue was sought to replace Westbrook Equestrian Centre, which had recently shut down. Pippm Equestrian Centre in Gillingham was a newly-opened facility. run by Helen Barton-Sm1th . P1ppin boasts an 1ndoor arena, outdoor floodlit arena. cross-country course and an all-weather gallop. Th1s centre proved to be ideal for the boys and we all set off for lessons on a Friday afternoon. Early lessons were spent us1ng t he centre's horses, bul then two of the more local boys asked whether they could arrange to bring their own horses over to P1pp1n for lessons. Rollo Skinner (3rd, Digby) and Hector Gibson-Fiem1ng (5th, Abbey) then cajoled thew mothers 1nto transporti ng their horses over to Golf uSherbone Golf I S m very good heart. " Whatever else one can say about Sherborne Golf this year. it has been a very enjoyable season with a large number of new faces appearing for the School in various matches. The team, once aga1n captained by Edward Radcliffe. has produced a sel of m1xed results, mcluding some fine team and Individual performances. The life of a Shirburnian grows ever more busy and the t1me for a regular Sunday game of golf IS now no longer as easy as it was. Even so, with over fifty boys bemg members of the School Golf Society 1n both Michaelmas and Trinity Terms. Sherborne Golf Club has given much enjoyment and frustration to many boys. My thanks go to the General Manager of the Club, Phil Gamble. and all concerned there for their help and guidance over t he past year. I am delighted to be able to say that the partnership between Club and Schoo l works very well. In the Michaelmas Term, matches were played against the OSGS, Canford, Milton Abbey. Monmouth at The Celtic Manor and Bristol Grammar School in the first round of the HMC Foursomes. wh ich was lost 2-1. The Lent Term does not allow much golf to be played, with a warm -up match against Blundell's before the West of England Competition at Burnham and Ben-ow Golf Club. In the first round Canford defeated the School S-0, but three of the matches were finished on the seventeenth. In the plate Sherborne lost narrowly to Blundell's 3-2. P1ppin t o meet us on Fnday afternoons. Th1s arrangement proved very satisfactory, and I am encouraged to see how much the boys improved. Lessons for this advanced group focused on show jumping, and I would hope to be able to encourage Rollo and Hector to represent the School at t his event in the future. Daniel Jones (3rd, Harper) was the only complete beg1nner hav1ng lessons at Pippin, but the centre found him an IndiVIdual Instructor who spent most of her Fridays tearing her hair out trying to get Daniel to stop laugh1ng and make him become a more effective rider! All the boys have enJoyed their riding experiences. but it is such a shame that more boys are not mvolved. Many boys are put off because they fear gettmg a bit of 'st1ck' from their colleagues - what a shame! KLM The Tnnlty Term brought excellent weather in May. where matches were played against King's Bruton, Canford. Bristol Grammar School. Milton Abbey, the OSGS, the Staff and the Parents. Some excellent golf was played by Edward Kelly, Gordon Curt1s. Charlie Cooke and John Barber. It is nterestmg to note that all those four. as well as Edward Radcltffe. are all members of the top cncket teams in their age groups. My thanks go to all coaches who allowed them t o play golf in the early part of term. Sherborne Golf is in very good heart with many boys playing and many continuing with the game after they leave Sherborne. Sherborne will never be able to compete with some other schools as all our players are involved in other sports and are not just golfing specialists. I find this an extremely healthy outlook and know that many boys will continue with golf throughout their lives. Team EM Radcltffe; GO Curtts; JRG Barber; ERS Kelly; CSG Cooke; FC Berthon; Aj Brooks; B Btllmann; WTM Pope; MTB Pope; CjA Macon1e. Mtchaelmas Term Results: Played 5, Won I, Halved I, Lost 3. H OSGS 3- 3 L Monmouth 2- I L Bnstol Grammar School 2- I ( I st round of HMC Foursomes) Milton Abbey W 2- I Canford L 4- 2 Lent Term Results: Played 3, Won I. Lost 2 W Blundell's West of England Schools: L Canford L Blundell's 3. Tnnity Term Results: Played 6. Won 4- I 5- 0 3- 2 Halved I. Lost 2 King's Bruton Canford Bnstol Grammar School Milton Abbey Staff Parents w 3-0 L 5- I L W 5 /, - 1/ , 2- I w 4-3 H 3 1:- 3 I. MJC Sailing uSome dtaboltcal weather " The team d1d not suffer many changes. We lost only one sailor and our professional coach. David Thompson. The team. once again captamed by Mtchael Hutton-Ashkenny. obtained some great results during the yea1 Under the supervision of Simon Skinne1. Andrew Mtllington. Andrew Yorke and Jonathan Salisbury the team managed to kick off the academic year by w nning all four matches including the much-feared team from Canford. The Lent Te1·m brought us some dtabolical weather on Thursdays allowing us to get a very limited number of pradtces ln. Thts made l1fe even harder for the team. who were short of practiCe at the begmn1ng of the Tnn1ty Term. However. w1th the help of Tom and james Bowker we managed to secure a w1n aga1nst all the other schools at least once. In May. the BSDRA (Bntish Schools Dinghy Raong Assooation) took place at Spmnaker Lake It turned out to be a very tense day. Our ma1n threat was the Canford A team. We were determ1ned to get our own back after losmg to them away (at Sptnnaker Lake) a few weeks earlier. Unfortunately they somehow managed to scrape a w1n 1n the semi-finals wh1ch meant that we f1nished in thwd place. equal w1th St. Helens. The House Sa1lmg Compet1t1on was good fun as always although sadly th1s year two houses d1d not manage to ra1se a team. Four members of the Sherborne Ist VI came from The D1gby so there was more than a little b1t of pressure on the Digby sailors to retain the cup for another year There was very little breeze and. as usual, there was much skill required to cope with the fluky winds which frequently prevail at Sutton Bingham. The D1gby team triumphed and was delighted to hold on to the cup for another year and. needless to say. thoroughly enjoyed the celebratory glass of champagne afterwards' Towards the end of the sa1ling season the Sallmg Club deoded to splash out and buy a brand new Lenam raong spec. 420 to replace the old Rondar. The boat thankfully arrived about 10 days before the ltchenor Schools' Championships. The Capta1n. Mike Hutton-Ashkenny and N1ck Arden were glad to get about forty-ftve m1nutes on the water at Sutton B1ngham before they took part m this important event Thts year we were able to enter two boats to represent the school. Sadly the ftrst day was too windy to race, but thereafter we had some excellent raong with a decent amount of w1nd. After some mcredtble rac1ng from the Bowker brothers, they managed to secure an mdiVIdual fourth place out of forty-e1ght boats. The other boat got twenty-thwd place. both of wh1ch put the School m a decent pOSitiOn. With our newly appomted capta1n, Tom Excel!. we hope that during the coming year we wtll have many more successes on the water Nicholas Arden Basketball uThis truly excellent game. " Basketball rn the Srxth Form continues to be a popular opt1on dunng the Lent Term and 1s played to a high level. It has always been a sport that appeals particularly to overseas students but there has always been a smattering of home-grown talent alongsrde those s1mply intent on improving their handlrng-sk1lls for rugby. say. They now play on a tough crrcu1t 1nclud1ng Winchester. Marlborough. Dauntsey's, Sexey's. Downside, Wellrngton, King's Bruton, KE Southampton, and Clayesmore. The boys lost narrowly against the first four schools and then beat the rest reasonably comfortably. Numbers of takers in the Lower School, however. dropped cons1derably this year and it was sometimes drfficult t o put out competent teams to play on th1s tough CirCUit. The U 16's won half of the1r f1xtures but the U IS and U 14 srdes faded to get even a srngle wrn under therr belts. Thrs would obv1ously have ra1sed moral w r thr n the team and mrght also have tempted others to sample this tru ly excellent game. There were other factors to blame for low numbers: the success of the Da1ly Mail rugby team changed the culture of the School somewhat. and one of the waves created was that a d1fferent group of boys represented the school at hockey. Basketball certa1nly felt the knock-on effect of thrs wave and numbers and talent suffered accordrngly. I have been master-In-charge of BaskeLball at Sherborne for over fifteen years and dunng that time I feel that I have taken the sport a long way- perhaps as far as it can go. For a number of reasons, rnclud1ng a shrfl 1n interests in thrs country generally. mrrrored by the lack of television-coverage to insprre the boys to emulate the feats portrayed rn the NBA, rt does not seem appropnate to organ1se fixtures next season for the Lower School. The last thrng we want 1s, come match day. to find that we are scratch1ng around for a team and have to cancel frxtures. Chns Griffiths who has JOrned us th1s year as a Graduate Teacher has expressed an interest rn takrng some Basketball next term and I have decided. with the Headmaster's permiSSIOn, to hand over the reins of the First Team to h1m while I monitor the situation. Let us hope that he can generate the necessary enthusrasm to get more boys on board in the future. PJW has been on board for a number of years and desp1te the pressures of being a Housemaster had given excellent servrce to the club: my sincere thanks to hrm and a number of others who have been rnvolved through the years. SJC Squash uStaggermg dedtcotton . " Desptte losmg close games to Marlborough and Exeter School, the squash teams made considerable progress this year. The Ist V ts really qUite strong and IS likely only ever to get beaten by strong schools such as Exeter. William Pope has tmproved steadily over hts three years and was able to run the Marlborough number one, who has never lost a school game. qutte close. Ed Leakey, despite being deeply frustrated by long-term mjunes that refuse to clear up. has the talent and the techmque to beat most schoolboy players comfortably. If he ts to carry on competing with those who play representative squash however. he is gomg to have to both resolve his Injury-problems and spend more ttme on the court. R ehard Round-Turner has become a much stronger and more conststent player and it was a shame both for h1m and the team that he d1slocated h1s shoulder early on tn the season. Edward Sweet and john Barber, the numbers four and five, also became much more cons1stent. and better at both hitting the ball to a length and keepmg 1t close to the wall. Edward dug particularly deep agamst Clifton, where he came back from 0-2 to win. Of the JUntor players, Toby Murray made the most progress. Toby practically lived on the court last term and applied htmself with staggenng ded1cat1on to the task of improving h1s squash. Not only did his technique Improve considerably but he became much more mob1le around the court. Phi l Anscombe's progress was slightly hindered by his involvement in rugby but on the other hand the strength and fitness that he developed from betng a member of the Daily Mail side was tnvaluable on the squash court. Timon Woodward continued to look a talented player wtth a ntce touch but he ts not really competitive enough to beat an opponent who is prepared to run everythmg down. Simon Gold, a Fifth Former. played squash senously for the first ttme and won almost all of his games. The other member of the Colts team was Humphrey Gibbs. who t s perhaps the most able techntcally and mtght end up beating all of the others if he can get fitter. There were only two Thtrd Formers who played m matches: Jamie Payne and Ntck Batchelor. Both are very talented games-players and Nick. tn particular. could be very good at squash. It is a shame that these were the only two who looked as tf they could play team squash as, desptte our proficiency at the moment, the sport ex1sts on somethtng of a knife edge and, 1f I lose a handful of players to mJunes or other sports, will find It hard to put out teams. Very few boys seem to be play1ng much at either prep schools or clubs. In the short-term, however, the future 1s bnght. No one is leaving thts year and next year's Ist V looks like being parttcularly strong. RWB Athletics uSpare a thought for the chief coach!. " It was another satisfying season for the Sherborne athletes as they notched up a record number of representative places. Twenty-three boys represented the Region. of whom seven went on to represent the County at the South-West Championships. and two were selected t o compete at the National Championships at Gateshead. Neither Jamie Payne nor Philip Anscombe managed a medal (although Philip came sixth in the Triple Jump and Jamie broke a twenty-one-year-old record for javelin. throwing 57.4 metres), but both were competing a year young and will benefit from this experience next year. It was perhaps a little disappointing that these boys. and indeed a number of others. decided. quite understandably, that the faolit1es at School were insufficient for their needs and so had to train at Yeovil twice a week. This puts a burden on the Athletics staff to take the boys and ptck them up after School. but even more of a concern is that 1t disrupts teamtraining and team sptrit which IS so important tn the first half of the term. The followmg boys represenred North Dorset at the Counry Championships: ATB Webb; JW Dutton; DO Nichols; SJR Dawson; TE P1tt-Ford; GW H Armstrong; RDH Yates; RJR Blake; PFJ Hames; CM Re1d; RA Will1ams; JAJ Moubray; EP Knudsen; ACFPL Hamm1ck; BJH Hurst TF Woodward; JD Cam; JMJ Payne; H N Pentecost; TH Dawkins; AJ Andrew; JC Turner; PO Anscombe . Lutro Sh1eld U20: Millfield Sherborne Blundell's Taunton Bryanston KSB Canford Sherborne (tntsh 2nd fot the 13th year runnmg. Seven boys were selected to represent Dorset at the South West Champwnsh1ps (Six Count1es): 3rd place High Jump 1.85 Armstrong 2nd place High jump 1.84 Hurst 3rd place Triple jump 13.20 Yates 3rd place Tnple Jump 12 25 Anscombe 5th place Hurdles 14.6 Hammick 5th place javelin 52.54 Payne 5th in heat 200m 25.8 Dawkins Bryanston Meeting U20 Sherborne 300 Dauntsey's 296.5 Bryanston 257 KSB 252 Blundell's 251 Kingswood 249.5 Milton Abbey 165 In the first half of the term the boys competed agamst Millfield, Blundell's, Bryanston. Canford, KSB, Taunton, Dauntsey's, Kingswood, M1lton Abbey and Clayesmore and beat all except M1llfield. The Lutra Sh1eld competition. which 1s the largest of 1ts kmd m the South West, saw Sherborne finish second again, th1s t1me by over 47 pomts. Being beaten two or three years runn1ng IS bad for the morale of the boys. but spare a thought for the chief coach who has been beaten mto second place for the thirteenth year runnmg! We also attended the 1naugural competition at Studland, which mcluded 'field events' such as Fnsbee-Throwing and Long Jump, and 'track events' such as the 400m Dune Run and the lOOm Sea Sprint. Needless to say, much fun was had by all at the end of what was a busy term. House Sports Day was again a h1ghly enjoyable occasion supported by many parents even though the rain threatened to ruin the party and dilute the champagne. The Overall Winners' Trophy deservedly went to Abbeylands. Results: MJI/fteld Open Meermg: Individual entries. No team scores. Canford Meeting U20 Canford 181 Sherborne 177 KSB 168 Kingswood 158 Milton Abbey 101 Clayesmorc 74 Stud/and Olympics U20 Bryanston 49 Sherborne 43 Canford 32 Clayesmore 12 Sports Day: U20 U l7 UIS Overall 533 486 441 411 410 399 393 U l7 Sherborne 295 Dauntsey's 288 Btshops W. 287 Blundell's 272 Kingswood 228 Bryanston 211 KSB 205 MilLon Abbey 151 Ul7 Sherborne 184 Kmgswood 167 Canford 164 Clayesmore 142 Milton Abbey 135 KSB 132 Ul7 Bryanston 47 Canford 33 Milton Abbey 32 Sherborne 22 Clayesmore 20 Digby Abbeylands Abbeylands Abbeylands My thanks as always to the coaching team - BJH, RG, MFW - who have worked enthusiastical ly to ensure that the boys are able to produce thelf very best come match day. SjC Tennis 1st VI uSubUe tactics and communication. " After several seasons devotd of sparkling performances. 1t fell to the new blood to match the successes of old and put Sherborne's VI back on the map. Th1s was not going to be an easy task as the team lacked the btg servers and net domtnance needed to score rounds quickly. They would have to rely on more subtle tact1cs and commun1catton between the pairings to pull through. The first game, against Downsrde, tested provisronal partnershtps. Whilst the manager retrred hurt due to ch1ckenpox, his team battled on rustily. What should have been an easy w1n for the team. agatnst weak oppostt1on, mrrrored one of England football's most unglamorous penalty shoot-outs. Techn1cal errors were frequent, and hesitance to come forward and take charge at the net left the team fighttng for wtnn1ng shots at the baseline: a tact1c only to be favoured by the experienced on clay. At Millf1eld, things were always gomg to be t ough. Thts year Sherborne faced a very young squad of talented players, most of whom w1ll one day be amongst the el1te of the school. It was going to be even more d1fficult s1nce the strongest Ist VI pairings had to be markedly altered from what was cons1dered the best. It was all too evrdent that the team were playing opposition of a very d1fferent league. The power and accuracy of the Millfield serve, together with the beautifully cnsp volleys left Sherborne tn a losmg position before the end of round two. It was a clear rem1nder of the real commitment needed to succeed in thrs sport at a very h1gh level. After the game at Millfield, the return of experienced players should have pa1d dtv1dends agatnst the more equally ranked Canford. Disappo1nt1ngly, the team could not make thetr mark here. The f1rst sets were lost through unforced errors and three pomts down at this stage meant that 1t was always going to be a losmg battle. Battle they did though, and the overall result does not do justice to the tenaCity shown in the later rounds. The bounce on hard courts caused addttional problems, but once again cons1stency let the side down. It was suggested that success might come from sporting Alice bands. worn by all of the Canford side bar their one female player, but it was po1nted out that 1t was better to lose the match than to lose all credibility. The team approached the next match, against Bournemouth, with the usual fear and trep1dat1on. The team is always h1ghly prof1cient. On grass, Sherborne did have an advantage. The ball plays low and fast. something that hard-court speCialist cannot cope w1th. Th1s time, it was not left to the facilities to impress. and the VI played some really good tenn1s tn a t1ghtly fought game. Serve and volley was st1ll tnfrequent but on home ground shots were played with more confidence and skill. The match agamst Bryanston mtrrored the d1sappomtments of the early part of the term. It was left until the fixture against Clifton for the squad to make headway. The format of the game was altered with only four players alternattng painngs between sets. Sam Cooke and R1chard Round-Turner put tn excellent performances. Serves were powerful and the coach's advice to get to the net was heeded. For the most part the gdrne WdS ldken away from the oppositron and Sherborne were unlucky not to come away w1th a w1n. As exam1nat1on-season k1cked tn, the tmprovements tn play expenenced in Bristol could not qutte be matched. Nevertheless the stde d1d play w1th greater heart and determmatton to do themselves JUstice. The strength of the team w ill continue to be put to the test over the next few years, but t he care, advtee and attentton grven to the boys by the coach, Kester jackson. rs Integral to any lasting improvement and all hands are thankful for hts input. Team: GW C Murray; SO Cooke; HTA Gabbey; HJO May; RN Round-Turner, EF Leakey; ECJ Sweet; RES Bain. Results: Played 8, Won I, Lost 6, Drawn I. W Downside L Millfield L Canford L Bournemouth L Bryanston D Cl1fton College L King's, Taunton 5-4 0-9 I - 8 I. 3- 6 2 I.- 6 I 4-4 I I. - 3 I DJR 2nd VI uRarely has my heart bemen so fast whilst sitting on a park bench " It was always gomg to be a tall order to maintam the standards set by last year's 2nd VI; who were unbeaten. But I was quietly confident that tt would at least be a successful season. with a number of the squad returntng. Indeed. promottng last year's second patr to first- a patr who only dropped one set in 2003 - tmmedtately gave the team a solid base. As always. trials were well-attended and I was able to be ruthless m my selection of a squad. The emphasis was on conststent and reliable players. who would tram hard and be competittve tn matches. The policy seemed to have worked, as Downside was swept aside wtthout the loss of a smgle set. We were aware that Millfield would be a different story, but what a match tt was. Certatnly the most competitive and exciting match m my seven years m charge of this team. Rarely has my heart beaten so fast wht lst sttting on a park bench. The first and second pairs played superbly to wtn two pomts each and the whole match ptvoted on a few points played by the thtrd pair of Louts de Ia Moriniere and Tim Ballingal. How cruel it was that they drd not secure a single point that afternoon, as on another day they could have won all three. As they walked off court despondently. all I could do was to congratulate them enthusiastically on a fine dtsplay. A healthy competittve edge was gradually butldmg as I contrnued to play Charlie Mrnter and Rob Eglington as first pair. The second parr. james Foster and Nick Howe, were always trytng to outdo them tn matches. It was these two parrs that deoded the fortunes of the team all season. Thts was never more evident than in the match agatnst Bryanston, where they scored 5 points out of the 6 we secured. In the third pair, Louis de Ia Morintere was provtng to be a fantastic shot-maker but somewhat fragile when under pressure. His partner. James Batchelor, had a rather slow start and communicattons between the two players was not always terribly polite. For a number of reasons, we travelled to Clifton with a weakened team and unable to field either of our top two patrs Losmg all three matches in the first round 1s never ideal, but I did not feel that any of our patrs were totally outclassed. I was very disappointed, therefore. that we capitulated without wtnnrng a stngle set. Tennrs, as tn all sports, ts so much about state of mtnd. Thts match should have taught the players how thts can work agatnst you, just as it had worked for them tn previous matches. Back to full strength agatnst Ktng's, Taunton, and at 6-0 up after the rirst two rounds. I was expecting another whitewash. Unfortunately, thts was not to be, as both the second and third paws had sympathy for their opposition, managing to lose sets that they should have won. On a hot afternoon with the match already won, I suspect that they allowed thetr mmds to wonder. Many thanks to Charlie Mmter for captamrng lhe side for a second year runnrng. and to all the players for maktng 1t such an enJoyable season, despite james Foster takrng a sel off me dunng one afternoon practtce. We are agatn tndebted to Kester jackson for hts excellent handltng and understanding of the players during weekly training sessions. Finally, my thanks to DjF\ for his smooth organisation throughout t he season. Team C.G. Mtnter (captatn). R. Eglrngton. N.j T Howe, j.E .H. Foster, N Thanapoomrkul, L.j.V. de Ia Moriniere. Tj. Ballingal. j.R. Batchelor. T.H. Speller. G.D.T. Findlay Results: Played 6. Won 4, Lost 2. Downside Millfield Canford Bryanston Clifton Ktng's Taunton w L w w L w 9- 0 4- 5 6 3 6 - 3 09 7 jJBW - 2 Junior Colts VI ((Presence and sptnt. " After a conclusive victory over Downside at the start of the season and an equally heartentng win over Millfield and (rather more narrowly) over Canford, the team was strengthened by the arnval of two new players, Toby Murray and james Nott. Everyone 1n the large squad now had to compete for a place tn the team. as these two forced thetr way up from third pair to second patr. As a result we did not experience the usual mid-season slump: we defeated Bryanston - a notable tnumph after the reverses of recent years- and Clifton College. The Master-rn-Charge of tennts clearly felt tt would now be good for us to play a team a year our sentors. After the no-doubt salutary expenence of defeat at the hands of King's. Taunton, Colts, we defeated a strengthened Mrllfield agatn, thts ttme on their own patch, to complete what thts coach hopes he may regard as an undefeated season. Max Cooke and Alex Le May were a strong ftrst pair, capable of aggressive play. Michael Bulman and Tom Foster were more dogged in therr approach. but made life difficult for some good oppositiOn patrs. Mark Corfield-Moore and jeremy Player were unfortunate to be edged out of the team by the arnval of Toby and james. and it was good to see that they contmued to practise hard. Thew presence and spint should strengthen next year's Colts. Team: MSC Bulman; NM Cooke; MW H Corf,eld Moore; CMC Foot; TWB Foster; GWJ Gunn; HO Hughes; AG Le May; TBJ Murray; JA Nott; JM Player. RGP Mini Colts VI uThe courage of Alexande1 Stuart-Grumbar. " From the vaned talents available at the tr ials at t he begrnning of term, a team with not much depth of experience but w ith some potential took on Bournemouth School in early May. We lost narrowly. A lexander Koban and jeremy Maciver were talented, and later became more effective m matches. Andrew Bulman and Alexander St uart-Grumbar played lots of good shots. and showed great determination. Ben Mace and Adam Sm1th were less orthodox, but unflaggrng rn therr retneval skills. It was encourag1ng for the team to taste v1ctory away to Clifton College. a match notable for the courage of Alexander Stuart-Grumbar. who ms1sted on playmg on unt1l victory was secured. despite the hand1cap of hav1ng to hop and limp for much of the afternoon w 1th what was later drscovered to be a broken toe - an injury he had 1nflrcted on himself that morning in Sherborne. Though we lost narrow ly at King's Taunton, the season ended wrth a further vrctory at Millfield. Though I shall be hearing of therr progress in 2005 from the confines of the Examinatron Offrce, I expect that these players (and the ones 1n t he squad who did not qu1te manage to get rnto the team), led ably by thew cap tarn Jeremy Maciver, wrll perform creditably as Junior Colts. Team· ABB Bulman; TR jenkrns; AW Koban; Smith; EHJ Levrne; BD Mace, JB Maciver; Aj ACR Stuart-Grumbar. RGP Swimming uThe atmosphere at a swrmming match has to be experienced first hand. " I am usually very nervous at the start of the swimming season in the Trinity Term. Very few sw immers t rain during the Lent term, so I am always wor ried about w hether we w ill have enoug swrmmers to make up a Senior and an Under 16 team. All the swimmers that are rdentified as hav1ng potential when I see them sw 1m in the Inter-House compet1tron rn january usually also have potentral in cncket. tenn1s or athletics. and are rarely seen 1n the pool agarnt However. my fears were cast asrde th1s year when the sw1mmers began to crawl out of the woodwork at the start of the summer term. Joost Wetenngs (Abbey) was selected as the team captain At 6'4". Joost had the perfect physique for a swrmmer. but on occasrons lacked the bra1n - he was the swimmer who was d1squalrfied the most m the team for forgettrng to touch wrth two hands rn the breaststroke! He turned out to be an extremely competent captarn. Joost could always be relied upon to orgamse the teams and rally everyone together on the poolsrde. After two unbeaten seasons. he had a hard task ahead of hrm. but as the weeks went past, l l was clear that this team had a very good chance of success. join r ng h1m rn the Senror Squad was jonathan Batson (Abbeylands). always keen to look cool and Impress the grrls! Whilst hrs Freestyle technique was a little unorthodox, he was extremely quick through t he w ater. Owen Skinner (Digby) retains his unusual Butterfly stroke, but also learned to swim Backstroke to fill the gap in the team - I think we have a good all-rounder in t he mak1ng. Ben Leach proved t o be a tower of strength 1n the Breaststroke and Individual Medley and will surely improve upon this performance next year. New to the team thrs year was Edward Wicks (Abbeylands). Ed is an extremely able Butterfly swimmer. and I was hugely encouraged to se h1m turn out for the team (albeit crrcket lost one of 1ts top players!) The Under 16 squad saw several changes during the season. but notable performances were by Mark Wrnter. an excellent all rounder (School). Davrd Chnstensen. a ventable tower of strength (Abbeylands). and A lex Vlieland-Boddy (Lyon). The strong newcomers rncluded Nick Newsom (Wallace), Harry Wh1te (Drgby). Quintin Farley (Abbey) and Freddie Horne (Green). Our frrst v1ctones at bot h levels were against Canford and Taunton School, swihly followed by an rmpressive v 1ctory against Krng's Bruton. The annual fixture at King's. Taunton, has grown rn srze and we swam there agarnst Krng's, Taunton. Blundell's, Clifton College and Plymouth College. T he Senrors were narrowly beaten by Krng's, and t he Under 16's were beaten by Blundell's and by an outstanding young team from Plymouth College. A new fixture against Clayesmore rounded off the season w1th a final flurry. with wms at both levels. We were disappointed to have lost a fixture agamst Kingswood School, Bath. Whether Kingswood could not face another year of defeat. or whether they had problems with arranging dates we do not know. but we will attempt to resurrect the match next year. We also have interest from Queen's. Taunton, in arranging a new fixture. The cont1nued fo1-mat of arranging matches w1th SSG has rema1ned popular. We are the only school sport with this arrangement. It saves time and money 1n terms of coach-hire and transport-cost. and the spirit of co-operalion is excellent. The atmosphere at a swimming match has to be expenenced first hand - double the supporters and ten limes the noise of cheering at the pool! Long may it continue. KLM I t is usual to start the house report with a sentence like 'School House has had a wonderful year. and maintained a full trophy cabinet (to t he delight of our Housemaster)'. However, I feel that much more rmportant was the contribution the house as a whole made to the lives of others. The School raised roughly £50.000 for Parkinson's Drsease sufferers over the Lent Term ProJect. and those 1n School House collected about L25,000 of this money. jack Sutclrffe, George Densham and Toby Edwards undertook a bicycle nde from Land's End to John o' Groats in three days. raising £20,000 between them. Yanous other events such as the Curry Evening organized by Toby Ovens helped reach thrs staggering House total. Musically we produced an extremely diverse House Concert, ranging from the usual Pope family strings sectron to an excellent Lower Sixth rendition of I Am A C1der Dnnker by the Wurzels. We also enthusiastically chose Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen for the House Song competitio n, and proceeded to thoroughly murder it. Yet it wasn't because, unlike many other houses, we ALL sang (even Wei Hseng with his inaudible bass frequencies). Unfortunately. a nameless member of t he band. who we all know is a guitar virtuoso. suffered an unfortunate amplification failure. Needless to say. I am informed that he would much rather do Bob the Butlder next time. Sport-w ise we had our usual small but elite group of professionals such as George Berthon. and plenty of less coordinated enthusiasts. We did well to come second in the House Swrmming competition. House Athletics. junior Tennis. junior Cross Country. junior Fives and Sports Day. Perhaps next year· we might actually be able to win some of those! Academical ly we did very well as a house with 80% NB grades at AS and A level: at GCSE 57% of the grades were either A* or A Special mention goes to Kenta Minamr. who scored 100% in all hrs A-level physics modules and won a national prize for his coursework. whilst only dropping 10 out of 1200 points 1n Maths! Unsurpristngly. he achieved his desired place at Oxford studyrng Psychology. We wrsh luck also to the rest of the Upper Sixth, who were quite the eclectic bunch of rndividuals. In events such as the House Singing and Lent Term Project every boy was involved in some way. There were many other prizes won and competitions participated in that I do not have time or space to mention. and it seems unfair only to single out these few boys. Unfortunately. Mr. Watts wr ites three sides a term and this is the whole year in one! We look forward to next year: as W illiam and Emily get older. we can be safe in the knowledge that Mr. Watts will be a less temperame ntal Housemaster! Sean McEvoy T he Anc1ent Greeks thought that purple was the colour of the gods. In Abbey House. some bel1eve that th1s could still be the case! Another year has raced by. but not Without countless achievements from so many. as Mr Murphy O'Connor likes to put 1t. 'Abbey Men'. Not only have those 1n Abbey ach1eved some outstand1ng exam results, but we have also pe1iormed well on the games pitches and in the BSR and the Powell Theatre. As usual, a vast number of Abbey boys were fight1ng hard on the rugby p1tch 1n the Michaelmas term. w1th many 1n A teams and another excellent show 1n the Ist XV. We were also thnlled to have five members of the Jun1or Colts Daily Mail Cup squad. who d1d not only the House, but the whole School proud. Abbey continued the1r sport throughout the year. with a number 1n the Ist XI for hockey. cncket (most notably Jack Jenkms, later followed by Charlie Esson. both of whom were only 1n the Fourth Form), fives, squash and tenn1s. and others 1n the top teams nght down through the years. With the admwable lead of Fredd1e Pendarves, Abbey has kept the U 16 Hockey Cup 1n the house trophy cabinet. and we also secured the sen1or t nd JUniOr FM s house cups. Aga1n, Abbey swam away under the lead of Joost Wetenngs. to cla1m the Jun1or House Sw1mm1ng Cup, and only narrowly m1ssed the sen1or one. W1th a strong tenms side. 1t was no su1·pnse we won the JUnior tennis. and Angus Radford also captamed the House jun1or cncket team, who defended the cup. To get a place 1n Abbey, you normally have to put your name down five or more years in advance. However, th1s 1sn't always the case, and we were all delighted to hear the news that Mr and Mrs Murphy O'Connor were expecting a baby, who was born on Fnday, 4th June. Benjamm James was welcomed 1nto the House 1n the second half of term . The Lent term is an opportumty for those 1n Abbey who are involved w1th music to show their talent 1n the conststently excellent House Concert, orgamsed this year by Ed Lyon. However, the music ability of the House doesn't stop there, w1th many of us bemg members of the orchestras, cho1rs, bands, and groups. Abbey likes to be different, and everyone heard th1s w1th our rend1t1on of Ave Morra in the House Singmg Competition. wh1ch the dedicated work of Matthew Snudden brought us so close to wmn1ng. Although th1s year there was a break from pe1forming a House Play, there were many 1n the House who just couldn't keep away from the stage. This included the Third Form right up to the Upper S1xth, all working together, particularly the vast number involved in The Royal Hunt of the Sun. The great thmg about Abbey IS, there's always a boy who has done someth1ng that benefits the House. whether 1t's sport, academic, music and so on, for which they deserve a ment1on. However, one often forgets the dedicated team 1ncluding tutors. domestic staff, Matron and Assistant Matron, and of course our very own Mr Hedison and the Murphy O'Connor family. both of whom will be leavmg us at the end of 2004. This news came as a b1t of shock to us all, as they have only been in Abbey for erght out of the usual twelve years. However, we all w1sh Mr Murphy O'Connor the best of luck when he moves to become Headmaster at Sherfield School. and I'm sure we'll still be seeing a great deal of 'Heddy' around the place. And who is to take over? Mr Pryor will we welcomed 1nto the House by everyone. as we all look forward to 2005. Tom Fineman F or once, The Green's biggest achtevement was not on the sports freld but at the desk. Out of last year's Upper Sixth. james Dutton. Nick Francis. Oliver Gargrave, Paddy Houghton. Edward Selfe and Lt Zhun all achreved 3 A's. In the htghly unpopular AS levels. both Ru Howland-jackson and Tyll Naber attarned 4 A's. At GCSE's Richard Rabone recorded an astonrshing II A*'s w1th Guy Corlett following up closely behind w1th an acceptable 10A *'s. Every House is bUilt on house spirit and The Green showed th1s m abundance, as a large proportion of the House volunteered to head down the m1nes 1n our production of Brossed Off james Dutton led an all-star cast wtth Henry Butt and Tom Oxenham provtding insp1nng performances. Our thanks must go t o Mrs Llewellyn for puttrng on an excellent show and also to Mr Carling for keepmg everyone fresh and motivated throughout the product1on. But theatrical talent did not just show itself in the Green House Play. as john joe Regan and Nick Franc1s both had parts m the School Play Blood Weddmg. wrth Nick takrng a lead role. john Joe's av1d commitment to the Drama Department was rewarded that same term when he received his dr-ama colours Last year the School ra1sed money for the Parkrnson's Disease Socrety through the Lent Term ProJect and the Green had no mtention of lettmg other houses steal the limelight. Its biggest event was a five-day run/walk. participated in by everyone in the House (includmg Matron). The marathon took place around the penmeter of the courts and became fondly known w1th1n the House as the flame of hope (although for the majority of the event the flame was not actually ht owing to the suspect weather In which the event took place). The Green succeeded rn Its task and ran over the distance needed to travel from Land's End to John o· Groats. In add1t1on, we set up an 01ganised serum in a mmibus, where everyone paid SOp to guess how many people 1lcould f1t. On the last day of term, a celebnty memorabilia auction was organ1sed by Patnck Horsington and Ben Leach. whiCh took the Green's sum total to over £3.000. Once again, The Green's singing talents were overlooked at the annual House Singing event. as The Green ploughed all available manpower 1nto producing a h1ghly complex and choreographed versron of Elton's John's Are yotJ Ready {01 Love, only to be rewarded for our efforts w1th fourth place - a great mjust1ce! On the sporttng front, The Green had a qu1et year, w1nning the U 16 rugby aga1nst Abbeylands and U 18 Cncket against Harper But. wherever there is success. there IS unfo11unately defeat and The Green seemed to be on the end of this rather a lot last year. losing narrowly m all three hockey fmals. A speetal mention must be g1ven to Hal Pentecost 111 goal, a fifth-former who, unlike greater men before h1m, was never fazed by the dauntmg f1gure of Ed Radcliffe, and many of h1s acrobatic saves kept us 1n that f1nal until the end against Harper. On the mdividual front, Alex Simon won his Ist XV colours and the Tim Dicken Memonal Cup. while Dave Holborow and Mark Erskme also played regularly for the Ist XV, with Charles Wilyman, Paddy Houghton, Oliver Gargrave and Mike 'Sick Note' Saunders also making appearances. In hockey. Patnck Horsington, Paddy Houghton, Charles Wilyman and Mike Saunders all played a full season for the Ist XI. Th1s year's I st XI cncket squad was ably coached by our very own Mr Reynolds. who was surprismgly unbiased 111 picking only Mike Saunders and Paddy Houghton for h1s team. On the mmor sports front. Sam Cooke represented the Ist XI for football and tenn1s, the latter w1th George Murray. Success was found m the pool th1s year w1th Ben Leach mvolved 1n the freestyle relay team, which beat the School record. In other sport, the Green Gash got full use with an 1naugural tournament. the East v. West football match afte1 a hard fought battle 1n whJCh 'Bubble' secured the overall w1n for the West w1th a half way volley. The Green had three members 1n the mfamous unbeaten School cross country team 1n james Dutton, Dav1d Holborow and Ed Tuckett. Ben Lyons (captam), Tom W1lliams and Alex Bunnell all represented the Jun1or Colts A at Twickenham m the final of the Dady Ma1l Cup. Edward Selfe was a leading figure throughout the year w1thin the House and was awarded the Bow Prize for all h1s efforts. Oliver Gargrave was chairman of TOSS for a year and h1s comedy w1ll be sorely missed. Paddy Houghton was also treasurer of Lhe society. In the House Conce1i. the most sterling performances were put m not once but three times by both Nick Oxley and Dave Holborow, whose drum solos w1ll be sorely m1ssed s1nce we will have to ftnd a new way to extend the House Concert. Finally. special thanks must be given to Rupert Howland-jackson and Niall Scott-Underdown for secunng the S1xth Form a time slot 1n wh1ch to watch Hollyoaks desp1te Mr Reynolds' cla1ms that 1t was like 'chewing gum for the eyes'. As Ed Tuckett so rightly put it, 'our eyes aren't stuck together'. Amen. George Jerram, Ben Leach and Niall Scott-Underdown D espite a mixed bag of personalities and attrtudes within Harper last year. we managed to produce a fantastically impressive list of achievements. which underline the feeling that , as a House, we never conform to any particular stereotype of spor1iness, musrcal ability or artistic talent, but instead strive for excellence across the board. Academically. our strength is undeniable. Four members of t he Upper Sixth - Anton Moiseev, Jack Milln, Jamie Holdaway and lsa AI Sabea achieved places at Oxbridge. and A level and GCSE results were impressive across the board, with several members of the house being congrat ulated by the Headmaster at start of term Lists for therr achievements. The House agarn contributed a great deal to the Lent Term Project, with events ranging from a North to South crossrng of Dartmoor through the night and a 24 hour football match to a chanty auctron of promises, and three boys, james Moubray, Jack Adams and Josh Bell, cycling from John o' Groats to Lands' End. The auction alone raised over 0,400. The determination and spirit of the house was evident throughout these events, with the grit and willpower required to walk across Dartmoor rn appalling conditions dunng the night exemplifyrng the adventurous and resolute character of Harper. The Harper Day, held on 16th May, was a fantastr c success and included a movrng House Service m the chapel, a picnrc lunch and barbecue. the incredible house auctron (whrch rncluded such lots as a holiday in Spain, 2 nights' bed and breakfast rn London and a supper at The Green Restaurant). and culminated in the House concert. whrch combined an impressive dr splay of musical talent wrth a number of readings of poetry and prose. In School lrfe, Harpoons contnbuted to a huge number of different activ1ties. from CCF and the Dorset Cadet Challenge to Drama wrth The Royal Hunt of the Sun and Blood Wedd1ng. both of wh r ch had members of Harper rn lead roles. Sport flourished as well, with Edward Radcliffe and Guy Stebbrngs being elected captarns of hockey and football respectively. Having already won the Junior House Cross Country and the Junror Rugby Plate Competrtion, the House went on to win the prestigious Senior Hockey Cup and to see Humphrey Rose. Chris Holdaway and Richard Newsome go to Twickenam with the Junror Colts for the nail bitrng final of the Daily Mail Cup Final. Speical mention also goes to Harry Fry for his continuing achievements rn the world of point-to-point rac1ng. The Harper Bees have produced their first batch of honey. and jars are headrng home in t1me for Christmas: just one of the many qurrks of Harper that make 1t such a fantastically diverse community to be a part of. Life in Harper continues to be full of achrevement and success. Thrs year promrses to be one of the best yet. Hugo Soul N ot for very much longer will Wallace be able to hide behind the excuse of being the smallest House tn School for any poor performance , as the regular rude awakenings at half past seven in the morning by the builders digging up the croquet lawn, and rendering the patch unusable, have proven. The new wing began to take shape during the Lent and Trinity Terms and will provide, among other smart new additions to be incorporated, a resident tutor This is a position which has been redundant in Wallace for many years (since Doc. Hamon in 1993), and the first lucky inhabitant will be Mr. lain Smith, who joined the prestigious ranks of the Wallace tutol"s (and the less prestigious Chemistry Department) at the beginning of the year. As all those who write House reports are wont to do, we have spent some time perusing backdated copies of The Shtrbumion, and the year's end of term House letters from Mr Haigh. We w1ll try not to sound too monotonous in our pilfering of paragraphs and anecdotes from the latter of these two sources, as well as the inevitable round of congratulations to various people for their achievements. but please forgive us in advance. and especially if we have missed anyone out. The leaving Upper Sixth must be mentioned on account of their acceptance into all their first choice universities. and (especially Alistair Hardie) on achieving A's at A level: we wish them well in their future endeavours. The House Play this year was Thejuly Plot. kindly directed by Mr. Paul Carling. Although a rather macabre affaw. and a different take on the events of the Second World War to The Digby's production of Allo' Allo', it was well led by Tristan De Souza as Claus von Stauffenberg. and proved a success. Again, the House Concert was brimming with the talent that we display as a House for music. As proof that we are not fabricating this, Tristan De Souza. Alex Morley-Smith, Nicholas Newsom, Keith Tse and Hugh Worskett must be congratulated on gaining distinctions in grades seven or eight in the following instruments: 'Cello. Oboe, Piano, Violin and Voice (with Keith achieving two distinctions in Piano and Violin). Edmund Latham is also to be congratulated on his position in the National Youth Choir. In the sporting arena. Wallace has had its usual assortment of successes and less brilliant performances. Although the seniors prefer to opt more for the minor sports. in the Lower School we have had several regular stalwarts in the higher teams: in Rugby, Charlie MacCielland in the Colts B's, George Mackintosh in the jun ior Colts A's and Daily Mail Cup Team, and Gordon Whitley in the Mini Colts A's. Special mention must be made of Jamie Excell. who has played in the Mini Colts A team for all three major sports this year. George Mackintosh has also found time to be in the School Polo Team. Nick Newsom has swum in the School Swimming Team. and Edward Shackleton and Alex Latham have run for the School Cross Country Team. johnn y Chae. Peach Chongcharoentaweesuk. Zhuang Rui Tan, jordan Chung and Sam Kim have all played for School Basketball Teams. whilst Charlie MacCielland and Sam Kim have also been part of the School Athletics Squad. In the Senior School, we have had some notable players in the I st XI Football team (A listair Brooks (in goal), Tristan De Souza. Daniel Lee and Nick Thanapoomi kul). Piers Foster for the Ist XI Cricket. Tom Stanford and Edward Ward in the 3rd X I Football and Tom Excell in the Ist Sailing Team. Tom Minns and Tom Stanford were part of the School Athletics Squad. from where the former went on to captain the House Athletics Squad. as well as the House Swimming Team. This list shows the cornucopia of sports that those in Wallace participate in, and it could go on further. For the rest of the House, 'Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but m risrng every time we fall' (Yasser Arafat). Wallace has had a notable year and, as we move mto the final year of Mr Haigh's stewardship over the House. we welcome Mr Robinson and his family. Wallace is a House that is a very well-rounded and pleasant one, showing the signs of the many successes still to be achieved in the years to come. Alex Morley-Sm1th and Ashley Hermitage (et ol) T wo days before the start of the Michaelmas Term, 2003. I walked by the entrance to the newly-renovated Abbeylands . The doors were open, and the view down the corndor was tndescr ibable. Suffice to say that our House looked like a bu1lder's yard. w ith wwes and pipes dangling from the ceiling. and ladders and planks and paint-pots hiding the view. The makeover was accomplished. though. because two days later the House looked like home for the arrivtng new boys wtth. centrestage. a fast-grey ing Mr. Bool, a Geography teacher with a lot to live up to. Stepptng into Mr. Weston's shoes was never gotng to be easy. but Mr. Bool achteved tt w1th panache. The House spirit was good throughout the year, and wtth an overly-energetic Third Form ready and able to annoy the upper years, nothmg was new. Now this is a House report. the page tn the Shirburnian where I get the chance to blow Abbeylands ' trumpet as the best academic, sporting. musical and dramattc House tn the School. But I won't. It's not as 1f there were A*s galore in the GCSEs (Michael Oates-Wormer and Matthew Hardcastle, a new recruit. ach1eved 9 A* grades each. and Rory Cummtng. Alex Murray and George Smibert gathered over 20 A*s between them). MIChael also starred in what has become a rather commonplace ach•evement because we've done it so many times- the wmning of the House Quiz, aided by Reuben Attken. james Emmett and Alex Harking. I'm not going to brag about the straight As achieved at A Level by Reuben A1tken, Netl Batson, Adam Gallimore and Hugh Yates, or even how Reuben Atlken, Head of School, achieved a place at Gonvtlle and Ca1us College, Cambndge to read Modern Languages and how Hugo Sutton won first pnze tn the Gerald P1tman Memonal Prize competition, a local History pnze run by Sherborne Town Museum. Nor w1ll I boast about Netl Batson. who achieved dtstinction in the Nuffield Foundation Chemistry Competition. or Andrew MacDonald. w ho received a commendation 1n the International Chemistry Olym piad, and who completed the fearsome Ten Tors expedition on Dartmoor; nor about the Army Scholarship won by Edward Wicks . I shan't be goaded by cnticism of Abbeylands' sporting prowess into telling you about the performances of Hugh Yates , Ed W tcks and George Armstrong in the Ist XV on the rugby field, nor those of Ben Hurst and George Sm1bert in the Colts As. nor George's appearances for the U 16 county side. I won't mention Oli Cripps. Philip Anscombe , james Nott, Nick Batchelor and Jamie Payne, our five members of the junior Colts side which reached the final of the Daily Mail U IS Cup, Jamie Payne also betng the captatn of the U 14 As, wh1ch tncluded N1ck Batchelor. Nor shall I recount how we were only beaten in the final of the Juntor House League. It would also be boasttng to mention Neil Batson's captaincy of the U 19 basketball team, and our victor ies tn the jun ior and Senior squash competitions . the Senior Swimming Cup, the Third Form Six-a-Side Football Competition and the junior Football Competition . Or how. in the Tnntty Term. we won the overall House Cup on Sports Day for the fourth successive year. and Seamus Crawford, as well as captaming the Ist XI cncket team and sconng two centuries 1n the process, played for the U 17 England cncket team. Oh, and how Jonathan Batson captamed the School swimming team. I won't say much about music. e1ther. I won't dwell on the six Abbeylands boys (Ben Trepess. Alastair Lax. Peter Dillon. Gordon Curtis, A lex Tollast and W ill Day-Robinson) who played rn the joint Schools Orchestral and Choral Concert, or the six more who, with them, performed in the Friday lunchtime concerts, nor the fun of the excellent House Concert organised by Ben Trepess. And I really ought not to ment1on Ben's d1stinction in the Associated Board Grade 8 oboe exam, or the •nternal stxth-form mus1c exhtbitton awarded to Peter Dillon. I have no space to mention the hard work done on the Lent Term Project by Reuben Aitken and many of the younger boys. or the boys who acted in the Commemoration Day plays, and many other plays during the year. None of these glttter ing pe1iormances could be ach1eved without the support. ktndness. tender lovmg care and pract1cal help gtven to all of us by Mr and Mrs Bool, our super new Matron. Mrs jill T1frtn (whose efficiency reaches Homeric proportions), our new Mini-Matron, Sharon 'Mini' Shaw. our tutors. some old, some new, and our house-staff, for which many thanks. Oops! I've just realised: I've let my pen run away and done it again, though I didn't intend to! I've told you what a vibrant, great House Abbey lands ts! But then, it's so good. I had to, really, dtdn't I ? john Barber W hat is 1l about Lyon and second places? W e seem to go together like bread and butter. In this, another eventful year for Lyon, we managed to reach the finals of both the senior rugby and cncket competitions. In the rugby. we exhausted all our efforts in reach1ng the final, house play1ng some superb 1ugby. However. m the final, our team. 1ncluding Ist XV players Adam Re1d, Kol1 Doherty. Tom Hillard and Dave N1cholls, was outshone by, dare I say 1t, a slightly superior Digby team. While on the subject of rugby. a special mention must go to the Lyon members of the junior Colts team, Henry Bond, Tom Fleming and Rati Mayo. who elimmated opposition wrth ease in the Daily Mad Cup all the way to TwiCkenham, where they narrowly went down to a very strong side, despite Henry's excellent try on the hallowed turf. The cricket went the same way as the rugby. Despite play1ng our hearts out to reach the final. beating Wallace and Harper along the way, we were narrowly beaten by a strong Green Learn. and Ist XI player Charlie Often's 49 was not quite enough to bring home the glory N o one w1ll deny that our hockey team was not the strongest around, but some courageous and strong sp1rited play got us to the semifinals. where we just lost out to Harper after a win against The Digby and a draw against Abbey. Desp1te all these near misses. we were able to periorm to our best1n the compet1t1on 1n wh1ch we have had the most success rn recent years: the House Football Competition . Even w1th the half hearted resistance from the other houses. no one had a chance of taking our crown away from us and a brace by Ist XI player Felix Curry ensured a 4-2 win over Abbey in the final. We also managed to marntain our strong reputat•on on the cross-country front where we managed a unique double of having the winners of both the senior and the JUnior event Dave Nicholls ran superbly and proved what a quality runner he rs rn winnrng the senror event while Ed Knudsen won the JUnior event for the second time. Dave should also be congratulated for rais1ng L206 for the Lent Project by running a half marathon, With the money gorng to the Parkinson's Disease Socrety. In other Lent Project events, Lyon were crowned the official Hard Man House. after w1nnrng the Hard Man Competitron organrsed by the gym. and Adam Reid was crowned the Hard Man of the school. I personally believe that one of the greatest successes in Lyon in the past year was our house play, Nude Wrth Violin by Noel Coward. Lyon has a reputation for puttrng on outstandmg House Plays and th1s year was no exceptron. james Fitzgerald masterfully overcame about ten different forergn languages to produce a performance as Sebastien that rivalled some of the best seen 1n The Powell Theatre. There were also notable performances from Kit Dorey, as the energet1c Clinton Premmger jr, Sebastian Bacon. as the pompous Colin Sorod1n and honorary Lyon House member Lucy Simson. 1n her second Lyon House play, as the animated Amencan Cherry-May Waterton On the musrc front, W1lson Cheng once aga1n excelled rn everyth•ng musiCal. which ultrmately resulted in his being awarded a Gurldhall School of Music Drploma He also contributed to a fantastiC House Concert and 1t was partrcularly encouragmg to see so many Th1rd Formers perform. It certainly seems that Lyon's music will be in good hands for the next few years. In another musical event. justice was finally done as, after years of being robbed unfairly of the trtle. we frnally won the House Singing Compeut.Jon w1th our renditron of River of Dreams by Billy joel. I thank the person who rnvited a competent judge for once. who reaJised that the 1dea of the House Srngrng Competitron rs more than just choral srngrng, and rightfully awarded first place to the most entertarnrng performance on the nrght A Lyon House report wouldn't be complete wrthout a mention of the Ten Tors team - and once agarn Lyon's team returned home victonous after conquenng the Tors r na very good lime. The Learn was capta1ned by Sebastran Bacon and 1ncluded Ollie Cooper. Alex Vlieland-Boddy. Tom Fleming. Robe1i Masterson and Will Clark. I should also mention that Dave N1cholls also mastered the Tors, walk•ng forty-five miles w1th the CCF team, the first Lyon member to do so for some years. just when you were begrnning to wonder whether Lyon boys even went to lessons, I can tell you that Lyon agarn produced some fantastic results in the recent publ1c exams. Robert Bain. Mrchael Hutton-Ashkenny and Wilson Cheng all gained three As in their A Levels and as a result Robert has taken up a place studying Engineenng at Grrton College, Cambridge W e aJso had great success in the GCSE's with Gash Mbrzvo ga1nrng nine A*s and Krt Dorey gammg eight A*s. As you can see. rt has been a very successful year in Lyon and we certamly hope this success can contrnue. I must take th1s opportunrty to thank all the house staff who prevent Lyon from fallrng apart and Charlie M1nter and Fred Isles, our two Heads of House. who both led strongly from the front and were great assets to the House. Edward Elgood W e thought we'd cope so well with th1s year. It had happened to the other Houses and it's not like we didn't see it commg. But when it actually got here we JUSt didn't know what to do w1th ourselves. Yes, The Digby turned forty th1s year. We marked the occas1on With a number of celebratory events, reumting every Housemaster of The Digby smce the House opened and many old boys, who agreed to return on condition that they were free to drink and smoke openly without fear of being reprimanded. A marquee was set up on the lawn to house the festivities, which took the form of lwo dinners, one for old boys and tutors and one for the current crop of Digbeans. The location of the marquee was the source of extreme stress for Mr Morgan, who is cunously fond of h1s lawn. and his worst fears came true when the marquee was removed, leaving in 1ts place a large patch of dead, yellow grass. A network of sprinklers was immediately deployed and you will no doubt be relieved to know that the resurrection was successful and the lawn is back to 1ts usual, lustrous self. In spite of our age, we have been busy this year and have stamped our mark on the School, keeping lhose young upstarts in their place. Despite disappointment in the House Singing, where our brawn over brams rendition of Swtng low, sweet chanot fa1led to bring the trophy back to The Digby, we won the House Rugby, beattng off all opposition thanks to the twin peaks of Giles Maber and Bobby Blake, Matt Hutt's msp1ralional playmaking and the effortless water-d1spensing ability of Harry Blazeby, the touchline tactician. The House Play, 'AIIo 'AIIo, was a mostly indecent affair. with a number of boys pulling off disturbmgly convmcing Impressions of girls: the discovery that Francis can also be a boy's name produced record queues outside the office of the school counsellor and many have been left with deep emotional scarring, not least Mr Burn, who thought he was onto a winner by bagging a seat on the front r o w - that is, until Henry Howard (stealing the show as Edith) decided to lap dance for him. It w ill come as no surprise to those of you who know him that this whole bawdy affair was directed w1th great aplomb by Dr Chris Hamon. Those of you expecting this final paragraph to be a eulogy for Mr Morgan's career as Housemaster of The Digby, and to be wishing htm luck for the future. w i ll be sadly disappointed, but probably not as disappointed as Mr Robinson, who has had to settle for Wallace instead. As I am sure XPU already know, Mr Morgan has decided to keep flogging the dead horse which we affectionately know as The Digby, and we wish him luck in this task. He's going to need it! jonathan Horner