1990 - Kingston Grammar School | Online Archive

KIN
THE KINGSTONIAN
AUTUMN 1990
The magazine of Kingston Grammar School
An Independent Co-educational School
Age 11-18 years
70-72, LONDON RD
KINGSTON UPON THAMES
SURREY KT2 6PY
Telephone 081 546 5875
Headmaster: Mr A.B. Creber, B.A. Lond.
Deputy Headmaster: Mr R.J. Sturgeon, M.A. Cantab.
Production Team
First Form
Second Form
Fourth Form
Fourth Form
Fourth Form
Fourth Form
Fourth Form
Lower Sixth
Lower Sixth
Lower Sixth
Lower Sixth
Lower Sixth
Lower Sixth
Stephen Payne
Ben Cohen
Quentin Cammish
Gabriel Leslie
Robert Munro
Alex Payne
William Varah
Jason Ede
Ashley Farnham
Kathleen Leeper
Taher Sharaf
Fiona Tsang
Sarah Walsh
i/c Peter Ricketts
CONTENTS
Staff
2
Leavers
3
School Activities
5
Houses
10
Music
13
Drama
16
Short Story
20
Sports
28
Old Kingstonians
44
Cover Illustration: A painting by Patrick Rolt U6
Last year's editorial drew attention to the new format
adopted for that issue of the Kingstonian. Ian
Stackhouse, then master i/c the magazine,
anticipated "furious debate" as to the success of the
"more up-to-date approach" which had been
adopted.
This year brings further change. The present issue
has been typeset "in house" here at the school,
using our Nimbus computer system. Having
assured the Headmaster that this would be easily
done, given our equipment and the enthusiasm of
the pupils involved, I find myself an older and wiser
man as I write these words now, on the eve of our
going to press.
The enthusiasm and dedication of the pupils who
have worked on this edition have been splendid, and
I thank them for all their efforts and for their
patience and understanding in dealing with an often
very flustered "master in charge".
In the event, it soon emerged that I had
underestimated the scale of the task that we had
embarked upon. We were not helped by our
computer system being out of action for a fortnight
at a critical stage in the process, nor, I have to say,
by the lateness with which we received much of the
copy (I shall be tougher with contributors next
year!).
The whole enterprise would have proved impossible
without Mr Keith Balkham. Having agreed to help
us in the technicalities of using the system, in the
event he did a great deal more than that. I am
extremely grateful to him, and I am resolved that we
will not make such demands on him next year. We
must also thank Marna Warner of The Secretary
Birds, our printers, who has given us every
encouragement and has been very kind in coping
with our delays.
P.J.R.
STAFF
Headmaster
It was announced at the start
of the Autumn Term that
Mr A. B. Creber had decided to
take early retirement from teaching
and that he would be stepping
down at the end of the academic
year 1990-91. An appreciation of
Mr. Creber's time as Headmaster
will appear in next year's issue of
The Kingstonian.
Common Room Notes
At Christmas 1989 Mr F. Hewitt,
one of the longest serving
members of staff, retired. An
appreciation of Mr Hewitt appears
below.
After a stay of ten years, Mr M.G.
Howat has left us to become Head
of History at University College
School. Mr. Howat joined us, as a
young Cambridge cricket blue, to
be an assistant teacher in History.
So well did he settle in that he was
appointed as Mr Grossel's
successor as Head of History
when that worthy departed, also,
curiously, for U.C.S. Mr Howat had
to superintend the change-over
from O-level to G.C.S.E., which in
History was a very considerable
task. He carried it through with his
usual calm and unfussy
competence, and the department
has now fully adjusted to G.C.S.E.
the number two to Mr Jones, and
he was the assistant Housemaster
of Queen's for most of his time
here. He was always willing to help
out with selling tickets for school
plays and with front-of-house
duties on such occasions. His
personal good humour and relaxed
attitude made him widely popular
with both staff and pupils, and his
balanced common sense was
appreciated by all. He will be much
missed and we wish him every
success.
Mrs Haggas (nee Lawson) also
leaves us after four years to
pursue her own artistic career. She
has been a lively, cheerful bubbly
personality in the Art Department,
and has taken a full part in
improving the standard of the Art
in the school over the last four
years. She has given invaluable
support to Mrs. Crimes, and has
been a caring and concerned
member of staff, both in the
Common Room and with her
Second Form charges. She has
also assisted with hockey
coaching of the girls' 2nd XI, and
was an expert helper with
costumes and make-up in all
school productions. We wish her
and her husband every happiness
in their future life.
Mr Howat also made many other
contributions to life at K.G.S. He
was an enormous influence on the
cricket field, and coached the
Under-15 side throughout his time
here with his customary patience
and good humour, and his
balanced perspective. He was also
a formidable all-round performer in
Martlets and Staff matches.
Although a footballer himself, he
willingly took on hockey, at first
umpiring as a regular stand-in for
junior teams, but more recently
taking on the added burden of
running a team.
Mr. I.R. Stackhouse has left us
after three years teaching to enter
the Church. He taught History
throughout the school and was a
highly conscientious and
concerned teacher. He was given
the responsibility of being a First
Year form teacher, with all the
careful induction to the school
which that implies. He was a
successful master in charge of
Charities, organizing many events
which brought in large sums for our
nominated charities in recent
years. He was a talented and
active sportsman, and took on
responsibilities for cross-country
and tennis. He was also assistant
Housemaster of Taverner. Now
that he has decided upon a change
of direction we wish him all
success and fulfilment in his new
calling.
He was a hard-working member of
the Careers Department, in effect
Now in his seventies, Mr Hughes
has decided that the time has
come to retire. He has been taking
woodwork for one day per week for
many years, and his gentle and
patient personality must have
given many an inexpert youngster
an insight into true craftsmanship.
We shall miss his weekly visits on
Mondays, and wish him good
health and happiness in his
retirement.
Mrs A. Royce, our Prep Form
mistress, left us at Easter to have
a baby, Master James Royce.
Mother and baby (and father!) are
all doing well. We hope that Mrs
Royce will return at least to assist
with girls' games, where her
expertise is much valued. In her
place we welcome Mrs C.
Whiteman, who joined the staff in
April, and who has already settled
in well.
Mrs D. Gunatilake and Mr G.
Higgs each served a temporary
two-term appointment in the
Geography Department, and have
now moved on. Mr N.J. Parfitt also
served for two terms in the English
Department on Mr Hewitt's
retirement. We thank them and
wish them all well in their future
careers.
We welcome Mr J. Davies as
Head of History, who comes to us
from Eltham College; Miss L.J.
Collins, who will also teach History
as well as help with the C.C.F. and
girls' games; Mr J.S. Smith, who
comes to us from Sutton to teach
English; Miss K.A. Bielby, who
joins the Art Department and will
help with tennis; and Mr A.T. Lamb
from Australia, who joins the
Geography Department.
We hear that Mr D.J. Grossel,
former Head of History, has been
appointed Director of Studies at
City of London School.
We regret to record the death in
September of Mr R.D. Browne, Art
Master at K.G.S. from 1953, when
he took over from Albert Perry, to
1976. He was a distinguished
sculptor. We extend our sympathy
to his wife, Janice, and two
children.
R.J.S.
Frederick Hewitt
During "Derick" Hewitt's long spell
at the school (from 1959 to 1989)
we came to know him not only as
an effective teacher of English
and History, but also for his
participation in many out-ofschool activities. When he was
master in charge of rowing, the
boat club enjoyed one of its most
successful periods. He
engendered a lively spirit among
the crews by his sense of
humour, and with his somewhat
idiosyncratic approach he
produced in the boys a great
sense of responsibility and loyalty
to him and to the club.
Derick was an innovator. He
managed to find time and space
to found and accomodate a
printing club, for which there was
no lack of volunteers. Unusually
in school societies, this club ran
at a profit, and it is fair to say that a
number of boys owe their business
sense to the demands which it
made upon them. He also
organised a large number of school
trips both at home and abroad.
Notable among the latter were a
cruise to Lisbon and Amsterdam,
and, in four successive years, trips
to Venice, Innsbruck, Copenhagen
and Heidelberg.
The outstanding drama success
twenty years ago was the
production of "Oh, What a Lovely
War!", for which Derick was the
musical director. What many
people do not realise is that Derick
is a superb "honky-tonk" pub piano
player!
He evoked the imagination of a
number of boys by making a series
of amateur films. The first one
included fantasy sequences in
which, on a hot summer's day, a
boy fell asleep in class and
dreamed of the many mishaps
which befell an unfortunate
schoolmaster. Included were
scenes in Hampton Court maze,
Heathrow and, much to the
amazement of tourists, a
beheading outside the Tower of
London! It was all great fun, and it
was typical that the film was
started in the summer and not
finished until after Christmas,
when snow was on the ground.
Continuity was somewhat chaotic!
Another film was "Radio K", in
which boys set up a secret radio
station in the school which the
masters tried in vain to detect.
A school staff can always do with
a few characters, and Derick was
certainly one. He was a man of
many parts, great fun for those
who knew him, and the sort of man
that prevents school life from ever
becoming dull.
A.C.L.P.
Leavers, July 1990
The following gained entry to places of further education:M.J. ABOTT, North London Polytechnic, Geography; C.M.ABRAHAM, Birmingham, Medicine; S.E. APPLIN,
Queen's College, Oxford, Biochemistry; J.C. ARCHER, Loughborough, Mathematical Engineering;
S.C.M. BARNES, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Stage Management; A-J. BATHKE, Bristol, German;
A. BERZINS, City, Management & Systems; D. BERZINS, University College, London, Electronic Engineering
with Computing; O.C.A. BROWNE, King's College, London, Medicine; R.A. CAMPBELL, Brunei, Mathematics;
M.A. CARLE, Strathclyde, Technology & Business Studies; J.D. CARTWRIGHT, London School of
Economics, Geography; D.P. COCKER, United Medical & Dental School, London, Medicine; M-A. COTTON,
Magdalene College, Cambridge, Medicine; J.E. CRACKNELL, Reading, Human Geography; D.F. CRUZ,
Kingston Polytechnic, Spanish, Politics & Economics; C.V. ELMITT, St. Catherine's College, Oxford, French
& Italian; Z.V. FINCH, Southampton, Physiology with Nutrition; S.P. FLANNERY, West London Institute of
Higher Education, Leisure Management with Computer Studies; I.C. FLETCHER, Loughborough, Economics
with Accountancy; M.S. GIBSON, Buckingham, History & English; P.C.J. HAVELOCK, Leeds, Mechanical
Engineering; C.M. HAWES, City & Guilds Art School, Foundation Course; V.A. HAZELL, City Polytechnic,
Government & Politics; G.H. JAMES, Queens' College, Cambridge, Mathematics; S. KANG, Edinburgh,
History; N. KHANDAN-NIA, Buckingham, Biological Sciences; C.M. KNOWLES, City Polytechnic, Life
Sciences; VJ. LIPSCOMB, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, Veterinary Medicine; C.E. MANNALL,
Huddersfield Polytechnic, Hotel, Catering & Institutional Management (HND); T.N. MEEKS, Bristol, Civil
Engineering (1991); R.H. MILNE, East Anglia, Development Studies; G.S.S. MURRAY, Wolverhampton
Polytechnic, European Business Administration; G.A. McCUSKER, St. Edmund Hall, Oxford,
Mathematics & Computation; E. RAHMAN, Bath, Manufacturing Systems, Engineering & Management;
J.M.E. REID, St. John's College, Oxford, Theology & Philosophy; C.J. RUSH, Nottingham Polytechnic,
Art Foundation Course; D.W. SALTER, Pembroke College, Oxford, Engineering Science;
D. SANMUGALINGAM, Imperial College, London, Biochemistry; S.J. SHERMAN, United Medical & Dental
School, Medicine; M-S. SOHN, Durham, Biochemistry & Microbiology; C.F. St-GALLAY, Exeter, English;
A. STILES, Loughborough, Human Biological Sciences; R.L. STOVELL, Manchester Royal Infirmary,
Physiotherapy; D.J. STUDHOLME, Southampton, Applied Biology; S.M. TAYLOR, City & Guilds Art School,
Foundation Course; M.J. TRENCH, Bristol Polytechnic, European Law & Languages; J.A. WARD, Bristol,
Mechanical Engineering T.A.A. WHITE, Lancashire Polytechnic, Psychology; D.G. WILD, Oxford Polytechnic,
Biology; H.S. YOON, UMIST, Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
Officers of the School
Honours
Head of School
S.E. Applin attained the top mark in the country in
A-level Biology.
V.J. LJpscomb
Vice-Captain
J.C. Archer
Full Prefects
D.P. Cocker
C.V. Elmitt
M.S. Gibson
E.S. Gratton
P.C.J. Havelock
G.A. McCusker
Sub-Prefects
A. M.Allen
S.E. Applin
S.C.M. Barnes
A. Berzins
D. Berzins
T.D. Cartwright
LM. Chong
M-A. Cotton
J.E. Cracknel!
Z.V. Finch
S. Flannery
I.C. Fletcher
LE. Fraser
J.M.E. Reid
C. StGallay
S.J. Sherman
A. Stiles
R.L. Stovell
G.H. James
C.E. Mannall
T.N. Meeks
R.H. Milne
S. Munro
I.A. Nelson
D.W. Salter
D. Sanmugalingam
D.J. Studholme
J. Tyrrell
J.A. Ward
H-S. Yoon
J.E. Hauck played hockey for England at Under
21 and Under 18 levels.
J. Makepeace-Taylor and M-R.W. Prestwich
played hockey for England at Under 18 level.
T.M. Alexander, G.T. Fordham, M-W. To
and J.M. Wallis played hockey for England at
Under 16 level.
G.T. Fordham and M-W. To played hockey for
England at Under 15 level.
J.E. Cracknel! won the Gold Medal as stroke of
the coxless four at the Junior World
Championships.
J.S. Bhular and C.J. Rush rowed in the Great
Britain coxless four at the Coupe de la Jeunesse.
J.L. Hall and K.A. Thorp rowed in the girls' Great
Britain coxless pair at the Coupe de la Jeunesse,
and won Gold medals and Silver medals.
Junior Library
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
School Charities and Community Service
At Christmas a cheque for £500 was sent to Oxfam for the Ethiopia
Appeal. This was raised in part by a "Mufti Day" at the end of the
Autumn Term.
At the same time about 250 presents were given by pupils for distribution
to Kingston Hospital, the Borough Social Services, and five local
childrens' homes. They were all received very gratefully.
The Spring Term saw £1,750 raised for the Guide Dogs for the Blind
Association. The money bought three dogs in various stages of training.
These were named King, Gypsy and Spike, after the initials of the
school, and their pictures can be seen in the Junior Library.
In the summer, money was raised for several different charities.
Sponsored events were held enthusiastically by several forms. 2J sent a
cheque for £70 to St. Mary's Hospital Paddington, which is currently
undertaking AIDS research; 1W raised £100 to save the Rain Forests.
£150 was raised for the Bristol Polio Fellowship by pupils who took part in
a sponsored swim, and 4C raised money for research into Myaesthenia
Gravis. Senior pupils helped, and sang at a party for local old people in
the School Hall in May. This was a great success and should become a
regular event.
It was pleasing to see so many pupils taking part in so many events
either to raise money or to help in the community.
Young Engineers'
Club
Chairman : J. Ede (LVI)
Secretary: T. Sharaf (LVI)
The Young Engineers' Club is a
new society at K.G.S. The aim
is to provide an insight into
engineering in its various forms,
within the confines of a school.
Also it enables pupils to try out
various things that are not
possible during, say, Physics
lessons, either because they
are not on the syllabus or
because there just isn't enough
time. The society is run by Mr.
Turvey. The ideas mainly come
from its members. So far we
have held an egg-race, which
was to build the lightest and
strongest bridge spanning 225
mm. The winner was a 28g
bridge that took 16 Kg before
the glue gave out at a corner
joint. Future events include
entering an inter-schools eggrace com petition, and building
and racing hovercrafts.
Jason Ede
The library, which is located in
room 34 in the Junior Building,
continued to function smoothly last
year. My thanks to Chris Simpson
who has managed his team of 1st
and 2nd year helpers with some
care. It is important for those
helping with the Junior Library to
realise that it is a commitment for
the year, and that duties must not
be shirked. The library is a place
of quiet study and reading and is
not a meeting place for friends to
chat over lunch.
A number of new titles have been
recently purchased and browsers
are always welcome. It is hoped
that the library will continue to be
used constructively.
D.A.R.S.
Readers maybe interested to know that
the school's Sports Shop has contributed
£1,700 to school sporting activities during
the year, and that profits from the Tuck
Shop, amounting to more than £1,200,
have been donated to various activities,
including the Kenya Expedition and the
Music Department.
Tuck Shop
In a certain corner of the Quad lie two institutions that embody the
underlying goals that all K.G.S. pupils strive towards. The first is the set
of rooms where the study of Classics is pusued. Close to that noble
seat of learning is a veritable treasure trove of delights, commonly
referred to as the Tuck Shop. Most people will need no introduction to it.
Its wares include everything necessary for a pupil's struggle through
school life. There is an assortment of stationery - pens, rulers, files and
exercise books amongst other things - but, more importantly, there is a
vast array of confectionary, from the Mars Bars, vital for work, rest and
play, to the ubiquitous Polos, from the obligatory Jellied Eels to the more
obscure Wine Gums, and from the soft and chewy Cola Bottles to the
teeth grinding Crunchies. The importance of such supplies is demonstrated every breaktime by the clamouring crowds gathered outside.
The Tuck Shop captures all the drama of life at K.G.S. There is the
jostling in the queues (reminiscent of the stampedes for lunch), the
mental agility of the assistants (brandishing arithmetical skills acquired
in Maths lessons) and the cogent voice of authority which ensures that
order prevails. The view from the other side of the counter, however,
tells a different story; a story of hard pressed assistants met by a
screaming horde with its myriad insistent demands and its displays of
inadequate training in social skills (i.e. manners).
Such an arduous and unrelenting task must be performed by people of a
special calibre; namely, Louise Ashton, Adeline Piekarsa, Rebecca
Roberts, Elizabeth Richards, Claire Sillitoe, Richard Simpson, Niel
Aylott, Mitul Shah, Pui Wai Yuen, George Richmond Scott, David
Sillitoe, Alex Downey, Wayne Searle, Scott Stiff, and David Short.
Pul Wai Yuen
Adventure Society
First Year expedition
Hans Woyda
Mathematics
Competition
Each summer, in memory of a
much respected former Head of
Mathematics, Hans Woyda, a
competition is held to seek out the
excellent mathematical talent
within the school, at three levels:
Junior, Intermediate and Senior.
The competition is keenly
contested, though the puzzles and
problems come as somewhat light
relief after the school examinations
of the previous week.
Well over £100 in prize money is
available, and this years' winners,
to be awarded their prizes at
Speech Day, were:Senior:
Intermediate:
Junior:
David Ernes
David Denison
Oliver Sharpe
Jonathon Riches
Mark Middlemiss
Paul Young
We met at the front of the school at about 9am, with a
packed lunch, and lots of enthusiasm. The two minibuses,
containing about 25 people, left from school with people
singing.
When we got to the North Downs, we first walked uphill for
what seemed like miles, around a cricket pitch, and through
lots of bushy undergrowth. It was very easy to get lost here,
and four people did. We went on for a while, until the
teachers counted us and discovered that they were missing.
It turned out that they had fallen into a big hole in the
ground, and when Mr Stribley found them they were arguing
about which way to go. While they were lost we climbed on
lots of dead branches that were blown down in the storm.
When we were all together again, we went to a small sort of
fortress or tower to rest for a while. Then we walked along
lots of chalk paths. We climbed down to a river, and some of
us got very muddy endeavouring to build a dam. We went
on, and up, and down a lot, sometimes more quickly than we
expected! After the first climb we went down a very steep
slope, sliding down most of the way because it was
impossible to walk. We went up a very steep slope then, and
we were clinging to bracken and grass. We found some old
stones among the bushes, then over a fence, and along a
wide sandy path in a big circle around the cricket pitch, and
down to the minibuses.
Alice Clifford 2H
Kristie Hosking
Charles Firth
Gibbon Society
well enough to us - Ed's.)
Sometimes the most amusing
debaters prove to be the most
unfruitful. Edward Hall and Jane
Reid showed themselves to be
witty orators during the Observer
Mace Competition motion
concerning the equality between
men and women, but they were
eliminated sadly in the first round.
However, there was much to be
said on the subject of sexual
equality throughout the last year in
Kingston Grammar School's
foremost (only?) debating society.
This was due in no small part to
the Society's first joint
secretaryship of Charlotte Elmitt
and Mark Gibson. Happily, they
combined to do a splendid job,
aiding Mr. D.J. Pook in his efforts
to take over the gavel from Mr.
W.F. Lofthouse, who left the
Society in a most healthy
condition. (He certainly seemed
It must not be forgotten that this
Society is primarily concerned with
debating, and clearly more interest
needs to be shown within the
school in informal debates for the
quality of our inter-school teams to
improve to a competition-winning
level. But there were some
successful senior debates and a
range of lunchtime debates in
which Tracy Jones and, latterly,
Edward Hall conspired to produce
a variable standard. Admittedly,
leading the junior section can be
an uphill task, rarely amusing and
seldom fruitful.
Having said that, there were some
pleasant and rewarding
competitive performances.
Edward was acclaimed Best
Speaker in the Guildford final of
the English Speaking Union public
speaking competition, and together
with Sam Gratton and Charlotte
achieved, as a team, Best RunnerUp at that stage. Later in the year,
Nathan Griggs was definitely a "hit"
when David Jacobs presented him
with the award for Best Chairman
at the Kingston Rotary Club public
speaking competition. The annual
House Debating Competition was
held as usual, and was robustly
and amusingly chaired by
Mr F. Hewitt.
Other sections of the Society
thrived, the theatrical visits in
particular. Mark Gibson organized
trips to see Roald Dahl's "Matilda"
(most amusing), 'The Mikado"
(quite fruitful), and "A Clockwork
Orange" (fruits). However,
Mrs.Thomas proved at the annual
Society Dinner that oranges were
not the only fruit by providing a
concoction of exotic dishes to
match the delightful company. In
all, a most amusing year.
D.J.P.
First Year Adventure Camp
soaking in my T-shirt and shorts!
One Friday after school, members of the Adventure
Society waited by the minibuses, armed with sweets
and magazines. They were going camping at Bagwell
Farm, Dorset, and the magnificent weather was to
hold for the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend.
After lunch it was off to another beach - by this time
the weather was really hot! We had to walk a long
way up a hill and then down the other side, but it was
well worth it. There was no sand, but shingle which
had been heated up in the sun. As I was already
soaked, I decided to go for a dip. The water was
crystal clear, but so cold that, almost as soon as you
had jumped in, you had to get out and warm up for a
few minutes. Soon, more people were jumping off the
rocks by the side - mostly fully dressed. On this
beach we were privileged to witness a rare sight - Mr.
Stribley without his jumper! It was the first time he
had taken it off during the whole baking weekend!
At five o'clock, after loading up, the expedition, led by
Mr. Stribley and Mr. Taylor, left the school gates. On
the way, we amused ourselves by laughing (cruelly!)
at all the caravans on the hard shoulder. However,
the journey was uneventful, and we arrived at about
eight o'clock. Darkness was already sneaking in, as
we were given a graphic demonstration of how to pitch
a tent and use a camping stove. Off we went in
groups of three, and got to work.
The first rule of camping is to make sure you don't
pick the duff set!
We did.
It was a mother's muck-up of all the spare-parts - our
oversheet was too small, and so we wasted time
trying to fit it over the tent! Eventually, Mr. Stribley
realized our plight and relieved us. At last the tent
was up and we could begin cooking supper - burgers
and baked beans. I was sharing a tent with Rosie and
Elissa, and there was chaos while Rosie and I juggled
the torches, pots and pans and Elissa went in search
of the elusive tub of margarine! By the time supper
had been cooked and eaten, the time was at least a
quarter to eleven. The next job was washing-up, so
we took all the dirties to the sinks. There was no hot
water, no more washing-up liquid, no cloths and there
were dead moths and beetles in the sinks. After at
least ten minutes of fruitless effort, which succeeded
only in transferring grease to our fingers and back
again, we gave up. At last, our eyelids drooping, we
made it back to the tent and into our sleeping bags.
The second rule of camping is never to pitch your
tent on a gradient, however slight. Rosie was
sleeping horizontally across the top, and at about
Sam, she rolled down nearly on top of me, so I was
squashed in a corner! Miraculously, I went back to
sleep. However, I woke up when a flock of geese flew
over. Light was already shining through the tent, so I
decided not to go back to sleep. I unzipped the tent.
A beautiful sky beamed down. The others were
waking as well, so we dressed, and made a cup of
tea.
Breakfast was fried eggs and bacon, bread and cereal
if you preferred it. Before we could get started, we
had to wash up last night's dishes - this time there
was washing-up liquid and we heated up the water in
our stoves. Then we piled into the minibuses and
drove into town. Rosie and I had a walk around, and
managed to find the sea, where we had a paddle!
When everyone was back at the minibuses, off we
went to where we were to have lunch. We arrived at
the rocky coast, and, after lunch, I slipped and fell
into the water, up to my ankles. I decided I would
jump to a rock over the water, but fell in. I was
We arrived back at Bagwell Farm, after a journey back
with half of us dripping wet, sitting on towels! I took
20p and some dry clothes and made my way to the
showers. The third rule of camping is always to make
someone wait for you outside the shower. I was just
thinking how funny it would be if the shower stopped,
with me covered in soap, when it did! Luckily, I had
obeyed this rule, and so I sent Rosie off to find my
bottle. She filled it with hot water and passed it under
the door. Three bottles later, I was rinsed, and within
the next ten minutes, I was warm, clean and dry and
back by the tents, much relieved.
Tinned steak (the most expensive!) and Heinz
spaghetti were an unusual combination for supper,
with yoghurt for pudding. With the experience of the
night before, we were much more organized and
supper was cooked fairly quickly. I went off to the
minibus to retrieve the lighter for our meths stove.
What should I find but Mr. Stribley and Mr. Taylor
cooking over a portable gas stove! Their tinned steak
was bubbling away nicely, with red wine, mushrooms
and garlic, to make Boeuf Bourgignonne! By the pot
was soy sauce and a bag of lemons, and also the gin
and tonic! We caught them red-handed, then made off
with a mushroom, which I cut up and fried - delicious!
After a successful supper we washed up and
organized our tent. We played cards by torchlight, in
our sleeping bags, our eyelids propped open with
matchsticks. At last we decided to "snuggle down" for
the night.
The next morning, after a good night's sleep, we made
breakfast - sausages and eggs, and a piece of fried
bread. Breakfast over, we had to give the equipment
a spring clean, as we had used it for the last time that
trip. It was a mildly enjoyable task with the proper
equipment to hand. Everything was scoured, spick
and span. The stoves were then packed away. The
next job was to take our tents down, which proved to
be much easier than putting them up. All around,
people were wrestling with sleeping bags, as Rosie
and I trooped off to brush our teeth.
Before lunch, we packed everything up and loaded the
minibuses. Then we went for a short walk. Lunch
was Ryvita with all sorts of spreads - butter, lemon
curd, chocolate spread, ham, etc. We piled into the
minibuses, ready for the return journey. Before long
we were passing through some beautiful scenery, then
it was onto the motorway, where we had Mr Taylor in
hysterics doing the 'Time Warp"!
At last, we found ourselves on familiar ground, and
then we were back at school, where Dad came to pick
me up.
It had been a brilliant trip, and we would like to thank
Mr. Stribley, Mr. Taylor and Amy Vogel for a great
weekend.
Sadie Green 1SB
Kenya
An account of an expedition by members of the
school during the Summer Holiday
It doesn't take too much imagination to visualise.
Heathrow Terminal 4 will probably never recover from
that fateful evening when the K.G.S. Kenya
Expedition (or the "Kenya Lot", as we seem to be
known) invaded on the first leg of our journey.
Twenty rucksacks, eighteen kitbags, twenty-one
daysacks, sixteen pupils, four staff and a great many
friends and relatives occupied the check-in hall.
Goodbyes were said, final bits were flung in any last
spaces and we went through to the departure lounge;
on the way several people were body-searched and
almost everybody's hand luggage was emptied out. I
conveniently happened to have a wrapped up birthday
present, to be opened three weeks later, and the
security man wasn't very happy about it, but he let it
through. By the time we boarded the plane one
person had lost his boarding pass. Karen Holdsworth
and I were the two lucky people to be taken up to the
flight deck for the takeoff. The pilot for the flight was
Captain Edwards, Chris's father.
Eight hours, two meals and not much sleep later, we
landed at Nairobi. Bedlam. Our next transport was a
minibus, a Landrover and a B.M.W. to take us to our
first campsite, by the edge of Lake Naivasha in the
Rift Valley. Most people missed the spectacular view
of the valley on the way because they were asleep.
There was also a major motor crash, so we had to be
diverted.
By lunchtime the tents were set up and several
bottles of soft drink had been guzzled. Lunch was
bread, cheese and corned beef (referred to as corned
dog), as it was to be for the next five weeks.
Afterwards, everyone found extra reserves of energy
to play baseball for three hours. It ended in a draw.
During the next few days we explored Naivasha and
the surrounding area: the town, Crescent Island on
the lake, and the extinct volcano Mount Longonot,
which we climbed. This was very hard work as the air
was so thin because of the altitude, but everybody
made it. One of the highlights of our week or so there
was our visit to Elsamere, former home of George
and Joy Adamson and Elsa the lioness, and now a
major conservation centre. There we even had tea
and cakes off china plates. We also visited two
national parks during the week: Hell's Gate and Lake
Nakuru, the famous home of most of the flamingoes
in Kenya. Unfortunately, perhaps owing to a higher
water level, there were far fewer than in previous
years, numbering in the hundreds rather than millions.
These were our first experiences of Kenyan wildlife:
zebras, giraffes, monkeys and many, many birds. On
leaving Naivasha we encountered problems with the
minibus; two flat tyres in as many days caused us a
day's delay travelling to Mount Kenya.
The climb of Mount Kenya, up the Chogoria route from
5,000 to 10,000 ft., was 24 km long and had to be
done with full backpacks. There were two or three
different vegetations, including a bamboo forest where
a few people were lucky enough to see an elephant.
Base camp was at the "special campsite" about 2km
from the Park Gate. Altogether we spent ten days up
the mountain, doing scientific projects, Duke of
Edindburgh expeditions and climbing up to the thirdhighest peak, Point Lenana. Each tent group spent
three or four days on a D of E expedition for gold,
silver or bronze awards. I was in a group with Jon
Cane, Nanette Strover and Mr. Buttanshaw. We
decided to head for a flat peak called the Giant's
Billiard Table. However, between Sunday morning and
Wednesday we did not see a single path, and spent
the whole time scambling through heather bushes and
suchlike. We created two campsites for ourselves,
one by a stream in the middle of nowhere (we fell down
a cliff to get to it), and the other by Lake Ellis. We
never actually made it to the top of the Billiard Table.
Our project, which was successfully completed,
involved pitfall traps to find out the different insects
and beetles at different altitudes. By the time
everyone was ready to make the final assault on Point
Lenana (a.k.a. Pt. Banana), most of the results had
been completed and two birthdays had been
celebrated. Unfortunately, only 17 of us started the
11km climb to Minto's Hut, where we camped
overnight. Mr. Stribley had developed conjunctivitis
and Karen and Simon were suffering from altitude
sickness. The view all the way up was breathtaking,
as was the altitude! It was very cold up at 14,000 ft.,
so we combined four people to a tent, instead of three,
and hibernated for as long as possible. At 5 a.m. we
were thrown out into the freezing dawn, ready for the
climb to the summit at 16,355 ft. Sixteen people
reached the summit, where many group photographs
were taken by two people from Queen's College,
Cambridge, whom we had met down at base camp.
After two days spent recovering at base camp we
discovered that all our specimens from Lake Ellis and
the bamboo forest had been incinerated, having been
mistaken for rubbish! Nanette held her own private
funeral service for them. On the way back down to
Chogoria, Liz and I were fortunate enough to see and
hear an elephant in the bamboo. Walking down was
far easier than going up, and much faster (especially
for Jon, Karen and Jo, who travelled in the Landrover).
Our next major stop was at Tsavo East National Park.
We stayed in Nairobi for two nights on the way, for a
Chinese meal and to collect an extra vehicle. Tsavo
N.P. is over 201,000 sq.km in area (half the size of
Wales) and we only visited a small proportion of it in
three days. However, they were some of the best days
of the whole trip for some people, so many were the
animals and birds spotted in different places. Every
day we went for a morning and an evening drive. One
evening brought, like a dream, the best sight of all:
four cheetahs, 20m away, feeding on freshly caught
prey, probably a gazelle. After watching them for half
an hour, dusk fell and, as we were not allowed to drive
in the park at night, we had to turn back (via one of
the lodges for a drink, of course). That night everyone
cooked a huge barbecue of sausages, potatoes and
chops (we were not sure whether they were pork or
goat), which made a change from the usual Trangia
stove.
We next moved on to the coast, camping about 20km
south of Mombasa, on the Tiwi beach. After the cool
climate of Mount Kenya, the intense heat of Mombasa
took its toll on us. Simon and Chris were burned to a
crisp on the first day; the rest of us kept covered up
and out of the sun, and so endured a little less pain.
One day, we "hit" Mombassa town, which was
certainly different! Parts of the town date back to the
sixteenth century, whilst others are relatively modern.
Fort Jesus, with its market, is the main attraction of
the old town.
The time came to leave Turiza Lodge and the blue
sea and white sands of Tiwi beach, where Mr Taylor
had celebrated (as usual, with a beer) his birthday,
and go back to Tsavo. Unfortunately we did not see
as much in Tsavo West as in Tsavo East, but still
there were elephants, zebras, eagles and so on. We
spent the first night on the verandah of one of the
lodges because we could find nowhere suitable to
camp. We were supposed to be watching game, the
sum total of which was one zebra.
Nairobi was our last stop. Two nights in an hotel! For
many this meant the first hot shower in Kenya. Our
first meal out, at "Carnivore", was incredible: every
kind of meat you could possibly eat. Sadly, three or
four people contracted a virus from somewhere and
suffered for the last two days of the trip. The last day
was spent shopping in Nairobi, in the City Market, in
stalls and even in the local Wimpy bar. Last stop was
Jomo Kenyatta airport, where we were bundled onto
the plane, ready to be brought back down to earth with
a bump eight hours later at Heathrow.
It was the end of a dream.
Marisa Holmes
Combined Cadet Force
Senior NCO's:
Army Warrant Officer C.Diaper,
RAF Warrant Officer G.Thom.
This year has been one of great change for the CCF
both in terms of staffing and accomodation.
The year has had its normal programme of field days
and visits, the Army visiting the Aldershot training
areas twice, and undertaking a successful annual
camp at Longmoor at the end of the Summer Term,
albeit with small numbers and the addition of some
RAF Cadets. The RAF visited London Military Air
Traffic Control at West Drayton, the RAF Museum at
Hendon, went Air Experience flying at Abingdon,
visited RAF Benson (our affiliated station) and went
gliding at Kenley. In addition, two joint night night
exercises were held. RAF camp was at Stafford; not
a flying station, but the intensive programme more
than made up for it. It was also our Germany Camp
year and James Westcott, Chris Malcolm, Rod Junor
and Dominic Cook enjoyed themselves at Laarbruch,
whilst Simon Harvey and Chris Edwards attended the
Joint Service camp in Gibraltar. Gordon Thorn was
due to go to Germany but unhappily had a close
encounter with a lamp post and rendered himself unfit!
This year saw major changes in officer strength, with
Lt. Stribley stepping down as Officer Commanding
(but still helping on an occasional basis), whilst we
welcomed to the school Lt. Collins, who will now run
the Army section, and brings considerable experience
of training in her TA role, and Lt. Lamb, who is on
exchange from the Australian TA. Mr Hughes (Senior
Technician), has also undertaken commissioning and
has provided much assistance with the fitting out of
the Hut. They have already restructured the Army
programme, which now offers more challenge. The
RAF has welcomed Mrs Evans, who has helped on all
the exercises and has shown fortitude even in the
face of involuntary parachuting experience.
In September the long awaited opening of the CCF
accomodation took place, carried out by Mr and Mrs
Graham Horder. The opening ceremony was used as
an excuse for an old boys' reunion, and considerable
numbers of ex-CCF members were tracked down,
many of whom were still serving in one or other of the
services. Graham Horder himself was one of our first
Flying Scholars, and flew at the Central Flying School
until starting his own company, having remained in
contact with the school.
A number of finishing touches remain to be done to
the building, including a long term appeal for funds to
restore the Link Trainer (Simulator) but the CCF has
been put on a strong footing by the changes outlined
above.
R.P.A.B.
Chess
HOUSE CHAMPIONSHIP
The First Team began well and promised much, but a
mid-season dip in fortunes washed away our chances
of overall success. However, at the close we were well
placed to take fourth position in Division II. Notably,
Shervin Behzadi and Jason Conway have achieved
several wins.
The Second Team had mixed results, and could not
quite string together a series of wins to do themselves
justice. Even so, they managed to secure themselves
a fifth placing out of eight in Division IV. Some of the
younger players have done very well, in particular Rahul
Sharma and Edmund Whitworth.
In November 1989, four pupils attended the weekend
Royal Grammar School Chess Tournament held
annually in Guildford, and they all enjoyed and
benefited from the extra competition.
In the House Championship, Taverner won yet again,
completing three wins in as many years. Queen's
came a close second, also for a third year running.
Unfortunately, the other two Houses have been unable
to break the domination of Taverner and Queen's, who
have shared this title for the past six years.
The annual Staff v. Pupils match produced the same
result as the previous year - another victory enjoyed by
the pupils. In an effort to put up some resistance
against this growing tide of results, I do urge more
members of staff to participate!
The introduction of a third team to the league next year
should do much to strengthen our established reserve of
regular players. This has been made possible through
the coaching and advancement of many junior players
from the first and second forms. This effort has been
borne and co-ordinated by Mrs Karel and our thanks go
to her. Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Blatchford for
enduring a long hard season and many exhausting
minibus journeys.
Tjun Tang
Results
BRIANT POULTER SURREY LEAGUE
Division 11
Division IV
Played 7 Won 2 Drawn 2 Lost: 3
Played 7 Won 3 Drawn 1 Lost 3
THE TIMES NATIONAL SCHOOLS COMPETITION
Lost (2-4) to St. Paul's (B)
STAFF V. PUPILS: Pupils won (7<l, - 2 •/,)
ROYAL GRAMMAR CHESS TOURNAMENT
T. Tang (Under 18) 1.5 out of 6
L Marshall (Under 13) 3 out of 6
R. Sharma (Under 13) 3 out of 6
R. Varma (Under 13) 3 out of 6
10
_LOV
Sen. Hockey
Jun. Hockey
Debating
Chess
Netball
Basketball
Jun.Squash
Sen.G. Hockey
Gen.Knowl.
Sen.Squash
Sen.Tab.Ten.
Jun.Tab.Ten.
Drama
Jun.G. Hockey
Cross Country
Swimming
Rowing
Sen.Tennis
Drill
Music
Jun.Tennis
Sen.Cricket
Jun.Cricket
Athletics
TOTAL
12
6
3
4
4
2
4
6
8
8
6
6
6
4
16.5
3
16
8
4
3
6
8
8
4
158.5
QU
1989-90
TAV. WAL.
3
9
4
6
8
6
6
2
2
2
4
4
6
8
20
6
22
6
2
6
8
12
3
8
6
12
5
8
6
8
2
8
4
4
8
2
16
2
9
10
2
6
3
2
7
12
6
9
3
2
2
2
4
8
4
5
6
2
8
12
6
17
12
12
4
8
8
4
3
7
2
165
168.5
151
16.5
Taverner
Walworth
House Masters: D.G. Buttanshaw, Esq.
I.R. Stackhouse, Esq.
Housemaster
Captains:
Secretaries:
K.J. Hillary, Esq.
Mrs O. J. Ashton
House Captain: lain Fletcher
Vice Captains: Amanda Stiles
Paul Havelcock
Secretaries
Marisa Holmes
Oliver Sharpe
G.James
R.Stovell
J. Leach
C.J. Thomas
As a result of an all-round conscious effort in every event, we managed to
win the Cup for the second year running. Perhaps one of the most
memorable events was our victory in House Drama, in which Chris Lipscomb
also won the award for Best Actor. Among our other successes last year
were the House Basketball and House Table-Tennis competitions, led by
Patrick Rolt and Jamie Thomas respectively. We also won the House Drill
competition with flying colours, and Jamie Thomas was awarded the prize for
Best Cadet. Incidently.this rather made up for the comparatively
disappointing result in the House Rowing, which took place on the same day!
Maybe this will change with the influence of Mr Sheppard, whom we welcome
to the House to replace Mr Stackhouse.
Queen's
Housemasters:
C.D. Taylor, Esq.
M.G. Howat, Esq.
There were a number of major successes in this year's House Championship, but once again an overall win in the competition eluded us by just 31/2
points.
The main successes were wins in Rowing, Cross Country, Senior Cricket
and Athletics Standards. The junior girls excelled in all their competitions,
winning Netball (yet again), Hockey and Tennis. There were also several
commendable second places including Junior Hockey, Chess, Debating,
Basketball, Junior Squash and Senior Girls' Tennis. It was unfortunate that
Sports Day was rained off, since it might have just made enough to give us
the elusive championship victory.
At the end of the year Mr Howat was replaced by Mr D.J. Pook, himself
an "old boy" of Queen Elizabeth House.
Lovekyn
Housemasters:
M. Jones, Esq.
Miss J.A. Jones
House Captain:
Jeremy Archer
Vice-Captain: Sophie Morsen
The House Competition was started very successfully
with a senior boys' win in hockey. The juniors
competed well in this tournament, but, as can be seen
in the year's results, failed to live up to our
expectations of them. Edward Hauck was an
exception, performing very well on the field and
The senior girls' hockey team deserved to win, but an
inability to score in the final match against Taverner
cost us first place. Third place in the junior girls'
hockey was disappointing considering the strength of
the team, but third place in the junior girls' netball
made a change from the usual fourth.
The House squash teams proved to be one of the
highlights of the year. The seniors dominated their
competition, only dropping one game through injury,
If one looks straight to the
championship results table
points it would seem that
Walworth did not have a good
year at all. However, there were
many successes on which we
hope to build . The outstanding
competitions of the year have to
be the House Swimming Gala,
Music, and Drill, all of which we
won convincingly.
The music in particular was
organised and performed in an
exemplary way, involving many
juniors and seniors. Another
good effort all round came in the
drama competition in the
performance of "Ghost Writer",
after which many people were
heard to say that the House was
easily the most accomplished however we were only placed
second!
In the sports line, apart from
swimming, there were good
second places in the girls' junior
hockey and rowing, and
valuable points were
accumulated in squash.
The House officials all made a
great deal of effort throughout
the year, as did Jane Hall, who
organised the music and girls'
rowing admirably.
Marisa Holmes
and the juniors finished a very creditable second
amongst strong opposition.ln House rowing, the
combined effort of boys and girls placed Lovekyn a
creditable second.
Lovekyn's success in the sporting events was not
matched elsewhere. The debating team of Mark
Gibson and Nicola Gow deserved better than third
place, but the judge clearly disliked Mark's style. The
third place in House Drama, on the other hand, was a
better than expected result considering the lack of
natural actors in the House. The fourth place in Chess
was not unexpected, given Lovekyn's past record in
this event. A second place in General Knowledge was
an inmprovement, but there was yet another third in
House Drill.
Ben Stollard and Nicola Gow
11
SMELLS
Why is it that the poets tell
So little of the sense of smell?
These are the odours I know well:
The scent of roses, petals bright,
Or wood smoke in the air at night,
Or the clean fresh smell of early light.
Fresh tarred roads, when in the making,
Warm toast, scones and bread in baking,
Autumn leaves and grass while raking.
Fumes from cars in a city street,
A smoke-filled room and unwashed feet,
Or sewage in the summer heat.
Stink of garlic, burning paper,
Chlorine fumes, breath-catching vapour.
Gas from an extinguished taper,
Leather, that's the smell I savour!
Andrew Maxwell 3S
Why is it that the poets tell
So little of the sense of smell ?
These are odours I know well:
The smell of strawberries, lush and ripe;
The smoky smell of a rotten pipe;
Or the horrid fumes of boiling tripe.
The smell of coffee gets up my nose;
So sweet smelling tea is what I choose Or fragrance of a flowering rose.
The smell of bread when freshly baked;
The fresh cut grass so newly raked;
Or blood from vampire on the stake.
New paint when upon the ceiling;
That smelly garlic my mum's peeling;
These revolting smells are not appealing
And other smells I'm not revealing.
Tanya Shoesmith 3S
12
This poem that I'm about to tell;
Is all about the sense of smell;
Especially those that I love well.
The battered smell of fish and
chips:
The musty smell of wooden
ships;
And savoury crunchies with
garlic dips.
Bonfire night on the 5th of
November
The gunpowder smell; and I
remember
The smell of a match and burning
ember.
Methylated spirit in a primus
stove;
A fresh clean jumper newly
wove;
Or the dampness of a sea-side
cove.
The smell of honey from a bee,
Healing "Deep Heat" on a knee,
Or salty sea-weed on a quayBut petrol smells the best to me!
Toby Lewis 3S
MUSIC
It is something of a cliche to begin with claims for last
year having been the best year ever, but for diversity,
quantity and not a little quality last year's music
making at K.G.S. was a year to remember. The year
began at a hectic pace with the establishment of the
new Music Society, and the organization of the music
department's trip to Germany in October 1989. To
raise funds for the latter, and to inaugurate the former,
the first musical event of the year was a jazz evening
(30th September), with music provided by the Phil
Bates Modern Jazz quartet featuring Barbara
Thompson on Saxophone, a notable coup for the
Music Society; as jazz afficionados amongst the
audience were quick to point out.
The Music Society has its own report elsewhere, but
its formation has provided the Music Department with
an extra dimension regarding the promotion of
professional concerts at K.G.S., and also raised
sufficient money to be able to give £700 to the
department, for which I am most grateful. This money
will purchase a school bassoon, to encourage the
learning of the instrument.
After the peripatetic Instrumental staff had provided
their usual pleasant evening of music on the 5th
October, the department got down to the serious
business of preparing for the trip to Germany. The
idea of taking a group of musicians abroad had been
floated towards the end of the last academic year, but
it was not until we talked with Herr Uwe Schmidt, of
the Bad Waldsee Gymnasium, K.G.S.'s regular
language exchange partner, that it suddenly became a
very real possibility. The result was a six-day trip to
Bad Waldsee in Southern Germany, where we stayed
with pupils and staff of the gymnasium, gave two
concerts, one in the school, and one in the splendid
Baroque church in the centre of the town (see report
elsewhere). Making up the party of 32 children and
eight adults were the Chamber Choir and the Senior
Wind Ensemble, and, needless to say, the stimulus of
such a trip is hard to over-estimate. The trip in many
ways provided a spring-board for the rest of the year.
I might add that we were greatly indebted to Mr Hillary
for looking after the travel aspects of the trip, and
acting as a courier when we were there, and to Mrs
Eames for coping with all the extra bits of paper flying
in and out of the music office at this time.
Two weeks after returning from Germany the school
concert was upon us, and it did not seem entirely
inappropriate that the Prep and First form Choir's
musical was "le day trip", an amusing and catchy set
of songs written by Harold Chaplin, father of Fiona, a
fifth former. The Chamber Choir and the Senior Wind
Ensemble were obviously in "international" form, and
Biranda Ford delighted us with the first of several
splendid solos this year.
As a result of the publicity given to the German trip,
we were invited by Marks and Spencers to provide
Christmas music, on five consecutive Tuesday "latenight shopping" evenings towards the end of term,
which we were delighted to do. The Choir and the
Wind ensemble shared the evenings between them.
Also out of school, the Choir sang carols round the
Rotary Club Christmas tree in the centre of Kingston
at the beginning of December, and what with singing
at a wedding in February, and more evenings at Marks
and Spencers in February and March, the Music
department seems to have made its mark in the local
community. The term ended with the annual Carol
Service, where the Chamber Choir could demonstrate
how much they had improved as a result of the trip to
Germany.
January saw another "first", the first Junior Concert
(18th January), which clearly demonstrated the
increasing depth of musical talent at K.G.S. Clifford
Bevan was invited by the Music Society to give his
entertaining lecture recital 'The History of the Tuba
family" and a good audience turned up on the 10th
February for a most enjoyable evening. The informal
concert at the beginning of March produced some
very impressive solo and group performances, with
the orchestra giving a confident rendition of Haydn's
Symphony No. 97, first Movement.
The main event of the spring term was the Choral
Society's presentation of Handel's "Messiah", at
St. Mary's College, Strawberry Hill (31st March). This
was notable for several reasons, quite apart from the
spirited and vibrant singing of a large chorus
consisting of the school choir, parents and friends.
The version we performed was Mozart's orchestration
of Handel's masterpiece, re-written for a classical,
18th century orchestra. This enabled several of our
better wind players to play in the mostly professional
orchestra. The performance received the wholehearted support of the Music Society, and in particular
we were indebted to Mr Jonathan Lewis for providing
superb staging. As a result, the whole day ran as
smoothly as any Choral Society Concert I can
remember, and I am sure musical standards benefited
as a result.
The summer term began with a Clarinet and
Saxophone Workshop, plus a concert organized by
our clarinet and saxophone teacher, Mr Peter Nichols,
and members of the Northern Saxophone Quartet,
under the auspices of the Music Society. The annual
House Music Competition followed in May,
entertainingly and positively adjudicated by
Mr Michael Thompson, a professional horn player,
formerly with the Philharmonia (winners, Walworth again!). Just after half-term, the Music Society
welcomed Mr. John Wallace, international trumpet
virtuoso, to give a recital, accompanied by Mr. Simon
Wright. In the week following Bugsy Malone (see
drama report) the term's informal concert was
presented, with some attractive chamber items,
including two movements from a Haydn Notturno, for
two flutes, two clarinets, two violins, cello and a bass,
and a most musical performance of the first
movement of Beethoven's Spring sonata by Biranda
Ford (violin). After the exam period, the Music
Society organized its final event of the year, a "soiree
al fresco", to coin a phrase, featuring the Senior Wind
Ensemble playing their complete repertoire outside at
13
Ditton Field, as members of the Society sipped their
sparkling wine on a thankfully fine July evening. The
very last event of a busy year took place on the last
Tuesday of term - the annual Chamber Choir trip, this
time to St. Catherine's College, Cambridge, to sing
choral evensong - a very pleasant way to round off a
splendid year.
All of this activity would not be possible without the
continued support of many colleagues, and my
sincere thanks goto Messrs Kemp, Knowles, Hillary
and Ricketts for their contributions to the choir, to Mr
Stribley for his singing and general assistance and
support, to Mr Hicks for all his accompanying of choir
and soloists, to Mrs Eames for her secretarial
support, and most of all to Mr Humphries for his
enthusiastic contribution of energy, ideas and
experience over the past year.
T.P.V.
Bad Waldsee
On Thursday 19th October 1989, about 40 talented
musicians from K.G.S. set out for Germany. When I
say Germany, I in fact mean a small town called Bad
Waldsee right in the very south, but it was
nonetheless no mean challenge for the Music
Department to encounter. After a three-hour boat trip
and an overnight stay at a Youth Hostel in Dunkirk, we
set out early on Friday morning on our trusty coach to
speed down the Autobahn to meet the families with
whom we were going to spend the next few days. We
were supposed to arrive at Bad Waldsee by 8.00 p.m.,
and when this time came had come and we had still
not reached our destination, Mr. Venvell assured us
that we were nearly there. Well I suppose he wasn't
that far out; we arrived at 10.30 p.m.
Everyone was up bright and early on Monday morning
to catch up on a few school lessons, which started at
7.45 a.m. Am I glad that we don't start school at
such an unearthly hour! The morning rehearsal was
very emotional, for it was our last practice at the
school - snivel snivel! All went well, and Mr. Venvell
commended us by giving us a lollypop each! On
Monday afternoon, we rehearsed in the huge Church
of St. Peter. Its fine Baroque architecture and its
acoustics made it an excellent building to perform in.
The problem of not being able to communicate with
the organist was quickly resolved by Mr. Stribley
relaying Mr. Venvell's beat in the organ loft. The
performance was to be the highlight of the tour, and
so it proved. Another success!
Our last day was spent in Lindau and on a boat trip on
Lake Constance. I think most people were a little sad
that there wasn't another concert, but it was
nonetheless a very enjoyable day out and also a
chance for people (especially Mr. Venvell) to wind
down. After the "Good-byes" we started our journey
back to England, and there was a chance to thank
Messrs. Venvell, Humphries and Hillary for all the
time and effort they had put in to organizing the tour
and making it such a success.
Where next?
Jane Hall
A translation of a report in the Swabian press of
the K.G.S. visit to Bad Waldsee.
"HIGH ENGLISH MUSIC SCHOOL"
After settling-in with our hosts, we went for an early
practice on Saturday morning at the Gymnasium. The
concert hall was modern with fairly good acoustics.
The choir was in fine voice, and had adapted well to
the new surroundings, and the wind ensemble
sounded almost like professionals! After a brisk walk
into town we visited the Town Hall to meet the Mayor.
All seated round a huge table, we listened to the
mayor welcoming us and telling us about the town.
Luckily we had Mr. Hillary to translate for us! After
another practice in the afternoon, we were ready for
our first concert that evening at the school. Had the
seven weeks of intensive practice paid off? We were
about to find out. With a packed audience, the choir
opened the concert. We received a huge round of
applause. The wind ensemble (whom Mr. Humphries
introduced in German; no wonder the audience looked
confused!) were overwhelmed by a similar response
after playing several items from their huge repertoire.
Sunday was spent with "our" families, who kindly
showed us some of the sights around Bad Waldsee.
Sunday's rehearsal was rather short, many of the
sopranos, including myself, having caught colds.
Looking rather anxious, Mr. Venvell took this
opportunity to polish up the tenors and basses in "My
Beloved Spake"; they were, to say the least, a little
unfamiliar with this piece.
14
A lot of visitors took up the invitation to two
concerts given by the choir of the English
exchange school of the Bad Waldsee Grammar
School. In the first concert in the School Hall,
teachers and pupils showed their instrumental
prowess in solos for oboe and piano, and clarinet
and piano, by Handel and Mozart, and,
especially, in two serenades for 13 wind
instruments by Mozart and Richard Strauss.
Less f am iliar to us are the choral com positions by
Faure and Elgar, which the choir performed with
fine vocal precision. The audience was delighted
when the choirs of both schools, conducted by Mr
Venvell, sang some four part compositions by
Mendelssohn and Brahms.
In the church concert a few days later, the choir
was most impressive in the Magnificat and Nunc
Dimittis by Stanford and Anthems by Parry. The
English guests enthused about the beauty and
marvellous acoustics of St. Peter's Church. A
great part of the choir's success is due to its
Messiah
intensive rehearsing. Teachers and pupils,
singers and instrumentalists all had to go to
rehearsals no less than six times, so that they
were only able to enjoy the autumnal beauty ofthe
countryside of Upper Swabia on a one day
excursion to Lake Constance.
Despite heavy work commitments on the day
before the local elections, the Mayor, Mr Forcher,
invited the English visitors to the Town Hall, and
in a humorous speech gave them an introduction
to the history of the town and the work of the Town
Council -" You are sitting in seats where decisions
about more than 100 million marks a year are
taken."
After five days full of music and warm hospitality,
which the 40young English guests experienced in
their host families, they were bid a fond farewell on
Wednesday. Two teachers responsible, Ken
Hillary on the English side and Uwe Schmidt on
the German side, can be very satisfied with the
way the visit went, especially as interest in the
regular exchange will be stimulated. All members
of the Senior Choir and Wind Band are already
looking forward to the return visit to England next
September.
To anyone familiar with Handel's best known work,
the K.G.S. Choral Society's performance of Mozart's
arrangement of the work must have come as a
refreshing new view of the oratorio. The introduction
of more woodwind and horns to the orchestra gave a
deeper and richer sound. From the opening Sinfonia,
the orchestra in this performance clearly revelled in
the novelty of this infrequently performed version.
The string playing was bright and controlled
throughout the performance, and the bassoons made
a delightful contribution to the numerous passages
where Mozart added them to the scoring. Excellent
playing in The Trumpet shall sound" was echoed by
the unfamiliar, but very effective, use ofthe horns.
There was a strong quartet of soloists, and Susan
McCulloch, the soprano, was outstanding. She had
previously sung with The KGS Choral Society in
"Elijah", and once again she involved herself totally in
the work. The choir, made up of parents, staff, pupils
and friends, continues to grow in strength and
confidence under the skilful direction of Mr. Tim
Venvell. The vocal power of the chorus was easily
sufficient to fill the chapel in the climaxes, but,
ideally, could have been more controlled in the piano
sections to enhance the contrasts of mood. There is
still an imbalance resulting in the tenor section having
to work extremely hard to make themselves heard
against the forces in the other sections. In the early
entries there were traces of uncertainty, but with the
lead from the orchestra and the soloists, the choir
gained in confidence throughout the performance.
C.D.T.
15
DRAMA
The K.G.S. Wind Ensemble
I have recently been looking through copies of the
Surrey Comet from the 1920s and 1930s in search of
references to my great uncle (Chief Sanitary Officer to
the Borough of Surbiton). I found nothing about my
ancestor, but did come across several references to
K.G.S. hockey and the K.G.S. weather station. No
mention at all of its music, although there were lots of
reviews of concerts at the school-across-the-road.
And so life continued (but what became of the weather
station?) until "Wally's Wind Band" was launched in
the 1970s. This was not mentioned by the Surrey
Comet either, but is still remembered by some:
indeed, once heard, "Wally's" tape of the band playing
"The Wombling Song" is difficult to forget! The group
crumbled, however, when Mr Collis moved on, and so
I was treading fairly new ground when I started a wind
ensemble at K.G.S. three years ago.
We began with four wind instruments and a cello (until
recently, bassoons were unknown at K.G.S.) and
played quintets which Elgar wrote when he was
master-in-charge of music at Worcester Lunatic
Asylum. Our modest, but notable, success with
these gave me delusions of grandeur and, with the
ensemble more than doubled in size, we moved on to
the Serenade for wind instruments by Richard
Strauss. A colleague cast doubt on my sanity at the
end of the first rehearsal on this piece, but we
persevered, and it now has pride of place alongside
Mozart's hour-long Serenade for 13 wind instruments
as one of the ensemble's star turns. We started work
on the first movement of the Mozart for our trip to
Bad Waldsee with the Chamber Choir last year, and
have now done six, leaving one to learn.
I think that the group is really rather good, and am
proud of the high standard of their playing; now, as
we rehearse a work by Dvorak and another by
Strauss, my only problem is deciding what to try next.
That, and ensuring that future historians know about
our work. The Ensemble's activities have at last been
reported in the Surrey Comet!
House Drama Competion
This year's House Drama Competition was won by
Tavener, who presented Alan Ayckbourn's "Ernie's
Incredible Hallucinations". The play was directed and
produced by Christian Cecchi, Jo Leach, David
Lipscomb and Oliver Bourached. The leading role Ernie - was played with a certain natural flair by Chris
Lipscomb, who won the award for the evening's Best
Performance; a triumph of casting.
Walworth were runners-up with 'Ghost Writer' by
NT. Warburton, directed and produced by Alisa
McLachlan, Elizabeth Ashton and Reem Auchi. Third
place was shared by Lovekyn ("Choice" by Peter
Horsier, directed and produced by Zoe Dawson and
Nicola Gow) and Queen's ("The Return" by Tony
Edwards, directed by Matthew Roberts, Aisha Miah,
Anna Richardson and Jon Cane.) Sadie Green of
Queen's was chosen as Best Supporting Performer.
The school was fortunate to have as adjudicator
Mr Ronald Forfar of BBC TV's "Bread". Mr Forfar was
impressed by the scale of the entertainment
presented - some 70 performers took part - and by the
ambitious nature of the productions, but did express a
cautionary note on the subject of choosing plays. As
usual there was a large and responsive audience, who
were generous not only in putting their hands together
but also in putting them in their pockets afterwards!
As always the success of the competition depends on
the hard work put in by all concerned, and especially
by the many unseen and unstinting staff and pupils
"behind the scenes".
"I can no other answer make but thanks,
And thanks. And even oft good turns
Are shuffled off with such uncurrent pay."
N.D.S.B
John Humphries
Senior Play: "A Chorus of Disapproval" by
Alan Ayckbourn
The plot of "A Chorus of Disapproval" is not easy to
summarise in a short space. It is a play about putting
on a play. This may well sound all too familiar, but
Alan Ayckbourn's treatment of the theme is subtler
and more complex than we find in many other plays of
the genre.
Briefly, Guy Jones, a widower, joins an Amateur Light
Operatic Society to make new friends. He secures
the role, barely a walk-on, of Crook-Fingered Jack in
the forthcoming production of The Beggar's Opera",
to be directed by the company's resident live-wire,
Dafydd ap Llewellyn. These are our two leads. Guy
is charming, handsome, but above all an innocent.
The role was played by Oliver Sharpe. Dafydd, "never
using one word where three will do", was played by
Christian Cecchi. Guy, unable refuse any request,
16
finds himself involved in affairs with two women in the
cast and at the same time promising their husbands,
also in the cast, confidential business information.
Guy rises through the ranks, filling roles left vacant by
the crises that bedevil the production, or which
mysteriously become available as his generosity with
his favours increases. By the first night he is to play
Macheath, the star part.
Oliver Sharpe was excellent as Guy. One could
easily see why, with his honest face and his foolish
smile, the childless and unloved Hannah ap Llewellyn
(Anna Southgate) should be so drawn to him. His
other conquest, Fay Hubbard (although, really, one
should say that hers was the conquest) has more
cynical motives. Tara Kadir brought a calculating
sensuality to the part which was a delight to watch.
Both Tara and Anna were convincing in their roles and
the clashes of their two characters in the battle for
Guy - a struggle hilariously symbolised by a tug-of-war
over a pair of paisley underpants - were nicely caught.
The scene in which Fay seduces Guy provides
another comic highlight. Fay and her husband Ian
(Mark Gibson) have invited Guy and "a female friend"
for a drink and "a bit of fun". Guy, by now predictably,
fails altogether to understand the type of fun that his
hosts have in mind. He has asked along a woman in
her seventies, lan's lascivious anticipation of
pleasures to come, Guy's innocent chit-chat, Fay's
wild speculation about a remark of his about veal, and
finally lan's horror-stricken look when he opens the
door to Guy's contribution to the evening's
entertainment; these were comic treats.
The fight between Dafydd and Crispin - "a tough
hostile man very much at odds with his environment",
well portrayed by Oliver Bourached - was also
memorable, as were the accompanying obtuse knowall comments of the excellent Nathan Griggs as Jarvis
Huntley-Pike. It really looked as though there was a
tear in Nathan's eye as he reminisced fondly about his
unspeakable father, or the "1812 Boulton and Watt
beam engine which is still used to this day for
pumping water to the summit of the Kennet and Avon
canal".
We saw that the girls could fight as well as the boys
in an exchange between stage manager and barmaid
Bridget Baines - a girl" not to be roused; she set up
Carousel single-handed" - and Linda, the "petulant
daughter of over-anxious parents", a stuck-up girl
gone to the bad. Bridget was played with an effective
mixture of charm and brutality by Tanya Gold, and
Linda was played, equally convincingly, by Natasha
Leach, who also deserves praise for her fine singing.
Her over-anxious parents, Ted and Enid (David
Lipscomb and Jo Tyrell) were delightful together David genial, well-meaning and useless, Jo meek and
full of wifely concern. Victoria Hazell seemed very
much at home as the grande dame of the Society,
Rebecca Huntley-Pike, a woman with "that dignified
appearance of one who has just had several stiff
drinks". Victoria played the part with aplomb. The
producer was lucky to have Caroline St-Gallay to step
in, at a moment's notice, when Victoria was ill.
We come, then, to Christian Cecchi. He can never
have had a tougher, or a better, part than that of
Dafydd, and it is much to his credit that he carried it
off so well. He was at his best storming frantically
17
around the stage and the auditorium, driven
to distraction by the cast foisted upon him.
His reactions, ranging from quiet groans to
raging frenzies, were at funnily painful.
Having, I confess, sneaked the odd look at
rehearsals, it was when Christian appeared
on stage that I began to appreciate
something of the deceptive subtlety of Mr.
Bond's methods! "I wish to God they were
professionals," Dafydd complains at one
point. "Then I could sack them. These
bastards, they've got you over a barrel.
Unless you say 'well done' all the time they
don't turn up." I almost thought that I caught
a hint of the Bondian tone in Christian's
delivery of these lines.
What, after all this, is to be said by way of
adverse comment? It must, I think, be said
that more could have been achieved had the
cast been more confident of their lines,
although, to be fair, they did improve in this
respect during the "run". Further, although
doubtless a related point in practice, and, I
own, a particular bee in my bonnet, I did feel
that one or two members of the cast might
have taken more care over their diction.
Partly, this, a matter of sheer clarity, but,
dare I say it, not wholly. The characteristic
tones of Outer London may be appropriate
enough to the play, but over an evening they
come to fall ungratefully upon the ear.
Enough, though, of this. What else to
complain of? Really, I should say, very little.
The singing was not, with the honourable
exception of Natasha Leach, the show's
strong point, but then again I've heard about
as bad in amateur operatics, and it was at
any rate saved by Dafydd's barbed and
anguished harrangues from being a source of
embarassment. One should mention that
Luke Spencer did very well as accompanist
in helping to hold the songs together. One
more grumble: the play is awkward to stage
in that it involves a large number of locations,
and it is therefore understandable on practical
grounds that the set was fairly "minimal". For
all that, the very fact that the play moves
between a number of locations, demanded, it
seemed to me, a little more dressing, just for
the sake of suggestion.
Each school play sees the passing of a
generation, and this production was a fitting
farewell to many talented performers, some
of whom have gone unmentioned here. Mr
Bond spent much of the autumn term telling
us that, besides being a far too ambitious
choice of play, this would definitely be his
last. Each year also, of course, brings
forward a new generation to replace those
who have gone. Mr Bond is currently working
on this year's production, "A Voyage Round
my Father" by John Mortimer. Apparently,
it's far too ambitious . .. We shall see!
P.J.R.
18
Junior Musical: "Bugsy Malone"
by Alan Parker
I spoke to no one who did not enjoy and enthuse about the
Junior School production of "Bugsy Malone". To a certain
extent this was not a surprise. The directorial team of Messrs
Pook and Ricketts, in taking a considerable artistic risk by
amassing a cast slightly larger than that of "One hundred and
one dalmatians" (never work with animals or children, darling),
were playing a pretty shrewd card when it came up to the boxoffice. The School Hall sold out quickly. Unpleasant stories
began to surface of grandmothers being forced into debt by
merciless second-form ticket touts. And as the paper said, of
"Cats" or some such, if you can't buy a ticket, steal one.
So the bums were on the seats and determined to enjoy
themselves. Could anything go wrong? It almost did. The
play opened with a number of shootings, gangster-style. The
weapon was the much feared splurge gun. This fits
conveniently under the arm and and can propel a lethal jet of
white "splurge" over a range of about fifteen feet. Dandy Dan's
mob cornered the market in them, and the advantage this
gives them over Fat Sam's hoodlums leads to gang war and
the plot of the play. These opening scenes of violence and
death, seen well before the nine o'clock watershed, were
played in front of curtain. An admirable idea but for some
clumsiness caused by a few entrances through the gap in the
middle and a certain lack of space front of stage. It was a cut
and paste cinematic opening that left me feeling sorry for the
cast, shuffling around with just their splurge guns for
excitement.
It did allow for a sensational transition to Fat Sam's
Speakeasy. The curtain parted and before us was a bustling,
lively and serious club of the type all to rare today. The
proprietor
I will have cause to return to him. What made this scene,
perhaps, the success of the whole show was the ability of nonspeaking characters to act in context and with each other,
such that they created a distinct environment and mood for the
audience to believe in and imaginatively inhabit. It is no mean
feat to make the individuals of any cast, let alone one of this
size, realise that, however small the amount of line-learning
they have to do, their role in the play is vital. In this regard I
remember the group coordination of the two stubble-cheeked
mobs and the shadow boxing of Christopher Tiangga during the
number "So you want to be a boxer". He passed the test.
As did the production values generally. The set was split into
three main areas; to our left was Fat Sam's office, to our right
was the parlour of Dandy Dan, and the centre was many
things: the floor of Fat Sam's club, a boxing ring, home of
Splurge Inc., or, with the addition of some cereal-box trees, a
forest. Sam got the bookcase and the table, perhaps calling to
mind the old-fashioned values of tax evasion and numbers
running, whereas Dan had bas-relief pilasters and angular artwork, typical of up-and-coming pretension and radical chic. A
battle of tradition versus new-aggression with the splurge gun
as metonym.
Back in the real world Fat Sam was up against it. Sam was
played by Jason White. As Nicholson dominated "Batman"
and Pacino "Dick Tracy", so did our boy Jason. His relative
youth compared to the other main characters gave him the
advantage of being naturally shorter. With the addition of
by being able to act with, and not at, the other
characters on the stage.
The girls were helped in their characterisations, as
was the whole cast, by the excellent costumes. It
might not be difficult to imagine the type of clothes
that a gangster spoof should be dressed in, but to get
it just right requires more than the odd off-the-shoulder
slinky dress and tilted fedora. I remember Blousey's
second half costume change as being particularly
effective. It was a natty red number, just below knee
length, and had red tassels that shimmered as she
sang. Also good were the majorettes' costumes
towards the end, but their purpose and integration into
the plot eluded this member of the audience.
some padding around his middle he was the very
picture of ill-won wealth and happiness, complete with
cigar and ulcer. His voice was clear and the accent,
for the most part, consistent. However, what
impressed me most were his hands and eyes. He
matched his gestures to his word and his glances as
well. There was the why-am-l-surrounded-by-suchidiots eye roll, theyeah-fine-l'll-call-you-tomorrow
smile, and the you-help-me-l'll-help-you conspiratorial
stare. Great stuff.
The man who does help Fat Sam is Bugsy Malone
himself. I suspect it is difficult to live up to a
reputation that has the speakeasy girls crooning about
their love for you. I also suspect I'll never get the
chance to find out. Richard Dawes did, and did well.
His voice, accent and projection were good, and he
had a mean slouch when he was addressing the
audience. His part suffers from not getting a musical
number. The scripted dialogue is not of the highest
quality, relying mostly on funny monickers and the
repartee of the Pat and Mike knockabout act; that
was no lady, that was my wife, and Bugsy as the
straight character in a field of caricatures can seem
lifeless and slightly boring. Richard did all anyone
could, but can Bugsy as written really earn all that
adoration? Not from me he can't, but then perhaps
I'm jealous.
Certainly, both female leads get the hots over this
straight man in a crooked world. The love of his life
should be Blousey Brown, played by Fari Shams, but
the strutting and lip-trembling Tallulah (Gabriella
Torino) does her seductive best to win him away.
Bugsy plays hard to get; he's a good man and knows
when not to pick'n'mix. The two girls worked well as a
contrasting pair; Blousey desperate to get a job in the
big bad city and Tallulah as big and bad as they
come. The contrast is no clearer than in the different
songs they have to sing. Blousey gets the more
soulful, mournful numbers, "I'm Feeling Fine" and
"Ordinary Fool", while Tallulah gets the infamous and
raunchy "My name is Tallulah", during which I felt she
could have made a little more use of the stole draped
around her neck. Both voices gained in confidence as
the show progressed and Fari and Gabriella impressed
The plot itself was pretty thin on the ground. We were
not carried through the play by a desperate desire to
find out what was going to happen next. This was not
a major problem because "Bugsy Malone" succeeded
by show and spectacle. The high points of the
production were the slapstick humour; splurge guns,
custard pies, and the songs; all credit to the orchestra
and the various singers. It was a series of set pieces
in one way or another. The job of directing such a
show requires concentration on these and racing
through some of the more painful dialogues. A few
times, cues were not picked up quickly enough - a
simple matter of always breathing before the other has
finished speaking and really listening to what they are
saying - and the time taken for some scene changes
could have been lessened by a more flexible
arrangement as far as props and furnishings went.
Likewise the lighting FX were a little under-used;
strobe yes, but I saw little sign of any coloured gels,
so the light was harsh and monotone.
Overall the boys did well and they, the cast and all
others connected with the production can feel,
deservedly, over the moon. Well Done!
Nick Parfltt
I am the Wind
I am the wind
Running a reckless race.
Sweeping away sand and paper
Tearing a roof, kicking a dustbin
Punching fences, smashing down trees
Frightening creatures,
Flooding water everywhere
I am the wind.
Running a reckless race
Against myself.
Yong Wan Kim 2B
19
TUCJ OT W3 r
The winner of this year's short story competition
Melanie walked through the gate and up the
path which led to her house. Although it was still only
February, spring seemed almost to have arrived; the
apple blossom had appeared on one tree in the front
garden, and there were three or four daffodils dotted
around the flower beds, among bare, thorny rosebushes and flowerless green stalks. She
contemplated her first day back at school after half
term- it hadn't been nearly as bad she had thought it
would be. In fact, it had been quite a good day,
although it was good to be home with a relaxing,
peaceful evening stretched out ahead of her.
Fishing in her pocket for her front door key,
Melanie heard voices coming from the interior of the
house. They were loud voices; it was her parents yet another row...
"And how do you expect to pay this bill - thin
air?" demanded a voice from within, Melanie's mother.
Quickly, another voice retaliated with; "Oh,
you're a fine one to talk - where did last month's
family allowance go, and the one before?"
Before she could hear her mother reply and
carry on the argument, Melanie unlocked the door and
slipped, unnoticed into the hall. She felt like making a
grand entrance, clanking her keys loudly, perhaps
tripping over the doormat, in order to make her
presence known for sure. She resisted the temptation
because she couldn't bear to see the false smiles on
her parent's faces, and the strained questions, "How
was your day at school today, Melanie?" Her parents
were in the kitchen and the door was shut; ignorant of
Melanie's arrival, they carried on the argument.
Melanie wanted to burst into the kitchen and
scream/'Stop it, Stop it!" Why can't you get along?"
Instead, she ran upstairs into her room and shut the
door. She took her loudest heavy metal tape and put
it into her cassette player, turning the volume up so
that it was almost on the loudest setting, trying to
drown out not only the sound of the voices from
downstairs, but also the mixed up emotions which
seemed to buzz around her head. An almost perfect
day had been totally shattered with yet another
argument.
Fourteen years old, with wide, innocent-looking
amber eyes, and shiny dark brown hair, Melanie
Browning wanted to crawl into a small hole and
hibernate until she was eighteen years and old enough
to leave home. That, or be her brother's age; too
young to comprehend the truth of his surroundings.
Max, her brother, was four years old, ten years
younger than Melanie. He was in the nursery right
now, playing with his toys. Melanie sighed and sank
down onto her bed. Too young to be of any use, she
thought, but too old to ignore the situation.
As the side of the tape ended, she heard the
20
written by Laura Holmes 3C
voices from downstairs get louder. She tried to block
them out of her mind, by taking out the tape from her
cassette player and turning it over to play the other
side. Suddenly she heard a door slam loudly. It was
the front door. She then heard a car door slam and
the car drive drive away.
About half an hour later, Melanie's father came
into the lounge. Melanie had come downstairs and
was sprawled on the couch, watching her favourite
television program me,"Neighbours." She liked
"Neighbours" because while watching it, she could go
into her own world of make-believe, pretend
everything was as it was in "Ramsay Street"; no-one
being ill or unhappy for more than a week. On the
television, the two characters were just realizing their
undying love for each other when.. "Melanie, can I
talk to you for a moment," came her father's voice.
In exasperation, Melanie turned the volume down by
means of the remote control, and looked up at her
father.
"....it was probably for the best anyway, I
suppose." Throughout the speech Melanie's father's
voice had cracked three times. She could tell that
her father was trying to convince himself more than
anything else, that everything was for the best, but
there was a sad, far-off look in his eyes, something
she had never seen before. All her worst fears
seemed to have come true. Deep down inside her, a
faint expectancy of this had lived for a few months,
from when the arguments had begun to become
louder, more serious and more frequent. Now there
would be no more rows - no more antagonizing
remarks - nothing. Her mother had gone; as far as
Melanie was concerned it was forever.
Melanie's first reaction to the news was deep
shock. Slowly, as the shock wore off, her emotions
changed and she fought back the tremendous desire
to cry. Suddenly all her feelings seemed to roll into
one big bout of anger and rage, but most of all,
disappointment. She could only think of how it
affected herself - how could they do this to her?
"Mel?" said her father, seeing his daughter's
face change from a healthy pink, to whit, to a reddish
colour.
"It's all your fault!" Melanie burst out. "Why
couldn't you both have worked it out? Why not?!"
All the anger that had boiled and bubbled up inside
her, had found a way to be released - by blaming her
father.
"Mel, it just wouldn't have...."
"Oh yes it could! You don't know that with
more effort you couldn't have stopped arguing for
once in your lives, stopped to think about how other
people felt - about Max and me. What about us?"
"Mel, you don't under...."
"Oh, but I do understand! I understand
perfectly. You just want what's best for both of you.
You don't care about us!"
"Mel..."
"And another thing," Melanie snapped back,
rising to her feet and almost screaming out,"DONT
CALL ME MEL!!"
She ran off to her room. Once upstairs,
Melanie got undressed and put on her pyjamas on,
doing all the buttons up the wrong way in her haste to
jump into bed. Part of the reason she had been so
mad at her father was that she felt there must have
been more to it than that. What about this special
bond that was supposed to be between mother and
child? Melanie had never been particularly close to
her mother, but there was Max to consider. After all,
he was only four years old; he needed a mother.
How could her mother simply walk out after fifteen
years of marriage? How dare she!
The anger that had suddenly swelled up inside
her again disappeared as quickly as it had come, as
the tears filled her eyes. She had no energy left to
fight them, and one by one they rolled slowly down her
cheeks onto her pillow, leaving two large wet patches
on either side of her face.
As she heard her father's footsteps coming up
the stairs Melanie pulled the duvet cover up to cover
her face. She could hear her father go into the room
opposite, and come out again a few minutes later. He
had obviously just put Max to bed. The footsteps
were coming closer to her room, and Melanie rolled
over to face the wall, then shut her eyes, doing her
best to look asleep. Some-one had once told her that
she snored, so she breathed heavily through her nose,
hoping it sounded realistic. Just from her father's
sigh, she could tell that her father knew that she was
not asleep. However, her father seemed to take the
rather less than tactful hint that she was not in the
mood to talk to anyone at all, least of all him, and
kissed her lightly on the cheek, ruffled her hair and left
the room, turning out the light as he went.
When her father had gone, Melanie switched
her bedside lamp back on, and picked up a book. But
she had not got passed the first couple of lines before
her eyes filled with water and the words seemed to
swim out of focus. She wiped the tears on the back
of her hand and tried to read again. However, the
same thing happened over and over again and finally
Melanie gave up. She put the book down and
switched off the light; staring up at the ceiling
instead. It felt light hours of thought before she
eventually fell asleep.
Two weeks later, Melanie sat on the train to
school, contemplating the past few weeks. She was
still puzzled by her mother's leaving, but her father
had not spoken of it again. In fact her father had
adopted to the role of single parent incredibly well -
and quickly too; he was at home every day when she
returned from school; he took turns with Melanie in
feeding Max; he cooked suppers most of the time (
Melanie offered occasionally ); he put Max to bed and
read him stories. Once, when Melanie had been ill at
school, he took the day off work to take her home and
look after her. Melanie now found that she could open
up to her father more than ever before; she had adult
conversations with him about school, television, and
all sorts of other things. He taught her how to work
the gears of the car - she had felt so secure and safe,
with his big hand over hers on the gear lever; her
mother had never made her feel like that before. She
had long since apologized for their argument on the
night that her mother had left, and he had stopped
calling her Mel. She really hated that - it wasn't so
much the actual word Mel, it was word beginning with
's' that rhymed with it. If the boys at school ever
found out that she was called Mel at home, that would
be it, "Mel the smell" forever.
Melanie had only told her closest friend, Gail,
about her mother leaving - she had never felt that she
could tell anybody else. Another friend, Helen, who
travelled to school with Melanie on the train, was
talking at high speed at (rather than to) her. Melanie
had not been listening to the rather one sided
conversation at all, in fact, she had been ignoring
Helen for almost the whole train journey - she could be
so tedious sometimes. Helen was obsessed with the
opposite sex - if it wasn't a pop-star, it was some
sixth-former or other, if it wasn't a sixth-former it was
someone from the cast of "Neighbours". Melanie
thought most of the people that Helen talked about
were reasonably good-looking, but the way that Helen
idolized them was just too much.
Suddenly, Helen caught Melanie out with
"....what do you think, Melanie?"
Melanie's usual reply to all of what Helen had
been saying came. "Mmm," she said.
'What?"
Melanie's train of thought was broken
completely. "Huh?" she said, looking at Helen's face
for the first time that day.
"You haven't been listening to a word I've been
saying, have you?" accused Helen, indignantly.
"Yes I have," said Melanie desperately trying to
think of something that Helen had said that morning.
"You haven't!"
"I have, honest."
"Prove it then,"said Helen.
"Er, "hesitated Melanie, "er, your cat was sick
this morning," she said with a sudden inspiration.
"I said that at least fifteen minutes ago," said
Helen, retaining her indignant tone.
"Oh, sorry," replied Melanie, not sorry at all.
The rest of the train journey continued in
silence from then on. Melanie's day grew
progressively worse.
21
After school, Melanie was just about to leave
for the railway station, to catch the train home, when
her father drove up into the school car-park. Melanie
was surprised to see her father there, and then worried
- it must be for some reason.
"Hi, dad," she said, a touch uneasy,"is
anything wrong?"
"No," he replied, winding the window down
fully," I just thought I'd pick you up from school
today, on my way home from work."
Melanie doubted this for two reasons. Her
father worked as an accountant in an office, and to
get there, you had to travel in the opposite direction
from their home than to go to school. Her father had
obviously gone out of his way to collect her; this was
most definitely not on the way home. The second
reason was that her father had never picked her up
from school in his life - why should he start now?
At first, the journey home was silent. Her
father was the first to speak. He asked.'how was
your day school, Mel?" After a stony look from
Melanie, he corrected himself,"...! mean Melanie."
"Oh, you know the usual," she replied.
"What's that then?"
"Boring."
A wry smile formed on her father's lips.
"Should have guessed," he said.
Melanie smiled.
"I thought we'd go to that new restaurant
around the corner, oh, what's it called....Barnaby's or
something, isn't it?"
"Mmm," she said, staring at a really cute dog
which was dragging its owner out for a walk, halting
occasionally to sniff a nearby tree. Then, realizing
what her father had just said, she blinked and looked
at him. "What...how come?" she asked.
"What do you mean, "how come" he said,
feigning hurt,"l just thought it would be nice."
"Oh, I don't mean to sound ungrateful or
anything, I'd love to go, but, well, it's just that we
haven't been out for ages." In fact, Melanie could
hardly remember the last time the family had gone
out for a meal - except when they were abroad.
"It's about time we did, then, don't you think?"
was a suitable reply from her father.
Melanie nodded in agreement.
When they drove into the car-port, Melanie
jumped out of the car and rushed inside to get
changed. She put on her favourite red skirt, a blue
and white striped shirt, and her suede cropped black
jacket which she had received for Christmas last
year, leaving her school uniform in a heap on the
floor. She put on a small amount of makeup and
went into the nursery to get Max. The nanny that
looked after Max during the day had gone downstairs
as Melanie had come up, and was just leaving.
Seeing Melanie, Max said "hello" in his funny voice.
However, Max had forgotten that he had a mouth full
of orange juice at the time, which was now down his
22
clean pullover. Melanie wiped his face and found a
clean pullover, exchanging it with the one that Max
was wearing. She then led him downstairs to where
her father was waiting.
"That was really nice," said Melanie, pushing
her plate slightly away from her. She had just eaten
a rather large portion of steak and french fries and
was feeling very full indeed. "I couldn't eat another
thing."
"Nonsense," said her father.Tm going to have
a large apple pie with double cream. What would you
like Max?" he asked Melanie's brother who was
sitting next to him.
"Dad!" exclaimed Melanie.
"Can I have that ?" asked Max, pointing out
number twelve on the menu to his father.
"You mean a chocolate and vanilla ice cream
sundae with chopped walnuts," said her father
deliberately, watching Melanie's expression, "of
course you may."
"O.K..O.K, I give in, I'll have a small scoop of
strawberry ice-cream. Only a small one, mind."
After they had ordered the rest of their meal
and the waiter had gone, Melanie's father said to
Melanie and Max, "I thought we might go to Alton
Towers tomorrow, seeing as it's Saturday; how does
that sound?"
"Brill!" was Max's contribution to the
conversation.
Melanie was amazed for the third time that
day. Her father had always considered Alton Towers
too expensive before - or was that her mother? anyway, she thought her father had to work in the
morning. When she said this to him he simply
said,"Oh, I should think they'll be able to manage
without me tomorrow for once."
Melanie was about to say she would love to
go, when she remembered something. "I'm really
sorry," she said.Td love to go, but I promised Gail I'd
go shopping with her tomorrow," she said
apologetically. "You see there's a school disco in a
fortnight, and she wants to buy something to wear."
"It's alright," said her father,"we can go another
time. Are you going to the disco?" he asked.
"Well, no, I don't think so. Anyway, I haven't
got anything to wear."
"You should go, you should enjoy yourself,"
her father said. "I'll give you some money tonight to
go and buy some clothes with Gail. You haven't had
anything new in ages."
Melanie bit her tongue hard, to make sure she
wasn't dreaming. It couldn't be true; her father,
Derek Browning, the eternal investor, never spending
money unless it was really necessary, yet here he
was, dishing out money like never before. He knew
the cost of clothes, and yet he had just told her to
buy a whole new outfit. Four out-of-character moves.
That was too much; there was definitely something
Vashlt Patel, 4th year
23
peculiar going on.
She said to her father, "Dad, could you tell me
what's going on, please."
"What are you talking about," he
said,"nothing's going on, as you put it."
"You know what I mean," she replied, "I'm very
grateful, don't get me wrong, but don't you think you
are overdoing it a bit."
Her father was doing his best to look innocent,
but Melanie noticed the slight tick beneath his left
eye which seemed to appear when he was nervous.
'Tell me, dad, I have a right to know what's
going on, seeing as it most likely involves me. First
of all you pick me up from school, then you take us
out to dinner and splash out on a big meal, you plan
to take us to Alton Towers, and now you want to buy
me some new clothes. And that's just in one
evening. Doesn't that smell a little bit fishy to you?
It does to me anyway."
Her father was about to reply, when the waiter
appeared with an ice-cream sundae, apple pie, and a
small bowl of strawberry ice-cream. He set each
dessert down in its appropriate place and hurried off
again. Max had stopped playing with his straw and
stared wide-eyed at the gigantic glass dish in front of
him. Melanie laughed. He looked so funny - he
could hardly see over the top of it.
Melanie's expression changed back to one of
concern. "Well?" she said.
Her father reached into his inside pocket and
brought out a brown, formally addressed envelope.
"What is it?" asked Melanie.
"This," her father began, "is a letter from your
mother's solicitor."
"Yes," Melanie said hesitantly, "well, what
does it say?"
"It says," her father went on, "that on the fourth
of May, this year, Melanie Browning and Maximilion
Browning are required to appear at the high court of
justice for a hearing to decide under whose custody
they shall be placed. Mr Derek Browning, or Mrs
Elizabeth Browning." He was now reading from the
letter itself.
Melanie stared at him blankly.
"It basically means that we have to go to court
because your mother," he almost spat out those
words, "wants you to go and live with her."
"Oh," was Melanie's only reply. She was still
more than a little shocked. "Are you coming too?"
"You don't think I'm going to sit around on my
behind, do you, while they decide I'm an unfit father
for you and Max and that you should be living with
your mother," said her father indignantly, growing
angrier with the mention of Elizabeth's name. He
lowered his voice when he realised that people in the
restaurant were beginning to stare at him. 'You
realise that she'll have spun them this line about how
she was tragically thrown out of the house by an ogre
of a husband. Knowing your mother, she'll have
24
turned it into a dramatic sob-story, saying that I never
let her see her children, not that she's ever asked
me."
The bitterness and hatred felt for her mother
by her father were portrayed so clearly in his speech,
that Melanie saw now how her father really felt. She
was sad to see the look of hurt in his eyes. It hurt
her too, in many ways.
All this time, Max had been engrossed in his
ice-cream. He had managed to eat his way through
about three-quarters of it, but at least half that
decorated his nose, jumper and was spread all around
the outside of his mouth. Melanie, who had finished
her ice-cream, took up her spoon and took a spoonful
of Max's, thinking, in anticipation, of the court case
ahead of her, realising now the reason for her father's
so out-of-character behaviour.
Almost two months later, Melanie's alarm
clock went off at half-past eight. She pulled her
duvet cover up over her head and rolled over, after
turning off the alarm clock with her right hand. Just
then her father walked into the room. "Come on,
Melanie, get up," he said. "You do know what day it
is today, don't you? It's the ..."
Before he could go any further, a voice from
beneath the covers said, "I'm ill." The voice was
muffled so that her father could not tell whether she
was ill or not, but her father saw straight through her
illness easily. To humour her he went along with it,
taking her temperature, feeling her forehead, and on.
Finally, he decided aloud that she was perfectly well
enough for the court case today, and told her in no
uncertain terms to get up and get dressed.
Reluctantly she agreed, and crawled out of
bed. Her father went to get Max ready. Melanie went
into the bathroom and brushed her teeth, thinking
about what she would wear. She decided on a black
skirt with a white shirt and a red sleeveless pullover.
Around her neck she placed a single gold cross on a
chain. She stepped back to look at the finished
effect in the mirror. Very mature, she thought. Her
mother would hardly recognise her.
The journey to the court in the car was almost
totally silent, apart from an occasional,"Are we nearly
there?" from Max. The third time Max asked, his
father said, "Yes, nearly, just a few more minutes."
When they finally reached the court-house,
they left the car in a side-street and walked the rest
of the way. Melanie said to her father, "I'm nervous."
To her surprise he replied, "Me too."
Melanie said "You don't need to be. I told you
you don't have to bribe us or anything to make us
want to live with you. Remember the restaurant? We
do anyway."
At that moment, a smartly dressed woman
approached and directed her father to courtroom
three. Melanie and Max were to go to another room
to talk to this person, whoever she was. Max started
to follow his father, but the woman grabbed his hand
and sharply pulled him back, and then led them both
to another room, a short distance away. Melanie
took an instinctive dislike to her.
Once in the room, the woman signalled for
them to sit down. She turned to them and said, "My
name is Mrs White. I'd just like to ask you a few
questions." She tried to sound friendly, but it was
very strained, and she ended up sounding very
patronizing indeed. Most of their questions were
directed at Melanie, as she seemed to think Max
couldn't answer for himself.
Mrs White's questions got more and more
personal. Melanie got more and more annoyed with
her, seeing her as an interfering old busybody. Who
did she think she was anyway, asking questions
about her life and what it was like with her father.
Melanie sat there demurely, with her mouth set in a
hard line. Her answers had decreased in length until
they were simply "yes" or "no". She was being as
uncooperative as she could. The thing that annoyed
Melanie most was that she seemed to be almost
completely on her mother's side from the start, and
she didn't look as though she would change her mind
easily.
Suddenly, Mrs White said to Max and Melanie,
"All right, you can go back to the waiting area now."
Melanie was astonished, and then worried. Not once
had she asked the dreaded question; who would they
prefer to live with? Melanie wondered what
conclusion the woman had reached. She sat down
with Max in the waiting room, chipping the nail polish
off her finger-nails, something she always did when
she was nervous. She looked at her watch
frequently. The minutes seemed to go by like hours.
What seemed like an age later, her father
walked down the corridor to where she was sitting.
He was fuming with anger. Behind him she saw her
mother in deep conversation with a dark haired man,
whom she presumed was her solicitor. Melanie
wondered why her father was so angry. Then she
saw.
"Come on, Melanie," were her mother's first
words to her after two and a half months, "you're
coming home with me. We'll get the rest of your
things tomorrow."
"What are you talking about?" Melanie
withdrew from her grasp. "Dad?"
"I'm sorry, Melanie," said her father.
Her mother led Melanie and Max outside.
Melanie was looking over her shoulder at her father,
who was standing in the waiting area looking
helpless. Melanie's mother introduced the darkhaired man. "This is Jack. He's my fiancee."
Melanie felt dizzy. Her head was spinning. Here was
her mother, not even divorced yet and already
planning another marriage.
Jack opened the door of a dark, bottle green
Jaguar. "Hop in," he said to Melanie and Max. After
opening the door for Melanie's mother, he got into the
car himself and turned on the ignition. At first
Melanie had thought he was quite cute, but now she
saw him close up, she thought he was a total poser,
with his slick greased-back hair and combed
moustache. As they were driving along, Jack said
over his shoulder. "I suppose this means I'm your
new dad, kids."
Under her breath, Melanie muttered,"No way."
"What was that, Melanie?" her mother said, in
a tone which sounded threatening to Melanie.
Melanie was about to say, "Nothing," when
something snapped inside her and she almost
shouted. "I said, No way! I suppose I'll have to
accept that he's going to be your husband, but
there's no way he'll ever be my father!" She sat back
in her seat, her head spinning again as it rested on
the back of the seat. Nothing could be heard except
the purring of the engine, until Max began to cry.
Melanie put a protective arm around him.
A week later, after supper, Melanie
disappeared upstairs as usual to telephone her father.
Usually she told her mother she was phoning a friend
from school about homework. Today she didn't
bother. She was looking forward to seeing him
tomorrow; she only saw him every second weekend.
Her father had appealed to the court, and was now
awaiting a second case. Melanie hoped it came
quickly - she hated it here. It was like being Max's
age again. Both her mother and Jack were so
patronising.
After the phonecall, Melanie went downstairs.
In the living-room, her mother was watching television
and Jack was reading the newspaper. It was the
"Sun". Melanie looked over his shoulder. He hastily
changed from page three to page eleven when he
realised that she was there. Melanie only despised
him even more.
Her mother said, "Be a darling Melanie, go and
fetch my slippers. My feet are killing me." "They're
not the only thing that will be killing you in a minute,"
Melanie thought to herself. Who did her mother think
she was, some kind of personal slave?
Under her breath she muttered, "What did your
last slave die of?" and left the room. Upstairs,
Melanie felt around in the bottom of her mother's
wardrobe for the slippers. She pulled out something
smooth and hard, which was definitely not a shoe. It
was a gin bottle. She found another and another.
They were all empty, except for two. Melanie sat
back in amazement. There were twelve bottles
altogether. She couldn't believe it. Her mother - an
alcoholic.
Finding the slippers quickly, she went
downstairs. In the living room, her mother said,
25
rather more vehemently than necessary, "What took
you so long?"
Melanie recalled other times over the past
week when her mother had become heated over
minor incidents. Her first thought was "Gin". When
she came to think of it, her mother had looked
bleary-eyed lately, and as she went closer, she
smelt the faint smell of alcohol on her mother's
breath.
That night, Melanie thought of what she would
say to her father the next day.
that you will say what you really think," this time she
took a gulp of her drink, "that is, that you want to live
here, with Jack and me, but I'd just like to hear it
from you first."
Melanie wanted to tell her mother where to put
her assurances, but instead smiled sweetly. "Of
course Max and I will," she said. She thought to
herself "she'll find out who we want to live with in the
courtroom."
"When is it, by the way?" asked Melanie.
"Next week," replied her mother.
Melanie sat in her French lesson on Monday
and thought about the week-end. Her father was just
as amazed as Melanie had been to hear that her
mother was an alcoholic. Today he was going to
see his solicitor about an appeal sooner, considering
the unusual circumstances.
"Et tu, Melanie," said her French teacher, to
Melanie. Melanie stared at him, questioningly. "Oui
ou non?" asked her French teacher again.
"Oui?"
"NON!" he shouted.
"Oh,"
"Oh," Mr Higgins mimicked. "Do you actually
know what the question was, Melanie?" Without
giving her a chance to reply, he went on. "I thought
not. Listen, next time, please."
"Yes sir," said Melanie, meekly.
"Pardon?"
"Oui, monsieur," she said.
Melanie drifted back off into thought again,
and hoped she could go back to her real home as
soon as possible.
A week later, Melanie rose early and got
dressed quickly. Her mother and Max were already
ready, along with Jack. Breakfast passed in silence,
and so did the journey to the court. At the
courthouse they entered the waiting area; before
long a man walked towards them, directing the whole
family this time to courtroom four. Then, he said,
"No, actually, you two," to Melanie and Max. "Stay
here until I come and get you."
Jack and Elizabeth disappeared down the
corridor leaving Melanie and Max in the waiting area.
It seemed like hours and hours before the man came
back for them. When she saw him, Melanie got up,
holding Max's hand, but he said, "No, just you."
Leaving Max in the waiting area, she followed the
man to courtroom four.
When they reached courtroom four, they
entered at the back, just as the judge said, "I now
call upon the third witness, Miss M. Browning."
Melanie was told by the man who had just led her
there to go up and stand in the witness box. Once
Melanie was in the witness box, a lawyer started to
ask Melanie questions. One was, "Could you please
explain how you came to find empty bottles
belonging to your mother - or is this not so?"
Melanie hesitated, and then caught sight of
her father sitting down. She took a deep breath and
related to the court how she had found the bottles,
where they were, and how many there were, in a loud
and clear voice. She answered the rest of the
questions cooperatively, and was then told to sit
down. Melanie had been the last witness and it was
time for the judge to give her verdict. She said, "The
court will now take a short recess. It will commence
again in fifteen minutes' time."
Fifteen minutes later, everyone went back into
the courthroom except Melanie and Max, who stayed
in the waiting area. Not long afterwards, her father
walked quickly, almost ran, down the corridor to
where they were sitting, and captured them both in a
gigantic bear-hug. "We won," he whispered. Melanie
hugged him back, a single tear of relief rolling down
her face.
That night, the telephone rang in the middle of
supper. Jack answered it in the kitchen.
"Hello?" he said. Then a silence. "Next
week? Why so soon?" said Jack. Another silence.
"That's ridiculous!" Another silence. "Yeah, bye."
He hung up.
"What was all of that about?" asked Melanie's
mother.
"I'll talk to you later about it," was Jack's
response.
Melanie went upstairs to do her homework
after supper, but before she had even finished half of
it, her mother called up the stairs, "Melanie, Max,
can you come down here for a moment please."
Downstairs, her mother said to Melanie and
Max, "Sit down." She took a sip of her drink. "Now,
you may not know that your father wants us to go
through another stressful court case, simply
because he selfishly wants you both to live with
him." Melanie despised her more now than ever
before. She went on, "we have no doubt, of course,
26
The Cathedral
People's Bedrooms
'Viewing times: 3p.m.-5p.m." The engraved words
stuck in my mind. I glanced down at my watch.
Thirty minutes. I sauntered over to the main
doorway, focusing on the colourful gardens which
surrounded the cathedral. Sunshine, yellow
daffodils, an army of angels, blowing their golden
trumpets.
An Unmade Bed,
A Mannequin's Head,
A Pile of Books,
A Mirror for Looks,
A Big Bean Bag,
A Smelly ol' Rag,
A full-up Desk,
A Hi-fi.
The doors stood ten feet high, magnificent stained
oak, the gateway to secrets. I turned the heavy iron
handle and pushed, but nothing except for a groan
of protest from the ancient guardian stirred the
silence. I noticed a crack at the side of the door and
on closer inspection it proved to be about two inches
wide.
I peered through the crack, placing my hand on the
wall to support myself. Tall, slender, ornate pillars
stretched away reaching for the beams of the
enormous roof. It was like an huge cavern dimly lit
by the detailed stained glass windows which
adorned each wall. It gave you a feeling of looking
into the world and everything contained in it, as if
you were on the inside of something. Which was
also odd because it was also as though you were
looking into nothingness, a place where time stood
still to allow the dust to part to claim its visitors and
then shut them out again, still existing in a silent
void.
I strained my neck around the crack and could just
see a hazy image out of the corner of my eye, the
coloured squares which marked the execution place
of Samuel Beckett hundreds of years ago. I longed
to feel the place, the age and the history which must
be contained in that delicate masonry. The kings,
the bishops, not realising that they would be
remembered ages later. My attention switched back
to the windows casting a sickly yellow across the
pews. Portraits of Jesus, crucifixes, lambs and
disciples. They seemed to swim and converge on
one another creating a wall of light.
Then, all of those images transferred to the pillars
and walls which seemed to stretch out at an
unnatural angle from me. The blurred image of
Christ on the cross, half-hidden by the rows of
candles on a stand.
You could almost imagine the chanting voices of
monks filling and reverberating around the huge
frame even though the only sound was a pigeon
scrabbling at something on the roof.
Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was a
cathedral guide and a long line of tourists stretched
out behind him. I stepped aside and the door was
open and the place was bathed in sunlight as
though welcoming a new group. They flooded in,
chattering and giggling, yet I smiled because they
would never know what I knew about this place.
Gabriel Leslie 4BK
A Roller Boot.
A Horn for a Toot,
A Big Pink Bin,
A bottle of Gin,
A Big Dolls House,
A Hole for a Mouse,
A chest of Draws,
A Spider.
A Pile of Bags,
A Dress that Sags,
A Box of Treasures,
A Book for Pleasure,
A Music Stand,
A Map of the land,
A Lamp or two,
A Cupboard.
Jacqueline Langley 2B
Laundry
Nagging at your brain A certain something
That you can't quite
Fathom out.
Something you must do
Before the kids
Come home from school.
The pile of dirty laundry
Is sulking in the corner of
the room
Dishevelled, abject
Misery itself
And with a knowing grin
On its face.
Then, suddenly
You realise
That you have to load the
wash
A sigh of resignation
Floats away.
You turn,
But it's still nagging at your
brain.
Sadie Green
27
SPORTS
Squash
The 1st XI played twelve matches
last season. The most successful
was against Halliford, which we
won 5-0. In the words of Jon
Udall, OK, "we walked all over
them."
The Under 14s played three
matches and won two, against
Epsom and Glyn, losing against
Epsom the second time around.
The Under 13s had a disappointing
season, only winning four games
out of eleven. However, against
Hampton Grammar - their best
result - they won 5-0.
The Under 12s had a break-even
season, winning and losing two.
Their best result was against
Reed's, whom they beat 5-0.
Of course, the 1 st XI beat the staff
5-0 (again). Perhaps the coaches
need some coaching.
Ashley Farnham
Tennis
The number of tennis activities
continues to increase and with
almost guaranteed good summer
weather we are making more and
more use of our all-weather courts.
In May the annual family tennis
tournament attracted a perfect
entry of sixteen couples. The heat
was not so intense this year and
although many were exhausted by
the end of the day no-one was
suffering from heatstroke or
sunburn. After some very hectic
matches, particularly in the
afternoon session, the tournament
winners were Nanette and Louis
Strover. Refreshments throughout
the day were supplied by the
"Kenya Expedition Support Group"
and we were pleased to raise
another £100 for the fund.
Perhaps next year's profits should
be ploughed back into tennis!
It was encouraging to find quite a
large number of boys and girls
staying on after school to play
regularly with their friends, and
even more exciting to have a
request from parents for special
use of the courts one evening.
Thursday evening was selected
and immediately a significant
number of interested players
began to meet regularly throughout
June and July.
Under 15
The squad had a rather
disappointing season, winning only
one of their five matches.
Consistency of effort and
determination to win are still the
underlying problems.
The junior boys had their own
tournament this year, and attracted
a large entry from prep to second
years. In a very lengthy and hard
fought final John Lane beat
Renwick Irvine, and so avenged
his defeat by Renwick at the
Surbiton Lawn Tennis Club singles
tournament earlier in the term.
Individual stroke-play improved a
great deal during the term but
thoughtful planning is needed in
the future, as hard hitting and
"getting it back" are no longer
enough.
Another very important innovation
this year was the appointment of a
professional coach, Mr Bernard
Winter, to assist with coaching the
girls on two afternoons during the
week and to run two courses of
group tennis lessons on Saturday
mornings, concurrently with the
usual Saturday morning tennis
club. The courses were
immediately oversubscribed and
many juniors were turned away,
but we hope to be able to repeat
the experiment next season and
possibly extend the scheme, to
allow even more pupils to avail
themselves of the extra expert
coaching.
The team continues to win the
majority of matches but lack of
concentration has meant that
results have not been consistent.
The "killer instinct" has been
missing on several occasions,
which is a pity, as this team could
do really well.
The one big disappointment was th
that we were unable to hold the
Old Girls' Match, a fixture only
started just last year. The date
fixed for the OK's cricket matches
was before University terms ended
and many of the girls were still
involved with examinations etc.
Senior Team
Early examination dates made
team selection and continuity
difficult but the Lower Sixth
members of the squad rose to the
challenge and produced some
good results. Unfortunately, Mr.
Stackhouse was committed to
rowing this year and unable to give
as much time as he would have
liked to coaching sessions.
At the moment we are winning
about half of our matches, but this
proportion could be a lot higher if
all squad members were prepared
to show the necessary dedication.
Under 14
Congratulations are due here to
Clare Sillitoe and Flora Jimenez for
their determination in difficult
situations.
Under 13
Alas the unbeaten record was lost
in the final match of the season,
against Tiffin. Nevertheless, the
team are to be congratulated on
their efforts and encouraged to
start next summer with the same
team spirit and determination.
Under 12
We again arranged a few matches
for Prep and First year girls. Sara
Babar and Charlotte Ward were
undefeated as first couple, and
look very exciting prospects for
the future. Clare Young and JungHa Hwang worked hard as second
pair, but a third couple was made
up by several different
combinations, and we lacked a
consistent partnership here.
My thanks to all coaches and
supporters for all their help during
the season. To the players, my
congratulations on your
successes. Let's try to build on
these in 1991.
P.E.W.
28
TENNIS SQUADS
Seniors
N. STROVER(CAPT.), Z. DAWSON, J.REID, M. HOLMES, S. FITCH,
M-S. SOHN, A. MIAH(Sec), A.WILLIAMS, J.WILLIAMS, E. ASHTON,
C. HAWES, T. CLARK, A. McCLACHLAN
U15
R. ROBERTS (CAPT.), N. WARD, L. GRAY, M. KIDWELL, P.W. YUEN,
M. DE SOUZA, J. BERTENSHAW
U14
L. ALEXANDER (CAPT.), S. SHARPE, L. HOLMES, C. MULLIGAN, C. SILLITOE,
F. JIMENEZ, K. McLEISH, F. SHAMS
U13
K. AALAM (CAPT.), J. KUBIE, C. BIRT, K. RHIND, P. HARTLEY, H. BRAY,
E. PIRON, T. SHOESMITH
respective events and helped the
Senior Borough team to finish in the
Gold Medal position. Congratulations
to them all.
The 1 st & 2nd Year Borough Sports,
held in July at the new Kingsmeadow
Sports Stadium, were again dogged by
bad weather. The wind howled, the
rain swept in under the new partition
but apart from the high jump the sports
went ahead as planned. Our first year
team did exceedingly well and finished
in third position just one point behind
Tolworth Girls' School.
Congratulations go to Carrie Johnson,
who won the 800m and came second
in the 100m.
U12
S. BABAR (CAPT.), C. WARD, C. YOUNG, J.H. HWANG, F. JOSEPH,
J.H. HWANG, C. LEGGETT, J. LEE, C. BERGENROTH
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
1st VI
2nd VI
U15VI
U14VI
U13VI
U12VI
GIRLS' TOURNAMENT RESULTS
P W
L
Senior Champion: Angela Williams
Runner Up:
Juliette Williams
5
2
5
5
5
3
2
2
Junior Champion: Katayoon Aalam
Runner Up:
Jessica Kubie
3
0
1
3
4
1
4
2
1
2
Netball
Girls' Athletics
In the first half of the Autumn
Term there was great activity on
the netball courts, with numerous
practice sessions arranged in an
effort to wrest the House Cup
from Queen's. Alas despite all
their efforts, Queen's continued
their winning streak and claimed
the trophy yet again. Who is
going to break their run?
The weather, and clashes with
the school calendar, have meant
a rather curtailed programme for
1990.
The House Competition was
followed closely by the shooting
competition. The outstanding
winner this year was Carolyn Bid
(Queen's) of the 2nd Year, and
the runner up position was
shared between Fiona Jimenez
(Lovekyn) and Fari Shams
(Walworth) of the 3rd Year.
The Juniors continued to play
regularly throughout the spring
term and for the first time we
were able to field a Prep Form
team under the guidance of Mrs
Royce.
P.E.W.
In early May, the annual House
Athletics Competition was
washed out by a torrential
downpour over Motspur Park.
After all the preparation over the
preceding weeks, this was very
disappointing for all concerned:
the competitors, Housemasters
and Mr, Buttanshaw.
We were luckier with the
Borough Sports a week later,
where our senior girls finished in
second place behind Tiffin Girls'.
We actually won more first
places but because of the
second string scoring system we
finished down on points. As a
result of the selection meeting,
the following were chosen to
represent the Borough in the
Surrey championships:- S.
Munro, N. Strover, S. Fitch, T.
Clark and N. Ward. Our girls
performed admirably in their
Clashes of calendar dates made it
impossible for us to enter the Borough
League or Milk Cup this year. We
must hope for better luck with dates in
1991.
P.E.W.
Girls' Cross Country
The Junior Teams took part in the Milk
Cup and Howard of Effingham Races.
Individuals did well on both occasions
but we did not show enough strength in
depth to secure team medals.
As a result of the championships held
in Richmond Park the school was well
presented in the Borough teams.
(Junior: Carrie Johnson; Intermediates:
Lorna Herbert, Siobhan O'Sullivan,
Seniors: Nanette Strover, Jo Leach)
In the Senior event, Nanette and Jo
finished 1 st and 3rd in a highly
competitive race and consequently both
gained selection for the Borough team
in the Surrey Trials at Reigate. Owing
to Jo's rowing commitment, only
Nanette was available for the race.
She ran a splendid race to finish 3rd out
of 100 competitors, and secured her
place in the Surrey team for the
Schools' National Cross Country
Championships.
House Cross Country was another
highly successful event, even though it
has had to be moved to an after-school
slot on two separate days.
The final event of the calendar was the
Mini Marathon, run over 5 km of the
London Marathon course. We were
represented at all levels - a most
memorable ending to the year.
P.E.W.
29
ROWING
Seniors
As one of the more fluent
members of the Boat Club, I was
assaulted a few days ago by a
large rowing-type thug in the shape
of Mr Sheppard, and after the
customary beating I was ordered
(once again) to reel off for you,
beloved reader, the antics of the
K.G.S. Boat Club. I have taken
the bother to insert rower subtitles
during this masterpiece of modern
prose to help the less able
amongst us tackle those difficult
polysyllabic words, so let's get this
over and done with shall we?
As always, when Autumn term
arrived we jumped into our plastic
boats and began joyously rowing
up and down and up and down and
up and down the river until our guru
of the rowing world believed we
had done enough training (pulling
30
hard) to enter one of those lovely
small boats' Heads such as
Maidstone, Upper Thames, Henley
Schools' etc. This training ("Big
finishes boys!") evidently paid off
because we procured thirty wins
(big silver pots). But being far from
slackers, the club moved onwards
and upwards (with a bit of training).
Spring Term fell upon us with its
customary rain, sleet, snow and
hurricanes. The spring season
holds a few important events for
the club, the first being the
Schools' Head. This was to be the
first proper race for the 1st VIII,and
they excelled themselves to come
5= with Pangbourne College, the
best yet result in 1st Vlll's. (WE
PULLED HARD!)
The girls' VIII did even better,
winning their category with quite a
good row and an excellent start.
However, bad luck plagued the girls
(and me!) at the Women's VIM's
Head, where we were second to a
composite VIII after what seemed
a better course and row than the
previous weeks.
At the Kingston Head the boys
gained victory (more silver pots!) in
SHI men's Vlll's over some much
larger and more experienced
crews.
Then came the Easter holidays.
Casual or new readers to this
regular spot of mine will think "what
of the Easter holidays?" WHAT
OF THE EASTER HOLIDAYS?!
Do you mean to tell me that you
have not heard of Boat Club
Training Camp in Notorious
Norwich? Have you not heard of
the torture, the damage and
maltreatment we experienced?
Well, I can claim to have endured
two of these camps so far and I
shall never be the same. Those
three outings a day through
blizzards, hail, and volcanic
eruptions nearly killed me!
We returned from the hellhole
looking mean, feeling keen and
wanting to go to bed. Poplar
Regatta arrived, but for the 1 st VIII
this was yet another scene of
disappointment. They were beaten
to second place in the final by
King's Canterbury, by under one
second. However the boys'
coxless four of Cracknell, Rush,
Bhular and Wild obtained a
comfortable win in Sll Coxless
fours. We also procured fine wins
in J16 quad, women's J coxed four
and WSIII four (lots and lots of big
silver pots).
Training (hold on to the finish)
continued and a selected few were
sent on the pilgrimage to Gent
International Regatta, where we
performed past all expectations to
win many medals (lots of shiny
things that go round your neck).
We won Bronze medals in J18
coxless fours, U23 coxless four,
J16 four and J16 pair. Silver
medals were won in J18 pairs,
WJ18 pairs, WJ18fours, J16 pairs
and a J18, coxed (by me) four of
Ernes, Bhular, Griffin, Griggs and
coxed by me. This famous four
became fondly known as the
"Pyscho Four" and it gained the
respect of many international
oarsmen.
After this came the build up for
National Schools' Regatta, the
most important event in the club's
year. As a warm-up to this, the
Girls' VIII (a mean fighting
machine and no mistake) were
entered in the Thames Ditton
Regatta, where, after a demanding
set of heats, they won in the final
of WSIII VIM narrowly beating
K.R.C. (yet another pot!).
The following weekend, we
trundled up to Nottingham,
accompanied by a newly-found
portable cassette player belting out
"A song you've never heard before"
and other gems. I just can't
understand what they found wrong
with Don Pablo's Animals!
For myself and many others, the
National Schools' Regatta proved
to be an anticlimax. The boys' 1st
VIII were again unable to reach the
final, being narrowly beaten by
Shrewsbury School (no big pot!).
The girls, in a much less
demanding field, easily qualified
for the final, but were narrowly
beaten by George Watson's
College to end up with a Silver
medal. The girls were dismayed
as well as angry but a four made
up of some of this eight put it to
good use in J16 4's, winning Gold
and mashing George Watson's to
pulp.
Not to be put down by these
disappointments, more training
ensued. We soon found ourselves
at Walton Regatta, which proved a
successful and enjoyable event
with wins in SI coxless fours,
WSIII VIII, WSII fours and WSIII
single. The 1st VIII, though it did
not win, had an impressive sprint
race with Eton in which it led for
400 metres. This proved that all
was not bad in the 1st VIM.
At the last few major regattas,
Marlow, Henley, and Women's
Henley, defeat was in the air.
Neither of the eights qualified for
the final and a win for the SM4's at
Marlow turned sour after an appeal
for disqualification from the
opponents was accepted. The
only win (big silver pot with swan
on) was obtained by the boys'
coxed four at Marlow.
This then signified the end of the
season for most. However a few
had been invited to final trials and
made the journey to Peterborough
to see if they could be selected for
either the Coupe de la Jeunesse in
Belgium or the Junior World
Rowing Championships in
Belgium. After an exhausting
week Chris Rush and Jaspal
Bhular were selected to row in the
coxless four at the Coupe, which
won Silver on both days. Jane
Hall and Krista Thorp were
selected for the Coupe in the girls'
coxless pair and won gold one
day, silver the next.
As you know, James Cracknell
enjoyed his second year at the
World Championships in the
coxless four that won Gold,
fulfilling James's dream.
On the whole it has been quite a
successful year, with at least one
win for every member of the Boat
Club.
Christian Cecchi
1st VIII
B D. Ernes
2 N. Griggs
3 A. Griffin
4 J. Cornell
5 D. Wild
6 J. Bhular
7 C.J. Rush
S J. Cracknell
Cox: M. Patel
(reserve:
M. Trench)
Girls' VIII
B Natasha Tan
2 Lorna Herbert
3 Charlotte Elmitt
4 Gtenda Duggan
5 Krista Thorp
6 Jo Leach / Jane Hall
7 Stobhan O'Sullivan
S Jo Leach / Jane Hall
Cox: C. Cecchi
(reserve:
Tamsin White)
J15 Boys' Rowing
The season began with a relatively
strong squad and we proceeded to
learn to improve our sculling
technique. This was
supplemented by entering various
small boat heads in singles,
doubles and quads. We were
pleased with our performances in
Hampton Head, Pangbourne Head
and Upper Thames Head,
obtaining first places in all three.
The day of the Schools' Head
arrived and we had just about
pulled enough members together
to form an eight (at this time we
were down to just about one
reserve). At the end of the day we
were positioned 8th. (The time
between 3rd and 8th was a mere
13 seconds). In late February, Mr
Sheppard decided that there was
enough talent in the boat club for a
second eight. Paul Alexander,
Sanjit Bhular and I were selected
to row in this eight. We obtained
good results in Kingston Head but
also, more importantly, the Head
of the River race.
When the summer started we were
entered for the various regatta
races. At the Docklands we
entered a quad which gained
second place, and later on the
eight came third.
In early May, three members of
our J15 Squad and a senior
member attended the Gent
International regatta. In the J16
fours event Jamie Evans, Sanjit
Bhular, Paul Alexander and I
rowed against international
competition and gained the Bronze
medal. We then split into pairs to
compete in the J16 events. Paul
and I gained the Silver medal and
the other pair, Sanjit and Jamie,
gained the Bronze medal.
This year the National Schools'
regatta (the main event of the
31
year) consisted of two days'
competition, and marked the
introduction of girls to the event.
We entered an eight on the first
day and a quad on the second.
We managed to get into the semifinal but were placed in a top
quality field and narrowly missed
the final, with good performances
from Barrie Mullick, Kieran Finn,
George Richmond-Scott and David
Sillitoe and coxing from Simon
(hugely overweight) Hillier. On the
next day a quad consisting of
Martin O'Leary, Paul Alexander,
Sanjit Bhular and me gained the
fastest qualifying time, but
unfortunately missed the medals
by a small gap.
The final event was the National
Championships. The quad of the
National Schools swapped their
boat and were trained extensively
for three weeks under the watchful
eye of Mitul Patel. On the day of
the J16 fours (we had to enter
above our age-group because there
was not a J15 Category) our crew
gained 4th place in the final.
Many thanks to Mr Sheppard, Mr
Stribley and Mitul Patel for
coaching us.
Neil Bergenroth
J15 Girls'Rowing
We started the Autumn term with
Pangbourne, entering three doubles
and coming second, third and
fourth respectively (only four boats
entered). Owing to this, our
training schedule increased for the
Hampton Head in which we lost
(again).
In Easter only three J15 girls went
on training camp:- Caitie White,
Rebecca Neale and Sharon Bhular.
I have been informed by Simon
and Sharon that it went something
like this: there was no heating,
there was a bar, Mr. Stribley
snored, Simon Hillier got fatter.
Neil got in a huff and worked it off
in the ergo room. Barrie laughed
and talked in his sleep, a new boat
that had never been used had its
fin broken off. David commented
on how good Simon looked in his
jeans, which remained a constant
joke throughout the camp. I'm not
sure if they actually did any work,
32
but I suppose they must have
done because they came first in
the heats and third in the finals of
the National Schools (of which
they proudly boast, even though
they won nothing for the whole
year).
In the Thames Ditton Regatta,
owing to slight problems in
technique, we lost rather
dramatically to L.E.H., whom we
beat last year. Altogether the year
was not very fruitful "owing to lack
of support and enthusiasm" (to
quote Rebecca). Except for
Sharon and Rebecca we didn't
really mind if we won or not! Our
thanks go to Mr Stribley, who
patiently trained our J15s over the
past year.
Rachael Foggo
we had to swap back to sculling,
forming a new improved "ozone
friendly" quad scull of myself,
Richard Pearce, Robert Temlett
and Michael Louzado, coxed by
Guy Pilsworth. There were also
two doubles and two singles. The
final of the quad turned out to be a
titanic struggle between an
unbeaten Windsor Boys' School
and us, with the rest of the field
some 20 seconds behind.
Eventually the verdict went to
Windsor by 7 seconds, and we had
to be content with Silver medals,
ending an exciting season.
Mark Skinner
Eight squad from: Richard Simpson,
Richard Pearce, Richard Trouncer, Guy
Pilsworth, Quentin Cammish, Michael
Louzado, NeilAybtt, Jeremy Hicks, Paul
Matthew, Paul Young
Third Form Boys' Rowing
Girls' Third Form Rowing
In the Autumn Term all the squad
swapped from the eights to quads
in order to gain experience in both
rowing and sculling, but no major
races were entered. After a long
wet winter the first major race was
the Schools' Head at Putney, a
timed race over 3,000 metres,
where according to plan we
overtook two crews in the first 100
metres (one being Hampton) and
on final times won by 9 seconds
overall, putting our local rivals
K.C.S. Wimbledon 12 seconds
behind us.
The rowing year started with only
six girls really interested in
competitive rowing, which made
selection of crews easy, but meant
that we could not run an eight.
Apart from a friendly fixture in the
Autumn Term, our first event was
the Hampton Head, where a good
time was achieved and we beat
Lady Eleanor Holies' "b" crew. In
the Women's Head, the third
formers, rowing with the fourth
formers in an under 16 eight,
finished third overall. The first
regatta of the summer term was
Docklands, where the squad came
second, followed by Thames
Ditton, where the crew of Jenny
Fox, Claire O'Sullivan, Amanda
Kellett and myself, coxed by
Natasha Gibbs, beat LE.H. in the
final easily.
The Regatta season in the
Summer Term started slowly (like
us) and we lost in finals at Poplar
and Thames Ditton, whilst the
National Schools' Regatta in May
was an anticlimax, when we were
drawn in the strongest heat and
did not row our best, failing to
qualify for the final. On the
second day of the event the small
boats did a little better, with
Richard Simpson and myself
reaching the final, but failing to win
a medal place. As an experiment,
a four stroked by me won at both
Bedford and Kingston by large
margins, and the eight won at
Kingston, beating Tiffin easily.
Richard Trouncer also won in his
single scull at Richmond.
For the National Championships at
Nottingham after the end of term,
At the National Schools Regatta
the quad split into two doubles,
and in the final Amanda and I just
beat the other double to take the
silver medal. Finally at the
National Championships after the
end of the term, with Amanda
injured, Jenny Fox and I entered a
double which unhappily had
problems with our steering whilst in
the silver medal position which led
to our drifting off course and failing
to finish.
Sarah Nlcholls
General Report
the first to regard grass as
something that cows eat, or
something to walk across to get to
the plastic.
The 1989-90 season saw a
continuation of trends over the last
couple of years, with both teams
and individual success on a wide
front. Pride of place would
probably go to the international
honours we achieved, but the 1st
Xl's excellent season and the
unbeaten records of both the
Under 15 and Under 14 Xl's (the
Under 15's for the second year in a
row), testify to our strength at
junior level, despite lower numbers
than in the past - surely a tribute to
the expertise and dedication of the
coaching put in at these levels.
The 1 st XI' success, indeed, can
be directly attributed to the firm
grounding the players have
received through the junior sides.
The current senior players are the
first crop of totally "modern"
players that we have produced -
Of the individual successes,
space does not permit much
detailed comment, but one which
is worth noting is Jon Hauck's
selection for the England Under 21
side during the summer - a
marvellous achievement for a
seventeen year-old. Jon also
played for the England Under 18
side, as did Matthew Prestwich.
James Makepeace-Taylor and
James Wallis also played for the
Under 18's in a training match
against Germany, and Wallis, Tim
Alexander, Guy Fordham and Mun
Wey To were regulars in the
England Under 16 XI. Fordham
and To still have another year at
this level, having also played
regularly for the Under 15
international side. Nick Gardiner
missed out on selection at Under
18 level this year, owing to injury,
HOCKEY
but did play for the Hockey
Association (an embryonic Under
21 national team).
With so much top-of-the-range
success, one can easily become
blase about the rest, but space
simply does not permit further
itemization. Suffice it to say that
another fifteen players not
mentioned above played for the
South at various age levels and
another eight players not included
in these played for Surrey.
There were various tournament
successes during the season. This
is the first year that we have had a
go at the Nationwide Anglia
National Championships with any
degree of seriousness, and we did
well in reaching the national finals,
but having got there we really
should have won, rather than
loosing after extra time on penalty
strokes, in the final - to Felsted!
Next year we will be aiming at both
Under 18 and under 16 age groups
33
in this competition. The Under 13
XI were Surrey Champions notable success - and a number of
the players in this side travelled to
Holland at Easter with the Under
14 team. A senior team also
undertook the regular Autumn/
Easter exchange with Willem de
Zwijgerfrom Bussum.
None of this can be achieved
without the staff's hard work and
my sincere thanks go to all of
them. Success in the senior
elevens has now begun to filter
downwards and my hope for the 90
- 91 season is that the Third and
Forth Elevens' results can begin to
pick up, as they surely will. The
evergreen charisma of Mr.
Prichard and Mr. Sorley in
goading, cajoling, chivvying, and
bullying is much admired certainly by me! We are sorry to
lose Mr. Howat this year who has
been poached to revitalise the
hockey at U.C.S. What a career an unbeaten season in his first
year. Oxford United, and Graham
Taylor, watch out! Our sincere
thanks go also to the mothers who
have, under the leadership of Mrs
Wallis, provided teas at the field
through ever-more-complicated
timings and arrangements. Their
hard work and support is much
appreciated.
R.L.B.
1stXI
School Matches
Played 15
Won 13 Drawn 1 Lost 1
Club Matches
Played 15
Won 8 Drawn 1 Lost 6
34
v Midland Bank
v Morton I
v Trojans
Lost 0-3
Won 3-2
Won 6-1
v Wm.de Z
v Laren
vHuizen
vBank of England
Won
Lost
Won
Lost
vC.U.W.KC.
v Mid-Surrey
v High Wycombe
Lost 3-4
Won 5-0
Won 3-1
v Hampstead III
v Richmond II
v Lloyds Bank
v Southampton
Won
Lost
Lost
Won
vO.U.O.H.C
Drew 1 -1
1-0
0-2
4-3
0-1
2-1
1-2
2-3
2-1
v Watford G.S.
v Dulwich
Won 2-0
Won 1-0
v Epsom
v Reed's
v Charterhouse
v Seaford
Lost
Won
Won
Won
v Radley
v Marlborough
v St. George's
Won 3-0
Won 4-1
Won 3-2
v Cheam
v The Past
v Langley Park
v Cranleigh
Won
Won
Won
Won
v K.C.S.
vWm. de Zwijger
Drew 1 -1
Won 4-0
0-1
6-1
3-1
4-1
3-0
2-1
5-2
5-2
One of the more satisfying
aspects of a long hard season was
the ever-improving pattern of
results in the club matches. We
now, again, expect to beat schools
(but watch out, all the best sides
have one disaster within them!).
Our club-match record now tops
the break-even mark and will
presumably continue to edge back
to the levels of the mid-seventies.
Despite the first game setback (on
grass) against Midland Bank, one
of the more memorable games of
the season in retrospect was the
gritty performance in defeating
Merton; a splendid team effort.
This, followed by a comfortable
win against Trojans, really got us
on our way so the team could play
with real confidence in most
circumstances. Our usual jaunt to
Holland over half-term was a
welcome diversion, but after a
hiccup against Bank of England
(never again on grass!) our next
real test was in the Cambridge
match where superior strength and
power finally told against us.
Thereafter, matches were handled
comfortably enough. We had not
beaten Hampstead for a few years,
so the victory was pleasing, and
we regard Richmond II as about
the toughest of the league teams,
so 1 -2 was, although not great, at
least respectable.
The one school match of the preChristmas period was a significant
3-1 defeat of High Wycombe - a
school who have produced a
number of notable players and had
national success in recent years.
The Lloyds Bank game was again
on grass. Say no more!
Thus the pattern of the season
was set; a few games before
Christmas to sort things out, and
then down to the nitty-gritty of the
schools programme. James
Makepeace-Taylor had, as
expected after Australia,
established himself as Oliver
Sharpe's regular partner, and
corner striker. When Paul
Havelock's back problems
caused him to miss many of the
matches, Kar Wey To became a
more than adequate replacement.
This allowed James Wallis to
play mostly at right half with Nick
Gardiner (again, when fit) in the
middle. In fact, injuries did much
to disrupt the side throughout the
term. Both Havelock (how sad
for the captain to have to miss so
much) and Gardiner missed
many games, but the versatility
of our players nowadays, and
greater strength-in-depth, allowed
us to cope. Thus Simon
Flannery often found himself at
centre-half, as well as inside left,
David Lipscomb on either wing
and so on.
Without a doubt, the main
provider of the side was Jon
Hauck, whose athleticism and
improved passing ability (and,
now, ability to get the ball over
the goalkeeper!) made him stand
out - as you would expect.
However, James Wallis's vision
and incisive passing was also
important, along with Matthew
Roberts's characteristic
bullishness in a variety of
positions on the left-hand side.
When fit, Nick Gardiner had the
first touch and presence on the
pitch to dominate the middle,
although he was perhaps under
used as an initiator. Simon
Flannery's ball skills were
generally evident and he
developed his passing over the
season, as did Paul Havelock in
the pre-Christmas period. Paul's
other great asset -100%
commitment for seventy minutes
- was not exactly missing from
the rest of the side, but no-one
could better him in this
department, and it was a shame
that he missed so many games.
Although not, yet, a dominating
presence in the central attack,
Stuart Matton has the first touch
and ability to lead the line that
the position demands; with a little
more concentration in the
opposing circle he will score a
hat-full and also, incidentally,
reduce our reliance on our corner
fire-power. James MakepeaceTaylor's ratio of corner goals was
pretty good and clean striking
certainly helped in one or two
tight situations. The other main
component of our forward line
was the irrepressible Tim
Alexander, one of our most
effective wingers in recent years.
Tim is the player that many
teams remember playing against,
and the one who is regarded as
one of our key "danger men".
Rightly so. At his best he can
destroy defences by acceleration
and power. The ability to get to
the goal line is such a great asset
in any winger. Behind all these
stood Matthew Prestwich; literally
standing for much of the time in
school matches. He is the most
natural keeper we have had for
many years and his agility and
perfection of technique are very
strong assets indeed.
spills of a cup-tie) and the
collective will with which we
demolished Cranleigh in the last
ten minutes, as the team woke up
and realised that the game would
not be won just by going through
the motions. Other matches were
largely won comfortably but
without huge goal margins.
My grateful thanks go to Mr.
Royce and to all those who have
supported the team in a very busy
season. We say goodbye this
year to Paul Havelock and Simon
Flannery and we wish them well in
their future hockey careers. They
have served K.G.S. hockey well.
R.L.B.
Team: M. Prestwich, O. Sharpe,
J. Makepeace-Taylor, J. Wallis,
N. Gardiner, P. Havelock, T. Alexander,
J. Hauck, S. Matton, S. Flannery,
M. Roberts. (D. Lipscomb and K.W. To
also played many games.)
2nd XI
The post-Christmas period,
therefore, was highly successful.
A virtual clean sweep in the
school matches was to be
expected (Do we count a loss to
Epsom on flooded Redgra, etc.?
Yes we do!) and we look forward
to continued success in these
fixtures in the coming season.
The area to improve in these
games is the percentage of openplay goals we are able to score.
In almost all of our matches a
corner played some part. It is
true enough that scoring openplay goals against teams who are
largely defensive is not easy, but
we have to learn the knack; the
1990-91 season will be very
interesting in this regard. When
teams such as Reed's and
Charterhouse come out and play
an open game we can be
reasonably assured of victory:
when teams such as K.C.S. or
Cranleigh fall back and fight and
try to catch us on a breakaway,
we are at our most vulnerable.
Perhaps the most notable points
in the crowded term were the
pleasing victory over MarSborough
in the pre-Varsity Match game at
Willesde, the defeat of old rivals
St. George's in our closest match
of the term (with all the thrills and
Played 11, Won 10, Drawn 0,
Lost 1
The season started in a most
unpromising way with a drubbing
by Merton. However, this was to
prove totally untypical and was the
only bad defeat of the season.
Highlights of the Autumn Term
were a hard-fought draw against a
strong Hampstead team and an
excellent victory over Richmond.
The Spring Term also started
badly when Southhampton
University caught us still digesting
the Christmas pudding, judging by
our lacklustre performance. The
best performance of the term was
undoubtedly against Radley, who
emerged from an evenly-contested
game as 2-1 winners. They were
the only school who gave us a
hard fight, all our other schools
matches being won by comfortable
and in some cases wide margins.
Our only other losses came
against the Past and the Old
Kingstonians, but in neither match
were we outclassed. All in all, a
very good season.
Martin St.Gallay played well in
goal and made some excellent
saves. In several matches he
hardly touched the ball but
commendably maintained
concentration and enthusiasm.
Miss-hit shots caused him the
greatest embarrassment, but one
cannot really practice against
them. Anthony Allen improved a
lot during the season. At first he
was wild and prone to catastrophic
mistakes, but he looked faster and
much more resourceful by the
spring term. He tackles well and
has a strong clearance hit. Simon
Sherman often played for us during
the second term and fitted in
immediately, his speed and
positional play serving the team
well. Chris Hayes was the most
cultured player in the defence. A
sound full-back, he was frequently
called on to play at centre-half, to
which he adapted well. To my
mind the team played its best
hockey when he played there with
the captain at inside-right. Chris
has good basic skills and
distributed the ball well, my only
criticism being that he needs to
impose himself on the game more
when team mates are reluctant to
part with the ball. Both Sakib Dar
and Shervin Behzadi played
soundly at half-back and usually
managed to keep their respective
wingers under control. Both could
improve their tackling play by
releasing the ball earlier and better
positional support play. Sakib's
striking was very effective at short
corners and made him one of the
highest scorers in the team.
Although Jez Cartwright's lack of
skilled stickwork was shown up by
some defenders, he was a very
valuable member of the team. His
enthusiasm and competitiveness
gave the team an impetus, and his
knack of scoring goals at the far
post set us on the way in several
matches. Chris Thomas improved
as the season progressed, and
with a more mature physique he
should be an even stronger player
next year. He showed skilful
stickwork and the ability to score
goals. Every team needs an Ian
Beaumont to keep it cheerful
during hard times and help it to
enjoy its victories to the full. In his
first year at K.G.S., he has made a
big impression, and proved a more
than useful centre-forward. He
scored a lot of goals and he was at
least never afraid to try a shot.
His exaggerated backswing and
his tendency to get off-balance at
35
the critical moment sometimes
produced comical results, but I
cannot fault his enthusiasm and
cheerfulness. Sam Gratton proved
an excellent choice as captain,
leading by example and having
some pertinent comments to make
in team talks. His speed, long
reach and dribbling ability created
many openings, particularly when
playing inside-right, and he even
discovered how to score goals in
the last four matches of the
season. And so to our trump card
- or should it be joker? - Steven
Kang on the right wing. His stickhandling and ball control were a
constant danger to our opponents
and, when he tried to create
scoring opportunities for the other
forwards, he looked a fine player
indeed. This right-wing pairing will
be missed next season, but a
promising crop of youngsters
bodes well for the future.
K.J.H.
Team from: M. St. Gallay, A. Allen, C.
Hayes, S. Behzadi, S. Gratton (capt.), S.
Dar, S. Kang, I. Beaumont, C. Thomas, J.
Cartwright, D. Lipscomb, S. Sherman.
Also played: D. Denlson, A. Thomas, R.
Ramsohoye, G. Murray, A. Miah.
3rd XI
Played 18 Won 7 Drawn 1 Lost 10
We started both terms with a string
of losses, but when we finally
started scoring goals, the victories
also appeared. Although there
were still more losses than wins,
we had as many wins as last
season even though we played
four fewer matches. Probably the
greatest successes were a win
against Hampstead and a draw
against Cheam - both these clubs
had beaten us last year with threegoal margins. We also had
handsome wins against five
schools, including St. George's.
Graeme Murray played a very solid
season in goal and when
necessary was backed up very
well by John Bailey. Together
they improved on last year's "goals
against" figure by 25%. Chris
Edwards played a magnificent
season. He appeared to come out
of every tackle still in possession
of the ball and was undoubtedly a
vital part of the team. Both Simon
36
Sherman and Marc Bendel were
solid and reliable half-backs. In
the forward line Aminul Miah
managed to cause havoc by his
speed, Andrew Thomas showed
considerable expertise (particularly
on Astro) and Simon Temlett,
when we managed to get him out
of the 4th XI, scored frequently.
Dainis Berzins
I cannot let the above go without a
word about the team's captain. I
have been 3rd XI team manager
for over twenty years, and never in
that time have I had a captain so
efficient, well organised,
responsible and reliable as Dainis
Berzins. He took his position as
captain very much to heart, and
relieved me of just about
everything including team
selection. On top of this he was
an extraordinarily pleasant boy to
work with. He was also no mean
hockey player and was able to
lead on the field by example.
Because of all this, he was highly
respected by everyone, boys and
staff alike.
A.C.L.P.
Team: G. Murray, D. Berzins, J. Webb,
S. Sherman, C. Edwards, M. Bendel,
S. Palmer, A. Miah, A. Thomas,
R. Ramsohoye, D. Denison.
Also played: I. Dowle, S. Temlett,
J. Bailey, A. Parkes, T. Meeks,
M. Edwards, J. Davies, S.J. Lee, D. Hall,
M. Ernes
4th XI
Played 15, Won 5, Drawn 2, Lost 8
The season's match results were
very disappointing indeed, as
players were not lacking in skill
and ball control. What was sadly
missing was the all-essential
ingredient of effective teamwork.
It was apparent after the first few
matches that a gulf had opened up
between the forward line and the
defence that was to prove very
costly indeed. The fact that we
conceded 46 goals (a record!) had
less to do with Jonathan Bailey's
skills in goal (in fact he was very
competent) than with the forwards'
complete abnegation of their
defensive role. I hope I shall
never again have to umpire a
game in which for most of the
match five or six K.G.S. players
stand around on the halfway line
whilst all the action was in their
goalmouth.
More positively, it was pleasing to
see the improvement in the ball
control of a number of players,
including John Cheetham, Ben
Stollard, Bill Macdonald, Simon
Temlett and Dylan Grey.
However, many players still hang
on to the ball for far too long, and
promising moves were often
scuppered by a forward running
himself into a tight corner. In
defence Sin-Jin Lee, John Cane
and Ian Dowle all had their
moments and were invariably
extremely energetic in their pursuit
of the ball. John Cane was without
doubt the most hardworking of the
XI, but he must guard against
committing himself too early in a
tackle, as this gives the forward
increased options. Paul Vials and
Elliott Murray contributed skill and
speed which opened up many
defences to good effect. Finally, it
must be said that Jonathan Bailey,
stalwart as the last line of defence,
has become a very promising
goalkeeper indeed.
D.A.R.S.
Under 15
Played 14 Won 12 Drawn 2 Lost 0
To a degree the under 15 XI this
season lived with the burden of
comparison with their very
successful immediate
predecessors. High standards
were demanded of them and, to be
fair, they responded, winning
twelve of their fourteen games and
drawing the other two. Despite this
impressive record I have always
sensed that they lacked a ruthless
streak and were on occasions
happy to let their standards drop
when relatively easy games were
being played.
The side had players of
outstanding ability. The selection
of Mun Wey To and Guy Fordham
for England U16 was a fair
reflection of their quality. Michael
Emes was consistently impressive
at left-half - 1 can hardly think of a
game when he allowed his
standards to slip.
The fact that we averaged over
three goals per game shows we
had a forward with considerable
skill. Danny Hall is a natural
athlete with great potential, Dean
Spencer - though a bit outpaced was a very skillful inside left,
Simon Nesbitt improved as much
as anyone during the course of the
season, and Adrian Parkes was a
constant threat to opposing
defences on the right wing. All
have faults to work on; Danny
needs to improve his vision, Dean
his work rate, Simon his first
touch, and Adrian his variety. In
the ultimate analysis it must be
said that Mun Wey To was the key
figure in the forwards; he led the
line with great awareness and skill
at centre-forward.
Enough of the 'glory seekers', what
about the journeymen? More than
one opposing umpire commented
to me that our strength as a side
lay less in the fact that we had
brilliant individuals and more in the
respect that we did not have any
weaknesses. The defence only let
in 9 goals - 4 of these were in a
rather bizarre 20 minutes when we
went from being 6-0 up to winning
only 6-4 against K.C.S. Alex
Sands was an accomplished
keeper and playing in front of him
Esfan Behzadi and Simon
Burm ester played with a great deal
of composure at full-back. The
last regular member of the team
was Chris Kelly, a newcomer to
the school who made great strides
at right-half.
The real test for a lot of the side
will come next year. With the
quality of player in the senior
school at K.G.S. at the moment
many of the good under 15 side
will find themselves scrapping for
places in the 2nd XI let alone the
1 st team. This may prove to be a
better circumstance for Kingston
hockey than for 5th form egos!
Under 14
Played 17 Won 14 Lost 0 Drawn 3
This year the U14 hockey team
enjoyed a successful season. The
squad consisted of 12 players who
gave 100% in matches and in
training. The goalkeeper, Short,
concentrated on organising a
strong defence which consisted of
Roberts, Sawmynaden, Lyon and
Kishtany. The defence were able
to move the ball smoothly into
attack, which resulted in many
goals. Garrard at centre half
dominated the midfield, giving
width and depth to the game. He
linked with the inside forwards
Frost and Lipscomb, who both
showed promise for the future,
supported by Wyrley Birch and
Ross making penetrating runs
down the wings. Flanagan made
life very hard for the opposition,
scoring over half the season's
goals.
Team: Garrard (capt), Short, Lyon,
Saumynaden, Roberts, Kishtany, Frost,
Lipscomb, Ross, Flanagan, Wyrley Birch,
Chohan
Under 13 Hockey
Played 15 Won 6 Drawn 3 Lost 6
Whilst a slightly disappointing
season in terms of results, the
majority of the squad made fair
progress. This team is likely to
mature late because they are
physically slight.
The early season was spent trying
to found a core of players around
whom other less established
players could take their chance. In
attack the team looked threatening
without really having a cool enough
approach to convert opportunities
into goals. In defence the situation
was desperate. On every occasion
the opposition attacked they were
guaranteed to cause major
problems.
As the season progressed the
emergence of Craft and Dear in
defence made a huge difference.
Both learned quickly and thought
through problems that faced them.
Irvine held the team together at
centre half, his combative
approach making him an excellent
prospect. Buckley had good
spells at both half back and inside
forward. Catto and Reun were
slightly disappointing, as both had
a measure of experience, but when
they played alongside stronger
colleagues in Holland they shoved
some good touches.
Lopes developed as a left winger
whilst Short showed great promise
outfield, having decided that
ultimately he was too small to
progress as a goalkeeper to
representative level. Buzasi and
Beresam need to work on their
athleticism if they are to retain a
team place next season. Hauck
and Lane, whilst arguably the most
technically gifted, failed to make
the expected progress. Both must
learn that sport is played in the
mind!
Toward the end of the season the
side won the Surrey tournament,
which rather flattered a side
outplayed by St. George's for long
periods.
J.A.R.
Girls' Hockey
The success of girls' hockey has continued again this year.
Undoubtedly, the use of the plastic pitch does play a large part. The
practice of skills, patterns of play and set plays undertaken on the
plastic pitch and the development of these in matches must continue to
play an ever greater part in our success together with regular training.
We again had representatives in the Surrey teams, with Jane Reid,
Sarah Fitch and Amanda Stiles being selected to play for the 1st XI.
Jane was also appointed captain. Tracey Clark was selected as a
reserve. Anna Southgate was selected for Surrey U16 XI and Tamsin
Lee-Parsons as a reserve for Surrey U15 XI. Sarah and Anna were
both asked to attend South training.
The 1st XI again had an easy round to reach the finals of the Surrey
Schools' U18 XI tournament played in November at Freeman's School,
Ashtead. It was a very disappointing evening indeed. We eventually
become runners up to Freeman's School, who represented Surrey at
the South Tournament. It was made doubly painful for the team, when
37
in the two school games played
against Freeman's School, we
came out winners on both
occasions. It was indeed an
evening when Freeman's did not
win so much as we lost the
chance to represent Surrey
because our usual passing game
deteriorated into an individualbased game. Let's hope lessons
have been learned.
The U15 XI have reached the
finals of the Surrey Schools' U15
XI tournament, due to be played in
October 1990. We wish them well.
The 1st XI again had a successful
season. Apart from wins against
Freeman's School there were
successes too against Wimbledon
High School and Godolphin and
Latymer School. There were close
encounters against Christ's
Hospital and Cranleigh Schools.
Both were lost against the run of
the play, by the odd goal. The
team went on a successful tour to
Holland in October. Although
denied members of the 1st XI,
owing to their academic and other
commitments, the young team
blended together well under the
astute and energetic leadership of
Amanda Stiles. The Dutch
returned to us at the end of the
season at Easter. On the day of
their arrival enjoyable mixed
matches were played. The
following day a triangular
tournament was arranged between
the Dutch, K.G.S. and
Farnborough Hill School from
Hampshire. The Dutch eventually
came out winners but our 1st XI
gave them a fright, losing by the
odd goal 3-2. The last day of their
tour dawned very cold and
extremely wet. We lost that day
5-1 but sadly have to say that our
visitors, scared by the result of the
previous day, played up a gear
and, assisted by some
questionable umpiring, had us
reeling by 3 goals to nil in the first
ten minutes.
The 2nd XI had a reasonably good
season but sadly did not field the
same team for two weeks running.
They did well to beat St. George's,
and draw with St. Mary's and
Charterhouse, and although they
lost to King Edward's, Witley, they
put up a very good fight. Christine
Hawes and Min Sohn looked after
the team and provided
38
encouragement during matches.
Sophie Marchant played well in
goal and Juliette Williams added
stability to the defence.
The U15 XI team had a "sea-saw"
season. They played beautifully
against St. Mary's and Tiffin to
beat both handsomely but then
played so badly against Surbiton
High School to lose. It did not
seem possible that it was the
same team. Joanne and
Katherine Bertenshaw, two
newcomers to the side, added
strength in defence to assist
Melanie de Souza and Rebecca
Roberts, whilst Naomy Ward and
Anya Wheatley fought hard for the
team, to no avail at times. Pari
Shams, another newcomer, also
showed promise.
The U14 XI had a very successful
season, with many talented and
promising young players in the
squad. However, they must realize
that there is still much to learn.
They must practice very hard at
the skills and patterns of play if
they want to go on and win
National honours. Very few teams
provided real opposition and it was
on a bumpy grass pitch at
Surbiton High School and a very
poor Redgra pitch at Richards
Lodge High School that the team
lost its only two games, albeit
narrowly by a goal margin and
some unscientific hockey. The
team went to Holland at Easter
and had a very successful tour.
Whilst not winning any games,
they were all very close matches
and the team had two draws better than before.
The Under 13 XI, although not a
truly balanced team, played well.
They tried hard and improved over
the season. Carolyn Birt has been
outstanding and shows great
promise for the future.
The Under 12 XI has some mixed
fortunes, beating Surbiton High
School well but losing to our old
rivals Freeman's School.
The Senior House Hockey
tournament was keenly contested
and some good hockey was
played. Unfortunately, we still do
not have quite enough girls to
make this a full team tournament
so nine-a-side was again in
operation. At the end of a very
exciting Saturday morning in
November, Taverner again
emerged as winners of the
Stephanie Hazell trophy, with
Lovekyn 2nd, Walworth 3rd and
Queens 4th. This year we were
rather luckier with the weather and
were able to hold a superb Junior
House Hockey tournament in
March. There was some
impressive play from all our juniors
and plenty of goals. The morning
ended with Queens worthy
winners, Walworth 2nd, Lovekyn
3rd and Taverner 4th.
My thanks, finally, to ALL who
again have made this an enjoyable
and successful season. Let us
hope that 1990/91 will be as
successful and enjoyable.
C.T.
Full colours: Amanda Styles. Half
colours: Laureen Frazer, Rebecca Milne,
Tracey Clark. Junior colours: Melanie de
Souza, Rebecca Roberts, Naomi Ward,
Anya Wheatley.
»
i
li
Tom Morgan, 3rd year
39
CRICKET
1st XI
Played 16 Won 5 Drawn 3 Lost 8
Abandoned 1
The first and final games of the
1990 cricket season could not
have been a greater contrast.
Bowled out for 71 by a moderate
Westminster attack. We had an
exciting run chase against the
M.C.C., leading to a six wicket
victory.
By playing in the Surrey Cup
competition our players gained
confidence against slightly weaker
opposition. We had a good cup
run and reached the semi finals
winning three games.
Our first victory for a considerable
time against a school in an
afternoon game was recorded
against Glyn. We also came very
close against Reeds (1 run), St.
Benedict's, Caterham and Colfe's.
The most pleasing aspect of the
season was our performance
against our strongest opponents.
It is a long time since we have
competed on relatively equal terms
with St George's, K.C.S., R.G.S.
Guildford and Tiffin.
Gratton led the side well, leading
the batting averages at 55. He
scored a memorable century
against R.G.S. Guildford and a
chanceless 81 against the M.C.C.
Spencer guided us to victory
against the M.C.C. with 91 not out
and also batted very well against
St. George's. Of the other front
line batsmen, Lipscomb threatened
to make a big score but was out
too often when set. Wallis, having
moved to open, improved rapidly.
Grey started well but was slightly
disappointing, whilst MakepeaceTaylor, selected for only the last
four matches, put bat to ball in
uncompromising fashion, scoring
70 against K.C.S.
Our bowling was hampered by the
lack of a spin bowler and
ultimately this probably cost us the
odd result. Bendel started the
season well but a back injury
severely limited his contribution
from midway through the season.
40
Allen bowled better as the season
progressed, gaining in accuracy
and pace. Gratton bowled less
well than in former years but had
good spells. Spencer bowled very
well - a pre-lunch session against
against Tiffin was particularly
pleasing, with only three bad balls
in eight overs.
2nd XI
Played 12 Won 5 Drawn 5 Lost 2
This was an enjoyable and
successful season for the second
XI. A good proportion of the
games were won, and both losses
occurred in closely contested
matches. Only twice during the
season was the team obliged to
hold out for a "losing" draw.
The battling was pretty reliable, the
team scoring over 200 twice and
over 150 on four other occasions,
whilst never being dismissed
below 100. Andrew Thomas's
unbeaten century against K.J.H.'s
XI containing the Second Master
and the master-in-charge of
hockey was outstanding. Also
excellent was Simon Flannery's 94
v St. George's; how satisfying it
was to score 241 for 4 in that
match and to win 134 runs. Simon
Sherman batted consistently well,
and James Makepeace-Taylor,
Sakib Dar and Matthew Roberts all
had substantial innings. Finally, a
mention must be made of Matthew
Prestwich, who stood in for us at
the last minute against Guildford,
and rescued us from the depths of
98 for 8 by scoring 48 cavalier
runs.
The bowling attack was strong
early in the season when most of
our wins were achieved. Simon
Temlett and James Ward made a
pacy opening attack until Simon's
deserved promotion left us a
bowler short. Sakib Dar tried hard
to fill the void but he lacked the
accuracy and movement to take
wickets regularly. The main
wicket-taker was Ian Dowle, who
continued to bowl to a well-tried
formula; straight medium pace with
an excellent yorker. Andy Thomas
showed great promise with his legspinners but he must learn to
accept punishment more
phlegm atically.
The fielding was average-plus
some good catches being held.
Our team lacked an experienced
wicket-keeper. Matthew Roberts
and Ian Beaumont did their best,
despite the criticism of their
colleagues. A talented keeper
would certainly have sharpened up
the team's performance in the
field. James Ward was a most
conscientious captain who lead by
example. At times, when things
were going badly, he seemed
indecisive and lacking imagination,
but this was mainly lack of
experience.
K.J.H.
Team from: J. Ward (captain),
A. Thomas, M. Roberts, J. MakepeaceTaylor, S. Sherman, I. Dowle,
I. Beaumont, S. Dar, S. Taylor,
D. Denison, B. Stollard, C. Edwards,
3rd XI
Played 5 Won 1 Lost 4
The 3rd XI made up in enthusiasm
what it obviously lacked in skill!
The high point of the team was the
century made by team
captain.Chris Diaper, against
Tiffin, and he could always be
relied on to hit the ball all over the
place and cause a certain amount
of mayhem. Two non-cricketers,
James Dand and Ian Pocock,
were "talked" into playing in our
first match and went on to play in
all our later matches, pulling their
weight and, I think enjoying it.
Sanjeev Thiruchelvam opened the
bowling and, though at times
someward wayward, nevertheless
had a lot to do and did it well, but it
is difficult to pick out individuals
as everyone did his bit and had his
moment of glory.
A.C.L.P.
Team: Diaper (Capt.), Thiruchelvam,
Dand, Pocock, Behzadi, D.Grey, Tang,
Nicholls, St.Gallay, Blunden, Shaw.
The First 15
Under 15
The under 15 side won four, lost
four and drew three of their
matches, and did well to reach the
semi-final of the Surrey Schools'
Cup.
Our batting relied very heavily on
Alex Sands. It was disappointing
that he never converted a good
start into a really big score and
also that his performance declined
towards the end of term. The
other major scorers of runs were
Guy Fordham and Danny Hall.
Simon Marlow showed good
technique, and started to score
runs toward the end of term. Dilli
Sivakumaran has promise but, at
present, simply lacks the strength
to turn ability into big scores.
Overall, we performed respectably
with the bat. We were only bowled
out for under a hundred once, and
that was in a 25-over game.
We had plenty of adequate
bowling, but no-one came through
as having obvious high quality.
Simon Burmester has the
physique, and could improve a
great deal. Chris Kelly and Simon
Marlow struggled a bit too much
with line and length, as did John
Fecci - although he will remember
his hat-trick at St. George's. Too
late in the season, we discovered
that both Danny Hall and Ben
Honour have much promise as
slow left-armers.
Other regular performers were
Simon Nesbitt, Adrian Parkes, Zak
Vogel and Ronak Rajani. All had
their moments of triumph.
Junior Colours: A. Sands, G. Fordham, D.
Hall, J. Fecci, S. Marlow.
Under 14
Played 9 Won 2 Drawn 1 Lost 6
In the first of our victories - the
landmark win against Reed's - the
team showed what it could do if
everything came together (even
hands to catch the ball!) at the
right time. An exciting game
between two evenly matched sides
saw us us victorious with only a
few overs of the last twenty to
spare. We also to be grateful for
the splendid bowling of Lipscomb
and Lyon and the aggressive 34
from Sawmynaden, which were the
foundation of our success. The
other victory, against Salesians,
showed the other side of the coin,
since, despite the win, we were at
one stage nought-for-four, having
elected to bat and with the master
i/c contemplating hara-kiri (or
genocide!).
True, there were other moments:
one thinks of Flanagan's 45
against Teddington, Temlett's
pace generally and, perhaps more
than these, the exciting draw
against Tiffin's, when we so nearly
scraped home in the last over.
The most improved players would
41
42
probably be Ross, who showed
that he could stay at the wicket as
well as clobber the occasional
loose ball, and Garrard, who began
to show the ability to play a
complete innings - to stay at the
wicket and begin to compile the
runs. Ahmed, Lyon and also
Lipscomb had their moments with
the bat, each now needing to get
past the 20 mark. Roberts has
potential still and will make big
scores when he learns discretion
(and remembers that he has a left
hand too!). Stiff could also do with
learning some discretion, and
Barnard and Staheli had little
moments of technique which
looked the part, the former needing
more power and the latter more
confidence.
spin department. This also applies
to Evans, whose turning of the ball
in a couple of games really got
one's mouth watering (for wickets,
not runs!). Stiff produced a couple
of flamboyant overs against
Salesians which might in due
course be turned into decent
medium pace.
Fielding on occasions could reach
acceptable levels. One remembers
Ross, Stiff and Sawmynaden
holding remarkable catches, but
these were exceptional. Barnard
kept wicket competently enough,
and there can be no greater tryer.
Lipscomb's captaincy was
sensible, and he can look back on
the victories with some pride.
The bowling was steady rather
than dominating - as proven
against Reed's and Tiffin, it could
gradually work through a side.
Temlett, when available, was a
great asset (there being no
substitute for genuine pace);
Lipscomb is a thinking bowler who
has the ability to take wickets;
Flanagan also could generate fair
pace but needs to work on hitting
the target; Ahmed has a smooth
action and took a few wickets;
Lyon is perhaps the most
interesting prospect at either slow
or medium pace; Roberts also
could have a future in the slow
Team: V-J. Sawmynaden, B. Garrard,
C. Lipscomb (capt), D. Roberts, S. Lyon,
P. Flanagan, A. Ahmed, T. Staheli,
C. Ross, M. Barnard, R. Temlett.
Also played: O. Frost, P. Chohan, S. Stiff,
R.L.B.
R. Evans
Under 13
Played 10 Won 4 Lost 6
We beat Glyn easily. Against the
clock, Maxwell took two wickets in
as many balls. The catches were
taken and exceptional bowling by
Berressem helped. (11-2-18-4)
Edenham came out of the hat for
the Cup and we beat them with
good performances by Maxwell,
Lane and Berressem. We reached
the third round of the cup but were
knocked out by Kingswood. We
lost to Reed's by 3 runs with
Berressem and Sanford battling for
a long time and they looked like
saving the match, if not winning it.
With an over to go Berressem was
bowled.Against R.G.S. Guildford
we had a surprise victory.
Spenceley bowled exceptionally
well, taking three wickets in a
short time, and often had the
batsmen in trouble.
Overall it was a very good season
with, Irvine batting well, especially
in limited-over matches. Hauck
batted well but often got angry
behind the stumps. Berressem
played well all round and also
captained well. He will be a great
loss to the side.
Spenceley bowled well with
Berressem. They were quick and
could get the ball to seam and
swing a lot. Sanford was quick too
but often strayed off line. Catto
and Maxwell's slow but straight
bowling often had batsmen in
trouble and came in handy when
all else failed. Maxwell took five
wickets in one match. Lane spun
the ball well and was a useful
asset.
Natasha Leach LVI
Nell Allison 3rd year
43
OLD KINGSTONIANS
Dear Old Kingstonian,
1990 has proved to be an eventful year, with a major change to the way the association is funded. After
discussions with the school Governors it has been agreed that a fixed percentage of annual school fees will
automatically come to the association each time a pupil leaves.
The bottom line is that the Old Kingstonian Association is in a stronger position than ever to organize events
and support the school. So, all suggestions, particularly from the new life-members of the Association, are most
welcome.
Aside from the annual dinner in the autumn and the Old Kingstonian Day during the summer, it is hoped to have
a social function in the spring at the Hampton Wick club. But there must be countless other ideas for sporting
or social events through the year which the OKA could help organize, publicize or fund.
On a different note I know that many Old Kingstonians will have been saddened to hear of the recent death of
one of cricket's legends, Sir Len Mutton. He had strong ties with Kingston and had lived in the town for many
years, but I wonder how many of the more senior Old Kingstonians recall his ties with K.G.S.? A yellowed
cutting from the files of the Surrey Comet reveals all!
Dated July 28 1962, it is headlined SIR LEONARD HUTTON BATS AGAINST K.G.S. HE SCORES 52 RUNS
FOR M.C.C. IN DRAWN GAME.
"Kingston Grammar School had Sir Leonard Hutton going in at number five against them when they played an
M.C.C. team during their cricket week last week. Sir Leonard scored 42 of the M.C.C.'s total of 237-5,
H.S.Sharpe being the top scorer with 98 and R.C.G.Fortin a close second with 81. Set to get 237 in 180
minutes, the School team started slowly against some negative bowling and lost wickets trying to force the
pace. When a win was found impossible, K.G.S. played out time comfortably at 158-6, P.A.O'Neil scoring 52 of
them.
The Kingstonian Martlets defeated J.B.Robinson's XI the following day by two wickets. The visitors were
dismissed for 157, G.A.Cottrell taking 4-26. Set to score 158 runs in 145 minutes, the Martlets duly
accomplished this with 11 minutes and two wickets to spare.
The cricket week continued on Friday with a game against the Staff Common Room and, with several first team
men missing, the school side slumped to 77-7 before the bowling of G.E.Hartley (6-88). However, Kemp (36),
Jones (52 not out) and Essom (20 not out) hit the School out of trouble and they declared at 181 -8. Rain
reduced playing time after tea and the match ended in a draw with the staff at 94-6."
Out of interest, here is the scorecard from the epic game involving Sir Len.
M.C.C.
H. Sharpe c Tredwell b Cottrell
C. M. Tredwell Ibw b Kemp
R. C. G. Fortin b Kemp
J. A. Seward c Kell b Cottrell
Sir L Hutton c Kemp b O'Neil
G. A. Coker not out
Extras
4
98
12
81
0
42
0
K.G.S.
P. H. d'Arcy Lock c Tortin b Westerman
21
A. L. Elderidge c Hutton b Westerman
8
G. A. Cottrell Ibw b Howe
7
G. O. Mason Ibw b Howe
4
P. G. Carting not out
36
P. A. O'Neil b Waite
52
G. Tredwell c Tortin b Westerman
10
J. W. Randell not out
12
Extras
8
Total (for 5 wkts. dec.) 237
Total (for 6 wkts) 158
H. W. Howe, V. J. Ransom, G. E. Hartley, A. C. Waite
and P. Westerman did not bat.
C. H. Kemp, G. V. Kell and R. W. Mayes did not bat.
Wednesday: J.B. Robinson's X1157. K.G.S. Martlets 158-8. Martlets won by two wickets.
Friday: K.G.S. 181-8 dec. (P.A. O'Neil 54). Parents' XI 90. K.G.S. won by 110 runs.
Let's have your ideas for future Old Kingstonian events!
Best wishes,
Tim Harrison
Chairman
44
A.R.O.P.S.
Summer Conference 1990
The Association of
Representatives of Old Pupil
Societies
The summer conference this year
was held at The Mount School,
York on Saturday 19th May. Over
eighty representatives from-sixty
four schools were present and
heard a most interesting address
from the Headmistress, Miss
Barbara Windle. As is by now a
firm tradition, the Head outlined a
history of the school, which at The
Mount goes back to a Quaker
foundation of 1785. Many of the
principles of these times naturally
remain, giving The Mount its
distinctiveness: an atmosphere
based entrust, informality and
friendship.
A.G.M. 1989
After the President had dealt
with routine A.G.M. business,
Margaret Carter-Pegg, the
chairman, read out a caveat
designed to discourage the use
of our Membership List for
unauthorised purposes and Roy
Elliot, the Registrar, announced
that he had prepared a list of
some 40 Fund Raising
Consultants. This is available
to members on request.
enterprise, being a presentation by
the staff of "Operation Raleigh".
Yours truly as chairman had very
little to do!
In the afternoon we listened to
Peter Marshall, of the Northern
Initiative, describe his work for the
charity and go on to dictate a
working check-list of how to
launch appeals for ourselves.
Most appropriate, I thought, for all
Kingstonians...
The finale was an initial
presentation of a 1990 survey on
how member societies are fairing,
but more of this later. The results
are due to be published at the end
of the year.
The second session was one of
Mr. Stephen Smith, M.A., the
Headmaster of Caterham
School, which was hosting out
meeting, briefly enlightened us
about the origins and growth of
the school. He then covered in
some depth the introduction of
the national curriculum. The
primary need is, he said, to
introduce more flexibility into
the system to cater for
specialist and higher grades of
subjects. If it were possible to
achieve this, together with
some adjustment to the "A" and
"AS" level examinations, Mr
Smith felt that we should have
the basis of a sound and
progressive system. The
detrimental impact on schools'
summer sporting activities of
the long period over which the
examinations are currently held
was also highlighted. It is sad
that so many maintained
schools have now virtually
abandoned the organisation of
team games.
The educational repercussions
of the integration with other
European countries in 1992 was
also discussed and, providing
such matters as the mutual
recognition of qualifications is
resolved, Mr. Smith felt that
there could be substantial
benefits accruing to British
schools - particularly the
boarding element. It is
important, he said, that we not
only emphasise the importance
of learning languages, but come
to understand and appreciate
other lifestyles and customs.
David Hattersley
Decade Dinner
On May 18th twenty-two Old
Kingstonians, all of whom left
school before 1936, accepted the
Headmaster's invitation to join him
and a few younger members of the
Association for a Dinner in the
School Hall; a building,
incidentally, which post-dated quite
a number of them. The oldest
guest was Mr. G. Gundry, who left
in 1921, and he and others who
availed themselves of the offer of
a guided tour of the establishment
marvelled at the ingenuity of
planners and builders who have
turned what was the Headmaster's
front garden into a car park and
what was a playing field into a
three-story building. Apart from a
welcome from the Headmaster
there were no formal speeches and
the evening, as might have been
expected, was filled with the
renewal of old acquaintance and
with reminiscences. It was a
BARBER H.J.
BARRETT N.C.W.
CASTLEDINE H.J.
COOPER J.
EGGETTD.W.
EKBERG P.R.
FISHER J.E.C.
FOWLER B.P.C.
FRANK L.
GAYDON A.C.
GUNDRY G.
1922
1928
1933
1930
1934
1935
1933
1921
1925
1929
1921
memorable and unprecedented
occasion and has whetted the
appetite for subsequent similar
reunions of more recently departed
OKs, which the Headmaster has in
mind. He is to be congratulated on
this his brainchild and the only
regret is that more of the sixty or
so "oldies" who were contacted on
this occasion could not defeat the
combination of age and distance to
be present. Many of them had
long since lost contact with K.G.S.
and it is satisfying that a much
larger register of OKs is now
finding its way onto computer,
thanks to the combined efforts of
many individuals including the
Headmaster, John Snelling, David
Hattersley and most recently Dick
Barker and Arthur Hammond and,
not least, to those who have
responded to their appeals.
Please keep the flow of contacts
coming.
JENNER K.A.
JUDD A.F.
PACKER V.
PEARMUND R.E.
PENNY E.H.
PENNY K.G.
REEDER R.
SHAWS.L
THOMAS P.R.
MACHELLT.
EKBERG D.J.
1931
1928
1928
1928
1932
1933
1932
1928
1934
1928
1935
45
Gordon Rae Remembers
In my 80th year it is excusable to
remember with pride my glorious
years at K.G.S. sixty years ago. I
needed the exercise of putting my
thoughts and memories on paper.
But I have no excuse for sending
copy to you - much less any
motive.
I would like to think that
schoolboys today can enjoy and
take a pride in their school and
themselves just as much as I do
still even now.
When the K.G.S. Hockey Team
was met and welcomed at
Hamburg Railway Station at Easter
1929, each member was
personally greeted, and allocated a
"host" from the Uhlenhorster team,
and then we were personally
conducted, by car or bus or tram,
to the homes of our hosts (Hans
Knigge or Eric Schilling to name
two), who would look after us for
the whole of the Easter trip.
My school education advanced
from a free scholarship at Kingston
Grammar School in September
1921, to taking the Schools'
Certificate with seven credits, at
the age of 15, to three years in the
sixth form, culminating in the
Higher Schools' Certificate in Pure
and Applied Maths, Physics and
Chemistry.
The long summer holidays of 1928
held much adolescent
indetermination about what I
wanted to do with life, the name of
the game being "earning a living".
My father had an influential friend
at Bowaters paper mills at
Rotherhide. He promised support
if I chose to go to University,
which, in those days meant
Oxford, Cambridge or London. My
education to this point had been
"free", but he was prepared to
make any sacrifice to go further.
I had a justifiable pride in my
achievements at K.G.S. Not only
the examination results, but I had
won House Colours, and School
Colours at hockey but was also
House Secretary of Lovekyn
House, and I had recently been
46
promoted to full prefect. It dawned
upon me that if I returned to school
I should almost certainly have
been appointed Captain of School,
for my fellow prefects had
announced their intentions to leave
school.
taking one more year of free
education(c) I was not a volunteer
into the School Cadet Corps(d)
Stimson, the Head's "favourite",
was a classical scholar.and
recently promoted C.S.M of the
Cadet Corps.
I told my father of these
aspirations, and he immediately
grasped what it would mean to me
to be Captain. He said, "Yes, you
can have another year at school,
but you must have a target. I shall
speak to the Headmaster and ask
him what other avenues of
education are open to you". And
so we made the choice to aim at a
university scholarship.
Suffice it to state that the Head's
last remark on my July 1928
School Report was" I wonder". A
year later his Report reads "He has
been a worthy successor to the
best Captains of School we have
ever had."
No announcement had been made
the previous term as
to who was to be Captain of
School. This had never happened
before. On the first morning of the
Autumn term I was warned by the
Second Master to take a Bible into
"prayers", and be prepared to read
the lesson (the Captain's daily
duty). At assembly I took my
usual place alongside the platform,
with teaching staff and my fellow
prefects. The Headmaster arrived,
swept up the central aisle, and
took his stand beside the lectern,
where the Captain of the School
would normally be ready to read
the lesson. He looked around him,
and then called the name of a
senior scholar from the "Sixth" at
the back of the Hall. Stimson
came forward, blushed, and
mounted the platform. The Head
asked him "Have you the Lesson?"
"No, Sir." I stepped forward, and
offered my bible, open at the First
Psalm, to Stimson, and Prayers
preceded from there.
During the third period of lessons,
about 11.30 a.m., the Headmaster
swept into the Upper Sixth science
room, whispered to the master in
charge and summoned me to step
outside. He then said, "Rae, I am
glad to welcome you back as
Captain of the School".
The Head's reluctance to accept
my traditional right could have
been for personal reasons. There
were other more likely reasons: (a)
my delayed decision to return to
the school(b) a scholarship boy
THAT WONDERFUL YEAR -1929
Thus established as Head Boy at
K.G.S I was able during the
Autumn term of 1929 to
consolidate my duties and
disciplines, with a team of three
other full Prefects, and seven subprefects. Our sights were set on
loyalties to the traditions of our
ancient School, obedience to the
rules, and conduct throughout the
whole school that would preserve
our pride. The following year 1929
provided me in particular with the
finest year of my young life and
education beyond the narrow limits
of school life.
In February of that year I had to
attend the Annual Dinner of the
Old Kingstonian Association, to
represent the school, and to reply
to the toast of "The School, Staff
and Governors". My first-ever
taste of public speaking was
minutely prepared, and well
received. At that time R.C Sherriff
was enjoying enormous success in
the West End with his war-time
play "Journey's End". He had
been elected President of the Old
Boys' Association, and a few days
after the Dinner I received an
autographed copy of his play, with
a note of congratulation on what he
described as my "admirable
sangfroid"
In March 1929 the Headmaster
sent me up to Cambridge for three
days, to sit a scholarship for
Selwyn College; but without
success. As a parting shot on the
day before I went the Head said to
me, "Don't wear your School cap,"
(it was bright red, embroidered as
befits a Prefect), "Borrow a felt
hat, or a bowler, or something".
The most memorable part of my
trip was taking my practical
examination in Physics in the
famous Cavendish Laboratory.
Easter fell early, in the month of
March, and it involved me in my
first Easter Hockey Festival.
The School had an annual match
against the juniors of the famous
Uhlenhorster Club, in Hamburg,
played in alternate years at
Kingston and at Hamburg. The
school hockey team of that year
was one of the best ever. It
contained two England
Schoolboy Internationals, two
final Trial-ists of the same, two
future Presidents of the Hockey
Association and one Director of
Coaching. We played three
matches on tour, against the
Uhlenhorster, the Flottbeck Club
of Hamburg and the famous RotWiess Club juniors of Berlin. We
won all three matches, by the
scores 7-3, 3-D and 6-2
respectively. Of the 45 teams
present at the "Hockeywocke"
we were the only unbeaten team.
We were also the the first
hockey team to visit the
continent of Europe after the
Great War and return
undefeated.
On return from Germany we went
straight into the School Athletic
Sports. I had put up school
records in the Junior Half Mile
and the Junior High Jump, in
1926. Now, in my last senior
year, my great rival in track
events was T.A Hill. In the
preliminaries and on the Finals
Day, Hill had beaten me into
second place in the cross
country, the One Mile, the
Quarter-Mile and the One
Hundred Yard Sprint. I retaliated
by winning the One Hundred and
Twenty Yards Hurdles and
gaining useful points in field
events; High Jump, Long Jump
and Throwing the Cricket Ball.
With Hill leading me by just two
points there was only the Senior
Half Mile to be run. I had to win.
And I knew it. And I did, in a
new school record time. I
became Victor Ludorum of 1929.
In my last Summer Term I
succeeded in making a
personal acquaintance with
every boy in the school. The
school roll with 333 names
helped. The feat was of
practical use on only one
occasion! At assembly one
morning the Head requested
boys, of what category,
misdemeanors, distinction or
faith I cannot remember; but
nearly half the school stood firm
after dismissal. The Head said,
"Rae, take their names". I did
this without leaving the platform
or asking for names. The Head
was flabbergasted. I said,
"Yes. I do know every boy in
the school by name."
My last "event" at school was to
ask the Head for permission to
call an assembly at 11 .OOam
on the last day of term, in order
to make a presentation to a
very popular Master who was
leaving, and to which most
forms had subscribed. He was
Mr. H.P. Bryant, Senior
Science Master, and recently
comissioned Captain of the
Cadet Corps. I made the
address and presentation and
took the opportunity to add my
own farewell to the assembled
school. We "broke" for the long
summer holidays at 12.15pm on
Thursday July 25th 1929.
My year of further studies was
rewarded with an Inter B.Sc.
(London); and a Surrey County
Major Scholarship, with
acceptance into Christ's
College Cambridge. Ultimately,
after deep thought and a long
holiday in Cornwall, I declined.
I went "North" on September 7th
to join The Walpamur Company,
at Darwen, of which my father
was the London Sales Manager.
That decision I have never
regretted.
The annual Speech Day at
K.G.S came round on October
23rd, and I travelled "South" to
receive my awards. I took
Memorial Prizes for Science I,
and for All-Round Merit; and
the Chairman of Governor's
Prize for Captain of the Schoof.
And I went back to my new
home in Lancashire.
... as does David Reid
When I arrived in 1933 there was
the old building on the London Road
side of the quadrangle, and what we
called the new building on the other
side. I started in Form 3A, at the top
of the stairs at the Norbiton end of
the latter. My first Form Master was
George Hartley, who had been only
a short time at K.G.S. About three
years later, the first buildings went
up at the Fairfield end of the field
(this was before the Cage) and
were, I think, limited to two
form rooms and the gym.
The catchment area of the school
was smaller than now, and most
boys went home to lunch. I travelled
to Long Ditton by 602 trolleybus,
which went via Surbiton Station,
necessitating some smart
movement to do the round trip in the
one and a half hour lunch break.
The four daily journeys, amounting
to some ten miles, cost four old
pence. Bicycles were seen on the
premises, but no pupil in my day
had engined transport!
Education at K.G.S. was very
liberal, which was, in a way,
surprising, because the Headmaster
throughout my stay was C.A.
Howse, a stern disciplinarian and a
character of unforgettable austerity.
I and my friends were frankly scared
stiff of him and if the staff - about
half the size it is now - did not
appear similarly terrified, it may
simply have been because they
were better actors. On looking back,
I don't think "Charlie" necessarily
meant to have quite the basilisk
effect he did. Whether through
earlier accident or illness, he had a
stooped back and a facial
expression which combined a
drawn, almost emaciated, look with
a death's head pallor. The
impression created by this was
heightened by his use of
phraseology which even for those
days was oddly formal. I quote three
exam pies:At Prayers: "Almighty God " and,
after an unusual lapse of memory
and a long pause, "As you were."
To myself and John "Gussie" Cole,
while we were trying to do a Greek
oral Unseen: "Lines 193 to 202 are
47
neither instructive nor edifying: we
will continue at line 203."
To myself when shivering through
the onset of 'flu: "Are you
adequately clothed, boy?"
He belonged, as I and my
contemporaries did to a lesser
extent, to a generation trained to
suppress emotion. This is not to
say that it was never there, but
boys, unlike girls, do not look
underneath the surface in such
matters. The 1960's notion of
"letting it all hang out" would have
been anathema to him. We worked
hard and this, no doubt, helped us
to keep our minds off physical
burgeonings as long as possible.
We would no doubt be thought late
developers nowadays. By the time
I was in the sixth form, however,
my eye was caught by the
Headmaster's secretary, a Miss
Doris Graves. She was an
unexpectedly young and charming
woman who used to go home to
lunch on the same trolleybus as I
did. I don't suppose for a moment
that I had any effect on her, but
when she smiled on getting out it
had a very decided effect on me
and I found these unbidden
emotions perplexing and delightful
at the same time.
David Reid
Old Kingstonian Golf Society
Chairman
G. Hartley
(Cobham 63895)
Captain
G.Pope
(399-6915)
Vice Captain
R.Ekberg
(0372-64511)
Hon Sec
A.G.Adams (0932782602)
Hon Treasurer
D.Giles
(549-0011)
The season started off on a very
sour note when we arrived at
Banstead Downs G.C. to play the
Old Tiffinians for the "across the
road trophy" on 4th Mayto find that
we were outnumbered roughly 3 1/
2 to 1. We could only muster 5
48
players to 18 O.T.s. I reported
last year that our numbers were
dwindling but never did I expect
such a low turnout. Needless
to say we lost the match. At a
meeting held afterwards, it was
decided to send out a
questionnaire to try and get
members' opinions and some
new ideas to consider. The
mailing went out with the
invitations to the Burgh Hill
meeting.
card for the 1990/91 season shows
a large increase in fixtures, with a
veterans' team and more ladies'
fixtures on Saturdays and more
Scorpion and mixed hockey on
Sundays. The club is very grateful
to Chantrey Vellacott, Chartered
Accountants, for their generous
sponsorship and support.
This seemed to do the trick, as
no fewer than 30 OK's and
guests turned out for this Friday
13 July meeting just at the start
of our real summer. The
response to the questionnaire
was excellent, with over 20
replies, which we will discuss at
our AGM at St George's Hill
G.C. on October 5th.
Neil Murray has taken over as club
captain, and our thanks are due to
Giles Mason, who has undertaken
this arduous job for many years.
The 1 st XI is captained by Mark
Murray and it is hoped that this
season the team will find the
necessary consistent form to take
them to the top of the London
League and into the National
League. Bethan Morgan continues
to captain the Ladies' 1st team,
which this season plays in the
Middlesex League.
After the high tea, the results of
the afternoon's golf were
announced, figuring several well
known names. Winner of the
Black Cup: Peter Stephenson
(40 points), 2nd Mike Lafting
(38 points) and 3rd Mike
Roughty (36 points). Longest
Drive: Clive Limpas. Nearest
the Put on one of the Short
Holes: Jack Chevalier. Best
guest's score: Steven Giles son of David - with 33 points.
The 1st and 2nd Xls use the
School's artificial pitch for their
home matches by kind permission
of the Headmaster. The 1st XI
finished the 1989/90 season in fifth
place in the Pizza Express London
League and were in their best form
prior to Christmas, but were unable
to play to the same standard after
the long break over the Christmas
and New Year period. During the
close season there were tours to
France and Belgium.
Our sincere thanks must
certainly go to Don Wilson for
organising everything singlehanded, and introducing some
new prizewinning ideas.
There has been an influx of new
players to the club for this season
and it is good to see Simon
Cockman back from university and
in the first team. There is a good
pool of players for the 1 st and 2nd
teams, and the third team
comprises many experienced
players such as Ernie Vickery and
Julian King. The veterans' team is
being organized by Howard Iverson
and Richard Manning and has
already built up a good fixture list.
Our last meeting will be, as
usual, at St George's Hill G.C.
on 5th October, but time does
Old Kingstonian Hockey
Club
82nd Season
Sponsored by Chantrey
Vellacott, Chartered
Accountants
The Old Kingstonian Hockey
Club is very active and is
growing in numbers. The fixture
OKHC participates in the indoor
league at Crystal Palace on
Tuesdays and there is training on
Wednesday evenings.
The OK Colts are organized by
Brian Bailey. They had a
successful 1989/90 season and
look forward to a good 1990/91
season. Under 16 and Under 18
Colts matches in the Mercian
League take place on Sunday
mornings, and home matches are
usually played on the school
artificial pitch.
It is sad to record the death of one
Life Member and four Vice
Presidents. They were Jumbo
Chambers, Life Member, and Vice
Presidents the Rev. John Berry,
Leslie Glandfield, LS.E. (Jonah)
Jones and Freddie Nutt. They had
all been stalwart members of the
OKHC in the pre and post-war
period and helped the OKs to
become such a force in hockey.
The Past v Present matches
always prove popular and four
teams played the School including
one Ladies team. The School
played well to beat the Past. The
Old Kingstonian Annual Dinner,
after the Past v Present matches,
has been successful for many
years. Bernie Cotton, England
Team Manager, was guest
speaker at the Dinner. All Old
Boys (and Old Girls) are most
welcome to attend the dinner, and
any who would like to play in the
Past sides should contact Paul
Wetton.
New members at all levels of skill
are most welcome and should
contact Paul Wetton, Secretary,
32 Cavendish Avenue, New
Maiden, Surrey, KT3 6QQ Tel 081
949 3603
Don Wilson, President
Never Was So Much
Having just completed
arrangements for a formal lunch in
the Mess at Royal Air Force
Bently Priory for the Airfield
Construction Officers' Association
(the Branch in which I spent my
National Service), I cannot but
dwell upon the fiftieth anniversary
of The Battle of Britain. The
Few...
Every organization and association
has its Few, its own small band
without whom they probably would
not be what they are today.
Kingston Grammar School is no
exception.
The pupils change completely
every seven or so years, the
staff every thirty and the
Association perhaps every fifty,
but they do change and, with
them, change the Few who may
over the years be remembered.
Some will be remembered for
the length of time they served,
such as Gordon Evans, to
whom we all defer on matters of
contemporary history, and Percy
Rundle for the high standing in
which the school was held in the
heyday of the Direct Grant.
Others will be revered for the
impact they made, for
whatsoever reason, such as art
master Albert Perry and linguist
Doctor Nicholls.
We all have a personal list. To
mine I shall now add Tony
Creber for what he has done in
so short a time to breath life into
so many school activities. The
current Appeal is but one of the
things to which he has given his
wholehearted commitment.
Listening to the Headmaster's
address at the evening
presentations is like being at an
American election primary. The
energy expended is just
stunning. Add to these the
centenary dinners he is
arranging for hockey and rowing
and you will begin to see the
personal effort which goes into
making him truly one of the
FEW whom Kingstonians should
see fit to remember.
In conclusion, I am saddened to
think just how few will read
these lines. Few indeed are the
numbers who joined the
Association before the onset of
"life membership for all" in the
mid eighties. Yet these are the
Few who give generously to
appeal after appeal; we do not
know where so many of their
fellow pupils now are.
Therefore I ask you yet again to
look up your old friends. Send
us their names and addresses
so we may top up the Alumni
list and spread the load in future
years. Many will, I am sure, be
delighted to hear from the
school they haven't seen for
ages. We may hope that they
will add their weight to the final
stages of this most vital Appeal
yet launched at Kingston Grammar
School.
Surely there is no better way to
remember OUR FEW
David Hattersley
Lovekyn Chantry Lodge.
No6807
Our worshipful Master this year is
Peter Wiles who, although not an
Old Kingstonian, is well known to
many of our members and until his
recent retirement was the Youth
and Community Services Officer
for Surrey. When this lodge was
formed in 1949 membership was
restricted to old boys, staff and
governors, but entry has now been
widened to include these with
some past or present connection
with the school.
During 1990 we have so far
welcomed three new members:
one initiate, Chris Eley, introduced
by Tony Cope, and two joining
members (already of other lodges);
Anthony White, a current K.G.S
parent, the brother of our
Worshipful Master last year,
Michael White, and Keith Waller, a
past parent and currently one of
the Parents and Staff Association
Freemasonry, one of the world's
oldest secular and fraternal
societies, has three major
principles, one of which is Charity.
Freemasons are taught to practice
charity and to care not only for
their own but also for the
community as a whole, both by
charitable giving and by voluntary
efforts as individuals. In recent
years much more emphasis has
been given to assisting nonMasonic charity on an everincreasing scale. Sizable
contributions to various national
and international disaster and
emergency relief funds were made
available, in addition to those
given to more local causes.
Anyone requiring further
information about the lodge is
cordially invited to get in touch
with our secretary, Jack
Woodshead, Edgcote House, 44,
Albany Crescent, Claygate, KT10
OPF. Tel. Esher 63645
Jack Chevalier
49
A CALL TO ALL OLD BOYS
A search is on for all old boys who might be able to provide items and material to add to a school
archive. Items such as photos, documents, press cuttings, school reports, uniform and ephemera
would be very welcome. After being photographed, they will of course be returned to their owners.
The outcome will be a permanent record of life at K.G.S., and, it is hoped, a short illustrated history of
the school, to be published to coincide with the opening of the new buildings next year.
Items on loan would also be of interest, as it is hoped to have a small permanent display in the new
library.
Those who could help should contact Mr. Roger Brown, care of the Staff Common Room at K.G.S., as
soon as possible.
OLD KINGSTONIAN DIRECTORY 1990
AISBITT, T.C. (48-54) Works in Bahrain for Marine Navaids. He
can be contacted at 5, High St, Rode, Somerset Ba 3 6NZ
DALE, Colin (46-48) Still lives in Lincolnshire and runs his own
marketing consultancy in London.
ANDERSON, Don J.E. (46-54) Works as a B.T. negotiator,
cycles regularly and amuses himself lighting amateur theatricals.
DANGERFIELD, M.J. (81-87) Is a computer engineer for ICL,
based in S.W.Region, having joined them in Sept. 89 as a
computer engineer in retail systems.
ANSARI, Zaid (81-89) Currently doing a Degree (BA Hons) in
Information Management and Finance at PLC London.
BANGAY, John M. (30-37) Now retired after working in the
pharmaceutical industry. He now lives at &, Sherwood Close,
Empingham Rd, Stamford, Lines. PE9 2RL
BENNELL, Paul M. (81-89) Still at Swansea University and has
been elected Vice President, Athletic Union 1990/91.
BLUNDEN, Philip S. (1955-61) Is a partner with Coopers and
Lybrand Deloitte, and still plays a bit of hockey at High Wycombe
HC. He ran the London Marathon in 1988.
CHAPMAN, Chris (54-63) Has semi-retired to a bungalow in
Shepton Mallet. He has six children, enjoys the theatre and has
run in four marathons in support of Cancer Research in London,
Athens, Paris and Berlin. What energy!
CHAPMAN, Clive W. (40-47) Now works as a property
developer and still has a hand in many
hockey pies as Vice-President of the HA and Chairman
of the England selectors.
CHATTOE, Edmund (76-84) Has an MSc in Knowledge Based
systems from Sussex, and is returning to Oxford this Autumn to
begin a D.Phil.
COATES, B.M. (44-52) Has retired from full-time
schoolmastering but is mixing a little part-time teaching with
painting and writing.
COLEMAN, I.M. (57-66) Is a Squadron Leader based at RAF St.
Mawgan, where he is Navigation Leader, 42 Squadron (Nimrods)
CROME, Dave (79-87) Still at home on 0372 275834 and is due
to graduate from Homerton College Cambridge in 1991, then off
to RMA Sandhurst to join RAEC.
CULLEY, Adrian (81-89) Lives at 29 Elsenwood Crescent,
Camberley, Surrey GU15 2BA. He attends Coventry Poly to
study Geography and Statistics. He is currently running the
Hiking and Hostelling Club.
CUTTS, L.A. (74-81) Works on automotive design with the
Panther sports car company.
DAKIN, Simon (78-86) Is living at Institut Laue-Langevin 156X
38042, Grenoble, Cedex, where he is studying for a PHD, having
graduated from Southampton with 1st class hons in Physics.
50
DICKENSON, Fred (46-53) Has been working for IBM since
leaving Cambridge in 1958.Now on a 2 yr. sabbatical on
secondment to Save the Children in Nepal, on return will become
personel staff director, IBM.
DORE, R.M. (53-59) Is in local government and at present
is Head of Personel and Administrative Services with Dartford
B.C.
DORRINGTON, Richard J. (47-55) Another new member joining
35 yrs. after leaving school, Richard is now a civil servant with
the DOE and plays the piano and the viola in his spare time. He
is living at 7, Deepdale, SW19 5EL
DRING, Ian O.K. (58-65) Is a Director of British Sanitized Ltd.
He is also a Parish Councillor.
DUNDAS, Bruce (48-50) Is celebrating 21 years with the same
firm of insurance brokers in B.C.
EAST, G.R. (57-61 and 64-66) (Now there's a difference!)
Another of our OK Lt. Col's. He lives at 20, Trenchard Rd,
Andover, Hampshire (0264 57073) and he works in the logistic
executive (Army) at Andover.
EDWARDS, Nigel (86-90) Joined the Royal Navy in April 1990
as a trainee officer and was pleased to find an OK as Divisional
Officer (Lt. Simon Carter). "We get everywhere don't we," he
says. He will pass out next April and hopes to become an R.N.
Commando.
EGGETT, Denis W. (26-34) Following the very successful
decade dinner we are pleased to welcome Denis as an OKA
member. He lives at 30 Woodlands Way, Ashtead, Surrey KT21
1IH.Tel.0372 275854
ELLINGHAM, Simon (77-84) Lives at 133 Mount Rd,
Chessington. Tel (081)139 12455. He works as a Police Officer
in Chelsea. He has recently married Linda, and would love to
hear from the old C.U. committee of 83/84.
EVANS, Richard (1947-1954) We are pleased to welcome
Richard as a full OK member. He is a political Journalist with the
Financial Times. His home address is 55, Queens Rd, Kingston
KT27JJ
FISHER, A.J.C. (58-65) Now a Lt. Col. R.C.T., living at 7, Beach
Road East, Felixstone, Suffolk.
FITCH, John (79-86) Lives at 56, Brackyn Rd, Cambridge, and
is a student. He rowed for GOLDIE in the 1990 Boat Race.
GAYDON, Dr. B.G. Works as a research engineer, is a Fellow of
the I.E.E. and a member of the Institute of Physics.
GIBSON, Dennis M. (26-34) Still lives in Tolworth and says he
feels rather decrepit. We can't believe that, Dennis.
GILLINGS, M.J. (61-68) Is a GP in NOrwich and Hospital
Practitioner in Respiratory Medicine at West Norwich Hospital.
He still plays hockey for Norwich Exiles - veterans!
GRUBB, Sam.(82-89) is now a student at Imperial College.
Tel:0276 74040.
HALE, John S. (70-77) Has been with Ernst and Young since his
return to the UK.
HALL, John (83-88) Has not moved but may be moving to East
London soon. Tel:0932 221907. He is a counter assistant at
Ladbrokes, having just left Esher College. He hopes to train as a
journalist, otherwise he'll become a croupier in London!
HALL, Jonathan (76-82) He is now a tele-sales agent (flight
bookings with Dan Air). He is with a wonderful girlfriend Hanna
and has set the marriage for the year 2000.
HALSEY, Paul (77-85) He is going to marry Miss Julia Marshall
within the year. He is a Network Consultant with IBM and still
lives at 47, Hatton Rd, Bedfont, TW14 8JN. Tel.081 890 5033
HARMAN, William (50-56) We welcome Bill as a new OKA
Member. He now lives at Little Court, Western Rd, Ash burton,
Devon TQ1 37ED. He runs a French Property Language
Service and would be pleased to hear from any OK thinking of
buying property in France.
HARVEY, A.R.E. (57-66) Still works for the Bank of England and
performs regularly in amateur operatics
HAWTHORN, T. (54-61) Is General Manager, Morganite
Electronic Instruments and hopes he has at last settled in
Colchester.
JORDAN, Kenneth J. A civil servant having just changed jobs in
the Dept. of Employment, and now in charge of Public Relations
Policy.
KING, P.A. (52-58) Is a money broker and lives at 2, Burtenshaw
Rd, Boyle Farm, Thames Ditton KT1 70TP. Tel. 081 398 7155
LAMBERT, Curt (78-83) Third-year D.Phil student in Chemistry,
currently living at 21, Cobden Crescent, Oxford. He says that he
is a dab hand at Firework displays. Any requests?
LATTER, Elizabeth H. (80-86) Is now in her 3rd year at UCL
reading for BSc in statistics, computing, operating research &
economics.
LEIGH, David (55-61) Lives at 1679, Derby Rd, Victoria Br.
Canada. Tel. 6045958301. He is a Quantity Surveyor.
LE ROSSIGNOL, J.D. (58-65) Works in computers and is
manager of Philips Co-ordination Centre in Brussels, a post
which enables him to see the world.
LEWIS, Christopher W. (56-62) Is now a chartered accountant
working at Milk Marketing Board, as group Insurance Manager,
and Assistant Treasurer. He still lives in Godalming. Tel. 6578
LORIMER, Mrs J. (nee palfrey) Is working as a radiographer in
Stevenage.
LOW, Forbes (76-84) Is a graphic designer and lives at 44,
Sydney Rd, Raynes Park SW20. Tel. 081 -542 5456
MANSUR, C.R. (84-89) Is a student of Aeronautical Engineering
at Loughborough University. Tel. 081 948 0565
MARLOW, David J.(55-64) David, a brother of our late Sec.,
Roger, has joined the Association. He is a Civil Servant and has
for many years until recently been a Richmond Councillor.and at
one time aspired to the heights of Chairman of the Education
Committee.
MARSHALL, Richard (76-84) Lives at 32, St.George's St,
Macclesfield, Cheshire SK11 6TG and is a Personnel Officer with
ICI. He was married in July 1988 to Amanda and is playing
hockey for Macclesfield Town.
HEPHER, Michael (54-61) Has moved up country to Valverde,
Granville Rd, St.George's Hill, Weybridge. Tel. 0932 868810. He
is now Chairman and MD, Lloyds Abbey Life PLC.
McLELLAN, Alan Now lives at 21, Tarn Rd, Formby, Merseyside
L37 2SY.
HICKS, Stuart D. (67-74) Is working as a Valuation Actuary in
Bristol and is also involved in chartering excursion trains from
British Rail.
MILLS, Andrew (72-80) Has recently been ordained into URC
ministry at Tintwistle and Glossop, and is the proud father of a
baby girl.
HODGES, Brian S. (31 -37) Has retired from the Civil Service
and now busies himself with a variety of good causes in the
Dorking area.
MILLS, Heather (79-86) Is a nursery nurse at Tadworth Court
Children's Hospital. Tel. 081 942 8425
HOUGHTON, M.A. (69-76) Is a Major in the Royal Artillery,
working in the MOD.
HOUSE, Andy (69-78) Is now Sales Manager with a German
company, having retired from the Surrey Police. He has two
children, Matthew 2 yrs. and Rebecca 5 months.
HYDE, Robert G. (43-50) Is Customer Services Manager, British
Telecom, having retired from the Diplomatic Service in 1986.
Singing member of Philharmonia Chorus.
JENNER, Dr. K.A. (1925-31) Dr.Jenner has told us that was
awarded a D. Phil at Wadham College, Oxford in 1989 for a
thesis entitled "A Study of Galen's Commentary on Prognostikon
of Hippocrates", which dealt with ancient Greek Medicine. This
degree was awarded exactly 55 years after his Cambridge BA.
JILLINGS, Guy R. (47-55) Is with Royal Dutch Shell Group. He
is much travelled but now in Weybridge and, he says, pursuing
many interests without distinction.
JOHNSON, David A. (50-59) Is a Chartered Accountant,
married to a Chartered Accountant, and enjoying living in
Tavistock. They have a busy social life.
MILLS, Ian (75-82) Is a happy man living in St.Andrews,
Scotland, we learn from his sister!
MOLE, Nicholas (77-82) Has not moved but should now be a
father! Tel. 0486786105
MORGAN, Bobby Has now left Mill Hill School and has become
Deputy Headmaster at Rendcombe College, Cirencester.
MOUNTFORD, R.S. (51 -57) Is a Brigadier working in the MOD.
He was awarded the QBE in 1981.
NOTTON, Ricky (44-49) Is Manager OK's 1st X1, Chairman
Surrey Schools, Manager Surrey Under 21, South Men's
Committee, South School's Committee, South Men's Coaches
Committee.
PALFRY, D.K.(71-78) Is married and living in Southampton, and
is working in computers.
PALFRY, Ned (79-86) Lives at 4, Sheaf Cottages, Western
Green, and is in 2nd year UWCC.
PARKER, C.H.F. (39-48) Lives in Surbiton and still runs his own
manufacturing company.
51
PATERNOSTER, M.C. Canon Rev.(46-54) Is Rector, St.James1
Episcopal Church, Aberdeen and lives at 31 .Gladstone Race,
Aberdeen, B1 6UX. Tel. 0224 322631
PEARCE, J.F. (50-58) Lives at Pear Tree Cottage, Weston
Green, Thames Ditton, Surrey KT7 OJ2 and is a Company
Director.
PENNY, E.H. (26-32) Another of our Decade dinner recruits,
Edgar lives at 29A, Southview Rd, Byfleet, Essex SS7 SNA
PENNY, K.G. (26-33) As brother Edgar. 56, Orpin Rd, South
Merstham, Redhill RH1 3EY
PHIPPS, J.L. (21-24) Is retired and lives in Walton-on-Thames.
PIERIDES, Paul (59-67) A partner with Gordon Dadds since
1973, specialising in conveyancing. He has recently married and
now has a daughter.
POTTS, D.F. (50-56) Still lives in Thames Ditton and works with
Prudential Property Services. Interested in anything to do with
boats.
PRATT (47-53) "Percy" Mike now lives in Derby. Tel. 0332 428
QUICK, F.G. (27-31) Has retired from Plessey. He lives in
Thames Ditton and regrets that he has given up sport.
REEDER, R.H. (24-31) Has finally retired after 58 years in the
Estate Agency business and now lives in Iwerne Minster in
Dorset.
REGO, Michael C.P. (71-78) 33, Apex Close, The Avenue,
Beckham. He is a geophysicist with B.P. Pet Dev Ltd. and
returned to London from Cairo last December. His second child
was born in March 1990. His daughter Anghrad is now 3 years
old. He hopes to pick up his rowing.
RILEY, John P. (66-73) Has just returned from tours of duty in
Ireland, Denmark and USA with !st Queen's Regiment. Still rows
and has had two books published
ROBINSON, A.L. (23-27) Lives in Sunbury (Tel. 73857) and is
retired but still plays the organ at Belchamp Walter Parish
Church, Sunbury.
TRAUBE, Richard (46-51) Still lives at 30, West Bank, Dorking
(Tel. 0306 889326) and now runs Traube Wedding Photography.
TRICKEY, David Now lives at 3, Millbank, Welford, Thornley,
Northampton NN6 8SJ.
TUFF, Charles (78-86) Is at Little Laurels, Bourton on the Hill,
Glos. GL56 9AH. (Tel. 0386 700909). He is still a student at
Oxford Poly and promises to finish sometime soon.
TUFF, Janet (81 -83) Lives at the same address as Charlie, but
is in the RAF in the OC accounts flight at RAF Kinloss in
Morayshire.
TURNER, A. (Fred) (26-30) Is a retired Quantity Surveyor living
near Bridgewater and Playing Golf at Enmore Park G.C.
TURNER, Richard (78-83) 17, Ravenstone Road, Camberley,
Surrey GV15 1SN. (Tel. 0276 65418) He works as a
manufacturing engineer. He still spends as much time as
possible at the piano and wonders if any OKs have a good one
for sale.
VYE, Martin J. (47-55) Is coming to the end of his 12-year stint
as a Housemaster at King's Canterbury. He sits on Kent C.C. as
a Liberal Democrat and is a prospective Parliamentary candidate
for Canterbury.
WAKEFIELD, Colin J. (69-74) Runs several companies in West
Sussex and takes a keen interest in motor racing.
WALDOCK, Adrian Is still living at 312, Cresswell Rd,
Twickenham, and is doing a splendid job as Secretary of the OK
Squash Club. He says that he could do with many more OK
members. Full details can be obtained from Adrian on 892 2446.
He also wonders whether there would be support for a Past v
Present Chess match. How about it, are you interested?
WARD, Rev. David Is now Vicar of St.Paul's, Chessington, and
of course an OK Governor and a keen member of the F and GP
on that body.
WARD, Tim David's (see above) son is now studying for the
Ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, having "retired" from teaching
at Aylesbury Gram mar School.
WEBB, Gregory (79-83) Still resides at 23, Chertsey Rd, Byfleet.
SMART, Catherine (81 -88) She is still at 4, Birchwood Grove,
Hampton and is in her third year at Wolverhampton. However
she is spending a year in the Indian Ocean near Mauritius as as
part of the BA European Studies course. OKs get everywhere!
SPEAR, P.R.S. Having been writing to P.Spear for many years,
we are now told that he moved 5 years ago. Does anyone know
his current address? (To John Snelling, 0372 67304, please.)
SPEARING, B.J.H. (16-22) We regret to have to record his
death in March 1990.
STONE, Trevor (81 -88) A student at Southampton reading
Aeronautical Engineering, having got a sponsorship with British
Airways.
TINDLE, Andrew M. (73-78) Is living at 36, Woodway St,
Chudleigh, Devon, TQ1 30JV
THOMAS, Martin (80-85) Has completed an Hons degree in
Pharmacology at U.C.Cardiff and is now in his 2nd year of
Medicine at Southampton.
THOMAS, Phillip (28-34) One of the splendid speakers at the
O.K. Centenary Dinner, Phillip lives at 10, Avenue Rd,
Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 OBT
WEBB, Oliver (81-86) Is still doing a BSc in Earth Sciences at
Sheffield Univ. and is now in his 2nd year.
WHITE, Dominic (76-83) Is still a student studying forestry for a
Master's degree at Oxford, and helping to conserve tropical
rainforests with WWF UK.
WIGLEY, Graeme (78-84) A student, having completed a BSc
(Tech) in Applied Biology at UWIST, but now doing an MSc in
computing at UWCC (which was UWIST). If you know what he
meansl
WILLIAMS, Jeremy (76-84) Is a financial adviser with Lloyds
Bank PLC and lives at 113, Vale Rd, Worcester Park, Surrey.
Tel. 081 3300177
WOOD, R.T. (23-31) Is now retired and living in Chard,
Somerset.
WOODGATE, Rev. D.D. (20-27) Is now retired and living in
Worksop.
WHYBRAY, Prof, the Rev. R.N. (23-31) Has now retired as
Emeritus Professor of Theology at the University of Hull. He has
written twelve books on Old Testament subjects and numerous
articles.
TOWNSEND, S.P. (76) We were greatly saddened to hear of his
death in a drowning accident.
Printed by The Secretary Birds' (Maiden Print & Copy Centre), 33 Coombe Road, New Maiden, Surrey. 081-949 7622.