Publication - Dragon School

THE OLD DRAGON
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I S S U E
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Holiday Diaries
The Urban Spaceman
Heritage Dragon
Blackbird Academy
OD News and Events
Dear ODs
Welcome to the third edition of The OD magazine featuring ODs of many
generations. This issue sees a bumper crop of OD lives and achievements
and we thank you for keeping in touch with the school and letting us know
what you are doing. I am so struck by the diversity of Old Dragons’ careers,
professions and pursuits and very much enjoy hearing about them. Please
continue to keep us informed; the OD Office is always delighted to hear from
you and to welcome back ODs of all ages.
Since the last issue, the Dragon has enjoyed another successful year with
outstanding scholarship results from our most recent leavers. The music
department and the children have produced the most wonderful concerts,
performing at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, at prestigious venues in
Venice, and at St John’s Smith Square, where they were conducted by special
guest and OD, Sir Roger Norrington (OD 1947). Whenever possible, ODs are
very welcome to attend our music and theatre performances and should contact
the OD Office for information about forthcoming events – you can find details
on the back inside cover.
In 2013 we had two well-attended and enjoyable OD reunions and a JOD Day
which prompted an enthusiastic response from our younger ODs. Our next
reunion in March 2014 will welcome leavers from 1976 to 1979, so if you are
from that group I very much hope we shall see you back at the Dragon.
With every good wish,
John Baugh
Headmaster
THE OD
A selection of highlights from 2012 and 2013…
OD Achievements
More news of Dragon happenings can be found on the school
website at www.dragonschool.org and Facebook page
Dragon School, Oxford
Stupendous Sale
Travellers Return
The 2012 Dragon Christmas Charity
Sale raised £168,000 thanks to the
extraordinary generosity of everyone
who took part. Screen star Tom
Hiddleston (OD 1994), opened the Sale.
Two Nicholas Knatchbull Travel Award
recipients, Harry Stansfield (OD 2006)
and James Womersley (OD 2000),
were welcomed back to the Dragon in
April 2013 to speak at Spectrum about
their experiences and journeys abroad.
Judo Girls
Dragon girls fought tremendously
at the IAPS Girls Judo Competition
in January 2013, all eleven of them
winning gold, silver or bronze medals.
With their combined effort they were
awarded the Silver Cup for the 2013
IAPS Judo Tournament.
Venice Music Tour
2
Heritage5
Bookshelf6
Science Holiday Diaries
8
10
Dragon Developments 14
OD Events and
Reunions15
53 members of Chamber Choir and
Dragonetti Strings travelled to Venice
in April 2013 to give five performances
to large church congregations and
to tourists at several famous venues
including St Mark’s Basilica.
OD News
Caldicott Winners
Senior Scholarships
The number of scholarships and
awards to their senior schools
achieved by Dragon pupils rose from
43 in 2012 to 48 in 2013.
OD Merchandise
Contact Us
24
Both 1st and 2nd VII teams scored
victories in the rugby tournament in
March 2013. The 2nd VII won by 12 points
to 5 and the 1st VII were awarded the
plate competition for the second year
running with a convincing 28-12 win.
OD & Development
Events Diary
25
Swimming Champions
In May 2013 Dragon pupils played and
sang a diverse programme of baroque
and later works at St John’s Smith
Square, conducted by special guest
Sir Roger Norrington (OD 1947).
In March 2013, for the second year
running, the U11 Girls and Boys
Swimming Teams became Oxfordshire
Primary School Relay Champions when
they beat 16 other schools.
Dragon Speakers
Two C Block and two B Block Dragons
represented the school in March 2013
at the prestigious Demosthenes Public
Competition at Bradfield College and
received special praise from the judge
on their clarity and content.
High Music Score
82 children took instrumental grade
examinations in the spring of 2013 and
produced the highest scoring results
anyone recall at the Dragon: 86%
achieved Distinctions and Merits.
18
Announcements20
Obituaries21
Baroque in London
Academy Sponsor
The Dragon is the lead sponsor of
a new primary school academy. In
September 2013, three primary schools
in the Leys area of Oxford became part
of the new Blackbird Academy Trust.
New Direction
Vicky Savage joined the Dragon in
September 2013 as Director of Music.
She was previously Director of Music
at Garden House School in London
where she taught over 500 children.
2014 · ISSUE 3
CONTENTS
Headline News
Contents
1
ACHIEVEMENTS
2
OD Achievements
Dynamic
Design Vision
As a student at Cornell in the 1990s, Matthew Bannister
(OD 1980) and two friends became intrigued with the
idea of applying three-dimensional computer imaging to
the world of architecture and design – then dominated
primarily by static watercolour visuals. The trio went
on to form DBOX, now an international branding
and creative agency that specialises in the fields of
architecture, art, hospitality and culture.
Since its formation in 1996, DBOX has
established relationships with many of
the world’s foremost property developers
and architects, maintaining studios in
London, Taipei, Miami and New York.
In October 2012, DBOX won an
Emmy Award for its work developing
the computer graphics and branding for
the six part documentary series Rising:
Rebuilding Ground Zero, created for the
Discovery and Science channels with
THE OD
Executive Producers Steven Spielberg
and Danny Forster. The Emmy crowned
nearly a decade of work by Matthew
and DBOX on the World Trade Center
site, for which they created visuals
for the winning master plan, as well
as still images and animations for key
benchmarks throughout its construction.
Prior to co-founding DBOX, Matthew
studied architecture at Cornell University
(B. Arch. ’94) and earned a master’s
degree in architecture from Princeton (M.
Arch ‘96). Matthew has taught at Parsons
School of Design, The School of Visual
Arts, The Graduate School at Princeton
University and Cornell University School
of Architecture, Art and Planning. In
2006, he was named as one of the world’s
top creatives under 40 by Wallpaper
magazine. He left the Dragon in 1980,
winning the first Art Scholarship to
Marlborough College.
The World is a Stage
For Ghiv Khatib-Chahidi (OD 1982) early steps on the boards
of the Lynam Hall have led to Broadway. In December 2013
Ghiv, who works under the name of Paul Chahidi, opened
in the transfer to New York’s Belasco Theatre from the West
End of the Globe’s all-male productions of Shakespeare’s
Twelfth Night and Richard III. Nominated in 2012 for an
Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor in the acclaimed
double bill alongside Mark Rylance, Ghiv is part of a stellar
repertory cast which also includes Stephen Fry.
After Trinity College, Cambridge, Ghiv trained at the
Central School of Speech and Drama. In 2012, after five
seasons with the company, he became an Associate Artist of
the Royal Shakespeare Company. With the RSC he appeared
most recently in Measure for Measure and Written on the
Heart, a new play by David Edgar about the King James
Bible. Ghiv also recently appeared in the BAFTA nominated
drama about Monty Python, Holy Flying Circus, and in
two series of the 1950s-based BBC newsroom drama The
Hour. In 2014 he can be seen in the feature film The Voices,
alongside Ryan Reynolds and Anna Kendrick.
Called to the Bar
A digital guide to “nothing but the best bars
from London to New York and everywhere
in between” brought Tatiana Mercer (OD
1998) the accolade of inclusion in a list of
London’s most influential people in both
2012 and 2013. Her website, BarChick,
launched in 2010 was an instant hit in
London. A BarChick app quickly followed
putting the expertise of Tatiana and her team
of dedicated bar researchers directly in the
pockets of aficionados of the latest, smartest,
most intriguing and memorable bars to visit.
The website www.barchick.com now features
60 cities around the world with independent
reviews, guides and maps. Tatiana has
featured regularly in the London Evening
Standard (amongst whose 1000 to watch
she was listed) and she provides the official
bar guide for London Fashion Week; she
also writes for Easyjet, Grazia, Elle, Maxim
and The Guardian. So as the BarChick team
say, from Paris to Berlin, London to Miami,
Hong Kong to New York, “BarChick has got
your back and has done the tourist thang for
you, so you don’t have to.”
2014 · ISSUE 3
ACHIEVEMENTS
3
ACHIEVEMENTS
4
Storming the Desert
The Marathon de Sables has been described as the toughest
race on earth. The gruelling multi-stage contest takes place
in one of the world’s most striking landscapes and most
challenging climates – the Sahara Desert. Paul Bowker (OD
1975) not only completed the event successfully in April 2013,
he also raised over £35,000.
The rules of the race are that the
participants must be self-sufficient and
carry all they need apart from water.
Runners from all over the world face
the scorching heat as they complete the
equivalent of five and half marathons in
as many days to raise significant funds
for charities.
Paul reports that temperatures were
extreme, reaching as high as 54 degrees
centigrade; Day Four, the ‘long’ day of
the 75 kilometre stage was especially hot.
Although the whole course was some
15 kilometres shorter than in previous
years at approximately 235km, what
was reduced in distance was more than
made up for in hills, mountains and
dunes to cross. Day Two was particularly
brutal in that respect with three jebels
(mountains) to traverse.
Despite all obstacles, however, Paul
finished in the top half of the field, at
489th out of 1030 starters. The charities
Pancreatic Cancer Action and BackUp
Trust will benefit from his herculean
achievement.
Removing Barriers to Better Futures
Oxfordshire social enterprise and employment
charity Aspire won national recognition in
December 2012 as The Guardian Newspaper’s
Charity of the Year. Led by CEO Rick Mower
(OD 1981), Aspire offers life changing support
to people who face barriers to meaningful
employment. Through professional social
businesses, work placements are created
that provide skills, experience and
responsibility in real environments.
Providing facilities services
including grounds maintenance,
removals and upcycling, Aspire’s
clients include local councils,
blue chip companies and
academic institutions.
Since its foundation in 2001,
the results achieved by Aspire have made it a
market leader in getting trainees into proper
paid work with exceptionally low rates of
re-offending or relapse. Rick Mower is deeply
impressed with what can be achieved by men
and women who have been out of mainstream
work for many years.
THE OD
“The people we work with are
extraordinary,” he says. “The resilience,
determination to change and sheer tenacity
of people who have faced and survived
really tough periods in life, is inspiring.
Harnessing that energy gives Aspire a great
workforce and makes it a place of change,
opportunity and growth”.
The social impact effect of Aspire is
substantial. It saves the tax payer over
£1 million a year in reduced benefits
claims and cost saving to other
public services in Oxfordshire.
Its work placement programmes
achieve almost four times the
success rate of the Government’s
Work Programme providers in
securing full-time employment. In 2012
alone the charity helped 117 trainees,
generated 6,706 positive working days, and
secured 88 places for education and training
– as well as building self-confidence,
encouraging positive work habits and
redirecting people’s lives.
5
HERITAGE
As Director of Heritage Protection and Planning at English
Heritage, Dr Edward Impey (OD 1975) managed the study, Listing
and protection of historic buildings and archaeology. Today that
can mean power stations as often as palaces. Reminiscing about
Dragon days, he explained some of the pressures faced by those
guarding the nation’s historic environment. He has recently moved
on to become Master and Director General of the Royal Armouries.
Heritage Dragon
Edward Impey’s career is rooted in his
study of History and Classics at the Dragon.
Having pursued these subjects throughout
school, he became a Junior Research Fellow
at Oriel College, Oxford. He then joined the
professional heritage fraternity as Historic
Buildings Curator at the Historic Royal
Palaces Agency, later becoming Curator. This
rarefied setting was swapped for a broader
canvas when he joined English Heritage
in 2002, initially as Director of Research
and Standards.
Reflecting upon his career direction, he
simply says: “We had some excellent History
teachers at the Dragon. In spite of normal
schoolboy resistance, we learned a lot.”
Edward has written about numerous
architectural and historical subjects,
including the official illustrated histories
of the Tower of London and Kensington
Palace – both buildings with long histories
reflected in their venerable architecture.
However, much of his time has been spent
“We had some excellent
History teachers at the
Dragon. In spite of normal
schoolboy resistance,
we learned a lot.”
considering the merits of far more modern
structures as ever more 20th Century
buildings are nominated for protection.
“Buildings that were completely reviled 20
years ago, such as the Central Bus Station
in Preston, of novel concrete construction,
are now loved by enthusiasts,” he confirms.
“Appreciation of what matters evolves
over time and the more removed we
become, the more objective we can be.”
English Heritage is frequently criticised
for listing buildings which many people
dislike, but likeability is not the chief
criterion for listing; rather buildings must
be of special architectural interest to be
protected. And the question of what is
interesting changes: a generation ago,
structures from the inter-war years and even
many Victorian and Edwardian buildings
were thought of very little significance. Forty
years on the view is somewhat different.
Edward explains that in the last decade
most listings have originated in requests
from the public. Although these suggestions
are not always motivated by heritage
concerns: “People see the house next
door is for sale and worry that the garden
will built over. They submit the house for
listing because they think that will stop it
happening,” says Edward. However, English
Heritage itself is now increasingly pro-active
in listing, concentrating on buildings which
are little understood or of unquestionable
‘special interest’, particularly if under threat.
An example is Didcot Power Station which
closed in March 2013, as Edward explains:
“Some who live in Didcot hate it. For many
people who view it from afar, though, it’s
a wonderful, familiar thing. In the end the
decision was to advise against listing, but
we certainly considered it. There are dozens
of similar sites around the country and one
or two will need to be added to the List.”
When asked what inspires him to
remain in contact with the Dragon,
Edward replies: “It’s a bit of your life you
remember very well, you can’t erase it. The
Dragon is a cult school.” He fondly recalls
it being slightly ramshackle. “It wasn’t a
sort of take it or leave it place, it put its
stamp on people very much. But of course
what we didn’t know while we were there
was that it wasn’t like other prep schools.
We were all rather scruffy in those clever
indestructible blue corduroy uniforms.”
In touch with many contemporaries,
Edward recognises their Dragon
characteristics. “I was at a Ford Lecture
recently,” he says. “An OD came up
to me who is a history don now.
Those seven years leave a mark which
gives you a common ground.”
2014 · ISSUE 3
BOOK SHELF
6
The Dragon is keen to keep abreast of published OD writing, books about ODs and of OD interest.
Here are publishers’ descriptions of books received by the OD Office since the last issue of The OD.
Book Shelf
The Demon’s Watch
Conrad Mason (OD 1997)
David Fickling Books, 2012
‘‘‘We’re the Demon’s Watch, son.
Protectors of Port Fayt. Scourge
of all sea scum. Don’t tell me
you’ve never heard of us?’
Half-goblin boy Joseph Grubb
lives in Fayt, a bustling trading
port where elves, trolls, fairies
and humans live side by side.
Fed up of working at the Legless
Mermaid tavern, Grubb dreams
of escape – until a whirlwind
encounter with a smuggler
plunges him into Fayt’s criminal
underworld. There he meets
the Demon’s Watch and learns
of their mission to save the port
from a mysterious and deadly
threat. Can Grubb and his new
allies uncover the dark plot in
time, or will they end up as fish
food in Harry’s Shark Pit?’’
THE OD
The Goblin’s Gift, Tales of
Fayt, Book 2
Conrad Mason (OD 1997)
David Fickling Books, 2013
‘‘Joseph Grubb is the newest
member of the Demon’s Watch.
He and his fellow watchmen
protect Port Fayt, where humans
live in peace alongside trolls,
elves and fairies. And now the
town needs them more than
ever, because the almighty
League of the Light has sent an
armada to wipe it off the map.
Fayt’s only hope is to
persuade the magical merfolk to
fight with them. But the merfolk
won’t go to war. Not unless their
princess is returned to them
from the clutches of the most
dangerous nine-year-old in the
Ebony Ocean.
It’s up to Joseph and his
friend Tabitha to rescue the
mermaid princess... But a secret
from Joseph’s past is about to
change everything.’’
Shadow of the Rock:
A Spike Sanguinetti
Mystery
Thomas Mogford (OD 1990
Bloomsbury, 2012
‘‘A humid summer night
in Gibraltar. Lawyer Spike
Sanguinetti arrives home to
find an old friend, Solomon
Hassan, waiting on his doorstep.
Solomon is on the run. A
Spanish girl has been found
with her throat cut on a beach
in Tangiers and he is accused of
her murder. He has managed to
skip across the Straits but the
Moroccan authorities want him
back. Spike travels to Tangiers
to try to delay Solomon’s
extradition, and there meets a
beautiful Bedouin girl. Zahra is
investigating the disappearance
of her father, a trail which leads
mysteriously back to Solomon.
Questioning how well he really
knows his friend, Spike finds
himself drawn into a dangerous
game of secrets, corruption and
murderous lies.’’
Sign of the Cross:
A Spike Sanguinetti
Mystery
(Spike Sanguinetti 2)
Thomas Mogford (OD 1990)
Bloomsbury, 2013
‘‘A domestic dispute has escalated
into a bloodbath. When his
uncle and aunt are found dead,
Spike Sanguinetti must cross
the Mediterranean to Malta
for their funerals, leaving the
courtroom behind. But the more
he learns about their violent
deaths, the more he is troubled
by one thing: what could have
prompted a mild-mannered art
historian to stab his wife before
turning the knife upon himself?
Reunited with his ex-girlfriend,
Zahra, Spike embarks on a trail
that leads from the island’s
squalid immigrant camps to the
ornate palazzos of the legendary
Knights of St John. In Malta,
it seems, brutality, greed and
danger lie nearer to the surface
than might first appear.’’
BOOK SHELF
7
Escape from Arnhem:
A Glider Pilot’s Story
Godfrey Freeman (Former
Dragon Staff, Former Dragon
Parent)
Pen & Sword Books, 2010
‘‘This is the remarkable true story
of a young army glider pilot’s
experience of the last days in the
defence of Arnhem Bridge, his
eventual capture and then escape
to be adopted by the Resistance,
the hair-raising journey
through occupied Europe and
his eventual return to the UK.
After capture Freeman was
first taken to Apeldoorn where
he was hospitalized, claiming
shell-shock. Although quite
sane, he feigned trauma with
escape in mind, until being
punished for aiding the escape
of four Allied inmates. Then
he was put on a train bound for
Germany, from this he escaped
and eventually made contact
with the Dutch underground.
He was given civilian clothes
and a bicycle and rode
overnight to Barnveld where
he stayed with a schoolmaster
and church organist. Then
another cycle ride to a farm
where he slept in the hayloft
and finally still on his bike, he
rides through the German front
lines. He eventually returned
to RAF Broadwell by Dakota
to resume his part in the
war, from capture to freedom
within a month. The text is
interspersed with flashbacks
to the author’s childhood and
early training, capturing the true
spirit of a typical modest and
yet outstandingly brave young
man of the wartime era. Written
by Godfrey John Freeman,
born 4th June 1924 in Hook
Norton, Oxfordshire; died 9th
January 1999.’’
Orders from Berlin
Simon Tolkien (OD 1972)
HarperCollins, 2012
‘‘An ingenious thriller in which
young Detective Constable Trave
uncovers a sophisticated plot at
the heart of MI6 to assassinate
Churchill and bring the Second
World War and the whole Allied
effort to an untimely end.
It’s 1940, and Bill Trave is
a Detective Constable in his
early thirties working in West
London. France has fallen and
the capital is being bombed both
day and night – it seems against
all odds that Britain can survive
the onslaught. Almost singlehandedly Winston Churchill
maintains the country’s morale,
with the German enemy
convinced that his removal
would win them the War
Albert Morrison, a rich
widower forced into early
retirement by failing eyesight, is
stabbed to death in his Chelsea
flat. His only daughter, Ava,
tells Trave that she would read
the newspapers to him every
evening, and the night before his
death he had become suddenly
excited when she read him an
obscure obituary notice.
At Morrison’s funeral, Ava
learns from an old colleague that
her father worked for MI6 before
the War. The obituary notice
was a coded message preparing
for an assassination, although
it does not specify the target.
Trave realizes that there is a Nazi
double agent within MI6, with a
plan to assassinate Churchill and
to set up another agent to take
the blame. He is in a race against
time to save Churchill, for if he
fails, Britain’s entire war effort
could be at stake…’’
The Sterling Redemption
James Edmiston (OD 1957) and
Lawrence Kormornick
Forgotten Blitzes
Andrew Knapp (OD 1968)
and Claudia Baldoli
Pen & Sword Books, 2012
Continuum, 2012
‘‘The untold true story of James
Edmiston who suffered an
extraordinary miscarriage of
justice in 1983 when senior
officials blocked vital witnesses
coming to his trial which led
to a personal tragedy; a broken
marriage, and the loss of a
business.
The Sterling Redemption
explains how he was wrongly
charged with alleged illegal
exports to Iraq, and then took
on the establishment against
seemingly impossible odds for 25
years, to establish his innocence
and to win record compensation
from the British government in a
truly remarkable case. Divorced
and bankrupted, he is now
rebuilding a shattered life, nearly
30 years later.
This extraordinary story
is a fascinating insight into
government and the abuse of
power and is based on many
original sources including the
Scott Report and Judgment
of the Court of Appeal
(criminal). The co-author,
Lawrence Kormornick, is a
Solicitor-Advocate (civil) who
has represented Edmiston
and several other victims of
the Arms-to-Iraq prosecution
scandal against the government
and has a unique insight into
these cases.
Packed with ironies, twists
of fate and many unanswered
questions it is a compelling
read for anyone interested in
political intrigue and abuse of
power, miscarriage of justice and
learning about how an individual
took on the state and won.’’
‘‘France and Italy account for
fully one third of all Allied
bombs dropped on Europe
between 1940 and 1945. Italy
received some 370,000 tons of
bombs, nearly five times the
total dropped on Britain by the
Luftwaffe; France, over 570,000,
nearly eight times the British
figure. In each country, over
55,000 civilians died. Until now,
studies of bombing in World
War II have focused largely
on the British and German
experiences; few cover France
or Italy. Forgotten Blitzes aims
to remedy this. It explains the
reasons for the Allied offensives,
and uses political, social and
cultural approaches to explore
the challenges faced by states
and peoples as the bombs fell.
Massive research in local and
national archives across four
countries, complemented by
diaries and personal memoirs,
has allowed the authors to build
a detailed, comparative picture of
the impact of bombing on states,
local authorities and individuals.’’
Please let us know if you
have had a book published
or know of any other recent
OD publications.
If you would like your book
to be included in the next
issue of The OD, please
send a signed copy to the
OD Office. The book will
be added to the OD Library
bookshelves in the Quiet
Room in School House.
2014 · ISSUE 3
SCIENCE
XXXXX
8
Rosetta spacecraft,
Ariane 5 V158 lifts off
THE OD
9
SCIENCE
From an unassuming office block in central Darmstadt, Dr Toby Clark
(OD 1975) commands the resources that put rockets into space.
As Business Controller for the European Space Agency, Dr Clark makes
possible a host of space activities that will answer big questions and
provide a better quality of life on planet Earth. He spoke to The OD
about his extraordinary life in exploration.
THE URBAN SPACEMAN
ESA/CNES/Arianspace – Service Optique
I saw Scott of the Antarctic at the Dragon
and was hooked on the idea of exploration.
Later at Cambridge I heard Sir Vivian Fuchs
talk on the radio about the 1957 TransAntarctic expedition and was transfixed.
Shortly after, an advert appeared for a
student data processing job at the British
Antarctic Survey. This became a proper
job and for two years in the mid ‘80s I ran
experiments at the research station at Halley
to study the interaction between radio waves
and charged particles trapped in the Earth’s
magnetic field.
How did it all begin?
How did you end up at ESA and
what do you do there?
What’s happening with Mars
exploration?
After my MBA at Edinburgh I joined the
European Space Agency (ESA) to sell their
services to other organisations. Now as
Business Controller I am responsible for
people, buildings and IT. ESA has over
5000 staff and contractors on five sites
across Europe and is an intergovernmental
organisation of 20 member states. In my
directorate I look after nearly 200 staff and
a substantial budget here at the European
Space Operations Centre (ESOC) – which
you would know as Mission Control.
The current Mars Express mission, launched
in 2003, has produced very good scientific
results. ESA is working on ExoMars with the
Russians which will involve a lander mission
in 2016 to study the atmosphere, and a rover
mission in 2018. One aim is to see if Mars
could have supported life in the past.
What was it like to live in
Antarctica?
What’s it like running such
complex infrastructure?
Fantastic! 18 of us were there, from widely
differing backgrounds, but all fascinated
by Antarctica. We were very isolated; a ship
came once a year to deliver supplies, and
we could only send limited messages home.
From November to February there were
100 days of 24-hour sunshine, and from
May to August 100 of 24-hour night. The
temperature could get up to around zero,
but it was regularly below minus 40. It is of
course possible that cold baths at the Dragon
prepared me for the Antarctic. Our base was
actually very comfortable and modern but
it was designed to be gradually buried in the
snow, so we lived underground. Built on a
floating ice shelf, it was about 10km from
the coast colonised by emperor penguins in
the winter. This was a favourite destination
for day trips by ski or (much more fun) by
skidoo. We could get away on short field
trips but we were so busy that no-one was
ever bored, and we all pitched in to help
each other.
Compared to all the exciting space missions,
my job is much more down to earth! We
fight for resources and implement budget
savings, as in all businesses. But it is really
great when something happens that reminds
you why you do what you do. I was here
when the Huygens probe landed on Titan,
the largest moon of Saturn almost a billion
km from Earth. It flew through space for
nearly seven years and no-one knew if it
would work, but it did – perfectly.
“The next big science
mission, Gaia, will be
launched in 2013 or early
2014. It will map the
positions of a billion stars
in our galaxy with very
high precision”
What exciting space projects are
coming up?
In 2014 the unmanned spacecraft Rosetta,
launched in 2004, will rendez vous with
comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko beyond
the orbit of Jupiter. It will accompany the
comet on its journey towards the sun over
the following year and will place a lander
on its surface. This will be an extraordinary
opportunity to discover what comets are
really made of and will tell us a lot about the
early days of the solar system. Then the next
big science mission, Gaia, will be launched in
2013 or early 2014. It will map the positions
of a billion stars in our galaxy with very high
precision and help us understand better
how our galaxy formed. In manned space,
astronauts will be going to the International
Space Station to run experiments aimed at
improving technologies here on Earth. We
will also be developing the follow on to the
highly successful Ariane 5 rocket that has
become one of the most reliable launch
systems in the world.
And on the ground?
Well not that far from the Dragon we are
currently developing a new ESA site at
Harwell near Didcot. From 2015 there
will be about 100 people working there,
mainly in the field of telecommunication
applications. Government has
acknowledged that the UK space industry
is worth about £9bn per year, and this has
been seeded by the UK contribution to ESA
of about £250m per year. In recognition of
this, ESA was asked create a centre in the
UK to foster space innovation.
How relevant is ESA to our
everyday lives?
It impacts on meteorology,
telecommunication and navigation. New
satellite systems will improve weather
forecasting and the new Galileo GPS
system, together with the US system, will
provide unprecedented accuracy in global
navigation. All telecomms rely heavily on
geostationary satellites, and our numerous
Earth observation missions help to keep
track of changes due to warming or
destruction of rainforest.
What does the future hold for
space exploration?
We have not yet visited the icy moons of
Jupiter, which could harbour liquid oceans
and the possibility of life. The search for the
gravitational waves predicted by general
relativity will almost certainly only succeed
in space. The possibility of mining asteroid
bodies for rare elements is being seriously
discussed. And we have to think of the
threat from asteroid collisions, such as the
meteorite that landed in Russia causing
widespread damage earlier this year.
There are so many possibilities – the sky is
not the limit!
2014 · ISSUE 3
HOLIDAY DIARIES
10
Holiday Diaries
The tradition of Summer Holiday Diaries goes back to
the earliest days of the Dragon. More than a century on,
Dragons still create well-observed, illustrated records of
the summer holidays to share with friends and look back
on in the future. With that in mind, The OD delved in to
some holiday diaries of past generations and found a
remarkable picture of enduring childhood pleasures.
The Dragon’s long history of diary keeping
has its roots in The Log of the Blue Dragon
begun in 1892 by C. C. ‘Skipper’ Lynam
(Dragon Headmaster 1886–1920) to record
the voyages of his eponymous and muchloved boat. The Log was published, with the
help of Frank Sidgwick (OD 1893), in three
volumes and incorporated sketches, black
and white photographs and some verse.
This set the scene for a particular style of
Dragon diary.
In The Draconian itself, which first
appeared in 1889, a number of diaries have
featured; The Boer War, First and Second
World Wars and the Spanish Civil War
all provided opportunities for ODs and
former staff to record their experiences and
send them back to the school. Their firsthand accounts reveal some extraordinary
circumstances albeit often limited in specific
details due to wartime restrictions.
By the 1940s, Summer Holiday Diaries
had already been written by generations of
Dragons. First mentioned in The Draconian
in 1891, they were introduced by Skipper
Lynam who read and commented on every
one with endless enjoyment. To begin
with he insisted on all illustrations being
drawn or painted as they would be “more
interesting” later in life. As time went on, he
relaxed these strictures, and photographs
became more acceptable, adding as he said,
“very much to the interest”.
The Skipper’s huge enjoyment of
these personal, detailed and idiosyncratic
records of family life, seaside holidays and
summer pastimes led him, 40 years after
the tradition had begun, to provide a list of
15 useful hints to guide Dragons in diary
writing. Reproduced opposite, these include
invaluable advice for all diarists including
the exhortation, “Never put in ‘Got up in the
morning, had breakfast and had supper and
went to bed’”.
The diaries played a poignant part in the
Skipper’s final departure from the Dragon as
he set off on a sailing voyage.
As C. H. Jaques relates in A Dragon
Century:
THE OD
“On the morning of
October 20th 1938 he was at
the Hymn in the Old Hall to
say goodbye to the boys. He
told them he was taking their
holiday diaries with him …
(he) then made his way down
the Hall through a crowd of
cheering boys, one of whom
slipped a late diary under his
arm.” Seven days later came
the sad news that the Skipper
had died at sea.
Since 1938 the role of
commenting on holiday
diaries was taken on by
various members of staff.
The wartime holiday diaries
“Never put in ‘Got up
in the morning, had
breakfast and had supper
and went to bed’ (though
any important feast may
be described)”
they read included those of Lady Antonia
Fraser (OD 1944), who looked again at her
collection of diaries for The OD. “There
is only one from 1944, the summer I left
the Dragon, although I seem to remember
keeping them every holiday,” she recalled.
“My brother Thomas Pakenham, my
friends Lalage Mais (now Shakespeare) and
sometimes Felicity Wilding (Browne) seem
to have spent all our time at the Dragon in
the hols, swimming twice a day (was that
supervised?) playing tennis etc. Our family
hols were spent in Cornwall during the war,
at different places. Long journey in a troop
train. Troops taking every seat and sitting on
the floor, even in the lavatories! ”
Today Dragons’ holidays range from trips
in Britain to far flung exotic destinations
but although some trips may be more
luxurious now the same simple childhood
pleasures seem to be enjoyed. One C Blocker
wrote last year in Spain of a mountain
bike ride: “the best bit was that we found
a wild strawberry field. We attacked it and
started eating straight away…They were so
magnificently delicious that just the thought
makes me hungry.” Dragons are also just
as observant and expressive, as the same
diary demonstrates: “It’s night time, you
can see the silver glistening moon rising
above the indigo, reflective shoreline. It’s
going to be dark soon, you can see no clouds
or disturbance in the air. Everything is so
peaceful.”
In his diary keeping notes the Skipper
had said: “I really hope, my dear Dragons,
that you will enjoy keeping your holiday
diaries and take a pride and interest in doing
them well.” And so they have for well over a
century.
See overleaf for a few examples of mid-twentieth century holiday diaries
HOLIDAY DIARIES
11
2014 · ISSUE 3
HOLIDAY DIARIES
12
Lester Cooke (OD 1929)
In 1927, Lester Cooke spent his summer on Achill Island,
Ireland. Following the instructions he keeps a written
and illustrated diary of his daily holiday experiences; he
notes seeing a trout leap while he swam in a pool under
a bridge and made a drawing of the scene. He also drew
the traction and steam engines which were the exciting
machines of the day, while recording that “a good deal
of the morning was taken up doing Latin”. Particularly
impressive are his colour sketches of the island landscape
that are part of the diary.
Frank Barton Day
(OD 1931)
One of the earliest examples
of a holiday diary in the
school archive was produced
by ‘Fearless Frank’ Day, later
one of the few survivors of
‘The Great Escape’ in March
1944. His diary covers 1927
and 1928, aged 10 and 11, and
shows considerable talent
and humour for someone so
young. As the diary progresses
his drawings become more
assured as he details daily
events and experiences shared
with his family throughout
their holidays in Dorset.
THE OD
James Marshall (OD 1929)
13
In the summer of 1931 Tom Maitland’s
holidays included a cultured life in
Oxford and sailing in Scotland. In July
he notes: “…Kenneth Green, the artist
who is painting my portrait, and I, went
out into the little wood in our garden,
where he is painting me, while the sun
was still shining. After we had done
about half-an-hour’s work, the Polish
musician who is staying with us, Vlado
Perlemuter, came out to say good-bye
as he was going back to London”.
His carefully handwritten diary
includes detailed charts of the coast
around Skye, photographs and
HOLIDAY DIARIES
Tom Maitland (OD 1932)
eloquent descriptions. An August entry
reads: “It was not actually raining for
our bathe, and the water was like glass,
as we saw our reflections in it as we
dived in. After breakfast there was still
not a breath of wind, so we did not set
the main sail even, and left Loch Aline
under power. We were soon turning
up into Loch Linnhe, and there the fog
settled down more, while Daddy read
Don Quixote to me at the wheel, till
the delightful sandy bays that lined the
shore could only be seen mistily till we
were right opposite them.”
John Whitamore (OD 1942)
The joy of many diaries is the
everyday detail. One endearing
Dragon report of a hot summer’s
day in 1939 includes almost buying a
puppy in Reading. John Whitamore,
aged 11, goes on to record that he
later went for a swim with friends
and “then we came home and had
tea and then squirted each other
with the hose”.
2014 · ISSUE 3
DEVELOPING THE DRAGON
14
Developing the Dragon
A new education partnership: the Dragon as Academy Sponsor
In September 2013 a primary Academy
opened in the Leys area of Oxford with the
Dragon as lead sponsor. Pegasus, Orchard
Meadow and Windale primary schools all
became part of the new Blackbird Academy
Trust.
The Dragon and two other local charities
working in education, Family Links and
the Hamilton Trust, are helping to lead and
support the new Academy. The primary
schools have all kept their own identities
under the umbrella of the Academy
Trust which is being led by Jill Hudson,
previously Head of Pegasus School.
The Dragon was delighted to consider
the sponsor invitation from the Department
for Education and Oxfordshire County
Council as a natural extension of its wellestablished partnership work with a number
of local primary schools. The school has a
long held commitment to the education of
children in Oxford and saw it as an excellent
opportunity to extend and build on these
relationships to benefit more children and
help them learn well.
The Dragon would not have undertaken
this important role however without the
involvement of its fellow sponsors. Family
The Bun Break Club
The Skipper Society
The Bun Break Club is a career and social networking
club for younger Old Dragons which supports the
Dragon Bursary Programme. In return for a small regular
donation, ODs in their 20s and 30s are invited to regular
relaxed social events and have access to career networking
opportunities. Old Dragons are successful in a very wide
range of fields and professions; many have agreed to
provide informal advice and contacts to younger alumni.
At the same time, small regular donations from a large
group of ODs will go a long way to support a bursary for
a child whose family could never otherwise consider a
Dragon education.
Named after the school’s most famous and influential
Headmaster, Skipper Lynam, the Skipper Society is the
Dragon’s opportunity to thank ODs who have included the
Dragon in their Wills.
Support for the school in the form of legacies is of
enormous value to the future of the Dragon. All those who
have indicated their intention to leave such a gift to the
Dragon automatically become members of the Society.
Members and their families are
invited to the school each
year for Skipper Society
Day which usually
begins with a music or
drama performance
by current Dragons
before lunch with
the Headmaster and
senior staff. ‘Skippers’
are also invited return
to the school at various
points throughout the
year to events such as school
concerts and drama productions.
For more information about joining either of these
societies or to apply online please go to:
www.dragonschool.org/old-dragons/support-us.html
or contact the Development Office on 01865 315417.
C A R E E R N E T WO R K I N G
|
ODS
SOCIAL EVENTS WITH
THE
B U N B R EA K
CLUB
S U P P O R T
THE OD
Links, through its work with many schools
(including the Dragon), has developed
expertise in positive behaviour management
the creation of emotional support for good
teaching and learning. The Hamilton Trust,
which has also worked with many schools in
Oxford, supports primary teachers nationally
and has a particular specialism in maths.
As the new Academy becomes
established, the Dragon is especially keen
to create productive two-way relationships
and to learn from the staff and children in all
three schools of the new Blackbird Academy.
The Dragon has always looked outwards and
engaged with the world around it. Skipper
Lynam said in 1908 that we should not “shut
ourselves up in our little kingdom” and the
school has been striving to follow that advice
ever since. It is hoped he would approve.
T O D A Y ’ S
D R A G O N S
OD Events and Reunions
In September 2012 the Dragon was delighted
to welcome Sir Tim Hunt (OD 1956) to the
Dragon to talk about ‘How to Win a Nobel
Prize’. Sir Tim won a Nobel medal in 2001
in the category Physiology or Medicine
for discoveries relating to the control of
division and duplication of cells. He received
a knighthood and the Queen’s Medal in
2006, and was principal scientist at Cancer
Research UK until his recent retirement.
The audience of Dragons, ODs and
parents were keen to hear from, if a little in
awe of, a scientist of such major standing.
With his enthusiasm for his subject
however and his self-deprecating style, Sir
Tim conveyed the excitement of complex
science to a mainly lay audience with
apparent simplicity and great humour. He
remembered that his failure at Latin at the
Dragon led him to science, which he liked
and could do. Early school experiences
were the start of what he described as the
never-ending journey of science where
the best breakthroughs are often very
simple. He also said he had come across
Old Dragons throughout his career and
even if he had not known them personally
could recognise them as having a certain
‘thing’ about them. He concluded by
telling the A and B Block pupils: “You are
very lucky in the way people interact with
you. Why aren’t all schools like this?”
2013: Comic Relief – the first 25 years
The Oxford Lecture in September 2013 saw past Dragon parent
and former Chair of Comic Relief, Peter Bennett-Jones, take to
the stage of the Lynam Hall as guest speaker. Peter’s distinguished
career in television production and talent management includes
the founding, alongside Richard Curtis, of the hugely successful
charity which has raised over £900m and worked in 70 countries
since its launch in 1985. In 2013 Peter became Chair of Trustees
of the charity, from which role he had only recently stepped down
when he came to the school.
Reflecting on the genesis of what has become a huge
philanthropic operation, Peter showed a series of TV clips of comedians and celebrities who
have performed for the pioneering TV appeal show over the years. The red nose itself has
become a widely recognised (and enthusiastically worn) symbol for the charity’s signature
formula: make people laugh and fundraise for a just world free from poverty. As Peter said,
in response to questions about why he got involved, those who are lucky in the lottery of
life have a moral duty to contribute – and in the right hands a little goes a very long way. In
addition, he said, raising awareness in younger generations is almost more important than
raising money. A sentiment keenly supported by Dragons of all ages.
OD Golf Day at the
Addington 2013
George Marsh (OD 1956)
Eleven golfers arrived in good time to
enjoy their bacon rolls and coffee before
setting out in near perfect conditions
to test their skills. The Addington is
a very well known course for all the
right reasons and it was in excellent
condition. Peter Holmes-Johnson
(OD 1954), a member, led us off and
his team of Bill Shelford (OD 1956)
and Tom Stanier (OD 1954) contrived
to put together a very competitive
76 points. The second group of Nick
Kane (OD 1958), Charles Gordon (OD
1959), Michael Bowles (OD 1961) and
Rupert Rowbotham (OD 1962) were
delighted to go one point better and
were hoping for first prize, but they
were disappointed when the final group
of George Marsh (OD 1956), Charles
Twort (OD 1965), Richard Wills (OD
1948) and Charles Cooper (OD 1961)
came home with 80 points. (In case
anyone is wondering how teams of
three played teams of four there was a
severe handicap imposed and points
were deducted.)
In the individual competition the
two Addington members both gained
36 points but were penalised three
points because of local knowledge
which left Charles Twort as the outright
winner.
The day finished with an excellent
meal accompanied by much chatter,
laughter and reminiscence.
2014 · ISSUE 3
EVENTS & REUNIONS
OXFORD DRAGON LECTURES
2012: How to Win a Nobel Prize
15
EVENTS & REUNIONS
16
Skipper Society Day JOD Day 2013
The Skipper Society
acknowledges those who
have indicated that they
have included the Dragon
in their Wills. Each year
the ‘Skippers’ are invited
to return to the school for a
special event and lunch. The 2013 Skipper
Society Day in June was the best attended to
date and welcomed 14 ODs and their guests.
All enjoyed a pupil recital in the Music
School before being entertained to a summer
lunch by the Headmaster and senior staff of
the school.
Legacies are extremely important to
the Dragon’s future development plans.
To receive a brochure about including
the school in your wishes and for more
information about the Skipper Society please
contact the OD Office on 01865 315416.
Always a happy occasion, the biennial JOD day for recent
leavers aged 13 to 18, and their parents, in March was no
exception. Almost 100 Junior Old Dragons greatly enjoyed
seeing each other, greeting staff and revisiting the school.
“Lovely event, I’ve never
been to one before.
Thank you!”
JOD 2010
“Thank you very much
for yesterday’s lunch
– great to see so many
people.”
JOD 2008
“Thank you very much
for the JOD reunion.
Our son enjoyed
meeting friends and
teachers, as did we.”
Former Dragon parent
“I greatly enjoyed the Skipper
Society lunch and would like to
thank you for all the arrangements
which made the day so successful.”
Legator, OD 1938
“It is a very nice reunion at the
Dragon and a most enjoyable
lunch with good company.
I enjoyed the concert beforehand
very much as well.”
Legator, OD 1954
OD Cricket Match 2012
On Sunday, 27th May, a stalwart side of OD sportsmen faced off
against the cream of the staff cricketing crop for the 2012 ODs vs Staff
cricket match. The two teams refused to let the soaring temperatures
affect their game, with many holding onto long-held rivalries from
their previous encounters. Fortified by unending refreshments, the
ODs batted first and scored a very respectable 158 runs. All the ODs
THE OD
played well, despite several pre-game confessions of rusty batting and
bowling. However, the Staff side pressed their home advantage and by
the end of the afternoon had almost levelled the score. A final thrust
from the Staff left them victorious by only a few runs. At the end of
the match, the scoreboard showed 161, and the two teams determined
to play again next time.
1953 –1958 Leavers’ Reunion
17
“I came away with a song in
my heart, so happy to have
made it able to enjoy a truly
amazing evening…”
Liz Pow OD 1954
“It was an amazing occasion
and well worth coming over
from France to be present.”
Judith Geissler (Elliott) OD 1954
EVENTS & REUNIONS
Over 150 Old Dragons from the 1950s returned to the Dragon in March for a
dinner and a chance to reunite with old friends. ODs who left from 1950 to 1958
came from all over the world to see the school again, some of them for the first
time in 60 years. After dinner the ODs seized the opportunity to mingle and catch
up – and to enjoy a special souvenir booklet produced for the occasion. Featuring
extracts from The Draconian from the 1950s and recalling events of the time, the
booklet included contemporary photos of all who attended the Reunion. Much
enjoyment was had identifying (slightly) younger faces. If you were unable to
come to the Reunion or know Dragons from this era you are welcome to have a
copy, please contact the OD Office.
“To walk into a room
apparently full of old fuddyduddies and then realise
that I was one too, was a
significant moment. Luckily
for me only their outsides had
changed and their old selves
were still inside.”
Finlay Skinner OD 1956
London Drinks
NYC Drinks 2013
In September 2013, 80 Young Old Dragons from leaving years
1990 to 2003 met up after work at a London bar for an enjoyable
opportunity to catch up. Headmaster John Baugh joined the
drinks reception and spoke to the group about the recently
launched Bun Break Club. The Club offers YODs the chance to
benefit from organised social and
career networking opportunities
in return for pledging a small
monthly contribution towards
the Dragon Bursary Programme.
Please contact the Development
Office for more information
about the Bun Break Club on
thebunbreakclub@dragonschool.
org or call 01865 315417.
Christmas half-term provided
an ideal opportunity for an
OD gathering in the Big Apple.
A group of Dragon A Block
boys and girls were on the first
stage of their exchange with
two independent elementary
schools in Manhattan, the 12th
year the exchange has taken
place. One evening, while the
Dragons were in the excellent
care of their exchange partners,
the accompanying Dragon staff
hosted a gathering for ODs who
we know of living in and around
New York. Twelve ODs and their
partners attended this happy
occasion and enjoyed reminiscing
about the ‘old days’ (which
ranged from the 1940s to the
Naughties). Ed Phelps, Deputy
Headmaster, gave a brief update
of developments and aspirations
at the school and reassured all
that the spirit of the Dragon
remains true and as vibrant as
ever. The drinks went on quite
late but not as late as the supper
afterwards which some were able
to attend. Particular thanks must
go to Mr and Mrs Köprülü who
kindly hosted the event in their
wonderful apartment.
If you are living in or around New York and would like to be
kept in touch with similar events please contact the OD Office
for more information.
With thanks to Ed Phelps (OD 1978).
2014 · ISSUE 3
OD NEWS
18
OD News
1978
Jack Bowyer’s first film Dark
Hearts was nominated for the
Best UK Feature Film at the 2012
Raindance Film Festival .
James Hasler’s time is split
between being a professional
event host (a toastmaster without
“the suit”), a presentation skills
trainer (helping people speak
in environments they may find
uncomfortable, such as in public
or at interview) a professional
voice artist, and a Dad to his
three year-old daughter (by far
the most difficult of all).
1933
Henry Disney has produced his
eighth collection of poetry titled
Teach Us of Love, written in
memory of his wife Audrey, who
died unexpectedly in 2012.
1934
In 2012 Katherine Ross was
featured in The Oxford Times
as one of the attendees at the
meeting that formed Oxfam in
Oxford 70 years ago.
1941
Paul Ledger has produced a
collection of poems written by
Edward Geoffrey Smith Stanley,
the 14th Earl of Derby titled Early
Poems.
1947
Michael Sackett was awarded the
British Empire Medal for service
to Citizens’ Advice Bureau,
Mendip, in the Queen’s Birthday
Honours in June 2013.
1951
In June 2013 Ian Senior became
a Distinguished Friend of Oxford
for his work as chairman of
the Oxford University Society
Hertfordshire branch for 12 years
and his input over many years
into voluntary activities at Trinity
College, Oxford.
1952
Allan Ledger’s poem Olympian
Heroes in Time was published in
an anthology titled, Homeland, A
Collection of Poetry.
1954
Reg Gadney exhibited his latest
collection of artworks at Gallery
286, London, in March and April
2013.
1961
David Lewis (Dragon School
Govenor) has written and
produced a local history book
about the community of Cynwyl
Gaeo in Camarthenshire, his
home parish in Wales.
THE OD
Merfyn Bourne has written
The Second World War in the
Air – The Story of Air Combat in
Every Theatre of World War Two.
1964
Professor Sir Mike Richards
formerly National Clinical
Director for Cancer, became the
Chief Inspector of Hospitals for
the Care Quality Commission in
spring 2013.
1967
Nicolas Davies sent a copy of his
2010 book, Blood On Our Hands:
The American Invasion and
Destruction of Iraq to be included
in the OD Library.
1973
In 2013 William F Longrigg,
President Elect of the
International Academy of
Matrimonial Lawyers, was
awarded the Jordans Award
International Lawyer of the Year.
1974
Anthony Van Oss has founded
a charity in India, ABCD India,
which helps impoverished
children and their families.
A finalist for the Audie Awards
(audiobook equivalent of an
Oscar) in 2012, Ralph Lister is
now narrating audiobooks backto-back from his base in the USA.
Ralph plans to avoid the bitter
Michigan winter to record in
warmer destinations as far flung
as S. Florida, Buenos Aires, and
Costa Rica before returning to his
former hometown of L.A. Ralph
welcomes ODs to make contact.
“Stop by if you’re ever in Western
Michigan!”
1979
Emma Bale married Richard
Berrecloth on 24th August 2012
and became Emma BerreclothBale. The couple now live in
Kirtlington with their son,
Wolfgang, daughter Ophelia
Daisy (born September 2013),
and enjoy playing polo in
England and Argentina. Emma
published her first novel The
Deathday Present in October
2012; a sardonic work of the
speculative fiction genre and her
first novel.
1989
Two Old Dragon families – the
Bullards and the Goughs – have
been united through the marriage
of Nicola Bullard to Andy Gough.
When Andy first met future
father-in-law, they realised that
their fathers might have been at
the Dragon together. In searching
through an old copy of The
Draconian they discovered a photo
and article about a hockey tour
which included both their fathers’
names. The two had been in the
same form and hockey team. Andy’s
father was (Charles) Cameron
Gough 1930-35 who sadly passed
away in May 2009.
There were a total of eight ODs
present and one absent: Andy
Gough (1984-89), Arthur Bullard
1981
Captain Andrew Betton(RN) was
awarded an OBE in the 2013 New
Years Honours list.
1983
Henry Dimbleby and John
Vincent, founders of Leon
Restaurants, were appointed in
2012 to lead a review of school
meals by Education Secretary
Michael Gove.
1986
In 2013 David Mott was the first
Briton to cross the line in the
Polar Circle Marathon. David
came 8th out of 97 runners and
raised over £14,500 for his two
favourite charities.
1988
Quintin Lake was awarded first
place in the Architecture –
Historic category in the 2012
International Photography
Awards.
Hugh Dancy is playing Will
Graham, an FBI special
investigator in the new TV series
Hannibal.
(1961-66), Mathew Bullard (199096), Mike Skok (1973-74), Jeremy
Gough (1969-71), James Hallett
(1984-89), Julian Barnett (198489), Mike Bellhouse (1984-89) and
Mike Bolsover (absent 1984-89).
1990
In 2012 Robin Wong worked
with Google Creative Lab
and the Science Museum in
London to create Web Lab
(www.chromeweblab.com), an
interactive series of experiments
at the Science Museum that
anyone with an internet
connection can join in with – live.
1991
OD brothers Joe (1994) and
Robin (1991) Bennett’s band,
The Dreaming Spires, released its
first album Brothers in Brooklyn
in 2012.
Luke Parker Bowles is Executive
Vice President of Production for
Open Road Integrated Media,
a digital content company that
publishes and markets ebooks
by creating connections between
authors and their audiences
across all screens.
1993
Frances Houghton won gold in
the double sculls at the World
Cup at Eton Dorney in June 2013.
1994
Tom Hiddleston won The Times
Breakthrough Award at the 2013
South Bank Sky Arts Awards in
January.
1995
Sam Waley-Cohen won the King
George VI Chase on Long Run at
Kempton on Boxing Day 2012.
The race is the second biggest and
most prestigious national hunt
race after the Cheltenham Gold
Cup.
Cassie Cooper’s wedding and
event planning business, Three
Graces Events, was featured in
The Oxford Times in February
2013.
1996
Jasper Hadman ran the 79-mile
Jurassic Coast Challenge in
March 2013 to raise funds to
build a netball court in Malawi
in memory of his sister, Grace
(OD 2004), who died tragically in
2009. Jasper and his team mates
have raised £10,600 towards their
appeal.
1999
Max Irons starred as King
Edward IV in a major BBC
adaptation of Philippa Gregory’s
bestselling novel The White
Queen.
Leo Johnson who runs The
Rickety Press pub in Jericho,
Oxford, was delighted to receive a
Michelin Bib Gourmand award in
September 2013.
Robert Swift is working as a
geologist for Shell in Houston
following his degree at Trinity
College Dublin and a Masters
in Geology at The Ohio State
University.
2000
Alexander Nally screened his
debut feature film at the North
Wall Arts Centre in Oxford in
February 2013.
2001
Guitarist Manus Noble released
his first album, Nightshade in
2013. He reached the finals in
the Young Classical Artists Trust
(YCAT) auditions in May 2013.
Ed Swift is teaching religion and
theology at Dulwich College and
enjoying it immensely. He is also
an Assistant Housemaster of
Ivyholme, a sixth form boarding
house.
2002
Louis Gill continues to intern for
the Liberal Democrats – he is
currently Parliamentary Assistant
to Baroness Shirley Williams of
Crosby.
Ben Lamb played the role of
Anthony Rivers alongside Max
Irons in the BBC adaptation of
Philippa Gregory’s bestselling
novel The White Queen.
2003
Usman Nizami ran in the
Barcelona Marathon in March
2013. Having spent time in
Syria, Usman raised £885 in
donations towards Médecins
Sans Frontières, one of the
largest international medical
humanitarian organisations,
which operates in over 65
countries across the world,
including conflict-torn Syria.
Walter Stewart-Brown won
Oxfordshire Cotswolds Tourism
Award in June 2013. Just nine
months into his first job, at the
Crowne Plaza Heythrop Park
Hotel, he impressed visitors
enough to win the Tourism
Superstar prize.
2004
Ludo Bennett-Jones completed
his challenge to sail around the
UK, and became the youngest
and fastest person to do so. Ludo
raised money for Sport Relief
2012 and the Ellen MacArthur
Cancer Trust.
2005
Douglas Swift is in his second
year at the University of
Pennsylvania. President of the
UPENN Rugby Club, he has
played in the Ivy League Sevens
in Las Vegas and reached the
fifteen-a-side semi-finals,
narrowly losing to Brown
University. Doug has declared
a major point in History and
Economics.
Jess Riley passed her 3rd year
Vet exams at Bristol University
with merit. Jess spent the summer
in Kenya, working with a vet
at Lewa Downs Conservancy,
which specialises in rhino. The
Knatchbull Foundation funded
part of this exciting opportunity,
as the conservancy also links with
a number of local schools. Jess
will complete two more years of
her course in Bristol.
2007
Alexander Hearne was awarded
a Cambridge Blue for cricket in
summer 2013.
In June 2013 Alexander Goldin
organised a cycling festival in
Oxford with friend Tom Maxwell,
a Cherwell School pupil, to
celebrate and promote cycling in
Oxford.
Peter Shannon took part in a
charity cycle ride of 1,530-mile
from Athens to London in aid of
the John Radcliffe Hospital Neuro
ITU Ward in June 2013.
Parker Liautaud began his
expedition to the Antarctic in
December 2013. His journey
can be followed online at www.
willisresilience.com.
British racing driver Sean
Walkinshaw, after only three full
seasons of competitive action at
any level, will once again compete
in the European Formula 3 Open
in 2014.
Anna Alcock has spent her gap
year travelling in South Africa,
on the border of Mozambique,
working on a game reserve
and teaching English. She also
visited Australia – travelling,
working the polo season and
gaining work experience with
Inglis Bloodstock Ltd. On the
way home she took in both San
Francisco and New York.
2008
Niall Keown has been selected for
the England U18 Football Squad
and is in the Reading F.C. Senior
Reserve Team.
Tom George is at Radley
College. In August Tom rowed
in the GB Rowing Team’s junior
men’s eight at the World Junior
Championships in Bulgaria where
his team won the bronze medal.
Isabel Ogilvie-Smith launched
a musical theatre group in 2012
which had a sell-out run of
West Side Story at the Pegasus
Theatre in Oxford. In summer
2013 she also directed Guys and
Dolls there. Her group is a social
enterprise run entirely by 16-21
year olds.
Ellise Lister was awarded the
Tang Award to the sixth form at
Wycombe Abbey in 2012.
Harriet Stringer loves being at
Stowe. She is enjoying the new
equestrian centre with daily
lessons or spends time hacking
around the hundreds of acres of
grounds. She works hard too!
Alfred Hardman and Eddie Cecil
are in the Lower VI with her.
2009
Jack Lane is enjoying life at Eton.
He is studying double maths,
chemistry and physics with a
view to studying engineering or
materials science at university,
hopefully at Oxbridge. He is
playing lots of sports, noticeably
cricket, football and Eton’s field
game and will be performing in
a house play this term. One of
his highlights of 2012 was a three
week trip to Greenland with the
Eton Expedition Society. Thank
you to the Nicholas Knatchull
Travel Fund for the travel grant!
2011
Wills Murray is in his 2nd year
at Radley College and is enjoying
the boarding experience. He
is playing lots of sport and
particularly loves the rugby,
football and hockey seasons.
Outside school, Wills is sailing
in an RS Feva and competes
nationally and internationally.
2014 · ISSUE 3
19
OD NEWS
1989
James Peach has over the last
few years been working with
another OD - Mike Richards (OD
1964) who, until spring 2013, was
the National Clinical Director
for Cancer. James is the Director
for Stratified Medicine at Cancer
Research UK, and together James
and Mike worked on the national
strategy for cancer and the recent
policy for cancer genetic testing.
Announcements
ANNOUNCEMENTS
20
In 2012 Marcus Payne was in
the RYA National Junior Squad
in the RS Feva Class. In June he
came 2nd with his team mate in the
Nationals in Torbay, beaten only by
the current world champions. He
represented his country for Team
GB in Holland at the United 4
Regatta and at the RS Feva Worlds
Sailing Championships at Hayling
Island. He has now moved into the
29er Youth Class as he has grown
too tall for the RS Feva Class at
5’11”.
Sam White reached the last 16 of
the highly contested Jim Dear Cup
in the National Senior Schools
Rackets Championships 2012 at
Queen’s Club in London.
Grace Allen took her Grade 6 Ballet
exam in Year 9 and was awarded a
Distinction (83%).
2012
Jamie Jackson Jessel is really
enjoying Leckford Place. He
won the 2012 public speaking
competition at his school and was
winner in the county competition.
The local MP selected his design
for her Christmas card in 2012 and
invited him on a tour of the House
of Commons. He has an entry in
the Young Art Competition in the
Saatchi Gallery in London.
Fergus Ryan has thrown himself
into all aspects of Radley life. He
thoroughly enjoyed the 2012 rugby
season playing for Midgets 1.
Other highlights have been taking
part in the Haddan Cup drama
competition and singing evensong
in St Paul’s Cathedral with the choir.
Mr Edwards will be pleased to hear
that his organisational skills are
improving!
Births
To Jonathan Baker
(OD 1990) and Emily, a son,
Theo on 22nd January 2013
To Andrew Barnes
(OD 1973) a son, Charles
Edward Seton on 18th August
2012
To Hugo Black
(OD 1992) and Emma, a
daughter on 4th October 2013
To Jack Bowyer
(OD 1978) and Lana Paukstelo,
a daughter, Elissa Rose on
1st July 2013
To Jack Broadhurst
(OD 1993) a daughter, Martha
Grace on 11th May 2013
To Mark Chisholm
(OD 1994) and Selena, a son,
Rupert William on
21st November 2012
To Hugh Dancy (OD 1988) and
Claire, a son, Cyrus Michael
Christopher on 17th December
2012
To Jocelyn Durrant née HumeRothery (OD 1993) tand
Nicholas, a son, Oliver Alfred
Winston on 2nd February 2013
To Toby Hume-Rothery (OD
1986) and Gabrielle, a daughter,
Alexia Emily Elizabeth on
7th February 2013
To Tom Mogford
(OD 1990) and Ali, a daughter,
Molly Rose on 9th January 2013
Martin Charles (OD 1953)
on 20th March 2012
Jeremy Barrow
(OD 1955) and Patricia
Chapman-Pincher
Mark Ramage (OD 1937)
on 22nd May 2013
Ronnie Elgar (OD 1938)
on 6th April 2013
Ginny Brown (OD 1997) and
Kamal Kumar Jhakal
Michael Atkins
(OD 1940) on 27th March 2013
Alexander De Capell Brooke
(OD 1981) and Wendy Crabb
John Sweetnam
(OD 1938) on 25th February
2013
Nico Elliott (OD 1993) and
Camilla Stopford Sackville
Edward Fryer (OD 1980) and
Helen Best-Shaw
Andy Gough (OD 1989) and
Nicola Bullard
Edward Hall (OD 1998) and
Hannah Hickman
Rupert Hayward
(OD 1993) and Marie-Louise
Dominguez
June Soper née Brown (OD
1937) on 25th January 2013
Peter Tothill (OD 1941) on
1st January 2013
Gerald Studdert-Kennedy (OD
1946) on 24th December 2012
Priscilla Thompson née Hett (OD
1943) on 22nd December 2012
Robin Burleigh (OD 1955)
on 16th December 2012
Nicholas Hudson
(OD 1998) and Sarah Henrietta
Elizabeth Lumsden
Fay Quilter (Former staff 198189) on 2nd December 2012
Sam Lawson Johnston
(OD 1996) and Katrina MoreMolyneux
Christina Minty (OD 1999) and
David Brewer
Daniel Molyneux
(OD 1995) and Kirsty Greig
To Robin Wong (OD 1990) and
Ellie, a son, Frederick Ellis Wong
on 3rd October 2013
Ninian Kinnier Wilson (OD
1967) on 7th February 2013
Jemima Holroyd-Pearce
(OD 1996) and Ashley Hurd
To Sam Parker Bowles (OD
1994) and Louisa, a daughter,
Poppy Elsbeth Rose on
29th March 2013
To Sam Waley-Cohen
(OD 1995) and his wife Bella, a
son, Max on 9th March 2013
Harold Denman
(OD 1936) on 8th May 2013
James Bonsor
(OD 1996) and Sophie Paget
Steavenson
Richard Mower (OD 1981) and
Rachel Mendelson (OD 1987)
To Davina Vergès née Moore
(OD 1992) a daughter, Melissa
Amy on 13th October 2012
Dominic Harrod (OD 1953)
on 4th August 2013
Ed Nutting (OD 1998) and Alex
Lister are engaged
To Polly Neary née Wilson (OD
1994) and Dan, a daughter,
Betsy Delilah on 7th December
2012
To Philip Verey (OD 1993) a
daughter, Lily Grace on
29th August 2012
THE OD
Engagements and
Marriages
Bertie Murray Threipland (OD
1991) and Martina Cortesi
Rory Stewart (OD 1986) and
Shoshana Clark
Sebastian Wooderson (OD
1995) and Christina Graham
Deaths
Andrew Angus (OD 1935)
on 3rd November 2013
Douglas Duff (Former staff 19792007) on 28th September 2013
Philip Strode (OD 1938)
on 17th September 2013
Peter Ashby (OD 1964)
on 11th September 2013
David ‘Parni’ Parnwell (Former
Staff 1951-1989) on 18th October
2012
Thomas Wilson Hey
(OD 1935) on 23rd October 2012
John Mitchell Anderson (OD
1936) on 8th November 2012
Nicholas Snodgrass
(OD 1967) on 7th October 2012
Russell Milligan
(OD 1946) on 6th October 2012
Colin Burton (OD 1962) on
19th September 2012
Larry Holt-Kentwell (OD 1928)
on 31st August 2012
Richard Evans (OD 1941)
on 24th August 2012
Richard Sharp (OD 1955)
on 1st August 2012
Arthur Somerset
(OD 1973) on 25th July 2012
John Selwyn Herbert
(OD 1938) on 27th September
2013
Obituaries
Larry Holt-Kentwell
(OD 1928)
June Soper (née Brown)
(OD 1932-37)
Lawrence Edwin Arthur Holt-Kentwell was
born in Oxford in 1915. His barrister father
Lawrence was brought up in Hawaii and his
mother, Annie, was a Hawaiian. He was the
youngest of six children and the only son;
two of his sisters also attended the Dragon.
At seven Larry entered the Dragon
School, before proceeding to Sherborne. In
1933 he went up to New College, intending
to read History but switching to Law,
possibly under his father’s influence. It
was a subject he disliked and in which he
eventually gained only a Third. Nevertheless
he enjoyed playing rugby for the college and
rowing in Torpids. He spent a fourth year
studying for a diploma in economics and
political science at Barnett House.
In 1937 Larry joined the probation
service. On the outbreak of war he enlisted
in the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving as
a captain of a unit of ambulances supporting
the 6th Armoured Division throughout the
North African and Italian campaigns. When
the war ended Larry went to Vienna to look
after its children, then desperately short of
food. In 1946 he joined the Foreign Office
and was despatched to Egypt. There, he got
to know a girl in the British Embassy, Joan
Rahtkens, whom he married in 1950.
Larry then transferred to Uganda where
he founded its probation service. In 1959 the
family moved to Hong Kong. By the time
Larry left, his responsibilities – for which he
received an MBE – spanned the probation
service, prisons, addiction, immigration and
housing shortages. He also served as a JP
and president of the YMCA.
In the mid-sixties Larry returned for a
year to the UK to do a diploma course in
Criminology at Cambridge, which he found
not only practically useful but intellectually
reinvigorating. Larry finally returned to the
UK in the early 1970s as Assistant Director
of Social Welfare in Cumbria. In the late
1980s he retired to his true home, Oxford,
enjoying a long, happy time and many trips
abroad. Sadly, he lost his wife in 2010 and
incapacity finally necessitated his move
to a nursing home in Bampton. He died
August 2012 aged 97, survived by three
children, four grandchildren and one great
grandchild.
With thanks to Peter Snow, local author
and neighbour of Larry’s.
June Soper was born in a boarding house
at the Dragon School in 1925. She was the
daughter of J.B. (Bruno) Brown who was
on the staff of the Dragon from 1919 to
1963; Bruno produced an annual Gilbert
and Sullivan and a Shakespeare production
for many years and June starred in these
performances from a young age and
continued to do so throughout her time
living at the school.
June was a generous supporter of the
Dragon and returned to the school on many
occasions, most recently attending the Pre1950s Leavers Reunion in 2011. She wrote to
the Headmaster after the event to say what a
wonderful and particularly moving occasion
it had been.
June died in January 2013. She is survived
by her beloved husband Tom, son David
(OD 1978), and stepson Andrew.
Captain Andrew Angus
(OD 1935)
Captain Andrew Angus was a Grenadier
Guards officer who was awarded an MC for
his brave rescue of wounded men from a
minefield in Italy in 1944.
Andrew Drummond Angus was born
in 1921 and attended the Dragon between
1930 and 1935. He was then educated at
Shrewsbury and Sandhurst. He went on to
join the Windsor Castle Defence Company,
who were responsible for defending the
castle in case of attack by enemy parachutists
and for escorting the royal family to safety in
case of a major invasion.
In 1943 Andrew fought in the North
Africa Campaign and in 1944 travelled up
through Italy with his party of signallers,
trying to establish communications with
the forward companies. On the journey
the group travelled through treacherous
minefields, following in the tracks of another
tank. Two S-mines were set off initially, and
a further three exploded when two dispatch
riders overtook the jeep. Although badly
injured himself, Andrew rescued two injured
soldiers from his group and returned to
rescue the other severely wounded men.
He drove the men back to the Regimental
Aid Post where he collapsed from loss of
blood. He was awarded an immediate MC
for his bravery. Andrew recovered from his
injuries, managing to rejoin his battalion in
Florence in 1945. Andrew was mentioned in
dispatches twice.
On demobilisation in 1946 he moved
to work at Jardine Matheson in Hong
Kong with postings in Shanghai, Japan and
Singapore. He returned to England in 1963
and subsequently opened a Liverpool office
for the Ionian Bank, finally retiring in 1973.
Andrew died in November 2013. He
married Cecily Ayris in 1952 and is survived
by his two sons Moray (OD 1967) and
Thomas (OD 1975) and three daughters.
Richard Evans
(OD 1941)
Sir Richard Evans was a member of the
Diplomatic Service for 36 years. He
specialised in economic and Far Eastern
affairs and ended his career as Ambassador
to China.
Richard was born in 1928. After the
Dragon he went to Repton, and then
Magdalen College, Oxford. The son of a
former member of the Colonial Service,
Richard entered the Foreign Service in
1952 where he was assigned to Chinese
language training and spent two years in
China, working for the Chinese Secretariat
of the Embassy in Beijing before becoming
a Diplomatic Secretary. He was Chinese
Secretary in Beijing from 1962 to 1964 and
was promoted to Counsellor and Head of
Department in the Foreign Office from 1970
to 1974. Following a sabbatical at Harvard in
1974 he held further positions in Stockholm
as Commercial Counsellor and in Paris as
Economic Minister.
As Ambassador to China from 1984
to 1988, Richard was involved in the
completion of the agreement to end 150
years of colonial rule in Hong Kong and was
in attendance at the Queen’s visit to Beijing
in 1986. He was central to the handover
negotiations for which he was formally
thanked by the British Cabinet. As a serious
student of Chinese language and culture
Richard was able to bring a deep contextual
understanding to diplomatic discussions.
In his retirement he wrote Deng
Xiaoping and the Making of Modern China;
a substantial academic achievement, it won
admiration both in the West and in China.
He was supported, as a resident fellow, by
Wolfson College, Oxford and later became a
fellow emeritus.
Richard remained in contact with the
Dragon throughout his life. He was a Stooge
in 1950, a Dragon parent in later years,
and in 2011 he attended a Reunion for his
generation and wrote to say how much he
had enjoyed the occasion and opportunity to
meet with old friends.
Richard was appointed CMG in 1978,
KCMG in 1984 and KCVO in 1986. He
married his second wife, Grania Birkett in
1973 and had two sons.
2014 · ISSUE 3
ORBITUARIES
21
OBITUARIES
22
Professor Michael Stokes
(OD 1945)
Michael Stokes was an author, teacher and
Professor of Greek. A scholar of ancient
Greek literature and philosophy, he changed
the understanding of how Plato combined
the two.
Michael was born in 1933. He joined the
Dragon in 1939 and performed in several
Shakespeare productions during his time
at the school. He won a scholarship to Eton
where he was awarded the Newcastle medal
for classics and divinity. He went to St John’s
College, Cambridge, with a scholarship and
continued his academic success as the winner
of further scholarships and prizes and the
award of a double first in classics.
After a year teaching at Balliol College,
Oxford, Michael was appointed lecturer in
Greek at Edinburgh University in 1956. Here
he began his first book, One and Many in
Presocratic Philosophy, published in 1971. In
1970 Michael moved to America to take up an
associate professorship at Cornell University
before returning home to become Professor of
Greek at Durham University in 1974.
Inspired by his experiences in America,
Michael was keen to give Durham students
with no previous knowledge of Greek
the chance to learn it to a high level. He
introduced a degree in classical studies for
such students as well as an MA course. He
was firmly of the view that the professor
of Greek should teach at all levels and was
keen to teach literature as well as philosophy.
In 1986, Michael published Plato’s Socratic
Conversations, which helped readers learn
a new approach to reading Plato’s dialogues
by encouraging them to examine and ask
questions about particular theories.
On his retirement from Durham in 1993,
Michael became an Honorary Research
Fellow of the Department of Classics at
Royal Holloway University. He continued
to be active in research and gave a paper on
Xenophon’s Socrates in 2009 at Liverpool
University.
Michael Stokes died in May 2012, survived
by his wife Ann from whom he had amicably
separated, three children, four grandsons,
sister Edith and his partner, Joan Zanelli.
Martin Charles
(OD 1953)
Martin Bolton Charles was acknowledged
to be one of Britain’s finest architectural
photographers. Born in Worcestershire in
1940, Martin followed his education at the
Dragon with senior school at Bryanston
before he went to Bristol University to study
Drama. He began work as a trainee film editor
at the BBC where his ability quickly led him
to an editorial role on Whicker’s World. Film
THE OD
editing jobs then followed, and during the
late 1960s and early 1970s Charles worked for
both Pinewood and Shepperton Studios.
In 1974 Martin turned to architectural
photography and initially learnt his
craft in black and white – the style still
predominating amongst his contemporaries.
By this time however, advances in technology
and print reproduction were enabling
colour imagery to be used widely and
cost effectively in journals and magazines.
Martin became one of the first architectural
photographers to understand and embrace
colour; as the outstanding exponent of the
new techniques at the Architectural Press
he became, according to the editor of the
Architectural Review, the finest photographer
in the medium Europe. His photography for
the ‘Masters of Building’ series edited by Dan
Cruickshank for the The Architects’ Journal
was a sensation.
His skill and technique in large format
work, characterised by observation,
rigorous sharpness and accuracy, became
his hallmark. Yet there was no such
thing as work typical of him as each
project was approached afresh and with
perfectionist thoroughness. In time, his
superb photography meant that he could
pick and choose jobs all over the world to
cover a host of iconic buildings. At home he
was particularly drawn to Arts and Crafts
architecture and contributed substantially to
a run of book projects on the subject.
Martin died after three years’ coping with
myeloma with cheerfulness, curiosity and
wit. He is survived by his wife Tessa, his sons
and their families.
Dominick Harrod
(OD 1953)
Dominick Harrod, broadcaster, journalist
and author was born in Oxford in 1941. He
was the son of Sir Roy Harrod, the economist
and biographer of John Maynard Keynes, and
of the Wilhelmine Cresswell who, as “Billa”
Harrod, became a determined campaigner,
with John Betjeman (OD 1920), for the
preservation of historic churches in Norfolk.
After the Dragon Dominick went to
Westminster School and won a scholarship to
Christ Church College, Oxford, to read PPE.
He worked initially for The Sunday Telegraph,
on the ‘Albany’ political gossip column.
Transferring to The Daily Telegraph, he spent
three years as Washington correspondent
for before returning to London in 1969
as economics correspondent. In 1971 he
joined the BBC where, apart from a year
working for Dunlop, he remained until 1993.
During his time there, he interviewed every
serving Prime Minister and Chancellor of
the Exchequer. He was well respected in
both Whitehall and Westminster, and as a
highly professional broadcaster was known
for his ability to discuss any economic topic
at the drop of a hat. He wrote two books on
economics for the general reader.
Dominick left the BBC in 1994 and spent
a year as City editor of The Yorkshire Post
becoming the director of programmes at St
George’s House, an institution established
by the Duke of Edinburgh for people in
prominent positions to discuss matters of
national interest.
After his retirement in 1998 he wrote a
book about an ancestor who had a remarkable
career as a Victorian Arctic explorer. A pillar
of the Garrick Club and keen sailor he was also
a founder member of the Norfolk Churches
Trust, the organisation set up by his mother.
Dominick died in August 2013. His wife
Christina Hobhouse died in 1996. He is
survived by a son and grandson, two stepsons
and four step-grandchildren.
Patrick ‘Paddy’ Masefield OBE
(OD 1956)
Paddy Masefield was a prolific playwright,
theatre director and manager, and a leading
figure in the Disability Arts movement.
Patrick William Bussell Masefield born in
Kampala, Uganda, in 1942. After returning to
Oxford with his family, Paddy started at the
Dragon in 1949; his elder brother Thorold
and younger brother Robin also attended
the school, together one of three generations
of Dragons. In 1956 Paddy was awarded a
scholarship to Repton and afterwards studied
Social Anthropology at Fitzwilliam College,
Cambridge.
In 1967 Paddy became the Drama,
Literature and Film Officer for the NorthEast Arts Association where he placed great
emphasis on bringing theatre to groups would
not otherwise have access to it. In 1969 he
founded Stagecoach Young People’s Theatre
which toured nationally. In the same year he
wrote his first play; the following year he won
the Welsh national dramatist award for his
second play Play with Fire and over the next
15 years he wrote a further 28 plays. He also
directed 75 stage productions and ran both
Oldham Repertory Theatre and the Swan
Theatre, Worcester.
In 1986, aged 44, Paddy acquired a severe
form of ME which left him in a wheelchair
for the rest of his life. The illness ended his
established career in theatre but was the
start of a new beginning as a campaigner
for the rights of disabled people in theatres.
He argued their case at the British Film
Institute, Central Television, West Midlands
Arts, the National Disability Arts Forum
and UNESCO. As a member of Arts Council
England’s lottery panel, he successfully argued
that no building should receive funding unless
it was fully accessible; from 1999 as a result of
Paddy’s campaigning, every building which
has received funding from the lottery panel
has been made fully accessible.
In 1996 Paddy was awarded an OBE for
Services to the Arts and was appointed the
first honorary life member of the Directors
Guild of Great Britain. Paddy died July 2012
after surviving ten years with cancer. He
leaves his wife Caroline, his daughter Abigail
and three grandchildren.
David Parnwell
(Dragon Staff Member 1954-1989)
David Parnwell was born in Bexley, Kent,
the only child of Eric and Florence Parnwell.
Working for Oxford University Press in
the 1920s his father was sent to several
Commonwealth countries to open OUP
branches taking his wife with him as his
secretary. In 1936 Parni accompanied his
parents on their third overseas tour and later
said: “it is little wonder that I should have
become a geography teacher and expedition
leader believing strongly in travel and the
importance of a global world since I formed
these values sitting on an elephant in Ceylon,
riding a rickshaw in Singapore, cruising
down the Nile in a felucca with a pretty
nun, or playing with my dinky toys on deck
crossing the Pacific Ocean”.
After St Edward’s School, Parni served
his National Service as a 2nd Lieutenant in
the Royal Artillery (1948-50). On his return
he was advised to read geography at Trinity
College Oxford with a view to teaching.
During this time Parni was introduced to the
Dragon School, then a most idiosyncratic
prep school with a faithful staff many of
whom like Parni gave their whole working
lives to the school.
Parni became a “stooge” at the Dragon
in 1951. As all who have been stooges know,
there is no job spec and the only real duty
was to act as the Headmaster’s batman every
evening and pour the drinks. In Joc Lynam’s
time this involved filling every glass to the
top with gin and then trying to top it up with
tonic but the tonic was rather frowned upon.
In hindsight it is a miracle that the Dragon
staff of those days, particularly the many
bachelors, survived to such great ages.
Parni joined the Staff proper in 1954.
During his 35 years Parni taught Latin for 25
years and science for 10 years. He later taught
English as well which he much enjoyed. But
it was as Head of Geography for 25 years that
he made his name. For many years he set the
Common Entrance geography paper taken
by all prep schools. In later years Parni wrote
a number of geography books and a book
about schools rowing.
Many who had the privilege of being in
School House will remember him best as its
Housemaster for 15 years (1960-75) starting
at the early age of 31. He had a marvellous
rapport with the boys as he encouraged
their interests and passions. After stepping
down in 1975 Parni was Assistant to the
Headmasters until his retirement in 1989. He
also acted as a most effective Director for one
Dragon Appeal.
Parni was as busy and enthusiastic out of
the classroom as in it. A Fellow of the Royal
Geographical Society, he met many explorers
who encouraged him as an expedition leader.
He would often lead the Easter and Summer
school trips to Paris, and later educational
cruises for all IAPS schools. Parni started
the Dragon Explorers Club, which involved
a group of boys being given a map and a
compass to find their way to a spot about six
miles hence for tea.
Another of his great loves was the Oxford
and Bermondsey Club and he helped
organise camps for Dragons and Bermondsey
boys during the holidays. Believing that as
many Dragons as possible should be engaged
in extra-curricular activity he started a film
club on Saturday evenings and supported
the cine club run by Jim Britton which gave
enormous pleasure to so many pupils.
Parni’s greatest love outside the classroom
was of course rowing and the river. In 1965
he introduced sculling and in the centenary
year of 1977 a new boathouse was opened
and sculling and rowing really took off.
Today the annual Parnwell Cup is awarded to
the best Dragon sculler of the year.
After he retired Parni went through
a difficult period of adjustment, greatly
missing his pupils and the camaraderie of
the Common Room. With the support of his
many friends, his numerous interests and his
Christian faith he found a way forward. He
died peacefully on 18th October, just before
his 83rd birthday, with his friends Suzie
Chavasse and Bishop Bone reading Psalms
by his side.
We are very fortunate if we come to
know more than a very few men or women
who touch as many lives as Parni did. Parni
was much loved by us all. He was a rare
and remarkable man. He loved people. He
motivated children. He was generous. He was
a true friend. But above all he was fun.
Excerpt from the address at David
Parnwell’s Memorial Service at St Edward’s
School on 11th January 2013, given by Sir
David Lewis (OD 1961 and Govenor).
Douglas Gordon Duff (Dougie)
(Dragon Staff Member 1979 – 2007)
When I arrived at the Dragon, Dougie
was 12 years into his Dragon career, so it is
difficult to comment on his early years. He
was however a brilliant teacher of Maths
and Science, not only to the able but also
sympathetically to those who found the
subject more difficult. Many ODs owe him
a great deal. Messages of condolence on
the OD Facebook site and in emails to the
school, following his death, reinforced the
esteem he was held in by many of his former
pupils.
He was well known for getting The
Times crossword completed by Bunbreak
and was also well renowned for the setting
of crossword clues that many of his friends
tried to work out often spending hours of
frustration.
On the games field he had played hockey
to a high standard in his younger days and he
coached many Dragon teams, both boys and
girls. It will be as an Athletics coach that he
will be remembered by many. He was heavily
involved in both Dragon Athletics and in the
Mercia Area Athletics.
His contributions to the Staff Pantomimes
were always appreciated by the writers, the
actors and the audience. Often small cameo
comic roles were remembered for many years
and his sense of humour was clearly seen in
his contributions.
Dougie enjoyed his travelling. He was a
huge support to me from 1996 to 2007 on the
annual trip to the Cevennes in France. I will
always be grateful for the way he was able to
spot the child who needed some TLC due
to homesickness or just feeling low and also
for his work with the Dragon who needed a
word to bring him back in line.
Since 2009 life for Dougie was more
difficult and he fell into hard times. However
with some help and advice from former
colleagues from the Dragon he became more
settled and started to enjoy meeting friends
in Oxford. More recently he was delighted
to make contact again with his son Dominic
and his family.
This lovable, eccentric, scholarly man will
be missed by many and it will be very strange
to wander into Oxford and not suddenly
be greeted with a smile and a ‘Hi, Pabs’.
After three years of our lunches and other
meetings I will certainly have a hole in the
week.
Dougie Duff was born in September 1947
and passed away September 2013. He is
survived by his son, Dominic.
Excerpt from the eulogy given by Paul Baker.
Dougie arrived in 1979 at the Dragon School
to teach Science and Maths although he also
was expected, like many staff at that time, to
teach Latin too. The early years at the Dragon
saw him become a real character in the
Dragon staff room.
2014 · ISSUE 3
OBITUARIES
23
MERCHANDISE
24
OD Merchandise
OD merchandise items are available to purchase directly from the OD Office or
via the OD website at www.dragonschool.org/old-dragons
Ties
Bow Ties
2. Old Dragon tie, silk £34.99
4. Old Dragon bow tie, silk, adjustable £26.99
1. Old Dragon tie, polyester £11.99
3. Old Dragon bow tie, polyester, adjustable £12.99
Contact Us
The OD Office
Tel: +44(0)1865 315416
Email: [email protected]
Bardwell Road, Oxford, OX2 6SS
The Development Office
Tel: +44(0)1865 315417
Email: [email protected]
Bardwell Road, Oxford, OX2 6SS
Join us on our Facebook page:
Dragon School
Join us on our LinkedIn page:
Dragon School: Old Dragons
Cufflinks and Brooches
Follow us on Twitter:
@thedragonschool
Visit us online at:
www.dragonschool.org
www.dragonschool.org/old-dragons
If you know of any ODs who have not
received this magazine who you think
would like to do so, please forward their
details to us.
Contact the Editor at
[email protected]
5. Old Dragon solid silver
cufflinks £59.00
6. Old Dragon solid
silver brooch £49.00
Make your way around a unique board
featuring Dragon landmarks and icons;
play with game cards and currency that
reflects the life and traditions of the school.
Attractively presented in its own Dragon
edition box, the game is a splendid gift or
keepsake for a Dragon of any age! Contact
the OD Office to purchase your set.
THE OD
OD & Development Office
The OD Office is situated in School House. It is responsible for keeping in touch with
the OD community, for OD communications, and the organisation of events and
reunions. We welcome back ODs wishing to return to the Dragon and are happy to
show you around the school. Please keep us informed of any changes to your contact
details and update us with any information which you feel would be interesting for
The OD magazine. We look forward to hearing from you.
The OD Office
Tel: +44(0)1865 315414
Email: [email protected]
Bardwell Road, Oxford OX2 6SS
Join us on our Facebook page:
Dragon School Oxford Alumni
The Development Office, which runs alongside the OD Office, supports the Dragon in
its aims to improve the facilities at the school and provide financial assistance in the
form of bursaries. For any further information about bursaries, leaving a legacy to the
school, or any current fundraising campaigns, please contact us.
The Development Office
Tel: +44(0)1865 315417
Email: [email protected]
Bardwell Road, Oxford OX2 6SS
www.dragonschool.org
Diary Dates 2014
Friday 28th March
OD Reunion Dinner for
1976-1979 Leavers
Thursday 10th April
OD Golf at Frilford Golf
Club, hosted by Nick
Kane (OD 1958)
Wednesday 21st May
Dragon London Lecture
Saturday 7th June
Skipper Society Day
Thursday 25th September
Dragon Oxford Lecture
Thursday 16th October
OD Golf, hosted by
George Marsh (OD
1956) and Peter HolmesJohnson (OD 1954) at
The Addington Golf Club.
Saturday 13th December
Dragon Sale
The OD website is updated
regularly as dates and
venue locations become
confirmed.
www.dragonschool.org/
old-dragons/events.
For further information
about any of these events
please contact the OD Office
on 01865 315416 or email
[email protected]
We are always on the
lookout for venues for
OD events, particularly in
London. If you know of a
company or organisation
who would be able to host
an event, we would be
delighted to hear from you.
Tuesday 2nd September
OD Reunion Dinner
2014 · ISSUE 3
OD & DEVELOPMENT OFFICE
25
www.dragonschool.org