Newsletter April 2015
A word from the Editor…. We seem to be dashing through the year – Easter holidays over and many boys returning to school for only a few weeks before going on study leave to prepare for their exams.
“…You may think you've finished but I've got news for you. Why didn't you get 100%? Quite seriously chaps with a little bit of extra work you can you do a good repairs and additions job to the mark you already have…” (Extract from Facebook post quoting past teacher, Mr Chamberlain)
For the Upper Sixth, their seven years as a pupil will come to an end and I hope many of you will join them in celebrating their (excellent!) exam results at their first ‘Old Boy’ event – the annual Harveys and Hog Roast on 15th August. I am constantly reminded of the lifelong friendships forged at Skinners’ and the numbers already booked for this years’ Annual Dinner are testament to this. There are only a few spaces left so please get in touch with John Andrews to book your place. Do take the opportunity to visit our Facebook page and share your photos and memories of Skinners’. It’s a great way to get in touch with former classmates too. For more formal business networking, you can find us on LinkedIn. Thank you for all your email and postal address updates – keep them coming in – it makes a huge difference to our postage costs.
Enjoy the sunshine! Camilla. You can follow us on: twitter: @leopardstweets Facebook: Old Skinners’ Society Facebook – Tunbridge Wells LinkedIn: Old Skinners’ Society
CHRIS PAWSON - 2014 /15 PRESIDENT (Knott: 1988 – 1995) “…Although a day of mixed emotions for me as I become immediate past president, the AGM looks like it could be an historic one…” We have had a strong response to the announcement of the 125th Anniversary Dinner at Skinners’ Hall – shaping up to be a memorable occasion! We hope you enjoyed the Leopard, the souvenir brochure and, along with me, are very much looking forward to that very special evening with in excess of 150 other Old Skinners’ there! You may also have seen in the Skinners’ School Newsletter (as opposed to the Old Skinners’ Newsletter) that a number of Old Skinners have come to the school and given some fantastic talks about the fascinating world of work they are involved in. If you want to contribute to the school’s life and have something to offer about your chosen experiences, or if you want to recruit some strong candidates, please get in touch with Camilla, Editor of this Newsletter, about feasibility. Referring back to the Leopard, and with a potential eye to the future, take a look at the school website (www.skinners-school.co.uk) ‘General Information’ page. You’ll see the link to view the Leopard online, a more up-to date form of communication that we must consider for the future. It allows for more flexible content, an ability to search for specifics and better historical documentation for future generations. This is the first time that the Leopard can be read online.
We continue to see a flow of information ensuring we keep our records up to date. Thank you for letting us know of your updated email addresses, and of the email addresses of fellow Old Skinners who we may have lost touch with that you know might enjoy our communications. Please take a look on the website or at the back of this newsletter for upcoming events. Although it will be a day of mixed emotions for me as I become immediate Past President, the AGM looks like it could be an historic one. We are expecting to vote on a change of constitution and to convert to charitable status if the quorum is reached. A delicious lunch will be put on afterwards, so please let us know if you’d like to come along. As always, enjoy the Newsletter! Chris
SCHOOL REPORT I had the pleasure last month of attending the OSS Past Presidents’ Dinner. With ages ranging from 35 (Nick Myers) to 95 (Philip Winter), it was a wonderful evening of lively conversation, good food and just a bit of nostalgia. What the Past Presidents had in common of course was their appreciation that it is Skinners’ that brought them together and Skinners’ that very obviously made a mark on them. Why else would they be gathering together in the Tunbridge Wells Hotel so long after they had left the school? I was pleased to be able to report to them that the school marches on, animated, busy, impoverished and vibrant. Academically, we hurtle towards the exam season. Nine of our A level candidates sit on Oxbridge offers, seven of them at Cambridge. A Skinners’ first, a place at Massachusetts Institute of Technology for James Lovejoy, is every bit as laudable. At GCSE, according to league tables, we are the highest performing school in Kent and in the top 10 nationally. The government has recently introduced a new measurement of school’s performance called Progress 8, which measures progress over a pupil’s best 8 subjects at GCSE. Our score in that is the best amongst all grammar schools nationally. I don’t really know how that happened, but it did. Of course, busy boys are the most successful, borne out by the academic quality of the cast of Faustus, the senior school play performed in January. This was a triumph of choreography and physical theatre, with superb performances from a very talented ensemble. I hope it can play a part in stemming a national decline in grammar schools of minority arts subjects like Music, Drama and Art. Our numbers are holding up but it is a fragile thing.
No such shortage of numbers in sport. We have local basketball champions at Skinners’, two international sailors (one for GB, one for Guatemala) and two international crosscountry runners. Our hockey continues to grow. The 1st XI were knocked out of the National Knockout tournament at the quarter-final stage but are also in the final of the Kent Plate, which we hope will take place at the Olympic hockey venue.
“…The government has recently introduced a new measurement of school’s performance called Progress 8, which measures progress over a pupil’s best 8 subjects at GCSE. Our score in that is the best amongst all grammar schools nationally...” Following on from their superb season of XVs rugby (the Upper Sixth rugby players have lost a grand total of six matches in seven years), the 1st VII reached the final of the Kent Sevens, losing to Tonbridge, a feat matched by the U14 VII who were edged out by Chislehurst and Sidcup in the final play of the game. In terms of developing sportsmen, an U15 cricket team spent Easter in Dubai, whilst the senior rugby squad will set off for Hong Kong and New Zealand in July on a three week tour.
SCHOOL REPORT On the subject of STEM and sustainability, we have just been re-awarded our Green Flag eco-schools status, we think the first school to achieve that five times. In that context we have welcomed in the past few weeks Greg Clark MP for Tunbridge Wells, to look at our STEM provision, and Michael Fallon, Minister of Defence and MP for Sevenoaks, to discuss globalisation.
“…the school marches on, animated, busy, impoverished and vibrant…” A year ago the CCF was threatened by a proposal from the MoD to levy a charge on participants, of up to £250 per year per head. Our CCF would have survived this potentially crippling blow, but there would have been plenty of CCFs that wouldn’t. Anyway, that idea has now been abandoned and we go from strength to strength. 20 cadets had a superb week in Dartmoor over Easter.
We have also just had a whole school photo. Those who remember the entire school lining up on decking to smile at a rolling camera, which allowed the odd enterprising pupil to sprint from one end of the decking to the other (and thus appear in the photo twice), will be disappointed to hear that this time the school (which tops 900) was photographed in five sections, with each section to be photo-shopped in. I have also requested a background of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon: we shall see what the result is like. With best wishes for the summer to all Old Skinners’. May this glorious spring continue.
Edward Wesson
Left: The 1st XV after winning their final game. The Upper Sixth players have lost just six matches in seven years.
Robert G Dancy (Hunt: 1942 – 1947) After leaving school I had excellent technical training for two years with the GPO Telephone System (now BT), studying hard. This was followed by National Service in the RAF for two years working on communication and cipher equipment, with 18 months in Germany and over sixty solo flights in gliders and sailplanes. Still studying…. Later, a few years working on telephone equipment in the Tunbridge Wells area and at the radio transmitting station at Rugby, studying and taking examinations in technology and mathematics. This was followed by a period with the BBC in London based at Broadcasting House, then working with FTR near New York. Leaving there for a drive across USA to California, via Florida, I worked in the Electronics Lab of Pacific Semiconductors Inc. Back in England, after a couple of years I joined International Rectifier Company (IR), becoming Chief Electrical Engineer for two years. Returning to Los Angeles with IR as manager of the electronics laboratory before returning to England once again, this time as Engineering Manager running the department, and as Chief Design Engineer involved in the design of equipment for radio, radar, aircraft, nuclear power stations, medical electronics, atomic research, the printing and paper industries and many other projects. This involved travel to the continent a few times most months. I also worked in Zambia for a year as a consultant on large electrical installations for refining copper. During my time in industry I worked at current levels ranging from micro-amps to 100,000 amps and voltages from micro-volts to 400,000 volts – friends with many fine engineers.
Above: In 1947 aged 15… and now nearly 70! Finally I ended up at the Palace of Westminster as Control Engineer, supervising staff on air conditioning, lighting, security, stand-by electrical generators, lifts, flood-lighting and all other services including, of course, the Great Clock – Big Ben. I retired aged 60. I was a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and served on an IEE technical committee for four years. I have given many lectures at universities and engineering meetings both in the UK and abroad and have had six technical books published and five patents granted. My hobbies include amateur radio (call sign G3JRD), sailing (with many trips abroad in our own yacht and crewing to Bay of Biscay and Norway), Scout leader for many years; I have travelled four times to Australia and New Zealand, visited 43 of the United States, Canada, Mexico, much of Europe and Scandinavia and some of Africa; I also enjoy IT, gardening, listening to classical music, reading – mostly non- fiction. I’m married with three children and eight grandchildren and one great grandson, so all the trouble caused by the Dancys will continue. Three brothers, Kenneth, Tony and myself all went to Skinners’. How lucky we were.
Nicholas R MacNab – Nick (Sebastian: 1973 – 1978) On leaving Skinners' I spent close to five years in the Royal Artillery, based mainly in (West) Germany and including a tour of Northern Ireland. My time in the CCF was pivotal in this decision. I later completed my education obtaining BSc and MSc degrees at Sheffield City Polytechnic/Sheffield Hallam University. Still undecided about my future, I found employment in oil exploration and spent five years in Libya and a year in Algeria - those were fascinating times as most of my work was deep in the Sahara Desert! I was amazed at how much WWII debris remains in Libya, including tracked vehicles, helmets, piles of artillery shells and, not least, the Lady be Good Liberator bomber which crash landed in the desert in 1943. I have a map
Left: Nick on patrol in Belfast in 1980
somewhere on which Lady be Good is printed as a landmark, so far is it from anything else. I was in Libya when the Lockerbie disaster happened, along with an engineer from Lockerbie whose family was at home when parts of the plane came
down close to their house. On an equally sombre note, one of my co-workers in Libya had transferred to Chad and was on UTA772 brought down over Niger in 1989, ironically by the Libyan secret service. In 1995, after marrying an American who I had met on my travels, I gave up the oil lifestyle as it kept me away for nine months of the year. I became a senior manager with Royal Mail and for several years managed the East London Mail Centre (and locked horns with the CWU). In 2004, having added three boys to the family, we pulled up sticks and emigrated to the USA. Some friends of my then wife who worked for the Baltimore-based brokerage firm Legg Mason, had been badgering me to interview with them, their motivation being to get her back State-side (I realized later). Their clever ploy worked and I became a reluctant stockbroker in Atlanta for the next ten years. I was divorced in 2008, the same year I became a US citizen. To much relief I gave up the world of stock brokerage a year ago to concentrate on developing my own business interests. I launched a company called Access Laundry late last year with the aim of transforming access to laundry services. I own a laundromat facility in Sandy Springs, GA and we are currently developing a website that will facilitate access to full-service laundry services from lockers in designated drop-off/pick-up zones. Two of my sons are now in college, the third is in high school.
Roger Jupe (Knott: 1957 – 1963)
It is said everyone has a book inside them. In my case it took 50 years after I had left Skinners’ for it to surface. This slightly sinister photo is how my publisher sees me. Some readers may remember the name Roger Jupe, a Knott pupil in the 1960s who certainly showed no signs of becoming an author back then. English was never my thing. I left school at 17 with five ‘O’ levels having excelled in just Art and Religious Knowledge. The Headmaster, the inspiring Cecil Beeby, noted ‘a cheerful, charming and only moderately industrious pupil’. It seemed all I was qualified for was to become a pleasant artistic monk. But, of the many things school had given me, confidence was top of the list. Also, I had learnt how important it was to knuckle down, to put in the hours and the value of learning from others with experience and knowledge to impart. Going on to university in those days was not the big deal it is today; getting a decent job straight from school was also much easier. By the time I was 21 I was sharing a flat in Belgravia and working in the PR department of a large drinks company that had diversified into pharmaceuticals. The first few months in the job amounted to a crash course in crisis PR since the company was under fire for having marketed a dreadful drug called Thalidomide. Harrowing and upsetting as it was, the experience prepared me for some of the extremes associated with a career in communications. I was lucky. Four years after leaving school I
discovered that I loved PR and everything involved in marketing products. I applied myself and acquired a wealth of communications skills. I learnt on the job about why and how people buy. By the time I was 25 I knew that corporate life was not for me and wanted to control my own destiny, go it alone and run my own business.
“…a cheerful, charming and only moderately industrious pupil’. It seemed all I was qualified for was to become a pleasant artistic monk…” The first offices I rented were in Bolt Court off Fleet Street. I was rather pleased to be working in a place that had made a name for itself in the 18th century when Samuel Johnson, the famous lexicographer and Londoner, resided there. Then, as now, I have a staunch belief in a quote of his that is often used to summarise the greatness of London: “Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford”. I wanted to write a book about the history of the area but London was offering too many distractions at the time. During the following years my marketing and PR efforts on behalf of a diverse range of clients didn’t exactly change the world but perhaps made life more enjoyable for many. After masterminding an air-speed record for a New York to London flight in 1974 – it still stands at 1 hour 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds, but that is another story – I turned my attention to more everyday matters: what we eat and drink.
I helped turn what were once niche or seasonal products, such as pasta, avocados, soya milk and salmon, into everyday foodstuffs. I worked for farmers, manufacturers and retailers; helped countries increase their exports; greatly enjoyed being the PR man for everything from Courvoisier cognac to Copella fruit juice, from British sausages to sugar from Mauritius. To help promote these and many other products I commissioned books from famous names about good food and cooking but never found the time to become an author myself. The impetus for that came to me over a plate of lasagne.
The occasion was buying a house in Italy some 15 years ago. I became fascinated by the glories and abominations of this contradictory country, populated by such contradictory people, and felt compelled to write about my discoveries. The book is called Casa Nostra. It has just been published and I am pleased to say it’s selling well. For someone who wasn’t any good at English at school the critics have been kind to me. This, I reckon, only goes to prove that if I can write a bestseller everyone – certainly every Skinners’ boy – has a book inside them. Casa Nostra, Views from a Tuscan Terrace, by Roger Jupe is available from Amazon.
Richard A Lambert (Knott: 1958 – 1963)
Ex President 2004 &Membership Sec. 2005-11 Leaving school at 16, with no career advice, by chance I took a job with a firm of Chartered Accountants in East Grinstead and by the age of 21 I had qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Little did I know at the time where this would lead me. In those days I was also classed as a bit of a traitor because I shunned the Old Boys RFC after a season to go and play for Crowborough which was my home town. I soon discovered that being an ACA opened many career opportunities and after spending some time with one of the big four in London I moved into a more commercial role. This led to senior financial management roles with RTZ, Corals, Fred Olsen, Ross Foods, Bulmers Cider, Grants Whisky and Group FD of a FTSE 250 Group. At the age of 46 I became an independent interim executive specialising in corporate turn round and this took me to Croatia for three years as CEO of the largest privatised group. In my later career I have spread my options with a portfolio career,
using my experience to give back something to the community. Most notably I was the driving force behind the new clubhouse at Crowborough RFC and also for rescuing Speldhurst Sausages from the liquidator, saving local jobs. My third wife Marisa is Brazilian and so we have moved to a wonderful part of Brazil where I am currently enjoying retirement and learning Portuguese. I am hoping that my four children, two boys and two girls will be able to bring my six grandchildren to experience life in South America, at some stage in the future. If there are any Old Boys coming to this part of the world, we will always be pleased to see them.
John Simons (Atwell: 1966 – 1974) John did his A levels in English, Greek, Latin and Ancient History and then took a gap year (although they weren’t called gap years then) in the course of which he did various things including a few months as the technician in Mr Shaw’s labs (this taught him the life skill of staying calm under pressure). He is currently Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at Macquarie University in Sydney. He did his BA at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and got a First (College Prize) in English (studying mainly medieval Germanic and Celtic languages) and won an English Medal at the University Eisteddfod. He did his PhD (on Middle English chivalric romance) at Exeter University. Between 1978 and 2009 he worked in five British universities and did every academic related job from part-time tutor to Pro Vice Chancellor at some point or other. He got his first chair in 1995. Over the years he has written or edited some 17 academic books and numerous articles. Initially he worked on medieval literature and pre-industrial popular culture but in the late 1990s he changed course and began writing about animal rights in an historical framework. His most recent book Kangaroo was listed for Biology Book of the Year in the UK and he is currently working on A Primrose from England which is about English plants and animals in colonial Australia. Over the last eighteen months he has been part of an international team funded by the British Union against Vivisection to produce a report on the scientific validity and ethics of animal testing. Since coming to Australia in 2009 he has been elected President of the Council for Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences which is the umbrella group for arts organisations in Australia. He has also been elected to a Fellowship of the Royal Society of New South Wales in recognition of his work on animals.
Above: John in 1973 John has been married to Kate since 1984. She is an artist and last year was shortlisted for the Alice Prize. Her retrospective exhibition Chain Reaction was shortlisted for an Imagine award. In 1997 John and Kate collaborated on a joint project for the Ormskirk Green Arts Festival she mounted her The Post-Darwinians exhibition and John’s Cantata Bestiale (music by Tony Biggin) was performed twice. John has a son, Frank, from a previous marriage who he is happily married and living in Swindon, where he works for Honda. In the 1990s John worked extensively in the Balkans on projects to help universities transition from communism. As a result of his experiences there he was baptised into the Orthodox Church in 1998 and was for a number of years as president of the Orthodox Community of St Barbara in Chester. John still publishes the odd (some very odd) poem and watches cricket on occasion (diplomatically supporting the best team). He’d love to hear from contemporaries.
Old Leopards v New…. Old Skinners’ v School Annual Hockey Fixture Skinners' 3 - 3 Old Boys Friday evening (March 27th) at Fortress Hawkenbury saw the return of many a friendly and familiar face as the Old Boys took on Skinners’ 1st XI and 2nd XI. A topsy-turvy game saw both sides play some good hockey. Skinners’ took first blood, before the Old Boys equalised and then Skinners’ went 3-1 up. Then, a fight back in the last 10 minutes saw the Old Boys claw back to 3-3 – a score that remained at the final whistle. By popular demand, a Penalty Shuttle competition then took place, with the Old Boys coming through as winners. Affirmation of the decision to move the fixture to a Friday evening was to be found in the turnout. Matching expectation, Skinners' provided 2 teams of boys and the Old Boys were supported with a full compliment too, and were even able to provide a substitute too...a rare luxury when considering the numbers for recent years! Thanks to John Burton for assisting me with the umpiring under the somewhat gloomy floodlights! As an aside, Skinners’ Old Boy, Sam Clarke Knowles (2012) was a member of Nottingham University Men’s 1st XI, who saw off Loughborough University to win the BUCS championships in March on penalty flicks (4-2) – an outstanding achievement and the pinnacle of aspiration for any university sportsman or woman. Chris Johnson,1st XI coach
Robert J T Jarvis 8/08/1942 – 16/01/15 (Hunt 1953 – 1960) Pat and I recently attended the funeral of my old friend and contemporary at school, Bob Jarvis in the village of Ludham in North Norfolk where Bob had practised as a GP for many years. Bob left school in 1960 to train in medicine at Bristol, where by all accounts he was a brilliant student. When he qualified in 1965 he was offered the prestigious house jobs at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, both medical and surgical. He went to Norwich for six months in Casualty, followed by six months in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and then went to London for an intensive course at the School of Tropical Medicine in preparation for going to Kenya. Taking up a job working for the Ministry for Overseas Development, he worked in two district hospitals over the next two and a half years. As District Medical Officer responsible for the hospital, villages and surrounding area, he was in charge of all medical care, carrying out operations, deliveries, clinics and post mortems. It was an extraordinarily responsible post for a young doctor barely two years out of medical school. On his return to the UK, Bob decided to take up general practice in Norfolk – where he had come for childhood sailing holidays. He applied for a job in Ludham and after a year as a trainee he was offered a partnership.
He was the local medical advisor for the RNLI’s Happisburgh lifeboat. He had a special interest in adoption and fostering and acted as a medical advisor on adoption panels for The Children’s Society for many years. Bob was a loyal member of the Med Chi – the historic Norwich based Medio Chirurgical Society – and would regularly attend their lunchtime and evening meetings. In the early days meetings used to be scheduled as near to the full moon as possible so members could ride home in the moonlight. Bob took pride in being elected President of the Society and took every opportunity to wear his official regalia and chain of office. He had a motto taped to his old fashioned roll top bureau in the surgery. When asked what it was he explained that it was the Hippocratic principle ‘First do no harm’. It’s a good principle to aspire to at any time, but Bob in typical style has written it in the original Greek. Bob was a keen sailor and was part owner of a beautiful half decker Black Bees which he sailed regularly and successfully in the Hickling Regatta. When the Broads froze over Bob would have his skates in the Land Rover ready to join a select group who knew where the best ice was.
Bell ringing was another of his pastimes and he attended practice regularly on Friday nights and rang for service on Sundays. His children grew up being Bob had many interests in the medical field. Very involved in most of his outdoor activities, sailing, close to his heart was the Norfolk Accident Rescue canoeing and wildlife watching. It was often wet, Service, of which he was a founder member in uncomfortable, always fun and in later years his 1971, and attended hundreds of road accidents. He grandchildren were able to enjoy the same adventures. was also very knowledgeable about pre hospital care and achieved a Diploma in Immediate Care I remember Bob at school as the brightest in the class, from the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh. always smiling and a great cross country runner – he is Once a week he worked a session in A & E at the sadly missed by his wife Bella, his two children, his two Norfolk and Norwich hospital where he is sisters and all who came in contact with him. remembered for his clinical skills, country gentleman’s attire and tea break at three o’clock. Peter11 Gurr
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20th June 2015 – AGM followed by lunch (contact John Andrews: johna@enterprise.net to book lunch)
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15th August 2015 – Harveys and Hog Roast at Skinners’ (contact Camilla Nichols: camilla.nichols@skinners-school.org.uk)
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7th November 2015 - 125th Anniversary Dinner, Skinners’ Hall (Places are going fast – please contact johna@enterprise.net ) 19th December 2015 - Leopard’s Ball (contact Spencer Chartres on spencer.j.chartres@jpmorgan.com to book Gregory L Jenner: (Atwell: 1994 – 2001) Former Skinner and Horrible Histories historical consultant, Greg Jenner’s new book ‘ A Million Years in a Day’ is currently a top seller . Here’s an extract from his introduction… If I had to guess, I’d say you’re probably sitting down right now. Perhaps you’re in that bountifullyupholstered armchair, the bastion of upright comfort, cradling this book with open palms and halfcocked arm? Or perhaps you’re the archetypal sofa slumper, sprawled inelegantly across a couch designed for three? Of course, if you’re anything like me, you’re reading this standing up on an overcrowded and overpriced commuter train, your face hovering barely inches from a stranger’s sweat-dampened armpit, while you shuttle between your home and your workplace. But, I bet I can guess where you’re not reading this, though. I bet you’re not in a cave... Though it boggles the mind to truly contemplate it, you and I are no different anatomically to people who lived 30,000 years ago. While we delight in cartoonish portrayals of people we might dub Ug and Nug, smashing each other over the heads with clubs and dragging women around like wheelie bins, the truth is rather more nuanced. For starters, they weren’t grunting numpties. In fact, they had the full faculty of language, the intellect to solve problems, the urge to protect their loved ones, and bury their mourned-for dead. They were, in every regard, modern humans like you or me. Yet our lives are hugely different from theirs. So, how did we end up living as do now?