Old Pauline News Spring 2015
T H E S T PA U L’ S S C H O O L A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E
Exploring the Natural World Casey Moore, photographer Gerard RUSSELL
Andrew EDGECLIFFEJOHNSON
Understanding the Middle US news editor East at the FT
Euclid TSAKALOTOS
Bailout negotiations coordinator for the Greek Government
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Editorial Crisis, what crisis? With a general election and a royal baby dominating every available column inch and broadcast over the last few weeks, the crises in Greece and the Middle East have, for the moment at least, taken somewhat more of a back seat. Two Old Paulines have found themselves at the very heart of those two revolutions, and have both published books that illustrate their views and observations. Euclid Tsakalotos (1973-78) has recently been promoted as the chief bailout negotiator for the SYRIZA Greek government. The Old Pauline News is delighted to publish a short exclusive interview with him that indicates support for some of his ideas exists in some unlikely places. Gerard Russell (1986-91), a former diplomat, has published a definitive study of the diverse religious groups who find themselves on the run and in danger of obliteration at the behest of ISIS. Gerard’s book Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East was voted one of the books of the year by the Evening Standard and has become essential reading for anyone wanting to better understand the Middle East and its myriad faiths. Careers in the arts remain reasonably rare for OPs. However, our cover features New Zealand born fine art photographer Casey Moore (1989-94), on a mission to capture secrets from the natural world. And conductor Alex Ingram (1968-72) has achieved his ambition to conduct for ballet, and is enjoying working with the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the Vienna State Ballet.
Simon Bishop (1962-65) smnbish@aol.com
Editor and designer Simon Bishop All correspondence to: The Editor c/o The Old Pauline Club, St Paul’s School, Lonsdale Road, London SW13 9JT Copy for the Autumn issue of the Old Pauline News, to be published in October 2015, should reach the Editor no later than 17 August 2015. Contact: opcman@stpaulsschool.org.uk
Keeping in touch
The Club sends out a monthly eNewsletter bringing you up to date with current news of OPs and the School. If you have not been receiving these, please send your email address to opcadmin@stpaulsschool.org.uk and we will add your name to our distribution list which now stands at well over 5,000 members. We are always delighted to hear from you so do please keep in touch. Feedback on the eNews or the magazine is always welcome; please contact Ceri Jones on 020 8746 5339 or at opcadmin@stpaulsschool.org.uk if you have any news or views to share with us.
Contents
P6
Euclid Tsakalotos (1973-78)
COVER STORY
Alex Ingram (1968-72)
P4
P10
Casey Moore (1989-94)
2 News of Old Paulines 14 Club News 19 Branch News 20 Obituaries 28 OP Sport 32 Social Calendar 32 Crossword Gerard Russell (1986-91)
Social Events
Our social calendar for the year appears on page 32. Full details of each event will be published in the monthly eNews. For information on all Club activities please contact Ceri Jones on 020 8746 5339 or visit www.opclub.stpaulsschool.org.uk
Update your details
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News
These boots are made for . . . marathons? A £2 million first phase of development saw outbuildings at the farm converted into independent living units for profoundly disabled young adults, and the restoration and conversation of the farmhouse to provide training for unemployed young adults. “Why in Wellington Boots? I have never possessed any running shoes, and since it is a farm project this seemed appropriate!” Robin’s marathon aims were to be able to walk at the end of it and to use it as an excuse to unashamedly ask for as much money as possible. If you would like to support this project in any way please go to www. eastclaytonfarm.org.uk for further information. You can donate to Lorica Trust by going to: my.give.net/lorica
Robin Hobson (1967-72) ran a reverse London Marathon in wellies to raise money for the second phase of development at East Clayton farm, which he has managed since 2013, and that is now used by YMCA Downslink who provide homeless or long-term unemployed young adults with the opportunity to live, work and re-train within a supportive community environment. Due to an administrative glitch, the London Marathon moved Robin's charity
entry to 2016 – but having prepared for a 2015 entry, Robin decided to go for it because he said, "I will be too old and tired by next year!" The solution was to run the course a day early and in reverse. Starting before sunrise Robin completed the 26.2-mile course in his iconic orange boots to help raise funds towards developing the farmland at East Clayton to allow visitors and other groups to use the 120-acre facility, convert a dilapidated barn into a community room with toilet facilities and to construct wheelchair accessible farm and garden activities for the use of residents and visitor groups. Robin is aiming to raise £200,000.
Robin crosses the 'finishing line' at Blackheath Gate, Greenwich.
Bike Shed revisited? 50 years since he used to commute on two small wheels to West Kensington, one devoted OP celebrates his association with the iconic Moulton bicycle. In the 1950s an engineer called Alex Moulton, who designed suspension systems for the British Motor Corporation, thought that bicycle design had stagnated and decided to do something about it. In 1962 he brought to the world a machine with an F-shaped frame, small wheels and rubber suspension front and rear. These stylish bicycles caught people’s imagination, rejuvenated the cycle industry, and fitted in well with the fashion scene of the ‘60s. They also appealed to several boys at St Paul’s. Tim Toman (1962-67) bought his in April 1964 and
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still treasures it. He remembers three other contemporaries riding them to school. At the annual Moulton Bicycle Club weekend at the home of the designer in Bradford on Avon there is usually a themed parade to give Moulton riders, often in some sort of fancy dress, an excuse to talk about their machines. Last September the theme was ‘The Spirit of ‘64’. Tim took the opportunity to dig out his school cap, original black tie and blue briefcase full of school books, borrow a battered (non-SPS) blazer and mock up a school badge out of black paper and Tippex. If you had been passing through Hammersmith Broadway at 8.57 on a sunny morning in term time in the mid 1960s you might have caught sight of a somewhat flustered, similar but younger Pauline, speeding through the rush-hour traffic on a red Moulton.
Tim Toman and 'friend' celebrate a 50-year partnership
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Chase the stories that fire you up! Sam Henderson
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson (198489) is the Financial Times’ US News Editor. Here he argues the case for a career in journalism rather than in public relations. In February this year a fellow New Yorkbased British journalist called Felix Salmon wrote a provocative piece that ignited that corner of Twitter where journalists like arguing with other journalists about journalism, and bothered me a lot. Tantalisingly headlined “To all the young journalists asking for advice…”, it told aspiring news hounds that journalism was “a dumb career move”, a profession where it was “almost impossible to make a decent living” and an oversupplied industry where you could be replaced with somebody cheaper at any moment. If there is anything else you enjoy, he advised budding reporters, go and do it instead. This bothered me in part because journalism has been my career for two decades, and I’ve been interested in it since before I was at St Paul’s. When the then High Master, Warwick Hele, asked at my interview what I wanted to do when I grew up, I answered: “Foreign correspondent”. I was thinking of Brian Hanrahan, the BBC correspondent who covered the Falklands war in 1982, though, as Felix put it: “Even successful journalists rarely do much of the kind of high-minded stuff you
The figures suggest that what happens to young journalists who give up on journalism is that they go into PR probably aspire to”. I work at a desk and I’ve never needed a flak jacket (though my respect has only grown for the colleagues who do). Like all good polemics, Felix’s piece was well argued. Even 20 years ago the newspaper game felt a little perilous, and we’re all aware of the stresses on established newsrooms. Even the industry’s digital growth stories, from Buzzfeed to Vice, aren’t exactly keeping their journalists in the style to which correspondents were once accustomed. But then nobody went into journalism to get rich even then.
I dabbled in journalism at St Paul’s, helping set up an arts magazine called Spa and chipping in a worthy essay or two to H Magazine (the “official organ” of the history department, edited by George Osborne). Thanks to a school friend I spent most of my gap year writing for an archaic commodities newspaper. Then at university I got stuck into Varsity, the student paper, and did shifts on the Cambridge Evening News, where I proudly remember my first splash: “Thugs Lose To Harry, 82 – Plucky pensioner boots out burglars”. I applied to every Fleet Street graduate trainee scheme I could find and was rejected by all of them. Eventually I cajoled my way into some unpaid work experience at the Daily Telegraph and parlayed that into three years on its business desk. I’ve spent the following 17 years at the Financial Times, bouncing between London and New York, between reporting and editing, and between beats as diverse as tobacco and media. It was in the last of these roles, charting my own industry’s sometimes painful but exhilarating digital transformation, that I got to study the challenges and chances digital media has presented us with as journalists. One of those challenges, which receives far less attention than the demise of print advertising or the rise of citizen journalism, is the rapid growth of public relations. PR is now a $12.5bn global industry, and it has used digital media – and the talents of a lot of former journalists – to turn the business of leaden press releases and clunky advertorials into a slick stream of “brand journalism”, “content marketing” or “native advertising”. These are stories, videos and infographics that look like news but often bypass the media altogether and, of course, tell just one
side of the story. If there is something that should worry aspiring journalists, and perhaps all of us as consumers and citizens, it is that it looks like the PRs are winning. In the US, where I now work, there are now 4.6 PRs for every journalist.
. . . it will feel like an extraordinary privilege to get paid for all your exploring The figures suggest that what happens to young journalists who give up on journalism is that they go into PR. Instead of telling the stories that fired them up at school or university, they tell stories for car companies, nappy brands or cabinet members. Most of them seem to enjoy it, though it’s not my idea of fun. So if you have the talent and curiosity to explore the world around you, challenge superficial spin, chase the stories PRs will never tell about their clients and write, film or number-crunch the fruits of your reporting in a way that your audience will find valuable, there is still no better career choice. Even now, as the industry scours for new talent to explore the new tools of journalism to the full and reporters and columnists become multimedia brands of their own, the best of you will find a way to make a living. And it will feel like an extraordinary privilege to get paid for all your exploring. So, to all the young journalists asking for advice… Please go into journalism. PR has enough people already. OLD PAULINE NEWS SPRING 2015 3
News
Shaping the music Alex Ingram (1968-72) began his career as a répétiteur at Welsh National Opera. He has since performed all over the world as a freelance conductor of opera and ballet. Now guest conductor at the Vienna State Opera (with its world-famous orchestra - the Vienna Philharmonic) he is achieving his ambition to conduct at the highest level.
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Alex at the Bolshoi
later in the year. With the Royal Ballet he enjoyed international tours, especially to the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theatres in Russia, and he values highly the camaraderie of being one of English National Ballet’s team of regular conductors. Alex says he had a really good experience at St Paul’s, arriving in the first term in the new building in Barnes. “David Robinson was Head of Music then and was really good at giving people opportunities. For instance, as a pianist I got to play movements of piano concertos (Mozart, Grieg, Rachmaninov 2) sharing them with the other pianists.” Alex became involved with music for school plays and was already beginning to think about theatre. As head of the music society Alex co-organised a music and poetry evening at the School in collaboration with girls
Canoeing marathon
David is planning to build another boat, his fourth canoe, this year, but says it may not be finished in time to train for next season as he has promised to do some work on the house first!
David Whitby (1979-84) completed the Devizes to Westminster canoe marathon over Easter in the senior singles class, and although he was paddling a canoe rather than a sculling boat, felt it appropriate to enter as a member of the Colet Boat Club. Over 600 people took part in the 125-mile race, which David completed in 27 hours and 18 minutes. “The trip down the tideway really was a trip down memory lane!” He also competed in the four Waterside Series Races this year David crosses the finishing line at Westminster in preparation.
Dominic James
Alex began working on a new production of Swan Lake with the Vienna State Ballet last year thanks to his association with the prima ballerina Sylvie Guillem, who was at the Royal Ballet when Alex got his big break conducting a performance of Romeo and Juliet at Covent Garden in 2001. Alex had been working at ENO for about fourteen years at that point, latterly as one of their resident conductors. “I had been conducting opera for some time, but I wanted to get into ballet. My mother had been a ballet dancer so I had grown up with it. But there’s a rather odd Catch 22 situation in that ballet companies won’t let you conduct ballet until you have conducted ballet! It’s a highly specialised skill.” Nevertheless, Alex was invited by Andrea Quinn, then music director of the Royal Ballet, to understudy Romeo and Juliet for her, having seen him conduct La Bohème at ENO. Alex was eventually obliged to conduct a matinée and the door was open at last. Shortly afterwards Alex conducted a triple bill with the Royal Ballet, both at Covent Garden and on tour in Australia, in which Sylvie Guillem danced. Hugely impressed by her performances Alex offered to go anywhere in the world to conduct for her and two years later she asked him to conduct a season of performances for her in Japan. While there Guillem decided to put on a gala performance to raise funds for the orphans of the Fukoshima disaster and among the guest artists was Manuel Legris, former étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet and Director of the Vienna State Ballet. In due course Legris asked Alex to conduct Swan Lake for the company in Vienna. A DVD of the opening night featuring Olga Esina as Odette-Odile was released last November on the Unitel-Classica label. Alex has been back in Vienna this year for more Swan Lakes, and is delighted to have been booked for a new Triple Bill
from SPGS. The evening was so well attended that High Master Tom Howarth was reduced to sitting on the floor as there were no available seats left! Later at Cambridge, where he read Music (including Composition with Robin Holloway), Alex joined the Cambridge Footlights where he met his wife Caroline who was designing and making the costumes. It was here that Alex began to direct music from the pit for the first time. “You had to write a lot of songs, particularly for the annual pantomime and the famous (or infamous) Revue which toured the country. I was supplied lyrics by the likes of Gryff Rhys Jones and Clive Anderson. Even Nick Hytner sang one of my songs!” Alex then won a piano accompaniment scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music leading him eventually to the National Opera Studio which had just been set up. Alex was the first trainee répétiteur there before joining WNO and later becoming Assistant Chorus Master at ENO where his duties included a lot of offstage conducting, “A highly nerve-wracking thing to get right but great for finding a conducting technique that really works!” Alex then leapt at an opportunity to join the State Opera of South Australia based in Adelaide, becoming Music Director within three months of arriving. The position afforded him a chance to accumulate a wealth of conducting experience before his eventual return to the UK. Alex has two daughters. Zoe lives in Australia and has two children of her own, and Naomi is a dancer in Seville where she’s a founder member of the Dotdotdot Flamenco Company.
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Understanding the Middle East Former diplomat Gerard Russell (1986-91) has gained much acclaim for his recently published book Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East. Of the book, Tom Holland, author of In the Shadow of the Sword says, “It is unbearably poignant that a book so learned and so beautifully written should have been written about the religious minorities of the Middle East just as many of them seem on the verge of extinction.” Amongst other accolades the Evening Standard included it as one their best books of the year. While at St Paul’s, Gerard says he was given a solid grounding in history and classics by Dr Lawson and Simon May before going on to study classics at Oxford. Describing the book as a connection from the Arab world to the Greek world, he says that seeing the Arab world through ‘Greek’ eyes enhanced his perception of the region. The following abridged article, written by Brian Bethune, is reproduced with kind permission from Maclean’s magazine.
F
or Westerners inclined to think of the Middle East as a vast Islamic sea dotted with islands of the other two Abrahamic faiths – Christianity and Judaism – last summer’s scenes in Iraq were as surprising as they were horrific. Who were the Yazidis whom the fundamentalist fanatics of Islamic State were murdering, kidnapping and ultimately besieging on Mount Sinjar? And what was the meaning of the belief – widespread even among peaceful Muslims – that the Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking minority, were devil worshippers? Gerard Russell, a former British diplomat fluent in Arabic and Farsi, was as shocked as anyone, but he wasn’t surprised. He had already spent years writing Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East, and he was aware that in 2007 four co-ordinated suicide bombs had killed 796 Yazidis in modern history’s second-deadliest terrorism attack after 9/11. “I went back there in late August,” Russell says in an interview from London, “and found them in refugee camps. They’d had the stuffing knocked out of them. They want out, to go to the West, and I don’t blame them, but that will mean, for them
In a secular country such as ours . . . it is easy to see why a cultural gap has widened between the Middle East and the West and other minorities, the end of thousands of years of history.” In Heirs, Russell seeks out and finds people who may forbid wearing the colour blue, make moustaches obligatory for men, believe in reincarnation, revere fire, peacocks or multiple baptisms. There are Mandaeans – Iraqi marsh dwellers who celebrate John the Baptist but are no more than polite about Jesus and outright reject Abraham – some of whose rituals have millennia-old Babylonian roots; Zoroastrians, adherents of ancient Persia’s pre-Islamic faith; Druze, whose religion makes no demands upon them, save that they marry within it – a precept Amal Alamuddin ignored when she wed George Clooney in September; Samaritans, now down to a mere 750 individuals in two communities in Israel; Egypt’s Christian Copts; the polytheistic Kalasha of Afghanistan; and Yazidis. Like the other minority faiths, the Yazidis are witnesses to an older form of religion, says Russell, who is a Roman Catholic. “Christianity and Islam are ideological religions – there is doctrine and practice not tied to ethnicity. With the Yazidis and Mandaeans, a distinct people has its distinct gods; they are all passionate for their religion, even when they don’t know it in detail. It is a marker of who they are, like language or ethnicity elsewhere. They are not missionary
religions and they maintain themselves by strict controls on marrying out.” That particular control will be hard to maintain as they disperse as refugees among many Western nations. Visiting a Yazidi acquaintance in Buffalo, N.Y., Russell ponders the future of the family’s teen daughter: since Yazidis must marry within their social caste as well as their faith, there are no more than a handful of eligible men for her in all of North America. “Of course, the Internet will help,” Russell acknowledges, “so they could find a husband in Sweden or Germany. But the young can’t be denied their free choices in the West.” That’s why Russell was feeling a mix of emotions as he wandered around a supermarket in metropolitan Detroit. Even Iraqi Christians, the country’s largest religious minority – 1.4-million strong as recently as the 1990s – have been decimated by violence, persecution and flight. In the middle of modern Americana – among the cereal boxes, vegetables and soup cans – Russell heard women speaking in Aramaic, the everyday language of the Holy Land in the time of Jesus Christ. “You can now hear more Aramaic in Detroit than in Baghdad,” he says. He felt uplifted and sad at the same time. “I was glad so many were personally secure,” says Russell, but he couldn’t help but worry about all those scattered ancient peoples as distinct cultures. “They can try to recreate their lives and their communities here, but it won’t be easy and it won’t be the same.” Currently Gerard is writing articles on the Middle East; preparing and thinking about a new book; has been advising parliament’s Defence Committee and works as a consultant in diplomacy for the British and foreign governments. He says while there is a lot to know about the broader Muslim world, he is often surprised at how little people do know. “It is not taught in schools, and, well, it is a long way away.” He adds, “In a secular country such as ours that pays less attention to concepts such as honour, glory and modesty, it is easy to see why a cultural gap has widened between the Middle East and the West. It is becoming more important that the teaching of history includes aspects of the Middle East, seen through the prism of truth, so that we can simply understand more.”
Contact: www.gerardrussell.com
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News profile An Interview with
Euclid Tsakalotos Euclid Tsakalotos (1973-78) was recently elevated to the post of bailout negotiations coordinator for the Greek government. He has also co-authored a book that argues for an alternative to austerity. Can you describe your current role within the Greek government? I am in charge of international economic relations as an Alternate Foreign Minister. This means coordinating our approach to promoting exports and attracting investment. It also means upgrading our economic diplomacy which needs to go beyond traditional sectors, for instance exporting olive oil and importing capital goods. For instance one of the tragedies of the Greek crisis has been the brain drain. We have a very large number of highly trained graduates who see no future in Greece. On the other hand, those remaining have set up small firms in new areas such as green technologies or software and it will be one of my jobs to see how these initiatives can be strengthened through international cooperation. At the same time I am part of our negotiating team with respect to solving the Greek debt. This has so far been taking the majority of my time, but hopefully by June we may have reached a deal which will allow us to show the commitment of the government to a serious programme of reforms. With a stand-off developing between the Greek government and its creditors, do you remain positive that Syriza can still deliver its vision for a more sympathetic deal? From the beginning we in SYRIZA have argued that there are two conflicting principles after our election. The first is the democratic principle attached to the election of any new government which seeks to bring something new to the table in terms of social, economic and political priorities. The second is the continuation principle, the existing rules of the EU and the Eurozone way of doing things. We feel we have been seeking a fair compromise between the two and that this can be seen in the 20 February Eurogroup decision. Unfortunately since then, various parties have been trying to push us back to the
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old arrangements, pressurising us with the withholding of finance and liquidity, even though we have been committed to a radical reform programme to address some of Greece’s perennial problems such as tax evasion and corruption. We cannot accept the preservation of austerity policies in exchange for such support, because these policies have clearly failed. How else could one characterise a programme that has led to a 25% loss of GDP and youth unemployment close to 60%. We need to reach a fair compromise, not only for Greece but for Europe as a whole. Should the EU signal that it cannot incorporate democratic change and different social priorities, then this can but bolster centrifugal political forces that will see no future in Europe. The stakes could hardly be higher. Can you briefly describe your book Crucible of Resistance and what you hoped it would achieve? To demonstrate to a foreign audience the nature of the Greek problem, both the endogenous and exogenous causes of the crisis, as well as to show a progressive exit from the crisis. In particular the idea that the crisis is due to lazy southerners
. . . hopefully by June we may have reached a deal which will allow us to show the commitment of the government to a serious programme of reforms continually being bailed out by hardworking northerners does not stand up to even superficial scrutiny. Just to take one example northern banks made extraordinary profits in the good years by lending to the South and then got bailed out after the crisis. Even worse the Greek bail-out plan in 2010 was specifically geared to supporting those banks, with the pay check being partly passed on to Greek taxpayers. At a more fundamental level, it was the neo-liberal model that brought about the crisis in 2009: macroeconomic imbalances, regional and social inequalities and an
unregulated and out-of-control financial system. Notice that none of these three have been addressed in the years after the crisis, especially in the Eurozone. The policies of austerity have led to low growth, unemployment and an increase in debt to GDP ratios! So the book argues we need a new model with very different consumption and production prototypes. Who or what influenced your political beliefs? And have you always held the same political convictions? Many people, as you can imagine, from the past and even many living thinkers who I have never met. I sometimes find myself in internal conversations with some of them as I read and reread their work. But at Oxford there were radical professors, such as the economist Andrew Glyn and the philosopher GA Cohen, both Marxists, as well as a very good bunch of applied economists, such as Chris Allsopp, Wilfred Beckerman and Andrew Graham, who taught me the merits of simple models that could be practically applied to help the problems of ordinary people. How would you describe British-Greek relations? Mostly very good, although with some problems. Britain is of course not a part of the Eurozone, but it does understand that its break-up would have serious economic consequences for the whole of Europe. In that sense it has been supportive of a compromise with respect to the Greek problem. When Yanis Varoufakis and I met George Osborne, another OP of course, we pointed out that his strategy was based on the idea of contractionary expansion, tight fiscal policy and looser monetary policy, whereas the Eurozone’s approach can be characterized as a contractionary contraction! Not a recipe for success. So there is some sympathy for the Greek position in the most unlikely of places. What do you think we Brits can learn from the Greeks? That you need to build an anti-austerity coalition, that we should not be fooled into thinking that societies do not have choices with respect to economic and social priorities. You do not have to support Syriza’s ideas on a number of issues to feel that we have acted as a catalyst for
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a genuine debate in a Europe that has short-circuited such debate over the last years through the rule of technocracy and the hollowing out of democracy. I follow British politics as closely as I can, but I have become increasingly concerned with a narrowing of the agenda in political discourse. Politics should be about practical solutions to practical problems, but you also need a vision, values and a narrative of how to reach a better world. Should Britain return the Elgin Marbles? Yes, and the arguments have been well stated by both Greek advocates and various philhellenes throughout the world, and especially in the UK. Those that oppose their return keep changing their arguments, as each one loses its credence (for instance that they would not be as well preserved in Athens – something which is difficult to maintain after a visit to the new Acropolis museum) – a tactic that my teachers at St Paul’s taught me was always a sign of a weak position. Do you think it possible that Greece might form a closer alliance with Russia? Yes at the economic and cultural levels. But our main focus has been and will remain the EU. We are strategically proEurope, not just tactically. Irrespective of the merits of joining the euro, our worse
Do you have a favourite Greek author that we should know about? Seferis is one of our two literature Nobel prize winners. But apart from his poems he wrote a diary, which if it has been translated is a great introduction to Greek culture. On a more low-brow note, the detective novels of Markari, which I know have been translated, are well worth reading for fans of the genre.
teachers that had an impact on you? Well it wasn’t an easy place for someone on the Left. But I found my niche eventually and with Owen Tudor (now head of the international department of the TUC) we founded the Economics and Politics Society and became co-presidents of the Historical Society. Needless to say our minority status within the school strengthened our political backbone! Of more importance was that I had a number of inspirational teachers by the eighth form, so much so that my first year in Oxford was a bit of an intellectual disappointment. In particular there was a very strong history department which I think was a major influence. Without the help and guidance of Keith Perry, who apart from his great teaching did much to bolster my self-confidence, I doubt I would have gone on to be an academic. Of course he was a Conservative supporter and I still have my essays where there are comments in his hand about the merits of King Constantine and Queen Frederika (not favorites amongst the Greek left!). I suppose what I learnt most of all was the value of well-meaning criticism.
What was your experience of being at St Paul’s like? Did it play any part in your interest in politics and economics for instance, and were there any particular
In a hectic schedule how do you like to relax? Until the negotiations end relaxation just doesn’t feature!
Politics should be about practical solutions to practical problems, but you also need a vision, values and a narrative of how to reach a better world nightmare is its breakdown which could lead to a return to extreme right-wing nationalism, competitive devaluations or worse - a straight rerun of the 1930s in other words.
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News Tim Venner (left) and Charles Martin
The Last Night of the Proms There can be little doubt that the Last Night of the Proms is the occasion when classical music attracts the greatest public attention. As members of the BBC Symphony Chorus, a wholly amateur body, Tim Venner (1954-59) and Charles Martin (1960-65) take part in this concert every year, besides a number of other Proms. Tim has been a member of the Chorus for 15 years and Charles for 32. The tradition of choral singing in this country is such that, as a matter of course, amateur singers take part in concerts with professional orchestras and conductors of
Making Red Nose pay Tim Savage (1986-91) has a greater interest than most in how efficiently Comic Relief and in particular Red Nose Day translates its national appeal into financial return. Tim was employed to run the online technology delivery at the charity before getting together with colleagues to form Armakuni in 2012, a technology-based company that is focused on delivering high performance web-based applications in the cloud. Armakuni now runs the platforms that handle credit card transactions during the Comic Relief TV show, and thanks to Tim’s expertise in business-critical payment systems was handling up to 400 card transactions per second from callers and web donors. This year Red Nose Day has so far generated around £78 million in revenue. “Over the last few years servers have become commoditised and can be
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the highest repute. Tim and Charles have therefore had the privilege of performing under the direction of conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Sir Andrew Davis, Bernard Haitink and Sir Simon Rattle and with orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as all the major British groups. Just occasionally the Chorus’s repertoire can take a surprising turn. In 2009, for example, the Monty Python team decided to celebrate their 40th anniversary with a performance in the Albert Hall of a comic oratorio, “Not The Messiah (he’s a very naughty boy)”. Tim and Charles have therefore sung ‘Always look on the created, used and destroyed all within a few minutes. Armakuni are able to build Comic Relief ’s platform on different providers, which primarily enables redundancy, but in the commercial world enables the customer to move platforms and processing based on pricing. They are also able to switch all their platforms off when not being used, and bring them back online when needed - only paying for when they are in use.” Built to withstand a high level of tech failure, the platform is replicated in three different geographic locations, one based in the US, one in London’s docklands and one in Dublin. When David Tennant’s appeal from a hospital in Africa, where one of two babies was going to be denied treatment for the lack of the £4 necessary to save its life, the phones went through the roof with 14,000 call centre workers feeding through a huge uplift in
bright side of life’ with Eric Idle, and ‘The Lumberjack Song’ with Michael Palin. One of Charles’s musical memories from his time at School was a concert in the Great Hall at West Kensington in which the principal work was Britten’s Saint Nicolas. The soloist was a student at the Royal Academy whose main study was the violin; his name was Philip Langridge, and he went on to become one of the great tenors of our time. Charles has a clear recollection of his distinctive vocal timbre that was evident even then. Tim’s Pauline musical memories include a performance of Ruddigore in which as Robin Oakapple he courted a very pretty Rose Maybud played by the future Sir Bernard Rix QC. He also remembers (however hard he tries to forget) a Colet Clubs Revue in which he was part of a backing group accompanying Ivor Davies singing ‘The Great Pretender’! And what about the orchestra rehearsals every Friday evening, following tea in the Tuck Shop? Looking back, they both remain immensely grateful for all the musical opportunities that the School gave them. Charles adds, “My father, Tom Martin (pupil 1906-12, Assistant Master 192057, Hon Sec OP Club 1923-51), was very involved with the organisation of the School’s music between the wars and became friends with Gustav Holst at SPGS. It is therefore unsurprising that my brother Robert (1962-67) and I are both keen musicians, he at a more exalted level than I.” donations. That’s the kind of situation we have to build for.” Armakuni’s raison d’être is to help organisations get technology projects off the ground, working with start-ups through to corporates to develop prototypes for large-scale business critical platforms. As part of their cloud automation, Armakuni use Cloud Foundry, a product that is now the basis for IBM’s billion- dollar flagship product, Bluemix. Armakuni are now partnering with IBM to help organisations make use of cloud automation and the IBM product suite. Armakuni are starting to expand, so Paulines and OPs take note. If you are a recent graduate with some practical experience under your belt, Tim would encourage you to get in touch. Tim is married with two sons, now 6 and 4. Tim's brother Dan Savage (1988-93) works as Recruitment Manager at BSkyB (Product Development). Contact: www.armakuni.com
www.opclub.stpaulsschool.org.uk 020 8746 5339
A paragon of protocol Adrian Barnes CVO DL (1956-61) masterminded glittering events at the Guildhall during his career.
Happy days. Enjoying the cricket at Lords.
Photos by kind permission of the City Remembrancer
Adrian and his contemporary William Goldstein (1956-60) arrived in West Kensington following a testing tea with the High Master and Mrs Gilkes. Out of class, Adrian relished rowing and sculling for the School and later at London Rowing Club, the Christian Union meetings, house parties and singing in the choir in particular. But with English, Economics and French out of contention, he says he fared less well with Maths and Science for ‘A’ level and suffered a broken nose boxing for B Club. In 1961 Adrian worked in advertising and then production for the City Press. With Alyson Banks, a Paulina whom he first met in the Madrigal Choir run by Robert Ascott (1956-61), there were visits to Bayreuth for Parsifal with Hotter and Vickers, Covent Garden for Fonteyn and Nureyev and the Hammersmith Odeon for The Beatles. Later he joined Gray’s Inn and read parttime for the Bar. After pupillage with Mark Saville, he joined the Government Legal Service at the DTI in 1975 and read parttime for the MA in Business Law at the City of London Polytechnic. In the nick of time, he says, his friend Sally Whatley, an arts press officer, typed his dissertation on a portable Olivetti with the “a” missing. They were married in 1980 and have a son and a daughter. In 1982, encouraged by the DTI Solicitor, William Beckett, and his aunt, Dame Josephine Barnes, Adrian was elected Deputy Remembrancer. At short notice in 1984, he took responsibility for the Guildhall element of the Bahrain State Visit and the London Economic Summit for G7 for the PM, Margaret Thatcher. He was then elected to the busy office of Remembrancer by the Court of Common Council in 1986: the
City’s Parliamentary Agent, Chief of Protocol and Ceremonial Officer, until his retirement in 2003. 6 May 1995 saw the largest global event of its kind ever held at Guildhall. Immensely complex to plan and organise with his office, Buckingham Palace, the FCO and many others, the Reception and Banquet commemorated the 50th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen, His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and eleven other Members of the Royal Family, leaders of 56 countries,
6 May 1995 saw the largest global event of its kind ever held at Guildhall. including 37 Sovereigns and other Heads of State, Heads of Government, Heads of Mission, Ministers, Peers and MPs, past and present Service Chiefs, VCs and other veterans. "Before the Queen and Prince Philip joined the Government Reception in the Old Library, they viewed Andrew Festing’s painting of the ‘annus horribilis’ lunch in 1992, where, despite having a heavy cold after the Windsor Castle fire, the Queen had delivered one of the gutsiest speeches during my time at Guildhall." In his speech in Great Hall, the Lord Mayor, Alderman Christopher Walford, drew on the diary of a nursing sister, later Dame Kathleen Raven, standing on the roof of Bart’s, who wrote of the fires all round the City during the 1940 blitz, “with St. Paul’s great dome still there, rising up like something ethereal, telling us that London can take it”. The Lord Mayor spoke too of the 80,000 Londoners who were killed, the heroism of the Armed Forces and
The Guildhall Reception and Banquet commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe. Main picture: Adrian Barnes, as Remembrancer, views the Top Table shortly before the speeches and toasts at the start of the Banquet. Inset: Her Majesty the Queen seated next to the Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Christopher Walford (left) and King Hussein of Jordan.
the contribution of the emergency and voluntary services. He paid tribute to the veterans of all nations and their heads of state present and spoke of a transformed City of London, a transformed Britain and a transformed Europe. In her reply, the Queen reminded those present that the Second World War was the most devastating in history, adding “we salute all those who knew that the destiny of Europe’s nations was to work together and not against each other; Truman and Marshall, Churchill and Attlee, Adenauer and De Gaulle. Theirs was a vision of reconciliation between peoples – and it has worked.” A Governor since 1995, Adrian chaired The Music Therapy Charity from 1997 to 2003 and the Research Committee from 2014, supporting research into music therapy for older people with dementia, and the Wimbledon Guild of Social Welfare from 2004 to 2008. In 2000 he was elected Bencher of Gray’s Inn and in 2002 appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London where each year he assists in the compilation of nominations for the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service for the Lord-Lieutenant Sir David Brewer CMG CVO JP(1955-58). As one of the last speakers in the old Chapel before demolition, Adrian takes a keen interest in the gestation of the new one, warmly welcoming all the support of the Mercers’ Company. Living in London, he says, has enabled him to maintain the many friendships made at St Paul’s and to continue to enjoy the rich cultural and sporting life, with Sally and his family, which the School fostered. OLD PAULINE NEWS SPRING 2015 9
News
Kiwi connections Photographing an 80-year-old New Zealand stamp proved to be a careerdefining moment. In March fine art photographer Casey Moore (1989-94) held an exhibition of his latest work at the London gallery ‘Downstairs at Mother’. The idea for staging the exhibition there had come from friend and fellow OP Charlie Inman (1990-95) who is currently Creative Director at Mother, the advertising agency that houses the gallery. Working in conjunction with his partner, artist Claire Alexander, Casey produced a series of fine art prints for the exhibition entitled Collision. The work is made up of large-format black and white macro photographs of meteorites that are housed in the Natural History Museum London and the Auckland Museum and Whanganui Museum in New Zealand. The photographs have then been screen printed with linear drawings made by Claire. The fusing of their work explores patterns from space, focusing on the ‘Widmanstatten pattern’, a mesmerising flecked pattern commonly found inside iron meteorites. Casey has made a specialism of producing images that take a closer look at the workings of nature and the wider universe. In previous series he has focused on flora and fauna from his native New Zealand. Casey eventually came to London after moves to Switzerland when he was three years old, then later to the midlands and
I think that the School could do more to promote the idea of a career in visual arts
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north of England. At St Paul’s Casey found that photography was a subject that was very well catered for. He gained over two years of experience in the darkroom there, and learned the craft of hand printing. “The technical side was very well explained as well, so I always had that as a backdrop to any creative ambitions I might have had. But I think that the School could do more to promote the idea of a career in visual arts.” Later, having studied Psychology at University of Edinburgh, Casey did some internships in various advertising agencies before deciding quite quickly that that wasn’t for him. Starting modestly using his bedroom floor for a darkroom Casey began by shooting landscapes, especially in South Wales. On the strength of this work he was offered an artist’s residency in Tirol, Austria, that enabled him to invest in better equipment and gain experience in the craft with no great pressure brought to bear. Casey graduated onto portrait photography at the time digital was taking over. Now he goes back to shoot film with a large format Sinar 10”x8” camera with which he can capture minute detail. Largely self-taught, the Genesis moment for Casey was when he was asked to photograph two iconic New Zealand stamps printed in 1935. One of them (the one penny Kiwi stamp) had been designed by his great grandfather, the philatelist RJG Collins. “It was at this point that I decided to try to make the biggest reproduction I could of this tiny object. That’s where I started to print large format by hand, from film. By printing large I wanted to shine a light on the period in history in which they were created and the incredible craftsmanship involved.” The stamp shots have remained his strongest-selling images despite not being exhibited publically. Casey feels reconnected to New Zealand now that his work is represented by galleries there, and because much of his work has been inspired by it. He visits the country regularly with his young family, but is also enjoying setting up a new home and studio near Lewes in East Sussex. To view videos of Casey making his work go to: www.caseymoore.com/philately-in-theblood-video www.caseymoore.com/fiordland-video You can view and order limited edition prints of Casey’s and Claire’s work via their websites: www.caseymoore.com www.cargocollective.com/ibelongtozero
www.opclub.stpaulsschool.org.uk 020 8746 5339 Clockwise from far left: 'Philately in the Blood', one penny New Zealand stamp with Kiwi design; '36° 53’ S / 174° 48’ E, 12 June, 2004, Ellerslie, Auckland, New Zealand' f rom the Collision series; 'Fantail', from the Cloud Nests series; 'Untitled' from the Between Life and Death series; '43° 19’ S / 172° 3’ E, 1952, Oxford, Canterbury, New Zealand' from the Collision series; 'Meteorite, 1961, Anoka County, Minnesota, USA, 45 12 0 N; 93 36 0 W' from the Late Heavy Bombardment series.
OLD PAULINE NEWS SPRING 2015 11
News
Pulling Strings for a Living Actor, writer, puppeteer, personal presentation trainer and lecturer, Francis Wright (1971-72) has had a varied and colourful career on stage and screen. Francis worked on what was generally thought at the time to be the last-ever series of Sooty and Sweep. In the end it wasn’t, but Francis still owns an original squeaker made for his starring role as the iconic ‘Sweep’. “Sweep’s voice was made by an elderly German gentleman, I believe. It’s quite unpleasant to use. The reed element is a strip of metal under a piece of plastic, stuck onto a cardboard base with animal glue. In the studio, you have to have a new one by lunchtime as everything dissolves, leaving a pulpy mess in your mouth. The irony is that the older and soggier they become, the better they work!” Of the show Francis says, “We had a ball doing it, despite horrendous internal politics. It was wonderful to do something that audiences knew and loved.” Francis worked on Series II of the wellremembered Spitting Image – a job which carried enormous kudos. He has vivid memories of his audition in a banana warehouse on the Isle of Dogs, prior to the area’s complete redevelopment. He was handed ‘François Mitterand’ (“The puppets were always enormous, and very heavy!”) to work to a soundtrack, and got the job, despite suffering from an almighty hangover. Years before, while at Colet Court, Francis had been inspired by his form master Mr A J S (Stuart) Bateman, who he describes as a character straight out of Brideshead Revisited – an elegant Cambridge scholar with a wonderful sense of humour: a blend of PG Wodehouse, Jennings, and Flanders & Swan. He encouraged creativity, and was usually in charge of the Colet Court plays that Francis was always keen to take part in. Mr Bateman has only recently retired from the headship of Pembroke House School in Kenya, and he and Francis had a jolly reunion in London – some forty years after their last meeting. Once at St Paul’s, things were less happy, and Francis left early to join a stage school. Arts Educational, known always as ‘ArtsEd’, then based in the Barbican in the old Cripplegate Institute. After GCEs, Francis went on to become a full-time drama
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student, also at Arts-Ed, graduating with honours. While training, he saw several shows at the legendary Little Angel Theatre in Islington, and a professional interest in puppets began. A course of evening classes taught him the basics of puppet operating, and the seeds of a career were sown. After Arts-Ed, Francis’s first job was a touring children’s theatre company where he gained invaluable experience over four years, playing to schools and regional theatres. He later became one of the two leading characters in You & Me, a BBC Schools TV series about basic life skills. Francis’s character was Dibs – or ‘the yellow one’ to those who couldn’t remember names – and the series lasted eleven years. During that time other work started to pour in: the Psammead in the BBC’s Five Children and It, the pheonix in the Pheonix & the Carpet, and the March Hare in Hallmark Films’ version of Alice in Wonderland remain favourites. He also co-wrote and performed in the three series (26 episodes each) of Bug Alert! (below) for Channel 4 and ITV. He talks fondly about his work on Mortimer and Arabel, featuring
He saw several shows at the legendary Little Angel Theatre in Islington, and a professional interest in puppets began. characters created by Joan Aiken, with designs by Quentin Blake. “I was Mr Leggitt, an evil pensioner. The time and care taken over the two series really shows. It has feature film qualities.” Recently Francis has worked at Wilton’s Music Hall, Whitechapel, which he describes as “a glorious place, early nineteenth-century, complete with gilded but crumbling plaster.” He played the baddie in Father Nandru and the Wolves, a gutsy tale written in rhyme about the final days of Ceaucescu’s Romania. “You don’t expect to find a puppet show doing that.” As well as his career in drama, Francis has lectured on communication skills to business students at Middlesex University, and has taught puppetry at Central School of Speech & Drama. He also teaches personal presentation and speaking to anyone wanting to develop or improve the way they come across in public. His clients range from business executives to singers, and to anxious fathers having to make ‘that speech’ at a daughter’s wedding. Contact: fpawright@btinternet.com www.franciswright.wordpress.com
www.opclub.stpaulsschool.org.uk 020 8746 5339
Natural good health A bad back led one Old Pauline into a career of osteopathy. Working in partnership with his wife Jacqueline, Tom Greenfield (1980-82) has added a Harley Street naturopathic and osteopathic clinic (Greenfields Clinic) to the integrated alternative health clinic and natural remedies shop he has already established in Canterbury. As well as osteopathy, Tom also practises acupuncture, and Jacqueline has Professional Healthcare membership with the Chinese Medical Institute and Register (CMIR) in the UK. The practice values four primary areas: nutrition, physical therapy, psychology and lifestyle. Tom has published and lectured widely, with articles published in the British Naturopathic Journal as specialist editor on nutrigenomics, CAM Magazine, The Fulcrum, Foods Matter, with contributions to several other journals, local and national press. Tom writes an online column about individuality and nutrigenomics on www. dadamo.com, and wrote the foreword to The GenoType Diet by Dr. Peter D’Adamo. He is Academic Dean of the Institute for Human Individuality and Vice-President of the UK General Council and Register of Naturopaths and the British Naturopathic Association. After studying Music and French at Keele University Tom first decided he’d like to open his own restaurant and took a degree in hotel and catering administration, before finally finding his métier in alternative medicine. It was through his own experiences that Tom says
Books by OPs Chance Encounters: Tales from a Varied Life By Tim Razzell CBE (1957-62) Published by Biteback Over the last fifty years, Tim Razzall has forged successful careers in law, business and politics, rising to become both a CBE and a life peer. From his time representing the biggest names in rock music to his sortie among the big hitters of the City, Razzall has rubbed shoulders with the Beatles, Bill Clinton and Bertrand Russell among many others. He has had a key role in the rise of the Liberal Democrats from fringe party to partner in government. No traditional, dry autobiography, Chance Encounters is a romp through the worlds of business, entertainment and politics, dispensing insight and humour in equal measure.
he was first attracted to non-conventional methods of treatment. “I hurt my back and someone recommended that I see an osteopath. He looked at me in a very holistic way and I was really impressed by the whole approach. A year later I decided to apply to study at the College of Osteopaths in Boreham Wood where he had studied.” He started by working one day a week in other osteopathic practices while setting up his own business. Tom went to St Paul’s to take his A levels in English, French and Music. His father, Michael Greenfield (1956-62), had also gone to the School. At St Paul’s Tom says he found it quite a shock to find that he had to work quite hard just to keep up and avoid being ‘bottom’ of the class. In his previous schools he had always been top without exerting himself too much. After a first term of commuting by motorbike from Islington to Barnes every day, he applied to become a boarder at High House, presided over then by Mr Stewart and Mr King. “I loved it. I thought it was great fun to get away from the family and lead my own life.” Now, as Tom likes to write extensively on his subject, he says he is always thankful for his English A Level tuition at St Paul’s. At School Tom played the oboe with the School orchestra, later teaching himself the double bass. He was later asked by other Paulines in his year to join a rock band. The other members were front man and guitarist Tristram Fetherstonhaugh (1978-82), keyboards Paul Rhys (1978-83) and drums and percussion Rupert Organ (1978-82). Together they spearheaded a new genre that they called
The Breaking Bad Cookbook
Everyone who comes in is like a puzzle. We learn from every patient. avant-garde industrial music. In Tom’s second year they performed a gig at Colet Court which was very well attended. He still enjoys playing bass and performs in a covers band with friends. Tom’s practice has now been established for just on 19 years and he is now delighted to be able to offer appointments in London. Explaining the rewards of a career in osteopathy he says, “To be a successful osteopath you have to be independently minded, you have to think on your feet. Everyone who comes in is like a puzzle. We learn from every patient. To know you have made a difference to someone’s life is very fulfilling.” Tom would be happy to offer any interested OPs a discount for a consultation.
Contact: greenfieldsclinic.co.uk
Behind the Words:
By Chris Mitchell (2003-08) Published by John Blake
The FCO, Hegemonolingualism and the end of Britain's Freedom
The plot of Breaking Bad entailed a chemistry teacher diagnosed with a terminal lung cancer, teaming up with his former student, to cook and sell crystal meth. For five seasons and sixty-two episodes Walter White and Jesse Pinkman made batch after batch of the purist crystal imaginable. Chris explains that The Breaking Bad Cookbook is a tribute to the two best cooks in the United States, and is a must for 'Breaking Baddicts'. Inside, Chris explores some of the show's finest culinary creations with step-by-step instructions for Walt Jnr's favourite breakfast, Hank Schrader's homemade beer, Gus Fring's Los Pollos Hermanos chicken and Walt's personal Heisenburger amongst many others. He adds that the recipes are remarkably easy and that if he can cook them, anyone can.
By William Mallinson (1965-70) Published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing Politically correct pundits have been attempting to relegate Standard English to the status of dialect, since they have succombed to the idea that it is connected to 'class'. This book tears up that falsehood, pointing out that it is a question of education far more than of class. And, even then, why attack class? Mallinson, a former diplomat and now an international historian who lectures in Greece on British culture and society, has written an account of the decline of English usage within the Foreign Office, and how that has gone hand in hand with the decline of Britain and British influence.
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Club News
Old Pauline Club new appointments There will some new faces in the Old Pauline Club office this year. At the AGM on 2 July John East (1960-65) will come to the end of his two years as President of the Club, handing over to Sir Nigel Thompson (1952-55). Mike Colato (1977-81) is standing down as Honorary Treasurer after four years and Nicholas Brooks (1965-70) will be taking over. John Ellis (1959-63) is also standing down after four years as Honorary Secretary and will be replaced by Alan Day (1968-72). Grateful thanks from the Club to the two Johns and Mike, and very best wishes to Nigel, Nick and Alan in their new posts. Many of you will know that Maria Ketley resigned as Club Manager in December last year with our very best wishes and thanks for her considerable endeavours on behalf of the Club since she was appointed Communications Manager in 2008 and particularly since she was promoted to Manager in 2010. She was made an HLM in recognition of her contribution.
The Alumni & Development Office at post as Communications & Marketing the Club, which has now been in place for a Director, part of which will be working year and is working successfully, comprises on material for the Club’s eNews bulletins Andrea Hudson, Development Manager, and OP News, in partnership with Simon who manages the team and has special Bishop, OPC Editor. Later, in May, Ceri expertise in developing the members’ Jones is starting as Events & OPC Manager, database and integrated taking on much of the general communications systems administration of the Club. We (the new style eNews wish Zeena and Ceri well in and website); Viera Ghods their new posts. has been working in the The A&DO team, working Development Office since with the new President 2009 and continues to give and officers of the Club – general administration Nick Brooks and Alan Day support together with Katia together with Simon Bishop Paye who has been covering (Editor) and Simon Rooms events as a temporary (Events Coordinator) – offer employee since last October. an exciting prospect of Katia will be leaving at maintaining the high quality the end of May with our management of the Club, while thanks and best wishes. Sir Nigel Thompson will be continuing to develop the range The team will be joined by of events that we stage and taking over as President Zeena Hicks in early May, extending our communications of the Old Pauline Club who takes on a new School with members of all ages. in July.
Old Pauline Club Committee List 2014/15 President J H M East
Honorary Secretary J A H Ellis
Deputy President Sir Nigel Thompson KCMG
Honorary Treasurer M A Colato ACA
Past Presidents D J Cakebread, B D Moss, C D L Hogbin, C J W Madge, F W Neate, Sir Alexander Graham GBE DCL, R C Cunis, Professor the Rt Hon Lord McColl of Dulwich, The Rt Hon the Lord Baker of Dorking CH, N J Carr, J M Dennis
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Vice Presidents P R A Baker, R S Baldock, J S Beastall CB, S C H Bishop, Sir David Brewer CMG CVO, N E Britnor, N St J Brooks, R D Burton, W M A Carroll, R K Compton, T J D Cunis, S J Dennis MBE, L M Dorfman CBE, C R Dring, C G Duckworth, J A H Ellis, R A Engel, D H P Etherton, The Rt Hon Sir Terence Etherton, T J R Goode, S R Harding, R J G Holman, J A Howard, Sir Antony Jay CVO, B M Jones, P J King, T G Knight, P A Leppard, B Lowe, J W S Lyons, Professor C P Mayer, R R G McIntosh, I C McNicol, A K Nigam, The Rt Hon George Osborne MP, D M Porteus, The Rt Hon the Lord Razzall of Mortlake CBE, The Rt Hon the Lord Renwick of Clifton KCMG, B M Roberts, J E Rolfe, Sir David Rowland, J W Runacres, M K Seigel, J C F Simpson, R J Smith, D R Snow, S S Strauss, A G Summers, R Summers, J L Thorn, R Ticciati, Admiral Sir John Treacher KCB, Sir Mark Walport FRS, Professor the Lord Winston of Hammersmith
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Communications Committee R S Baldock Chairman, S C H Bishop (Editor, OP News), D G R Bussey (Co-opted advisor), Andrea Hudson (Development Manager), Suzanne Mackenzie (Editor, The Pauline), President, Hon Secretary (ex officio)
Main Committee composed of all the above and: P R A Baker, OP Lodge B C M Dover, Rugby Football Club S C H Bishop Editor, OP News N P Troen, Association Football Club F P A Jenk, Colet Boat Club P J King, Fives (OPRFC) A R Duncan/J S Grant, Cricket Club B A Michels, Elected S L Rooms, Events Co-odinator R J Smith, Golfing Society M A Staniszewski, Tennis Club Executive Committee J H M East Chairman J A H Ellis Hon Secretary M A Colato Hon Treasurer S C H Bishop Editor, OP News R D Burton Secretary for Affiliated Clubs & Associations N J Carr TDSSC Ltd Representative J M Dennis J A Howard Liaison Committee Chairman B M Jones P J King Membership Secretary S L Rooms Events Co-ordinator Sir Nigel Thompson KCMG Deputy President
Thames Ditton Committee F W Neate Chairman, J S Beastall CB, C G Duckworth, C D L Hogbin, T G Knight, President, Hon Secretary, Hon Treasurer (ex officio) Liaison Committee J A Howard Chairman, T B Bain, I M Benjamin, N J Carr, R J G Holman, B D Moss
Ground Committee J M Dennis Chairman, R K Compton, G Godfrey (Groundsman), M P Kiernan, I C McNicol, D Richard, J Sherjan Reporting Accountants Upton Neenan Lees Trustees C D L Hogbin Chairman, J S Beastall CB, C R Dring, C G Duckworth Alumni and Development Office Old Pauline Club, St Paul’s School, Lonsdale Road, Barnes, London, SW13 9JT Telephone: 020 8746 5339 www.opclub.org.uk Email: opcman@stpaulsschool.org.uk
L-r: Dr Ken Zetie, Dr Anthony Dux, Dr Maneesh Patel, Dr Conrad von Stempel, Sir Mark Walport FRS and Dr Jane Woyka
www.opclub.stpaulsschool.org.uk 020 8746 5339
President’s message It has been an interesting and, at times challenging, two years, interspersed with some great memories and experiences. Even before I took office, the Club was being challenged regarding the value which it delivered to the School in return for the annual donation it received. After lengthy discussions with the Governors, the High Master and in our own committees, we agreed a Memorandum of Understanding setting out our arrangements with the School going forwards. (Further details are available on the Club’s website). The final upshot is a stable, happy and co-operative situation between the School and the Club with this debate firmly behind us. The Club has also had a minor role to play in assisting the School with the
Operation Winthorpe enquiries. This has been a difficult and disturbing process for the School, but again the final outcome is positive in that the School has set in place the policies to be a beacon of child safeguarding procedures throughout the educational spectrum. On all fronts the Club continues to move steadily forwards. Numbers attending our events are increasing, as are the events themselves. With new enthusiastic officers coming in, together with a new OPC Club Manager, all in a highly co-operative environment with the Alumni &
Development Office which has the skills to provide a significant upgrade to our website and social media communications, the future augurs well. I will shortly hand over the role to Sir Nigel Thompson, who has had a very distinguished career in industry and the charitable sector, as well as having been a Governor of the School and intimately involved with the design of the wonderful new science block at the School. I could not be handing over to a better qualified successor and I wish him, and everyone in the new OP Club team, all the best for the future. John East (1960-65)
Feast Service at St Paul’s Cathedral and Reception Dinner at Mercers’ Hall An impressive congregation of 215 OPs, friends and family attended the Feast Service at St Paul’s Cathedral on 26 January at which SPS Director of Music Mark Wilderspin conducted the choirs of Colet Court and St Paul’s School, with Colet Court Director of Music Philip Berg accompanying them on the Cathedral organ. The singing of The Magnificat was particularly uplifting in this wonderful setting. Afterwards 153 OPs and their escorts walked the short distance to Ironmonger Lane where they enjoyed an excellent Reception at Mercers’ Hall. This year the Club organised a sit-down buffet dinner which enabled friends and colleagues to enjoy a more comfortable opportunity to reminisce and renew friendships. Alex Aslett announced that three new books had been acquired for the School Library thanks to record donations by OPs. They included a first edition of Fun and Fantasy Drawings from Punch, published in 1927, illustrated by E H Shepard (1892-97), famed for his drawings of Winnie the Pooh; Cotswold Characters by John Drinkwater which includes five engravings by Paul Nash (1900-04), and Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms by Gerard Russell (1986-91) which was published last year.
Clockwise from top: the magic number of 153 OPs enjoyed a convivial Reception and fine repast at Mercers’ Hall after the 2015 Feast Service at St Paul’s Cathedral. The OP Club office team at the Reception. Left to Right: Katia Paye, Andrea Hudson and Viera Ghods with John Ellis. St Paul’s Cathedral illuminated on a clear January night. If any member would like a copy of the guest list for any Club event, please contact the office.
OLD PAULINE NEWS SPRING 2015 15
Club News Supper Evening at Colets A happy throng of 63 OPs and their guests enjoyed a superb Christmas repast at Colets in Thames Ditton at the OP Club Supper Evening last December. The turkey carving competition was won by Derek Etherton (1963-68), (lower right), whose contribution on Table 3 was described, somewhat modestly, as ‘competent’ by the Manager! After toasts to the Queen and the Immortal and Pious Memory of John Colet, Dominic Frisby (1982-87), who was surprised and pleased to hear himself being introduced by the Club President John East as a polymath, gave a hilarious talk. Referring to the Oscar Wilde quotation about needing a very fine nature to sympathise with a friend’s success, Dominic said in this regard he had been sorely tested given his contemporaries had been George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, James Harding, Head
of BBC News and Alex Chesterman, cofounder of Zoopla. Dominic concluded with a marvellous yarn about a rumpus over under-cooked potatoes in a Spanish tapas bar. Verbally abused by an angry Italian (as it turned out to be) chef, he was able to counter with the Italian he had learned at St Paul’s.
Left to right: Simon Burnton, Barnaby Thompson, Alex Wilson (Chair), Francis Wright, Jon Blair and Richard Dennis
Media, Arts & Journalism Discussion and Dinner A impressive panel of OPs gathered for a Q&A and Dinner held at the School last November to which boys from the 6th, L8 and U8 years interested in the creative industries were invited. Taking part were Jon Blair (1967-69), who won an Oscar for writing, producing and directing Anne Frank Remembered. Amongst many other standout moments in an extraordinary career he was co-
16 OLD PAULINE NEWS SPRING 2015
founder and creator of Spitting Image, the much-loved TV series from the 1980s. Jon was joined by film director and producer Barnaby Thompson (1974-78), responsible for a string of hits including the two St Trinian’s movies at the world-renowned Ealing Studios, which celebrated its centenary in 2012. They were joined by Simon Burnton (198792) who over the last ten years has become an established sports journalist at The Guardian, Richard Dennis (19992004), a writer, journalist and production editor, currently at the Higher Education magazine at the Times Educational Supplement and the very versatile
Finding himself somewhat short on excoriating put-downs in the chef ’s native tongue, Dominic was none-the-less able to employ the game-changing “You Sir, are a bounder!” A convivial time was had by all, and the staff at Colets were applauded for their warm welcome and hard work to ensure the evening was a success.
Animated conversation after dinner
Francis Wright (1971-72), puppeteer, actor and voice-over artist extraordinaire who also has Spitting Image as one of his many other credits, which includes being the voice and animator of Sooty’s friend Sweep!
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Fourteenth Earliest Vintage Luncheon 154 ‘senior’ Old Paulines of whom 17 were new ‘recruits’ from the 1964 and 1965 vintages, together with eight former teachers and the High Master, celebrated their 50 plus-year association with the School at the biennial Earliest Vintage Luncheon held at the School on 25 April. A Drinks Reception was held in the Atrium, where Tim Cunis (1955-60) had displayed an impressive amount of memorabilia from the Club’s archives. A three-course meal was then served in the Dining Room for which Basil Moss (1948-53) said grace. Retiring OP President John East (1960-65) proposed a toast to The Queen and to The Pious and Immortal Memory of John Colet before High Master Professor Mark Bailey gave a short speech about life at St Paul’s School. Mark was full of praise for the current boys who he described as confident, not arrogant. He had particularly liked the initiative shown by some individuals. One boy, studying Germany’s super weapons during WWII had contacted the Chelsea Pensioners for their experiences. Two later came to the School where over 200 Paulines listened to them with great respect. The boys had produced an impressive booklet that featured OPs during WWI, and he announced that the Service of Remembrance at the School on 11/11 would be a permanent feature of School life from now on. Other Paulines had set up a Formula One Club and were busy designing their own car, including its own steering, braking and suspension systems. And in sporting life Mark announced that the School had won the Head of the River, with no less than 160 boys currently engaged in rowing. Amongst other sporting achievements he cited the U14G rugby team, who completed their season unbeaten.
Clockwise from top: A chance to catch up as lunch is served; Alan McLean sporting what might be the only SPS original boater band in existence; Sir Nigel Thompson meets contemporary Surawat Kongsiri who had travelled from Thailand for the event; Christopher Cotton, Bowen Wells and Stuart McHardyYoung in fraternal spirit; John Wolfe Barry, Brian Lowe and Basil Moss in convivial mood.
High House Reunion An informal reunion of High House boarders took place in Oxford on 19 October 2014. The guest of honour was Tony Retallack HLM, who taught at SPS from 1952-86, was High House housemaster, head of modern languages and CO of the CCF. Everyone had a very enjoyable lunch and an afternoon reminiscing about life at High House and SPS in the 60’s and 70’s. John Shepherd (1969-73) gave an amusing speech with a presentation of some wine to Tony who was in very fine form. We were very lucky that Jane and John Retallack (1963-68) were also able to join us on the day. Amongst those who were able to attend there was a fine effort from Ian Brooks (196872) who managed to interrupt a business trip to join us from America. Kwok Li (1969-74)
Standing: Kwok Li, John Retallack, Yussuf Hassan, Babloo Ramamurthy, Adrian Kirby, Ian Brooks, Jane Retallack, Ewen Cameron-Watt, Martin Buckledee, John Shepherd. Front Row: Jeffrey Blum, Tony Retallack, Martin Forrest
OLD PAULINE NEWS SPRING 2015 17
Club News
Old Pauline Entrepreneurs Club In 2015 the Old Pauline Entrepreneurs Club launched in full. Spanning alumni from both the boys and girls schools, the club aims to bring together Old Paulines and Old Paulinas who have started their own businesses, those who invest in early stage businesses and those in adjacent advisory services. The new club was started by Daniel Ross (1993-98) who felt that there was a real opportunity to harness the strength and breadth of experience of entrepreneurially minded alumni in a more fluid way. It is of course a significant advantage to OPs to have both schools so clearly connected and there is no doubt that inclusivity will breed better connections and create a richer club. The aims of the Club are: l To bring like minded people together in
OP/ Leavers’ Concert 2015
The annual Old Pauline / Leavers’ concert will be held this year on Sunday 21 June at 6.00pm in the Wathen Hall. It is hoped we will again welcome back a number of musical Old Paulines to this event to participate in solo items, chamber music, a choral item and jazz items. This year, we will be saying farewell and paying tribute to George Adie who is retiring this year. George is a highly respected and long-
Old Pauline Merchandise To view the full range or to place an order, please download a form from www.opclub. stpaulsschool.org.uk or contact the Old Pauline Club: Telephone: 020 8746 5418 email: opcadmin@ stpaulsschool.org.uk
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an informal, collaborative and trusted context l To engender work opportunities. l To encourage mentorship and career development. l To provide a platform for fund raising and investing l To host a regular schedule of events which bring people together, introduce inspiring speakers and allow members to solve problems. The Club has met twice so far for drinks and the membership already stands at over 50 people.
own Brand and Design consultancy. He then did an MBA degree at London Business School before working in corporate finance at Ingenious Media and investment management at Barclays Wealth to pay the bills. Since 2013, he has worked at CrowdBnk as Head of Daniel Ross Business Development. CrowdBnk is a leading equity and debt investment platform supporting and investing in great early stage businesses.
Since leaving St Paul’s, Daniel studied Modern Languages at Bristol University and then started his career in Marketing Communications before running his
If you are interested in knowing more about the Club, participating or contributing, please contact Daniel directly on dsjrltd@gmail.com
serving Visiting Music Teacher and the person who first brought jazz to St Paul’s! Many of you will have special memories of working with George in jazz ensembles, and I would particularly like to hear any fond reminiscences which you may want to share. If you would like to come back to St Paul’s and perform be it as a singer, instrumentalist or jazz musician please do get in touch. As usual, all rehearsals and runthroughs will take place on the day. Would any OPs who would like to offer their services as performers in this event contact Tom Evans, Assistant Director of Music as soon as possible: te@stpaulsschool.org.uk. Admission for this event is free and all are very welcome to attend what should again Tom Evans be a memorable concert.
New OPC website goes live
The new website of the OPC went live at the end of March and can be located at www.opclub.stpaulsschool.org.uk Still a ‘work in progress’, some parts are currently under development, but it was thought best to have the site up and running. The facility to log on as a member is still being tested. It is the aim of the Club to phase this in over the next few months, so we apologise for the delay. The old passwords are now redundant, and we will be emailing you newly generated user names and passwords soon, at which time you will be able to log on. Please do visit the new site in the meantime, as it is regularly up-dated with OP news and events and, as always, we welcome any feedback. We will keep you posted of further developments in the monthly eNews bulletins.
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Branch news
Hong Kong Branch Nick Buckley Wood (2000-05) invited Old Paulines and Old Paulinas in Hong Kong (with partners) as his guests for Chinese New Year drinks at Pearl Lam Galleries, where he is a Director, on 18 March to view the exhibition ‘Perfection by Chance’, featuring six contemporary Chinese abstract painters.
Northern England Branch The first branch event for 2015 took place on Saturday, 21 March at Weetwood Hall, the hotel and conference centre associated with the University of Leeds. The guest speaker, Chris Pogson (1955-60), gave a talk on ‘The politics of biology’.
Philippines Branch Alesia Garlock
Australia Branch The OP Victorian branch in Australia held a reunion at the historic Melbourne Club on 26 March. Local and visiting OPs attended, with vintages spanning 40 years ranging from 1955 through to 1995. Given the turnout, another event will be held in 6-12 months at the same venue. Please contact Tristan Kitchener (tristan@kitchenerpartners.com.au)
if you would like your name added to the list. Pictured below (left to right) are: Jon Ma (1986-91), Tej P S Sood (1993-95), Freddie Blencke (198691), Michael Dunn (1958-62), Tristan Kitchener (1986-91), Stephen O’Brien (1967-71), Justin Corfield (1980-84) and John Salmons (1953-57). Paul Wheeler (1950-55) departed early.
USA Branch
(bottom left) after their clubhouse tour. Not in the picture but also attending lunch were Michael Preston (1958-64), Paulinas Kate Fletcher and Eugenie Mathieu, and guest and photographer, Susan York.
Lunch at The University Club Six Old Paulines, Paulinas and a guest gathered for lunch on a brisk wintry (minus 15 degrees celsius!) day in New York on Tuesday, 24 February 2015. After several minutes of warming hands in front of a roaring log fire, we shared the bounty of the University Club’s famed lunch buffet. Attendees had travelled from as far as Athens to holiday in New York (what was he thinking – New York in February?), but the mood was light and the conversation far-ranging, from the shipping and life sciences sectors to arts, Oscars, life at Hammersmith / Barnes depending on the OP vintage, and at Brook Green. Photo-taking is necessarily a clandestine activity at the University Club; OPs Simon Strauss (1968-73) and Menelaos Pangalos (197984) are pictured
New York Club Lunch Eleven Old Paulines, Paulinas and former members of SPS staff, local and travelling from the UK, met for the buffet lunch in the distinguished Dwight dining room at the University Club on Tuesday, 31 March. With Spring having (finally) sprung in New York, and the last of the snows recently melted, conversations turned to the forthcoming summer activities and plans. Old Paulines present were Barr Even (2002-07), Ed Pomeroy (194651), Tommy Stadlen (2002-05), Simon Strauss (1968-73); former SPS teachers Christina von Loeper and David Feinburg also joined the group. OPs are always welcome to attend. Join the LinkedIn group, ‘OPs in N. America’ or contact Simon Strauss at simon@sstrauss.net
It took 10 years since our last get together but the Philippine OP chapter finally met on the 20th March 2015 in Manila. Pictured are John Kater (1952-55) and Michael Hennessy (1962-67).
Old Pauline Lodge Srsjan Saso, Paul Ganjou and David Speake
The Old Pauline Masonic Lodge met at the School at the beginning of April to install Paul Ganjou (1960-65) as the new Master to succeed Keith Smith (1951-55). The two Wardens for the year are Srdjan Saso (1996-2001) and David Speake (1980-84). It was a well-attended meeting and Lodge members and their guests, including eight Masters of other School Lodges, dined well in the Montgomery Room afterwards. The next four meetings of the Old Pauline Lodge will be held at the School on: 15 July and 22 October and 7 January and 7 April 2016. Any Old Paulines interested in joining would be welcomed and should contact the Secretary Nigel Young – email secretary@oldpaulinelodge.org.uk for more David Cons (1954-57) information.
OLD PAULINE NEWS SPRING 2015 19
Obituaries Name Ken Abel Derek J Barr Howard O Barrett Raymond A Bennett Roger W S Bradley (Robin) Christopher R I Estridge Gareth R Evans Conrad E S Gold David Groombridge William S Ham Michael F Hellyar Charles A Henderson Michael E Humphrey Michael E Korn Dr Douglas F Lunn Peter Major Anthony J Moon Lee Morris
SPS 1938-40 1924-2014 1958-63 1945-2014 1935-40 1921-2014 1935-37 1921-2014 1936-40 1922-2014 1939-44 1926-2015 1937-42 1923-2014 1945-49 1931-2014 Colet Court Master 1970-90 1930-2015 1938-43 1924-2015 1952-56 1939-2014 1988-93 1975-2015 1939-44 1926-2014 1946-53 1933-TBC 1939-43 1925-2014 Director of Art 1972-78 TBC-2015 1933-38 1920-2015 HLM/staff 1996-2015 1960-2015
Name
SPS
William (Bill) P Neill-Hall Adrian P Northover-Smith Samuel L Peltz Nicolas H Phillips Geoffrey Posner Maurice F N Prendergast Alec W Ramage Denys Randolph John S Reynolds Adrian S Roche (Alec) Brian Schofield John H Seager Robert T Streit James N L Thompson Trevor J W Thorpe David J Trimby Robin K L Tyler Edward A Vincent Michael T Wainwright Adrian Wells
1962-67 1980-85 1945-50 1954-59 1938-41 1949-54 1941-45 1939-44 1931-34 1955-60 1944-48 1936-41 1948-53 1931-35 1946-50 1956-59 1951-54 1935-40 1933-36 1952-57
1948-2015 1967-2014 1932-2014 1941-2014 1924-2014 1936-2014 1928-2015 1926-2015 1918-2014 1942-2014 1930-2014 1923-2015 1935-2015 1917-2014 1933-2015 1943-2015 1937-2014 1921-2015 1919-2015 1939-TBC
Christopher Wright
1959-64
1946-2014
Derek J Barr (1958-63) Derek came to St Paul’s as a scholar from Glengyle Preparatory School and left USc8 in March 1963 to study at Imperial College London from which he graduated BSc and ACGI, as a Chemical Engineer. Later he became FIChemE. Living so very near to him in the late 1950’s in Wimbledon, I knew him extremely well and also his remarkably close and harmonious family. Even while at School he already had a deep and erudite knowledge of the works of both J S Bach and Mozart which was not really so surprising as his mother was a very gifted amateur musician. What I remember best about Derek at that time were all the many rosettes he had won at horse-riding events, a sport that he continued to follow even more successfully while at Imperial. Quite apart from being a fine fencer at School he was also a highly accomplished skier throughout his life. He took over the reins as Managing Director of his father’s successful engineering business called Barr & Murphy and expanded it enormously over the years, setting up the Montreal office and an additional link in Chicago. His firm gained the Queen’s Award for Export Achievement in 1976. After selling his enlarged business to GEA AG in 1996, he spent two years in Brussels being the co-ordinator between different divisions of GEA. On returning
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to London he became a CEDR accredited mediator in 1999 and for two years he was President of the London Business School Enterprise 100. Shortly after, he became a highly valued business angel investor and start-up company adviser, arising from LBS graduates. He was also a Member of the Institute of Directors. Derek had an enquiring mind and thirst for new knowledge. He was always a highly effective problem solver and he loved nothing better than the challenge of finding the most successful solution. He was always at the forefront of technology, using the latest electronic business tools or gadgets, long before most people had ever heard of them. He married firstly Zoe in 1970 and they had four delightful children, two daughters followed by two sons. Derek was godfather to my elder daughter Arabella and I was to his elder daughter Katrina. He was at all times a very loving father and great family man, now including three
grandchildren. After his divorce from Zoe in 1993, he married Sue in May 1996 who shared his many business and leisure interests, and they took part in several classic car tours including the Liège-Rome Rally. Derek’s interests were extremely far-ranging including a deep passion for early music, especially organ music and the harpsichord, and also opera, regularly
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Raymond A Bennett (1932-37) Raymond Alistair Bennett, more commonly known as Billy after a popular comedian of the time, was born on 6 February 1921 in Chiswick. His father had been Director of Music for a chain of cinemas in the West End, a prolific composer of music to accompany the silent movies, before following in his own father’s footsteps to become Art and Music Master at Colet Court. St Paul’s was in the family, so Billy went to Colet Court and then on to St Paul’s. He won a number of prizes at school, played rugby and formed what we would now call a pop group with friends there. The war came along, which, he said, was the making of him. He joined up as soon as he could. After training he started guard duties in London and saw the Blitz. His parents were bombed four times. He was appointed an officer and sent with his platoon to guard an ammunition dump in Banstead, where he met his wife to be, Pamela Jean Holt (“Pammy”).Shortly afterwards he was sent to North Africa to join the army invading Sicily. He took part
attending Glyndebourne or Covent Garden with Sue. He had an extensive knowledge of fine wines not only from France and Italy but also worldwide and enjoyed collecting antique glass. He was also a much-respected member of the Old Pauline Lodge. Derek enjoyed life to the full and over time owned and drove some most interesting classic cars including two Daimler Dart SP250’s, an Aston Martin, a Maserati bi-turbo, a Jaguar and a Bristol. He and Sue greatly enjoyed the Daimler SP250 Club classic car rallies. His driving of his Aston around Silverstone and his Daimlers around the historic Brooklands track were particularly memorable! Derek was gifted with sparkling humour and he had a remarkable talent for reciting poems and writings, even on occasion finishing off for someone else entirely by chance, when the latter had had a momentary lapse of memory. His warmth and sincerity shone through the moment he came into any room but he also had great wisdom. His advice was much sought after not only in business circles but also among his family and friends and he always spoke with true conviction. He was a thoroughly loyal and honourable man and all of us who had the privilege of knowing him will miss him very greatly.
in the Sicily landings and fought many bitter battles before crossing to Italy and fighting all the way up the Apennines to the Alps. He was very active at the Battle for Monte Cassino, twice being mentioned in despatches. Only in his very last years would he talk about his war experience. He had a hard time and lost many friends, including one who was blown to pieces whilst standing right next to him. One can hardly imagine the effect this would have on his thoughts, but he was always cheerful. Pammy and he were married in 1945 and settled initially in Weybridge. Although the Army asked him to stay on, he left in the rank of Major, choosing a more domestic life and, after a couple of false starts, joined the Metropolitan Police in 1949. They moved to Sunburyon-Thames where they lived throughout his working life. He started policing at Sunbury and soon moved to Esher as Station Sergeant where, despite being offered promotion, he stayed until early retirement in 1974. He served well, winning two commendations for bravery in the face of crime. He was very much loved by his colleagues and was given a wonderful send-off at Ember Court, the Met’s Social Club. After a rest he took up a retirement job with MI5, which involved watching persons of interest from safe houses. He couldn’t say much
about this, but he and Pammy had a lovely three months in Spain ‘watching’! They retired to Elstead in Surrey, where they enjoyed bike rides and walks in the countryside. Billy took up watercolour painting, sold many works and was published on the cover of the local history book, ‘Elstead – Then and Now’. They had three children, Chris, Nick and Jo, who have given them six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Billy died on 25 December 2013, after a fall. Pammy died eight days later. They had been a gentle, happy devoted couple, married for over 68 years.
Chris Bennett (son)
Charles Duckworth (1957-62)
OLD PAULINE NEWS SPRING 2015 21
Obituaries Conrad Gold (1945-1948) Conrad and his two brothers (Derek and Edward) all attended St Pauls. He left in 1948 at the age of 17, joining his father’s insurance company (Barnet Gold & Company) and then the army for his National Service in 1949. Conrad’s love of sport remained throughout his life. Following Rugby, he played cricket for the Old Paulines for several years. Tennis was a Sunday morning enjoyment, followed by membership of Finchley Golf Club in the early 1970’s. He was a competitive but never aggressive sportsman. His success at golf resulted in his becoming Captain and then President of the Golf Club and he was part of a long-term, respected circle of friends. His name appears on several of the Honours Boards. Conrad returned to the Company in 1951 and was instrumental in founding various successful enterprises. These included an insurance scheme (ASU) for motor cyclists, covering accident, sickness and unemployment. He organised a stand at the Ideal Home Exhibition for more than 20 years, inventing the Housing Enquiry Service. This offered a mortgage service to the general public and brought in a large volume of business to the Company.
Michael Humphrey (1939-44) Born in 1926, Michael enjoyed his schooldays, first at Colet Court and then St Paul’s during the wartime evacuation to Crowthorne, where he lodged with the chaplain of Broadmoor and was proud to have bowled to the chaplain’s son, who later played for England. His lifelong enthusiasm for cricket was already well established by then. He went up to Balliol in autumn 1944 on a Classics scholarship, but his course was interrupted by war service with the RAF. He learnt Japanese at the School of Oriental and African Studies, before being posted to Singapore just as the war ended. His return journey to England included a brief spell on Mountbatten’s staff in Delhi – where he incurred the wrath of the great man for cutting him off in mid-phonecall when manning the switchboard. On returning to Oxford in 1947 he changed direction and took a degree in Psychology and Philosophy. A research BSc on head injuries with Oliver Zangwill followed. He was surprised and pleased when one of his subjects surfaced in later life as father-in-law of his godson, Hector Sants. This led to a follow-up study
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‘Wounded soldier 40 years on’. Michael was one of the pioneers of clinical psychology in the UK. He joined the Warneford Hospital, Oxford, as its first trainee clinical psychologist in 1951 and moved to the Reading area in 1954 as the first clinical psychologist there. His work embraced all areas of mental health, but his interests in children and the family, and in neuropsychology, remained important throughout his career.
He transferred to academia in 1964, doing research at Essex University before becoming a lecturer in the Department of Mental Health at Bristol. In 1969 he moved to St George’s Hospital Medical School, as senior lecturer in Psychology, promoted to Reader in 1977. Here he had the best of both worlds, with the opportunity to pursue his clinical and research interests alongside his teaching commitments. He was able to facilitate the growth of clinical psychology services at local and regional level, and became research tutor to the clinical psychology course at Surrey University. His abiding interest in the family through work on infertility and adoption, and the social aspects of rehabilitation following head injury, resulted in several books and numerous research publications. His thorough grounding in the Classics at St Paul’s enabled him to write elegantly but with a light touch, although he sometimes wondered whether being a direct descendant of the poet Robert Southey might have helped. Throughout this time, his ready wit and mildly eccentric sense of humour endeared him to colleagues
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Dr Douglas F Lunn (1939-43) He was also invited to build a show house there. He moved into housebuilding when someone came onto the Stand and asked him if he bought land. Always ready for a new idea, he started a building Company and with contractors built many bungalows on the South Coast, Kent and Essex. He was an early exponent of timber-framed houses. He started an Estate Agency in Kingston which gave him access to small housing estates. In 1983 his father, Barnet Gold, retired and the business was handed over to Conrad’s brother Edward. Conrad then turned to house conversions. He battled against severe illness in 2002 and again in 2005, finally succumbing in November 2014. He never complained and remained considerate and cheerful until the end. Conrad and Marian were married in 1954. Once their three children were independent, they travelled extensively in Europe and beyond, enjoying all the experiences that came their way. He was generous and loving to their children and eight grandchildren. His sense of humour and kindness to both family and friends will always be remembered.
and students alike. Michael developed an interest in classical music from an early age and played the piano to a high standard. He played with the Reading youth orchestra on one occasion in the 1950s, and after retirement took lessons again, acquired a grand piano and gave several recitals to captive audiences of friends. His lifelong passion for cricket was supplemented by an almost equal enthusiasm for tennis. Being able to follow both sports on television helped to compensate for the hay fever which grounded him during the summer months. His family were a central part of Michael’s life. He married Heather in 1956 and their two adopted children, two granddaughters and recently two greatgrandchildren brought him great joy, enhanced by the company of a succession of Labradors. Sadly, his final years were marred by a long journey through dementia (vascular and Alzheimer’s) which robbed him of both mental and physical ability. However, his personality endured and he died peacefully on 25 October 2014.
Douglas died peacefully on 14 October 2014, aged 88. He was the second of three Pauline brothers and had a younger Paulina sister. His time at St Paul’s was spent entirely at Crowthorne.. He was a Foundation Scholar and probably one of the last to receive a silver fish during the War, as they became unavailable during the War years. From an early age he decided he wanted to study Medicine and on leaving school in 1943 he went to St Thomas’s for his medical studies. Not long after starting his studies, before the War had ended, he felt a commitment to interrupt his medical career in order to do military service (medical students could be exempt from military service until qualified). He joined the Royal Navy in 1944 and his talents were well used when he was posted to the Royal Naval Communications Centre near Coventry. When the War ended, like most servicemen, he was not demobilised at once but remained a further year and a half in the Navy before returning to his medical studies in January 1947. He qualified MBBS in 1953. He completed his pre-registration house appointments at Essex County Hospital, Colchester and the Royal Salop Infirmary, Shrewsbury. He then decided to specialise in Anaesthetics, obtaining the Diploma in Anaesthetics in 1956 before moving to London to take up the post of Senior Resident in Anaesthetics at St. Thomas’s. During his time at the branch of St Thomas’s at Hydestile in Surrey in 1956, Douglas met his future wife, Elizabeth, a nurse. In October the same year, they were married. In 1957 Elizabeth and Douglas went to Canada where Douglas became Assistant Resident in the Department of Anaesthesia at the Winnipeg General Hospital. Unsure whether to leave the UK permanently, they returned to England in 1958 to be Anaesthetic Registrar at Salisbury General Hospital and
then a similar post at St Alban’s City Hospital. In 1960 a major decision was made to emigrate permanently to Canada. After a period at St John’s working as an anaesthetist, he made a final move to Edmonton Alberta and became a Canadian citizen in 1970. He practised as Staff Anaesthetist at the Misericordia Hospital and at dental practices in Edmonton. Douglas had a lifelong love of the countryside, a love inherited from his family’s farming background at Preston Candover and Stratfield Saye, Hampshire, extending back many generations. His enthusiasm for gardening extended to creating an allotment on some neighbouring land near his home. This was considered unique in Canada and it became the subject of a television programme in which he was interviewed about this activity, which Canadians considered so unusual! While at school, he enjoyed Scouting, cricket, working on the School wartime farm, and he won his first eight colours at Boxing, something also achieved by his two brothers. Douglas is lovingly remembered by his wife of 58 years, Elizabeth and his five children, Christopher, Jennifer, Nicholas, Philip, and Barbara and his youngest brother, John.
OLD PAULINE NEWS SPRING 2015 23
Obituaries Anthony J (Tony) Moon (1932–38) Tony was born in Fulham in 1920 and attended St Paul’s as a day boy, cycling each day from Putney. He retained a long and proud affection for the sSchool. He particularly enjoyed his time as a Scout there; even in his nineties he was still attending the annual school reunions. To fulfil a long-held ambition to work in medicine, Tony enrolled at St Bartholomew’s Hospital after leaving St Paul’s, to train as a doctor. In 1940, St Bartholomew’s was moved to Queens’ College, Cambridge. Tony was then moved to St Albans and Barnet to complete his training before returning to London after the war. He gained his MB BS in 1943 but in May of that year, shortly before qualifying, Tony was worried that he had a medical condition requiring proper diagnosis. He arranged to have an X-ray at Colney Hatch Hospital and self-diagnosed himself as suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. So for the first year after qualification, Tony rested at home in Putney before deciding that he could start work. His first job was at the delightfully named Wellhouse Hospital where he met his wife Jean, also a doctor, in June 1944. They married in 1947, the year he obtained his MRCP. His TB persisted and in 1949 he underwent a three-stage thoracoplasty operation on his right lung. It was very successful, leaving him healthy until finally he suffered his strokes over six decades later. He worked at the London Chest Hospital as a Senior Registrar from April 1948 until February 1952. Then in February 1952 he was appointed Consultant Chest Physician and Deputy Superintendent to Pinewood Hospital in
Dr Sam L Peltz (1945-50) Sam Peltz who died in September aged 82 was born in the West End of London. The only child of Soho retailers, he was academically gifted and won a scholarship to St Paul’s. He loved the school and made many friendships there, starting on the rugby field and continuing until his death 69 years later. He studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin, where he was an award-winning student. On qualifying in 1957, he married Lois Lipkin and, after working at Birkenhead General Hospital as a House Physician, took up General Practice in 1963, moving to South London with Lois and their two children, Nicola and Daniel.
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Crowthorne, Berkshire – a big tuberculosis sanatorium. In 1961 he became the Superintendent Physician. Between April and June 1958 Tony had a World Health Organisation Fellowship to visit hospitals in Scandinavia to study their treatment of tuberculosis and other diseases of the chest. As a result of his visit, he recommended the wider use of the BCG vaccination to counter tuberculosis and the use of respirators for the treatment of patients with emphysema and for patients with post-operative respiratory insufficiency. During the 50s and early 60s tuberculosis stopped being so pervasive and it became clear that Pinewood Hospital was obsolete and would have to close. So Tony had to look for another job. This led him to become a Consultant Chest
In 1968 amid fierce competition, he was appointed the NHS GP for Soho, which was for him a return to the place of his birth and upbringing. Until retirement from the NHS, he worked singlehandedly and became known as ‘Dr Soho’. Walking with him around the area took a significant amount of time as he stopped to talk to everyone he met and enquire after their well-being. Alongside this he ran a substantial private practice from which he never retired from his home in Mayfair. In addition to running both practices, he was appointed lecturer in General Medicine at the Middlesex Hospital where he taught many younger doctors who remember him with great affection. He also worked with the
Physician at Harefield and Hillingdon Hospitals from 1964 until his retirement in 1985. In 1970 he was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and was thereafter a keen and active participant in its affairs. He enjoyed teaching and encouraging junior staff and he was described as being from the “Old School”very professional, but always available for advice and guidance. He also helped to set up and run the Harefield and Northwood Postgraduate Medical Centre in the grounds of Mount Vernon Hospital for which he became Clinical Tutor. He had a number of articles published in eminent medical journals; his interests seem to be for all things new and innovative – such as the use of hyperbaric oxygen in infective gangrene or in the treatment of coronary thrombosis. Tony retired in 1985 but continued to see private patients for a number of years. His life was filled with the house and garden as well as travels to China, Egypt, to visit relatives in New Zealand and many visits to his beloved Madeira. He loved sailing, swimming and generally mucking about in boats. In his eighties he discovered an interest in researching his ancestors and spent many happy hours on his computer finding a number of new relatives in Australia and Canada. Jean died in 2010. In January 2012 he suffered his first major stroke which was followed by another major stroke and a number of minor ones. He died peacefully on 26 January 2015. He is survived by his three children, 4 grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.
Gay and Andrew Moon (daughter and son)
Sloane Kettering in New York, again on stress-related conditions. He became a popular and charismatic speaker at medical conferences around the world on executive stress and cholesterol related issues and was amongst the first generation of doctors who recognised the link between stress, high cholesterol and premature death. Indeed, during the late 1960’s, far ahead of his time, he pioneered Executive Medicine, a medical service for companies and institutions wishing to health-screen high value personnel they wished to employ or insure for continuity and succession planning. This whole concept of Executive Medicine was later picked up and developed extensively by companies such as BUPA and PPP.
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Nicholas H Phillips (1954-59) Nicholas died on 7 October 2014 aged 73, after losing his battle against cancer. He had won a scholarship to St Paul’s from Rokeby and in 1959 went on from the UVIII to St John’s College Oxford to read PPE. He very much enjoyed his time at St Paul’s and was actively involved in the Christian Union, the Union and the Scouts (where he was assistant scout master under Jack Strawson), making many lifelong friends. After Oxford he had a distinguished career in marketing, becoming Director of Research at the Central Office of Information at the early age of 32, before going on to hold directorships at Beecham Products and Granada Television. In 1989 he was appointed Director General of The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, a post he held until retirement 12 years later in 2001 and one which he particularly enjoyed, being able to draw on the wide range of experience and connections that he had built up over the previous 25 years. Nick married Katherine in 1969 and most of their 45 years of married life were spent in Barnes, where they brought up their three children Clare, Christopher and Benedict (1989-94), all now married with children and well established in successful careers. Nick quickly became involved in many aspects of the local community in Barnes. He was churchwarden of St Mary’s in the early 1980s, being closely involved in the imaginative restoration of the church following the fire in 1978. For many years he was an active member of the Barnes Charity Players, being chairman from
2008-11. His rôle as Colonel Pickering opposite Basil Moss’s (1948-53) Professor Higgins in their production of My Fair Lady was a highlight among many memorable parts he played and was enjoyed by many of their OP friends. Nick was a trustee of the charitable trust set up to support the St Paul’s Christian Union meetings and he was also a trustee of the Barnes Workhouse Fund. Among his many interests Nick once listed mentoring, opera, classical music, fell-walking, bridge and architecture. He was mentor to Rev Nicholas Parish, when he arrived at St Mary’s as Rector; he and Katherine often attended recitals at the
Wathen Hall, enjoying the opportunity it provided of maintaining links with the school; each year with a group of friends he set off to climb Snowdon; each month for many years, right up until last September, he made up a bridge four with John Beastall (195459), John Maycock (1952-56) and John Govett (1957-62); in 2002 he completed a postgraduate certificate in architectural history at Oxford University, having bought a house in North Oxford on retirement, where he and Katherine divided their time, when not in Barnes. In another more recent activity he took up playing real tennis on the court at Merton College, where his uncle Professor Owen Hood Phillips had been an undergraduate. With exceptional energy and enthusiasm, and for ever cheerful, Nick had a remarkable talent for raising the spirits of those in whose company he found himself, showing a genuine interest in and kindness towards people from all walks of life; this resulted in many long lasting friendships. In all this he drew great strength from the support of Katherine – they made a formidable partnership. A service of thanksgiving was held in St Mary’s Church on 8 November 2014, which was attended by a very large number of friends and family. His family was always hugely important to him and he took great pleasure in following the progress of his six grandchildren, the eldest of whom, Alfie, aged 11, gave a brave and moving testimonial to his grandfather at the service.
Sam was Chairman and Life President of the Central Synagogue in London and an Honorary Officer of the United Synagogue. He was Life President of the Centre for Jewish Life, and in 2010 he gave the Lord Jackobovits Memorial Lecture for medical ethics on surrogacy and Jewish law, which brought together two of his main interests. He also loved football and cricket – he was a life long supporter of the Arsenal and a member of the MCC. He adored being a husband, father and grandfather and delighted in everyone he knew. His was a life well lived and he was adored by all who knew him – an extremely kind, warm and gentle man. He will be remembered for his wit, his wisdom and his integrity. OLD PAULINE NEWS SPRING 2015 25
Obituaries Geoffrey Posner (1938 - 41) Geoffrey Posner died on the 13 August 2014. He would have been pleased to know that he had made it past the ‘Glorious Twelfth’, though sadly he did not quite make it to his 90th birthday on the 10th September. He began his education at Colet Court just as they were being evacuated to Crowthorne – an experience he greatly enjoyed and delighted in re-telling, with suitable embellishments, over the years. His time at St Paul’s was equally enjoyable and on leaving he volunteered to join the RAF. He was sent to Iceland almost immediately where he had his first experience of ski-ing, which was to stand him in good stead for the future. On leaving the forces, he became a solicitor, practising first in London before moving to Burnham-on-Crouch where – as well as working – he was able to indulge his many and varied sporting activities. At about the same time he joined the HAC (Honourable Artillery
Company), where he spent many enjoyable occasions during the next sixty years with his friends in ‘C’ Battery who still have fond memories of him. He played Rugby for the Old Paulines and later for Wasps and derived great pleasure from relating this fact, until in a pause in the adulation, he would add, “in their 5th XV…” However, his favourite sport was undoubtedly skiing and the best moment was when he achieved his silver ‘K’. Geoffrey and his first wife, Rhona – (although she did not ski) spent many holidays in various Swiss resorts and eventually they rented a holiday apartment in Zermatt. Theirs was a happy and successful marriage until sadly she predeceased him in 2005. In 2007 Geoffrey contacted Gillian, an old friend from the mid-1950’s and in 2008 he went to live with her in Oxfordshire, eventually marrying her in 2013. She survives him, as do
his daughter Harriet and son Jonathan. Jonathan is married to Helena and they have two sons – Henry and Sebastian - of whom Geoffrey was an extremely proud and fond grandfather. Gillian Posner
Maurice Prendergast (1949-54)
Alec W Ramage (1941-45) Alec was born on the 22 July 1928 to Mary and Alec Ramage from Croydon Road, Beckenham and he was baptised later that year in Lewisham. He was initially educated in the Abbey School, Beckenham. He had a happy upbringing and his school days were made all the more enjoyable by his evacuation during the war initially to East Grinstead and later to South Wales. It was during these early years that he developed a love of cricket and of paddle steamers, on which he used to relish travelling up and down the Thames. Later in life he was to join the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society and the Medway Queen Preservation Society,
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It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Maurice Prendergast, who died peacefully at home on November 6 with his beloved wife Andrée at his side. A native of British Columbia, Maurice attended SPS and went on to read Natural Sciences at Corpus Christi, Cambridge, before taking an MBA at McGill. During his career in finance, he and his family had the pleasure of living in Montreal, Paris, New York and Greenwich, Connecticut. He is survived by Andrée his wife of 55 years, his two loving daughters, Suzanne and Tania; his sons-in-law Erik and Guénolé and
his cherished granddaughters Yaïza and Soleil. Maurice will always be remembered for his dry sense of humour and exceptional wit. Possessed of an impressive intellect, he was also an avid sportsman and he loved nature and all its beauty. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. A memorial service was held at St. Mathias Anglican Church in Westmount on 21 November 2014. A reception followed in the Lower Hall. Donations in his memory may be made to l’Abri en Ville (labrienville.ca) or the charity of your choice.
both of which he remained a member for many years. After St Paul’s, Alec became an insurance salesman in the City of London with the Commercial Union, where he met Janet Yeardye in 1951. There followed a happy courtship, with frequent meetings in the theatres and milk bars of post-war London. This also began a lifelong interest in the theatre and performing arts. In 1952 Alec left the Commercial Union and joined Babcock and Wilcox, the steam engineers, where he worked in the office for eight years gaining an all-round knowledge and becoming Assistant Sales Manager. He proposed to Janet whilst on holiday at Le Touquet on the French coast and they were married at St Mary Woolnoth
Church in Lombard Street on 23 October 1954. They honeymooned in Edinburgh and returned to his roots in South London to live briefly in Streatham, the only time in his adult life that Alec has lived outside the Borough of Bromley. They later moved to a flat in Brackley Road, Beckenham. Shortly afterwards, Janet and Alec were looking for a more permanent family home and discovered some new bungalows were to be built on ‘green fields’ on the then outskirts of Bromley. They raised the princely sum of £3,500 and in 1959 moved into the new bungalow at Pickhurst Park, which Alec occupied for the next 53 years until his move in 2012 to the care home at Lauriston House. The staff at Lauriston cared for him lovingly in his final three years.
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James N L Thompson (1931-35)
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the town, initially in a house and then in town centre premises. James became a local councillor and then Mayor of Loughborough. He took his duties as a local councillor very seriously and was always ready to listen. He left Loughborough in the 1970s to live with Liz, who later became his wife. They lived in St Albans and then in Hemel Hempstead before moving to Llanfyllin. Although nearly eighty, he would do hospital visiting as a Friend taking round teas and selling sweets. He took up playing crown green Bowls and was for a time Honorary Treasurer of Llanfyllin Bowling Club. He once again became involved in politics becoming a member of Powys Liberal club and assisting in fundraising. He is survived by his second wife, three children, four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
During his time at St Paul’s, James gained his 1st colours for boxing and colours for 3rd XI Cricket and 3rd XV Rugby. He matriculated in 1935 with higher school certificates in chemistry, maths, and physics. After St Paul’s he went to work as a lab assistant with The Gaslight, Coke and Lighting Company, saving money so that he could get a degree. In October 1936 he enrolled at Birkbeck College. James had always wanted to teach and taught at prep schools in Sydenham and Weybridge. His conscience would not allow him to fight and as luck would have it, the headmaster was also a CO. The Bristol Tribunal was very sympathetic to his beliefs.
Because the blitz had not begun, he and his wife went back to London so that he could complete his chemistry degree. Whilst waiting for a passage to Nigeria, he worked in the evenings with down-and-outs under the arches at Charing Cross under the auspices of the Anglican Pacifist Movement. Whilst in Nigeria, James taught science at Dennis Memorial Grammar School in Onitsha. On returning to the UK with his family in 1947,he went to Lincoln Theological College and was ordained in 1949. Teaching formed a large part of his working life, first in Nigeria and then as head of the religious studies department at Loughborough College. His social conscience was evident in his life in Loughborough. He instigated with others the setting up an International Centre in
David J Trimby (1956-59) I knew David for 60 years. We met when we were thirteen years old, bursting with testosterone and full of the joys of life. David lived with his parents, Kenneth and Joan, in Temple Sheen Road, East Sheen. That home, along with the ‘La Tertulia’ coffee bar in the high street, became the hub of our lives. David’s room was not your average teenage bedroom. David had artistic, Bohemian leanings from the very beginning. I remember a black ceiling and walls painted bright red and dark midnight blue. It was always full of life and music – it was where we talked about girls, debated our futures and putting the world to rights. He loved photography, Jazz music and seeing arty French movies especially anything with Brigitte Bardot in it. And he admired painting, especially Paul Klee. David gave
me one of his own early attempts at surrealist painting, which I still have to this day. It is fair to say that the School’s attempts to educate us were more or less wasted –we were in too much of a hurry to get out into the world and live our lives. David and I further demonstrated our reluctance to submit to any form of discipline by joining the St Paul’s Rowing Club. This was a well-used measure to avoid the weekly CCF (Combined Cadet Force) army training sessions. Having made the decision to abandon our formal education, we had no option other than to get on with our respective lives. David was made Manager of a wellrespected Wine Store, Redman’s in South Kensington. To his credit he achieved great success in his career as a highly respected member of the wine trade. He became an accredited voice in the sherry
world, working many years for Lustau. It was on a business visit to Lustau, based in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, that David met his wife Sheila. Their two daughters, Belinda Jane and Melanie, brought them great happiness and pride. My wife Marion and I have many happy memories of times shared with David and Sheila. David loved life and lived it to the full. I can only fondly describe him as a modern-day Toad of Toad Hall. Living on his own and dealing with increasing ill health for the last few years cannot have been much fun. But he was fortunate to live near Melanie and Laurence and his two beloved grandchildren of whom he was incredibly proud. I shall always remember the laughs and the happy times we had.
In 1961 Janet and Alec celebrated the birth of their first child, Ian, followed in 1965 by the arrival of his brother Andrew. Alec was progressing in his career and in the same year he joined the sales department at Crompton Parkinson in Brixton, a stud welding equipment manufacturer where he helped to train and manage a small but specialised sales team for four years. After a short spell with Victor Blagden Ltd, Alec joined the United London Workshops for the Blind in 1967 as their Sales Manager in Victoria and then Waterloo. He worked with them for the next ten years where he was responsible for the overall running of the office. It was a job which Alec loved and he always enjoyed telling people that he worked for a charity.
They sold many items produced by the blind workers, but mostly nail brushes, of which many slightly imperfect ones found their way home! In 1977 the office was closed and Alec was forced to look for new employment. This he found with F D Sims Ltd and then Harris and Edgar Ltd, two related electrical companies in Croydon, where he worked in sales until he took early retirement in 1990. Family was always the centre of Alec’s life and for 55 years he remained a devoted husband to Janet until her death in 2009. Whilst Janet was very active in many local organisations, Alec was the one who would always loyally support and encourage her whilst being happy to remain in the background. Alec was a devoted father and
an immensely proud grandfather with the birth of Abby in 1988. We still remember the happy hours he spent pushing the young Abby round and round the garden in a wheelbarrow! Alec had several hobbies. Other than the theatre, he was an avid cricket follower and a keen photographer, but he also had a lifelong love of big band music. He was also a member of the Men of Kent for many years. When Janet passed away it was said that she was ‘kind and considerate to everyone, gentle and smiling’. Anyone who had had the pleasure of knowing Alec would know that these qualities applied equally to him – always with a smile on his face. He will be sadly missed by everyone.
Ivor Powell (1956-59) (Abridged from a tribute at David’s funeral)
Ian and Andrew Ramage
OLD PAULINE NEWS SPRING 2015 27
Sports
On a charge: Ejsmond-Frey & Tim Radcliffe vs Old Cranleighans
OPFC
A tough start This year the baby-boom coming out of the recession took the OPFC by storm, with a conservative estimate of 30+ newborns arriving across the player base it is becoming ever more evident that playing OP Rugby improves virility‌ coupled with the annual migration down-under of front row players, we again faced a challenging start to the season. All was not lost, and through significant hard graft a number of new players again have established themselves within the club, typified by more than 50% of our regular core player base not being a part of the club two years ago. Yet Amateur XV-a-side rugby at adult level across the UK is seeing a drop-off in numbers both at players coming through 18-22, and a stark rise in players finishing their careers earlier 28+. Following 7-8 strong years of stability, having watched many sides across Surrey falter in recent years, the macro effects of this have been felt this season at the OPFC, and as such we will look to be re-structing part of our squad base and league standings to answer these trends. At the club we feel extremely confident that these changes will bring a huge amount of positive change and are highly optimistic for the outlook of the club moving forward. Currently we are preparing, as ever, to
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descend on a foreign land. 2015 sees a band of merry OPFC men poised to invade Sicilian shores. Touring has become an integral part of the OPFC experience over the last five years and it continues to build excellent relationships between players from across the teams. Plans are already underway for 2016 so please keep an eye on the website for details. The 1st XV started strongly in their season with an influx of new young players. Unfortunately through injuries and the appearance of an extended ski season the second half was not quite as successful as the first, with the club finishing in a very respectable 7th in Surrey League Division 1.
We are preparing, as ever, to descend on a foreign land. 2015 sees a band of merry OPFC men poised to invade Sicilian shores Rob Rayner, in his second season as captain, has led from the front. The squad still maintains a large number of OP players from statesmen such as Stuart Kerrigan, Tim Radcliffe, Ben Jarman, Toby and Robin Esjmond Frey, Jake Coleman and Fred Engelbach to name a few. This season we have been delighted to welcome some younger new Old Pauline faces to the 1st XV squad in Archie Faulks, Ryan
Charlie Campbell wins the lineout vs Whitgift
Burrows & Tommy Grover. All Club teams have performed valiantly in their Merit Table competitions, especially following last season when the Surrey County RFU saw fit to close the elite merit divisions above our own teams’ divisions and push these very strong teams down into our divisions. The 2nd XV & 3XV still bare the brunt of this change and the teams coped well against some very good sides to finish eighth & seventh respectively. The 4th XV ended strongly in their league finishing 4th, with the B (Vets) XV finishing 9th in an extremely competitve league that features Vets sides from London Irish, Harlequins & Richmond. Particularly in light of the tough start to this season and the positive changes set for next season, we would welcome all OP rugby players (of any vintage) to join the Club and turn out for one of our five regular teams. Please contact Club Captain, Matin Macdonald, if
www.opclub.stpaulsschool.org.uk 020 8746 5339 you are interested in playing (at any level):clubcaptain@opfc.org.uk As in past years, we hope to enter a team in the Cronk-Cunis National Under 21 Rugby Festival taking place on Bank Holiday Monday 31 August 2015.. Given the strong pool of OP student talent out there, we hope to encourage more young OPs to get involved and enjoy what is now the largest one-day rugby festival in the country. If you are interested, please contact John Howard at johnahoward58@gmail.com In the last playing weekend of 2014 we were delighted to host the now regular fixture between an OPFC Leavers XV, captained by Jesse Mander. This season’s match saw the OPFC team win back the bragging rights from the School in a high scoring game which finished 43-26, it was great to see a number of parents and OPs in attendance on a beautiful sunny day. We look forward to hosting the 2015 fixture and would like to thank Glenn Harrison and James Blurton at the School for continuing to support this match. The Club also maintained its tradition of awarding the OPFC Trophy to the outstanding rugby player at St Paul’s. The 2014 Trophy was awarded to Blake Fontaine. As ever, groundsman Graham Godfrey also deserves our thanks again this year for keeping the pitches in such good condition – we did not lose one fixture this season on account of the weather. Our facilities continue to be the envy of visiting clubs and our thanks to Colets for their continued support throughout the season. Thanks also to the Officers of the Day for their support – come rain or shine! Please note that pre-season training will commence in early July at the School – for more details please keep any eye on the website www.opfc.org.uk. Thanks again to the School for allowing the Club to use the pitches pre-season and extending us the use of the sports hall during the harsh winter. We look forward to the arrival of new floodlights to help improve next seasons darker evening training sessions. I would also like to extend my thanks to Club Captain Matin Macdonald, the Executive and General Committees for being of huge support and bearing with me in my first year as Chairman. I would also like to thank Ian Benjamin for his great work as my predecesor as Chairman and finally to the individual team captains, a huge thank you for your continued efforts to pull sides together week in week out and to keep our player numbers at the levels they are. We look forward to setting the club up for a great season next year. Buster Dover, Chairman
OLD PAULINE GOLFING SOCIETY
Highlights of 2014-15
Our 2014 Autumn Meeting & Captain’s years! Philip Francis has now taken on Day was held at Farnham Golf Club, with this role. 19 Members playing. Laurence Gilford was In out friendly matches for the rest a clear winner of the Walker Cup with 40 of the year we had losses against Old points and also won the Courlander Cup Amplefordians and Old Cholmelians. for the best score by a player of 15 and In our only match so far in 2015, we lost above handicap. Jeremy Williams had the against The School, 4 matches to 2. best scratch score of 79 to win the North In the Halford Hewitt on 9th April, Cup. In the afternoon, Jeremy played with our team of Nick Cardoza, Charlie Prior, Brian Selwyn-Barnett to win the Edgar & Charlie Dewhurst, Jamie McFarlane, Williams Cups. Robbie Parker, Chris Vallender, Max In October, we repeated our twoRose, Ben Rowan, Hugh Roberts, night stay at the Dorset Golf & Country Max Grandison just failed to beat Club, which was greatly enjoyed by the Hurstpierpoint in the first round, losing Members who played. by 3 matches to 2 with two of the matches 17 Members attended our half going to the last hole. We welcome day winter Meeting at West Hill last Robbie Parker in his first Hewitt and November. Robert Silverstone had the congratulate Hugh Roberts on playing in best score with 35 points to win the Pat his 38th! Humphreys Salver. Chris Vallender had We would welcome new members and the best gross score on the day to win details of our activities can be obtained the Downing Salver and John Stone won from Neil Fitch on 02392 715232 or the Kayton Cup for the best score from a n.fitch@ntlworld.com player 70 years old and over. The golf was followed by the 2015 Captain John Woodcock (1963-1968) usual excellent lunch! Our AGM & Dinner were held at the Royal Mid Surrey Golf Club with 20 Members present. John Woodcock was elected as Captain for 2015 with Toby Bain as Vice-Captain. We were joined for Dinner by Matt Smith (Master ic Golf). After dinner the outgoing Captain, Jeremy Williams, made an entertaining speech and was presented with the Jubilee Salver for the best aggregate points score in our Spring, Summer & Autumn Meetings and also the Cunis Claret Jug for the best aggregate points score in the Spring & Autumn Meetings! The Bewshar Bowl for the knockout competition was won by Paul Salama-Caro. Also at the Dinner, a presentation was made to Geoffrey Nolan to mark his retirement from being our Honorary Treasurer, a task he has done very successfully for the last 14 OLD PAULINE NEWS SPRING 2015 29
Sports OPAFC FOOTBALL
Showing promise The OPFAC 1st XI knew that this season would be a tough one – taking our place in the second highest league in the Amateur Football Combination for the first time in our history after back-to-back promotions – and so it proved to be. At the time of writing, we stand a good chance of staying up which should be considered a success, but there are a few fixtures from the teams below us still to take place. Highlights of the season included a 2-1 win over the soon-to-be promoted Dorkinians and a resounding 4-2 victory against Old Aloysians. Both of these performances
These performances proved that the team can more than compete in this division and we should be looking to push on next season proved that the team can more than compete in this division and we should be looking to push on next season. There were notable performances from Harry Brown (2005-10), Ed Owles (1993-1998) and Andrew R B Robertson (1996-2001) and Alexander Harlington (2008-2013) and Jasper Harlington (SPS Current 20102015) provided some sparkle whenever they were available for selection. 2nd XI The 2nd XI have been reborn this season after successfully blending newly recruited 2008 leavers Aaron Conor, AJ Foster and 25-goal hero Luke Smith with stalwarts of earlier eras: Matt J G Evans (1996-2001),
Promotion pushers. A happy 2nd XI enjoy their moment in the sun
Matt J O Cowpe (1996-2001), Ismail Onur Kuzalti (1989-1994), Jack W H Wellby (2000-2005) and infrequently Luke D Warriner (1997-2002) and Roland M Archdall (1996-2001). After two tough years and a slow start to the season the side eventually hit form, winning five of the last six games and find themselves in 3rd place hopeful of promotion going into final day
results. Current Pauline’s and 2014 leavers Charlie Murgatron, Jack Schoefield, Zach Sosah and Hatam Al-Turaihi also turned out for the side - a great sign for the future of the club.
season: Sam Russell (National Doubles Plate), Theo Parker (National Doubles Plate and National Singles Plate, BUSF Singles Plate), Dan Tristao (National Doubles, Winchester Doubles, North of England Singles and Doubles, North West Singles and Doubles, West of England Doubles, Yorkshire Singles, London Doubles), Julian Aquilina (North of England singles plate), Ed Kay (North West Doubles, U25 Singles and Doubles), Matt Shaw (U25
Doubles, BUSF Doubles), Ben Beltrami (BUSF Doubles, West of England Singles Plate, London Singles Plate), Oliver Arnold (London Doubles Plate) and Tom Kiggell (National Veterans Doubles Plate). Thursday evening Vs continues and it’s possible to get on the email list for this by visiting the website or emailing Tom Dean (dean.tom@hotmail.co.uk). Dig out your gloves and come and have a hit about!
3rd XI After four consecutive seasons of promotion, including two back-to-back titles, this year was a mixed bag for the
OP RUGBY FIVES
New digital home The Old Pauline Rugby Fives Club have a new digital home. Any news on what’s happening plus ways to get back playing can be found at oprugbyfives.wordpress.com. The club’s annual doubles tournament, the President’s Cup, took place in March with four pairs contesting in a round robin format. With it came two new names to go on the trophy – Alexander Esin and Ben Beltrami eventually came through a tough field. Old Paulines are continuing to enter national and regional tournaments in high numbers with the following successes this
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Tom Dean (1998-2003)
www.opclub.stpaulsschool.org.uk 020 8746 5339 3rd XI. A record-breaking cup run to the semi-finals was the standout achievement, including an epic extra time quarter final victory at home to a ‘rugged’ Reigate side, before finally being halted by a side four leagues above us. In the league, the team are headed for a comfortable top four finish, including a magnificent 4-0 win away to league winning Witan. But it’s a season tinged with disappointment with too many drawn games to mount a consistent challenge and next year we need to be more ruthless and finish off opponents. Dan Khan (2002-07) has emerged as real team leader from centre back and will be at the vanguard of such an effort, and with a team of exciting attacking talents such as Richard J King (2002-2007), Kamran Adle (2002-2007) and Nick PV Feneck (2002-2007), the 3’s are confident of tasting glory once more. 4th XI The 4th XI headed into the new season with some new players, such as Ameer Al-Hasan (2006-11) and Sebastian Leung (2009-14). After a sluggish start the team went on a long unbeaten streak from early November to early February. The side was built around Hugh Cox (1990-95) and David Arrowsmith (199398) in defence and the 2003-08 batch of Alex Temple, Shaun Lynch, Constantine Samartzis and Sam Stanley along with several others who made up a talented group of players. The most notable result during this spell was a 3-1 victory against Old Suttonians, leaving us in second place going into the winter break. Missing a few regulars at the end of the season meant we dropped some points and narrowly missed out on promotion. But with the
OPCC CRICKET
2015 Cricket Season Preview The OPCC is looking forward to its 3rd season in the Surrey Championship. Last year the 1st XI was staring down the barrel of a return to the Fuller’s League in early August. However, a victory snatched from the jaws of defeat against Stoke d’Abernon gave us the momentum to stage a late rally and stay up. (It had the opposite effect on Stoke, who stuttered and just missed out on promotion.) In 2015 we will look to build a stronger platform in the early season. Key to that effort will be the availabilities of recent graduates, although the propensity for OPs to embark on postgraduate and professional qualifications is a perennial thorn in the side of the selection committee. There is a new crop of players coming through in Ollie Ratnatunga, Jamie Bomford, AJ Foster, Alex Mackinder, Yaseen Rana and others who all made successful debuts for the club over the last season or two. We have a decent blend of youth and experience, as evidenced by recent awards of club caps to David Methuen and Ben Parker. The cap is a great initiative from Chairman Tom Peters. Awarded to those who score 1500 runs or take 100 wickets in league fixtures for the OPCC, the ‘baggy blue’ is a recognition of and incentive to produce a consistently high level of performance. This year, club stalwarts including Tom Rigby, Tim Cato and Chris Berkett will have the opportunity to add their names to the list of capped players.
2nd XI skipper James Grant has made a winning start to his 12th year in charge. The 2nd XI beat Roehampton comprehensively on May 2nd and will aim to mount a promotion challenge. In 2014 the 2s finished 4th, a good result given that promotion undermined by some weak availabilities and consequently performances in May. Jamie Lyons continues to run a successful and fun Sunday XI for those looking for a gentle run out or a break from the cut and thrust of League cricket. Jamie’s team also contests the annual ‘Kempton Cup’, against local rivals Kempton CC, who are chaired by OP Ross Compton. This game is always fiercely contested, as the winners, (which was OPCC in 2014) claim the ‘Self-Pouring Teapot’ trophy. The teapot actually works best with Pimms. If you would like to get involved at any level, or if you are a budding umpire, please contact Alex Duncan: alex.duncan@ipreo.com. The facilities at Colet’s are superb, and the OP club continues to invest in both the buildings and the pitches. Support is always welcome at TD, and there can be few more pleasant spots to watch an afternoon’s cricket than the balcony outside the bar. If you arrive early enough you may be able to bag the John Farrell bar stool… If you would like to receive news and match reports by email, or the fixture card and newsletter by post, contact Alex on the address above.
New OP sports members are always welcome Cricket: contact opcc.org.uk Alex Duncan at Alex.Duncan@ipreo.com or Sam Hyman at sam@hymanestates.com Fives: contact Peter King at pjk@ stpaulsschool.org.uk Football: contact Matt Kiernan at Kiernan_matt@hotmail.com or Nick Troen at npt@stpaulsschool.co.uk Golf: contact Neil Fitch at n.fitch@ ntlworld.com or 02392 715232 Rugby: contact Buster Dover at chairman@opfc.org.uk Tennis: contact Mark Staniszewski at mark.stan@greenbutton.co.uk
OLD PAULINE NEWS SPRING 2015 31
Notices
www.opclub.stpaulsschool.org.uk 020 8746 5339
The Old Pauline Club Social Calendar 2015-2016 Further details will be publicised in the monthly eNews or mailed closer to the time of each event. 21 June 6.00pm
OP/Leavers’ Concert Wathen Hall, St Paul’s School
7 July
Annual Dinner at St Paul’s School The speaker will be Sir Mark Walport FRS, FRCP, FRCPath, FMedSci (1966-70) the Government Chief Scientific Adviser in the United Kingdom.
2 July
OP Club’s Annual General Meeting and Dinner
September Leavers’ Party (venue tbc). October
Crossword By Lorie Church (1992-97) Lorie studied Classics at Exeter, and then edited the Covent Garden magazine for seven years. He has had various articles and puzzles published in The Times and elsewhere. Contact: lorie@london.com 1
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Entrepreneurs’ Dinner
November University of Oxford Dinner
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November University of Cambridge Dinner November
Whitting Lecture at St Paul’s School
November
Legal Dinner, at St Paul’s School
December
Supper Evening at Colets, Thames Ditton
2016 1 February
Feast Service in St Paul’s Cathedral followed by dinner at Mercers’ Hall
For information on all OP Club events, please telephone 020 8746 5418, or email opcadmin@stpaulsschool.org.uk
Last word…. . .
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Clues Across 1. Mountebank makes duck cry (5) 4. It’s clear; South African province in grip of Tuberculosis must return (7) 8. A tip from this source is just the start of your problems (7) 9 Holy war Juliet started and I’d finished (5) 10. Thai neighbour has kip for cash (4) 11. Last character I’d scope out for formal address in USA (3-5) 13. Primarily slender, very elegant, and oddly lithe (6) 14. God save the Queen for this bracing air (6) 17. Unbecoming if journalist is excluded from coming-together (8) 19. Disaster leaving shoe on beach. Drat! (4) 22. One more person in the movie crowd (5) 23. Wurlitzer Jack uses United Kingdom English where he lives (7) 24 Something causing wear and tear; electronic mouse perhaps? 25 Name, rank and job description (5)
Down 1. Writer; one of many covering porcupines (5) 2. Beezer meows wretchedly in casualty room (7) 3. Loki eventually captures former soviet stronghold (4) 4. Cheese: Elton John puts it on his birthday suit (6) 5. Canada jet loses altitude and crashes alongside… (8) 6. Cheap hideout accommodating annoying flier (5) 7. Clean up and add to small fortune (4, 3) 12. Plead with Ms Blanchett not to go away and holiday at home (8) 13 Embrace press (7) 15. Henry and I, however, found something fishy (7) 16. Mistakenly inject 1000 instead of 100 with alternative to laser (6) 18. Approach found in quaint roads (5) 20. Cute fairy is even sphinx-like (5) 21. Short comedy routine of South Korea and Italy (4)
European 200 metre Champion Jodie Williams congratulates Charles Eugster (left) on his 200 metres record. Charles Eugster (1933-38), aged 95, has set a new world record time of 55.48 seconds for the 200 metres for his age group, beating the previous record by 2.4 seconds at the recent Indoor British Masters held at Lea Valley. Charles began to compete in track and field a decade ago after he found he was losing muscle and gaining weight. “We’re told that old age is a continuous state of decline, and that we should stop working, slow down and prepare to die. I disagree.”
32 OLD PAULINE NEWS SPRING 2015
Answers will be published in the August eNews bulletin.
Charles (right) prepares for his record attempt with BBC presenter Mike Bushell
The next edition of the Old Pauline News will be published in The Pauline which will be distributed in October. Your submissions and ideas are always very welcome, as is your criticism! Please contact the editor Simon Bishop at smnbishbish@aol.com by August 15th.
Welcome to the home of the Old Pauline Rugby, Football and Cricket Clubs...
...Probably the best Old Boys’ Club in London Old Paulines have a thriving rugby, cricket and football scene at Colets. Most weekends throughout the year will see a full programme of sport, which also makes for exciting viewing for spectators either from the warm comfort of the bar or on the fresh viewpoint of the outdoor balcony. With no joining fee and reduced membership fees for Old Paulines, whether it’s for sporting or social activities, we strongly recommend that you take advantage of these superb facilities. Set in 15 acres of beautifully kept Old Pauline grounds in the heart of Thames Ditton, Colets is a thriving health club that offers great facilities for all the family, including:
• Impressive gym with great views • 25-metre UV-filtered pool • Sauna, steam & spa • Over 70 studio classes each week • 6 squash courts
• Bright welcoming café & bar • Luxury treatment rooms • Packed junior programme • Kids’ parties & holiday camps • Creche and full day nursery
Call us now on 020 8398 7108 or come in and we will be delighted to show you around.
OP Cricket Club
OP Rugby Club
OP Football Club
OPCC
OPAFC
OPFC
The Cricket Club offers cricket for all levels of ability, running three League sides on Saturday and one friendly team on Sunday. New members are always welcome.
The Football Club runs four teams that have been enjoying considerable success over the last few seasons. New members are always welcome.
The Rugby Club runs an average of four teams per week to suit a mixture of abilities and ambitions. The social side is buoyant and we’re always looking for new members.
For more details, see our website: www.oldpaulinecc.co.uk or email Alex Duncan at: alex.duncan@ipreo.com
For more details, see our website: www.opafc.com or contact: Nick Troen: npt@stpaulsschool.co.uk Matt Kiernan: kiernan_matt@hotmail.com
St Nicholas Road • Thames Ditton • Surrey • KT7 0PW
020 8398 7108 • info@coletshealthclub.co.uk www.coletshealthclub.co.uk
For more details, see our website: www.opfc.org.uk or email Buster Dover at: chairman@opfc.org.uk
University Taster Days for Year 12/Lower Sixth students
University Taster Days are the very best way for students to experience what it will be like to study their chosen course at degree level. At an NCH Taster Day students can expect to enjoy challenging and engaging lectures and workshops with world-class academics, hand picked for their enthusiasm for teaching as well as expertise in their field. Students will also have the opportunity to meet and chat with current NCH students over lunch, which is provided by the College. Book your complementary place today at www.NCHum.org/taster
Where quick minds