The Cliftonian 2023

OC Edition 2023

The Cliftonian

The Pavilion on its 100th birthday

Together, we are Clifton

Forthcoming Events 2024 January __ tbc

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OC v 1st XI Hockey match, Ryan Bresnahan

Thursday 11th January Clifton Breakfast Club Thursday 8th February Clifton Breakfast Club Tuesday 5th March

Technology Career talk, London

Thursday 7th March

Clifton Breakfast Club

March – tbc

Hong Kong reception

April – tbc

Legal Career talk, London

Friday 17th May

1862 Lunch

Saturday May/June

Alumni Day

Saturday 25th May

Commemoration Day

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May tbc

New York dinner

Thursday 6th June

Summer Golf Day, B&C with dinner at Clifton College

Saturday 15th June

Reunion for those who left Clifton 1996-2004

8 –12th July

Cricket Week

Tuesday 3rd September Autumn Golf day, The Berkshire November – tbc

OC Society AGM

Contents Editorial

Reminiscences

OC Lodge

Page 1 .........................................

Page 29—35 .......................

Page 52 ..................................

Acting Secretary’s Letter

Death Notices and Obituaries

AGM

Page 2 .........................................

Page 36—45 .......................

Careers & Business

Development

Page 3—6 ..............................

Events Page 7—9 ..............................

Sport Page 10—17 ........................

Then and Now

Page 26—28 ........................

Accounts

.

Page 54—55........................

Page 46 ....................................

Equality Diversity Inclusion Belonging Page 47—48 .....................

Books & Other Items of Note Page 49 ....................................

Page 18—25 ........................

Anniversaries

Page 53 ..................................

Letters Page 50—51 .....................

Tiers of Donors Page 56 ...................................

OC Branches and Clubs Page 57 ...................................

Editorial severe. It’s a cliché to draw parallels between cross country running and ‘life’, or a career, but it’s inevitable when you’re almost sixty and retirement is in sight.

What’s more, the internet is awash with pithy phrases which seek to make the connection even stronger and more explicit.

In the 1990s, the Long Pen worked its way from Portbury to Failand and ultimately finished at Beggar’s Bush. Entering BB at the top of the hill, the last few hundred yards were gentle compared to some of the brutal conditions earlier in the course, especially if the winter weather had been

After almost 35 years toiling across the course, my Clifton race is almost run.

When this, my third and final outing as Editor is complete, I will only need to guide my four A Level sets through to the end of the academic year. The last few hundred yards should be gentle, but we’ll see!

I had hoped that this magazine would include a mixture of looking both forward and in the rear-view mirror, but there

seems to be much more of the latter.

Understandable, perhaps, as this melancholy Welshman prepares to shut down his interactive whiteboard!

On the other hand, one might regard this cross country metaphor as ridiculous.

Tomorrow, and indeed September 1st 2024, is just another day, to be embraced and lived to the full. Temperamentally, I think I’m more suited to this outlook, and I’ve never enjoyed running anyway!

My thanks to all the usual suspects for their help in producing the 2023 edition, and in particular John White, the designer for more years than he probably cares to remember. I really do hope you all enjoy it.

Jo Greenbury

It's all about Connectivity Stay in touch via these sites

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Acting Secretary’s Letter …and what a year it has been as one of the busiest ever for the OC office.

In the 2021 edition of this publication I bid my thanks, adieus and signed off by raising a glass to all the OCs and parents I had met over the last 9 years. Well, would you believe the glass is still raised.

It has been great fun and an honour to hold the position of 'Acting OC Secretary' for the last year, whilst the internal reorganisation of the society is completed and as I write, the job spec for a new Alumni Secretary will be ‘hitting the airwaves’….until then, you are “stuck” with me!

The disappointment of having to cancel the autumn Bristol dinner due to poor sign-ups, came as a bit of a shock to the office, having perhaps underestimated the economic gloom and post covid torpor. So, we withdrew, hit the ‘refresh’ button and devised a programme which we hoped would re-engage and get people away from ‘zooms and teams’ and back to meeting ‘face to face’ and enjoy just being in each others company again.

Well, we published our programme of events and trips, hit send and held our breath…

The response was overwhelming resulting in meeting over 1000 OCs ‘face to face’ both here and abroad, posting record attendances at events and revelling in the warmth shown to the College, which has rarely been stronger. The highlights are reported herein, but the generosity of the 1862 Club, the wonderful support the HM and I enjoyed during our lightning trip (one way to avoid jet lag) to Singapore

Reunion 2023

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and Hong Kong, our first Alumni Day and welcoming ‘Team Chellaram’ to the ground-breaking ceremony at BB, stand out together with the raucous and funfilled reunion.

As always, I am indebted to the indefatigable and wonderful Lucy Nash without whose efforts the OCS would just not work, ably assisted by Jo Sira and the support and advice of the OC Executive, particularly Kate Holland-Smith, Alex Turco and Jim Isaacs. Not forgetting the terrific support from the College’s caterers, porters and support teams.

After more comebacks than Frank Sinatra, I am loath to finally say “goodbye” as (with the College’s blessing) for now, I continue to hold the gavel from falling on my time at Clifton (excuse my auctioneer’s parlance) and I look forward to meeting many more of you as a new academic year beckons.

Jeremy Pickles Development Consultant and Acting OC Secretary

Careers & Business OC Entrepreneurship Chapter interview: Fergus Hall (WiH 1991)

about 18, so when the great financial crisis happened in 2008, it seemed like now or never. So, I left the private equity industry then to set up an independent dealership in old master paintings.

2. What was it like working in the finance industry, and what would you say to Clifton pupils who are thinking about that path?

The investment banking industry has a lot of high quality people in it and much of the work is interesting and stimulating. It has to be said, however, that it's not for the faint-hearted. The hours in corporate finance are horrendous, and it was regularly a battle to get enough sleep. But if you are really ambitious, willing to work hard, and truly interested in business and economics, then it is an excellent way to start your career.

In the spring of 2023, OC Executive Committee member Seb Hoyle sat down with Fergus Hall to discuss his varied and extremely successful career as a banker turned Old Masters art dealer.

Here, Fergus offers interesting insights into the concept of ‘asymmetric risk’, the pitfalls of ‘group think’ and how a truly independent viewpoint coupled with entrepreneurial flair can reap high rewards…

1. Fergus, thank you for allowing the OC Society to interview you. Perhaps we could start with a brief introduction about yourself and your career?

I was interested in Economics, Art and English literature at Clifton, and after I left, I studied English and History of Art at Edinburgh University. Despite that almost perfect training for unemployment, I fell into a job in investment banking via a summer placement at an oil consultancy owned by the bank. So, my message to the pupils would be, get interesting work placements any which way you can, and use your contacts – even offer to work for nothing if you have to.

I worked in the corporate finance department of a couple of the big investment banks for about eight years, doing mergers and acquisitions, and then moved into private equity investing. I did that for about five years, but I was always yearning to run my own business, and I had been buying art as a hobby since I was

Private equity is a much smaller industry than investment banking in terms of the number of roles available, and people usually get into the industry after a period in accountancy or investment banking. It’s a super interesting job – vicarious entrepreneurialism. You buy companies, join the board, and then try and grow them before selling them on for more (or less of course, if it goes badly). We bought out a couple of well known brands – Farrow & Ball Paints and Phase Eight (ladies fashion retailer) amongst them, which did really well, and it was extremely satisfying to be able to invest in companies you rated, and then to influence how they were run.

3. Is there anything specific or a particular moment that grabbed your interest in the art world at an early age?

My interest in art really stemmed from the wonderful Peter Clay, aka Doc Clay, who you will remember ran the art department in the prep school. He was such a lovely man, and entertained us all with his stories, some of which were inspired by his time in the Navy during the War. He encouraged me to apply for the art scholarship to the upper school, and although it was only a modest achievement being awarded the secondary scholarship (sans emoluments, to my mother’s chagrin), looking back it changed my life.

4. You studied English and History of Art at Edinburgh. Was this a conscious choice towards a career in Art or were you simply

following your passion?

I wish I could say it was part of a grand plan, but it was nothing more than following my primary interests, and if I had my time again I would do it differently now for sure. I had naively thought that I could follow my interest in business after my degree, but in truth, with the degree I had, the jobs in management consulting that I was interested in were simply not going to happen, and I was very lucky to have the break I did with a holiday placement at an oil consultancy which led to my career in investment banking. I would also say to the pupils, watch out for Scottish universities - the courses are nearly all four years, and four years felt way too long to me. It’s also pretty nippy, and Scottish nationalism took me by surprise!

5. Looking back now, did investment banking and private equity teach you some invaluable skills to help you run your own business?

Yes certainly. One of the important lessons was in the management of risk, which is crucial both in the private equity business, and also at the high end of the art trade.

The main lessons are to protect your downside in any risk situation, so that it won't be fatal or seriously damaging if it goes wrong, and to seek asymmetric risk opportunities - that is to say where the upside is far greater than the downside.

There were many other lessons too of course, one of which was the dangers of group think, which is a very powerful force in business, government, medicine – you name it. To be really successful in business, in my experience it has been important to make rigorous independent judgments, and not be swayed unduly by the opinions of others.

6. You had a comfortable career in finance…what led you to take the risk and start up on your own in a completely different field? Was it calculated in that you had identified a specific market opportunity or was it very much a gut feel?

Two things really. Around 3 years before I started as a dealer, one of the world’s leading dealers, who I’d got to know a little, asked if I wanted to join his business and take it over when he retired. Although I didn’t go for it (Private Equity was too much fun at that point), it gave me the

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confidence to start independently later, out of adversity. But I would say that is often the case – and if you look carefully, many ‘bad’ situations have the potential for good to come out of them.

7. How difficult was it to start the business from the ground up? Was it tricky at first to access capital as a new kid on the block?

Art dealing is very capital intensive, and I had some at the start, but not huge amounts. Once the business was up and running, and I had some successful sales under my belt, that enabled me to keep on buying, although it is very difficult to build capital at the beginning. As for entering a new industry, this was somewhat facilitated by the leading dealer who had earlier asked me to work for him – a very well liked and respected man. As ever, relationships matter a great deal.

8. You have uncovered and sold some major artworks. How does the process work?

Unrecognized old masters at auction are called ‘sleepers’ in the trade. The term sleeper comes from the world of espionage, where it describes an undercover operative who might infiltrate a country and lie low for many years before being activated into service. In the old master world, the sleeper is the painting by a great master that surfaces at auction, typically unseen for many decades, mis-catalogued and unloved. Generally, their quality is obscured by many decades or more of surface dirt, degraded varnish (which can become yellow and semi opaque) and clumsy restorations. All of this serves to obscure the quality of the object.

9. OK, tell me about some highlights…and perhaps also a lowlight!

One significant early success was buying a landscape by an important Dutch old master called Jan Both, which the auctioneer had catalogued as a copy after a painting in the Ashmolean Museum. My impression was that the one in the Ashmolean was less good, and following the cleaning of the painting I had bought, the Ashmolean Museum inspected the painting and acknowledged that theirs was a copy, and mine the original, which was very satisfying!

In terms of cock ups, over the years there have been a good few, but they very rarely cost me too much as I calibrate my bidding according to my confidence in the object.

When I make a mistake, I just take the loss, put it in an auction, and move on.

to take risk, and to do well, the risk should be calculated and asymmetric – i.e. much more upside than downside. Finally, I think you really need to be a bit of a workaholic, at least in the earlier stages (likely for several years at least). Most of the entrepreneurs I know have worked very hard for many years, and have invariably had to persevere in the face of inevitable setbacks too.

I would also add that TV programs like Dragon’s Den all too often have candidates who have an invention, but an invention is often not a business. And as for Alan Sugar’s ‘The Apprentice’, it is more of a guide to how not to behave in business than anything else!

12. What are the most boring and most exciting times for a private equity investor, and for an art dealer?

11. In your opinion, what are the top 3 traits required to become a successful entrepreneur?

In both jobs, you spend a lot of time on surveillance – i.e. looking at many, many opportunities which you must reject as not good enough. The ones you want to buy are far, far rarer than the ones you reject.

The most exciting time in both jobs is identifying a good one, zeroing in on it, and then (if all goes well) landing it. The selling part is not nearly so rewarding, funnily enough – at least for me. That part is more like relief, but the buying is the best bit, and having been a collector for nearly 30 years now, I have also endeavoured to keep the objects which are most meaningful to me, which is personally very rewarding.

First, you have to have a good business idea/concept, or to take an existing concept and execute it better than everyone else. You also have to be willing

13. Finally, what are the lasting memories of your time at Clifton College and do you feel it gave you an initial grounding to succeed?

10. What challenges do you think entrepreneurs are facing at the moment?

Quite a few, largely of the government’s making. Taxes are historically very high, and red tape is also out of control.

Monopolies have also become stronger in recent years, often to the detriment of smaller companies. It is a shame that so few ministers, and most senior civil servants, have so little experience of running a business.

I took a lot of it for granted at the time – don’t we all? But looking back I think we were tremendously lucky to go to Clifton.

You and I were doubly lucky Seb, as we benefited from being in boarding houses, but also had home very close by, so we had the best of both worlds. Clifton also helped foster independence, and by being nonselective, is a much more rounded experience than, for example, the London hot house schools, and I think that contributes to self confidence.

Most of all, my overriding memories of Clifton are ones of great, great friendships, the sport, and an immense amount of laughter. That and a bit of work on the side of course.

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OC Careers interview: Colin Burgess (OH 1986)

In August 2023, OC President James Isaacs spoke with BAFTA Director of Operations Colin Burgess [OH 1986] to discuss his successful career, lessons learned and how he got to where he is today.

Colin, thank you for allowing the OC Society to interview you. Perhaps we could start with a brief introduction of yourself and your role at BAFTA? My job is to make the organization be the best it can be, everything from strategy, commercial model, organizational design, building a functional culture, better ways of working, recruitment, training, facilities, legal, performance and impact delivery.

Pretty much everything really.

What were you doing after you left Clifton and how did this ultimately lead you to what you do today?

After Clifton, I joined the Army, aged 17. I had my 18th birthday at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. I graduated as an officer and served for 9 years, mostly as a reconnaissance helicopter pilot in several countries. Being in the Army, you have to be disciplined, focused and prepared to be in challenging situations. As a pilot, you need to take responsibility for your aircraft and understand a range of technical variables that impact the success of your mission. You learn a lot about teamwork and also self-reliance. In 1996 I left the Army and had dreams of making TV programmes (mostly because I liked watching documentaries). I didn’t have any contacts or knowledge of the TV industry but thought there are people making TV programmes; if they can do it, I can too. I

did a resettlement course paid for by the Army, training to do TV presenting (BBC Elstree). I did some short-term low-level jobs in corporate film production. I got a lucky break with a chance meeting with the head of operations for ITV Bristol while I was doing some work with a freelance editor there; the owner of Wingspan Air & Space Channel was looking for someone ‘in TV but who had aviation experience’ to run the channel in the UK. The head of ITV operations was helping find someone.

Well, I knew a lot about flying but very little about TV, but they took a chance. The ITV operations manager agreed to mentor me and within 2 months I was making phone calls negotiating satellite uplink space and arranging having a studio built and hiring a production team. That was 1997 and the start of my proper TV career. Since then, I have worked on shows for most of the main broadcasters, built digital services for central Government and brands like adidas & Nike and run production companies. I set up Sky Studios in 2019.

If you were to do anything differently in pursuit of your career ambition, what would it be?

Learn a technical skill early on. It’s easier to go from a technical role to a management role, the other way around is usually a bit tricky. Also read more. I was late into enjoying reading and the benefits are huge. Historical, social, scientific context help to validate presentations and make products more relevant.

What challenges do you face in attracting and retaining talent in the Film, Games and TV industries?

Longevity and leadership. Most people want to get into the screen industries to do something creative and the majority of these roles are freelance. So, if you are trying to build a team that will be together for a while it is difficult because people stay for a single production and move on to their next gig. Leadership is a challenge in the screen industries for the same reason.

Not many people leave university wanting to be a manager or MD of a TV company as it requires specific editorial skills and generally doesn’t pay as well as some other sectors like banking, at least initially.

Managers in TV companies are often creatives who happen to be OK at organizing budgets and staff, but rarely are people who have gone through any formal

leadership training. So, the quality of leadership in media is inconsistent.

What does your future hold and what is your ambition?

I want to finish the job of rebuilding BAFTA to be the best it can be. There’s only one possible job I could get after that which is Chief Operating Officer. If that happens, I’ll probably be there a while longer. After that I probably want to do more lectures and workshops in businesses and schools. I really enjoy sharing knowledge and helping to get new talent into the screen industries.

In your opinion, what are the top 3 traits required to become successful in media?

Reliability. Be the person known for getting stuff done. Communication. Let everyone know what is expected of them and give them feedback afterwards. Rally the team.

Share the vision. Empathy. Knowing how to get the best out of people is essential, so being kind, good at listening and understanding your team will work out well for you too.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Up at 6.30am. Morning routine including exercise (essential as you get older), getting the kids ready for school and checking news and emails. Tube to work, read some of a book on the way (alternate between technical books and novels. My book right now is Dawn of the New Everything by Jaron Lanier, the founder of VR). Arrive around 9.30am. Coffee at Piccadilly Circus. Meetings. Lots of meetings. Generally instigated by other people who have invited me along to see what they are doing and make a decision or sign off on projects. I try to do as many as I can face-to-face. I try to ringfence time for lunch but don’t always succeed. If possible, I try to meet with people to eat and chat. Write some documents; I enjoy mapping out business processes. I also need to present ideas and updates to the team and the Board a lot. I try to use storytelling to get messages across. Head home between 5 and 6 unless I am entertaining in the BAFTA Members club, in which case it will be late. Book again on the tube. Home usually around 6.30pm. Eat with the family, chat about their days. Bed by 9pm. Check social media, BBC news then watch a video (usually science fiction) until I fall asleep around 11pm.

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Working in a global firm, with a hectic internal and external customer base, what do you like to do to relax away from the office?

Having kids, there’s not a lot of downtime!

But when I can, I draw & paint, build radiocontrolled cars, grow stuff at my allotment.

Finally, what are the lasting memories of

your time at Clifton College and do you feel it gave you an initial grounding to succeed?

Friendships and team sports feature highly in my memories. And being part of something with a special history. This shared heritage is important, and you somehow feel it’s part of your own DNA. When you bump into Cliftonians in business, you have an immediate bond

Clifton Breakfast Club

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and that opens doors. I also feel that Clifton instils a pioneering spirit that makes people more resilient and they go out and give things a try. I dare anyone who attended Clifton, and has read Vitai Lampada by Henry Newbolt, to not believe in fairness, courage and duty, and you can see this in the many interesting careers that Clifton has launched.

Events 2022—2023

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Bigside Reunion 1986

Breakfast Clubs

Our 1986 Rugby Squad returned to Clifton in September 2022 to watch the current 1st XV play against Warwick School. Their former coach, Kevin Bowring joined them for the day and the group ended with a very enjoyable dinner.

Now a fixture in the calendar. Topics this term have included Positive sleep, the Tree invented the Carpenter, AI 'friend or foe and ethics in medicine. These are open to local OCs and a great opportunity for parents to meet former pupils.

1862 Club lunch 32 members accepted an invitation from the Head Master to the legacy club annual lunch in the cricket pavilion. Always an enjoyable gathering with wonderful entertainment provided by the Music school. The Club has been so generous to the school with bequests over the last 18 months exceeding £1.2m. A benefactors board has now been placed at the foot of the Wilson Tower thanking past members and their families.

Berkshire Golf Day We were blessed with a perfect autumn day and the course was in equally good condition. We had a good mixture of old hands and first timers and as a result I think some old friendships were rekindled.

Reunion for leavers (1986—96) The biggest ever response selling out in 3 days. This year group of course included the first girls to attend Clifton, resulting in the largest attendance (c185) to a reunion yet. Overwhelming demand proved a logistical challenge to manage the waiting list and eventually accommodate everyone to a fun filled day; ending in a raucous dinner and probably the worst rendition of the school song we have ever heard in BSK, but when you are having so much fun, musicality does not really matter !

Cardiff Dinner

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Ground breaking ceremony for the new Chellaram Sports Centre On Saturday 1st July, the College and the Chellaram Foundation held an official Ground Breaking Ceremony on the site of the new Chellaram Sports Complex at Beggars’ Bush.

The new indoor sports complex will include enhanced sports and changing facilities and will be available for use by both the College and local community groups from September 2024. We are hugely grateful to the Chellaram Foundation for joining us for this ceremony and making such a generous donation to build our new Sports Centre.

This is a transformational development of high quality which will benefit not only our pupils, but will welcome groups and schools with a wide variety of backgrounds from across the City.

Alumni Day A new idea aimed at OC families, grandparents and friends and coinciding with the centenary of the Pavilion. In glorious weather about 175 people gathered to enjoy picnics and a leisurely day watching the Clifton Girls XI take on a Gloucs CCC exhibition Girls

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XI. The soul band performed a musical backdrop, face painting for children, football, cricket nets, bbq and bar, suggesting that this style of event may be repeated on an annual basis.

Singapore and Hong Kong trip The Head Master and Jeremy Pickles, Acting OC Secretary, undertook a 'whistle stop' tour of the region in June. They had last visited in 2018 (before Covid) and the HM was anxious to re engage with the many OCs and parents out there, to thank them for their continued support of the school.

The warmth towards Clifton was underlined by the wonderful response to the invitations.

Starting in Singapore, they hosted a drinks reception on the rooftop Lantern Bar of the Fullerton Hotel overlooking the bay.

Despite BA misplacing their luggage, they arrived at the venue

with minutes to spare before our guests arrived. 26 OCs and parents attended the event The next day they flew to Hong Kong and hosted a reception in the British Consulate building in Admiralty. 78 OCs and parents attended.

Record numbers for both events. They were able to rekindle old friendships and meet many new faces. Outside of the events they met prospective parents and a former parent who flew over from Shanghai just to say thank you.

Summer Golf Day

Commemoration Day

A full quota of OC golfers competed in the Annual Golf day at B & C GC, followed by dinner in the Pavilion with raffle and auction to bolster much needed funds in the OCGS coffers.

We were delighted to welcome back to the College over 30 former members of staff to a lunch in the SCR. It was a lovely opportunity for people to catch up and reminisce about days gone by.

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Sport

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OC RUGBY 7s As keen OC sportsmen, Ollie Bowden and I founded OC7s in June 2019. We secured sponsorship which allowed us to compete in a fetching set of playing kit, representing the OC Society nicely. Since then, we have worked hard over the last 4 years to co-ordinate entry fees, availability and tournament dates in order to successfully run the club.

We appreciate rugby 7s is a physically demanding sport, which can result in

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injury. During our successful run we have picked up a few knocks, and various life commitments have reduced the selection pool. We are passionate about keeping the OC7s team running, but we really are going to need some more support from the more recent leavers.

The foundations of the club are set up, we just need to increase the volume of OC boys willing to represent our team across the London 7s circuit.

Unfortunately, this year, with life commitments increasing and the pool of players decreasing, we have not been able to field a side.

We welcome any OC rugby players to reach out to me or Ollie to support us in maintaining the club’s aspirations.

Will Watson

OC FOOTBALL Season 22/23 for Old Cliftonians FC was a rollercoaster ride of emotion! We started by losing last season’s Player of the Year and Top Scorer, Louie Shaw, to his cricketing sojourn in Australia. Despite this we began scoring an average of three goals a game – sadly we were also conceding about four, so no wins in the first few games. Our first point came against eventual runners up Sporting Turin, in a 1–1 draw, despite the sending off of OC veteran Guy Hollis at half time!

In October, we entered the Gloucestershire FA cup and drew a higher ranked team from a different division, alas despite being 4–1 up, we drew 4–4 and exited 4–5 on penalties. As the season wore on, we started to gain points, including our result of the season, a 10–2 victory against DDAS (a hat-trick for Isaac Greenbury). Sadly, Guy Hollis was in the news again in this game, as he suffered a rather brutal dislocated knee (tearing his ACL, PCL and MCL!). Guy does still hold the record for most ‘caps’ for OCFC, standing at an immense 196 appearances.

The rest of the season was a series of wins or losses (no draws), leaving us needing one point from our final game of the

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season to guarantee we stayed in Division 2. After a rather spikey game versus Torpedo Reserves (who had nothing to play for), we scrapped our hearts out for a 1–0 win to stay up, with Louie making a return! In a low scoring season, Isaac Greenbury finished with ‘Most Assists’ and runner-up as ‘Top Scorer’. During the season, we welcomed several OC debutants in Jack Powell, Jack Jacobs, Aidan & Declan McGee, Felix Moores and

Jack O’Sullivan. We also said farewell but not goodbye to Josh Greenbury, Oli Nicholas and Tom Paine who left for sunnier climes (and Nailsea). If you are an Old Cliftonian still in Bristol and interested in playing football, please contact Rob Fairbrother or Jonathan Temperley at oldcliftoniansfc@gmail.com for the coming 23/24 season.

Jonathan Temperley

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CRICKET

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The Old Clfitonians 2023 Cricketer Cup campaign had an added sense of anticipation and optimism this year with lots of great talent leaving the College in 2022 and adding to the pool of Old Cliftonians playing a high standard of cricket in the Bristol area.

The draw was announced on 23rd November and we were incredibly thankful to have drawn a home fixture vs the Old Amplefordians, where the primary objective is always to ensure the game goes ahead and an away fixture is avoided at all costs.

Fast forward to 1st June and we were gracing the turf at BS8. New year, new kit and most importantly lots of new faces.

The OCs won the toss and elected to bat first.

Despite the weather's best efforts, the Old Cliftonians accumulated 247 from the adjusted 35 overs. Notable mentions for Ollie Meadows [ET 2021] who raced to 87 (67) and Louie Shaw [NT 2017] 52 (42). In reply, Old Amplefordians were bowled out for 91 thanks to an inspired performance from Charlie Spink [NT 2016] who finished

with figures of 5/34 from his 7 overs which was the stand out man of the match performance.

Onto round 2, which took the Old Cliftonians on the road to Uppingham on 25th June for what was the OCs 100th fixture in this historic event. As is always the case with away fixtures in the Cricketer Cup, half the battle is simply getting 11 bodies on the field. The OCs won the toss and batted first on what looked like a belter.

Ollie Meadows again made the significant contribution of 76 (67) and he was supported by Ben Figueiredo [ST 2010] who fell for 51 (87). Despite a flurry of late wickets, the OCs were all out for 242 from 47 overs, thanks to some invaluable late runs from Joel Barber [MH 2015] and Babs Oduwole [BH 1994].

Uppingham Rovers made a strong and steady start in reply but after some breakthroughs from Rupert Swetman [WiH 1995] and an excellent spell from Joe Millard [NT 2020], who had one eye on his evening flight to Ibiza, the match was evenly poised. It was at this point

that Marc Davies [NT 1999] burgled the essential wicket that reignited the OCs chances of victory, which was followed by an inspired second spell from Joel Barber with the ball, bowling uphill into gale force winds. The final nail in the coffin was some brilliant boundary work from Rupert Swetman and Uppingham Rovers were all out for 232, Joel Barber finishing with man of the match figures of 3/30 to go alongside his 32 runs in the first innings!

This set the OCs up for a box office Quarter Final clash at home vs the Old Malvernians with the OCs deemed the 'surprise package' this late in the competition by the Cricketer Cup journalists.

The Old Malvernians won the toss and elected to bat first on the Close. They went hard from the get go but thanks to tight spells and regular enough wickets from Will Naish [SH 2021] and Joe Millard the OCs were able to contain the run rate.

A crucial middle order stand from their 5th wicket partnership got them to 227 all out from 48.3 overs.

The Old Cliftonians started well but unfortunately no one was able to make their start count, which led to the OCs slipping behind the desired run rate.

When the rain came the OCs were left 166/8, which was painfully 38 runs behind the necessary revised DLS target.

Overall, a thrilling Cricketer Cup campaign and hopefully the start of regular runs in this competition with lots of young blood coming through the ranks.

As always, a huge thank you to all the players and people involved in ensuring the Old Cliftonians Cricket Club is able to thrive in this competition. Special shout out to Alex Turco who scored his 25th Cricket Cup fixture in 2023 – here's to the next 25 that hopefully come a lot quicker!

And to Rupert Swetman, who handed over the reins of captaincy to Ben Figueredo in 2023, having led the OCs supremely well for 15+ years!

12 OC Magazine 2023

RACKETS It has been our most bustling season to date for OC Rackets, with our numbers steadily increasing year on year. We extend thanks to Reggie Williams, who has been instrumental in nurturing talented players eager to continue participating in this remarkable yet niche sport.

The season commenced with the highly anticipated Noel Bruce tournament, an annual event exclusively open to players from the same school. This year, we entered three pairs. Due to the overwhelming interest, pairs had to go through a round robin qualification process before reaching the main draw.

Many congratulations to Ben McGeoch (ET 2013) and Adam Kula (NT 2011) for their valiant efforts in the qualification round and for making the main draw, eventually succumbing to the formidable Malvern pair, seeded 4th in the quarter finals.

Earlier in the year, we faced the Old Haileyburians in a thrilling match at Queens Club. Representing our team were James Telling (ET 2007), David Mayes [SH 1981], Nick Esses [PH 1979], Ben McGeoch, Freddie Kalfayan [ET 2012] and Luke Sutor [SH 2022]. All players were on fine form resulting in a resounding 2–1 victory. We would like to extend our special appreciation to Luke Sutor who has been serving as an assistant professional at Queens Club for the past several months.

Wrapping up the season was the prestigious British Open Doubles tournament. Adam Kula was partnered with the head professional of Queens.

Seeded 7th, they demonstrated remarkable prowess as they advanced to the quarterfinals, where they encountered the top-seeded pair, one of whom was Jamie Stout, a multiple singles and doubles world champion. Despite a challenging start, they fought hard and secured a well-deserved game before ultimately succumbing to a 3–1 defeat.

James Telling, playing alongside a close friend, showcased great resilience and determination in a gruelling two-hour

battle, managing to eliminate the 8th seeds. However, their journey concluded when they were convincingly defeated by the formidable 2nd seeds.

In the Ladies, Lea Van Der Zwalmen [WT 2015], the current singles Ladies champion, showed how strong she is by also managing to become Ladies Doubles World Champion with her partner Cesca Sweet. Lea currently resides in France and is Chairwoman of the Bordeaux Real Tennis Club. An absolutely fantastic effort from Lea, who continues to dominate the Ladies game.

Any OCs wishing to dust off their racket, please do get in touch!

James Telling

Fellowship reports In September, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to head to the Montreal Rackets Club for a rackets fellowship. I began playing rackets in year eight and was mesmerised by the game as soon as I picked up a racket. The club in Montreal is always busy which meant that I was never short of things to do. My everyday life consisted of coaching and playing rackets, stringing rackets, taping balls and calling games. On top of the busy daily life, the club also hosted an array of social events which enabled me to get to know the great people of the Montreal Rackets Club even better. These events varied greatly from rackets tournaments to fancy dress Halloween parties and Game Dinners, where I got the chance to sample the most authentic Canadian cuisine. Whilst in Canada, I also got the opportunity to travel to New York to compete in the Silver Racket competition and watch some of the best rackets in the world. Had I not played rackets I would not have been able to participate in such amazing experiences. I must say a massive thank you to Reg for pushing me to play rackets throughout my time at Clifton and encouraging me to participate in the fellowship programme.

Joss Plummeridge [ET 2022]

I was at Clifton College from 2016 to 2022.

Through my time at Clifton, I tried to make the most of my time there. I played a lot of sports which included 1st XV rugby and 1st XI hockey. But the sport that I enjoyed the most and was the most important part of my life at Clifton was rackets. When coming to the end of my time at Clifton, I didn't really know what to do until I spoke to Reg Williams, and he told me that I could do a rackets fellowship in either North America or at The Queens Club. I applied to go out to some of the clubs in the States, but I didn’t get a place out there so I then applied for Queens and managed to get a job there.

The fellowship scheme is normally for students who have just left school. This is to try and entice them to stay involved with the sport and possibly to also work in it. I was lucky enough to work at Queens from January-May 2023. The fellowship scheme was an amazing experience for me, as it was a great opportunity to understand what it is like to work in a job straight out of school.

The working environment at Queens was brilliant, mainly down to the fact that the other six pros in the office were very accommodating. A very big perk with doing a fellowship at Queens is that you get a very rare opportunity to play with so many high quality players. This helped me improve my rackets and real tennis game from when I left school. Also, the large social events helped me establish links in London and I met a lot of new people.

The four and a half month job was hard but fun work. The day to day jobs included giving lessons, re-taping rackets balls, repairing and stringing rackets and real tennis rackets, answering emails and phone calls from members to book court times and playing with members. I was also lucky enough to watch the singles and doubles British Open Rackets tournaments and the Real Tennis British Amateur Open. One of the highlights was the Ladies World Doubles Championship and the Men's World Singles Championship.

OC Magazine 2023 13

I would strongly recommend anyone who is interested in the sport to take it up as it is a very social sport and is a great game to play after school. It also aids other sports that require good reflexes and reactions, like hockey and cricket.

The main reason I would recommend rackets is that it has opened up so many doors for me after school, for example the

fellowship program which is truly helpful for the maturity of a student who has just turned 18. A huge advance in the game at the moment is Ladies rackets, as the quality has gone up and the gap between the players is much smaller now, which is leading to very enjoyable and high quality rackets games. It is also great for Clifton as Lea Van der Zwalmen, an Old Cliftonian, won the Ladies World Doubles

Championship, which was a great game to watch. So, if you know of anyone at Clifton, or any other school that offers rackets, I would recommend that you suggest they explore what the fellowship programme has to offer. It could be life changing!

Luke Sutor [SH 2022]

REAL TENNIS President of the Bordeaux Jeu de Paume club. She becomes the youngest person and the only woman to have held this position at a French Club. Lea looks forward to welcoming OCs to this newly rebuilt court and we wish her well in this new venture.

OCs vs. Bristol

This has been another busy year for OCs playing Real Tennis across a broad spectrum of tennis competitions stretching from the Ladies World Championship, the US Open Ladies Real Tennis Competition, the Van Alen and George Limb cups, the schools’ alumni Cattermull and Henry Leaf competitions through to OC matches against Clubs, a national Parent and Child competition and the inaugural Celtic Cup match between Scotland and Wales.

In the Ladies World Championships played at the Oratory in April 2023, Lea Van Der Zwalmen (WT 2015) fought her way through to the Finals where she lost 1/6, 1/6 to the defending World Champion, Claire Fahey. At first glance, this looks like a severe loss for Lea but as Chris Ronaldson said, this was a match between two supreme athletes which was always going to be a major test for Lea playing on Claire’s home court. The match

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commentary from the T&RA said that Lea Van Der Zwalmen played her part in the final, playing wonderful tennis. Lea, with her partner Saskia Bollerman, ran Claire Fahey and Tara Lumley close in the doubles final, narrowly losing the second set 5/6. In late May, Lea met Claire in the final of the US Open, played on the new Washington court at Westwood Country Club, and whilst beaten by the formidable Claire, the score line for Lea improved to 3/6, 3/6. In the US doubles final, Lea and Saskia took on Claire and Penny Lumley, the mother of Tara and a former world champion. The result was very similar to the World Championships final with Claire and Penny winning the match 6/3, 6/5.

There was some consolation for Lea, who with her partner Cesca Sweet from Wellington, defeated Claire Fahey and Tara Lumley in the final of the Rackets World Cup at Queens.

Congratulations to Lea on being elected

Henry Mullan (ET 2015) represented the UK in the 2023 Van Alen Cup against the USA and in the George Limb Cup against Australia held in July at the new Washington DC court. The USA won the Van Alen Cup 7/2 with Henry winning one of his two doubles matches and losing his singles match. Against Australia, the UK ran out winners 8/1 with Henry playing his part in winning both his singles and doubles matches convincingly.

OCs have been active in the UK schools’ alumni competitions. Jonny Whitaker (ET 2012) and Henry Mullan so nearly brought back the Henry Leaf Cup but lost to a strong Old Etonian Pair in the final set.

Thanks to Nick Esses (PH 1979) and Harry Swindon (SH 2014), we were the Cattermull Cup holders from 2022. This year, at the Middlesex, Nick was partnered

by Henry Lidington (ST 2015). They did well to win two out of their 3 pool matches (against Wimbledon 6/5 and Shrewsbury 6/1) but were not able to win these matches by a sufficient margin to make it through to the knock out stages.

Wimbledon went through - the handicap differential with Henry and Nick playing off a combined handicap of 31 was just too great in their final pool match against Highgate. Hopefully in 2024, Clifton will be able to field two pairs to challenge Winchester, whose first and second pairs reached the final.

LVDZ in Bordeaux

OCs vs. Hatfield

On the Club front, OCs played matches against Leamington (lost 2/3), Hatfield (lost 3/4) and Bristol (lost 2/6). Those who appeared for the OCs included the following: Ben Andrews (WaH 2000), Peter Ashmead (ET 1964), Jason Briggs (WiH 1989), Miles Buckinghamshire (OH 1963), Henry Lidington, Simon Richards (OH 1982), Ed Smith (NT 2006), Nick Esses, Brian Muir (ET 1978), Dan Brown (WiH 1992), Phil Clear (current staff), John Grice (Hon OC) and David Mander (WiH 1961). John Pittalis (WaH 1978) also turned out for Hatfield!

Congratulations to Jonny Whitaker and his father, Dave, who won the Parent and Child competition played at Leamington in January 2023. Miles Buckinghamshire, playing for Scotland, and Jeff Avery (ET 1964), playing for Wales, competed in the inaugural Celtic Cup between the two nations. Scotland won the match 6/2 but Wales triumphed in the choral

Henry Leaf finalists

competition with their superb rendition of their National Anthem.

Congratulations to the Bristol Club which celebrated its 25th anniversary with a weekend of real tennis and a Gala Dinner attended by many OCs and friends of the Club, which raised over £9000 for the Club’s Youth Development Program being run by Dan Brown. The existence of BRTC at Beggars Bush is largely due to the efforts of the late John Bretten (ET 1964) and three friends (all now sadly deceased). The connection with the Bretten family continues with Cherry Bretten being an Honorary Member and George Bretten (WiH 1992) and Charlotte Wilsher (nee Bretten ) on the Committee, accompanied currently by other OCs Bruce Newman (WaH 1992), Dan Brown and James Johnson (NT 2011).

main point of contact will be Jonny Whitaker, supported by me in the Midlands, Brian Muir in North London and Dan Brown in Bristol, with Nick Esses looking after the Cattermull Cup. Matches against Clubs for 2024 have been booked versus Bristol (26 May), Leamington (10 March) and Middlesex (12 May).

Finally, my thanks for the support of Lucy Nash in the OC Office and the Club professionals at the various courts without their help, our matches would be impossible to organise.

Miles Buckinghamshire

Ladies World Doubles finalists

My thanks to all OCs who supported Real Tennis in 2022/2023. Going forward, the

The Celtic Challenge

Victorious Whitakers

OC Magazine 2023 15

GOLF

(Click heading to find out more)

Report for OC Society Our aim is to grow the opportunity for Old Cliftonians to play golf. We have circa 100 members and another 300+ names of expupils who were interested in golf when they left. Everyone is welcome to join and until you start playing in any of our events there is no cost.

We have a plan. Firstly, we are looking to organise a day at Royal St George’s in Jan or Feb next year, under the auspices of a Halford Hewitt trial. It will be open to all, and we hope that we will be able to subsidise anyone under 30 who wants to play. If I can secure a date the cost will be £90 per head (for the over 30s).

We are also exploring the opportunity for a golf day at a course near London on a weekend, at a price that is affordable.

This may be hard to achieve in the current climate!

We want to create an OCGS golf directory that has a record of where Society members’ play etc which will allow members of the Society to find a game at one of the courses we are members of.

We used to have our AGM after the golf at the Berkshire – just when we all wanted to get home. No more of that. Instead, we

16 OC Magazine 2023

intend to have a virtual AGM, which should be fine as most of us are all too familiar with Zoom, Teams etc.

Last and somewhat least, the golf so far this year has not been as successful as other years, even though we have enjoyed the events held to date. In both Hewitt

and Grafton Morrish, we fell at the first hurdle; let’s hope that the Alba, the three Bernard Darwin teams, the Wimbledon Putting and the Edward Harris Cup go better.

David Rowe President OCGS

INTÉGRALE DE ROGNEUX On Saturday 27 February 2023 in Switzerland not far from the resort of Verbier, close to the French and Italian borders, the Integrale de Rogneux took place - a ski mountaineering race.

Competitors have to complete a challenging course over a horizontal distance of 20km by starting in the village of Lourtier and ascending to the peak of Mont Rogneux at an altitude of 3,084m.

The race is held every two years and celebrates the arrival once again of the Sun after its disappearance behind Mont Rogneux during the depths of the winter.

Charles Bromley [WiH 1976] has lived in Verbier for many years. Accompanied by a friend, Richard Waddington, who was at Sedbergh and also now resides in Verbier, they competed and finished the race.

Both had on previous occasions also participated in the gruelling Patrouillé de Glacier, a ski mountaineering race organised by the Swiss Armed Forces.

On cresting the summit they could see Mont Blanc in France as well as Gran Paradiso in Italy, and the Matterhorn of Switzerland in the distance.

They completed the course in a gentlemanly 5 hours and were greeted by friends and family on arrival at the finish.

Charles encouraged Richard by reciting the Clifton school song, whilst Richard replied with the Sedbergh song which goes:

“Ohhh, Eton hath her river And Clifton hath her down And Winchester her cloister And immemorial town But ours the mountain vastness The deep romantic ghylls Where Clough and Dee and Rawthey Come singing from the hills.”

Should any OCs take a holiday in Verbier, Charles would be delighted to meet up for a gentle ski to lunch!

OC Magazine 2023 17

THEN &NOW CHEMISTRY AT CLIFTON: the 1970s–2000s Throughout the period from the early 1970s and into the 2000s, the Clifton College Chemistry Department (CCCD) boasted a very strong team of teachers ably supported by very knowledgeable and hardworking technicians. The various labs were modernised at different times during this period with the old lecture theatres, rooms M and J, converted into multi purpose laboratories and the huge labs L and K had their acoustics vastly improved and new fume cupboards fitted.

During much of that time, the department was led by Peter Rendle, a legend amongst his peers at the Rugby Group schools. This was partly because of his contribution to one of the great Chemistry text books of all time, ‘Experimental Chemistry’ which he co-wrote with Peter Davis and Michael Vokins. This book remains the classic text for practical experiments at A level and is used worldwide. Peter remained keen that Clifton should be at the forefront of curricular developments in Chemistry so had opted to take on the new Nuffield A level course with its unusual methods of assessments, and a wide selection of what were called ‘Special Studies’ – including Food Science (which involved activities such as studying apple browning and boiling dumplings!).

Dr Roger Barnes arrived at Clifton in the

6th Form Chemistry Group 2001

18 OC Magazine 2023

early 1970s and quickly proved himself to be an outstanding Chemistry teacher. He proposed to the appropriate exam board that a new Special Study – on Biochemistry – should be introduced. He was commissioned to write it, it was accepted and proved very successful!

Both he and another outstanding Chemist at that time, Bob Langton, went on to higher things elsewhere as did excellent teachers Tim Meunier and Chris Dowling, both of whom we were very sorry to lose – though Tim did come back to us later! In fact, Tim did two stints teaching Chemistry at Clifton and when he arrived back in 1998, he brought with him his experience as an A level Principal examiner and as board member of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

the opportunity of showing off our pet “demos” such as burning sodium in a gas jar of chlorine and offering the resulting salt (Sodium Chloride) to be tasted! Peter Rendle once got one of his classes to stand on the steps at the side of the Tribe building to watch him throw a large piece of the highly reactive metal potassium into the swimming pool which, in those days, was an outdoor one. The bang which resulted would have woken up a few classes going on in the Tribe at the time! Actually, at that time the restrictions of H&S did not really reduce our activities very much and always at the centre of our teaching were the class practicals - all ‘risk assessed’ (as we would say today) and invariably enjoyed by the pupils.

Another outstanding teacher, Anthony Newman, joined Peter Rendle and myself in forming a team representing the CCCD to compete in the Radio Bristol Music Quiz where we were narrowly beaten by the previous year’s winners! Anthony made a speciality of putting on lectures about fireworks which were extremely popular with pupils – they took place indoors but I suspect that they would now be breaking Health and Safety regulations.

About half way through this period, Clifton College went mixed and we were pleased to welcome some really gifted female teachers. Alex Hutchinson’s father had actually been a boy in Oakeley’s House. She fitted in extremely well and taught extremely well also! She was just too good to stay as a rank and file teacher and went on to be a Head of Department and, later, Headmistress of two of the largest girls schools in London. Justine Spencer came to us from Australia – Hugh Monro and I could only interview her by

At our regular symposia (glorified departmental meetings really), we all had

Chemistry Dept 2000 Tim Meunier, Justine Spencer, Rachel Crosby, Gillian Donald, Charles Kinsey

Chemistry Dept 1978 Peter Rendle, Crawford Matthews, Charles Kinsey, Bob Langton, Roger Barnes

THEN &NOW phone in those days but we took the risk (she was much better qualified than any other applicant) and it paid off: Justine was just a brilliant teacher of Chemistry and an ‘all rounder’, helping with games and living in Wiseman’s as an assistant to the Housemaster.

Also, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Rachel Crosby and Ruth Williams joined the department. Rachel was very popular with her sets (for all the right reasons) and Ruth started an extracurricular ‘Chemistry Club’ with (particularly younger) pupils carrying out their own experimental research. John Owen was a great allrounder as well and much respected by his pupils – he brought a healthy downto-earth approach to his teaching and was responsible for starting Clifton’s participation in the TEN TORS competition for school children which takes place annually on Dartmoor – it was not long before Clifton teams started to excel in this competition. Dr Eric Albone, with his background in University science, was an unusual member of the department but his establishment and development of the ‘Clifton Scientific Trust’ – organising joint UK-Japan young scientist workshops in Cambridge and Kyoto Universities - was groundbreaking.

He is still active today with encouraging young people to study science and involved in a scheme in which Bristol University medical students visit local primary schools.

When the new Salters A level Chemistry course was published, Clifton was keen to be a pioneer school for the course. It is based on the uses of Chemistry (‘Chemical Storylines’) but all the important theoretical ideas are still there.

I, for one, enjoyed teaching about fuels, medicines, soils, proteins and DNA etc.

One of the topics is called “Visiting the Chemical Industry” – so we did! There was also the unusual assessment of practical work through each pupil doing

Chemistry Dept 1982. Peter Rendle, Anthony Newman, Chris Dowling, Tim Meunier, Eric Albone, Charles Kinsey

their own project – a headache for the lab technicians but generally enjoyed by the pupils.

I must not forget to mention, and greatly praise, our long-suffering lab technicians – particularly Don McClunon who was an outstanding chemist and Jacky Baldwin.

Jacky came from a background of Chemistry teaching and so was used to strange (sometimes last-minute) requests from teachers. She also acted as a kind of PA to the Head of Department and I know that I for one could not have managed my time as Head of Department without her excellent advice and organisation.

Charles Kinsey (Chemistry dept. from 1972; Head of Chemistry 1992 – 2006)

Jay Gardner [current staff] continues the story: The Chemistry department has continued to flourish in the 2000 – 2023 period.

There have been quite a few changes over this time. The most notable was the refurbishment under the then Head of Chemistry Dr Tim Greene. The older labs with quirky radiators near the ceiling from the tiered end lecture theatre days were removed. The glorious old wood was repurposed and varnished and used to make new desks for areas in the labs and wide functional sets of fume cupboards replaced the older, more tired versions. The IT used has changed from OHP and whiteboard to wireless computer to projector with One Note and Google Classroom becoming key allies to the department. Displays have been changed numerous times to bring in the latest fashions and the Periodic Tables made more colourful. Chemical experiments in the period have remained much the same [in the main] with similar equipment, although a few whizzo demos have come in. Chemical theory has been broadly the same as the microscopic world has been ordered the same

Chemistry Club

although new applications like hydrogen fuel cells, nanotechnology and graphene have appeared as the subject has developed.

Long standing teachers and technicians have moved on over time but the friendly supportive nature of the department has remained with a good mix of men and women encouraging boys and girls to take up A Level Chemistry into related degrees. There have been some stellar students in this period. Some have studied Chemistry and Natural Sciences at Oxford and Cambridge. One of these progressed to a DPhil in Chemistry. The main challenge in this period would have to be Covid as teaching a practical subject in a pandemic was not without its challenges. Asking students to turn on cameras on Zoom, finding videos online for all demos and practicals one might do and teaching virtually became new life skills. This was before returning to life physically at school to the new normal and quarantining the equipment.

Sourcing and using in the Science School alcohol free sanitisers, retaining one’s own demo set of everything to be regularly sanitised and taking a snack lunch daily with masks on and off in the Stone Library with a few select colleagues- life was rarely normal!

Clifton’s Chemistry department has remained a happy place on the first floor of the Science School and we look forward to more years of the same.

Oliver Dunning Burning Bubbles

OC Magazine 2023 19

THEN &NOW OAKELEY’S HOUSE

Toby Lapage-Norris [OH 1980-85] writes: Every boarding house thought they were special and OH boys were no different. A natural esprit was always evident between individuals and year groups alike; quietly competitive against other houses but also well represented in Big School, on a pitch, with an oar in hand, or on the Redgrave theatre stage. A healthy cohort of scholarly boys brought down to earth by a rather larger vanguard of mediocrity who judged success by our individual and collective prowess on the Close or in college colours, or the sartorial choice of donkey jacket and monkey boots, to the Marshal’s constant displeasure, rather than academic attainment, tended to ring loud. The occasional OH all-rounder enjoyed richly deserved accolades, but also a barrage of mild (sometimes) verbal abuse from those closest to him. But it was never doubted, if he was a “nerd” he was our nerd, an OH nerd who would be defended to the hilt, especially if the challenge arose across the wall from the penal colony called Dakyns’ House, which coincidentally was where my brother was incarcerated! We were inclusive without really understanding what that meant at the time.

The duo of Richard Bland and Anthony Newman as House Master and House Tutor provided good humoured but also pretty liberal stewardship through most of my tenure. A lasting memory was following the sleeping bear being poked too hard and too often by boys breaking out of the house for a night in Bristol, Yogi

20 OC Magazine 2023

painted the shower room window surrounds with fresh paint to daub us on re-entry. Successful once, but little more than an enduring irritant, especially to the changing room smokers who found the windows harder to open, the breakout squad simply went up a level or two and descended via the external pipework; climbing up intoxicated however, was always rather trickier than we anticipated as one or two can attest. As a deterrent it wasn’t terribly abiding, especially to the acclaimed OH cohort who escaped, donned masks, and climbed the Wilson Tower to affix a mannequin to the top of the flagpole one midsummer night in 1984 as reported the following day with photographs in the Bristol newspaper. At least the windows got a fresh coat of paint most weeks, and those who were painted lessened their chance of being caught by retaining their stashed vodka remnants as a reasonably effective paint thinner!

Oakeley’s had its fair share of rule makers and rule breakers, and anyone who found their name etched on the panels of the House Hall for posterity was equally likely to find it etched on the cubicle walls in the lower-ground lavatories before there was a Banksy who donned it an art form.

If asked how to describe Oakeley’s in my time, I think it was fair to say that it incubated the individual, but also nurtured the team. Happy times and proud to be an Old OH.

Fiona Hallworth [Housemistress 1987-95] writes: Oakeley’s House [re]opened, and Clifton became coeducational, in September 1987, but my work as the pioneering Housemistress began well before then.

Stuart Andrews asked me out of the blue to take on this challenge in late 1984, but it had to remain a closely guarded secret until the announcement of the closure of Oakeley’s and the arrival of girls was made to a shocked Chapel on February 14th 1985. The ‘to do’ list to prepare Clifton and Oakeley’s (then a boys’ House under Richard Bland’s care) for the arrival of girls was long and daunting!

In the 1980s, many large public schools paid lip service by taking girls only in the sixth form, but the Clifton Council and

Common Room concurred that coeducation would be “a good thing” for Clifton and should be throughout the School, including the Pre. This liberal, open-minded approach was, I believe, embedded in the Clifton ethos – a school founded by entrepreneurs who embraced the new: day and boarding, in a city, leading in the teaching of science, appointing innovative Heads, opening Polack’s etc., so co-education became another of its many success stories.

Running a boarding house is a watch of 24/7 and not only in term time, as anyone who has done it will testify! The House is a community in which young people grow and develop, are allowed to make and learn from mistakes and share one another’s problems. As the HoM, you are the captain of the ship – the figurehead – but dependent on a team of staff to look after the ship and all that happens in it. I was very fortunate in the support I had in the early days and without the likes of Jill Denman, Sue Tucker, and later Monica Richards and Maggie the matron, the atmosphere of fun, care and pride would never have evolved. My husband Philip, then Head of Geography, inducted me in all things Clifton and took a very active part in setting up and running the House.

The eighteen months before the House opened was immensely busy and exciting.

Firstly, visiting schools which already had girls – I produced a long list of what not to do and how we could do things better!

The philosophy of the immensely talented architect, Ron Wilkinson, whose firm had built Mem Arch, was to design a House for the flows and activities within. His questions were endless and his design, which removed the narrow internal corridors designed by EM Oakeley whilst

THEN &NOW

maintaining the best of the Victorian features, was so good that its principles were incorporated into the national standards by Ofsted.

Finding girls to join Clifton was no problem – they found us – sisters, daughters of OCs, Jewish families and of course the strongest affirmation from staff, their own daughters. Some had outgrown their girls’ schools and were looking for a broader curriculum, some were motivated by the availability of academic, music and art scholarships, and others had Clifton recommended to them by their prep school Heads who welcomed the addition of a first-class coeducational school in the south west.

The unexpected closure of a nearby Catholic school helped us in part, as did, to some extent, the beginnings of the changing attitudes towards private education.

The 50 girls who arrived two days before term started in September 1987 were strong, resilient and ready for new

challenges. It had been touch and go to have the House ready - every mattress cover was put on by me, curtains colourcoded to each floor were hung by me and our kitchen carpet was glued down in a heatwave two hours before parents arrived there for new girls’ tea. My announcement to the girls that “there are no rules… we are going to create them as we go” was met with bemusement! A number joined us during that first academic year, and by the following September we had 86 girls in the House and flowed over into what is now West Town.

The new uniform, chosen by Marie Andrews, was smart, but the first batch of kilts were itchy and too long for some (well, that was the idea!). The Oakeley’s tie was kept as the whole school system was defined by a tie. The school rules were reviewed but not altered hugely – but they were actually applied more consistently where previously some had been largely ignored. Despite initial worries about having girls in lessons and what to call them, even the most conservative members of the common room were quickly won over and really enjoyed teaching them.

It was not all plain sailing, obviously, but with excellent planning across the College, recruitment of highly able female staff and a “can do” attitude, we set sail.

The understandably distraught and displaced Oakeley’s boys made a coffin to represent the death of their former

House, but were allowed to move to mainly Brown’s or School House to keep in their friendship groups.

Oakeley’s is one of the most attractive and well located Houses, being in the centre of the campus, which was a strong, affirming statement of how girls were to be incorporated in the school, but it did attract repeated graffiti on our front door, windows being smashed and our car being damaged by those who, for whatever reason, resented the arrival of girls and the changes to the application of the rules that resulted. Fifth form boys found it particularly tough I think, being the one year group in the school with no girls in their cohort. The school also had to adjust to a shifting social order, with the first XV no longer being demi- gods!

Despite the inevitable teasing and baiting that went on in the early days, the boys quickly became very protective of the Clifton girls. When a Marlborough team tried to give our girls marks out of 10, the Clifton boys immediately came to “their” girls’ defence!

Close proximity to Dakyns’ was tricky until the dust settled but was definitely a positive from the boys’ point of view and indeed from their House tutor, Nick Denman’s, since he ended up marrying our House tutor, Jill Rushton! Male staff being on evening duty was not unusual or problematic and the girls used the opportunity to beg extra tuition in maths, physics and chemistry!

House Song just before half-term in October was the event that really brought the House together for the first time and ‘house spirit’ was born.Before the girls arrived, House Song was in decline in terms of quality and was generally a difficult crowd management event for staff. The girls were never going to win in the first year, but they put down a marker and by including the whole House into the competition instigated a change that remains thirty-six years later.

Of the “Oakeley’s originals” there were three in the U6 (Upper Bench terminology had just disappeared), who have all had significant careers: Ella Duval, now a member of Council and an eminent lawyer, recently handed on the OC baton that started with her father, onto her own

OC Magazine 2023 21

THEN &NOW

children; Vanessa Taylor married OC Matthew Bailey and went on to be an award-winning film maker and actress; and Nina Gardner, our ESU scholar from America, is a highly respected author, poet and lecturer. Those that followed in their footsteps have made their own marks on the world as professors, doctors, musicians, teachers, engineers, lawyers and mums.

Well over 200 girls arrived and left on my watch and I’m pretty sure their many and hilarious antics would not be possible in the safeguarding parameters of today: unpicking window screws, vaulting out of the library window (leaving tell-tale hair), pizza meant pub, parties in parents’ flats, failing the Mrs. H verbal breathalyser test, House entertainment where teenager Martina Topley-Bird, now a famous jazz singer, sang “Blue Moon” whilst her peers turned the noun into a verb, “Dallas Club” in pyjamas with cocoa after prep, gallons of pancake mixture every year, and my appalling microwaved chocolate cake made at the last minute for any birthday girl!

Meeting old girls now with teenagers of their own always generates… “How on earth did you manage us all?” History of course repeats itself and a generation after my newly appointed Praep lost her

tie for smoking within a day of receiving it, her son nearly did the same thing!

When I catch up with them, what shines through is their resilience and adaptability and their enquiring and challenging minds.

My eight years in OH were amazing. The girls played hard and worked hard, had fun and embraced what Clifton had to offer, emerging with the trademark Clifton “confidence without arrogance”, ready to tackle their future life challenges and set the pace and the standards for the girls’ Houses that followed. Girls didn’t change the school – the school changed them and they taught me far more than I taught them: learning to understand eating disorders, bereavement, mental illness, Judaism, cultural differences etc. Their personal experiences, good and bad and everything in between, went on to help me help so many other boys and girls in the years that followed. Their successes are huge and varied. I am immensely proud of all of them and forever grateful for the experience of being Clifton’s pioneering Housemistress!

Nessie Walsh [current Housemistress] writes: When I first took up the role of Housemistress of Oakeley’s five years ago,

I scoured the House handbook that my predecessor gave me; it stated very clearly at the start that it was originally a House for boys. There is a daily reminder of the importance of our history for all the girls and staff as we still meet twice a day in the House Hall and are enveloped by the hundreds of Old Cliftonian boys' names engraved on the panels around us.

(I’ve never really understood the “Cock House” honours board and would welcome anyone enlightening me on this!) I like the history of it: it symbolises change and evolution of education and opportunity, although I appreciate for many Old Oakeley’s boys, it’s sad to see their old house changed from how they remember it.

Some of these changes are good and may be welcomed however! Now, soft furnishings adorn the pale blue sofas, fairy lights create a soft ambience and an enormous television provides a stream of entertainment for weekend activities where we might make sushi or Oreo milkshakes or play games over afternoon tea on a Sunday. The HOM office is now more of a place for a chat about issues rather than a disciplinary area and callovers focus on rewarding acts of kindness rather than reading out detention notices. Our newly refurbished kitchens have “islands” and stools for casual chat or freshly cooked snacks and mixers for baking - how times change! We have two matrons who bring in their dogs, offer walks, and it possibly feels more like a home from home than it did in times gone by.

We still pay our respects to the Old Oakeleans whose names are on our “Fallen” board every year in a House assembly on 11.11 and I have felt privileged to have been visited by OCs who have given me the history of their family associations and stories of those boys who never came home; you never feel closer to them than knowing that they spent happy times in Oakeley’s as their home.

Some things remain the same, however: the spirit of Oakeley’s still presides. From all the fabulous OCs who come back to visit us, it is evident that it lives on in the spirit of the girls who now live there - they are brave, incredibly kind, great fun with a have-a-go attitude towards life. It must go with the territory.

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THEN &NOW CROSS COUNTRY According to Christie’s History, ‘the runs began in the first term of 1863…[they] were organized by Wellesley [Head of School] with a good deal of vigour, and I believe the Penpole and Horfield countries were pretty thoroughly explored’. Percival and Dakyns were strong supporters, and the normal system was ‘hare and hound’ racing. Marks were awarded for finishing places across the season, and the best runner was pronounced the ‘holder of Big-Side bags’.

By the 1870s, cross country running had evolved into ‘pack running’, with Upper and Lower packs, each with a Huntsman and Whips. The Upper pack ran the Long Penpole, the Lower ran the Short Penpole.

in 1892; and Goodwin collapsed after winning in 1929. The Cliftonian carried correspondence about whether the Pens were ‘injurious to health and to athletic training’; ‘NPR’ concluded an article with the following: ‘The most enjoyable part of the day, in my opinion, was the glass of beer.’

Prior to the First World War, Brown’s, School House and Oakeley’s had the largest number of boys ‘coming in’ i.e. finishing, though South Town had the most winners to its credit – 11 by 1910. In the 1880s, Third and Fourth packs were introduced, but the runs were becoming ‘unpopular’; in 1896, the courses were changed because of ‘the invincible

Longpen 1927

opposition of a farmer’. In 1893, a ‘Court’ had been set up to hear a farmer’s complaint regarding ‘injury to his property’, though the Headmaster and a Special Jury found for the defendant.

However, relations with the farmers improved, and by 1913 there was a dinner at the Failand Club House attended by the Headmaster, the Head of School, Mr Wollaston, the Holder of Big-Side Bags and 26 Somerset farmers. In the early 1900s, running had become more popular, and included the ‘Picnic at Winscombe’, the run being followed by tea and a concert!

Longpen 1923

The Long Pen seems to have been about 12 or 13 miles at its inception, but was about 10 miles by the mid 1870s. Dr. Fyffe considered it less of a strain than the Quarter-Mile, though many of the boys were not convinced. WH Lang claimed ‘he was never the same after the Penpole of 1876; JH Fox collapsed in The Avenue in 1883; FR Hemingway fainted at Westbury

Longpen 1956

Longpen 1962

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THEN &NOW Nevertheless, cross country running remained a bone of contention, despite its long history as part of the school’s raison d’etre. In 1917, ‘football’ took the place of runs in the Easter [Lent] Term, as ‘long runs were held responsible for the absence of sprinters in our three-quarter line’. The Captain of the XV, ND Lees, wrote in The Cliftonian: ‘The runs are a relic of mid-Victorian Spartanism. If they ever had any use, they have served it.’ Meanwhile, George Younghusband countered thus: ‘Runs existed in Clifton’s palmiest days, and did not seem to have a paralysing effect on cricket, football or athletics’.

Needless to say, by the 1920s a ‘Clifton compromise’ had been reached, and cross country running enjoyed a revival,

Shortpen 1956

Warren on Mendip. In the 1970s, John Barratt reconfigured the Long Pen course to avoid the ever-growing pressure of traffic. It began at Portbury, and included some very demanding ascents. Passing Jubbs Wood on the left, once runners had reached Failand House the severest part was over, but so too were energy levels for all but the best. Dropping through West Tanpit Wood the course crossed the stream at Ox House Bottom before running more or less straight to the finish at Beggar’s Bush.

The Editor

Justin Chaston [SH 1986, Long Pen record holder and 3000m steeplechaser for GB at the Olympics in 1996, 2000 & 2004] recalls running at Clifton:

Jerry Cornes is likely Clifton’s most celebrated Olympic athlete having secured a silver medal in the 1500m at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. I believe I was Clifton’s next Olympic distance runner when I competed for Great Britain at the 1996 games in Atlanta. While Jerry’s discipline of three and three-quarter laps around a 400m track draws little interpretation, mine typically has required somewhat more explanation.

The questions have ranged from genuine intrigue to complete bewilderment.

Despite my best efforts to enlighten one such interrogator, it was after the followup question of “So what was your horse’s name?” that I realised I needed to improve my standard response, which brought me back to cross-country running at Clifton.

Longpen 1912

though it was now in competition with hockey. A new Long Penpole course was established, at just 6 miles, and matches were held against, for example, Bristol University, Westbury Harriers, Shrewsbury and Blundell’s. In 1931, Christie notes that there were calls for the reintroduction of a much longer Long Penpole, as ‘only a very few Public Schools [have] such a race and it [gives] distinction to the School’.

This brief survey captures the flavour of cross country running in the first 75 years of the school’s history. In more recent decades, Simon Reece recalls Tom Gover laying countless sawdust trails, and smoothing relations with local farmers with a bottle of scotch! Runs were established in lovely areas of Somerset countryside. Some, like the Dundry Death Run, were exceptionally gruelling, others, like Gordano Valley, just thoroughly delightful. Wilder country could be reached at Blackdown and Rowberrow

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Justin Chaston, St.Patricks Day 5K

THEN &NOW The term steeplechase originally referred to horse races where riders would race from one church steeple to another, jumping over various obstacles along the way. This term was later adopted for human foot races, where the concept of jumping over barriers and water pits was integrated.

The first recorded steeplechase race for humans took place at Oxford University in 1860. The race was approximately 3,500 metres and included various obstacles, including stone walls water ditches. Over time, the steeplechase distance was standardized to various lengths, with the 3000m distance becoming one of the most recognized and popular versions.The 3000m steeplechase eventually became an official event in major track and field competitions, and was introduced to the Olympic Games in 1920 in Antwerp.

If my memories of cross country running at Clifton conjure up images (and smells) of pack runs over farmland, the Penpole races, Mrs Boyd’s tea run, or the unforgettable race course at Blundell’s that required running through the same river umpteen times, what is it about these recollections that connect me to the modern Olympic event where the running is performed on a flat synthetic surface and measured in fractions of a second? My answer is simple: it’s the steeple of St Bartholomew’s Church in Failand. It is this landmark that I imagine each time I explain the history of the steeplechase event. This was central to the Long Penpole course which, like my brother and father before me, I won in 1986. To me, this is the steeple in steeplechase.

3 Housemasters running the Long Pen in 1997. All would later serve as OC Secretary.

Charlie Colquhoun [MH], Simon Reece [SH] and Jo Greenbury [PH].

this meant, but it turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences in my time at Clifton. Traditional ideas of disgruntled children and muddy laps of a school playing field quickly disappeared: Clifton’s cross country remained embedded in the nineteenth century approach of ‘hare and hounds’ and ‘pack’ running. It sounded, and was, extraordinary.

My first test began even before the season started with a recce of the Long Pen course with Simon Reece – a brutal 7+ mile affair from Portbury, and clearly an attempt to test me out. We returned muddy, scratched and exhausted having raced each other over the course. Other staff stepped up with help and advice. Tom Gover offered to help lay the trails for the pack to follow. He would appear at the start, or somewhere on the course, covered in sawdust (for trail marking) and full of excitement at the conditions under foot, or stories of dangerous animals and farmers prepared to shoot on sight. Many other staff were involved over the years but a particular mention must be made of Martin Williams, Doug Clarke, Simon Heard, Jon Hughes, Annie Musgrove and Tom Patrick who all provided huge support and running ability.

The pack runs were the highlight. There are too many to record here but every week was different – whether crossing the Mendips via Beacon Batch to Draycott, or the old Penpole course from Shirehampton back to school, or the return

The event, despite its gruelling nature, was very kind to me. I travelled the world representing club and country and finished my international career at the ripe old age of 35 at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

However, it all started almost 20 years before wearing the colours of Clifton at a small inter-school match at Marlborough College. It still seems like yesterday.

Simon Tait [current staff] gets the story up to date: Within my first week of joining the teaching staff in 1996, I was told by Ian Scott - with great glee – that I was now master-incharge of cross country. I had no idea what

Simon Tait

from Dundry, or the slog up to Crook’s Peak - they were all special and made even better by being run together as a pack, at various speeds, and with much regathering and conversation and fun. It was a sport that felt inclusive. In those days we often had 30 to 40 runners in the ‘pack’. There was also a healthy fixture list. Trips to Sherborne, Exeter, Monkton Combe, Downside, Cheltenham, Malvern, King’s Bruton and Taunton (Hestercombe House and the reservoir at Wiveliscombe) were the mainstays and often for wonderfully named prizes, such as the Marsden Cup or Woolly Mammoth Trophy. At one stage we even managed pre-season training camps to Dyffryn, which were great fun and would certainly struggle to pass health and safety assessments today! The balance of racing for the elite runner and pack runs for the rest worked incredibly well and hopefully encouraged a love of running and the outdoors.

Simon and Sue Reece, on leaving School House, very generously offered to host the entire ‘pack’ for tea at their new house on the Mendips. This new tradition lasted for many years. The ‘pack’ was dropped off at Stockhill Wood and set out for the Reeces’ house some 7 miles away. It was all worth it. Sue produced the most remarkable afternoon tea, a fantastic way to mark the end of the cross country season.

The final and perhaps most important part of every season was the day of the Pens. In the 1990s these started at Portbury and raced back to BB. A move to various start locations around Failand lasted for a while, although interrupted by foot and mouth in 2001. Ultimately it became too difficult to continue over farmers’ fields and stiles so we moved to Ashton Court and this has worked well and maintained the importance of the Pens as a whole school event.

Without doubt some of my fondest memories of working at Clifton have been linked to cross country. The sense of camaraderie was particularly special and what a way to get to know each other and the hills, tracks and woods around Bristol.

Jolly days indeed!

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100 YEARS

Anniversaries

Sports Day 1924

The Pavilion 1923

The front cover shows the externally refurbished Pavilion on its 100th birthday in 2023. The interior had been renovated some 20 years earlier, courtesy of the OC Society. Herewith 2 photos from

the 1920s, showing the original building [not much has changed!] and the 1924 Sports Day.

The Pavilion Centenary 2023

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100 YEARS It is 100 years since the appointment of Norman Whatley as Head Master. He would become Clifton's second longest serving Head [after Percival] 1923—1939.

Norman Whatley

I am indebted to Derek Winterbottom's 'Clifton After Percival' for the following accounts: 'Norman Whatley had been a boy at Radley where he was Head of School. He went up to Hertford College at Oxford with a scholarship and gained first classes in Mods and Greats. He was elected a Fellow in 1907 and had much experience of teaching and administration both within the college and in the University. He joined the Intelligence Corps in the BEF in France in 1914. He was a governor of Radley and had been approached by Bristol University as a possible candidate for the Vice-Chancellorship. When appointed to Clifton he was thirty-eight years old and married, with three sons.

Whatley's headmastership lasted sixteen years and fell into two distinct phases.

The first was a period of success and expansion which saw the creation of the Preparatory School and the building of the new Science School: unfortunately the economic depression of the 1930s brought problems; the Headmaster's health failed, and his relationship with

the Council turned sour.'

On the whole, the staff thought highly of Whatley. Albert Polack, SP Beachcroft, Kenneth Wilson and Forbes Mackintosh, for example, referenced his 'integrity', 'humanity', 'efficiency' and 'humility'. As Derek writes: 'In the first ten years of his headmastership it is unquestionable that Whatley brought about important changes that maintained Clifton's place as a leading school.' However, the 1930s were difficult, and various members of Council were inclined to look elsewhere.

'Though the numbers at Clifton might have fallen in the late 1930s, the quality was very high... and most of the boys who were to do so well at Bude were admitted to Whatley's Clifton.' Derek concludes his assessment by quoting Whatley himself: 'I hope I never committed any serious errors of judgement in connection with the school but I found it very hard to be as actively constructive as I had been earlier. Those were difficult days anyhow, and I did sometimes find it difficult to come to a decision. And I did let fly now and then on paper; which was, no doubt, wrong, but it did me good.'

Whatley and the Prince of Wales at the opening of the new Science School in 1927

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80 YEARS Clifton College's crucial role in the planning of the D-Day landings

Bertrand Hallward with US First Army commander General Omar Bradley and his staff.

In October 1943, General Omar Bradley arrived at Clifton and established the US First Army HQ at the school. The planning of D Day began in earnest.'

The Committee Room in Clifton College

The Allied commanders from left, General Omar Bradley, Admiral Bertram Ramsey, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D Eisenhower, General Sir Bernard Montgomery, Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, and Lieutenant-General Walter Bedell Smith.

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Reminiscences Once I started work in the civil service, the demands of the job seldom allowed me to take part in the Imperial meeting, although I was in the Queen’s hundred in 1958. When I finally retired from work in 1999, my attempts to re-join competitive shooting failed because of deteriorating eyesight.

Rifle Shooting, 80th Anniversary at Bisley for Ashburton Sheild R.S.M. J.G. Fletcher (centre) with his two cadets D. L. Morgan (left) and R.G.S. Johnson of CLIFTON COLLEGE who won the ‘Cadets’ Challenge Trophy with a record score of 131+ points out of a possible 140. The last time any representative from Clifton College won the trophy was in 1890.

Bisley by Gordon Johnston WaH 1952 I must be one of the few who remember Bisley and the Imperial meeting as it was in the late 1940s and early 1950s. At that time the War Office found a battalion to mark the butts and run the camp services.

Competitions such as the Queen Mary, with its rattle of musketry and whiffs of cordite over the Century range are vivid in my memory.

To a 15-year-old, everyone seemed old! I remember being intrigued by a range officer, a captain in the marines, with Boer War medals and a waxed moustache.

Most had war medals.

with a subscription of 10 shillings a year. I was lucky enough to win the Tyro prize in their autumn 1952 competition – Life Membership of the NRA! At Cambridge I was an active member of CURA but missed any chance of being considered for the team against Oxford because the Imperial meeting clashed with the civil service exams. I was able however to keep up my interest in shooting during National Service, winning the Bisley Cup in the Army meeting in 1956.

I lost touch with David Morgan when we both left school, but in 1997 I received some investment literature with a familiar signature. I looked up ‘DL Morgan’ in Who’s Who, and it was indeed David, risen to great eminence in the financial world. I got in touch, and we arranged reunions in 1999 and 2009 of survivors of the Clifton shooting teams. David’s death in 2018 denied us the chance of a 70th reunion in 2019, but the Clifton shooters invited me to come to Bisley and present a cup in memory of our 1949 win.

In my short Bisley career I was lucky enough to meet Marjorie Foster, Lord Swansea and Ronnie Melville – all legendary figures. I look with amazement at the precision weapons used today, and compare them with the simple service rifle used in the 1940s. What remains unchanged is the comradeship of the shooting community.

I first went to Bisley as part of Clifton’s shooting contingent at Easter 1949. We stayed in the Artists’ Rifles clubhouse.

With David Morgan, I was selected to represent Clifton in the Cadet Pair. We were well coached by RSM Fletcher, and won the trophy with a combined score of 131/140. Clifton had last won the trophy in 1890, as an elderly OC reminded us.

I shot in Clifton’s Ashburton team each year, with varying success. On leaving school in 1952, I was urged by Tom Anstey, an OC who had captained the GB team, to keep shooting and join a Bisley club. I joined the City as a junior member,

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National Service in Malaya

by John Walker BH 1954 In 1954, after my A Level examinations at Clifton and aged 17, I went to America for a year on an exchange scholarship. On my return I was offered a place at Cambridge University. I accepted, thereby deferring my compulsory 2 years of military National Service until after I had graduated in 1958. I was ordered to report to the East Surrey Regiment at their barracks in Kingston-upon-Thames. The choice of regiment was determined solely by my address, that of my widowed mother in Putney.

The East Surreys was a tough infantry outfit whose intake came mainly from south London, particularly from the Surrey Docks. There was no “Potential Leaders” platoon, as some regiments had for their more genteel recruits; about 30 of us were in one long barrack room and for the next 6 weeks we were shouted at from dawn to dusk, did parade ground drills, and marched for miles in columns across the nearby Richmond Park. The smallest infringement meant punishment. We were not allowed out of barracks except on military exercise. It was, in a way, hell; but we learnt to rely totally on each other and most of us lasted the course. Moreover, there was no physical punishment, and, looking back, there was no favouritism at all. We were all ordered about equally, ‘at the double’, and very quickly developed, without

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knowing it, a ‘them and us’ mentality, ‘them’ being the non-commissioned officers - sergeants and corporals - who were to be obeyed at all times. But, as a fellow recruit later wrote in a published memoir, he could “think of no other way of training a bunch of totally dissimilar young men to be prepared to die for each other”, and all in 6 weeks. Altogether it was a most democratic experience: 30 young men chosen simply by area of residence, some illiterate, only four with A levels, and one graduate (me). We had thieves among us and crime, I realised, was by no means frowned upon by my ‘muckers’. (Shortly after I left, our own platoon corporal was sent to prison for murder - he’d seemed reasonable enough to us, albeit with a short temper.)

One small group among us quickly found its feet: those who had some sort of cadet training. I had been in the Combined Cadet Force at Clifton; rifle drills and navigating by compass across the Clifton Downs stood me in good stead and I was made platoon leader. I realised, fairly soon after joining up, that in the forces, as in most walks of life, one makes one’s own luck. I for one wanted to travel while in the army and to have a bit more fulfilment than I was getting as a

‘squaddie’. So at the end of basic training, I applied for an officers’ commission, was accepted and duly sent to the officer cadet school at Mons Barracks in Aldershot. Life there was much easier, though more intellectually testing. We also had considerably more leisure. At Mons we learnt to take on far greater responsibility – for those under our command, battle tactics, directing artillery fire and tanks, radio procedures and suchlike. We were asked to select an army unit in which to serve. Having spent the first 10 years of my life in India I decided to join the Brigade of Gurkhas: this was not easy, but happily I was accepted by the 6th Gurkha Rifles who were on operational duty in the newly independent Federation of Malaya (a British colony until the preceding year).

This was during the “State of Emergency”, one of the fiercest post-war Communist insurrections in Southeast Asia when the Malayan Communist Party organised a guerrilla insurgency to establish an independent Communist state in the Malay peninsula.

I flew out to Singapore. On disembarking at Changi airport, I experienced, for the first time since my childhood, the heat and the heady atmosphere of the tropics – the aromas of frangipani and oriental cooking on the evening air; I was in heaven. A few hours’ drive later I was in Kluang, southern Malaya, where my battalion was stationed. I was to share the low, colonial style officers’ mess with four fellow British officers. My duties were to train Gurkha soldiers in anti-tank weaponry. In due course I was to learn Gurkhali/Nepalese, then undertake operational duties in the north; for the moment it was just parades, lectures, and ‘learning the kaida’ i.e. absorbing the niceties and culture of regimental life.

Subsequently I had several intensive weeks of language training and was put in charge of a Gurkha platoon on operations in the heavily forested hills of the northern state of Perak. Our aim was to flush out the remaining ‘CTs’ (Communist Terrorists) in the area, making life safe for

the villagers in that sparsely populated part of Malaya. The terrain was extremely hilly. We lived in a dark green, steamy world overpopulated with mosquitoes and leeches where the dense forestation precluded any views of the horizon and hardly any of the sky: navigation, therefore, was often very tricky.

Typically, our 10 day patrols would start on a moonless night when we would be driven in trucks through wild hills, without headlights and free-wheeling to reduce engine noise wherever possible. At about midnight we were dropped off at a specific map reference in pitch darkness.

From that point we, a platoon of about 30 soldiers, were on our own. Each would carry a weapon, rifle or Stirling submachine gun, and a pack containing the necessities, including ammunition, rations for 5 days, solid fuel cookers, radio, medical packs, a blanket, washing kit and spare clothes – quite a load in the heat and humidity of the dense tropical jungle. Quickly and silently, we would get out of the truck, put on our kit, and check our weapons.

Generally, at the start of a patrol, the plan would be to make camp and lie up till sunrise. On my first patrol I found the path totally invisible in the darkness: I blindly followed the man in front through thick undergrowth up an unbelievably steep hillside. The supplies we carried on our backs would last for 5 days when we would be re-supplied by parachute-drop from a fixed wing aircraft. This required a

‘dropping zone’; it took several hours to select a suitable area and then to clear it of jungle growth to allow safe recovery of our fresh supplies (including rum rations, in their original glass bottles!). I remember well the team-work and cheerful camaraderie of the Gurkha soldiers and their practical skills in using materials available – bamboo, liana fibres for twine etc – to make crude but comfortable individual sleeping platforms at night: off the ground and using branches and palm fronds to keep the rain off. We never remained in the same place for more than one night, and at the end of each day’s patrol, as the sun set rapidly and tree cover was so dense, we had only about a quarter of an hour in which to prepare for the night before we were in near darkness. I remember, too, a feeling of pride and achievement at our having covered quite large tracts of jungle with total self-sufficiency.

We lived, patrolled and slept in the jungle largely in silence, with no lights. I was initially astonished at the sheer noise of a tropical jungle, particularly after dark, when cicadas and a myriad other insects started to chirrup, screech, and whirr until there was a cacophonous wall of sound until the early hours. Another surprise was the amazing, and sometimes very beautiful, luminescence of the jungle floor after dark, when the mass of fungi on decaying twigs and timber, and even some of the insects, glow with an eerie light. But after a day’s ‘jungle-bashing’ nothing, apart from sentry duty,

interrupted our deep sleep right up to the welcome mug of sweet tea shortly before dawn.

Although we saw almost nothing of larger animals, we occasionally heard tiger across the valleys and found tiger spoor.

But there was plenty of other animal noise, day and night; mainly the raucous cries from the relatively few birds, and the haunting calls of gibbon monkeys. It was a thrilling wilderness of steep, jungleshrouded hills and altogether magical.

This minimalist lifestyle, living simply on what one could carry, maintaining military vigilance throughout, was not unpleasurable – and we all became very fit indeed. Sometimes we were ordered by radio to visit one of the isolated jungle ‘kampongs’ or villages as part of the ‘Hearts and Minds’ campaign to counter the effects of terrorist propaganda. The purpose was to reassure the village people that we were in their vicinity both to drive out terrorists and to protect villagers from CT attack. We would spend a pleasant hour or two conversing, from our side, in very limited Malay, drinking tea or even a beer in the case of bigger villages. The elders would organise a show of local Malay folk dances by the younger women – all very charming and decorous.

My last few weeks as a National Serviceman were in North Borneo where I was sent to set up a training camp. Then, after 18 tropical months, I had to say farewell. However, I remain in touch with some friends from those youthful days, over six decades ago. For me, National Service was enjoyable and a pivotal influence: it was probably the main reason for my having since spent much of my working life as a diplomat in different parts of East Asia, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo, and in retirement returning there as a volunteer with a development aid charity. Old military campaigns are largely forgotten but then, as now, there were the human losses. While most of us returned, greatly enriched by the experience, some, sadly, did not. In the recent Afghanistan campaign, we lost 457 British military servicemen; in Malaya the figure was 519.

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My third term – the summer of 1912 – was a memorable one, for it marked the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the college. The occasion was one of brilliant sunshine, marquees, flags and free strawberries and cream…. A grand parade of the Cadet Corps was also held.

We marched past that great hero of the Boer War, Field Marshal Lord Roberts, VC. Afterwards he made a speech, warning us of the need to be ready for a great war which he could see coming. But no one took him seriously.

During 1913 I made a determined effort to keep a diary: 21st Jan. Fitting new lampshade, fused study lights. Did prep with candles.

2nd Lt. Huntly Gordon

The Unreturning Army

by Huntly Gordon During the early part of the year, I corresponded with David Gordon about his father, Huntly, whose book ‘The Unreturning Army’ is ‘the classic memoir of a Field Gunner in Flanders’; the Times’ reviewer described it as ‘one of the best First World War memoirs - honest, intelligent and vivid.’ Huntly left Clifton in 1916 to join the army, and what follows is a series of excerpts describing his experiences of school as the First World War came to dominate everything.

5th March. Burial service of Morris, who died suddenly from sucking a pen-nib.

19th March. Our boxers won 4 of the 6 weights in the Public Schools Boxing Competition. A record.

20th May. Trestle-bridging with the Corps.

Shoulder very sore. Absolutely I have not had five minutes to myself all day.

23rd June. Tanned by Bevan for jumping on and breaking Leir’s bed. Got four with a fives-bat. Told him it didn’t hurt.

24th June. Fearful bruises, and can’t sit down comfortably.

The Editor.

When I was thirteen it was decided that the toughness of my Scottish education should now be refined by the softer cultural influence of an English public school. At least that was the idea. My mother selected Clifton, because the son of a Scottish minister whom we knew was head of one of the houses.

My mother had not yet given up her dream of bringing out her musical talent in me.

My debut as a pianist having ignominiously failed, a violin was bought… After five years, my playing remained an ordeal alike for the listener and for myself. By contrast, my time in the choir was altogether well spent. Singing lifts the heart, and the choir practices often brought me comfort when I was oppressed by the loneliness of those early days.

Royal visit by King George V & Queen Mary to Bristol

4th July. Lined Whiteladies’ Road for King George’s visit. Stood for 3 hours in

morning, 2 in afternoon. King looked pretty bored as a Suffragette had just presented him with a petition. A very boring day for me also.

[Michaelmas 1914] Back at Clifton all was bustle and change. With Kitchener of Khartoum at the War Office and Winston Churchill at the Admiralty no one expected the war to last beyond Christmas. In the scramble to join up and not miss the fun, many of the senior term were absent from their places, having added something to their age to satisfy the recruiting sergeant.

The Cadet Corps took precedence over games, a minor revolution in itself. A number of elderly masters did their bit by joining the Corps without hope of getting into the fighting. With grim satisfaction we watched them drilling with the rookies in the quad. It was a strange reversal of fortune to find before us the tyrant of the classroom, parading absent-mindedly in a dishevelled uniform that normally would call for instant punishment. Much time was taken up in boot-cleaning, buttonpolishing, and scraping the mud of the Downs off our puttees. And those route marches! Twice a week, as well as on Sunday afternoons, for as much as twelve miles at a time.

Lord Kitchener now called for a vast volunteer army to enlist for ‘three years or the duration of the war’. Our hopes of victory in a month or two were snuffed out like a candle. It was as if the runner of a race, having set off to do a fast quarter– mile, were suddenly told the distance had been changed to three miles. Half– unbelieving, we had to adjust ourselves to a different view of the future. My part in the war would not come for another two years, and what I was learning in the meanwhile would not be needed then.

OC Magazine 2020 33

̀​̀

Big School circa 1910

death-blow against one of the immortals was hard to accept.

In April 1915, at a place called Ypres, the Germans loosed a fresh horror upon the world when they released clouds of poison gas, identified as chlorine.

Curiosity prompted me to produce some in the Chem. Lab. I warmed the test-tube over a flame and took a deep sniff. When they had picked me off the floor, two boys helped me back to my study, where for some hours I crouched over the warm pipes shivering from the shock and barely able to draw breath.

AEJ Collins. 1913

Then one morning we noticed a piece of paper, pinned to the chapel door. It read: ‘Killed in action: AEJ Collins, Captain, Royal Engineers.’ That name was to us a legend. It came as a shock to discover that he had only left the school twelve years ago, and was now lying dead in France. Later we became hardened to these reminders of mortality; but that first

We settled down to our lessons and games, leaving the future to take care of itself. Our life at school was comfortably insulated from reality. The Kaiser was a cartoonists’ figure of fun, though often, too, a bloodstained ogre. We hated the helmeted jack-booted image of Germany, and the use of poison gas was a real cad’s trick. The war had taken on a grimness that could not be ignored. Battle after

Rifle Farm 1917

34 OC Magazine 2023

Contemporary Propaganda Poster

battle brought no result, with lengthening casualty lists. Geoffrey Robinson wrote to me full of enthusiasm during his first spell in the trenches at Loos. His letter was still in my pocket when I saw his name on the chapel door.

In a last effort to raise more volunteers, the Clifton Cadet Corps went on a route march through Bristol with our band playing. The procession was augmented by detachments from St John Ambulance, the Fire Brigade and any other uniformed bodies who were willing to march with us.

We finished up at College Green under the benign gaze of Queen Victoria’s statue.

Hell-Fire Corner 1917

House Fives Team

My last year at school was a time of growing discord between what would have been the rich harmony of school life and the brassy clash of the war. Most of us played hard and worked a trifle absentmindedly, with one eye on the war. No more was there an eagerness not to miss it. By now we knew too much, and were ready to offer ourselves at the proper time, not before. The lists on the chapel door were getting longer, and gave the names of boys who had been our seniors barely a year before. Among them was that of my first study companion, Nevill Young, killed in action 1916. Our housegroup photograph of 1912 shows forty boys. By the end of the war thirteen were dead, fifteen had been wounded, and only twelve had come through physically unharmed. But in the summer of 1916,

Huntly Gordon With mother, sister & brother

the death-mill was not yet running at full speed.

I realised without much enthusiasm that at the end of term I and my contemporaries would have to choose what to do. There was still just time to enter my name for the RMA, Woolwich, and sit the examination at the end of the

term; and this I did. My name duly appeared on the pass list and I was instructed to report at Woolwich in September. At the end-of-term service in the chapel, I could not sing a note. Clifton had come to mean so much. It was with a heavy heart that I said goodbye to my friends, and turned away from the place of boyhood’s dreams and their fulfilment.

SH boys in 1912

OC Magazine 2023 35

Death Notices and Obituaries Mirza Baig Martin Baldwin Alan Blair Richard Boyle Alastair Channing Christopher Clegg Henry Cosh Ron Cross Robert Culverwell Howell Mansel Davies Jeffery Davis Derek Davis Leslie Dembo Peter Denny Christopher Draper Anthony Duval Nicholas Dyer Richard Fielding Jonathan Fligelstone Christopher Galleymore Tony Garcia David Goodland Geoffrey Greed Roger Green Peter Greenaway Thomas Gurney Micky Gwilliam Colin Hallward Richard Harris Gerald Hill Trevan Hingston Anthony Hollows Richard Holmes Gavin Hunter Tony Jacques Colin James Gordon Johnston Jerry Jones 36 OC Magazine 2023

SH 1951 DH 1960 DH 1948 OH 1951 WaH 1962 NT 1969 SH 1963 Former Marshal NT 1945 WiH 1958 NT 1958 PH 1962 ST 1950 DH 1958 SH 1957 ST 1965 WaH 1955 OH 1951 PH 1974 WaH 1965 PH 1956 Former Master NT 1955 PH 1956 NT 1950 WiH 1952 SH 1964 ST 1953 NT 1959 Former Staff WiH 1950 WaH 1956 Former Master DH 1960 OH 1955 ET 1958 WaH 1952 WiH 1974

Tony Joyce Daniel Kay Adrian King Christopher Knight Charles Langler David Lass Herbert Leffman Jeremy Livingstone Davis Mathias Colin Millar David Morgan Oliver Morison Robert Muston Bill Newsom John Palmer Michael Patterson David Peel John Preston William Pridie Geoffrey Pritchard John Rees Michael Roope Richard Smith Michael Southcombe Peter Stalworth Tim Taylor Richard Thornhill Alan Tompson Peter Tosh Anthony Travis Matt Tricks Richard Turner Simon Ward Stephen Weeks Ham Whitty Robert Wilson Stuart Wineberg

Former Master PH ST NT DH PH PH OH OH WiH NT DH Former Master WiH BH BH WiH BH ST NT SH Former Staff ST SH WiH BH NT WiH SH BH SH BH WaH DH DH DH PH

1996 1973 1960 1960 1962 1947 1950 1944 1952 1964 1967 1954 1970 1968 1958 1949 1966 1954 1951 1976 1950 1951 1955 1963 1943 1958 1965 1988 1950 1947 1958 1956 1955 1955

Peter Addison Denny

commuted to Stockley Park, until he retired in 1999.

DH 1958 Peter Addison Denny was born to Agatha (nee Nash) and James Denny on 27th October 1939 in Belfast. The family moved to Birmingham in 1946 and then Leeds.

Peter was a chorister at St George’s, Windsor between 1948–1953, singing under William Harris, nicknamed ‘Doc H’.

He had the privilege of singing at the funerals of King George VI and Queen Mary, as well as being Head Chorister for Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation in 1953.

He attended Clifton College, Bristol between 1953–1958 on a music scholarship, where he learned the organ under Dr Fox. Another scholarship saw him read Maths at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (1958–1961) followed by an extra year taking a Diploma in Numerical Analysis and Automatic Computing. At Cambridge he was part of the Light Entertainment Society, accompanying the likes of Tim Brook Taylor, as well as singing classical programmes in CUMS under David Willcocks.

Peter’s first job was working on the Atlas computer at the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory in Chilton (1962–1967). From there he moved to CEIR UK which became SCICON, a subsidiary of BP, which led to secondments in Australia working on a Radar system for the Australian RAF (1969 –1971), Peru, working on a system for the country’s Telecoms company (1971– 1972) and Saudi, working on a system at the King Faisal Hospital (1974). In the UK, he commuted to London and then from 1986 to Milton Keynes. The company became SD SCICON when it was bought

by SD in 1988. In 1991 EDS, a subsidiary of GM, bought SD SCICON and Peter

Jonathan Sydney Fligelstone PH 1974

Peter helped James Denny, his father, edit 2 volumes of ‘The Oxford School Harmony Course’ published in 1960 and 1961.

He joined the Newbury Symphony Orchestra in 1962 playing the viola, and then went on to lead the orchestra for over 28 years. He also played for many years in the Newbury String Players, set up by Gerald Finzi with whom Jacqueline Du Pre was a frequent soloist. Peter played the continuo part on his virginals for many performances in the 70s and 80s.

Peter conducted the choir for the Aldermaston Nativity Play for 21 years (1991–2012), a remarkable local tradition performed annually since 1957 at St Mary the Virgin, Aldermaston. Peter sang in many choirs over the years, including with the Douai Singers, the Cecilia Consort (1992–2017) and from 2019 the Three Rivers Community Choir. He also conducted the Cold Ash Consort and accompanied the Cold Ash Senior Songsters. Peter wrote and arranged music, including some Christmas and Easter songs, and a descant to ‘Love Divine, All Loves Excelling’ sung at his funeral.

played the organ for innumerable weddings and funerals across Berkshire and beyond.

Peter gave to the community in many other ways too, for example as Treasurer of the Hermitage Team of Churches for 12 years and Treasurer of the Acland Hall, Cold Ash for 6 years (2011–2017) and overseeing its refurbishment during this time.

Peter maintained his father’s connections with a few German exchange students from Tübingen, from his father’s time as Professor of Music at Leeds University in the 50s. These included Renate Ehninger, who along with her husband Gotthilf, was involved with post war reconciliation between Huchenweld and Pforzheim in Germany and Coventry, and Peter edited a book she wrote.

Peter loved family history collating and creating the Denny and Jones family trees, following in the footsteps of Christopher Columbus Denny who emigrated to America and published the Denny history in 1886.

Peter leaves his wife Judith, of 56 years, daughters Susannah and Caroline, and five grandsons.

After his retirement, Peter accompanied young people for their music grade examinations. He also accompanied Judith, his wife, singing and they created the JuPeter duo. Together they performed over 100 times to a wide range of audiences from Fairmile Hospital, charities, including local Alzheimers and Parkinsons groups, to several care homes.

Peter was always part of a congregation and Parish, playing the organ most Sundays, spending his last 30 years at Holy Trinity, Hermitage. In addition, he

Jonathan died suddenly and unexpectedly at home on the 8th December 2022. He leaves behind his wife Anne and children Lisa and Matthew.

Three Rivers Community Choir.

local theatre and had bought and erected a hive in the garden in the hope of keeping bees in 2023.

Jonathan was captain of running at Clifton. He continued running as a hobby up until the end and took part in the 10K Capability Canter at Croome Court, South Worcestershire just eight days before he died.

He studied medicine and became a General Practitioner at the Heywood Family Practice in Pill, Bristol.

He retired early in 2014 and moved to Malvern in Worcestershire to renovate an Edwardian house there. He spent time walking and running the Malvern hills and surrounding area, travelled, enjoyed the

Croome Court, Capability Canter South Worcestershire

OC Magazine 2023 37

Anthony Garcia PH 1956

After Clifton, he completed National Service, where he topped his regiment and then went to Hong Kong and joined the Hong Kong Military Police as a Dog Handler.

He worshipped Clifton College and would always attend Reunions and other social engagements. He loved the theatre and would go to many performances at the Redgrave Theatre and Hippodrome.

Tony returned to Bristol after 5 years and ran a small restaurant and members club on Blackboy Hill. He then joined the family business in Bristol which he took into its centenary before closing and semi retiring.

Tony was a keen golfer and played weekly with his friends, many of whom were fellow Old Cliftonians. He was a member of The Clifton Club for over 40 years, running the sporting competitions in particular, as well as a member of Bristol Savages which he attended with his father and uncle for over 50 years.

Tony was married and had 3 children: Nicholas and Timothy both of whom attended Clifton College and his daughter Alexandra who attended Clifton High School.

Anthony (Tony) Garcia was born in Bristol in 1939 and attended Clifton College from 1953 to 1956 as a day boy in Polack’s House in the Upper School. He was very keen at all sport especially boxing, where he became great friends with his PE teacher and trainer Gordon Hazell.

David Goodland Hon. OC

David Goodland, who died in January 2023 at the age of 95, arrived at Clifton in 1964 and was later to become Head of History and then Senior Master. He was

Tony unfortunately divorced and lived the last 30 years of his life in Victoria Square in Clifton Village, where he ran the Quadrant Pub for 15 years and was a wellrespected member of the Clifton community.

often to be seen leading interestinglyshaped dogs around College Fields and The Close, or dragging fallen tree limbs down Canynge Road for use as firewood.

Everywhere he went he hummed to himself; the default was Haydn, but sometimes he would repeat tunes he happened to overhear in passing. His contributions to the tradition of staff plays at the start of the Lent term seemed always to draw special cheers.

He was also a House Tutor at Polack’s House; his children fondly remember Ernest and Pat Polack as much-loved extended family. Boys from Polack’s and other houses who had hit various difficulties would become lodgers at 11 Percival Road and live as part of the family. He led a quiet but deeply devoted Christian faith; he was known to finish night shifts with The Samaritans and go on to teach a full day.

Dunster Castle 38 OC Magazine 2023

Tony had fought cancer for many years but it did not stop him enjoying life to its fullest. He sadly passed away on June 24th 2023 at Bristol Royal Infirmary with his close family around him. He was cremated at Memorial Woodlands Bristol.

He will be well remembered by his close friends and family.

He is survived by his 3 children, 5 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.

In retirement in West Somerset he further pursued his interests in music, singing in numerous choirs and playing his cello. He continued to support good causes, and was, amongst other things, a guide for the National Trust at Dunster Castle and the voice of the West Somerset Talking Newspaper. He was for many years a church warden at St Etheldreda’s, West Quantoxhead. Books rose in piles wherever he went. He never lost his interest in meeting new people or discovering new ideas. One of his greatest roles was saved for the final years of his life, as a carer to his beloved Gill. Time and again as people have recalled him, his kindness was remembered above all. The family was moved to see so many former colleagues and pupils at his funeral, and to hear from so many more. He is greatly missed by friends, former colleagues and pupils, and his family, not least his 3 children and 8 grandchildren.

Geoffrey Greed NT 1955

Geoffrey Reginald Greed was born on 30th May 1937 at St Brendan’s Maternity Hospital in Clifton.

Geoffrey attended Clifton College in the early 1950's where he was a day boy in

Richard Twining Harris NT 1959

Richard Twining Harris was born on 17th May 1941, a year which saw considerable bombing of the City of Bristol. He grew up in Stoke Bishop with brother David and sister Rachel. The son, grandson and grandnephew of Old Cliftonians, he attended Clifton from 1954 to 1959, his daily cycle up Stoke Hill preparing him for later athletic pursuits.

School reports suggest mixed academic performance, but much enthusiasm and contribution to debate. Success was found more easily outside the classroom, where he was a cricket captain and excelled at running. He won the Long Pen cross country race in c.35 minutes, a very good time that he often recounted was achieved despite injury. He also won the Sports Challenge Cup and left Clifton having obtained 10 O levels and 2 A levels.

Following school, he was encouraged to

North Town. He carried out National Service in the Royal Engineers and then trained to be an accountant, but his passion for animals led him back to Bristol Zoo. He worked at several zoos during his career including Chester, Munich, and Dudley before working with his father Reginald at Bristol Zoo as Curator from 1974. Geoffrey retired in 2001 which marked the end of 80 years of two generations of the Greed family in charge of Bristol Zoo. During Geoffrey’s time as Director, the Zoo was constantly reinvigorated and a number of these projects were completed under his tenure which included the Ape house, the opening of the five Big Cat enclosures, the Reptile House and the Nocturnal House. The Aquarium was rebuilt and extended converting the centre of what was the old bear pit into the UK's first underwater tunnel. This was followed by the Twilight World, Gorilla Island and finally in 1998 the opening of the Seal and Penguin Coast.

become a lawyer and, once he had obtained an elusive O Level in Latin, embarked on his law degree at Bristol University while simultaneously doing his articles. After taking his final law exams at Guildford, he heard that he had qualified as a solicitor whilst working as a brick layer on the Bower Ashton Art School building, there picking up skills that he would go on to use on his own home.

Shortly afterwards, he applied for a job as assistant to the club solicitor at the RAC in Pall Mall. He got the job and later revealed that the consulting solicitor who interviewed him was an OC. A lucky break perhaps! After 2 years at the RAC, he spent 5 years working for the mining company RTZ from their St James’s Square headquarters, a job that tapped into his schoolboy passion for geography and geology. He enjoyed travelling and RTZ gave him the opportunity to travel around the world to Germany, Yugoslavia, India, Indonesia and the USA. He had met Sarah, his wife of 53 years and a fellow Bristolian, when she was still at Clifton High School and they met up again when both were working in London. This relationship added to his ties with Bristol, so that when, in 1973, he was headhunted

by Andrew Breach to run Principality Holdings Limited, a commercial property company in Bristol, he readily accepted.

He also began his own company, Richard Harris and Co Solicitors in 1975, to undertake private legal work. Having grown up in Bristol, he already had many friends particularly from his Clifton days and his work and sociable personality enabled him to grow friends and work easily with many people in the city. He sent his boys Daniel and Edward to Clifton

It should be noted that although he was responsible for many projects and changes, Geoffrey’s legacy is that he knew the days of large animals at Bristol Zoo were numbered, so the polar bears, giraffes and chimpanzees were gradually phased out. His vision focused on the species that mattered in conservation terms.

For his family, he was ever present, as an unchanging landscape feature whilst much else changed around him. He will be remembered by his friends for his wicked sense of humour, that twinkle in his eye and his love of the finer things in life.

Since his stroke, life became a challenge, but he showed great bravery and dignity.

He never let it get him down and his love of life was always there for all to see. He is survived by his widow Patricia.

Geoffrey will be greatly missed by many.

College and daughter Kate to Clifton High School, before the College had begun to take girls. His children, he would say, were his greatest achievement, as well as having renovated their Georgian family home in Clifton from top to bottom.

From 1988, private practice became his primary focus, and he operated as a sole practitioner until 2010 when the practice merged with AMD Solicitors, followed by his retirement in 2016 at the age of 75.

He was elected President of Bristol Law Society in 2000 – 2001 and again enjoyed the travelling that this entailed. Following that he spent ten happy and constructive years on the National Law Society Conveyancing and Land Law Committee, enjoying frequent trips up to London.

From the moment he returned to the city in 1973, Richard became increasingly invested in Bristol, its people and its places. He was particularly committed, somewhat ahead of his time, to the preservation of the city’s green spaces, working tirelessly on several campaigns to maintain them for the enjoyment of all. He was a keen walker and could often be found traversing the Downs, the Mendips or along the Cornish coast, to be followed, of course, by a warm ale. He also continued to ski in his beloved Zermatt until his mid 70s and his après ski stories were legendary.

Most will remember Richard, or Ricky, as early friends knew him, as enthusiastic and charming with considerable determination and an eye for legal detail.

Probably his lasting legacy lies in those green spaces he championed. He leaves a wife, three children and five grandchildren.

OC Magazine 2023 39

Richard Holmes Hon OC

Richard Holmes was born in Udimore and went up to Clare College, Cambridge in 1951 to read Classics, later changing to English Literature.

He had many great stories of his time at Cambridge, made lifelong friends and proudly hung his oar from the May 1952 Bumps on the wall.

John Robert Horton NT 1964

Dr John Robert Horton died 27th January 2021, aged 74.

Gordon Johnston WaH 1952 Gordon Johnston came to Clifton in September 1947 as an Exhibitioner, and was assigned to Watson’s House, recently re-opened by Rodney Gee. Due to asthma, he played little part in games, but showed interest in rifle shooting, joining the CCF. He was in the winning Cadet Pair at Bisley in 1949 (Clifton had last won in 1890) and was captain of shooting in 1951-52, and Senior Under Officer of the CCF. In 1952 he left to take up a place at Clare College Cambridge, continuing his interest in shooting and the army. He was 40 OC Magazine 2023

He started his working career at the British Aeroplane Company, based in Bristol where, amongst other things, he learnt to fly. He returned to Clare to do a PGCE before teaching at Shrewsbury School. There he was persuaded by a colleague to go to Africa and teach in a mission school in Mzpanza, Northern Rhodesia, which he did for three years.

Following the foundation of Zambia, he returned to Europe on a boat up the East Coast of Africa to Venice. During the voyage he achieved two great accomplishments: he finished reading War and Peace and he met his future wife Matty, who had been teaching in Cape Town and was also returning to Europe.

On his return to the UK, Richard took a teaching post at Clifton College, Bristol, where he remained until his retirement in 1991. He taught English and Latin in the Upper School, before finally finding his home teaching science, with an emphasis on biology and the environment, in the Prep School.

After retiring, he returned to his birthplace

John had a small scholarship to Clifton College and achieved A levels in maths, higher maths and physics. He played cello in the school orchestra and sang in the choral society, memorably Carmina Burana by Carl Orff at the Colston Hall at the 1962 centenary celebrations. He was also head of house (North Town) in his last term at school. John was keen at most sports and participated in the cross country running team.

After Clifton College, John read Mathematics at St John’s in Cambridge.

As one of the Archimedeans, he spent countless nights working on the Maths Lab’s Titan computer. After his BA, he gained the Diploma in Computer Science.

His subsequent Doctorate in Cambridge was on Addressing and Protection in operating systems based on the design of the Capability Machine in which Prof. M V

one of two Officer Cadets representing Cambridge University OTC in the Queen’s coronation procession in 1953 and was awarded the Batten Memorial Sword. He passed the exam for entry to the Civil Service. He graduated with First class honours in Classics and was called up for National Service, being commissioned in the Scots Guards.

In 1957 he was appointed an Assistant principal in the Air Ministry, serving as private secretary to the junior minister for 3 years. Later civil service moves took him to the Ministry of Public Building and Works, where he was Principal Private Secretary to 3 successive Ministers.

of Udimore, near Rye in East Sussex. He was well known and respected in the locality, taking an active role in nature conservation. At various times he took the chair of several voluntary organisations, amongst them the Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, the Rother Environmental Group and the Marsh Link Action Group. He led the campaign for an improved railway service when the Ashford to Hastings line still had slam door carriages; and the campaign to protect the Brede Valley, with its Site of Special Scientific Interest, from devastation that would have been caused by being part of the South Coast Link Road. Richard demonstrated great commitment to environmental causes and had the patience and courtesy that helped win the day.

Richard was an enthusiastic organic gardener and he and Matty opened their garden once a year to raise funds for charity. Richard was deeply knowledgeable, modest and always interested in people, with a warm-hearted twinkle in his eye. He is survived by his wife, Matty, two children and four grandchildren.

Wilkes provided guidance.

John started work at GEC Computers as a software engineer where he became instrumental in the development of the GEC 4000 multi-access system and then headed up the military systems division.

Later he joined Acorn Computers as technical director. He moved to Net-tel Computer Systems – of which he was a founder director - in 1988. Net-tel produced the first X400 electronic messaging systems for PCs. He led the company until venture capital investment in 2001, when it was renamed Clearswift.

John was a keen private pilot, who enjoyed travel, food and wine. On retirement, he lived with his wife Simone in The Netherlands, Costa Rica and Normandy. They had two children, Emma and Robert.

For 2 years he was seconded to Shell as Financial Advisor to the chemical companies in the Middle and Far East.

Later, he was head of the civil contingencies unit in the Cabinet Office and secretary of the Industrial Policy Committee of the cabinet under the Heath and later Wilson governments.

For three years he then served in the Dept of Transport, responsible for the planning and finance of the railways. For 9 years he was responsible for the government’s civil accommodation programme, followed by Defence and finally as Managing Director, International.

On his retirement from the civil service in 1993 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath.

He was then appointed Executive Director of the UK Major Ports Group, a trade

Gordon Jones Former staff

association representing to the Government and the EU the interests of the port industry. He retired in 1999, before being appointed a Lay Chairman for complaints against the NHS, a job he did for 7 years, finally retiring in 2007.

In retirement he supported local community groups, chairing the Friends of Kennington Park, and as secretary of the Lambeth Parks’ Forum.

those who responded to his teaching style, and to those who came under his pastoral care.

called on by his colleagues in the MCR.

At Clifton in the late 1970s, the excitement he shared varied widely, from teasing out the complex, often earthy conceits of the metaphysical poets, to revealing the richness and hidden nuances of the English literary canon; from the wilderness of Wirral in Gawain and the Green Knight to Shakespeare, Eliot and Henry James.

When Gordon Jones came to Clifton in 1975 with his then wife Anny (and two small children, Lydia and Pip), they were among an exciting new generation of nonOxbridge recruits to Brian Worthington’s lively young English department. Like Lionel Binns, who had arrived not long before, they were among the first graduates of the recently established University of York.

The Department of English at York was highly esteemed in the 1960s and ‘70s, and – in Brian’s view – equal in many ways to Cambridge; with the added distinction of having FR Leavis as visiting professor.

Gordon was a lifelong scholar, with eclectic tastes: from literature, music, choral singing and the visual arts to architecture, foreign travel and study; including a particular fondness for Italy, its culture and cuisine.

A boy chorister at Chetham’s School in Manchester, he went on to study at Stockport Grammar School where he not only developed as a talented tenor but also played the piano and organ.

Gordon’s scholarship, and significant contribution to the school choir, was recognised with an exhibitioner’s award in 1964; his final year before going up to York.

That alone might sound a tad dry, if it wasn’t also said that he readily shared his enthusiasm for all the varied subjects he engaged with. For among his multiple talents was his easy way of communicating that enthusiasm to those he taught, with patience and ebullient good humour; as well as the understanding and attention he gave to

But Gordon would always delight in going beyond the obvious; elevating, for example, the Victorian plant hunters and early landscape architects to a subject worthy of extra-curricular sixth form study; enlivened further with jaunty weekend field trips.

His willingness to subvert convention was perhaps never more evident at Clifton than on the occasion he chose to umpire a cricket match, on the College Close of all places, in his bare feet.

He also encouraged his more book-bound students to get out more, travel widely, take advantage of the European interrail passes that had recently been introduced, and ideally stop off in Perugia for a month to learn Italian from a native speaker at the Università per Stranieri.

Back in class, just when you expected a discussion of yet another Shakespeare play or sonnet, Gordon would burst in (sometimes a few minutes late) clutching a cliché-ridden election leaflet retrieved from his letter box that morning and asking the class to critically appraise it.

His hope being that an argument would start, with someone bold enough to rip the author’s lame effort to shreds while another attempted a defence.

Gordon celebrated artistry of all kinds, while introducing his students to the language of criticism, so that – like him – they could go out in the world with the confidence, vocabulary and critical skills to differentiate (and call out) base metal from gold; or, in his words, the purely meretricious from the “very fine”.

Gordon’s father had been a master printer and he recalled that, as a child sitting on his father’s lap, he learnt to read type back to front, as in a mirror. It was a skill that always remained with him and a childhood experience that inspired his own letterpress printing, which was often

His kitchen talents were also apparent, when on more than one occasion he took his extra-curricular classes off to the Bristol Arts Centre for an afternoon art film, followed by a delicious, three-course Italian meal prepped on site by Gordon and Anny. A decent bottle of Montepulciano D’Abruzzo may have been included; and that in the day when the only Italian wine you could find in British supermarkets was the worst of the Lambrusco.

After leaving Clifton, Gordon took up stained glass artistry while opting to live for a while in a distinctly edgy part of central Bristol in the run-up to one of England’s first urban riots of the 1980s.

Soon after, he moved to Botswana, volunteering for a year on a public health project before arriving at the Maru-a-Pula school in the capital, Gaborone. The school had been founded in 1972 as a post-apartheid model school for South Africa. It was there in 1982 that he met Emily, a Harvard history graduate and fellow teacher, who he subsequently married in Botswana.

More conventional teaching posts followed for Gordon and Emily at the Taft school in Connecticut, where Gordon was Dean, and their daughter Alice was born.

Then, in 1996, another move beckoned, this time to mountainous northern Thailand where they co-founded a boarding school near to Chiang Mai; in Emily’s words “in the middle of nowhere”.

It flourishes to this day as the American Pacific International School.

Returning to America in 1999, for Emily to take up a teaching job in Portland, Oregon, Gordon took time out to study psychology and counselling, before working with ex-convicts there, and on a child abuse prevention programme. In the process, Emily believes he became the only person ever to have read the complete works of Sigmund Freud.

In 2007, Gordon and Emily moved on to the Putney School in Vermont, a progressive boarding school, where Emily took up the headship and Gordon was soon swept into teaching English again and – for the first time – art. During his Portland phase, he had, with Lydia’s encouragement, taught himself to paint.

Subsequently, in Vermont, he became an accomplished and commercially

OC Magazine 2023 41

successful artist, both in watercolours and oils, establishing a market for his work in Northern Europe and Australia as well as nearer to home.

Between all this, Gordon also found time at Putney to publish a book on Bach’s choral music (2009), as well as two editions of an English grammar book while at

Daniel Kay PH 1996

Taft (1991/93) entitled: “I wouldn’t know a gerund if it bit me in the ankle”.

From reading tributes from his Putney School admirers, it’s clear that in his final years Gordon had become a much-loved fixture for many. In Emily’s words: he was “everyone’s favourite grandfather, and enormously generous with his time with

disaster in 2011 and I'm sorry to tell you that one of the campaigning journalists who made that debate happen, Dan Kay, died this weekend. Dan made an extraordinary, pioneering contribution to journalism and he was an incredible support to bereaved families and survivors during the very traumatic second inquest."

Dan, who died suddenly at the age of 45 in May, was recognised for his pioneering contribution to local journalism and his commitment to social justice with the award of a posthumous honorary doctorate by Liverpool Hope University.

Dan was in Polack’s 1991–1996, where he made his mark in all areas. He loved football and cricket, was academically able, and took a leading role in House music and drama – his performance as Pizarro in The Royal Hunt of the Sun was especially remarkable. He was quite rightly Head of House in his penultimate term at the College.

He died unexpectedly in May, and what follows are tributes published in the Liverpool Echo – he will be hugely missed by those who knew him. [The Editor] A statement from his beloved Liverpool Football Club said: "Everyone at LFC is deeply saddened by the tragic passing of Dan Kay. A much respected journalist who was well known to many at the club, tireless Hillsborough campaigner and lifelong Liverpool fan, our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues."

Anfield rose in applause in memory of the former ECHO journalist and social justice campaigner Dan Kay during Liverpool's match against Aston Villa on May 20th.

In Parliament, Wirral South Labour MP Alison McGovern raised a point of order so that Dan's legacy as a tireless Hillsborough justice campaigner would be noted in Hansard, the permanent record of the House of Commons.

Ms McGovern said: "The first debate in this house arising from a public petition was that on the Hillsborough Stadium

2021 Magazine 2023 OC Magazine 42 32 OC

Dan worked tirelessly on behalf of families and survivors of the Hillsborough disaster, and was honorary secretary of Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation at Princes Road Synagogue. A former ECHO journalist who pioneered digital journalism in the newsroom and helped lead this newspaper's coverage of the Hillsborough legal proceedings, he was more recently a regular contributor to the ECHO's sports team, sharing his deep love of Liverpool FC and its history with readers. Dan worked with the late Anne Williams's daughter Sara to co-write With Hope In Her Heart, a powerful account of the late Anne's fight for justice for her son Kevin, 15, and the other Liverpool supporters unlawfully killed at Hillsborough. Throughout his life he was a champion for social justice and those in need. His uncle Steven Waldman led the tributes to Dan, whose compassion, empathy and concern for others touched countless lives in Liverpool and beyond. He told the ECHO: "I doubt there is a more decent person than Daniel. He was a giving, supportive, loving person. He cared for society, he cared for Liverpool Football Club and he had a strong social conscience. He wanted to work with people in need, that was his plan. He had the ability to listen to people and provide support. He was a wonderful son, supportive to his mother and father. He gave understanding and support to my mother, his grandmother, Edna Waldman and to his grandfather Jack. He was a totally giving person."

Among his many achievements as a journalist was running the ECHO's live coverage of the fresh Hillsborough inquests, which concluded that those

all the kids, who trusted him to be wise for them”.

After several years of declining health, Gordon sadly died in March last year in the week of his 76th birthday, shortly after a serious fall. It was only a few weeks before he and Emily were due to retire together from the school and move to a new home in New England.

who died on April 15, 1989 were unlawfully killed. Dan also worked meticulously to compile individual tributes to those who lost their lives, spending time with many of the families affected over the years and campaigning passionately on their behalf. Sara Williams said: "He had a heart of gold, he would do anything for anyone. It is just such a shock, he was like one of the family and we will all miss him so much."

Schoolfriend Saul Marks said Dan would be much missed in the city's Jewish community. Mr Marks, senior warden at Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation, said: "We are in shock at the sudden and unexpected loss of our honorary secretary, Dan Kay. Judaism was an important part of his life and one which he sought to maintain after the loss of his parents and the grandparents who helped raise him. He served two stints as a charitable trustee and he brought a new level of professionalism to the role of honorary secretary since 2018. May his dear soul rest in peace."

Also, among those paying tribute today were Charlotte Hennessy, who was just six years old when her dad James, 29, from Ellesmere Port, died in the Hillsborough disaster. She told the ECHO: "Dan has become more like a brother to me and my husband James, and more like an uncle to our four sons, who are just heartbroken that he is not here anymore. He was just the most selfless, most compassionate, loveable human being."

Everton fan Steve Kelly, whose 38-yearold brother Michael died at Hillsborough, worked with Dan on countless fundraising initiatives. They formed a close bond, recently attending Tranmere Rovers matches on a regular basis. Steve said his friend was a "warm-hearted, kind person." He added: "Wherever you went with Dan he was talking to someone, and they were always smiling because they were talking to Dan." Hillsborough survivor Val Yates said Dan had been equally supportive to survivors as to the families. She said: "He was such a fantastic bloke. Everybody loved him.

He was such a sweet, kind, fantastic, wonderful man. I am so devastated for his family, and for him. He is such a huge loss."

Liverpool ECHO editor Maria Breslin said: "Everyone at the Echo is devastated by the loss of Dan. He was the most humble, kind and gentle man and, despite his modesty, a really good journalist. I worked with Dan closely for many years and he taught me so much. Dan had an

encyclopaedic knowledge of Liverpool FC and his nostalgia-inspired reads were much loved by our audience. He also had a keen sense of justice and took the lead on much of our Hillsborough coverage.

We couldn’t have wished for a more passionate or knowledgeable reporter to

cover a story of such importance. Dan achieved so much in his life and will be missed terribly by everyone who knew him. Our thoughts today are with his family and very many friends."

Oliver Morison

Oliver Howard Dalcour Morison sadly died on 2 November 2022 aged 73 after suffering for some time from a rare dementia. He was cared for by his wife during this time and died at their home of very many years in Castle Cary, Somerset.

His condition was particularly cruel as it removed his ability to make sentences and also to calculate - harsh for a mathematician.

retirement, at Sexey's School in Bruton, the co-educational state boarding school, where he was also for many years a housemaster and Director of Boarding.

DH 1967

He was a Scholar at Clifton, read Mathematics and Statistics at Leicester University, and, after a very brief period as a statistician for London Transport, became a teacher. He taught mathematics at various schools in the west country including Dartington and then, for very many years until his

John Palmer BH 1970

The anthropologist John Palmer, great defender of the Wichi people, and recipient of The Royal Anthropological Institute’s prestigious Lucy Mair Medal in 2009, has passed away.

He originally took a BA in Modern Languages followed by a BPhil in Latin

American studies at Oxford. His BPhil thesis was an ethnographic survey of the hunter-gatherers of the Argentinian Chaco, and he did fieldwork with the Wichí for his doctorate, awarded in 1997.

He subsequently published both papers, in English and in Spanish, as well as a respected monograph on Wichí life.

From the early 1990s, he worked continuously in advocacy, particularly on indigenous rights/consultancy work in Argentina and Paraguay. After a series of repeat visits to the Wichí, he returned to the Chaco in 1996 to dedicate his life to assisting them in their various legal battles which have resulted in formal recognition from the Argentine State for the legal status of this indigenous community, and given them title to the land on which domestic life is lived.

He formed his family with a Wichi woman with whom he had five boys and a girl. He dedicated himself to researching the Wichi people and defending the rights of local indigenous communities. He died in

He leaves a widow, Judi, four children, one of whom, Tom, teaches at Clifton High, and ten grandchildren. He was prominent in his local church, community events and a leading tenor in a number of choral societies in Somerset.

Sexey's School in Bruton

May, in Tartagal, a few days after his 70th birthday, after fighting a severe illness.

He understood the Wichi like few people a man who marked the history of the deep Chaco.

He wrote the “The Good Will Wichi, an indigenous spirituality” (2005), and was the protagonist of the documentary “El Etnógrafo”, by the filmmaker Ulises Rossell (2012), which explored the culture and worldview of the Wichis.

He was in a delicate state of health from 2022, and had been transferred to the state capital for his care.

When nominated for the Lucy Mair medal, one citation read: 'Without the central, coordinating work of Palmer, the plight of the communities he assists would today be much worse ... he is the only UK anthropologist of his broad generation who has dedicated himself to assisting the people among whom he first did fieldwork.'

John Palmer with the Wichi people

2023 33 43 OC Magazine 2021

Ian Rose

pursuit of increasing his sightings of rare birds.

ST 1950 In 1945 Ian went to Clifton and he was first in Dakyns’ House and then moved to South Town. Ian was by his own words not a great scholar, and his main achievements were at games. He played for the first teams at rugby, hockey and cricket, and he played at Lord's against Tonbridge in 1951, opening the bowling on the hallowed ground.

Ian Rose was born on the 16th August, 1931. He lived in Street, Somerset where his father Charles was a headmaster, and his mother Mary was school games teacher.

At the start of the war Ian was evacuated to the United States on his 9th Birthday and was adopted by Elmer and Caroline Foye. His foster father taught him many things about the outdoors, and this is where his passion and interest in wildlife and in particular his love of birds started.

His love of bird watching stayed with him all his life and he travelled the world in

Richard Michael Southcombe SH 1950

It is with great sadness that the family of Richard Michael Southcombe (known as Michael) announces his passing after a brief illness, on 25 October 2022, at the age of 89. Michael was born on November 15th, 1932 and lived in Yeovil, Somerset for the entirety of his life. He attended Clifton College from 1942 – 1950. After his National Service in the Royal Tank Regiment, he joined the family glove manufacturing business, Southcombe Brothers. He became Managing Director and Chairman in 1982. Southcombe Brothers Ltd continues today under the 38 44 OC Magazine 2021 2023

On leaving school Ian qualified as a chartered accountant and during this time, Ian met his wife Janet (nee Greed).

They were married on the 15th December 1956. Ian started national service when he was 25 and served in the Navy for two years and on his return worked at Hudson Smith Briggs before joining GB Britton shoes as company secretary and then as finance director at Ward White. Ian was lucky enough to travel the world as overseas director and always found time for a spot of bird watching.

Ian continued his love of sport and was never happier than playing for West Glos hockey, Clifton Cricket club, playing golf at B&C or watching cricket at Lords in the Pavilion. The highlight of his sporting career was beating Bristol Rugby Club playing for Clifton Rugby club in 1956 - his

contribution was giving away a penalty try for a very late tackle on Jack Gregory who at the time was in the British Olympic running team!

Ian always enjoyed being part of a group or club and enjoyed the company of likeminded men, he was a member of the Shakespeare Club and Savages where he was a member for over 50 years. Ian belonged to several other organizations, he was a Governor of Clifton College, Chairman of the local OC Society, General commissioner of Income Tax, Secretary of BACRO (Bristol Aftercare resettlement of offenders), Secretary of West Glos hockey and Treasurer of both Bristol golf club and Bristol Sea cadets.

Ian passed away peacefully on the 24th March 2022. For his family, Ian will be remembered as a loving husband, father and grandfather. He will be remembered by his friends for his mischievous sense of humour and his love of life and the great outdoors.

He is survived by his three children Joanna, Elizabeth and James, his nine grandchildren and six great grandchildren. He will be missed by them all very much.

Ian had a very good innings.

helm of his son, David Southcombe.

Michael was a Liveryman and Member of the Worshipful Company of Glovers. He was also Honorary President of the British Motorsport Association, overseeing all forms of motorsport in the UK. A keen rugby supporter, in later life he liked nothing more than watching England matches with his family and friends. Michael will be lovingly remembered by his wife Jennifer, his son David, his daughter Julia and his six grandchildren.

The Royal Tank Regiment c.1950

Stuart Wineberg PH 1955

Whittingham College in 1945 to enable his parents to pursue their tennis careers. In 1951, he passed the Common Entrance, much to his parents’ surprise, and arrived at Clifton College.

In the same year he met his future wife, Norma, and they were married in 1961, producing three children, eight grandchildren and two great grandsons.

He studied accountancy and was articled in Leeds. With the advent of computers, he worked for Kalamazoo Computer Group installing early accounting systems in Ford main dealerships. He went on to the Calderford dealership in Wakefield and later formed his own company, Management Services Unlimited.

Stuart was born in Leeds in 1938 to Esther & Maurice Wineberg. He was sent to

Music was a huge part of his life, and he played the piano from the age of five. He

Simon Roderick Ward

Service meant that like many of his contemporaries he came to Lincoln with more maturity and experience than would now be the norm. He had been awarded an Old Members Exhibition and certainly fulfilled the founding purpose of that award of recognising “all round excellence” both with his Honours degree in Jurisprudence and again on the sportsfields. He captained the 1st XV in the season the College won the League Championship for the first time ever, he was capped by the Greyhounds and was a member of the Goblin Club.

WaH 1947

Simon Ward came to Lincoln College after completing his National Service for which he was called up immediately on leaving school at Clifton College. He was commissioned into the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and went straight to Malaya where the troubles had already started: dangerous but exciting times for a 19 year-old subaltern which included being attached to the Malay Regiment as the officer commanding A Company with Arabic script on his cap badge and 28 men to look after, only one of whom spoke English.

Simon was born in August 1928 in Southsea where he spent his childhood before going off to Clifton Prep when he was 11 and then on to the College itself.

There he excelled on all the sportsfields and on leaving in 1947 earned the commendation of his housemaster as “a natural leader with remarkable good sense and poise”.

The intervening years of his National

He went on to Cornell University as a Telluride scholar before returning to study for the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn. He was called in 1955 but had already decided that the City was the place for him. He joined Slaughter and May where he worked with many of the best known and most respected names in the world of City law.

His progress to partnership was held up by the statutory 20 partner limit then applicable to law and accountancy as well as banking practices but he was eventually welcomed into the partnership in 1966. Slaughter and May was the firm with the highest of reputations not only in the City and the world of business and commerce but also in the legal world and the regard, indeed for many the awe, in which Simon was held, particularly in the field of corporate finance, was undoubtedly a major contribution to that reputation.

The City had been his life but after he retired from Slaughter and May in 1992 Simon remained fully active. In particular, he was able to indulge his passion for cricket; as a long-standing member of the MCC he would indulge himself with frequent visits to Lord’s. He had a number of other involvements too, mainly of a charitable nature and principally in the field of medical research. He was already

sang alto in the school choir at Bristol Cathedral. He was excited to discover Barbershop Harmony singing in 1976 and this led to him forming a quartet, “Limited Company”, which won the Quartet Championship of the British Association of Barbershop Singers in 1982. Stuart was a founder member of the UHC Synagogue Choir where he sang bass regularly.

His other great interest was Freemasonry.

He joined Loyalty Lodge, Leeds, in 1964 and was installed in the chair in 1978. He then became a member of the Old Cliftonian Lodge and was Worshipful Master in 2003. He enjoyed his masonry, but sadly ill health curtailed his visits and he regretfully resigned as kidney dialysis three times a week took its toll.

He died on 6th November 2022.

The Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry

a trustee of the Westminster Medical School which eventually, after a series of mergers, became the Imperial College School of Medicine in London and he served as a member of the Court of Imperial College itself for five years from 2003. Not least he always remained a warm supporter of his old College at Oxford.

Simon had met Diana when they were at law school together and they were married at the end of 1965 just as he was becoming a partner in Slaughter and May. Their daughters Clare and Kate were born in 1969 and 1972 and they had many happy family years together, living in Notting Hill and by the sea in Sussex.

However, they separated in 1998 and Simon made a new life with Mehrnaz, enjoying more happy years together with much travel and stylish adventure.

Simon was not only a man of style but always gracious and urbane too. He died peacefully in March 2023 at the age of 94.

He will be greatly missed by all his family and friends, including his former colleagues.

Christopher FitzGerald

OC Magazine 2023 45

Development from alumni and parents. Clifton is so very grateful for the gifts from our annual calling programme supporters, 1862 Club members, international gifts from our alumni and parents in both the US and Asia and of course the transformational gift Clifton has received from the Chellaram Foundation towards the Chellaram Sports Complex.

The ground breaking ceremony for this fabulous project took place on 1st July and was an outstanding success in honouring our benefactors.

pledges totalling well over £1 million in charitable support.

As always Clifton's charitable support comes in many sizes and is directed to a variety of purposes, from bursaries for qualified means tested pupils who otherwise couldn't afford a Cliftonan education, to gifts directed to capital projects or vital improvements to our site. The College is grateful for all the support it receives. In the past year Clifton has received cash and

In the last months the College has been building its capacity to identify, research, solicit and steward charitable gifts to attract charitable support for vital Clifton College projects.

One of the highlights of this past year was the John Cleese Dinner in London. The special guest was the actor, writer and comedian John Cleese who entertained the guests during the course of the evening. The event was a tremendous success raising well over £100,000 whilst thanking our top charitable supporters for their longstanding commitment to Clifton.

John Rolfe

I am pleased to update you on the activities of the Clifton College Development Trust (CCDT) in the past fiscal year ending 31st August 2023.

It has been three years since I arrived at Clifton College. Over that time the CCDT has been successful in its efforts to increase the levels of charitable giving

The College and the CCDT’s Trustees including CCDT Chairman Simon Brewer thank all who contribute charitably to Clifton's wellbeing and its future.

The John Cleese Dinner in London

“I have been really impressed with the group of Old Cliftonians who have chosen to support the College, have enjoyed their company and have felt that I wanted to be part if it. The College gave me a superb education and I would like to help give deserving young people a similar opportunity.”

Lindsay Tomlinson

Lindsay Tomlinson (WiH 69)

46 OC Magazine 2023

Equality Diversity Inclusion Belonging their thoughts. The results showed a need to learn about “The world we live in” and “LGBTQ+ communities”. It was important to give voice to staff and allow them to reflect on their own needs. The SARI team delivered a powerful CPD on the INSET day at the start of the Summer term. SARI will also train Governors and pupils in the next academic year.

To celebrate the contributions of marginalised groups to history and to our contemporary society.

The EDIB work has been very impactful again this year.

Our vision to become a fully inclusive organisation continues and Mrs Maringo has continued to work with key stakeholders to implement the EDIB mission.

To educate our communication about Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging.

To educate staff, an EDIB reading group was created by Leah Shaw, our Percival Librarian. The group met on a monthly basis in the Percival library and each month the group focused on a different theme. Staff continued to recognise the importance of education and one representative per department was chosen to join the EDIB reading group.

The group focused on several protected characteristics such as race and sexual orientations.

time to give real-life examples as well as words and expressions that should never be used.

Feedback from the assemblies this year has been overwhelmingly positive and Mrs Maringo is keen to continue the education piece.

The school has recently signed a partnership agreement with SARI (Stand against Racism and Inequality, a charity specialised in hate crime) and staff were asked to reflect on their needs and to share their preferences in terms of training at the end of the Lent term.

Staff completed a questionnaire to share

EDIB was created because “inequality” exists within our school. This particular mission is extremely important. All members of our communities should be celebrated and should not feel marginalised. This year again, events such as Black History Month, International Women’s Day and Pride month were celebrated with the community.

International Men’s Day was also celebrated.

The Pride Action Group and Pride Society who work under the EDIB umbrella also worked hard to celebrate LGBTQ+ communities. The first EDIB Pride Parade was organised on 28th April with pupils, staff and parents. All Cliftonians were invited but attendance was not compulsory. The atmosphere was indescribable as pupils, staff and parents got together for peace, unity and solidarity for LGBTQ+ communities.

Lauren Walker (Pride Lead) and her team worked tirelessly to organise this brilliant event that will be remembered forever.

To educate pupils, a range of assemblies were delivered across the College to raise awareness around different religions, discrimination and racism. Mrs Maringo delivered a powerful assembly in the Lent term to Y6,7 and Upper pupils to teach them how to “call out” racism and be an ally. Mrs Maringo has worked closely with DHP James Averis and DHP Ruth Coomber to quickly help resolve EDIB incidents. Education is key and pupils are not always aware of what racism and discrimination look like. Mrs Maringo took

OC Magazine 2023 47

To embrace and celebrate Diversity The Pride parade is a concrete example of how the community embraced and celebrated diversity this year.

The annual EDIB celebration day across the three schools also showcased our diversity.

As always, the younger children led by example. The traditional dresses and stories they came to show and share with staff and friends on that day were incredible. Events like the EDIB Celebration Day and the Pride parade highlight our international and diverse student body and the need to celebrate diversity with all members of our community.

Clifton. For example, “The Baroness Casey” report was discussed to reflect on EDIB issues in our society.

piece was successful as it helped the Pastoral and Safeguarding teams to resolve some incidents rapidly and effectively.

To give voice to all members of our community, providing them with the tools to talk about EDIB in a mature and informed way.

Parents were also part of the journey this year and two EDIB parent meetings took place in the Michaelmas term and the Lent term. These meetings allowed parents from the three schools to meet and share initiatives and strategies to help us become more inclusive.

Safeguarding was discussed, especially around SEN pupils and how we can ensure Clifton is a safe and inclusive place for all. Parents were extremely pleased about the provision of the anonymous platform to raise incidents and concerns (Whisper).

All Upper pupils from an Asian background were asked by the Deputy Head Pastoral Ruth Coomber to reflect on their journey and everyday life at Clifton and the feedback was powerful yet unfortunate. Indeed, some pupils talked very openly about the microaggressions they experience everyday and our aim is to prevent these behaviours in the future.

The EDIB Committee was stronger than ever this year with 24 Upper pupils. This meant that conversations were comprehensive and thorough. Pupils were able to reflect on current issues in our society, new policies, laws and how they can have an impact when they leave

Mrs Maringo, alongside other APP colleagues conducted a range of APP sessions again this year. The Antiprejudice programme gave a real opportunity to children & young people to share their honest thoughts and views on some EDIB topics and the educational

The Deputy Head Pastoral Ruth Coomber and Mrs Maringo planned to implement some new initiatives for our Asian pupils in the next academic year. Additionally, the Flair survey (conducted again this year) will continue to play a key role in our EDIB journey.

48 OC Magazine 2023

The EDIB work this year continued to create a sense of belonging for all members of our community.

Books & Other Items of Note Following correspondence about the 2022 Book Reviews, the Editor writes: The Cliftonian apologises to anyone who was offended by the text used in the review of 'Know Bristol' in last year’s issue and wish to also apologise to the author for misrepresenting him.

In the future, the magazine will aim to accurately represent the books published

by OCs and show appropriate respect to the diverse communities that make up its readership.

With regard to publications in 2023, it is regrettably the case that no reviews have been submitted this year. However, the following books by OCs have found their way into print: ‘Letters to Dead People’ by Ivor Share and Henry Nash [WaH 1978] ‘Hitler’s Ambassador’ by Neill Mitchell [OH 1971] ‘Quarantine Notes’ by Yahia Lababidi [Pre 1986] ‘Birdie: More Than ‘Soul of Anzac’ by Richard Farrimond [WaH 1965] ‘See Me Rolling’ by Lottie Jackson [HH 2011] ‘Living with Death without God’ by Valerie Jack [WoH 1999] ‘The Monk’ by Tim Sullivan [WiH 1975]

Items of Note David Nabarro [PH 1966] was made KCMG in the New Year’s Honours list for services to global health.

Kate Davenport [WT 1992] was awarded an OBE for services to British Foreign policy.

Coronation news: Andrew Nethsingha [WaH 1985] organised the music programme for the coronation of King Charles III in his capacity as Director of Music at Westminster Abbey; and Nick Gutfreund [ET 1978] made the screen used to shield the King at the sacred moment of anointment.

Julian Richer [PH 1977] was interviewed at length on Radio 4’s You and Yours in July, and found time to reference the importance of Ernest Polack to his career!

OC Magazine 2023 49

Letters To the Editor I always enjoy reading the Cliftonian, and the 2022 edition was as good as any. I particularly enjoyed Bernard Lever’s piece about Polack’s and the cousinhood. Also, the item about my housemaster Rodney Gee. His use of a fairly limited vocabulary was a brilliant way of holding our attention, while we notched up our scores as he spoke the selected words. In my time the favourites were ‘reputable’ and ‘disreputable’ together with about half a dozen more.

But one point requires correction. Although Rodney served in both World Wars, he was not captured in the first, only in the second. I showed the article to one of his daughters, who is puzzled as to how anyone thought he had been captured twice!

With best wishes, Robert Payne (WaH 1952) Dear Jo, Congratulations on the OC Elizabethan Edition which I have just read with much interest and enjoyment.

I think, however, that there may be a misprint on p 23 and that the reference to R. D. Owen should be a reference to R. D. [Ronnie] Ogden, who was my contemporary in BH and whom I have a vague memory of seeing for the last time at Commem in 1956, when I was on embarkation leave. I believe that there is a memorial to Ronnie in the Chapel, but I do not recall having seen it.

Yours, Stuart Beare [BH 1955] Dear Editor, Greece 1970 - I was there! I read Jonathan Hulme’s lucid and entertaining account of the school trip to Greece in 1970 with amazement. However, there was a slight gap. I was one of those four boys in that basement bar in Athens that night, the others being Roger Bigland (ET) and John Summers (PH). Roger had wanted to change a travellers’ cheque in the street, as you do, and this man in a suit said he could: ‘Come to my place.’ What could possibly go wrong? We followed and he disappeared through a back door. Never saw him again. As Jonathan recalls, four young ladies were allocated to each of us. It subsequently fell to me to go to the bar to pay. When faced with the amount, there followed a disagreement which ended with the night club manager claiming he had spent time in Soho and ‘when you don’t pay the bill there…’ He then drew his finger across his throat. I took it from that he disagreed with our position.

We were in fact put into the cell a few times, with some dodgy characters for company, only to be let out occasionally and shouted at by the desk sergeant, especially when we sat on his desk. It was not helped by the fact that the only interpreter was the night club manager! I don’t remember Messrs Hardyman and Jefferies being there to welcome us back to the hotel, but I do remember going down to their breakfast table in the morning:

50 OC Magazine 2023

“Excuse me sirs, but you might like to know what happened to us last night.” It was met with a wry smile which I had experienced before, having been a less than stellar pupil for a year in Mr Hardyman’s Latin set.

My brother (Alan Jenkins, WaH 1970) and I were both at the Memorial Service for Mr Hardyman and were glad to learn of all the things he had achieved since we left as well as the more personal notes expressed by his family and, of course, glad to pay our own respects to a great teacher and true gentleman.

Yours sincerely, Ian Jenkins (WaH 1973)

To the Editor The article on The South Town brought back memories of my time as a day boy at Clifton.

I was the oldest of 4 Tringham boys who passed through ST, from 1958 until 1972. We lived at North Longwood Farm in Beggar’s Bush Lane, from where we cycled to school over the Clifton suspension bridge every school day.

My first Housemaster was Alec MacDonald. He made sure all new boys had enough support while settling in. Later came Dudley Fromant, an excellent Geography teacher who inspired my liking for travel and exploration. I remember Geoffrey Hardyman as a good class teacher, before he became Housemaster.

Monday afternoons were always reserved for the cadet force. I found this quite daunting at first. However, one became used to it in time, and I quite enjoyed drilling a squad as a Lance Corporal. I proved to be quite a good shot at the .22 range, which led me to graduate onto the shooting team for my last 2 years. During the summer term, while other pupils were playing cricket, we would be practising our shooting at the Pilning, Portbury or Charterhouse ranges. On some Saturdays we would travel to an Away Match. Peter Duval [ST 1964] was Captain. We also went to the School Cadets shooting championships at Bisley.

South Town Night Ops. These were very dubious affairs carried out around the edges of the Downs. I seem to remember it involved hiding in the bushes and flinging lighted bangers at our opposing team. I am sure this wouldn't be allowed these days, but we thought it great fun.

I was not much of a regular sportsman while at Clifton, but was introduced to adventurous activities, such as caving, climbing and abseiling, which I really enjoyed. I was thrilled to go to Plas y Brenin with a small group from Clifton in winter 1962 for an outdoor pursuits course. I later became a member of the Wessex Caving Club, and enjoyed potholing for many years. I also climbed in North Wales, the Scottish Highlands and abroad.

I well remember the winter of 1962/63, when for most of the Spring term the playing fields at Beggar’s Bush were deeply covered with snow and the ground frozen solid. The boys of South Town were encouraged to go sledging on the slopes at Ashton Court for exercise.

I went on from Clifton to study at the Royal Agricultural College, and enjoyed a career in farming and farm management. My brothers studied at Southampton, Leeds and Swansea, though 2 of them died young, one whilst caving in Spain, the other in a car accident.

The two of us who remain both live in Herefordshire and enjoy coming to Clifton for reunions and other events. Happy memories.

Alan Tringham [ST 1963] To the Editor Ashley Coates begins his fascinating article on Field Marshal Lord Birdwood by writing that “Clifton was amongst those public schools that produced the middle ranking officers of empire but not those at the top.” He rightly emphasises that Lord Birdwood was an extraordinary exception. Another less extraordinary exception but still worth mentioning was my grandfather Sir Richard Harman Luce, FRCS, KCMG, CB (1867-1952) (DH 1884). A scientist and then a doctor, he was from his Clifton days onwards a keen military man – at Clifton he was head of the Cadet Corps and being an expert shooter, he captained the team which twice won the inter-school shooting competition at Bisley. He also won the

Spencer Cup, for the best individual shooter in the competition.

After starting medical practice in Derby, he joined the Territorial Army as a doctor. In the First World War, as a Lieutenant Colonel he was Assistant Medical Director in the Dardanelles. After that he went with forces to the Middle East where he ended as Director of Medical Services for the Egyptian Expeditionary Force for which he was promoted Major-General and awarded a knighthood.

Returning after the war to medical practice in Derby, he also became a Member of Parliament.

His brother, Rear Admiral John Luce CB (1870-1932), who had been at Clifton Preparatory school then Dartmouth, commanded HMS Glasgow in the South Atlantic during the First World War, and one of his sons, Admiral Sir David Luce [not an OC], ended his career as First Sea Lord. His other son, Sir William Luce GCMG, GBE (1907-1977) (DH 1924) became Deputy Governor of Sudan, and then Governor of Aden.

When as a new boy I entered DH in 1953, I was moved and impressed to notice my grandfather and his nephew on the Honours Boards.

Yours, Tom Luce [DH 1958]

Sheep on School House lawn, 2023

OC Magazine 2023 51

OC Lodge The Masonic year tends to run from early September to late April and that means the Summer is a time for social events and celebrating those family members and friends who support our pastime.

Each year in early Summer, the PSLC lodges celebrate their association and fellowship with a festival which is hosted on rotation by the member Lodges (generally at their associated school). The Public School Lodges Council Festival is a great opportunity for the various school Lodges to showcase their schools, their history and their membership to the wider Masonic community. It is also an opportunity for Wives, Partners and families to get involved and share in the experience and hopefully enjoy some classic British Summer sunshine.

In the summer of 2022 the Ardingly College Lodge No.4410 held the PSLC festival and this was the third time they have hosted it, the previous years being 1963 and 1984. Despite the aftermath of Covid-19 still affecting numbers, and the reticence of many to travel far, the Lodge managed to put on a successful Festival and made a small profit with 121 guests present. The Grand Chaplain Simon Thorn had been extremely helpful with organising the local Bishop to support the event. Afterward, there were about 40 people who stayed and enjoyed afternoon tea. As the second PSLC festival since lockdown the Lodge did their best to encourage the guests to make the most of the impressive buildings and grounds.

52 OC Magazine 2023

The PSLC choir was in fine form and made a well received showcase of their musical talent. The event also went some way to cement the relationship between the School and the Lodge.

At our October meeting W.Bro John Acton [MH, HH, OH 1949 – 58] gave a talk on the restoration and rededication of the Haig memorial statue situated in Montreuilsur-Mer. The statue of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig is the only British military figure to be commemorated in France with an equestrian statue. The statue had been in a state of disrepair for a number of years and the initial idea for the refurbishment began as a project to try and tie in the repair into the PSLC festival being held at Clifton in 2017. However the project proved to be more involved than originally thought. He organised this June event through the Haig Statue Restoration Fund Committee. The weekend saw a number of events take place in and around Montreuil-sur-Mer with local businesses and tourist attractions getting involved. The dedication itself saw service personnel in full uniform, mounted units and a number of banners as well as a large selection of dignitaries celebrating the entente cordiale.

For our November meeting we made our annual trip to Bristol where we had lunch at the Alma Tavern, tea in the Newbolt room and a fraternal visit to Robert Thorne Lodge at Freemasons Hall on Park Street. The Brethren appreciate the

connection to Bristol and the warm welcome we receive at the school. The Lodge put on a demonstration of the 2nd degree ceremony which was well received by the Brethren, not least those of the Robert Thorne Lodge who don’t often see Masonic ritual other than their own Bristol working.

At our January 2023 meeting the Lodge made a fraternal visit to Globe Lodge no.23 to join them in their celebration for their Tercentenary year. The Brethren were made welcome and it was decided to make it a regular event. The Lodge was informed of the sad passing of W.Bro Geoffrey Pritchard LGR on 24/10/22, a well liked and respected member of the Lodge.

He joined the Lodge in 2008 and was Worshipful Master in 2014. Geoff’s career was in the RAF, but he was also a competent musician. He served as organist to the Lodge and brought some much needed musical accompaniment to the meetings. He was also actively involved in the PSLC Festival Choir.

The Installation meeting in April 2023 saw W.Bro Nigel Deacon [LS,WTP, STP, OH 1973-82] once again installed as worshipful Master. The Lodge was pleased to welcome a large number of visitors including Brethren from Robert Thorne Lodge who were in London for a Metropolitan Chapter meeting.

The provisional dates of our meetings for the current year are; Friday 27th October 2023 which will be held at the School for the first time, Thursday 16th November 2023, Thursday 18th January 2024 and Thursday 25th April 2024 (Installation Meeting), both of which will be held at Freemasons’ Hall, Great Queen Street, London. OC Masons are always most welcome as visitors – please contact the Secretary if you would like to attend.

Membership of the Lodge is open to any male OC, any Master who has served on the teaching staff for at least five years, and the father of any present or past boy or girl pupil. If you are interested in Masonry and would like further information please contact: The Lodge Secretary, David Peters, 4 The Woodbine, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 1JE Tel: 07709 630036; email: davidanpeters@aol.com

AGM Minutes of the 125th AGM of the Old Cliftonian Society and the Old Cliftonian Society Endowment Fund Trustees held in the Cricket Pavilion on Friday 11th November 2022, at 3.00pm Attendees: Lucy Nash, James Isaacs, Kate Holland-Smith, Jeremy Pickles, Simon Reece, Mark Eldridge, David Mander, John Davies, Brioney Denner, Seb Hoyle, Alex Turco, Jez Walters, Alan Bailey, Andy Rudge Apologies; Matt Howard-Cairns, George Harris 1. Confirmation and approval of the minutes of the 124th AGM 2021.

Approved.

2. Confirmation and adoption of the 124th Annual Financial Report and Accounts 2021: Approved.

Comments: explained that the Davie Fund ·inSJMR the CCEF is for an arts centre but the executors are happy to have money used for an art scholarship in the meantime. AT agreed to review the fund details and update as appropriate. names of the officers for both ·theTheCCEF and the OCS need to be amended. AT would arrange.

3. The President’s remarks ‘Career Chapters’ have been set up in Investment Management, Technology and Entrepreneurship and there would be more to come.

JI thanked Jo Greenbury for his stewardship of the Society and his encyclopaedic knowledge!

He thanked Jeremy Pickles for stepping in as interim Secretary and helping to keep events and breakfasts going.

Enormous thanks were also due to Alex Turco for his herculean efforts in sorting the accounts for both the CCEF and the OCS over the last few months.

He thanked Lucy Nash for her continued work for the OCS.

4. The Chairman’s review of the year Events are up and running again post Covid, e.g. NZ, Cardiff, Oxford, U30 drinks, and the Reunion.

The Society initiated a formal ‘Welcome’ for the U6 leavers in the Chapel, and this is an occasion that will be continued and enhanced in the years ahead.

The 2020 leavers’ event was a success, and for their parents who were also included. Several Memorials, the Careers Fair and a Big Side Reunion [1986/87] were also much appreciated.

There were many thriving sports clubs, most obviously Golf, Football, Real Tennis and Rackets.

The Breakfast Club continues to be popular and widely attended by OCs and current parents, thanks to Jeremy Pickles.

There was a need to review the Events calendar going forward, with an Alumni Day in the summer of 2023 being a priority. The 100th birthday of the Pavilion also needed to be celebrated.

the CCEF. Huge thanks were due to Alex Turco for his tireless work in getting the accounts up to date. Many of these efforts were aided by Jo Greenbury, and thanks to him for his calmness, his wisdom and his knowledge of the ‘history’ with the school, all of which were invaluable.

6. Executive Committee Thanks were offered to Charlie Newington Bridges, who is stepping down as a Trustee. He has been a very effective member of the Finance Committee for a decade. We look forward to welcoming Ben Preston to the Exec and the Finance Committee in particular.

Tamsin Robertson is stepping down as her work commitments have made it very difficult for her to continue.

We also welcome Simon Reece as a Trustee, and it’s great to have him back on the Committee.

7. Elections of officers: John Davies and Tamsin Robertson are retiring as ordinary members.

KHS thanked LN and JP for all their work, and AT & MHC for their mastery of the finances. JD was thanked for his contribution to Cricket and Careers; SH for his work on the Careers Chapters; and ME for his general support of the Society’s operations.

Simon Reece was proposed as an executive member by ME, seconded by JI.

JI was thanked for his forward thinking regarding the direction of the OCS.

Brioney Denner proposed John Davies as Vice President, seconded by ME.

5. Finances: CCEF – the charity had taken a hit along with all other investment vehicles because of the prevailing global financial situation. The 1862 Legacy Club is still thriving, and thanks are due to JP for his continued progress with this.

The fundraising telethon had not been successful for the Society, as the CCDT’s match funding offer attracted all donors and took some away from

James Isaacs proposed Jez Walters as Vice President, seconded by AT.

Ben Preston was proposed as an executive member by SJMR, seconded

by KHS.

8. Appointment of auditors: JI proposed AC Mole as our auditors going forward, seconded by AT. The meeting closed at 3.45pm

OC Magazine 2023 53

Accounts HONORARY TREASURER’S REPORT

THE OLD CLIFTONIAN SOCIETY

As usual, this report is made up of two parts. First, the summary accounts of the Old Cliftonian Society. As a private members’ club, accounts are not published elsewhere. The full financial statements and Auditor’s report are available from the Old Cliftonian Society office and on the website, and a summary is outlined here.

The Society receives typically life membership subscription income and voluntary contributions from past and present members of the school. These have been expected to cover the majority of running costs including subsidy for OC reunions, events and dinners, the magazine, and sports.The 2022 accounts show a substantial deficit of income compared with expenditure. The Cliftonian reflects the production of two magazines, and fundraising costs were the final contracted telethon, the results of which for the Clifton College Endowment Fund were incredibly disappointing.

Secondly, the summary accounts of registered charity 1113320, the Clifton College Endowment Fund. The full accounts are available from the Charity Commission website. The Trustees of the Charity are all members of the Old Cliftonian Society Executive Committee.

AC Mole was reappointed at the last Annual General Meeting as Accountants and Auditors for the financial year ending 31 December 2022 covered by this report.

Subscription income from current pupils has been challenging in recent years because GDPR in 2018 turned Old Cliftonian Society membership from an opt-out system to an opt-in system. These figures catalysed renewed discussions with Clifton College’s Executive Team concerning the ongoing funding of the Society.

At the time of writing in October 2023, the Society is in the first term of its core activities being funded as a cost centre of Clifton College. As the Society remains an independent entity, Clifton College transfers the agreed budget to the Society, less salaries for Clifton College employees who provide the backbone of the Society’s ongoing operations. The Society’s thanks are offered to Clifton College Chief Operating Officer, Helen Staff, and Head of Finance, Lauren Summer, for their support whilst negotiating this financial agreement.

OLD CLIFTONIAN SOCIETY Income And Expenditure Account For the year ended 31 December 2022

Income & Subscriptions Subscriptions - OCs Subscriptions - Current pupils Interest and dividends Sundry receipts Event income Bequest Total income & subscriptions

OLD CLIFTONIAN SOCIETY Total funds 2022 £

8,437 60,818 106 1,899 18,999 90,259

Total funds 2021 £

8,714 59,590 13 802 17,942 5,139 92,200

Expenditure Secretary including administration The Cliftonian Magazine OC Sports Website Miscellaneous Events expenditure Governance Covid 19 support Telethon Total expenditure

22,746 47,946 1,864 4,646 5,244 20,957 5,094 25,442 133,939

22,227 - 15,775 8,778 4,637 1,187 16,396 5,167 62,053 104,670

Net movement In funds

-43,680

-12,470

Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward Total movement in funds

194,805 -43,680

207,275 -12,470

Total funds carried forward

151,125

194,805

54 OC Magazine 2023

Balance Sheet As at 31 December 2022 2022 £ Current Assets Debtors Cash at bank & in hand Creditors Net current assets Total net assets Society funds Total funds Total funds

2022 £

15,322 144,244 159,566 -8,441

2021 £

2021 £

24,126 188,393 212,518 -17,714 151,125 151,125

194,805 194,805

151,125 151,125

194,805 194,805

THE CLIFTON COLLEGE ENDOWMENT FUND In the 2022/23 academic year the Clifton College Endowment Fund supported financially 25 Clifton College pupils. Any applications for financial assistance should be directed to the School Finance Department. The Trustees and School work together to ensure that awards are provided to those in financial need, and in line with the stated wishes or legal requirements of financial contributors to the Charity.

Ongoing gifts are very welcome and, for UK taxpayers, qualify for gift aid, which increases the net value of the gift by 25%. However, legacies are the main source of new capital. These accounts reflect the substantial legacy from the Estate of the late Geoffrey Hardyman. Donations to Charity on death are highly effective in saving Inheritance Tax for UK domiciled individuals.

there is an annual lunch in the Summer term in recognition during life of the future gift on death.

In 2010 the Charity Commission authorised the Trustees to use total return accounting, which allows the Charity to use a wider range of investments with the expectation of generating a greater overall return. The portfolio continues to be managed by Evelyn Partners and its mandate excludes investments in areas that might be considered as harmful to the environment or society more generally.

The Trustees receive a presentation from Evelyn Partners three times per year about the progress of the portfolio, which has been challenging in 2022 and 2023, given the inflationary environment.

The Trustees would like to thank its ongoing donors as well as those who intend to leave legacies. Those who choose to remember the Clifton College Endowment Fund in their Will are welcome to be members of the 1862 club, administered via Jeremy Pickles and the Old Cliftonian Society office. Typically,

THE CLIFTON COLLEGE ENDOWMENT FUND Total funds 2022 £

Total funds 2021 £

Income and Endowments Donations and legacies Investments Total income and endowments

560,409 96,484 656,890

286,477 89,440 375,917

Expenditure Investment management fees Charitable activities Total expenditure

37,427 164,899 202,326

36,481 159,862 196,343

Net Income before Investment gains / (losses) Net gains/(losses) on investments Net (Expenditure) / income Net movement In funds

454,564 -773,071 -318,507 -318,507

179,574 458,757 638,331 638,331

Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward Net movement in funds Total funds carried forward

6,051,222 -318,507 5,732,715

5,412,890 638,331 6,051,221

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2022

OC Magazine 2023 55

Tiers of Donors The main focus for CCDT fundraising has been for means tested bursarial support.

Many thanks to all these donors who have supported us:

Percival Benefactors (£250k plus) Chellaram Foundation The Old Cliftonian Society Joseph Cooper (NT 1931) * Jonathan Glassberg (PH 1983) Polack’s House Educational Trust David Jones (BH 1955) * John James Bristol Foundation Mildred Tomlinson * Michael R W Eames * Anthony Gwilliam (NT 1948) * Geoffrey Hardyman (OH 1950) * Anonymous x 1

Guthrie Benefactors (£50k - £250k) Nick Porter (ET 1986) Jacqueline Pullinger * Mr D and Mrs H Stevens Trevor Howard (DH 1932) * Edgar Harborne (NT 1952) * Roger Cooper (DH 1952) Alan Morgan (NT 1969) Isidore Grossman * Simon Brewer (ET 1981) Sir Hector Sants (BH 1973) Stephen Zimmerman (PH 1967) HSWJ Trust Ian Lane (ST 1950) Ann Futter Lomeli Peter Tasker (NT 1973) Sir Trevor Chinn (PH 1953) Lin (NT 1954) and Judith Wilson Michael Bailey (ET 1970) Robin Bowie (WiH 1980) Anonymous x 3

56 OC Magazine 2023

Wilson Benefactors (£10k – £50k) John Pocock Hugh Harper (WiH 1986) * Christopher Trembath (ST 1980) Marc Futter (OH 1939) * Friends of Clifton Tim Greene Sir David Willcocks Music Trust Fund Graeme McEvoy (SH 1987) Sandy Hett (DH 1946) Granville Davis (NT 1939) * The J&M Britton Charitable Trust A. Frank Petrosky Davidson Charitable Trust Arbi Gayrabekov Michael Brooks (NT 1951) Halid Musayev Bob Frampton (WiH 1942) * David Forbes-Nixon (NT 1983) Andrew Thornhill (NT 1962) Simon Makinson (WaH 1976) Tim Ross Sir Peter Job (DH 1959) David Jenkins (SH 1940) * David Killick (OH 1956) Piotr Holysz (SH 2003) Keasbey Memorial Foundation OC Masonic Lodge Sir Martin Franklin (PH 1983) Peter Greenaway (NT 1950) * Milan Morjaria (SH 1985) Colin Hallward (ST 1953) * Peter George (BH 1990) Christopher Dale (BH 1988) Agnes Weighell * Thomas Elliott (OH 1982) Patrick Howe (ST 1955) John Barron (DH 1952) * Rick Saunders (DH 1981) Matthew Kemp (PH 1985)

Peter Bartrum (DH 1926) * Kadoorie Charitable Foundation Geoffrey Mowat (ST 1936) * Davy Pain (SH 1936) * David Peck (OH 1939) * Julian Tayler * Richard Farrimond (WaH 1965) Neal Foster (PH 1984) Neil Constable (WiH 1983) John Dayer (NT 1948) Dorota Lyszkowska-Becher (OH 1998) Aaron Banks Neil Jordan (ST 1987) Adrian Palmer (SH 1967) The Harry Crook Charitable Trust Gillian Blakeman * Lindsay Tomlinson (WiH 1969) Anonymous x 4

The Close Benefactors (£1k – £10k) 350

Wilson Benefactors (up to £1k) 1546 Some donors choose to remain anonymous and their wishes are respected.

The list shows donations received since 1st January 2000. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this list. If your name has been inadvertently omitted please accept our apologies and deepest gratitude for your support.

Please contact us and we will rectify this as soon as we can. * In Memoriam

OC Contacts & Sports Clubs If you wanted to contact other OCs in your area, please email the OC office to be put in touch, we have Cliftonians all over the UK and across the Globe.

New Zealand

Here are some contacts in certain areas in the UK:

Europe

United Kingdom Bristol Seb Hoyle sebhoyle@btinternet.com 07850 766368 Jezz Grainger jezzsterboy@yahoo.co.uk 07785345111 Isle of Man Derek Winterbottom derekw@manx.net 01624 670 732 Northumberland & Co Durham David Penny davidspenny2003@yahoo.co.uk 07855 430 811 Yorkshire Christopher Gibbs christopher.gibbs@cantab.net 07886 202901 Scotland Douglas Findlay-Shirras douglas@kinellanlodge.co.uk 07785 277387 Wales Nick Jones nick.jones500@gmail.com 07968 042542 Irish Republic and Northern Ireland Richard Holdsworth richardholdsworth@hotmail.com +353 860 222759 +353 1 8947916 If you are living in, moving to, or travelling around the globe, the following OCs have offered to be a point of contact:

Australasia Australia - Queensland Roger Griffiths +61 7-32662794 +61 (0)42 880 1000 grifo@optusnet.com.au Australia – New South Wales Piers Hogarth-Scott +61 405 151 971 piers@hogarth-scott.com Australia – Western Australia John Melville-Jones +61 8-64882164 john.melville-jones@uwa.edu.au

Clive Weston +64 21 905 565 clivejrweston@gmail.com

Belgium Richard Lewis +322 767 8153 richard.lewis@telenet.be France Colin Yeandle +33 2 3328 1037 colalyeandle@orange.fr Gibraltar Bruno Callaghan +34 956 615 160 +350 200 43636 bruno@callaghaninsurance.com The Netherlands Charles Mander +31 652844090 charles.mander@live.com Poland Marcin Szala +48 693 964 717 marcin@szala.net

Russia and CIS Boris Yaryshevskiy +79851831313 yaryshevskiy@gmail.com

Canada – Ontario/Quebec Richard Musson rjgmusson@gmail.com +1 416-557-2560 USA – New York / East Coast Graeme McEvoy graeme@mcevoysusa.com +1 908 723 1685 USA California / Northern Stephen Wares stephenwares@gmail.com +1 650 690 0508 USA California / Southern Izzie Pick izziepickash@gmail.com +1 323 632 2812 USA – South West States Alexander Watson alexanderwatsoninslc@gmail.com +1 385 282 3200

Africa East Africa Kiuri Mburathi kiurim@gmail.com +254 726 971961 and Vivian Lagat vlagat@gmail.com +254 723 547 648

Damian Budd +41 78 658 2469 damianbudd@hotmail.com

South Africa Nigel Drury - Cape Town n.h.drury@gmail.com +27 79 165 8824 and David Williams - Johannesburg davidwilliams.rsa@gmail.com +27 72 597 3792

Central & Middle East

South East Asia

Switzerland

Israel Simon Jaffa sjaffa@barlaw.co.il +972544986650

Hong Kong Vincent Law vkmlaw@gmail.com +852 9840 0096

Qatar Chris Barnard Jones (BeeJay) beej320@gmail.com +974 33697546

Japan Masa Usui usuim21@hotmail.com +81 90 12597800

India

Singapore Tom Streatfeild-James tomstreatfeildjames@icloud.com +65 8420 4587

Rajeev Chaurasia (Mumbai) rajeev.chaurasia@gmail.com +919821517777

North America Canada – Atlantic Provinces David Baird drbaird@nl.rogers.com +1 709 726 9093 Canada – British Columbia Kenneth Fok zedbadeemc@gmail.com +1 604 266 8578

South Korea Jane Lee jane_lee16@hotmail.com +852 5372 6347 Taiwan Simon Wong no5354@hotmail.com +886 953288522 Thailand Simon Makinson makinsos@allenovery.com +85297393691

Old Cliftonian Society Sports Clubs 2023 Cricket Club Jem Brooks - President 07966 264405 jbrooks@brookswm.co.uk Ben Figueiredo - Captain 07377 921240 Ben.figueiredo@hawkeyeinnov ations.com Cross Country Ed Greig edgreig@gmail.com 07825263408 Football Club Jon Temperley 07977 149 553 oldcliftoniansfc@gmail.com Hockey Club George Cryer 07903 974585. georgecryer@me.com Saskia Barnes 07532207157 saskia.barnes@yahoo.com Golf Society Andy Rudge 0779595630 arudge2@cliftoncollege.com David Rowe 07766 333301 dha.rowe@btinternet.com Rackets Club James Telling 07817 421 985 telling9@hotmail.com Real Tennis Club Jonny Whitaker 07883227119 jdlwhitaker@hotmail.co.uk Rugby 7s Will Watson 07967993351 wjw10@hotmail.co.uk Ollie Bowden 07951056575 obowden1@hotmail.co.uk Shooting Club Daniel Odutola 07984018040 danielodutola@yahoo.co.uk John Evans 07973777252 jcev39@gmail.com Waterpolo Simon Macfarlane 07896860559 Simonmacf@hotmail.com

Sheep on School House Lawn, 2023 OC Magazine 2023 57

THE OLD CLIFTONIAN SOCIETY – 2023 OFFICERS President James Isaacs Immediate Past President Mark Eldridge Vice Presidents John Davies Jez Walters Chair Kate Holland Smith Secretary (Acting) Jeremy Pickles Treasurer Alex Turco OTHER MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Brioney Denner Seb Hoyle Alan Bailey Simon Reece Andy Rudge George Harris Matt Howard-Cairns Ben Preston FINANCE COMMITTEE Simon Reece Ben Preston Alex Turco John Davies Matt Howard-Cairns

Clifton College

CLIFTON COLLEGE ENDOWMENT FUND (Registered Charity No. 1113320) TRUSTEES All members of the Executive Committee Assets held by OC (Clifton College) Nominees Ltd DIRECTORS of OC (Clifton College) Nominees Ltd Kate Holland Smith (Chair) Alex Turco (Treasurer) Editor of the Cliftonian Magazine (OC Edition) Jo Greenbury The Old Cliftonian Society 32 College Road Bristol BS8 3JH 0117 315 7665 Email: cliftoniansociety@cliftoncollege.com Website: www.oc-online.co.uk Follow us on Social Media: https://linktr.ee/ocsociety

OC Linktree

32 College Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 3JH T. +44 (0) 117 315 7000 E. info@cliftoncollege.com cliftoncollege.com

1 OC Magazine 2020

Together, we are Clifton