OG News

OGNEWS

Catch up with OGs from across the generations and around the globe.

LAURIE WEEDEN OG 1938 was interviewed on Guy Martin’s D Day Landings, a programme for Channel 4. Laurie was a Horsa glider pilot and was featured in the Big Interview in DialOGue #3.

JOHN BALLAM OG 1941 celebrated his 70th wedding anniversary on June 17 2020, married to Freda at St Edwards Church, Sutton Green, Guildford.

John and Freda on their wedding day OG friends gathered at Olivio’s restaurant in Guildford in February 2020: TONY SHORTER 1956, BOB HOWELL 1957, KEITH HAVELOCK 1958, CARL DORE 1957, NEVILLE HARMS 1958, DAVID GERRARD 1957 AND COLIN MAGGS 1957.

GRAHAM CLARKE OG 1964 came back to visit the School in December 2019. KEITH HAVELOCK OG 1958 retired from the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys Council after 48 years, in early 2020. He began his “trade mark career” in the 1950s and has held many senior posts in the profession since then, notably as past President and Honorary member of CITMA, Chairman of Committees and then Secretary General for 10 years of the European Communities Trade Mark Association, and Partner of D Young & Co LLP for 21 years. He has seen the world of Intellectual Property evolve from a relatively small group of dedicated professionals to the independent Chartered organisations of today, and been involved in landmark cases across the years, notably PizzaExpress v Pizza Hut, Waterford, Arsenal and Budweiser to name but a few. Keith says he has been fortunate to have had throughout his career agreeable and talented Partners and associates all over the world. Currently, he is still in regular contact with ten or more of his OG contemporaries, at least half of whom meet annually to have dinner together in Guildford (see the group photo above).

Keith with Terry Jones OG 1961 at an OG reunion at Terry’s house

LEON DORÉ OG 1965 has been painting his way through the lockdown.

NIGEL GILLINGHAM OG 1972 and captain of RGS rugby 1st XV 1970/71 is now Senior Vice President of the Rugby Football Union and is due to become President in August 2021. The one-time Leicester second row – he played for the Tigers in their victorious reign in the 1980s – is now playing as big a role on the administrative side of the game as he did years ago as a player. RICHARD TILBROOK OG 1979 was appointed as the Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary in August 2020 following the retirement of Edward Chaplin CMG OBE at the end of 2019. He works with the Archbishops’ Appointments Secretary on the consultations for diocesan bishop and Crown deanery appointments, attending meetings of the Crown Nominations Commission as appropriate. Richard is Clerk to the Privy Council and has been acting as the Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary since January 2020, having previously served as Deputy Appointments Secretary. His earlier civil service career was spent at the Government Communications Headquarters, in the Department for International Development and in the Cabinet Office, where he oversaw the operation of the honours system for a number of years. He is also responsible for advising the Prime Minister on the appointment of Lord-Lieutenants.

Memories of SPORTS DAY 1983 courtesy of BRUNO GUILLAUME OG 1982, featuring former RGS Headmaster JOHN DANIEL and former Deputy Headmaster JOHN LAUDER with STEVE SHORE, former English/PE Teacher in charge of cricket, next to a fantastic collection of trophies. Former Deputy Headmaster BILL GILLEN is on the far left. JAMES SUNDERLAND OG 1988 was elected as the Conservative MP for Bracknell in the November 2019 General Election after 27 years in the Army. He was commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1993 and served operationally worldwide, reaching the rank of Colonel before his early retirement. He commanded 27 Regiment RLC in Aldershot and was serving back at Sandhurst as the Commander of the Army Engagement Group when he left the Army with only six days’ notice to become the local MP! Since arriving at the House of Commons, he has been active in a range of debates and issues, not least in Defence, SEN, Global Britain, International Trade and the Union. He introduced the recent Desecration of War Memorials Bill and is also Chair/Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups for Veterans, the Armed Forces Covenant, Motorsport, Overseas Territories and the Falklands.

OG friends from the CLASS OF 1990 gathered back in Guildford from across the country for an informal 30-year reunion on 12 September 2020.

L–R: Matt Froggatt, Nick Nelson, Steve Harris, Gavin Werrett, James Meakin, Nick Wilson-Jones and Anthony Glasper

ALASTAIR WIPER OG 1998 is based in Copenhagen and specialises in Industrial Photography. His new book Unintended Beauty captures the beauty in industrial production with a collection of stunning and thought-provoking images. His work was also exhibited at RIBA Forms of Industry in London in 2020. MARK LAMBERT OG 2003 played his 250th game for Quins against Exeter on 1 March 2020. It was a very close-fought match which went to the wire right up to the last minute, when Quins secured a well-deserved victory. Mark was given a rousing reception as he led out the team and Ugo Moyne, ex Quins and England player, paid tribute to his old teammate in his testimonial year. Mark has been heavily involved off the field too with The Harlequins Foundation and Future Hope, and he is also Chairman of the Rugby Players’ Association.

ALEX RUSSELL OG 2004 got married in May 2019 with three other 2004 OGs in attendance – BEN WYNNE as Master of Ceremonies, JONATHAN STURGEON as Head Usher and KARAM SARIDAR as a guest.

Above: Karam Saridar Below: Jonathan Sturgeon (left), Alex Russell (2nd left), Ben Wynne (far right) NICK STYLIANOU OG 2008 was part of the Sky News team in Hong Kong covering the protests in October 2019, which won a BAFTA for News Coverage in August 2020. Nick was field producer for Mark Austin in a half-hour special news programme as the protests entered their fifth month. At the BAFTAs, the Sky News team beat competition from ITV News At Ten’s election results, Victoria Derbyshire’s Men Who Lost Loved Ones To Knife Crime and Newsnight’s Prince Andrew & The Epstein Scandal interview.

 Watch their award-winning programme at https://vimeo.com/367812241

Nick Stylianou second left with Sky News team. Photos courtesy of Cathy Chu

JONNY STEPHENS OG 2008 was named Innovation Consultant of the Year 2020 by the Management Consultancies Association (the consulting industry body). This is a nationwide award and Jonny, who works for BearingPoint as Manager – Customer and Growth, was shortlisted and faced interviews from independent panels (his included the BBC’s Maryam Moshiri), and eventually beat Deloitte’s Head of Blockchain (amongst two others from EY) on the awards night. He has delivered meaningful and measurable change for clients across a broad spectrum, giving him a great perspective on how different businesses innovate to stay relevant. Jonny’s experiences range from cuttingedge breakthrough innovation to long-term sustainable change.

Architects DAVID SCHNABEL OG 2009 and Guylee Simmonds bought a marine survival lifeboat, Stødig, in February 2018 and after a year-long conversion left in May 2019 on a five month, 5,000km voyage to the Arctic. Along with Shackleton, Guylee’s dog, they travelled from Newhaven in the UK to Tromsø, far north in the Norwegian Fjords. The route skirted the Belgian and Dutch coast, passing the Kiel canal in Germany into the Baltic. They passed up the Danish then Swedish coast past Copenhagen and Gothenburg, before a rough crossing of the Skagerrak south of the lower tip of Norway.

The lifeboat then loosely followed the route of the famous Hurtigruten ferry, passing up and through the fjords and islands to Tromsø. Situated at 70° north, Tromsø is the northernmost city in the Arctic and having arrived, the lifeboat and crew spent the winter there, skiing and camping. The aim of the expedition was to explore this wild and isolated landscape whilst demonstrating the ability of design innovation to facilitate the recycling and reuse of similar decommissioned vessels – and to document and share the adventure through photography and film. Follow the story of their design and adventure with Stødig at @arcticlifeboat and arctic-lifeboat. com. A 40-minute documentary is due for release in late Autumn 2020.

Guylee Simmonds and David Schnabel with Shackleton aboard Stødig. Photograph by Develop Images

ARJUN ODEDRA OG 2010 got married in July 2018 to Natalie, who he met at Birmingham Medical School, with MICHAEL BARKER OG 2010 as their best man. Natalie and Arjun both work as doctors at Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford, where their son Marcus was also born in November 2019.

Top: Arjun and Natalie, seated, with best man Michael Barker. Above: Natalie and son Marcus outside the RGS “Life on Mars” Will Barnes and Barney Curtis exploring Wadi Rum, Jordan

 Watch the film here: https://vimeo.com/

inspiringadventure/lifeonmars

ALEX BROWN OG 2011 – in August 2019 Alex represented the Bermuda rugby team at full back, beating Guadeloupe in the final to win the RAN Caribbean Rugby Championships. He was also asked to play for Italy at the World Rugby Classic event held in Bermuda in November 2019 – the team was made up of ex Italian internationals and ex professional players. WILL BARNES AND BARNEY CURTIS OGs 2011 were fortunate to make it to Jordan early this year (and even more fortunate to make it out... with Will catching the final flight out of the country before a two week COVID-19 quarantine was imposed). Alongside exploring the more famous Lost City of Petra, they spent three nights at a Bedouin camp in Wadi Rum. Living just a mile from Laurence of Arabia’s former desert camp, they explored the dramatic desert and rock formations in searing heat, meeting only the odd 4x4 or camel. This trip inspired Will to create a short film called Life on Mars.

ALASTAIR ADAMS-CAIRNS and GUY HIPWELL OGs 2012 and great friends from the RGS, graduating from RAF Cranwell on 16 July 2020 as Flying Officers ‘with ‘Merit’. ALASTAIR ADAMS-CAIRNS and MAX BURGIN, also a great friend and another 2012 RGS leaver, having climbed Mont Blanc together. They climbed up the Trois Monts route overnight and ‘summitted’ at about 8 a.m. on the morning of 23 July 2019. They descended via the Goûter route. JACK MORRIS OG 2014 starred in Belgravia on ITV in early 2020, playing the role of Charles Pope in the new historical drama by Julian Fellowes. Jack will be on stage in London’s West End in 2021, playing Jem in To Kill a Mockingbird. His stage name is Jack Bardoe.

TOM BARRASS OG 2015 has achieved a first in his Masters in Theoretical Physics from Durham University and is now at King’s College London studying for a Masters in Financial Mathematics.

Jack Bardoe as Charles Pope in Belgravia

ALEX COCKWILL OG 2015 is a part time photographer and aspiring engineer. As a self-taught photographer he has brought his technical background into the photographic realm, specialising in urban images. With over 20,000 followers on Instagram (@alex_ cockwill), his work also features in publisher Trope’s ‘London’ book as part of their City Series, and in ‘Streets of London’ by Mendo’.

THE VARSITY CHESS MATCH was played in March 2020 at the RAC Club in Pall Mall. DANIEL SUTTON OG 2015, playing for Oxford, got a draw and HARRY GRIEVE OG 2019 played for Cambridge and won his game. The final score was Cambridge 5 1/2 – Oxford 2 1/2. Cambridge have now won 60 matches to Oxford’s 56, with 22 matches drawn.

TOM ROWLAND OG 2016 is three years into studying medicine at Oxford and has taken a year out to study for a Masters in Control of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His goal is to work in global infectious disease policy and control.

THOMAS HOLLAND OG 2017 was on the victorious Cambridge side as, after four years without a win, the Colleges XV rugby team finally reclaimed the Varsity Trophy, beating Oxford 29-26 in a match that went down to the final minutes.

HARRY ATKINS OG 2018 is Men’s Club Captain of the Cambridge University Hockey Club for the 20/21 season. He joins many other OGs who have represented the university in Varsity sport and says, “I’m excited to take on this role for my final year and to now both organise and play in the annual Varsity matches against Oxford.” HANTIAN WANG OG 2018 plays alongside Harry Atkins in the Cambridge University Hockey team. OGS AT THE RGS CATHEDRAL CAROL SERVICE 2019. Recent OGs THANG TU, MATTHEW SARGENT, JAMES CASHMAN and JOE BATE returned to sing in the choir and met other OGs and staff in the congregation.

L–R: Oliver White, Jonathan Andrews, Hamish Klintworth, Thang Tu, Matthew Sargent and James Cashman

L–R: Dan Osborne, James Cashman and John Saxton, former RGS Head of History, at the Carol Service

HARRY GRIEVE OG 2019 has continued to enjoy success in the world of chess. He triumphed at the 24-hour chess marathon fundraiser tournament, Checkmate COVID-19, held on Chess.com with 459 participants in June 2020. To come first ahead of Daniel Gormally, English Chess Grandmaster, and with seven other Grandmasters playing, was brilliant and Harry helped to raise £10,000 for the British Red Cross. Daniel said of Harry “He was talented and quick and deserved to win”. See Harry’s chess puzzle in the Games Room on p76 featuring one of his games from the tournament.

ALFIE JOHNSON OG 2019 signed a professional contract with the Rugby Football Union in July 2019 and from August that year, became a full-time member of the Elite England Men’s Sevens Squad. After stand-out performances for the RGS 1st VII in winning the Surrey Plate and reaching the quarter finals of the Rosslyn Park National Schools’ Vase competition, Alfie had been selected to play for top invitation Sevens side Samurai RFC in the National Super Sevens Series. An England call-up ensued, and he was selected to represent England in the Hamilton leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series, remarkably, less than a year after his final appearance in an RGS shirt. Further international recognition followed as he went on to feature in the Sydney, Los Angeles and Vancouver legs, before the COVID-19 outbreak curtailed the England Sevens programme for now. JAMES MILLER OG 2020, an environmental campaigner and nature documentary filmmaker, spent a night with a badger sett in a wood near Guildford to raise money for leading youth homeless charity Centrepoint. James has appeared on Sky News Kids public speaking at the RSPB AGM, previously won the national Cairngorms Nature Young Presenter Competition and a prize at the British Wildlife Photography Awards. He was also interviewed by Jon Snow on Channel 4 News discussing the State of Nature report 2019. In June 2020 James hung up his hammock for the night alongside a clan of badgers.

TIM YOUNG, former RGS HEADMASTER with OGs MICHAEL SALEH 2004, PETER BROUGHTON 1995 and DUNCAN TOMPSETT 1996 at a Rank Foundation event.  You can watch the film of his time with the badgers here: www.youtube.com/

watch?v=sLrdBs2qTY4&feature=youtu.be

OGs TIM SEDGLEY 1960 and ALEX NORRIS 2020 connected through our recent Telephone Campaign and discovered that they were/are currently both students at St John’s College, Oxford. They met up for lunch and had a lovely chat about Oxford and RGS days. Alex said, “As it happens, we’re exactly 60 years apart which made it such a fascinating experience for both of us, I think.” Here they are in St John’s College itself.

JOHN SIMPSON, FORMER RGS DIRECTOR OF STUDIES has generously donated a stained-glass window commemorating 500 years of the RGS. It can be seen in the Old Building near the Chained Library.

UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE 1965 AND BEYOND Prompted by recent OG successes on University Challenge, we discovered that the Christ Church, Oxford team in 1965 contained not one but two OGs, JOHN PENYCATE and MICHAEL LEGGE OGs 1962, who fell just short of reaching the final in the series of University Challenge that year. Both have gone on to enjoy illustrious careers.

Michael recalls “It was only the second series of the programme. Team selection at the college was a pretty chaotic affair: sample questions were read out to a packed room of aspirants and we were invited to shout out the answers. When it came to the filming we discovered there were no professional question setters; Bamber Gascoigne, the producer and their friends all pitched in with suggestions. The rules were different then too. Teams had to win three matches in a row in order to reach the quarter finals. We became the first team to qualify for the knock-out stage in that series. We then had to wait 18 months before there were enough teams through to hold the quarter finals. After one more win, we lost to Edinburgh who were then defeated in the final.”

On graduating Michael Legge joined the Civil Service “fast stream” in the Ministry of Defence where he served as a junior private secretary to Lord Carrington, the Defence Secretary, and then worked in several policy divisions including a posting to the UK Delegation to NATO in Brussels. This led to an appointment to head a new division responsible for Nuclear and Arms Control policy at the time when key decisions were being taken on the replacement of Polaris by Trident and the deployment of cruise missiles in the UK. He was then seconded to the Rand Corporation, the leading US think tank, to write a monograph on NATO nuclear strategy.

On his return from the US Michael became Head of the division overseeing all defence policy outside the NATO/Warsaw Pact area. This included the Falklands and he achieved unwelcome fame as the author of a paper about the sinking of the Belgrano, intended for a Parliamentary select committee and leaked to an Opposition MP by a colleague, Clive Ponting.

In 1988 he returned to Brussels as NATO Assistant Secretary General; a year later the Berlin Wall fell and the whole East-West security relationship changed fundamentally. He chaired a committee charged with drafting a new NATO Strategy for the post-Cold War era which was finally approved by a summit of Alliance leaders in Rome in 1992. A posting to the Northern Ireland Office in Belfast followed, as the Deputy Under Secretary responsible for Security, Policing, Prisons and Criminal Justice and the senior Whitehall Civil Servant resident in Northern Ireland for three years in the run-up to the Good Friday agreement.

After five years as Personnel Director for the Ministry of Defence he retired (by now appointed both CMG and CB) to become Secretary of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. In 1988 Michael’s son Christopher was awarded a King’s Scholarship to the RGS but because of the family’s return to Brussels he was unable to take it up.

John Penycate went on to make a career in television journalism. He started on the late Sir David Frost’s ground-breaking show on ITV in the ’60s and then joined BBC TV Current Affairs in 1968 and was a producer on, successively, 24 Hours, Midweek and Panorama. In the mid-80s he went front-ofcamera, and for the rest of his BBC career was a Correspondent for Panorama, Newsnight and The Money Programme. John travelled extensively in his job, reporting from such places as Iraq, Afghanistan and Argentina during the Falklands war. He covered the troubles in Northern Ireland, and wars in Africa. He interviewed dozens of political leaders worldwide, and – for The Money Programme – business leaders like Rupert Murdoch and Conrad Black. His was the last television interview with the late Robert Maxwell. With colleague Tom Mangold, John wrote the Vietnam War non-fiction bestseller The Tunnels of Cu Chi and also co-wrote the life of a serial murderer, Psychopath. He has been a lecturer at Westminster University and Goldsmith’s College, London University, a media-trainer, and has lectured on the ships of nine cruise-lines. He and his wife Evelyn live in London, and he has been elected to membership of the Garrick Club, the Hurlingham Club, the Royal Television Society and Chatham House.