Old Ipswichian Journal 2022

New Members 2021/22

Abayomi-Taiwo

Mosobalaje Samuel

Addison Finley Max

Agarwal Aditya

Aiken Thomas

Alexandrovich Eve Melinda

Allen Elizabeth

Atkinson Marc Samuel

Anya-Joseph Graig Chidera

Bagnall Charles

Baker Douglas Robert

Baker Oscar Patrick

Barber Oliver

Barber William

Bari Zakariya Naeem Kazi

Barraclough Georgia Eve

Baxandall Ben

Belshaw Solomon

Albert Edwin

Bennett George William

Berihu Tekle

Bishop-Penn Hector Edward

Bojé Nico

Brice Edward Anthony

Bureau Megan Lucy

Carpenter Benjamin

Hao Lone

Caston-Bell Eva

Chalmers Calum

Jonathan George

Chan Wui Ho

Chapman Amelia

Cheng Chi Hang

Cherry Bethan Laura

Cheung Yu Hin

Cheung Abby

Chisnall Josiah Tobias Adam

Cleave Sophie Rose

Clough Anna Georgina

Concannon Theo

Raphael Billsdon

Cooper Mia

Core Alice Eva

Craig Augustus

Giles-Joseph Malone

Daly Matthew James

Davey Ethan William

Day Flora May Lily

Dhanraj Adith Mani

Dilnot Jamie Charles

Drain Isaac Thomas

Dunning Christopher Victor

Dyble William Edward John

Elbishari Mohammad

Elgar Louis

Ellis Luke Tyler

Evans Emily

Fenn Jacob

Fraser Harriet Honor

Gardner Felix Tudor

Glancey Lewis Gerald

Glancey Paul Clement

Gledhill Freddie William Herbie

Hall Harry Lee Albert

Hamilton-Russell Milo

James Kenelm

Han Xin Yi

Hashmi Ilayda

Heelas Ludovic Harry Ingram

Herbig Oliver Maximillian

Ho King Ting

Hoang Thu Trang

Hollis Amelia Lily Holt Amelia Kersey

Hoole Jensen Alec

Hosking Jake

Houston Connor Liam Lewis

Houston Ella Roisin

Huang Huiling (Ying Ying)

Huang Yibo Bob

Hubbard William James

Hull Oliver Samuel

Hunt Ben

Hurley-Guest Daniel Stephen

Ibasco Brylle Edison

Iglesias Verity Scarlet

Jarvis Matthew John

Jermyn Toby William

Johnson Ellie-Mae Louise

Juszt Tobias Ernö

Kajoba Joella Joy

Kotrys Francesca

Kwan Yan Yin Joseph

Lai Ka Kui

Lai On On Audrey

Lai Shun Lok Crosby

Lee Chun Kiu

Legrand Charlotte Grace

Levick Charlotte Anne

Lewis George Spencer David

Li Cheng

Licence Thomas Oliver

Liu Jiarong Max

Liu Yingqi

Lizamore-Day Caitlin

Lo Chun Hang

Lock Isabelle Rosanna

Lockyer Adam John

Lu Jiong Zhu

Luk Siu Hang

Luo Yicheng

MacDonnell-Hannah

William Raeph

MacDonnell-Hannah

Olivia Mary

MacGregor Esmae Isabel

Malster Sophie Catherine

Marsh Joshua James

Maynard Leo Alexender

McIntyre Willow

Medhurst-Cocksworth

Sorcha Eleanore

Midwood Joshua Michael

Mok Hio Lam

Naha Jy Rishi

Neal Luke

Newenham Thomas Worth

Newlove Ben Alexander

Newton Albert Douglas

Owen Emily

Parker Aisha

Parsons William Ferrand

Sharkey

Pennington Charles

Algernon Otley

Pettit Harriet Katie

Platt Poppy Marie Elizabeth

Portugal Borja

Prabaharan Pirasijan

Pudney Charlotte Ann

Purcell Patrick

Quinn Bethany

Quinn James Alexander

Ramanathan Rishi

Raghunathan Nithilan

Rayfield Harry

Rayfield Max

Robinson Eliza

Rodley Steffi

Ryan Robert Andrew

Ryan Thomas James

Sanderson Matthew

Robert Magnus

Sanderson William

Edward James

Seabrook Ayrton

Sephton Oliver Robert

Servant Jasmine Ffion

Shaw Connie Tope

Shepherd Alice Isobel

Shepherd Thomas Samuel

David Boyle

Smith Dominic

Michael Nicholas

Smith Polly Anne

Spence Archie Oliver Steel

Stanley Reegan Christian

Stevenson Thomas

Sylvester Keon

Taylor Maddison Jade

Thompson Archie Oliver

Thompson

Kitty Rose

Tookey Frederick

Robert Aloysius

Townshend Kit

Tredgett Charlotte Abigail

Tse Cheuk Tung

Tweedy Ben Felix

Walker Thomas Matthew

Watts Charlie

Weaver Silas Benjamin Parr

Weldon Eleanor Mary

Werb Lucy

White Thomas Richard

Wilkes Anna Victoria

Williams Bradley

Williams Oliver Norman

Wong Chik Hei

Wood Caitlin Grace

Young Jasmine Alicia

Zheng Wei Heng

It is a pleasure for me to write the introduction in this, the 2021-2022 edition of the Old Ipswichian Journal. The 2021-2022 school year was a joyful one in which we returned to so many much-loved Ipswich School activities, after all the Covid disruptions we had faced.

The Year 8 pupils were back in Cumbria and the Year 12 students went off to Devon – two Life Skills trips that made many happy memories for the participants and which many of you will remember yourself. We also had a full set of music concerts, including the Festival of Music, and three school plays, with the Lower School production setting a record for the number of pupils involved.

Success on the sporting field continued, with fantastic national wins for the U18 indoor hockey boys and U15 cricket girls in their T20 competition. But there were also great local derbies in rugby and enjoyable netball tours.

Care for others is always an important part of an Ipswich School education, and none more so than the whole school's responses to the Afghan refugee crisis, and the war in Ukraine. Our first Giving Day in the summer term saw us raise a phenomenal amount of money to offer bursaries for pupils who could not otherwise afford to study here, including supporting five Ukranian students who joined us in September 2022. Through this support they have stability in their education which has brought hope and light at the darkest of times. Thank you to all of you who got behind this very special 36 hours. Old Ipswichians young and old, near and far, joined together to create a wonderful opportunity for these five pupils who have already faced unimaginably difficult times in their young lives.

Our Year 11 and Year 13 pupils showed great resilience as the summer exam programme returned, and we were delighted to be able to celebrate their results with them in August - the first step in their extraordinary futures.

I have been delighted by the OI events this year and the involvement of our Old Ipswichians in the life of the school. We have enjoyed a revival of OI cricket, OI hockey, the London Dinner held in the great surroundings of the House of Lords, as well as reunions, and the Ipswich Dinner which saw many OIs return to Henley Road. Thank you to all who continue to give back, whether through a donation to support the school or a return to offer career advice or work experience placements.

We are enormously proud of the wonderful Ipswich School community.

Nicholas Weaver Headmaster

The Old Ipswichian Journal August 2021 – July 2022

The Old Ipswichian Journal is published annually by the Old Ipswichian Club as a summary of the previous year’s events and news. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of the OI Club.

Editor: Clare Lock (editor@oldipswichians.org.uk) For more information about the Old Ipswichians and to receive other OI publications, please telephone 01473 408324 or email: oldipswichians@ipswich.school • Visit www.ipswich.school/old-ipswichians Follow us on Instagram @OldIpswichians and join the OI groups on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Old Ipswichian Club 2023 Programme of Events

January

Sat 7th & Sun 8th 7pm - 12.00am FIVES Tournament & Dinner School Dining Halls and School Fives Court

Thu 12th 7.30pm OI Committee Meeting School Pavilion

Thu 19th 7.30pm OI AGM Online

Wed 25th 7pm - 10pm OI Burns Night Supper Online

February

Thu 16th 7pm - 10pm Drinks in the CityLondon Venue TBC

March

Sat 4th 1pm - 5pm OI vs Ipswich School Cross Country Fynn Valley and New Dining Hall

Thu 9th 7.30pm OI Committee Meeting School Pavilion

April

Sun 2nd 11am - 2pm OI vs School Hockey Ipswich School Sports Centre - Rushmere

Thu 27th 7pm – 10.30pm London Dinner The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple

Details of the above events can also be found on the Old Ipswichian Website: www.ipswich.school/old-ipswichians/ or contact oldipswichians@ipswich.school. In addition to these events the Club should be delighted to help in the setting up and running of milestone anniversary reunions such as 10th, 20th, 25th, 30th and 40th and will provide a small budget. If you would like to talk about this in general or specifically, please contact us through oldipswichians@ipswich.school or telephone (01473) 408324

The Old Ipswichian Club

Welcome to the Incoming Club Officers and Committee 2023:

President

Sir Neil Garnham QC

Chairman

Nicholas Allen oichairman@ipswich.school

Vice-Chairman

Sally Webber

Secretary

Clare Lock oisecretary@ipswich.school

Treasurer

Steve Runnacles

Social Secretary

John Ward

OI Journal & News editor

Clare Lock

oieditor@ipswich.school

Representative on the Governing Body

James Davey

at the end of 2023 Nicholas Allen Andrew Whitehead Cameron Lyle

To retire at the end of 2024

Tim Passmore

Caitlin Houston

Olivia Canham

To retire at the end of 2025

John Caudle

Director Nikki Brown

Nicholas Weaver London Dinner Secretary

James Mansfield

and Alumni

Leanne Castle

Thank you to the Outgoing Club Officers who completed their term at the end of 2022:

President

Joanna Carrick

Vice-President

Sir Neil Garnham QC

Chairman

Iain Chesterman

Secretary

Sally Webber

Joanna Carrick (OI 1984 - 86)

I am grateful to the OI Club for electing me as the President for 2022 and in particular to William Coe for thinking of me. I was at the school from 1984 – 1986 at a time when girls were only allowed in the sixth form and there were only twelve girls in my year.

I was a member of School House and my House Master was the lovely Barry Hoskins. I absolutely loved my time at the school and in fact enjoyed it much more than University. I remember being really impressed at the way the teachers spoke to us as adults and treated us as equals. I am particularly grateful to David Warnes who was my tutor and took so much care in supporting me and to the late, very great Alex Burnett, our inspirational English Teacher.

I was involved in some school drama and particularly loved playing Jenny in the Threepenny Opera which Alex directed brilliantly. The Headmaster at the time I was at the school was John Blatchly. I already knew John when I started sixth form because he actually went to school with my father, Antony Carrick in Surrey. John was, of course, a brilliant head teacher and was guided in his philosophy by his hero Thomas Wolsey who, to quote the inscription on the Wolsey Statue which John campaigned for “believed that pleasure should mingle with study so that the child may think learning an amusement rather than a toil.”

After I left school, I kept in touch with John and he became an invaluable support to me in writing plays about Suffolk’s Tudor history. I loved sitting with him in his library, hearing his theories and benefiting from his many years of detailed research. The last time I saw him before he died, he and Pam came and sat in on a rehearsal for my play Progress about Elizabeth I’s visit to Ipswich in 1561. I am truly grateful for his unwavering encouragement for me and my work at Red Rose Chain both with bringing local history to life and with supporting disadvantaged and disabled people to access and excel in the arts.

The school is of course going from strength to strength. My son, Ted Newborn is having a great time at Sixth Form and I was fortunate to get to know the wonderful current Head Girl, Alice Althern who volunteered with Red Rose Chain over the summer on our Theatre in the Forest production of Macbeth at Sutton Hoo.

Looking outwards and reaching out to help the local community has never been more important than it is today, and I am proud that the school takes this responsibility seriously.

The school has been celebrating Black History Month and raising money for the local charity P.H.O.E.B.E which supports black and ethnic minority women and children. The Prep School has been raising money to provide local primary schools with defibrillators. I believe the school scholarship programme is also incredibly important, allowing disadvantaged students and refugees to benefit from the advantages the school has to offer and enabling them to enrich the community for everyone.

I would like to thank The Headmaster Nick Weaver, the OI committee and the Development Office, in particular Nicki Brown, for their support and brilliance and to wish the OI Club every success for the future.

– Joanna Carrick OI Club President 2022

Iain Chesterman (OI 1973 - 84)

What a year to look back on! It has been a busy one with Omicron putting a stop to many OI events in Michaelmas term. Not to be beaten, we rescheduled most of the events into Lent and Summer terms.

We were excited to be welcomed to the House of Lords for our flagship London Dinner hosted by Tim Kiddell OI (who is the speechwriter for the Prime Minister) and Lord Polak. We held our first OI vs School hockey tournament and OI Cricket made a roaring comeback in June.

2022 also saw OI Hannah Martin win gold at the Commonwealth Games, Aneil Karia took home the Oscar for Best Short Film at this year’s Academy Awards and Joseph Reed was named as one of the top 30 under 30 in Europe for arts and culture. What a year!

A real highlight has also been supporting the school by being part of the first ever Giving Day which helped to raise £105,000. We have been delighted by the show of strength, support and kinship of our community this year and we look forward to welcoming you as an Old Ipswichian. Until then, be sure to keep an eye on what’s going on so that you might enjoy the same things when you leave school.

We are always interested to hear of new ideas you have to improve the Old Ipswichian community and the events we offer. Please do get in touch with the Development Office to share your ideas.

It is our objective to support the school, encourage kinship between peers and to foster a community connection that will last a lifetime. Do stay in touch.

– Iain Chesterman OI Club Chairman 2022

Sir Neil Garnham President

Neil was at the School from 1970 to 1977 and in Felaw House. He was an enthusiastic, if unexceptional, rugby player, playing in the first XV for the last couple of years of his school life. He also played tennis and squash for the school and was a keen debater in the school debating team.

Neil did seventh term Oxbridge and went up to Peterhouse, Cambridge to read law. He graduated in 1981 and took the bar finals exams in 1982; he was called to the bar by Middle Temple the same year and began pupillage at 1 Temple Gardens, in London. Neil moved chambers in 1996 joining 1 Crown Office Row, a set that specialised in clinical negligence and public law work.

He took silk in 2001 and practised as a QC for 14 years before being appointed a High Court judge, and knighted, in 2015. In his last years at the bar Neil was involved in a series of public inquiries, including the Paddington Grove Rail Inquiry, the Victoria Climbie Inquiry, the Leveson Inquiry into the press, and the Litvinenko Inquiry.

Sally Webber

On the bench, Neil is just coming to the end of a four year term as Presiding Judge of the western circuit, the supervising judge for courts from Winchester to Truro, Exeter to Swindon. In London, he sits on civil and public law cases and in the Court of Appeal Criminal Division.

Neil married a former High School girl, Gill (nee Shaw). They have two sons, Freddie, now a primary school teacher in Oxfordshire, and Charlie, currently a student at Oxford Brookes. Having spent 20 years living in London, Sussex and Essex, Neil and Gill returned to Suffolk in 2008.

Club Vice Chairman in Westminster for five years. She also sat on the University Council at Reading for six years, where she was involved in the University opening a new campus in Malaysia in 2016.

After leaving Ipswich School in 1995 Sally went to Reading University where she studied Environmental Earth Science. She graduated in 1999 and was twice elected to be President of her Student's Union and also served on the National Union of Students executive.

On leaving University, she worked for the RSPB for seven years, first as a Parliamentary Officer, and then as Head of Government Affairs, working with political parties to further environmental issues. She moved to Defra in 2008 to be a Specialist Adviser to the Secretary of State, Hilary Benn, where she specialised in food and agriculture. Following the change of Government in 2010 she ran a Scottish MP's office

Sally and her family moved back to Suffolk from London in 2012 and now works at local Prep School, Orwell Park, near Ipswich. She has three children, and lives in Tattingstone with her husband Simon and various animals. In her spare time she enjoys walking, cooking and gardening, and a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

This is her 11th year on the OI Committee, having served previously as Secretary and Chair, and was at Ipswich School between 93 and 95.

Nicholas Allen Club Chairman

Nick Allen was headmaster of Ipswich Preparatory School from 1987 - 1994. Thanks to Dr John Blatchly’s foresight, Nick had had the opportunity to spend the previous year working in the Senior School in order to foster a closer relationship between the two sections of Ipswich School. In addition to his modernising work at the Prep, Nick also served an officer in the army section of Ipswich School’s CCF and performed each year in the common room play, his last role being Orsino in ’Twelfth Night’ produced by James Hayward OI.

Nick went on to head two London prep schools and was elected chairman of IAPS, the prep heads’ association, in 2012/13. He returned to Ipswich in 2019 and has since then played an active role on OI Club committee.

As Old Ipswichian chairman, he aims to serve the best interests of OIs of all ages through maintaining and supporting its long-established social gatherings and sporting events. Additionally, Nick hopes to be able to extend the range and reach of the Old Ipswichians’ activities beyond the traditional venues of Ipswich and London in order to be able to reach the greatest number of OIs who wish to maintain links with school friends and their alma mater.

Nick remarks “I feel it to be a great privilege to have been elected as Chairman of the Old Ipswichians. My time at Ipswich School was a formative experience for me and I bear a great debt of gratitude to the school for the opportunities which it opened to me and for the invaluable experience I gained there. In my time as chairman, I hope to be able to repay some of that debt to the school that did so much to shape my career.”

Clare Lock Secretary and OI Journal Editor

After attending the school between 1993 and 95 Clare did a Short Service Limited Commission with the Royal Signals (after much persuasion from Mr Clayton). Having broken her leg and ankle after a dodgy parachute jump whilst in service her university place studying Journalism was deferred and she studied shorthand and touchtyping locally in the interim.

Subsequently changing paths Clare went to Loughborough to study a BSc in Management Science with a year out at Sizewell B. After graduating in 2001 Clare went to work at their family firm Hadleigh Castings Ltd whilst continuing studies and achieved her MBA in 2003. Clare has remained at Hadleigh Castings ever since and is now the Business Services Director.

Clare lives locally in Polstead and is married to a Beef farmer with 14 year old twins who are currently studying for their GCSE’s at The Royal Hospital School. When not working full time, transporting the twins or helping on the farm, Clare enjoys playing hockey, millinery, dressmaking and shooting. Clare has been on the committee for over 10 years and thoroughly enjoys keeping her involvement with the school. This is her second stint as Secretary and is looking forward to supporting Neil, Nick and Sally in their new roles.

As editor of the OI journal since 2014 consideration for future articles is always at the forefront of her mind. Clare is currently running features on ‘The Houses of Ipswich School’ commencing with Broke and School. Over the forthcoming issues the remaining houses will be featured and she would be very pleased for any input from Old Ipswichians, photos, memories or information that you may wish to share about your house.

Please email oieditor@ipswich.school should you have anything you have on your house that would help in the production of these features. We are always looking for new ideas for articles and features and very pleased to work with OIs – if you have something you feel worth sharing please do get in touch.

The History of Broke House

Broke (pronounced ‘Brook’) was named after Rear Admiral Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke (1776-1841), a distinguished naval captain of the Nelson era, who became a national hero as a result of his success in the Battle of Boston Lighthouse in the Anglo-American War which began in 1812.

Broke’s other memorial at his old school is the swimming pool, which dates from 1884 and which was paid for by his son, Admiral Sir George Broke Middleton, as a memorial to his father. Broke came from a gentry family who lived at Nacton Hall. We know almost nothing about his school days.

His headmaster was the distinguished and scholarly Dr John King, one of whose sons, Richard Henry King, was a shipmate of Broke’s on HMS Shannon, and also became an Admiral.

I n those days, the School House was located in premises in Brook Street and Foundation Street.

Broke left Ipswich School at the age of 12 for the Naval Academy at Portsmouth where he soon became an expert in gunnery. He joined HMS Bulldog as a Midshipman at the age of 15.

Family influence helped to secure rapid promotion and he was a Post Captain at the age of 21, though he did not receive his first command, HMS Druid for another eight years. By then he had married and had begun to raise a family. His second command, the frigate HMS Shannon, came after two years.

Broke’s enduring fame was won during the war between Britain and America which broke out in 1812. The emergence of the USS Chesapeake, an American frigate of comparable size to the Shannon, but with rather greater firepower, from Boston Harbor gave Broke the chance to fight the ship-to-ship action of which he

had dreamed. The speed and accuracy of Shannon’s carefully drilled gun crews and the boldness with which Broke led a boarding party onto the decks of the Chesapeake ensured a British victory. Broke received a serious head wound in the fighting and Captain Lawrence of the Chesapeake was fatally injured.

The battle, which took place on June 1st, 1813, was the climax of Broke’s career, and he subsequently retired to Broke Hall where he lived the life of a Tory country squire. He died in 1841 and is buried in Nacton Churchyard. His exploits in the battle were celebrated in a song which remained popular for some years. Readers familiar with Tom Brown’s Schooldays will remember that the boys in School House sang it.*

Memories of School House

Terence Blackford

(OI

1958 - 70)

The origins of the house are well documented and during most of my time the housemaster was Brian Mills, head of geography. I think that he took over from the late Peter Hill, head of history, when he became housemaster of Westwood. I believe that their predecessor was Norman Stonex the Latin master, commonly known as Cabby behind his back and older O.I.s will remember him as something of a character. Mr Mills

was a good house master with excellent pastoral care.

The school was very different then and something of a bear pit, no girls then to civilize us! Broke was not known as a sporting house, but did contribute to school life. When I left, the Millington prize for the largest contribution to the school outside the playing field, was awarded to two House members. There was a strong musical tradition and my last year was a golden one for debating, both at a national and a local level The main team players consisted of members of the House. David Clements was my last house master who took over when Brian Mills left, continued in the way that Mr Mills had.

Many families, including my own have a family tradition in the House. None were more distinguished than the Notcutts. I believe that the late George Notcutt who was second master, was in Broke as certainly his eldest son, the late William Notcutt was. William became a surgeon and recently the James Paget Hospital, Norfolk has named its pain control centre in his memory. George’s younger son became head boy, as well as house captain.

When I was a solicitor’s articled clerk in Ipswich, I came across Sam Notcutt , who had an eponymous practice. I believe that Sam was George’ brother but I am unsure, as I believe that there

*Taken from a booklet entitled “The Houses of Ipswich School” written by David Warnes with additional research by Melissa Joralemon.

may have been another Sam Notcutt, possibly their father. I was also told that the original prep school site was previously the Notcutt’s family home.

As to notable old boys, I can only speak of the cohort of my fellow house prefects. I recall that there were four scholarships, three to Oxbridge. Three leavers became lawyers, one went to the bar and became a distinguished ecclesiastical judge, two others became senior partners in solicitor’s practices. The medical profession was represented by an old boy, who became a distinguished surgeon. Another became a leading accountant and tax advisor.

One of our musical peers became director of music at a famous public school. A former head of house was a bit more adventurous and joined the Arctic Survey. I am pleased to report that he survives!

John Berry (OI 1952 – 60)

I was not very athletic or interested in sports at School, so I can’t recite thrilling tales of Rugby games (we always lost to School House, anyway) or Swimming matches: I was in a few but my roles are best forgotten. I also was a Broke House Prefect for a couple of years but remember little of that except that it involved a lot of organizing teams and team practices for various intramural sports events.

However, I have vivid memories of our House Master, the Trump-haired, diffident-mannered history master, Major P.J. (Peter) Hill. Major Hill was also the O/C Ipswich School CCF Contingent, but a less military man it would be hard to find. In my mind this was a great point in his favour. House meetings were rare, short, and civil: another point in his favour. Mr. Hill was slim in build, his deportment was rather languid – entirely unmilitary – and I don’t think that he could have barked out an order if his life depended on it: his voice was mild, quiet, and civilized in tone. He was, in an unobtrusive way, an excellent teacher.

In those days we took ‘O’ Level History at the end of the Michaelmas Term. This meant that we had the Easter and Summer terms with no set curriculum to follow in History. Mr. Hill’s solution was to teach us American History, and he issued us with a small, blue-bound text, “America: The story of a free People” by Allen Nevins and Henry Steele Commager. This was the British edition, published by Oxford, of their “A Short History of the United States”, which I discovered very quickly after my arrival in the United States, was one of the most valued textbooks on the subject. I don’t remember the details of those two terms of American History, except that I did find the text and the lessons interesting, and that when I got to America four years later I knew more about the history of the country than did most of the American students I met.

One of Mr. Hill’s favorite anecdotes concerned a student who had only one interest in life: the Common Force Pump – this is the ancient kind with a long handle you crank up and down.

This student passed his ‘O’ Level Physics GCE by finding questions that he could answer using the physics of the pump’s action. He passed ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level English by writing about the Common Force Pump in literature, and History by going into great length on the object’s history and development. He then went on to Cambridge, where he passed all his degree examinations by going into agonizing detail of every aspect of the history of the blamed thing. Mr. Hill’s point: “In the academic world, it is far preferable to know a great deal about very little, than it is to know very little about a lot of things.”

Mr. Hill’s nickname was “Apex”, since one of his favorite expressions was, pardon my French, to “go arse over apex.” This could happen metaphorically in many situations, but as far as Apex was concerned, it constituted a dire threat in the exam room if one didn’t swot. He himself, by the way, was the only teacher I ever knew who could not return a boy’s homework because “I’m dreadfully sorry, old chap, but the dog ate it!”

Mr. Hill and his wife lived in one half of a large old farmhouse next to the Brooke House nursing home out on Henley Road past Top Field. There was a large and very rickety and dirty old wooden chicken house on the property that they wanted to be rid of. My brother E.A. “Ted” Berry (19501959) went through a phase in which he tried to breed all kinds of animals to sell and make a profit: mice, rabbits and, eventually chickens.

Mr. Hill recognized an opportunity to rid himself of the chicken house and offered it to Ted, who rigged up a Heath Robinson trailer using some old Pram wheels and attached it to his bike. He rode out to the Hills’, and with great difficulty he and Mr. Hill got the henhouse onto the trailer and attached it to Ted’s bike one Saturday afternoon. Ted, on his bicycle, had towed the

hen-house with this contraption all the way to the top of the hill on Valley Road when it began to fall apart and would go no further.

The next morning, Sunday, Ted persuaded our father to take the family’s yellow 1949 Jowett Javelin, a car whose make and colour were unique in all of Ipswich, up the hill from our house in Graham Road. Between the two of them they repaired the trailer enough to attach it and the henhouse to the Jowett and then towed them the half-mile down Valley Road to our house. Unfortunately, all of this happened during “church time”. Ipswich was still socially a very conservative town, and my parents later told me that it took them some years to live down the reputation they got for doing such a filthy job on a Lord’s Day morning!

Mr. Hill heard about the opprobrium attached to the family name, and was genuinely upset that he had been, in a way, responsible. He was a very decent man, and an excellent House Master who led the way by example and by not being afraid to show us that he cared about us as students and people.

David Empsom

(OI

1971 – 77)

As an ex 1970s Broke House Brat, Flares and Chopper bike era, I have always been interested in military history. Mr Hill was my History Master, so I have always been curious about the Broke family and Nacton, plus no doubt Broke Hall Estate is in his / their memory.

Philip Clarke

(OI 1967 - 78)

I was Head of Broke in 1977 or 1978 - I don’t remember which year. I used to think the name tags on my clothes were funny - P. Clarke (Broke). I struggled with the purple and gold and I don’t recall what I won house colours for but it meant I’s ‘won’ an extra gold stripe, which made me feel more self-important. I don’t have much time for that ‘rankist’ stuff these days. I know Broke Of The Shannon had a nice gaff near the River Orwell. I imagine he did great things for our great country firing great big cannon balls at nasty enemy ships. Something else I see as rather silly.

Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke KCB, Captain RN

The History of School House

It was common practice in the 19th century public schools (the majority of which had more than one boarding house), to refer to the boarding house located in the main school buildings as “School House”. Usually, the headmaster was also the housemaster of School House, and he and his family resided in the house or immediately adjacent to it. This was, for instance, the case at Rugby and Oundle.

The Henley Road building which opened in 1852 was designed to provide accommodation for the headmaster and his family (in the south wing of the building, now occupied by the Classics Department and the staff common room), as well as bachelor undermasters who acted as house tutors and domestic servants.

Boarders lived in dormitories on the first floor of the building, where the music practice rooms are now located. They had no studies in those days, and the old Great School (demolished in the 1950s to make way for the new Physics Labs) was their only indoor play area, where violent and unregulated games took place. Headmasters and

their families continued to reside in the south wing until retirement of Patrick Mermagen in 1972, when ll St Edmund’s Road became the Headmaster’s house.

The dormitories in School Housescene of the youthful midnight storytelling activities of Henry Rider Haggardcould only cater for a limited number of pupils. At times when boarding was in great demand, some boys were “boarded out” in the homes of married members of staff, where they enjoyed a level of comfort which made them the envy of other members of School House. In the 1850s the boarders had privileged access to School Library and the only day boys who could use it were the members of the Chapel Choir.

School is the oldest house and dates from the days when the boys lived and were taught in one house (called School House). It later became the boarding house which occupied a part of the main building on Henley Road.

Wikipedia states that School House has not won the Ganzoni Cup since the time of Queen Victoria’s reign! This is something I continue to fight hard to change and our victories in the last two Sports Days have been a great reflection of the House spirit we have. My competitive side does not go unnoticed by the 120+ pupils in the House!

Since taking over as Head of House, I have instilled the mantra #bekind to the members of School House; something that I still strongly believe is at the heart of becoming a successful person. I have continued to be impressed with the achievements, charity work and House spirit of School House.

By the early part of this century, the boarders had been provided with studies as well as dormitories-these were located where one of the Physics labs is now-and a selection or their “pin-ups” (preserved because pine panelling was installed over the plaster walls on which they had been glued) survives in the School Archives. The growth in the number of pupils in the 1950s made it necessary to expand boarding facilities, and in 1954 Westwood was purchased and opened as a boarding house, so that School House ceased to have monopoly on boarders. The subsequent purchase and opening of Highwood as a second boarding house transformed School House into what it is now, a day pupils’ house.*

‒ Hannah Steele School Head of House

*Taken from a booklet entitled “The Houses of Ipswich School” written by David Warnes with additional research by Melissa Joralemon.

Memories of School House

David Walker (OI 1959 - 68)

I was in School House from 1965 to 1968 having been a day boy from 1959. At that time School House was synonymous with boarding, Westwood being still nascent. As a day boy I had always looked on boarders as sad boys condemned to endless awful school meals whose parents had sent them as far away as possible so as not to disturb the family home.

When my father changed jobs I suddenly found myself one of them. Gloucestershire County Council, still today a county of grammar schools,

was happy to pay the school fees so I stayed on at Ipswich. I swapped two 45-minute bus rides a day, the time outside of which I was my own master, to a regimented and disciplined 24/7 life which was not, however, without its compensations.

Having been part of the school’s first experiment of pushing the top class in the 4th form to take “O” levels a year early, I arrived in School House as a Lower Sixth Former. While being spared many of the travails of a junior boarder I was still not considered a senior and was allocated to one of the “middle dorms” up in the attics somewhere above the headmaster’s house. Plumbing had not yet arrived there, and one end of the dorm was a shelf on which sat water jugs and enamel

washing bowls. You might have heard the sob stories before, but we really did sometimes wake up with snow on the bed and ice on the water. I learned to make my own bed with hospital corners, bottom sheet sent to the laundry every week with top sheet moving down to the bottom. I think it was only three shirts a week we could send to the laundry but in those days we had detachable collars and could turn them round to get an extra day out of them.

I had endured school dinners for six years already and on the whole it had not been a pleasant experience. This was not to say I did not eat them and to this day when anyone asks how I can finish my meal so quickly, I say, “Boarding school, you don’t want to miss out on seconds, do you?”

I was pleasantly surprised to find that in addition to lunch I now had a cooked breakfast most days, as much toast and jam as I wanted with afternoon tea and then another cooked evening meal followed by cocoa and a little something before bed.

With plenty of spare time on our hands it is not surprising that School House was devoted to sports and usually won the interhouse sports. I was a good rugby forward and straight away found myself in the house XV. We won the rugby in the first year I was there (and the next two) and I was awarded house colours. I loved that blue and yellow tie. There was glory to be had on the rugby pitch but I hated the cold evening training sessions running up and down Constitution Hill. In summer it was sailing at Waldringfield or scoring for the first XI (you got off class early on Saturdays.)

The housemaster of School House was officially the headmaster, Patrick Hassell Frederick Mermagen, known to all as Ponce, but there was a house tutor who supposedly ran things. I can remember Tim? Taylor and Chris Berridge but no others which is not surprising because the house was run by the head of house and the house screws. If you have seen the film “If”, you will have a perfect image of life in School House at that time, including the matron

but minus Eleanor Bron. Every house prefect had a junior boy as a fag.

I had been flogged in every year as a day boy (yes, even in the prep school) by both masters, mistresses and prefects. Sad to say, discipline was a game for the house prefects. One common wheeze was for a house prefect to wait for five minutes after lights out by the door of the junior dorm or one of middle dorms, barge in and demand who had been talking, which boys always did, usually making remarks about the rustling coming from each other’s beds. An impromptu kangaroo court was then held in the library with boys in pyjamas and dressing gowns. Floggings would inevitably follow.

After the evening meal at 6pm all boys had prep from 6.30 to 8.15 when we gathered in the school library for house notices and prayers followed by cocoa and biscuits. Seniors then went back for another hour’s prep. Prep was done in your study. Fifth form and lower sixth were four to a study and sixth form were two to a study.

The studies were very small cabins which had seen no form of professional decorating for decades. That suited us as we adorned the walls with posters and pictures, the former mainly from travel agents’ old stock and the latter from the relatively new colour sections of the Sunday Times and Telegraph. Pictures of supercars and yachts were favourite. Most of us did little studying as it was very unlikely that we’d be caught.

Even the house screws largely respected the privacy of the studies. I remember one boy had an air pistol and spent a lot of the evening firing darts at suitable targets. In my last year I had a study leading out onto the roof. Was it over the chemistry lab? Anyway, it was the preferred smoking area for most of the seniors. Always being awkward and wishing to appear independently minded, bizarrely I didn’t smoke which made the procession of smokers through my study somewhat tiresome.

School House meant living above the shop, literally; our studies were above the corridor that led to the chapel and this had its advantages. School chapel started at 9am and we could time it precisely so that we could be last in, flouncing up the aisle with gowns flowing. School House sat in the pews next to the organ and enjoyed their singing. We heartily bashed out the hymns we liked.

If the chaplain annoyed us, or just to be a nuisance, we would occasionally cease singing. This threw the whole school into silence as they were used to just mumbling along while we bellowed out the hymns. Living in the school also meant that during any free time we would be straight back to our studies to have coffee and toast. In summer the swimming pool was just yards away and the school field was always there for a kick-about.

Apart from half-term we had two 24hour exeats per term. I went to a friend’s in my old village a couple of times but then decided there was more fun to be had at school. Sundays were fairly free, apart from compulsory letter writing, and on school days there was an hour or so between the end of lessons and the start of prep. For the juniors this was largely taken up with table tennis or playing board games in the games room.

The older you got the more you were likely to be thinking of extramural activities. Quite often we went to a pub, either the one at the top of the High Street or one at the bottom of Berners Road. We had the sense to avoid the pubs frequented by the masters (unlike my eldest son.) It was not unknown to go there during prep.

As we got older we got more adventurous and I started off from a fairly high level. For several half-terms I hitchhiked home to Cirencester at half-term. It usually took about 5 hours meaning I got home at about 10pm. One of my study mates, who was from South Wales, had a motorbike that he kept in Ipswich, I think at an aunt’s. I remember one day after

a long dry spell followed by a summer storm he dragged himself back to School House having skidded on the greasy road and taken a nasty tumble. I’m pretty sure that he didn’t report to matron. Sadly for me, but probably wisely, my bike had to stay at home.

Until my final year we often left the house without signing out but we had to be very careful and nearly always had to be back by 10pm when the doors to School House were locked. But when I became a house screw there was very little supervision. Finding a girlfriend while at an all-boys school and not living in the area was not an easy task. The opportunities were few and far between.

It was not until 1967 that I could say I found my first real girlfriend, the sister of a day boy. You might be wondering how we went in and out of a locked School House at night. The answer was out of the study window, on to the lab roof, down the drainpipe and onto the bins. Senior School House boys of previous years had built up a close relationship with the Haskell family and became what was known as “Haskell Dwellers”. In my final year I duly became a Haskell Dweller which included being awarded an “HD” tie. Their house was on St Edmunds Road, backing on to the school

Geoffrey Knights (OI 1939 - 51)

Few people can owe as much for their life history to School House as I do. My elder brother (JW Knights -Tim) and I were brought to England by our parents who worked in Trinidad in June 1939, and placed in boarding school at Ipswich for Tim to start at Senior School whilst I entered Prep D at the age of just seven. By the accident of war, our parents did not return until 1945, so School House was in fact our home for the entire war.

Whilst memories of air-raid shelters, sleeping in the dug-out in front of the New Building, timber supported ceilings in the safety room between the Physics Lab and the Holden Library, and many other war-time experiences are still vivid, the outstanding memory of those years is the effect that specific people had on my life. Support from the Gleave and Glover families as well as from the Head master Mr Tanquerary and his family enabled me not just to cope with the situation but to thrive.

In particular, outstanding help came from the Matron, Miss Gilmore, (later Mrs Sullivan) who took the place of my parents. School House discipline was always firm, food was adequate, (I hated rabbit stew!) but a routine of hard work coupled with plenty of sporting activities helped me to gain a scholarship to Cambridge in 1951, and a subsequent career that included two years’ service in the Royal Navy followed by a further three years at Cambridge before finding myself in a commercial and academic career in Australia. Long may School House flourish!

field. We would go to watch telly (we had our own special room) and be fed by Bunny who looked after us very well. Granville was an old Ipswichian and liked to play the gruff father but, while rarely seen, never seemed to object to our presence. It was, of course, totally against school rules for boarders to be there (not least because we were probably meant to be doing prep) and we had to slip into the house discreetly. One night, it was actually dawn, after exams and knowing I was going to Imperial College and to live with my girlfriend in London, I went out through

the garden gate that led directly onto the sports field. I was feeling fairly ecstatic and carefree.

I walked straight across the cricket field, which was of course a high crime against school rules, confident that nobody was around at that time to see me. As I reached the other side I glanced backwards to see that I had left a clear trail of footprints in the morning dew right across the field to the gate of the Haskell house. I’ve never been back to the School, I would not want to blur the happy memories.

Richard Butler (OI 1969 - 76)

I was the first head of School House when it was reformed in the 1970s. I was originally in Holden but an announcement was made at the school assembly that a new house was being formed and that a list of names was on the noticeboard of boys being moved over to it. I was a little disappointed to be moved over as Holden had some good rugby players and School House didn’t! The other houses had not been

Alfred Waller (OI 1948 - 56)

When I first started at Ipswich School in 1948 I was living in Waldringfield where my father was the Rector and I was a pupil at Waldringfield Primary School. I became a day boy and commuted into Ipswich on the Waldringfield 232 bus together with Leigh Belcham (OI) and others. I joined Broke House but I can not remember who was my house master. Tanquerary was then the headmaster. The school was still recovering from World War II and all the splendid facilities now available did not exist and the teaching syllabuses were mediaeval. What was there was positively primitive.

too forthcoming in contributing their most athletic personnel to the new house. The master in charge of School was Mr Jones, my biology master. He was an excellent character, full of life and worldly knowledge and with a ready smile and he could pronounce that Welsh town with the longest name! The School House area was away from the main part of the school, where the Sixth form centre is now, up along the avenue

was sited in a good position to watch the pretty High School girls walking up Henley Road to school.

Later when I became a school prefect under Pat Mermagen I was transferred to Westwood, the newly established boarding house under ‘Spud’ Marsden, the geography master, who later became Headmaster of Yarmouth Grammar School. I seem to remember my first duty there was to look after the oldest resident, a donkey long in the tooth. Spud and his wife quickly established a Sunday evening soiree of classical music which for me began a lifelong passion.

Peter Chapman, a friend in School House used to come to Westwood for the same reason as did Derek Thornberry, the Deputy housemaster of School House. We became firm friends

Soon after, my brother, John, became a boarder in School House. Typically he was always late in delivering his homework and on one occasion climbed up to the top of the tower to deliver his Latin exercise to Mr Stonex, the classics master who had a room up there. ‘Cabby’ as he was known because he always wore a black taxi driver’s coat, was not amused.

Soon John declared he did not enjoy being a boarder so my parents decided that I should become a boarder in School House to keep him company. A little later John asked to become a day boy but by then I was quite happy to remain in School House. I shared a study with Chris Mather* and our study

and in our last summer holiday Peter and I were persuaded to accompany Derek and his brother to climb in the Austrian Stubbai and the Italian Dolomites. National Service beckoned and after Basic Training both Peter and I were commissioned into the Suffolk Regiment. As the regiment was

of lime trees. Therefore, an effort had to be made to go there and this was often overlooked for the recently opened sixth form centre (and the tuckshop), where the art department is now, more in the centre of my daily activity. I’m not sure I gave it my all leading my new house but I got house colours, the double yellow stripe on blue tie.

then stationed in Germany, a country I knew quite well I wangled a posting first to India and then to Nepal with an attachment to the British Gurkhas as a Recruiting Officer where my climbing experience came in useful.

When the troubles broke out in Cyprus the Suffolk Regiment was posted to Nicosia. As the regiment was short of subalterns I was summoned from the Himalayas. This was my first experience of real soldiering in a very dirty war made more difficult by Archbishop Makarios’s armed wing, EOKA. Peter and I were later responsible for capturing Nikos Sampson, the leader of an EOKA gang up in the Troodos Mountains. In 1974 Sampson ousted Makarios who by then was President of Cyprus and caused Turkey to invade Cyprus and establish a separate Republic of North Cyprus. This lovely island remains as divided now as when we served out there. Our joint experience in the school CCF was clearly insufficient.

I will shortly be meeting Chris Mather at a Suffolk Regimental lunch I organise. I haven’t seen him for donkeys years but he joined the Royal Anglians as a regular army officer. While in School House I remember him telling me that his father served in wartime South Africa and what a lovely country it was then despite the later political problems of Apartheid. It so enthused me that 20 years later I was an educational book publisher in Central and Southern Africa publishing educational books for black African schools. Isn’t it curious how life turns full circle.

Humphrey Catchpole (OI 1953 - 61)

Asian flu struck at some time, with the dormitories full with those (almost everyone) suffering. We were attended to by a temporary, very attractive young 'matron' whose shaking of the thermometer was a sight to behold! Our usual matron in those days wore a very formal blue outfit, complete with badge and headgear.

Before breakfast, we had the option of a walk in the park opposite, or a swim in the pool, which though indoors, was never heated to a comfortable level. As a result in those days, School House always won the inter-house School Swimming Sports.

One night the whole dormitory (about 20 of us) was caned by Mr 'Spike' Thornberry for talking after lights out. This we preferred to lines, as it passed quickly and was soon forgotten, whereas writing lines was a pointless drag.

Fags were in vogue in those days, with chores ranging from cleaning your prefect's CCF uniform, boots, and Blanco, running errands downtown, and bringing a cup of tea to him in bed in the

Nigel Lingwood (OI 1966 - 77)

I was one of the first pupils to be plucked out of my House (Holden) and put in School when it was reconstituted back in the 1970s.

It was with very mixed feelings that I (and the rest of us) joined School; Houses at that time were very strong and I think at the time we all felt like we had been singled out and rejected by our existing Houses to go to School (I had been in Holden)

mornings. This was not all bad, in that fags were excused some general jobs such as cleaning the changing rooms as well as being paid at the prefect's discretion - I received 7s 6d per term.

Fags also had access to 'Study Passage' which had a gas ring at one end allowing for a variety of cooked items, including fried onions collected from the kitchen under the pretext of their being needed for a biology lesson. At some stage,I learnt that fried rice was not prepared by tossing the grains straight into the pan!

In the mornings we had Chapel before the academic day started, and at the end of the day, supervised prep . We had assembly and prayers every night in the Library, to hear any items the prefects wished to impart.

One highlight for some was breakfast with the Bishop, who lived just down the road, with the fare being a few steps up from that we were used to. I was always impressed with the full-sized oar he had on the wall from his Oxbridge days. Another breakfast with mixed enjoyment was with the Headmaster, Mr Mermagen, with the food being pretty good, but the atmosphere far from relaxed.

Boarders certainly got to know each other pretty well. I had two sets of twins in my class and could not tell them apart, but after they spent a few weeks boarding, they appeared not at all indistinguishable.

Tending to be permanently hungry, we welcomed Mrs Clutterham's bun window, but most of the boarders seemed somewhat strapped for cash, which we overcame by paying with stamps that our parents had kindly provided for letters home. Doughnuts and cream buns cost tuppence ha'penny, and we were given 6p pocket money/week in Junior House.

In all three locations we had a tuckbox filled at home prior to the start of term, the contents of which, needless to say, didn't last long.

- but that in itself created a great camaraderie in the early days. I think Mr Hoskins was the Housemaster. One of my greatest thrills at School was winning the inter-House Hockey Cup in 1977 – I was Captain and played for the Firsts and Suffolk – we had a motley team of players but wow, how they all came together and played their hearts out for that game in the Final played on the upper end of the Sports

field opposite the Pavilion. I can’t remember who we beat but I do remember it was the first bit of silverware that School had won and at last we all in School felt we had arrived!

Aneil Karia wins an Oscar at the 2022 awards!

(OI

Director Aneil Karia (OI 1994 – 2001) and co-writer Riz Ahmed delighted us alll when they went home winners with the ‘Best Live Action Short Film’ Oscar.

The film, which Aneil directed, explores the effect of an imagined farright Britain and a raid on a South Asian

family’s home as they prepare for their daughter’s wedding.

Speaking after the win, Aneil told gathered reporters: “It feels really quite odd, I think I'm still processing it.” Speaking of the film Aneil said at the time; "The way it touched the south Asian community was really moving and then it went on to win these kinds of accolades which is something we never expected and to end up here is insane, to be honest.”

Aneil joined Ipswich School in 1994 and when asked to comment, former teacher Barry Hoskins, who was at the School from 1970 to 2007 taught Aneil classics and remembers him as “a very clever, humorous and thoughtful young man”. Whilst at the School Aneil also worked with Joanna Carrick (OI 198486) Old Ipswichian Club President and artistic director at the Red Rose Chain theatre company on Birkfield Drive. Jo said she “couldn't be more proud” of

1994 - 2001)

her former student. She added: “Aneil started working with us from the age of 10 through his teenage years, and was involved in a number of productions.

“He’s such a lovely guy and amazingly creative, really seeing the value in projects that give voice to marginalised people and challenging the system. It's so inspiring to our current young people to see that you can start in Ipswich and really achieve anything you want to if you find your creativity and let it blossom.”

Current headmaster at Ipswich School Nicholas Weaver said: “It was really exciting to hear the news of a former pupil achieving an Oscar for his powerful and moving work, and it will certainly prove an inspiration for current pupils who are looking for a career in the arts. Well done, Aneil!”

After leaving Ipswich Aneil went on to study journalism at the University of Leeds before pursuing filmmaking.

Aneil began his career by directing several award-winning short films including ‘Beat’, starring Ben Whishaw, which screened at 50 festivals worldwide. His Film4-financed film ‘Work’ was nominated for a BAFTA and a BIFA for Best Short.

In 2019, Aneil directed the closing three episodes of TOP BOY season three for Netflix. He also helmed the opening block of Channel 4’s 2019 drama ‘Pure’. In the same year, he directed ‘Trouble’ for Kano. The short film was praised for its stirring depiction of street violence and won Best Special Video Project at the 2019 UKMVAs.

Aneil’s debut feature film Surge premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where its lead, Ben Whishaw, won the World Cinema Best Actor Jury Prize. The film was produced by Rooks Nest for BBC Films and the BFI. Aneil has also directed television dramas including TOP BOY for Netflix and most recently THE GOLD for BBC One and Paramount. Later this year he is due to direct his second feature film, a modern adaptation of HAMLET.

A huge congratulations to Aneil, and all who worked on the film. What a wonderful achievement!

Photo credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

OI Artist JR Chuo named in Forbes Europe 30 under 30 list!

Joseph Reed (OI 2015 - 20) known professionally as JR CHUO, has been named one of the top 30 under 30 in Europe by Forbes Magazine.

Joseph Reed, known as JR CHUO, is a contemporary paper cut artist whose work explores the notion of façades in society that conceal harsh realities, with a particular focus on the impacts of climate change on coral reefs.

Although JR CHUO is only 19 years old, he has been paper cutting for seven years, during which time he has sought to continually perfect his art form. Using traditional Japanese paper cutting techniques, some of CHUO’s artworks have taken between one and two years to complete. CHUO’s work has been exhibited internationally, in locations ranging from London to Tokyo and Milan and he was recently named one of Art Market Magazine’s ‘Top Contemporary Artists of 2021’. JR CHUO has been recognised in numerous renowned publications, including Tatler Magazine and Aesthetica Magazine, and he was selected by Saatchi Art’s expert curators

as a ‘Curator’s Pick’ for The Other Art Fair London in July 2021. JR CHUO is a Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe 2022 Honoree in the ‘Arts & Culture’ and ‘Youngest’ categories alongside some of the world’s leading young changemakers.

JR CHUO has partnered with environmental NGO ‘Coralive’ to support their coral restoration work around the world through the sale of his original artworks.

CHUO’s interest in paper cutting began during a trip to Japan in 2015, where he saw a traditional hand cut ‘ise katagami’ design in a ‘ryōkan’ (traditional Japanese inn) in Kyōto. ‘Ise katagami’ is the Japanese craft of making stencils and is used traditionally to dye cloth, often to print designs onto kimono. Struck by the piece’s intricacy, CHUO decided to explore the medium himself upon his return to the UK. He initially focused on architectural designs

Voiceover Artist

Alistair McMillan (OI 1994 – 2001)

At the start of the pandemic, I was working as the General Manager of a historic castle and wedding venue in Essex and after being furloughed for a few months I was made redundant when the venue was unable to operate at normal capacity due to COVID restrictions.

I found myself a digital marketing role for a software company that kept

the mortgage payments up to date! As the ongoing COVID restrictions were still in place and I was now able to work remotely, I decided to take advantage of the opportunities that working from home afforded me.

The lack of commute (approximately 2 hours a day) meant that I could spend extra time focussing on personal projects. Now for many years, people

in his paper cut work, but soon moved onto figurative work before finally arriving at abstraction. His abstract shapes have taken years to perfect and he says they are constantly evolving.

Despite the precise nature of his work, CHUO’s designs radiate organic warmth, containing a myriad of fascinating leading lines and shapes that capture the viewer’s attention. Each individual paper-cut shape is unique and hundreds, sometimes thousands, of these shapes work together in harmony to form large seamless designs.

have said to me that I should be a voiceover artist and it’s always been a dream of mine. I’ve always been involved in performing arts throughout my life and drama lessons at school had given me the tools I had to perform.

I had already converted my small spare bedroom into a home office, so then I set about adapting it into a home recording studio. Foam tiles were stuck to the walls and a giant red rug was hung. A basic recording set-up was purchased and I was ready to record.

I spent a few days researching how to get voiceover work and learning the types of work available. I spoke to friends and colleagues and spent my evenings reading articles on the subject. I knew I wanted to

JR CHUO takes inspiration from the organised nature of urban subway maps and the simplification of metropolitan areas, which conceal the complexity of the areas they represent. He believes this concept is also present in the way our societies and governments deal with the environment. CHUO explores the impacts of climate change on coral

record an audiobook and I came across the ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange) website, which is run by Audible. Authors post their books on the site and potential narrators can record auditions and submit them. And audition I did!

I landed my first audiobook quicker than I expected and began the rather daunting task of recording the novel. The manuscript and author notes were sent to me and I got to work annotating it and discussing how to voice the many characters with the author.

Ask any audiobook narrator and they will tell you that recording an audiobook is an absolute marathon, and it really was. I began recording in April 2021 and the final book was published in

reefs, juxtaposing this message with the vibrant colours that he uses in his work. In addition, many of CHUO’s artworks are named after Japanese subway stations and lines.

The patterns found in CHUO’s pieces are largely inspired by organic forms found in coral reefs and his bright colour palette takes inspiration from the striking

January 2022. Over those 8-9 months I had recorded, recorded, edited, mastered and submitted 8.5 hours of audio, 86,892 words with 12 different characters, (including Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher). The author and I are very pleased with the end result and I will be undertaking the other two books in the series later this year.

The Banqueting Club, a political mystery/thriller set in the heart of the 1980s government, written by George Fairbrother and narrated by Alistair McMillan is out now on Amazon, iTunes and Audible. https://www.amazon.co.uk/ Banqueting-Club-Armstrong-BurtonBook/dp/B09RKTYPCW/ref=tmm_aud_ swatch_0 _encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

colours emitted by certain corals before they are bleached by warming ocean temperatures as a result of climate change. CHUO aims to capture the ‘tragic beauty’ of dying corals in his work, by creating striking designs, often using fluorescent colours to draw attention to the intricacy of the artworks.

CHUO’s artistic process is labourintensive, requiring deep focus on the present moment. Cutting all of his designs by hand, one small paper cut piece usually takes several weeks to complete. However, CHUO uses his paper cut pieces to create a wide range of artworks, from spray paintings to digital versions of his designs. Thus, each individual paper cut piece generates a wide array of possibilities for CHUO to experiment with.

One paper cut at a time, JR CHUO aims to encourage an appreciation for the beauty of coral and versatility of paper cutting as an art form, striving to use his art to create important environmental and social change around the world.’ Forbes profile: https://www.forbes.com/profile/ jr-chuo/?sh=e86a38219137

‘Arts & Culture’ list feature: https://www.forbes.com/30under-30/2022/europe/art-culture

‘Youngest’ special category feature: https://www.forbes.com/30under-30/2022/europe/youngest

Congratulations! What a remarkable achievement!

Alistair McMillan is available for voiceover projects and can be contacted his website: www.alistairmcmillan.co.uk

Stage & Film Actor

Edward Lyons

(OI 1989 – 96)

Edward Lyons (OI 1989 – 96)

(Stage name: Ed Hughes)

After 10 years at Ipswich School and debating whether to wicket-keep and play professional cricket or become a luvvie, I left in 1996 to study as an actor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

liberator of Latin America Simon Bolivar, in Latin America’s largest ever 60 part television series for Netflix “Bolivar”.

After graduating I went straight into working as an actor in all the major theatres and companies in the UK including, The National Theatre, Old Vic Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Royal Shakespeare Company and Kneehigh Theatre Company and various shows in the West End. This led onto to television roles in Ripper Street, An Honourable Woman, Wallander with Sir Kenneth Branagh, who became the patron of my production company Salida Productions.

In the last 5 years after marrying Andrea Pelaez, a Colombian choreographer, and due to speaking fluent Spanish after a year dancing tango in Buenos Aires and directing Romeo and Juliet with the tango orchestra Astillero at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester, I was asked to go out to Bogota to play Coronel Daniel Florence O’Leary, the right hand man of the

For 8 months I rode horses in rivers, fought the Spanish and had the time of my life travelling around beautiful Colombia with Andrea and our two girls Julieta and Nina. The series won 12 India Catalina awards (BAFTA’s in Colombia) and has led to more work for Netflix and having a transcontinental career in both Latin America and the UK including “The Snitch Cartel: Origins” and Wild District (Netflix) and now about to film with Ridley Scott in 2022.

For the last couple of years due to Covid putting a stop to travel and theatre, I have branched out into directing the vocal performances for the dubbing into English of Netflix and Amazon series and films (Je Suis Karl, Anxious People, Alrawabi School for Girls) as well as focusing on my other passion teaching, as a lecturer in acting and directing at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and the University of East London.

Fortunately the cricket has stayed in my life and weirdly opened doors, getting to know Harold Pinter in his final years by playing for his team the Gaieties Cricket Club. It felt like life had come full circle after playing Goldberg in the Birthday Party directed by Mr. Burnett whilst at the sixth form. I was never academic at school but often look back and thank god for all the extra-curricular skills I learnt at school which have fed directly into my career.

From the choir singing, to the play rehearsals after school working on classical plays to learning Latin and the footwork of Welsh rugby with Mr Hoskins and Mr Brown’s hours of wicket-keeping training enabling me to be a dancer. I realise now that nothing you learn is ever wasted and will feed back into your life in strange and wonderful ways.

To read more about Ed check out his website: https://www.ed-hughes.co.uk/

Tribute to Tom Glover

More than 60 years later, I cannot throw a piece of firewood without remembering his instructions on passing the ball. I later learned that Tom and Jimmy Young, both relatively elderly by now, were allowed to do “local” sports duty and were excused the trek to Top Field.

As Head of Chemistry throughout my time at School, Tom only came into academic contact with me in the Third form. Stories about the bangs and smells in the Chemistry labs were amply confirmed on Day 1: Tom inverted a heavy cast iron mortar on his elevated bench, piled some yellow powder on the base and smote it with the iron pestle.

A huge explosion reverberated round the lab and Tom’ s bespectacled face eventually loomed through the cloud of smoke, announcing that we would be unlikely to survive if we disobeyed his safety rules. Although witnessing many more explosions, planned and unplanned, in my life, this was without doubt the most dramatic.

In those days before most industrial gases were supplied in metal bottles, curious gadgets known as Kipp’s Apparatus provided gases such as sulphur dioxide, hydrogen and hydrogen sulphide for our experiments. The general principle was that a liquid and a solid reagent in contact reacted to send the gas to an outlet valve, but when the valve was closed, the internal gas

pressure kept the two apart and gas production stopped. It was not unknown for idle fingers to open the valve slightly during a dull theory class, leading to a rotten egg smell all round. The aged lab technician (nicknamed Mr Pastry after a TV comedian) spent hours replenishing the Kipp’s on our account.

Tom was not a cricket or athletics man so, being an independent soul, became in Summer the only staff member running the sailing club. For boys, such escapist activity became available from the Fifth form and initiation started with preparing the Cadets and Fireflies of the school fleet in the Chemistry lab.

Much rubbing down with “Wet & Dry”, painting and varnishing ensued, eventually meeting Tom’s mirror finish standard. Whole generations of spouses must be grateful for these skills honed under Tom’s watchful eye. Once actual sailing started at Waldringfield, it was all go on three afternoons a week, one of which was Saturday when the local club hosted race days and regattas. Our social skills were braced up by the participation of girls in these competitive events, though our male egos were often dashed when they won!

Gruff and forbidding as he usually seemed, Tom had a wonderful capacity for overlooking our frequent misdeeds and, in one memorable instance, leading us into naughtiness. Waldringfield is a good eight miles or so from the School

and, apart from favored individuals who had a lift in Tom’s car, the rest of us were supposed to cycle there and back. Just turning 16, a few of us were acquiring motorbikes, although rules forbade boys to ride them on School business. Tom cannot fail to have noticed us, two up on BSA Bantams, which we then hid in a ditch on a Waldringfield side road; a magisterial blind eye was turned.

At the end of our first afternoon at Waldringfield, spent on land rigging the dinghies, Tom surprised us all by inviting us into the Public Bar of the Maybush Inn, where he bought us each half a pint of Tolly. Definitely against School rules and, for most of us youngsters, against the Licensing Laws too! Unabashed, Tom drew our attention to the layout of the Maybush, with its Lounge Bar and Saloon Bar visible across the serving area. He also told us he understood there was another Bar, the Smoking Room, round the corner, though he had never been there himself. His parting admonition was that, in future, he did not expect to see us drinking in the pub –and he never did.

– David Smith (OI 1956 - 64) Queenstown, New Zealand

I first encountered Tom Glover, wearing the longest shorts I had ever seen, trying to impart the rudiments of rugger to us First formers on School Field. His bellowed instructions and fierce demeanor were a bit alarming but, I suppose, quite effective in coralling 10-11 year old novices.

Squadron Leader Donald (Dimsie) Stones DFC & BAR

Ipswich School 1930 - 37

Donald Stones was born in Norwich on 19th June 1921 and attended the School from 1930 to 1937. His only mention of the School in his autobiography was that his happiest memories were the holidays. He bicycled from Ipswich to the River Deben near the Felixstowe Ferry where he kept an old canoe.

There, he met a Canadian RAF Wing Commander Percy Sherren and was inspired by him and his family to apply for a short service commission in the RAF. He was accepted and started flying training in early 1939. He subsequently became a flying “Ace” and the only O.I. to be awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and Bar.

After initial training, he joined 32 Squadron in January 1940 flying hurricanes. The Squadron was sent to Gravesend in March and he was billeted with a local family. There was a lot of hanging around due to freezing fog and he asked his hosts if he could borrow a book to read. They responded by indicating that he could take any one he wanted. He picked one at random and walked up to the Mess to have breakfast. 2 of his fellow pilots noticed the book sticking out of his great-coat pocket, removed it and started laughing. Donald grabbed the book and looked at its title which was “Dimsie goes to School”, a children’s book. That nickname remained with him throughout his service and until his death.

He transferred to 79 Squadron which was posted to Merville in France in May 1940 and serious combat began. Many missions were flown in his beloved hurricanes. He claimed 5 enemy shot down in one week with one other shared. He was then shot down and crash landed near some of his victims. Ten days after their arrival the Squadron or what was left of it returned to England

as Dunkirk fell. On the 4th June 1940, a few days before his nineteenth birthday, a telegram arrived for him which gave him the news that he had been awarded the DFC for his bravery in France. He was decorated by the King “in the field” at Biggin Hill on 22nd June. He then participated in the “Battle of Britain” until his plane was hit by enemy fire and, following a forced landing, he was hospitalised with shrapnel to one leg.

There followed a posting to an instructors’ course. In May 1941, he was sent back to 79 Squadron but in July he was ordered out to Malta to join 249 Squadron. He then served with the Malta Night Fighter Unit. He was transferred to 605 Squadron where he became temporary commanding officer. In April 1942, he was awarded a Bar to his DFC. There followed a posting to Egypt as an instructor and he then commanded 155 Squadron in India. On 15th May 1943, he was wounded by ground fire whilst leading an attack in Burma and this ended his operational career

Following his recovery from wounds and a bout of dysentery, he became a test pilot in India and then loaned to Vickers Armstrong. Whilst participating in a prank, a detonator exploded under

a colleague’s car and Dimsie lost an eye. He was posted to a staff position at the Air Ministry but, unable to fly, he left the Service in 1946.

He then joined the Colonial Service and served as a District Officer in Kenya. He met the Governor , Sir Philip Mitchel, by chance as a result of which he was encouraged to apply for a private pilots’ licence. This enabled him to continue his career in aviation. He also served in Tanganyika and Malaya until independence. After farming in the West Country, he returned to Africa to become an agent and demonstrator for a number of aircraft manufacturers. He was instrumental in selling jet trainers to the Ghanaian and Zambian air forces. He endured 6 coups d’etat in the 1960’s but finally left Africa after a sale of jet trainers to Idi Amin fell through after Amin had all of his trainee pilots shot on their return from training in Italy. He returned to the UK and died on22nd October 2002.

–

Alan Wyatt (OI 1944 - 1953)

Note: Dimsie is featured in the Book “Aces High” which is a tribute to the most notable Fighter Pilots of the British and Commonwealth Forces in WWII. The full and fascinating story of his amazing life is featured in his autobiography “A Pilot’s Passion” published in 2014 by Burt’s Book Club Ltd.

The Student Property Monthly

In terms of my course, BSc Real Estate at Oxford Brookes University, many students felt disconnect with the industry and their studies which is a vocational subject that relies on human interaction. It was during a brief break in the lockdown rules at the end of my second year when two close friends and I came up with an idea in a beer garden that would aim to reconnect fellow students back with the industry. And so launch the UK’s first student property paper, The Student Property Monthly.

When people ask how I first became interested in the built environment it’s hard to give a definitive answer as my interest has evolved over time. I’d say that I started with an eagerness to learn more about the history of property through its architecture, which over time grew to wanting to learn more about how we interact with the world around us and how property meets those needs. Before going to university, I remember taking a survey at Ipswich, which at the time I thought was a bit of a waste of time, but with hindsight proved to be very insightful as it predicted what industry I’m best suited for through my strengths. That turned out to be surveying.

When I arrived at university the first few weeks went swimmingly as I got my first taste of independence, the joys of which were eating copious amounts of junk food and almost unlimited visits to the pub without my parents nagging! The “normal” university experience I was expecting suddenly came to an abrupt stop though. With the pandemic leaping into life the world around us ceased to a standstill. Lectures went from being held in a bustling lecture hall to the safety of our own homes within a matter of days. Many of us at university were excited at first, due to not having at attend 9am lectures in person and having what we thought would be a brief break from lectures. However, little did we know that the lockdown would last for far longer than just a couple of weeks. As time passed many students felt the strain of a learning model none of us were used to. We started to miss the interactions with our colleagues, trips to the pub and most importantly learning lessons around growing up through experiences only possible at university. The couple of weeks turned into months, and those months then sadly turned into years.

Towards the end of my second year, during the brief break in lockdown restrictions, I met up with two close friends that I hadn’t seen for months. We talked about the struggles we had each faced during our times at home and thought of an idea of how we can bring people back together. One

common factor we had all identified was the disconnect with examples of people who have been on a similar career path as us. We get taught the academic side thoroughly at university but what is often missing is hearing stories about alumni and those at the top of their fields which can be used as motivation and inspiration through difficult times. Oxford Brookes University offers an excellent mentoring scheme, of which I was fortunately paired with one of the most experienced people in the industry Andrew Hynard (former Chief Executive at The Howard de Walden Estate, formerly Chairman of the Investment Property Forum and the RICS Commercial Property Forum and former UK Deputy Chairman of JLL). Combined with Andrew and the help of

OBREMS (Oxford Brookes Real Estate Management Society) we launched the first issue of the paper in August 2021. We had received tremendous feedback from our first issue and were able to attract some exceptional names for future issues including the likes of; Global Chairman of Knight Frank, CEO of JLL, UK President of Avison Young, Non-Executive Chairman of The Berkeley Group, Mayor of the West Midlands, CEO of Mallcomm, Chairman of Cushman and Wakefield and Heads of Knight Frank’s Private Office just to name a few. Being able to share the stories and experiences of those above with students who have suffered throughout the pandemic has given us an unparalleled insight into the built environment. We also wanted to ensure that the paper remained free and online, this made it accessible for all and wouldn’t require an expensive

subscription service. Now into its sixth issue we have passed the 90,000 total viewership mark and have an archive of wonderful and inspiring articles which can be visited at any time for free. Furthermore, due to the success of the paper we were able to organise the first annual OBREMS Presidents Cup, a golf networking event which put students up against alumni to fight over the Oxford Claret Jug. The end result of the match was a draw, which felt fitting as the real winner of the event were the connections made and stories told during the round.

As for the future of the paper, we have now successfully passed it onto an expanded committee of editors who are working incredibly hard to add new features including a website and podcast. We are also increasing the number of extra-curricular events including a squash, sailing, shooting and

rugby networking events that will help building a growing community in the real estate industry. The paper itself is only as good as its last issue which acts as motivation to ensure its long term future. Although my time on the paper in terms of acting as editor-in-chief is over, I’m looking forward to having a supporting role for the new committee. Our goals are to raise funds for both sponsorship of charity events and networking events as well as supporting OBREMS Bursary Funds helping support less fortunate students access the same level of education ourselves.

If you are interested in sponsoring The Student Property Monthly please don’t hesitate to contact me at: andrewjwhitehead@btinternet.com

– Andrew Whitehead (OI 2012 - 19)

Climate4Kids

Toryn Whitehead has just launched a new non-profit organisation, Climate4Kids, with the aim of educating kids of all ages about the climate crisis. Read more about his journey from Ipswich School to undertaking a PhD at King’s College London and starting-up Climate4Kids.

From Bottom Set to PhD

There have been many bumps in the road on my academic journey. One notable point was my Year 8 exam results. It’s fair to say I didn’t do very well, and the next year I was dropped into bottom set maths and science, which at the time felt like the end of the world. Although admittedly I was a little melodramatic, looking back it was this that lit a fire in my belly to prove to myself and my teachers that I could achieve academically.

From coastal erosion and flooding consuming our coastlines in the UK, to wildfires, droughts and many other extreme weather events becoming more frequent and severe around the globe, the effects of the climate crisis are playing out in real time today. In the words of John Kerry, the USA’s climate envoy, “we are cooked” if we continue to ignore the problem and don’t change our ways.

This new world of ‘sustainability’, ‘netzero’ and ‘carbon neutral’ is confusing, especially when you consider the swathes of misinformation and climate denial muddying the waters. This is why public engagement and outreach activities are crucial, not only for participatory-based research, but also to clear the waters so people understand the importance of action to combat climate change.

A recent study from the University of Bath shows that many children

express feelings of helplessness, guilt and even belittlement when they try to speak about the future. This is why at Climate4Kids, we offer climate change education for kids 4-18 years old.

We tailor every talk, workshop, and other service to be interactive, eco-positive and practical. Ensuring that kids leave the session better informed, but also with the knowledge and tools to act in their own lives and engage with local initiatives.

To find out more about us and what we do, check out our website www.climate4kids.co.uk.

If any OIs reading this have any thoughts or advice as a new start-up, please get in touch! Your support would be greatly appreciated.

Wind forwards a decade almost, and I have just accepted a funded place to undertake a PhD at King’s College London looking at nature-based solutions to climate change. This journey required resilience, self-belief, and a set of mentors to help keep me moving in the right direction. I will always look back at my years at Ipswich School fondly. From days on the hockey pitch to Spanish with Mr Bradshaw, it certainly prepared me for life beyond school.

If any current pupils are interested in chemistry, journalism, or academia generally and would like some advice, I would be more than happy to help. Please feel free to get in touch through the OI network.

– Toryn Whitehead (OI 2010 - 15)

The Hard Way to get to Ipswich in time for Lunch

Tells of how one attendee will get to Ipswich for the OI Summer Lunch from Scandinavia the hard way. Not recommended reading for people used to zooming around in cars and aeroplanes!

For many years my wife and I would fly to Sweden every May. After visits with all her wonderful relatives, she would set off for Italy to carry on her work as a Classical Archaeologist in Tuscany or Sicily, and I would set off on my trusty folding bike to see the rest of Europe: I had seen enough of Italy long ago. My destinations were exotic places like Tbilisi, or Moscow, or Thessaloniki. Just before the Pandemic I rode across Germany and France to Corsica and Sardinia and then met my wife at the site in Sicily where she was working.

The Pandemic put paid to this, but finally this year we've resumed old habits. She is at the Swedish Institute in Rome furiously absorbing all the literature that is not available in the United States, and next week will be doing fieldwork in Arezzo for an upcoming book, and I'm riding around Denmark on my way to the UK.

A week ago I rode out to Skagen to see the point where Denmark divides the Baltic from the North Sea. I had to see it. I'd been fascinated since the first form at Ipswich by this peculiarly-shaped feature, like the beak of an eagle pecking into the soft underbelly of the Skagerrak, with its peculiar name - The Skaw – in our school atlas. Thank you, Spud Marsden, for making geography fascinating! There were many hundreds of people there, many of whom must have had the same fascination, from all over the world. I chatted with a couple from the Canary Islands and some fellow bicycle tourists from Switzerland.

Almost immediately on my return I collapsed. After two days huddled in my room with what I thought was a very bad head cold, I decided that this was no ordinary cold and went across the road to the Apotek to purchase a COVID test

kit. Positive. Very positive! For the next five days I sat there looking down through the heavily-framed window of my room onto the cobbled courtyard surrounded by an anything-but-rectilinear jumble of old and new buildings, as shown in the accompanying sketch.

I knew exactly where I had caught the bug: in a cramped eight-bed dormitory in the Danhostel at Aarhus. I had stayed there in an attempt to shave a bit off the cost of accommodation in this incredibly expensive country. False economy for sure! This is the first bicycle tour on which I have not carried a tent and cooking gear: I had decided when packing that at my age (80) it was silly to continue to travel like a teenager. That was my first mistake: there are many more fine campgrounds in Denmark than there are inexpensive hotels.

The time was not wasted: I had stories to write, sketches to finish, people to ask to referee a paper I have in press,

two papers by others to referee. Also, a lot of tedious planning to do to find a reasonably priced and logistically simple way of getting to Ipswich with the bicycle in time for the Summer OI Lunch, but with seven days' less time available than I had originally planned. Yesterday I tested again. Negative! Hooray, now I'm back on the road, headed down the south side of Limfjord to Esbjerg. A pity there's no longer an Esbjerg-Harwich Ferry: Hook of Holland will have to do!

At the last moment I have booked my place at the lunch, noticing as I did so that there will be many people there whom I know. I shall be overjoyed to meet you all again after 62 years, even though I may have trouble meeting the dress code. We touring cyclists do not usually carry a ”smart casual” wardrobe in our panniers!

– John Berry (OI 1952 - 60)

A courtyard in Frederikshavn, Denmark, from my COVID prison.

Geoffrey Bell-Jones (OI 1947 – 54)

Alexandros Nikoloudakis (OI 2012 – 18)

An Afternoon to Remember

On May 20th, I went to Buckingham Palace with my grandson, Alexandros Nikoloudakis (OI 2012 - 18) to celebrate his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. Alex had completed his Bronze and Silver Award at Ipswich School. He did the Gold Award at Ipswich High School.

After passing through two lots of security we went int the Palace grounds at 14.30hrs. This was the first Presentation Day for over two years due to the Covid Restrictions. Each Candidate was allowed to take one guest. There would have been about 4,000 guests there that afternoon. There had been an earlier Presentation that morning too.

We walked all around the beautiful gardens before we then headed back to listen to the guest speakers. There were 6 speakers and Alex chose to listen to Mike Bannister who was Chief Pilot for the British Airways Concorde fleet and became the Worlds most experienced Concorde Pilot.

Alex has taken up a career in the RAF so he found it appropriate to listen to Mike Bannister who himself was a Gold Award Holder. The main theme of his talk was the value of having the Gold Award on your C.V/Personal Statement which is often underestimated by the candidate but well respected by a potential employer.

After a tea and a superb cupcake, Prince Edward appeared on the steps of the Palace to welcome everybody and congratulate those who had passed the D of E Gold.

He had two speakers with him to talk briefly on their experiences of achieving the Gold; Lira Lewis, who gained so much confidence to overcome her Dyslexia and Dyspraxia and subsequently helped with her career. She has shared her story at numerous events and on TV after The

Rani Pert

My twin sons Richard and Nicholas Pert were at Ipswich School, as was their Dad, Michael, and two uncles, Christopher and Jeremy.

They are both good chess players, Richard an International Master and Nicholas a Grand Master.

Whilst at Ipswich school they were part of an excellent Chess school team having won many tournaments including the Times School team competition.

This year Nick succeeded in becoming British Chess Champion.

Duke’s death and on the day of his Thanksgiving service.

And the other two speakers were James and Oliver Phelps – the identical twins known for their participation in the Harry Potter films from 2001-2011. A very memorable and interesting afternoon.

We are always pleased to hear from the Old Ipswichian community. Here is what a few of our alumni have been up to recently.

Virginia Betts (OI 2001 – 2013)

graveyards to the modern day. The second is a full poetry collection, Tourist to the Sun, which is themed around the relentless ticking of time. Both were written just before and during the lockdown periods, and are now available online, in Dial Lane Books, Ipswich, and Woodbridge Emporium. They are also available from the publishers, Tim Saunders Publications, and Austin Macauley.

Virginia has also returned to professional acting, and has recently performed in the Suffolk Poetry Society’s play in verse, All Change! Written by Peter Sandberg with music by Colin Whyles, and can be seen at Primadonna in Stowmarket Suffolk on July 31st, where she is performing her poetry, and characters from Mai Black’s Angry Ghost collection.

Finally, Virginia still runs her tuition business, Results Tutoring, which continues to be very busy indeed! You can read Virginia’s blog about her writing and other things on her website, https://virginiabetts.com

Former teacher-turned-tutor, and old Ipswichian Virginia Betts has recently had two books published. The first, published on June 30th, is a collection of short stories, The Camera Obscure, which contains dark ghost, gothic and dystopian tales from Victorian

Roger Hailey (OI 1956 – 60)

She is a member of Troop with the Cambridge Junction and will be performing a monologue there on September 28th 2022, and with an allneurodiverse cast in October 2022. She is to be singing, as well as performing poetry! The act goes on tour from October.

Congratulations to Toby Hudson (OI 2009-16) for his Officer Commission and joining the Welsh Guard.

Since I retired from sugar manufacturing, I have been mainly involved with voluntary work associated with Norfolk nature reserves and museums in Cambridge.

I was fortunate in being involved from the start with the refurbishment programme at the Zoology Museum there. It closed to the public in 2012, with everything being decanted to external storage in and around the Downing Street site, keeping just ahead of the builders and then retuning specimens to the new facilities as they became available. One storage site was the famed Austin Building where Crick and Watson elucidated the structure of DNA; we used their room to store whale vertebrae! Between tasks we did cleaning and conservation on some of the older specimens, such as this lion’s skull; some dated from the 1800s and earlier. Just before it reopened in 2018 Sir David Attenborough paid us an informal visit and I was lucky enough to meet him.

We have now downsized in NW Norfolk. I still go to the museum and am currently archiving the mid-twentieth-century lantern slide collection of Hugh Cott, naturalist and expert in camouflage and cryptic colouring in nature.

John Berry (OI 1952 – 60)

At 80 years of age I am still active in my profession, in a series of unpaid roles. I have two academic papers in press, one on the geomorphology of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, and the other on the limitations of remote sensing from space when applied to oil prospecting. I am active in the affairs of two geological societies and host a series of webinars on the Geology of Texas (if interested, go to www.aipg.org/NationalEvents and look under Calendar).

My long-distance cycling days may be over for health reasons, and my three remaining “must ride through” places - Siberia, Ukraine, and Xinjiang, China - are all off limits anyway. Just before the Pandemic I rode from Thessalonica across northern Greece to Corfu, and then from Sarande, Albania, to Durres, where I met in the hostel a beautiful young lady from Xinjiang, who told me that her father had been taken away a year ago, and her mother some time after that: she knew nothing of either of their fates. She was afraid to go back to China herself.

From Durres I crossed into Montenegro, where I visited Kotor and Cetinje, the old capital, high up and isolated on a karstic plateau, but fascinating. Then across a tiny piece of Bosnia, and the length of Croatia to Rijeka. This was an exciting and very strenuous ride for a 77-year-old on a folding bike, but the geology, the scenery and the people I met were worth it.

Later on that summer, after a geological field trip to Mt. St. Helens, WA, I rode from the foot of the mountain to Shelton, WA, to spend the July 4th holiday with my brother Ted (E.A.Berry, 1951-1959) and his wife Pam, and then took the Amtrak train from Seattle to East Glacier Park Village, from where

I rode up to St. Mary, MT, the eastern entrance to Glacier National Park. After a night in camp there I struggled across the Continental Divide on Goingto-the-Sun Road, visiting a couple of the surviving glaciers, and spent that night sharing a space in a crowded campground in West Glacier with two truly ‘different’ characters. Both were essentially homeless. One an older man, almost my age, living by foraging. The other a young woman who tried to convert the two of us to a strange form of Christianity. The three of us ended up taking turns to read from the young lady’s Bible: had we not she’d have kept us up all night with her preaching.

From West Glacier I rode south, in part along the shores of Flathead Lake, spending one night in my little pup tent in a beautiful campground right on the shores of the lake. The people on the adjacent “pad” were a family from Canada, and we had an interesting evening comparing notes between the two countries: two nations who are so

similar in some ways, but so completely different in others (viz: Michael Moore’s film “Canadian Bacon”). Another day and a half brought me to Missoula, MT, for a total of five days of rather intense riding. Again, the geology was spectacular, and the people wonderful.

However, the final highlight of this trip occurred on the first leg of the flight home to Austin, TX: the flight left Missoula in the predawn twilight. Just at sun-up we passed over the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park on what was clearly, down below, a crisp windless morning.

Hundreds of thin columns of steam rose vertically high into the air, here singly and there in groups of a dozen or more, from the geysers in the park below. It was a truly amazing and beautiful sight, demonstrating both the extraordinary variety of visual beauty

Paradise Meadow, Glacier N.P., N48.727, E-113.725. My Bianchi Volpe touring bike loaded for a short trip. In both photos the rucksack over the rear wheel contains my tent and sleeping bag. All else is in the panniers on the front wheel.

that our planet has to offer, and what a small part of the glories of Yellowstone are accessible to park visitors.

The rest of my time I spend either singing with a community choir “Panoramic Voices”, or sculpting stone and wood into objects that tell a story. My materials are all “found”: limestone excavated from under the house next door when they made cellar, wood from trees that have fallen, pieces of river rock and pieces of wood discarded at construction sites. The photographs show a piece telling the story of the Green Children of Woolpit.

Connell (OI 1975 – 79)

Space Adventure for Jon Connell

Jon Connell explains the beginnings of an unconventional career!

At the age of sixty years I find myself at the start of a new career. Two years ago after a successful lifetime in the American illumination industry my career was on a predictable path.

Regularly the most experienced person in the room and with nothing much left to prove my future was happily planned. Nothing wrong with that. I had ambitions of course but I knew more or less where I was going to be standing when I achieved anything new. Then came COVID. Today I manufacture spacecraft.

I'm a rocket man and I run a manufacturing program developing human space environments for Gravitics here in Seattle, Washington USA.

The problem with space today is that suddenly everyone is going there but there is actually nowhere to go when you arrive. We manufacture artificial gravity human living environments.

While courting me the Gravitics president informed me that 'within five years he planned to be meeting with me in the new boardroom - which will be located in orbit'. Bond villain style. If I dare I might get to visit space then - and

the product I am working on will be the hotel that I stay in. WIlliam Shatner just did it at 90 years old, so I have a window of opportunity yet open to me. How did that happen? Experience. There is hope for us all then. At sixty years old it seems I have gained a sufficiently broad enough experience of making things in general to be useful in any manufacturing program - especially so fast-track rapid development programs utilising diverse new tech and driven by aggressive billionaires. I wouldn't have been useful to NASA, but to aggressive capital I am a perfect fit. Born in the 1960s and growing up watching Apollo many of us dreamed of being astronauts. Life regularly frustrates

our best intentions. Having ascended to what I thought was the top of the hill it turns out there was an undiscovered country just beyond. (Deliberate space reference for those with eyes to see). I feel renewed. What fun!

A welcome return to school from OI George Pinner.

It’s always great to welcome OIs back to the school as former Team GB and England Hockey Goalkeeper George Pinner (OI 1998-05) was back at the Ipswich School Sports Centre for Hockey Camp as a guest coach on one of the Hockey Performance Camps to provide specialist coaching for young hockey players.

Jon

Island of Pag, N44.332, E15.243. about 40 km North of Zadar. I met two German cyclists heading in the opposite direction. I am holding my folding “Bike Friday” loaded for a long trip.

George Pinner (OI 1998 – 05)

Howard Clarke (OI 1951 – 58)

MBE Awarded to Howard Clarke and wife Sue.

Howard Clarke (OI 1951-58) was used to working as a team, those at school at the same time will well remember the identical Clarke twins and how closely Howard and Vaughan worked together.

Howard continued his teamwork after his marriage, he and his wife, Sue, have worked together for over 50 years, developing new products in their engineering companies. They have supported innovation and education throughout and are exceptionally proud that over 30% of their engineering staff are women.

Their business work in innovation and education has now been recognised in the New Years' Honours list with both of them being awarded MBE’s, a rare accolade for a husband and wife team.

Howard says of the awards; “What has made it particularly special is the recognition that we are a team. Everything we have done and achieved, both in business and volunteering, is because we are a team. However, our work supporting new innovation and our work with young people, students, interns and graduates has only been possible because we have always been supported by our family and the people we work with."

A huge congratulations to you both on this wonderful recognition!

Jessica Oliver (OI 2007 – 09)

Jessica Oliver (OI 2007 - 09) exhibits her Suffolk inspired paintings this week.

Recently returned to her native Suffolk, award-winning landscape painter Jessica Oliver (MAFA) and Old Ipswichian 2007-09, debuts her first solo show VISTA in Woodbridge this week. Having studied classical painting in Florence in 2010 and after pursuing a degree in Fine Art Painting at City and Guilds of London Art School, she is exhibiting a collection of her most recent Suffolk inspired cloudscapes at Artspace Gallery, Woodbridge.

David Walsh (OI 1976 – 80)

Mayor of Ipswich Cllr Elizabeth Hughes congratulates Mr David Walsh (OI 1976-80) for all his voluntary work in the community; he was treated to afternoon tea in the Town Hall.

Mr Walsh is a keen birdwatcher who retired from full-time teaching to concentrate on working as a tour guide, but he has been unable to lead trips abroad for the last two years. Instead he spent much of the lockdown periods walking from his home to Belstead Brook Park, an informal country park

The exhibition showed a collection of recent paintings made since completing her painting residency at Old Jet Studio- Bentwaters after the pandemic lockdown. She quotes, hosting the show in Woodbridge was “a fantastic opportunity to showcase unseen works that are focused around my inherent love of romantic landscape, atmosphere and light.” The show hosted in the historic and picturesque town of Woodbridge is an added bonus for a cloudscape artist for “we are the land of Constable, are we not?”

www.jessoliver.co.uk

on the edge of Ipswich, cataloguing and recording the wildlife of the area.

Since the start of November 2020 he has collected over 200 bags of rubbish from the nature reserve and surrounds and has liaised with Greenways, Ipswich Borough Council and the local housing association about related issues.

Charlie Shephard (OI 2010 – 17)

From Ipswich School to the Oxford School of Drama.

From his time at university to offering Zoom sessions to discuss professional training, guidance and direction for those thinking of applying to drama school/ conservatoire training.

After leaving Ipswich in 2017, I went down the road at the New Wolsey Theatre, where I worked for the next two years, both on and off the stage. I helped run the Youth Theatre groups and ended up touring a primary school show for a couple of months.

Come 2019, I auditioned for several drama schools and was fortunate enough to attend The Oxford School of Drama, where I have been professionally training as an actor.

Whilst at Ipswich, I had been involved in only a couple of productions, having spent most of my teenage years on a sports pitch of some description. I studied Drama and Theatre Studies at both GCSE and A Level, alongside this I was also a member of the New Wolsey Young Company. This, combined with the communication skills one has to adopt on both a hockey and rugby

Henry Staunton (OI 1962 – 67)

I received my Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Laws ) from the University of Exeter a couple of weeks ago. The day of the award was just great fun. The pictures are of me in a rather colourful robe; another with the Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Business School; and one with Karen, my brother Armand (OI) and my son James.

pitch, helped put me in good stead for my drama school training. You might be wondering why I am broadcasting this autobiographical guff and you’d be well within your rights to ponder such a thought. Well, to put it simply, I am offering my services as an actor, workshopper and friend to those of you who would like to train professionally as an actor.

If there is anyone out there who is thinking of applying to drama school/conservatoire training and would like some guidance and direction, I am offering up some Zoom sessions where we can discuss professional training, workshop your audition pieces and generally help prepare you physically, mentally and emotionally for the application process.

If you are interested, please email me at charlieshephard21@gmail.com. Thank you for reading! I do really believe that the skills and techniques I have developed over my years of training will be both of interest and of value.

Photo credit: Warren Page

Obituaries

Members

In 2021, Hannah and the Women’s GB hockey team took home a well fought bronze medal from the Tokyo Olympics and in the summer of 2022 triumphed again by winning gold in the CommonwealthGames held on home soil in Birmingham!

Hannah first picked up a hockey stick while in Year 4 at Ipswich Prep School and has never looked back, with her older brother, double Olympian Harry Martin (OI 2006-11) being the perfect role model to look up to and emulate. She is one of four former Ipswich School pupils who have had international hockey careers, with George Pinner and James Gall taking the honours alongside the Martin duo.

Hannah returned to the school this academic year to unveil a special plaque which is part of the Golden Gateways initiative, celebrating the route to success of the gold medal-winning Team England athletes. Hannah was able to choose a location for her plaque and said that it was Ipswich where her hockey journey began.

She was part of the U11 team at Ipswich Prep School, the first girls from the school to win a county hockey championship. At the plaque unveiling in the Prep School, she spoke to an assembly of pupils from Years 3 to 6 about her sporting journey, and the people from the Prep who had supported her.

“I don't think I would've played hockey if it wasn't for them,” she said. “I was lucky enough to have amazing people around me at Ipswich who supported me and wanted me to do well. They've been a massive part of my career as a hockey player and I couldn't be more grateful for the coaches we had at that school. They really put me on the right path from the word ʻgo’ so they have definitely been an integral part of my career path.”

Hannah has flourished since making her international debut back in 2017, becoming a crucial player for both the England and GB teams. Hannah has certainly caught the eye with her rapid hands and dazzling skills and is a constant source of frustration to defenders, often chipping in with vital goals.

This was proved at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics where she scored four goals on the way to helping Great Britain win bronze. What made her Olympic medal even more special was that it came just four months after she sustained a broken leg and ankle ligament damage.

Hannah’s list of international awards also include a European bronze and another Commonwealth bronze with her home nation.

Obituaries

Death Announcements

We are sad to learn of the following OI deaths. If anyone has any further information, memories or would like to write an obituary for the next journal please email the editor.

Raymond ‘Peter’

Charles Jessup (OI 1944 – 1949)

Died 12th September 2021

John Midwinter (OI 1992 – 02)

Died 13th November 2021

Trevor J Webster (OI 1948 – 55)

Died 25th December 2021

Michael Zurbrugg (OI 1968 – 70)

Died 12th January 2022

Christopher K Woods (OI 1950 – 53)

Died 6th May 2022

David Ling (OI 1943 – 49)

Died 21st June 2022

Brian Fox (OI 1939 – 1945)

Died 28th June 2022

Daphne Badcock (Former Staff 1955 – 63)

Died 2nd July 2022

Matt Thorndyke (OI 1983 – 1990)

Died 11th July 2022

Trevor Woods (OI 1950 – 1953)

Died 8th September 2021

Trevor was born in Dovercourt in 1935 and started his secondary education at Harwich County High School. He moved to the School together with his younger brother Christopher in 1950 when his parents moved to the Town. He was a member of Holden House, a House Prefect, played 1st XV rugby, won the Senior Geography Prize in 1953 and was a Corporal in the CCF.

Dennis Woolmer (OI 1939 – 48)

Died 20th July 2022

John Weedon (OI 1950 – 56)

Died 25th August 2022

Owen Goodman (OI 1939 – 46)

David Beresford (OI 1948 – 57)

Died 14th September 2022

David Smith (OI 1954 – 63)

Richard (Dick) Storer (OI 1942 – 52)

Died 19th October 2022

Richard Barker (OI 1953 – 63)

Jeremy Steed Hawes (OI 1953 – 57)

George W Paul MBE (Governor 1982 – 87)

Died 9th October 2022

Russell McGregor Barnard (OI 1941 – 47)

Ian McColl (OI 1948 – 57)

Died 21st October 2022

Upon leaving School, he joined the Suffolk Regiment for his National Service. He was unable to apply for officer training due to his having a burst ear drum but he was promoted to sergeant, a rare distinction for a conscript. He spent his 2 years in Suffolk, often on the parade ground. After National Service, he joined the firm where his father had worked for many years, Graham and

Martin, heating engineers, working in London initially. He married a school girl friend, Gillian Stowe from Waldringfield and they had a daughter, Caroline who resides in New York and a son Adrian who lives in Yorkshire.

After some years, he started his own business with Gill in the heating and radiator industry under the name of T. A. Woods (Steel Radiators) Limited and also became involved in haulage with, amongst others, contracts to transport sugar from Felsted Sugar Beet Factory and beer from Ridley’s Brewery at Hertford End. During this time, he divorced and married Mary, acquiring 2 step-daughters, Helen and Clare. Weekends in the Mill House at Cock Green near Felsted with the 4 children were magical as were the summer holidays in Pesaro, Italy.

He was very well known and respected in the heating industry in Europe as well as at home and, when the haulage business ended, he and Mary moved to Italy where it was easier for him to visit his customers.

He loved driving, especially in his 911 Porsche and he was a member of the Porsche Club for many years. Both he and Mary spoke Italian fluently and made many local friends in their beloved Monterchi where their ashes are now interred. Mary died in 2011 and Trevor missed her presence profoundly.

He kept in touch with many School friends throughout his life and was a great supporter of O.I. events, especially

Alan Gibson (OI 1941 – 47)

Died 23rd December 2021

Alan died on the 23rd December, aged 91, following a fall at his home. He was born in Whitley Bay in November 1930 and moved to Suffolk shortly afterwards, with the family moving to Ipswich in 1939 at the start of the Second World War.

Alan attended Miss Goldsmith’s Preparatory School on Norwich Road and started at Ipswich School in September 1941, joining Sherrington House, where he spent some of the happiest years of his life. Alan’s father was taken ill in 1942/43

the Annual and London dinners. He also supported Music at the School and was instrumental in ensuring the School’s acquisition of the Steinway Concert Grand Piano as well as being a leading benefactor to the School and advocate of the 125th Anniversary Appeal to raise £1milion to assist the School with the construction of the New Music School. He became President of the O.I. Club in 2014 and, at the Annual Ipswich Dinner in December of that year, some of the class of ’53 honoured him with a rendering of verses from HMS Pinafore, a School production in which he participated.

Trevor loved life and made friends wherever he went. He also loved a party and often held the room with his jokes accompanied by mimicry which often reached a professional standard. He was an exceptionally loyal friend and a very generous host. For the diminishing band of his many friends from his school years, his presence at various events will be sorely missed but much remembered.

– Alan Wyatt (OI 1944 – 53)

Memories of Trevor

Trevor was a joy to invite back to the School. So many of us knew him well and will miss him. We will always remember a keen sense of fun and an embrace of life that is so rare – a unique and special man.

– Nikki Brown Development Director

and died in March 1945. As a result of such sad and difficult times, Alan threw himself into life at Ipswich School, which became his second home.

All he wanted to do was to go to school and when at school, to play rugby! Although small for a rugby player, Alan had plenty of energy, played as hooker, and was very proud to be chosen as Captain of the Colts Team. A year later, in 1946, he went straight into the First XV, when he was still 15 and could not believe his eyes when he saw his

Alan Gibson with the 1st XV

name on the selection board! He also enjoyed cross country running and the school Steeplechase. Alan played cricket, his main interest being bowling and recounted tales of being told to “pitch-em up Gibson!” by Cyril Perkins the cricket coach. He also remembered sitting in class while one (“Jimmy” Young?) of the masters paused lessons to describe the match being played on the school field. Alan also had unpleasant memories of a highly chlorinated swimming pool! Sports equipment was in short supply and accordingly, hockey was not played, to Alan’s regret.

Alan remembered a number of masters including “Spud” Marsden

and also Mr (known as “Misery”, due to his glum expression) Castle, the English teacher in full gown and mortar board, and the German teacher, known as “Fritz”, who was German. Also Mr Grimwade, the chemistry teacher and Mr Job. Alan was in the scouts for a short time and camped at the woods at Hintlesham, sleeping on groundsheets in bell tents. According to Alan, most of the time was spent climbing trees! The Scoutmaster was the Latin Master, Mr Stonex, whose punishment for any misdemeanours in class was “Silent Meditation”, where boys sat for an hour or so in silence, doing nothing, which they hated. Alan also had a small part in the School play of 1945, King Richard II, as the Lord Marshall. Some of Alan’s spare time was spent in the Lucania Billiard Hall, which was strictly out of bounds for the boys!

His father died just before Alan sat his School Certificate and he had to re sit in November 1946, achieving a credit in five subjects. Alan left Ipswich School at the end of 1946, without fulfilling his potential, to start work at East Suffolk County Council. Alan spent his entire working life there, firstly as a Highway Engineer, obtaining an HNC in Mechanical Engineering and being awarded the National Certificate Prize by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Alan helped to transport

materials during the floods of 1953 and worked on many new road and highway improvement schemes in the east of the county. He was also a Member of the Institution of Highways and Transportation. With an active and enquiring mind, Alan completed an Open University degree at the age of 60, taking up geology and completing many field trips. He also retrained in Acoustics, being awarded the Association of Noise Consultants National Prize and becoming a corporate Member of the Institute of Acoustics at the age of 61and also a Member of the Society of Environmental Engineers a year later. Alan retired from Suffolk County Council at the age of 65, but continued on a part-time basis until he was 70. Alan was then thrilled to be invited back to Ipswich School to help bring some preliminary order to the School Archives. He spent many happy hours sorting through miscellaneous items of sports equipment and clothing and piles of books, magazines and team photographs.

Alan maintained his interest in Ipswich School to the end and always looked forward to the OI Magazine and read Dr John Blatchley’s “History” from cover to cover. His love of sport continued throughout his life, particularly rugby, and also snooker, which he played to a high level. He learnt to ski in his early 60’s, and took up croquet in his retirement. Alan enjoyed several fly-drive holidays to Canada, with his partner Penny, which greatly appealed to his sense of adventure, particularly the history of the gold rush era. Alan also had a great love of literature and music and owned a large collection of books and cds.

In recent years, loss of eyesight and decreasing mobility frustrated Alan greatly, and his main enjoyments became reminiscing about Ipswich School and regular holidays to a favourite hotel in Majorca, which he was able to do up until three months before his death. Alan leaves a daughter Lisa, son in law James, grandchildren Jake and Sophie and Penny, his long term partner. He is greatly missed.

Obituary by Alan’s partner, Penny Moys

Ian Young (OI 1940 – 50) Died 31st December 2021

Ian who died on 31st December 2021, aged 89, was one of my oldest friends who I came to know very well through cricket after I left school.

Very soon after being borne in Leicester Ian moved to Ipswich where he was to spend the rest of his life. Ian’s mother was a member of the well known and large Catchpole family.

After completing his national service in the RAF Ian joined The Royal Exchange Insurance Company comparatively small in Ipswich but then they became Guardian Royal Exchange and then AXA with over a thousand employees - Ian worked for them for over forty years

In 1940 Ian joined the Prep and Ipswich School was a school he loved all is life. He was very keen on sport and played for the Ist XV at rugby and the Ist XI at cricket. He was vice-captain of cricket and the opening bowler finishing top of the averages in 1949.

Ian met Margaret in 1960. His first interest in her was that she had scored for a cricket team in Wales and started to score for the OIs. They were married in 1965 and had a son, Martin, who also attended the School, a daughter, Helen, and two granddaughters. Ian loved his family very much.

Ian was a very keen badminton player. He was a founder member of the Corinthians Badminton Club in 1956, the second oldest club in Ipswich and he was club secretary. He served on the Ipswich and District League Committee

for over fifty years including over forty years as League Secretary.

Ian was an outstanding cricketer and for many years spearheaded the bowling attack for the OI Cricket Club. He was highly successful and had many fine performances He took over a thousand wickets for the OIs including a hundred wickets in 1960 alone and over fifty wickets in each of eleven years. He did his spell as captain and he was also team secretary for eighteen years. He organised players for over eight hundred teams and there was never a player short.

Ian was a very loyal supporter of Ipswich Town Football Club – from their days in Third Division South to the Premier League and back down again. Because of a serious back injury he missed seeing the famous FA Cup Final when Ipswich beat Arsenal at Wembley but he did go to Amsterdam to watch Ipswich the year they won the UEFA cup.

But Ian’s interests were not entirely sport. He was very keen on jazz, particularly Big Bands. He had an encyclopaedic memory for all the musicians and could tell you exactly who was playing in the Ted Heath Band!

Ian had a great life, a very nice home, a life which was full of good people and great experiences. It was certainly a life to be celebrated and his funeral service reflected all this.

– Karl Daniels (OI 1944 – 53)

Arthur Oldham (OI 1951 – 61)

Arthur was in my year at Ipswich School and played rugby with me in the front row of the 1st XV as a first rate hooker. I think he had at least two full seasons in the 1st and gained his full colours because we had a season in which we were unbeaten. I remember him as a stoic non excitable person who appeared to be fairly serious but never failed to join in the fun. He was very friendly with his school chum, Hoff Graham (recent obituary in the OI magazine)-a friendship that carried on from which they went into business together and it lasted most of their working life.

In sum, he was a very nice friendly person (despite being in Holden House!!) who was an integral member of our excellent school 1st XV.

I never met Arthur after we left school but I have seen a few photos of him in the OI magazine and he never appeared to look older!

– Tim Thorn (OI 1954 – 61)

Sitting on the seat he presented to the School

OI Cricket Club Team 1959

Ian Edward (Ted) Rayment (OI 1952 – 60)

Died 13th January 2022, aged 81

Ted was a carrier! - I don't mean of germs like Chicken pox, Measles, Influenza, Covid etc - I mean "of people"! Let me explain - so 'Bear with' . . . as they say!

I knew Ted a long time - nearly 70 years - We were at school together and later in life he admitted that he always considered himself a bit of a 'country bumpkin', really, because he was born and grew up in the small village of Grundisburgh, a few miles outside Ipswich. He earned his place in what he called 'a posh school' as a County Scholar and he was intelligent and clever enough to pass the exams that got him there, but underneath it he always had the feeling that he wasn't quite up to 'muster' and although he was quite definitely good enough - and I told him a few times - he was never quite convinced. But allow me to remind you, or just tell you, of a proverb that I have heard a few times over the years - It seems to date back to the 14th century and has been used, at different times, to describe a US president and by an English cricketer (Cliff Gladwin in 1948). It is "Cometh the hour - cometh the man!" which, popular translation is understood to mean - when something important needs to be done, the right man will turn up at the right time to do it - and I believe Ted was that kind of man and the proverb adequately classifies him.

We didn't know it back then in 1955, of course, but it certainly showed up later. If you just knew how much of himself he gave to others who were less fortunate, less able and more in need of help and support than most, you would understand how that proverb fits. I met him at Ipswich School when I too was still a country bumpkin at heart, having spent my first 11 years growing up in the

then village (now a town) of Thatcham near Newbury in Berkshire. So he is the person (apart from my mother, who lived to be over 100) that I have known longest in my life - he was two and a half years younger than me and in all those years I cannot recall a harsh or unpleasant word between us, or indeed about other people. Fortunately, we both had a similar sense of humour and I believe he could have been a successful stand up comedian. I've seen him get up at events to introduce something or someone and with comfort and ease launch into a totally unscheduled short comedy turn that had people laughing in just a few minutes. Sometimes I would tell him or send him a joke which his sponge like comedy brain would suck up and like ABBA in Thank You for the Music, he'd probably heard it before, but he wouldn't put you down and tell you so, he'd just use it another time.

In fact he was not a 'putter downer' he was definitely a 'lift you upper' and knew how to raise someone's spirits when they were having a hard time. He was generous with his personality and his friendliness. When he left Ipswich School he joined Shell Mex & BP. When the companies split he stayed with BP for the rest of his career. He clearly showed potential as he worked, being promoted through various distribution and operational roles to his final and toughest position of Oil Terminal Manager for Northern Ireland for 4 years during the troubles.

After retiring he was asked to be a Retired Persons Welfare Manager and later became Pensions Liaison Officer for Worcestershire, otswolds and Gloucestershire area. Obviously using his relationship skills in a retirement role.

He joined Rotary in 1995 and was elected president on two separate occasions, a notable achievement, raising money for charities, community and in particular Children of Chernobyl who were then able to enjoy holidays breathing clean air in the UK. He was also a local councillor. His first love in sport was Golf and he devoted 25 years

to the Churchill & Blakedown Club driving its modernisation and ultimately the building of a new clubhouse and was Captain, President, Seniors Captain, Chairman of greens committee and also Seniors Captain of the Worcestershire Captains.

As I said earlier - Cometh the Hour... What a man!

– Mike Turner (OI 1950 -

57)

Ted was 4 years behind me at school so my early memories of him are limited and probably only reflect his occasional visits to the Prefects Room, I do, though recall a lanky young man with a mop of blond hair. Some 21 years were to pass before our paths crossed again.

In 1977 I arrived at the BP Oil Terminal in Ipswich to be greeted by Ted who had been working there for some years. He had joined Shell-Mex and BP Ltd on leaving School and worked for a while in their office in Lloyd's Avenue, Ipswich. It was there that he met and in due course married Deanna. He subsequently took up the post of Shift Manager at the Company's Cliff Quay Terminal.

Ted's career in the oil industry took a new turn in 1978 when he was appointed to manage BP's packed lubricants distribution centre in the West Midlands and he and the family finally left his native Suffolk for a new home in Stourbridge.

Ted's management style so impressed BP that he was then given a particularly tough assignment, the management of their Oil Distribution Terminal in Belfast. This he handled in his usual cheerful way and even developed a strong friendship with the then BP CEO, largely through the game of golf!

On retirement Ted returned to Stourbridge but took up the office of BP Pensioner's Liaison Officer for the West Midlands and part of the South West, I was one of his clients. He regularly visited my wife and I to see that all was well with us and we enjoyed sharing stories and memories of the past 40 years. Rotary and Golf were both central to Ted's life and he will be sadly missed in both circles, a packed funeral service was testimony to that.

– Jeremy Barr (OI 1946 – 56)

William (Bill) Hardie (OI 1953 - 57)

Died 22nd January 2021

Bill was born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, in 1941, his father had served in the army and had returned home via Dunkirk before seeing service in Ceylon and India. The family lived in Dumbarton, Glasgow and (in a house formerly occupied by the newspaper cartoonist, Giles), Ipswich.

He owned the Washington Gallery in Glasgow, then, from 1990 onwards, the William Hardie Gallery.

Hardie contracted a form of bovine T.B. and spent an entire year convalescing, sacrificing his love of athletics. He had, however, by this time, discovered two abiding passions, for art and for jazz.

Memories of Bill

Although I was not at school with Bill and had only met him briefly I have good memories of him.

Around 1990 there was a “ Victorian Fair” , a historical themed visitors event at New Lanark the former 18th century cotton spinning mill village. I was living in Glasgow and decided to take the family along. As we drove down the approach road a steward was on hand to direct us where to park. He was wearing a familiar looking boater so I asked him if it was from Ipswich School. He replied “Bill Hardie 1953-57”. He insisted we went to see him after the event and welcomed us to his house. It had been tastefully converted from one of the original tenements built for the mill workers. Bill was great company.

William (Bill) Hardie, died aged 79, a Bartlet Scholar, Bill was at the School from 1953 to 1957, an expert and highly influential figure in the Scottish art scene. He was Keeper of Art and then acting director of Dundee Art Gallery and Museum, before establishing the Pictures Department at Christie’s, a move that helped transform the international demand for Scottish art.

The family returned to Bearsden, Glasgow in 1957. At 21 he spent nine months as an assistant English teacher at the Lycée Mistral in Avignon before studying French and German at Glasgow University.

William Hardie is survived by his son, Andrew, and daughter, Marion, his wife having predeceased him in February 2020.

Christopher Baynes (OI 1952 – 56) Died 9th July 2022

Christopher Baynes who was at the School from 1952 to 1956. He spent most of his life in Africa but still kept in touch with old school friends. Christopher Baynes (who boarded in School House from 1952 to 1956) died in Johannesburg South Africa on the 9th July 2022 after a long struggle with illness. He leaves his wife Judy and their three children: Nicola (Nicky), Tim and Jason.

Chris's father Norman emigrated to Salisbury Rhodesia (now Harare Zimbabwe) in 1947 with his wife Betty (née Payne James) who was from Ipswich and their three young children: Christopher, Martin and Katherine. Martin also boarded at Ipswich School, and both boys undertook the long journey back home by flying boat or stayed with local relatives.

Norman took his expertise from the family timber firm in Reading to Africa, founding N K Baynes Ltd in 1952. Chris spent time in New Zealand and South Africa learning his trade in timber and forestry, joining the company in 1970.

Chris diversified and expanded the business beyond timber and paper, with excellent contacts in Germany, Finland and the UK. After Zimbabwe became independent, the family and the company relocated to Johannesburg. Both Chris and Judy's sons subsequently joined N K Baynes, and it is now managed by son Tim.

– Obituary Supplied by Judy Baynes

– Stephen Rodgers (OI 1949 – 64)

Richard James Boyles (OI

1938 – 47)

Died 18th January 2022

Colonel Richard James (Jim) Boyles passed away peacefully at home on 18th January 2022. Jim was a day boy at Ipswich School (which his son Peter also attended as a boarder) from 1938 to 1948. He was a keen rugby player and played two seasons for the First Fifteen. He then spent his whole career with the British Army, returning to Ipswich School at one stage to inspect the CCF. He retired as a full Colonel and spent his retirement years with his wife Joy in Budleigh Salterton. He is survived by his wife Joy, and four children.

Keith Wilkinson (OI 1955 – 67)

Died 28th January 2022

I remember Keith well as a popular and respected Head of School. He was also Head of my house (Westwood) and Captain of the 1st XV. Someone many of looked up to us. Although it was 56 years ago, I still have a vivid memory of the day Keith saved me from a beating. Discipline could be harsh back in the sixties, and it wasn’t hard qualifying to be on the receiving end of a master’s cane or a prefect’s gym shoe.One morning break in the third form, I was caught red-handed eating crisps in the classroom by a sixth form prefect. A double breach of the school rules! It was only a matter of time before I would be called in to the prefects for the customary “six of the best”.At lunch I had the good fortune to sit next to Keith and was given the opportunity to relate my predicament. Thanks to him, the summons to the Prefect’s room never came! R.I.P. Keith and sincere condolences to all the family and friends.

I was saddened to learn of the untimely passing of Keith Wilkinson. Although I was a couple of years below him at school, we overlapped as boarders for some nine years, and I remember him well as a stalwart of both Junior House and Westwood, at which I am sure he became head monitor and head of house respectively. As well as his sporting prowess, he was ever cheerful and encouraging to others. My condolences to all his family and friends, I know he will be widely missed.

1958 – 68)

Keith was captain of the 1st XV (in 1966 I believe), this was when a number of Lower Sixth students (including me, Doug Bostock, Armand Staunton and ‘Tini’ Martin) joined those who were a year above us and who were already established in the XV; we were understandably nervous but very privileged to have been selected; Keith was a marvellous player and leader, encouraging and inspirational and as such he soon gained our respect and admiration.

–

Simpson

19577 – 68)

I was Head of House at Westwood in 1961/2 and Keith was a newly arrived Junior with such eminences as Henry

Staunton, Barry Squirrel and other great characters. The cohort were all competitive from the off, and really keen to make their mark for the House and School in all forms of sports and all the other extra curricular activities. Keith was always at the forefront, and it was evident from day one, that he was going to be very successful at Ipswich and in life. A sad and untimely loss.

– Ian Chapman (OI 1957 – 62)

Keith was moving into Year One in the Upper School when I was in the Sixth Form. Hope he is playing a perfect game where he has gone to.

– Barry Massey

(OI 1954 – 61)

As mentioned above Keith was a good Head of House and School, A great scrum half and spin bowler, Captain of the 1st XV etc . But above all he was charming, pleasant, had a great sense of humor and an infectious smile. A really likeable person.

Memories are many but I recall one school game in which he covered across to take down the opposing winger. He tackled above the waist and whilst sliding down caught his ear on the wingers pocket ripping the

I was contemporary with Keith and enjoyed our many years at school. We were boarders together in Junior House under Mr Hugh Gleave who coached our house rugby team into a useful unit with Keith in the vanguard. His considerable skill was improved by his determination and ability to think. He did not just shine on the rugby pitch, but in other sports and in academic achievement. However the rugby is what I remember most clearly.

After Junior House Keith went to Westwood and I went to School House. I especially recall one house match between us when we had a much stronger team on paper, but on the pitch we were beaten mainly due to Keith’s ability to out think us.

We were in the first fifteen together under his captaincy and clearly the star of the team. I read the match reports recently and he is referred to as the one who lead by example. As well as being a ferocious tackler he had a convincing dummy and was a very elusive runner.

He was head boy and one of a few in our year to go to Oxbridge. He was involved in much of school life and a good friend. At Cambridge he played many times for the university, but did not get a blue as the other player at scrum half was an England international. He did play an international at Twickenham representing Canada.

– Raymond Fenning (OI 1957 – 67)

ear partly away. I still cringe at the thought. Also his leading the sevens training which included running up and down the slopes of Christchurch Park with 60 pound army packs on our backs. He never tired but we did. His sporting prowess continued with his daughter Rhian who played football for Canada.

My condolences to his wife, family and Neil his brother.

Armand

Staunton

– (OI 1963 – 68)

– Paul St John Turner (OI

Mike

(OI

– Christopher Cundy (OI 1962 – 69)

Memories of Keith

Roy Brown (OI 1931 – 37) Died 30th January 2022

During his days at school he played hockey, rugby union, cricket and fives. He recalled the compulsory athletics and steeplechase at Fynn Valley. At one time the 15th Ipswich had a Sea Scout section that he joined and they had a headquarters on a floating barge at Pin Mill. He attended the Scout Jamboree in Holland in 1937 and the World Rover Scout Moot in Crieff, Scotland in 1939.

In order to improve his position he sought jobs elsewhere and in 1949 secured an appointment with Guildford Rural District Council where eventually he became a Principal Environmental Health Officer. He retired from Guildford Council in 1981 at the age of 60.

Roy moved to Gainsborough Road, Ipswich when his father (BB) became the General Secretary of the Ipswich YMCA. He was sent to the Kindergarten attached to the Girls High School before moving to Ipswich School, at the age of 8, where he spent 3 years as a day pupil in the Prep School and a further 5 years (forms 1-5) in the Senior School. He left at the age of 16 with School Certificate passes in 7 subjects.

Roy joined the School Scout Group as a Cub (15th Ipswich) and progressed to being a Rover Scout after leaving school.

Norman T Stonex was the group Scoutmaster and they became good friends (he was also his Latin master).

He joined local government in the Public Health Department in Elm Street (Ipswich County Borough Council) as a Junior Clerk and trainee Sanitary Inspector. At first he worked in the Branch Clinic in Clapgate Lane before transferring to the general office in Elm Street. In due course he moved into the Sanitary Inspectors’ office.

In 1940 Roy met Jean at a dance in the RAF Sergeants’ Mess at the seaplane base in Felixstowe. Jean was in the A.T.S based in Dovercourt. They were engaged in July 1941 and married October 1942.

After the Second World War Roy finished his training and qualified as a Sanitary Inspector. He and Jean found lodgings with Mr and Mrs Kinsey (parents of Gordon, a well known local historian) in Brunswick Road. Later they moved to a flat in Ancaster Road.

In retirement he took up Bowls, was Clerk to the West Horsley Parish Council for 22 years and worked with the NALGO Retired Members Section.

In August 2000 he and Jean returned to Suffolk, living in Halesworth for 10 years before Jean sadly passed away. Roy then moved in with his family in Kelsale where he died peacefully at home. He was much loved by friends and family and took great joy in his grandchildren and great grandchildren all of whom helped him celebrate his 100th birthday in June 2021.

– Martin Brown (Son of Roy Brown)

In early 1939 he joined the Territorial Army and was mobilised for the Second World War on 2nd September. At first he still lived at home but was the posted from the Field Gun Regiment (RA) to the coast Artillery stationed at Languard Fort, Felixstowe. His service in the Coast Artillery took him from Felixstowe to Weymouth (on the Middle Arm of Portland Harbour breakwaters), Portsmouth (on Horses and Fort in the Spithead) and St. Helena in the South Atlantic. He was a Gunner on enlistment, got one stripe (Lance Bombadier) fairly early in his stay a Felixstowe, followed by three stripes (Lance Sergeant) and Crown and Laurels (Warrant Officer Class II / Battery Sergeant Major).

Jack Davey (OI 1944 – 53) Died 24th February 2022

Jack was a contemporary of mine and I recall that he was good at everything which was more than confirmed by the research which I was able to carry out.

Born in Ipswich in 1934 Jack entered the School in 1944 by which time he was living in Waldringfield. He was strong academically and pursued many of the opportunities which the School offered. He was vice captain of 1st XV rugby in 1952 for which he was the hooker and played for the 1st XI cricket team in 1952 and 1953. He was in the scouts and the CCF for which he was appointed CQMS. He took part in two school plays, Dr Faustus and the production of HMS Pinafore which was fondly remembered by the many who took part.

Living in Waldringfield he had easy access to the sailing club. He was keen on singing and played the piano which was mostly self-taught.

It came as no surprise that Jack proceeded to Cambridge where again he pursued his love of rugby and cricket playing for the Fitzwilliam first teams. After completing his degree in modern languages he did National Service in the RASC stationed in Aldershot and after being commissioned was posted to Germany.

Having joined an Anglo-German group he met his future wife Elisabeth

XI Cricket 1953

and they were married in Waldringfield in 1959. They were married for nearly sixty years until his wife died in 2018. After National Service Jack joined 3M an American conglomerate and became a senior executive, based in Birmingham, Manchester and London ending his career in Bracknell to where 3M moved their headquarters. Jack and family moved around the country with his job and he took the opportunity to retire

early in 1988. Later in his life he moved to Camberley.

Jack was very much a family man with two sons and two daughters. He maintained his interest in sport and played cricket in various teams. He was an ardent supporter of Ipswich Town and watched many of their matches in their glory days.

Early retirement gave jack the opportunity to develop his love of stamps and postcards . He travelled all round the country buying and selling at fairs and auctions and he was Chairman of the Camberley Stamp Club. Jack visited the School for gaudies and was always very pleased to link up with his contemporaries.

After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Jack moved to a nursing home where he died earlier this year.

– Karl Daniels (OI 1944 – 53)

1st

Keith Anthony Bell (OI 1940 – 48) Died 24th June 2022

He was promoted to Sergeant in the JTC in August 1947 and again took part in Summer Camps.

From 1946-48 he was a member of the Literary and Dramatic Society and participated in two School Plays: “The Zeal of Thy House” (Dec. 1947) and “Richard II” (Dec. 1948).

He continued his passion for rugby after he left school (1948) and played in the BP Refinery Rugby team on a hot rolled sand pitch in Aden. In his retirement he played tennis three times a week.

an advertising poster which read, “Come to sunny Australia”. He made up his mind on the spot to move to Australia. On Thursday, 17th August 1967 Keith, Eve and their three young children (they now had a daughter, Claire) departed Heathrow and arrived in Sydney on Saturday, 19th August.

Keith Anthony Bell was born in London on 3rd March 1930. He was the eldest of four children, all the others being girls; Monica followed by twins Judy and Bobbie.

He joined Ipswich School in the summer of 1940 and progressed to the main school in the Autumn of 1941. He continued through to the second year sixth form, obtaining his Oxford and Cambridge Higher Certificate in 1948. He was in Broke House and was made School Career Vice Captain of the House. He was made a School Prefect in his final year at school.

He played in the Ipswich School 1st XV rugby from 1945-48 and for Suffolk Public Schools XV in 1948. He was house captain for Athletics from 194748 and won the interschools long jump in 1948. He loved playing cricket and gained his 2nd XI colours in May 1948. He was President of Sports in 1948 and became Victor Ludorum of Ipswich School Sports that same year.

He joined the Scouting Movement, becoming a First Class Senior Scout in November 1947. As a scout he attended Summer Camps at Hintlesham, Cromer and Crowcombe and in 1947 at Kandersteg, Switzerland.

From 1948 to 1949 he served in the Royal Army Service Corps, training at Yeovil in Somerset. He was eventually transferred to the Intelligence Corps. He finished his service at Hounslow, having reached the rank of Corporal. He was demobbed in May 1949.

In early 1952 Keith was working for the Anglo Iranian Oil Company (later to be renamed British Petroleum) in their Head Office in London. It was decided that he should be sent to Aden to gain some practical experience. At the time Aden was one of the busiest bunkering ports in the world. After a year of working as a bunkering officer he returned to the UK, but in July 1953, due to his previous experience in the Colony he was sent back as part of BP’s skeleton staff supervising the building of the new BP refinery at Little Aden. Altogether he worked for BP in Aden a total of ten years from 1952 until 1962.

Keith found work as a Supply Clerk in the Supply Department of AMPOL at the Lytton Refinery, located on the Brisbane River, Queensland. In 1974 he was relocated down to AMPOL’s Supply Department in their Head Office in North Sydney.

Keith eventually retired from the Oil Industry on 30th July 1993, having worked for the industry for 42 years. He and Eve moved from their family home in Eastwood, Sydney to the beautiful mid-north New South Wales coastal town of Forster.

He passed away on Friday, 24th June 2022 and is survived by his wife, Eve, sons Anthony and David, daughter, Claire, 9 grandchildren (all boys!), 2 step grandchildren and one great granddaughter.

– Herbert Golding (OI 1943 – 48) and brother-in-law

While on his first leave back in England early in 1955 Keith met and proposed to Eve Marion Williams and upon his return to Aden, he arranged for Eve to join him. They were married on 8th October 1955 at the BP Company church in Little Aden by an RAF Padre. They had two sons, Anthony and David while they were living in Aden before they finally returned to England for good on 4th December 1962.

Keith found living back in the UK, commuting to London for his work with BP difficult. One cold Winter’s eve, whilst walking along the platform at Liverpool Street Station he spotted

Graham Peck (OI 1952 – 59) Died 20th April 2022

Graham was born in Holbrook and attended the local primary school before entering the School in 1952. He was in Broke House until 1954 when he became a founder member of Felaw. He was a House Prefect from 1958 and was very proud to be made a School Prefect in 1959.

Graham was a keen sportsman but rugby was clearly his strongest sport making the 1st XV in 1958 & 1959 and being Felaw's Captain of rugby. He played a major role in the 1st XV’s unbeaten season in 1959, scoring 54 points as place kicker and gaining his Colours. He played in the Rosslyn Park 7s competition in the same year, again his kicking formed a central plank of the Team’s armoury.

School cricket was very strong in 1958 and 1959 and Graham found his place in the 2nd XI captaining the team in his last year being praised for the spirit he fostered within the team. Not only a hard hitting batsman he was also a useful bowler taking 7 for 14 against Norwich School. He was awarded House and School colours.

Graham was CQMS in the CCF and a prominent member of the School shooting team, gaining his marksman’s badge.

After leaving Graham played rugby for the OIs against the School and commenced his long involvement with the OI Cricket 2nd XI captaining the team in 1966 and 1967 and again from 1974 to 1977. He played 83 innings with a highest score of 101. Graham is remembered by team members as a friendly, fairly serious, kindly man who made the players welcome.

On leaving school, Graham joined East Suffolk County Council in the Highways Department, ultimately becoming a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Member of the Institution

of Highways and Transportation and a Member of the British Institute of Management. His career spanned 35 years with East Suffolk and its successor authority, Suffolk County Council, finishing as Assistant County Surveyor (Engineering and Transportation Services). His work mainly involved the design and construction of major road and bridge schemes and he was involved in virtually all major bypass projects in the county between 1963 and 1995. He considered himself lucky to have been responsible for the maintenance of the Orwell Bridge when Suffolk County Council acted as agents for the Department of Transport.

Graham first met Jackie in 1961 when she joined the Treasurers Department at Suffolk County Council and they went on to marry in 1966. Louise was born in 1969 and over the next few years the family enjoyed holidays abroad where Graham was able to pursue his love of photography. He particularly enjoyed photographing wildlife, flora and fauna – and a favourite holiday was a Kenyan safari in 1978.

In order to form a stronger relationship between the Club and the School and with the full support of the Headmaster, Ian Galbraith, Graham was appointed OI Administrator spending time each week at the School. He was

able to provide far more administrative support alongside the officers and OI Committee leading to a wider range of activities, using his great diplomatic skills in this new role. This appointment was the forerunner to the setting up of the Development Office which plays such a great part in OI affairs.

In 1998 Graham was invited to take up editorship of the OI section of the Ipswich School Magazine and became Secretary of the Club until his second retirement in December 2007. He served as President of the OI Club in 2009, an honour richly deserved.

Sadly Graham suffered declining health in his later years but was still able to enjoy lunch outings and car rides in the country. Graham gave outstanding service to the OI Club and was a great supporter of the School and the OI Club. He was a distinguished and lovely man – Karl Daniels (OI 1944 – 53)

Memories of Graham:

Graham was also a keen supporter of the OI cricket club and was a stalwart of the OI second team along with players such as Brian Nix, Tony Tyrell, and John

Goldsmith. He was loyal supporter of the School and Club and will be sadly missed.

– Steve Runnacles (OI 1963 – 74)

I have very happy memories of working with Graham - he enabled the school to give far more administrative support to the OI club, working alongside the club's committee and officers, and this both took some pressure off the committee members and led to a wider range of club activities.

I was very sorry to hear of the death of Graham. He was a lovely man, modest and self-effacing. I first met him when he welcomed me into the OI 2nd XI cricket team as a very nervous schoolboy back in the 60s. He made me feel completely at home. I remember he had a trademark shot that at first sight appeared to be a misjudgement but given the frequency with which he played it was clearly well calculated. It was a lofted straight drive but hit so steeply as to appear inevitably to result in a catch. The ball would reach such a height however that not only did none of the fielders really fancy getting underneath it but invariably it would crash to earth a yard or two beyond the boundary. Later of course I knew him as a most loyal supporter and administrator for the OI Club.

Walter Wilson (Former Staff 1977 – 94)

Died 3rd June 2022

Walter worked at the school as the school Chaplain from 1977-1994 and will be sadly missed by his friends, family and all who knew him at the School.

Walter was born 88 years ago in Conisbrough into a large mining family. He went to a technical college and then went to work at a steel works in Rotherham in the drawing office. He studied in the evenings and then attended a theological college where he studied to enter the ministry. He became a curate in Sheffield and whilst serving as the senior curate for Kit Howell Thomas he met and married Kit’s daughter Sally in 1967. In 1968 Emma was born and the family moved to Lincolnshire where Walter was rector of Cabourne and Swallow and the youth officer for the Grimsby Industrial Mission and Pippa was born in 1970.

The family moved to Ludlow in 1972 where Walter was the Youth Officer for Hereford Diocese. He ran the youth centre which included taking youngsters camping and on holiday. Sally helped with feeding all the hungry mouths and taught them all how to wash up afterwards!

In 1977 the family moved to Ipswich where Walter became chaplain at Ipswich School. The girls

really loved this move as they had free use of all the sporting facilities which is where their love for sport blossomed. Whilst at the school as well as being the chaplain Walter also taught Physics and Maths. He often spent evenings in the science labs perfecting experiments for the next day!

He also got to know each student and wrote individual reports for each of them every term. He worked with students who faced challenges both in school and at home teaching them new skills such as his love for carpentry whilst giving them a chance to talk through any issues they were facing. He always had time for anyone needing his help and was affectionately known as “Wally” by the students.

In 1994 Walter retired and he and Sally moved into their cottage near Mendlesham. This has been a labour of love over the years as the first house they had owned due to the nature of Walter’s work. Walter had spent years with the help of his family renovating it from top to toe to turn it into a home. Walter used his love of gardening to turn a once desolate area into a stunning garden complete with a huge fish pond. He built his grandchildren, Jade and Adam, various climbing frames out of scaffolding on which they spent many happy hours. They even had an

upturned sandpit as a boat on the pond! Walter continued to keep himself busy by repairing church windows and doing several commissions for stained glass windows- these he did in a purpose built work shed overlooking his pond. He also helped out with services at Wickham Skeith.

Walter and Sally bought a campervan in which they traveled to various places in England and Ireland having many adventures and breakdowns! They went to visit family in Australia and sightseeing in Egypt.

Sally and Walter moved back to Ipswich seven years ago due to failing health and to be nearer to their amazing daughters. Sadly Walter was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and Dementia and was initially supported at home by Sally before carers were brought in to assist. He moved into Prince George Home in 2021 and immediately made a favorable impression on the staff with his ready smile and sense of humour which he kept right up until the end. He sadly passed away peacefully in his sleep on June 3rd.

– Obituary by Emma Wilson (OI 85 – 87) and daughter

– Ian Chesterman (OI Club Chairman)

– Peter Boughton (OI 1958 – 69)

Adam Lusher (OI 1982 – 89) Died 18th July 2022

Adam was ahead of his time. He both arrived on the scene and departed far too early, but he packed into his 51 years about 150 years’ worth of life.

It started in 1971 when, showing his typical determination and an early disregard for normal protocol, hygiene or carpets he started to push his way out into the world before any doctor or midwife could arrive, leaving Dad to deliver him personally by himself at home in Ipswich on the bedroom floor. That was quite a moment. Dad desperately tried to protect the carpet with a boat cover, but Adam got the better of him.

This was quite a shock to my system, abruptly ending my monopoly position of only child. Worse still, it soon emerged from a very early age that this young upstart was seriously clever. One of the first signs of this annoying brainpower (along with a vivid sense of imagination) came when Adam and the rest of his primary school class, having just been taught to read, was asked as a brief homework assignment to write a short paragraph describing an adventure, real or imagined.

Both we and the teacher were absolutely flabbergasted when young Adam, aged about 6, handed in what was basically an early attempt at the Booker Prize, a brilliantly written 12 page novel about how he single-handedly took on and defeated a sabre-toothed tiger. I think he might in fact have had some help from a woolly mammoth, but the quality of the writing for someone so young was clearly a sign of what was to come.

Unsurprisingly, he went on to obtain a scholarship to Ipswich School. Mum and Dad asked him what he would like as a reward. I suppose that most 11 year olds would probably go for money, gift tokens or toys of some sort. Instead, Adam, who was different, iconic and always happy with the simple things in life, replied “I’d like to go for a curry at the Taj Mahal please”. Although he may have meant the real Taj Mahal in India, the Norwich Road version served just as well, which ensured to Dad’s relief that the scholarship savings were not eaten up in flight costs.

Wildlife (especially birds) and academic work were two of Adam’s main passions and he was damn good at both of them, much to my irritation.

My only saving grace in our sibling rivalry was that Adam was not quite so

talented at sports. He did however make up for his lack of talent with tremendous courage at having a go. We come from a sailing family and so despite his very eloquent and very loud reservations, Adam was placed in a boat from quite an early age. Dad explained all the key safety aspects like “One hand for the boat and one hand for yourself” and “If things go wrong, always always stay with the boat” etc. etc., but theory is one thing and practice quite another.

The highlight of Adam’s sailing career and a classic character-defining moment came during what is known as “Junior Week”, one of the main regattas for junior sailors in our region. Adam’s crew-mate for this prestigious event was a certain Mr. Ed Balch (OI 1982-89). I think it is fair to say that Ed’s sailing skills were very much on a par with Adam’s.

In one of the early races, we all had to sail round a tall metal pole sticking out from the river, called “Park Farm Beacon” which was the notorious gybe mark in the course, presenting a potentially difficult manoeuvre for novice sailors. Adam and Ed had therefore taken the sensible precaution of falling half a mile behind the rest of the fleet so as to have maximum space for this tricky manoeuvre. Unfortunately however, the inevitable happened and their boat capsized. Adam and Ed were flung into the cold water. Ignoring or more likely forgetting Dad’s advice, they instinctively let go of the boat and swam to get hold of the pole, leaving the boat to rapidly disappear with the tide into the distance.

Eventually the rescue boat arrived and much to Adam’s disbelief reassured him that they would get the boat back if he could just hold on for a few more minutes. Meanwhile, the rest of the fleet had completed the first lap of the course and were coming round again, so there was now a stream of teenage sailors (myself included) pouring round Park Farm Beacon staring with a mixture of bewilderment and absolute delight at our two young heroes clinging grimly onto the metal pole. They took a lot of flak, but to their credit they completed the regatta and ever since then in my mind “Park Farm Beacon” has always been “Balch Lusher Beacon”.

Despite such occasional sporting setbacks, Adam’s childhood years were hugely enjoyable, with great summer holidays ranging from Dorset and Cornwall to France and yacht sailing in Greece and Turkey, this time with Dad doing the practical stuff and Adam surprisingly showing great navigational skills, bar a bit of a scare when he gave Dad the depth readings in feet when they should have been in metres. Adam obviously carried his binoculars with him wherever he went and soon amassed an impressive array of rare bird sightings.

After university, Adam decided that he would like to be a broadsheet journalist. As usual, his determination and dedication to the task were unparalleled, even to the point of sleeping for a while on the thick carpet floor of the apartment I was renting with some friends in West Hampstead. I did offer to get him a camp bed to keep him off the carpet but, like Dad before me back in 1971, Adam got the better of me.

Adam was exceptionally brave. When asked to go into the war zone of Iraq as a journalist for the Telegraph, he didn’t flinch. He actually took the opportunity to combine work with more birdwatching. Travelling in a tank with some tough American soldiers, they were quite amazed by his determination to spot with his binoculars the opposing Iraqi army and any snipers, but in fact he had the binoculars in his hand because he was desperate to spot some rare desert bird.

Later on, he faced his enormous health problems with the same unwavering courage, without any complaints whatsoever, whilst always maintaining his often self-deprecating and almost always dry, mischievous sense of humour.

One prime example of the latter is how, flaunting any protocol for age considerations, he gleefully introduced my oldest son Henry to the delights of Borat, at the age of about 10. So thanks to Uncle Adam, Henry is now a leading expert on Borat and the Borat-themed exchanges between the two of them, particularly some of their birthday cards, were a constant source of family amusement.

His academic success continued unabated, culminating in a place at Lincoln College, Oxford University to read history. He told us, only partly tongue-in-cheek, that his choice of Lincoln College was based largely on its reputation for the high standard of food they served, including curries. I suppose that would be consistent with his choice of destination for his “gap” year before uni, namely India, where he was finally able to have his curry at the real Taj Mahal.

Strangely enough, some of the very greatest moments of joy and happiness in Adam’s life came to him after his health issues arrived, because it was during this period that he persuaded the wonderful Carole to marry him and during this period that he had two fantastic sons Tom and William.

At one point in time, it had looked like none of that would have been remotely possible, but thanks to Adam’s spirit and the amazing medical team at UCLH, he came through 14 months of purgatory, becoming the NHS “Miracle Man” in the process, to make it possible. We know that Adam considered himself exceptionally fortunate to have enjoyed such unexpected extra joy and happiness and for that we can be very grateful.

Adam was generous to the end. He even gave his body to medical research so as to help save others. We can all learn from the values Adam exuded. He was a kind-hearted, humorous, exceptionally brave, loving and much-loved husband, father, son, brother, nephew and uncle who will be desperately sorely missed but always, always remembered. For Rob and myself, it was and remains an absolute privilege to be his brother.

– Mark Lusher (OI 1975 – 82) and Adamˇs brother

National win for indoor hockey boys

A thrilling display of indoor hockey saw the Ipswich School U18 boys lift the national championship trophy in 2022, with an inspired performance across five games resulting in a victory in the final against Whitgift School.

The boys saw triumphs over Yarm, St George’s College Weybridge and Repton School, before a return meeting with Whitgift in an exciting final. The squad of 11 were faced with a dramatic ending as their 1-0 lead was extinguished in the dying seconds of normal time, leading to a penalty shoot out.

However, Ipswich remained calm under pressure, slotting home three flicks to beat the opposition 3-1, and taking the top spot in this Super 6s event. Team captain Ben Hunt was also the top scorer in the finals event, with six goals scored for Ipswich.

Mr Edmondson, Director of Sport, said: “The boys have developed their skills over the last three years and it is credit to them and the staff. The most valuable asset they had was belief, and they used this to unite as a team and emerge victorious over strong opposition from across the country with steely determination. Well done to them all!”

Headmaster Mr Weaver added: “I know the boys and their coaches have worked tirelessly to get to this position, and we were delighted to see this pay off in a spectacular fashion. We were able to watch the tournament back at school via a livestream, and to see them play with so much skill under such pressure was a great opportunity for us all.”

Hockey at Ipswich School has a rich history of success which continues to go from strength to strength in recent years. Six of this U18 squad played together while at Ipswich Prep, where they were county champions in 2016.

Four Old Ipswichians – Hannah Martin, Harry Martin, James Gall and George Pinner – were members of the GB senior hockey squads who travelled to the Tokyo Olympics, with Hannah winning a bronze medal. In the summer of 2022, Hannah was part of the England hockey squad who achieved an historic gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Ipswich School cricketers win national title for second year

The U15 girls’ cricket team were crowned national T20 champions in 2022, the second year in a row that they have won the title. The team were also runners-up in the national indoor championships, which were held earlier in the year at Lords Cricket Ground.

Ipswich played Kingston Grammar in their first game, and elected to field first. Accurate bowling restricted Kingston to 73 all out inside 16 overs. Ipswich batted with confidence and intent in reply, chasing the total down with 8 overs remaining and for the loss of only one wicket (74-1). Run contributions from Eliza (20), Amie (25) and Evie (20) and wickets for Evie, Ella (5-13) and Ishani.

Ipswich then progressed on to the final in game two against Repton, again electing to field first. Ipswich bowled with great accuracy and control, heaping constant pressure on the opposition batters and taking wickets at regular intervals. This led to Repton being bowled out for 78 in the penultimate over.

Ipswich came out all guns blazing once again in reply, showcasing their superior firepower, skill and composure at the crease. The total was reached in

A top ten school in East Anglia

the 10th over, with the loss of only one wicket (79-1). There were wickets for Libby (4-10) Evie (3-2) and Ishani (3-10) and runs for Amie (30) and Evie (25).

Mr Bennett-King, Head of Girls’ Cricket, said: “Many congratulations to all members of this exceptional team on an incredible end to a highly successful season. This is an outstanding achievement for the Ipswich girls, and really cements their place in history as they are the only team in the competition to date to retain their national title at U15 level.”

Mr Weaver added: “We are very proud of the girls, and delighted that their hard work and dedication to training has paid off in such a spectacular fashion. Well done to them all!”

The prestigious Sunday Times Parent Power Schools Guide named Ipswich School as the top independent school in Suffolk, an accolade the school has now held for six years in a row.

The guide also put the school in the top ten of independent schools in the region, and in the top 160 in the country. It ranks schools by their A Level and GCSE exam grades, based on a three-year average of externally marked results from 2017-19. The authors of the guide explained that for the second successive year they did not use the summer exam results, saying: “This is not because we believe these to be worthless or the grades unreliable; children worked very hard in difficult circumstances. However, under the system of teacher-assessed grades, different approaches were taken to how those grades were arrived at, making it impossible to draw fair comparisons.”

Headmaster Mr Weaver, said: “Our teachers have a genuine passion for their subjects and a steadfast belief in the potential of our pupils. If students enjoy their learning and are encouraged to be intellectually curious then results such as these will naturally follow.” He added: “We are a very popular choice in East Anglia and whilst our excellent academic results contribute to this, we know that it is our exceptional cocurricular offering and the care we take for all in our community that makes us a destination school.”

Careers convention

On Tuesday 22 March, the annual Careers Convention returned to Ipswich School. There were stalls where students could talk with people about potential occupations and the qualifications needed, as well as advice on studying abroad and university options.

There were many seminars held throughout the evening, including one on Russell Group universities and one on languages and law, both with visiting Old Ipswichians as the speaker.

In the Russell Group Universities talk, an Ol spoke about what extracurricular and super curricular activities were needed to attend these types of competitive universities. In the Modern Languages and Law talk, the OI talked about her past experiences and how she went through university and into her career. The whole evening was incredibly informative and it was interesting to talk to so many people. Thanks to Mrs Hayes and the careers department for organising the event.

Commemoration Service returns to St Mary-le-Tower

In March, Ipswich School visited St Mary-le-Tower Church in Ipswich for the annual Commemoration of Benefactors service, which thanks all those through the years who have supported Ipswich School. The service included the Chapel Choir – pictured here outside in the snow, as we battled unseasonable weather to get to the church – and Archdeacon Rev Rosemarie Mallett, who spoke about discrimination and social justice.

Ipswich School Remembers

This year we had a two-minute silence on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to remember those people who died for us in conflict. Students and teachers gathered outside near the library to remember those who were lost in the war, with The Last Post played beautifully on the trumpets by Jamie Dilnot and Kit Fell-Clark. It was warming to see that so many people were wearing poppies, a sign of remembrance and the blood that was shed. The two-minute silence started and ended to the loud sound of the gun salute ceremony held at the Cenotaph in Christchurch Park.

On Sunday 14 November, Ipswich School hosted its annual Remembrance Sunday event in the Chapel to remember all those who have risked and lost their lives whilst fighting in a variety of wars including WWI and WWII. Just under 100 people were at the Remembrance Sunday event, including Old Ipswichians – represented by Bob Clayton and Nicholas Allen – and members of the Combined Cadet Force, with the Chapel Choir providing the hymns. Over the week, images of Old Ipswichians who had lost their lives in the two World Wars were projected onto the Chapel windows, to provide a reminder of these lives.

1000 issues of The Occasional

The Occasional celebrated its 1000th issue in March, just over 30 years since the first edition was published in January 1992.

At the start, the publication schedule was irregular “because the main purpose of The Occasional is to invite parents to concerts, plays and sporting events”, but from January 1993 it was published every Tuesday during term time, although the name remained as it continued to invite readers to school occasions. In edition 66 in April 1994, a new ‘Polaroid Propack’ camera was purchased to enable the inclusion of more photographs in The Occasional, and it was noted that pupils were involved in its production: “Much of the work being done by a small group as their Thursday afternoon activity.”

In the 100th edition it was revealed that The Occasional was the “slightly younger sister” to Prep News, which was introduced by the then Prep Head Nicholas Allen, having returned from a conference with “vivid descriptions of the newsletter published by a fellow Head.” Apparently there was no issue 47. The editor labelled number 47 as number 48, and then managed to return to the proper numerical sequence by labelling the final issue of the Michaelmas Term of 1993 as the “Christmas Number.”

A historic moment arrived in September 2008, with issue 549 being the first The Occasional to be printed in colour, while in the following September, The Occasional changed delivery method, being emailed home to parents using the “new School Post software.”

Rev David Warnes, the original The Occasional editor, retired at the end of the 2009-2010 school year, and so edition 614 in September 2010 saw three new things: a new editor, Cathy Shelbourne; a new look masthead and layout; and a new Headmaster, Mr Weaver. Since then, Mrs Bryan has overseen The Occasional and

journalism activity for the last 10 years, continuing to develop the publication with a team of pupils on Thursday afternoons, with a new addition this year of a Wellbeing Special Edition as an e-newsletter.

Midsummer Soirée

The annual Midsummer Soirée – the last music event of the year – had a special Jubilee twist this year. Union Jack bunting decorated the marquee, and there were some ‘last night of the proms’ favourites on the programme designed to get the audience singing along.

The Jubilee Soirée was opened up to the general public, as well as Ipswich School parents, staff and pupils, so that we could all join forces to celebrate 70 years since Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne.

Over 400 people enjoyed the sunshine on school field, as well as music from various Senior School and Prep School ensembles. Particular crowd favourites were We are the Champions sung by the Prep Chamber Choir (and the audience!), The Snare Band’s version of Can’t Stop by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the joint orchestras playing The Radetzky March, an ‘All-Action’ medley, Pomp and Circumstance and the familiar sound of Dambusters. The finale saw all performers back ‘on stage’, as Mrs Steensma put it, “for the National Anthem and a bit of a party!” as everyone finished by singing Sweet Caroline before putting away their picnics and chairs for another year.

Pre-loved clothes raise charity funds

Mrs Ward and Sam Fell-Clark from Year 12 came up with the idea to raise money for the school’s charities of the term by getting pupils to donate their unwanted clothes to sell at the Sixth Form centre.

The sale took place on Friday 5 November and made a fantastic £324 profit for charity. A second sale was held in the Summer Term to raise funds for the Giving Day. When asked about what the most challenging aspect of the sale was, Sam replied: “I think sorting out all the clothes was the biggest challenge. It was very time consuming but really rewarding!” Thank you to everyone who helped set up and staff the sale, and to everyone who bought a bargain!

Rucksacks and supplies donated for Afghan refugees

Mr Weaver introduced the Michaelmas Term School Charities in Headmaster’s Assembly in September, explaining that the school would be supporting organisations who work with people who had been affected by the recent events in Afghanistan – Rainbow Railroad, Suffolk Refugee Support and Care 4 Calais.

In the assembly he referred to some of the many challenges facing people, such as the women’s cricket team who were in exile, and the members of the girls’ robotics team who couldn’t return home, as well as musicians who face their music being banned, and LGBTQ+ people who have been threatened with death.

Rainbow Railroad is a global organisation that helps LGBTQ+ individuals escape violence and persecution, while Suffolk Refugee Support helps refugees living in Ipswich and Suffolk – Ipswich School is the base for the SRS Homework Club. Care 4 Calais is a volunteer-run charity

delivering essential aid and support to refugees living in the UK, Northern France and Belgium.

A wonderful response to the school’s rucksack collection saw nearly 200 bags, packed to the brim with essential clothing and supplies, donated to help refugees from Afghanistan.

They were driven to a primary school in Clacton, where they were stored for the charity Care 4 Calais – staff there looked on in awe at how many bags had been collected, mainly because of how little garage space they had in which to place them! Mr Ross swiftly emptied the garage of the original contents and they were replaced by the bags from Ipswich School.

Mrs Jordan, Director of Outreach said: “We were thrilled with the generosity and organisation of our Ipswich School community. To donate nearly 200 rucksacks packed with much needed clothing and supplies for those arriving from Afghanistan was an amazing achievement. I was so impressed by how

readily our pupils, parents and staff got involved.”

A massive thank you went to Mr Ross, Mr Suchowij, Mr Caley, Mr Goodwin and Miss Grant who all joined in and helped to load the bags up, and of course to everyone in the school community who donated items.

Support for crisis in Ukraine

The Lent term saw an unprecedented charity response by Ipswich School to the crisis in Ukraine, as well as support for Suffolk Rape Crisis which was chosen by pupils in the annual link with Suffolk Community Foundation.

Hundreds of shoeboxes were piled into an Ipswich School minibus to go to help Ukrainian refugees. Thanks to a link up with Bury St Edmunds-based charity GeeWizz, the boxes filled by Ipswich School pupils and families were to make their way across Europe as part of a huge charity effort in Suffolk. DT Teacher Mrs Clark, who had organised the Ipswich School appeal, said she was overwhelmed by the response, and the volunteers at GeeWizz were similarly delighted to see all the boxes come off the Ipswich School bus.

Selling doughnuts to pupils and staff at break time helped three pupils to raise over £1,200 for British Ukrainian Aid. Cara Peters from Year 11 enlisted the help of her two friends Gracie Joslin and Heidi Marsh to sell the doughnuts over four weeks on Friday break times, as well as persuading other family members to donate to the cause. They had also received a donation from Sainsbury’s Hadleigh Road to help the cause and also a donation from a member of the public in Tesco who was behind Cara’s mum in the checkout queue when she was buying the doughnuts to sell. In total the three pupils raised £1,251 for the charity and said they were “quite proud” of what they had achieved.

#HelloYellow

The Sixth Form Senior Prefects got together in Children’s Mental Health Week to celebrate the money they raised for Young Minds last term through the #HelloYellow day. This money will help the organisation support children and young people with their mental health needs.

The Addams Family

Senior School Musical 1-3 December 2022

After weeks of anticipation, the macabre musical ‘The Addams Family’ hit the Great School stage in December.

From start to finish there was high intensity, a fantastic range of music and choreography, and a pitch perfect cast, and it embodied the eccentric and eclectic mix of chaos and fun that the musical provides.

The story features every father’s nightmare: Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family – a man her parents have never met. And if that wasn’t

upsetting enough, Wednesday confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother, so Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before – keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents.

In this two act masterpiece, we saw the finest performers in Ipswich School showing off their talents to an enthralled audience. The jokes were side-splitting, comedy timed to perfection amongst the many song and dance numbers.

Each number was paced and delivered masterfully. Every song was unforgettable, each unique and polished in every way. Every actor, regardless of size of role, was convincing and engaging, bringing a personal aspect to each of their characters.

With a sold out audience, some students made their debut performances on the stage with professionalism and a calm demeanour comparable to West End actors.

Performers, directors, and stage crew together should be thrilled with the outcome of all their hard work. Months of training and effort paid off greatly, the kooky family bedazzling watchers. Well done to all those involved!

Festival of Music

This year, we welcomed back the Festival of Music to Great School for its eleventh year.

The Festival was opened by left-hand alone pianist Nicholas McCarthy, an internationally renowned musician who inspired the audience with his playing and the information he provided about the pieces he played and his journey to becoming a professional. The second half of Nicholas’ concert featured a number of Ipswich School pupils playing a duo (four-hand) performance of Carnival of the Animals.

Friday night saw the traditional Jazz Night, this time featuring vocalist Matt Ford and the Chris Ingham Trio, and then on Saturday there was a new event, as Old Ipswichians were welcomed back to the school to play for the audience at the Music Gala Evening.

It was a great event, supported by more than thirty Ols, with the range of age from 19 to 85, all enjoying playing elegant music alongside current Ipswich School students. The concert featured many different music styles, and included a performance of the Hallelujah Chorus, ‘Can you feel the love’, performed by the Show Choir, and a rousing set by a specially formed Big Band to close the evening.

The event was inspired by the OI President Tim Kiddell who wanted to unite OIs through their shared love of music, and was put together with the help of Francis Goodhand, a fellow former pupil and professional musical director who is well experienced in organising musical events.

The Gala Evening left an unforgettable memory with performers and audience members alike.

Over 150 students were involved across the Festival, including the Big Band musicians performing on Jazz Night, and the Chamber Orchestra and Intermediate Strings featuring in Monday’s String Spectacular with the Alkyona Quartet.

Well done to everyone for performing on stage, or working behind the scenes –what an inspirational week

Amanda Childs Head of Ipswich Prep

Amanda has had a tremendous 13 years in the Prep. Keen to build on the happy atmosphere, she nevertheless knew that we needed to keep improving to remain at the top of the market.

Amanda has introduced many initiatives, with the help of a terrific Senior Team which she has appointed and developed. The education in the core curriculum: from our beginners’ reading schemes through to the deployment of iPads in the classroom has always been subject to that cycle of improvement. And to great effect, too as we know from the many successes.

In my view, though, it is in the co-curriculum that Amanda has shone the brightest. The musicians, drama, young athletes (six of the recent U18 National Indoor Championship winning hockey side were former Prep pupils) and, of course, she introduced... skiing! Perhaps not the most obvious club to introduce in the middle of Suffolk, but weekly trips to the Wherstead dry slope and annual excursions to European resorts have given the pleasure of this wonderful sport to so many of our youngsters.

There is a thread, now, at Ipswich School, which runs through from the youngest, right up to those in the Sixth Form, of outdoor learning. Amanda has been a fantastic advocate for the benefits of the outdoor, even putting up with Mr Ross and Mr Rackham at Birch Hall, and she will always be known as the

ʻQueen of the Kitchen’ for her fantastic campfire catering!

The Head of Ipswich Prep has an important role to play with me and the governors in setting the strategic direction of the School. It was Amanda’s vision, when the NHS was selling off some property adjacent to our site, that our provision could extend to a day care nursery. And so, the Lodge Day Nursery was born. Amanda has given hours of her time, her expertise and guidance to develop the Lodge into the premium provider in Ipswich. Numbers have grown and we have expanded further into buildings on our new Anglesea Heights site. It really is first class, and such an achievement to set this up from scratch.

In that project, and in all that she has done – hard work, long hours, dedication: these are all aspects of Amanda’s ʻbehind the scenes’ work that you may not have seen. We are all familiar with the public face, singing Madonna for the Jubilee, or greeting parents at the gate with her lovely school

dog, Lola, but you may know less of the late nights, the checking in on ill staff, the support and guidance that she gives personally to everyone.

Thanks also to Amanda for her personal touch and support for me, too, and I have been grateful for her counsel, one Head to another. Amanda has lived and breathed Ipswich Prep School, through all weathers, good and bad, devoting herself to the school’s prosperity and to the welfare and success of all the children who have been through it.

We thank you for your dedication, and wish you all the best for your future.

Nicholas Weaver, Headmaster, Ipswich School

Amanda Childs with children's author, Nick Butterworth

subject. She shared her PhD expertise on the novels of Dostoevsky with us in the first of her academic lectures all those years ago, but anyone who has ever had the good fortune to observe one of her lessons will have been treated to her joyful exposition of the delights of ballet, or ice-hockey, or Chekhov, or Moscow. If you are looking for passion for your subject, look no further.

Liddy Croft

Head of Russian

There is seismic change rumbling through the Modern Languages Department. Liddy Croft is leaving her post as Head of Russian, after 15 years of leading it to ever greater success – we can safely say that the place will never be the same again.

Russian was already a thriving subject before Liddy came in 2007, but with her as its champion it has broadened its access, while becoming the most successful subject in the school for Oxbridge entries over the last 12 years. It has been incredible to see the level of potential that has been unlocked in some of our Russianists down the years.

The key to this success was Liddy’s unquenchable enthusiasm for her

Lindsey Ward

Teacher Coach

A question the Headmaster likes to ask at interviews is “Do you have a best friend at work?” What does that mean? A best friend is the person that you choose to confide in, to share the ups and downs, whether about school or your personal life. The person that you turn to for advice and support on everything

And Russian was dragged out of the classroom through the numerous trips that Liddy organised to Moscow and St Petersburg, and the exchange with Novgorod. Hours of negotiating the Kafkaesque visa-application system were rewarded by some unforgettable moments, as those colleagues who accompanied a trip, and may have danced on stage, will testify.

Beyond the Russian enclave, Liddy has been woven into school life from the very beginning of her time here. A regular EPQ supervisor, it is, however, as a form tutor that she has been adored by countless tutees, due to her dedication to their wellbeing, not to mention the Rigaud cause.

This sense of care is one thing that I know she is looking forward to developing further in a new boarding role at Oundle, and it will be no doubt a

and anything, the person that you trust. The person that, however your day is going, always makes you feel a little bit better; the person you always look forward to seeing. I think many staff would view Lindsey as our best friend at work.

Lindsey is the most giving and generous person. She’s the person who you turn to if you are struggling with a difficult class; want some ideas for teaching; want some feedback on a lesson; want help filling in a form; preparing for a presentation or interview; or thinking about a challenging conversation with a colleague. She’s the person who will always offer to help out on a trip; with rehearsals for concerts and plays or supporting students with charity events. She’s also been a role model for us all, with an enthusiasm for learning that has never waned, an enthusiasm that infects others and makes them want to be and do better too.

great gain for them. She has popped up in every Christmas review and charity event – and she was the one in the outsize ice-hockey gear and furry shapka at the Giving Day Tug o’ War. Never the shrinking violet…

Liddy the colleague is Liddy the enthusiast. A rock chick who liked Foo Fighters before Nandi made them famous, friend of the stars who met Daniel Craig in Moscow before he got his 00 licence, or who hangs around the stage door to get a selfie with the beloved Ralph Fiennes or Andrew Scott, her passions take her to some fascinating places, as anyone who attended her third academic lecture, about her sabbatical on the TransMongolian railway, will surely agree.

She is someone who has unquestionably enriched the life of anyone who has come into contact with her. Oundle’s gain is most certainly our loss, only lightened by the excitement of having Katherine Wells finally with us full-time.

There is nothing more for us to say except: Liddy, большое тебе спасибо.

Jon Thompson Head of French and MFL

There are not many people who could teach English, Drama and Maths – but Lindsey is that person, and many pupils at Ipswich School have benefitted from her excellent ability in the classroom, and as a form tutor too. Lindsey has done so much for Ipswich School during her time here, in so many different ways.

As she leaves us to start the next chapter, filled with theatre trips, walks, runs, swims and who knows what else, she will be hugely missed by us all. We are losing not just a great colleague but a best friend.

Paul Cline, Director of Teaching and Learning

Tracey Walker

Head of Philosophy, Religion and Ethics and Academic Excellence Co-ordinator

Thirty-six years of teaching has seen Tracey complete two shorter stints in other Suffolk schools, and a period in North Carolina, before starting at Ipswich School two decades ago.

She now runs a department that is unrecognisable from when she started, largely because there was no Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (PRE) department when she came! Tracey has built the PRE department from the ground up and it is entirely to her credit that it is as successful as it is today.

Tracey is a teacher with an extensive array of expertise: she’s taught every subject you can imagine when in the US and is a qualified PE teacher –a fact that she’s spent the last twenty years trying to hide. She will be remembered by all she has taught for both the breadth of her knowledge and the high standards that she expects from her students.

It is testament to her passion for the subject and desire to inspire it in others that such a number of students have gone on to pursue theology and/or philosophy at university.

Tracey’s contribution to school life is truly unique, given the expanse of things that she has taken on over the years. Aside from running the PRE department, Tracey has overseen the EPQ since its inception, built up the school’s Academic Excellence programme and even spent

time in an ashram to train as a yoga instructor. In addition to all this, she’s led an innumerable number of school trips – who else would want to take dozens of school children around India on three separate occasions, would trek up mountains in Ethiopia with Mr Ross, or would volunteer to accompany Mr East on a cricket tour?!

We often talk about pupils’ true characters coming through when they’re on a trip, and I don’t see that as being hugely different for members of staff.

With that in mind, I suspect the highlight of Tracey’s career may not have been watching the train pull out of the station in India with a pupil still aboard; nor would it have been the occasion when the Ipswich School party was solely responsible for using every sick bag on the long flight from Delhi to London; nor running across the airport, hoping that the prop-driven connecting flight wasn’t going to take off before they arrived.

Nonetheless, throughout all of these tales and many more, Tracey has always maintained her unflappable nature and hundreds of pupils will have benefited from her generously giving her time.

Aside from time, Tracey will also be remembered for giving another gift: the Curly Wurly. Whilst many people might have thought that the sweet had been confined to the annals of history, there lives a secret repository somewhere in the building. Rarely does a term go by where the department, the EPQ supervisors or an exam class is not rewarded with the chewy delight!

After a career of always putting others first, Tracey now leaves us to spend a little more time thinking about what she wants herself. Our suspicions are that the Suffolk Plant Centre takings will increase, the golf course will be well-trodden and that Ufford may have its own yoga class very soon!

David Beasant, PRE Teacher

David Beasant

PRE Teacher and Head of Rigaud House

David arrived fresh-faced from Cambridge and set about carving his niche at Ipswich School purposefully. After being advised to be his authentic self in the classroom, he certainly was. His students warmed to his unique brand of humour and appreciated his intelligence as well as his wit. He is the consummate professional, trusted by both his students and his peers to get the job done.

David was ambitious from the start and willing to step out of his comfort zone in order to prove his worth. He joined the CCF, coached rugby as well as cricket (the stately pace of cricket being more to his liking), participated in and ran trips to places that were not exactly on his list of places to go.

David likes to be organised and for everything to be under control. It is very rare that someone organises his Head of Department, but he took over the running of a Places of Worship trip to London in his first term and did just that. Trips to Morocco, Russia and India soon followed.

An abiding memory of the India trip is of David finding something to stand on so that he could count our students wherever we went; not an easy task in places of pilgrimage heaving with people or at train stations with bodies everywhere. Curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner was clearly the highlight of his experience there.

No amount of persuasion could get David to dress up for a ‘fun

photo’ initiative to advertise the PRE department. He has a clear idea of where he draws the line and we appreciate that. If they had asked us all to kit ourselves out in tweed we may have got somewhere!

David is a team player and members of the PRE department have relished his input in the growth and development of the department; his clarity at department meetings; his generosity of spirit in supporting his colleagues unfailingly and all of the laughter that we have shared over the years together.

David was promoted to Head of House and quickly established his way of doing things. His no-nonsense, common sense approach endeared him to the students in his care and he is both respected and loved. Parents appreciate his candour and professionalism. He is certainly a role model in many ways, especially in attention to detail regarding how to dress: so many suits, ties, coordinated socks or, if there is a need for casual wear, blazers and chinos.

David does not do hoodies, not even the ‘everyone else on the trip has them’ variety: he likes a collar. On another early trip to Bloomsbury he was quick to point out one of his favourite shops much to his Head of Department’s amusement; an establishment that sold gentleman's walking sticks, umbrellas and pipes - an unusual choice for one so young ...

We wish him all the best in his new role as Head of Sixth Form at Woodbridge School.

Tracey Walker, Head of PRE

Fran Messenger

Assistant Director of Music, Ipswich Prep

Fran Messenger first started at the Prep in 2001 as a Visiting Music Teacher (VMT). She became a Prep Music Teacher in 2005 and was promoted to Assistant Director of Music in 2007.

When Beverley Steensma left the Prep in 2018 to take up the role of Director of Music in the Senior School, Fran became Acting Director of Music in the Prep for the academic year 2018/19; she thoroughly embraced this role, before returning to her role as Assistant Director in 2019, supporting Jane Pashby through the difficult Covid years until today.

There is always a lot of hard work in the Music Department rehearsing and getting the children together just before a concert, and not only musically – sorting their costumes and props so they are ready to perform at Christmas and Celebration Day is always as exciting as the music itself. The performances are always a highlight, whether at Snape, Great School, Chapel, our school halls or the marquee on the school field. The children always rise to the occasion and raise the roof with their fabulous singing.

Fran is particularly proud of introducing the children to The Stave House method of learning to read musical notation, and the children have been on some great adventures with ‘Ferdie’, ‘Dunstan’ and their friends and climbing the ladder with the ‘Notebuilder’. Mrs Messenger is retiring to spend more time with her family. We know she will miss everyone so much but we’re sure she will enjoy popping into school to continue working with the Prep children as a VMT, where she started with us.

Amanda Childs, Head of Ipswich Prep

Sue Ranson Westwood Cleaner

Sue joined Ipswich School in 1982. She was a cleaner at Highwood and the Housemaster was Mr Tickner. To help get a sense of that time, John Blatchley was the Headmaster, Margaret Thatcher was in her third year of leadership, Prince William was born and, more importantly, Bobby Robson was managing Ipswich Town FC. From the very beginning Sue gained a reputation

for being very good at her job and having a soft spot for the boarders. She would go out of her way to make sure they were being looked after and they would come home from school to lovely, clean and tidy bedrooms. She liked to get to know the boarders and she has a good eye for spotting a kind one. As well as being good at her job, Sue is punctual and reliable. Over all of these years she has only had a handful of days off work and this is because she loves her job and knows how important it is. When the school closes due to bad weather, Sue still arrives at Westwood saying: “Well, how can I not come in, who’s going to help in the laundry?” The idea that the boarders go without the usual standard of care is unthinkable to her. I know that Sue is going to miss life at Westwood and we are going to miss her too, after a wonderful 40 years with us. We wish her the very best in her retirement.

Justine Christie, Head of Boarding

OI Club Events

1967 – 69 Reunion

30th July 2021

Classmates from 1967-69 met recently at the School Pavilion to celebrate their 70th birthdays. A great evening for this group who meet up every 10 years to reminisce about School days. We look forward to welcoming you in another 10.

Gin Tasting

12th November 2021

Drinks in the City

25th November 2021

A meet up in the School Pavilion with a wide variety of gin options can't be bad! A very enjoyable evening with huge thanks to James Davey (OI 196777) who hosted the event.

A great night was had by all at the November 2021 drinks in the City. 20 OIs met at The Happenstance in Paternoster Square, London, to kick the Christmas season off early!

OI Autumn Lunch 18th September 2021

Our leavers of 50+ years returned to the School for the annual lunch which was moved from the Summer to the Autumn to allow for the lifting of restrictions. We all gathered inside the New Dining Hall for drinks followed by a tour of the school. For some who have been back it was much the same as the last visit, but for those who haven't been back since their last day as a school boy it was quite different.

OI Former Staff Lunch

2nd October 2021

It was brilliant to see so many former staff at the lunch hosted at the school on 2nd October. More than 65 attended for a wonderful two-course lunch prepared by the School catering team.

Joining them were current staff who helped to host the event. Headmaster Nick Weaver, Richard Welbourne, and former headmaster Ian Galbraith stood to address the crowd.

After a wonderful lunch by the School's catering team, many retired members of staff were given tours of their departments which was an excellent way to demonstrate the changes since they has left. But in some cases the rooms were practically unchanged.

The reunion lunch was throughly enjoyed by everyone. Many thanks goes to the wonderful catering team, estates team and all who made the event possible.

OI President’s Event

Music Gala Evening

Ipswich School's four-day Festival of Music came to an end with a wonderful performance from talented OIs across the generations. The Saturday night’s Music

Gala Evening welcomed back 34 Old Ipswichians aged from 19 to 85 years old, playing a variety of music alongside current Ipswich School students.

The concert featured many different music styles, and included a performance of the Hallelujah Chorus, ‘Can you feel the love’ which was performed by the Show Choir, and a spectacular performance of 'Viva La Vida' by a specially formed Big Band to close the evening. It was also great to see Karl Daniels (OI 1944-53) play the piano alongside current pupils to remember Trevor Woods (OI 1950-53) who passed away in September. These performances really demonstrated the strong community that Ipswich School values.

During the technical run-throughs of the event, all OIs were wlecomed with an incredible lunch by the School's catering team in the New Dining Hall, which was finished off by the Ipswich School classic: steamed syrup sponge pudding.

The event was dreamt up by Tim Kiddell, the current OI President, who was keen on uniting current students and OIs through their shared passion for music and performing. With great help from the Music department, Francis Goodhand (OI 1985-92) ad Andrew Leach, the Music Gala Evening was a great success with a standing ovation from the audience.

Gerald Pell (OI 1952-57) wrote to us after the event saying “I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the events on Saturday, culminating with the concert. To me it was a huge success, and it gave me the opportunity to meet some younger OIs. There is a depth of musical talent in the school.”

With thanks to the School journalism team who helped with this article for the weekly pupil newsletter, 'The Occasional'.

OI Summer Lunch

28th June 2021

The Summer Lunch is always a highlight on the OI events calendar and we were lucky enough to have good weather, cricket on the field and merriment in the dining halls as leavers from 1972 and before greeted each other again.

It was a great opportunity for everyone to catch up, remember times at school and hear from Tim Passmore (OI 1966-77) on behalf of the Old Ipswichian Club and the Headmaster about school progress.

Virtual Burns Night 25nd January 2021

17 OIs joined together online to celebrate Burns Night, a Scottish tradition celebrated on January 25th. It was created to commemorate poet Robert Burns, who was born on that date in 1759. Burns, known as the 'National Poet of Scotland,' was voted the greatest Scot by the Scottish public in 2009.

To honour his contribution to Scottish culture, a Burns Supper takes place, which features readings of his poetry throughout the meal such as, Auld Lang Syne.

We would like to thank everyone who attend the evening. We hope you enjoyed reminiscing about your time at Ipswich and learned some valuable insights to the Scottish tradition that is Burns Night. We also hope you enjoyed the variety of food available in your

Burns Night hamper containing smoked salmon tartlets, beef and haggis pasty, smoked chicken breast and raspberry cranachan.

We'd like to extend yet another thank you to Tim Passmore (OI 1966-77) for hosting the event. William Coe (OI 1976-87) for deliveries and Clare

Lock (OI 1993-95), who designed the event booklets, which were jampacked with quizzes and games, as well as a wealth of information on Burns Night. Our thanks as always to the Development Office who helped organise the evening.

18nd

On Friday 18th March, The Old Ipswichian Club had another successful virtual beer tasting event, with 19 OIs from across the UK joining in to taste a selection of beers supplied and delivered by Away Days Beer. The event was hosted by the company founder Josh Bartlett (OI 1997-05), as well as Steve Runnacles (OI 1963-74).

The event was a great success, with Josh treating those present to six different beers while discussing a little about the beer themselves, how they are brewed and how Josh started his company.

If you want to learn more about Away Days Beer please visit their website at www.awaydaysbeer.com and/or search for them on social media at @awaydaysbeer.

Thank you to all involved in the evening.

The unbeaten 1971 Rugby team reunion

What better way to mark 50 years since that historic season than by inviting the team and their coach, John Nicholson back to the School! It was a great opportunity to catch up, remember times at school and hear from the Director of Sport and the Headmaster about rugby at the school now. We also recreated the squad photo!

OI London Dinner 26th May 2021

It was fantastic to see so many OIs at the House of Lords on the 26th May. The OIs present spanned the generations with those present leaving the school from the 1950's - 2020's. All reminiscing about their time at Ipswich and reconnecting with friends. It is always good to have an excuse to meet up and what is better than dinner in this prestigious venue. Guest speaker James King (OI 1982 – 93) Film Critic and TV Presenter gave an excellent insight into his world and Tim Kiddell followed with his usual brilliance.

Careers Convention 23rd March 2021

On Tuesday 22 March, the annual Careers Convention took place. It was a great success with many people attending. There were plenty of exhibition stands showing potential careers for students from Years 10, 11 and 12.

Students were able to talk to industry professionals and learn more about the skills and qualifications needed as well as learn about the different entry routes for their chosen profession. Advice on studying abroad, gap years and university options were also available.

Several seminars were presented throughout the evening from OIs, such as Zoe Evers (OI 2010–2017) from Newcastle University and Olivia Phillips (OI 2010–2015) from University of Sheffield, both talks were completely sold out. Antonia Ridley-Hughes (OI 2007–2012) from Ashtons Legal also gave an interesting talk on Modern Languages and Law. She presented to a group of 30 students about her past experiences and how she went through university and into her career. The whole evening was incredibly informative and thank you to all OIs who contributed to the successful evening.

Postponed Ipswich Dinner

2nd April 2021

It was fantastic to see so many OIs, looking splendid wearing dinner jackets and evening dresses, circulating with enthusiasm and enjoying captivating conversation and food at the OI Ipswich Dinner on Saturday 2nd April.

Class of 1990 Reunion

18th June 2021

It was a joy to welcome back the Class of 1990 to the School for the 30+ years reunion!

Speech Day and Leavers

July 2022

Ipswich School pupils were urged to make the most of the opportunities presented to them by this year’s Speech Day guest speaker, Rear Admiral Andrew Betton OBE (OI 1979-85).

OI Sport Events

OI Hockey 3rd April 2022

It was great to see so many OIs and current students take part in the OI vs School Hockey event on Sunday 3rd April. Congratulations to the OI team, who despite not being crowned the winners, did extremely well, especially after the many attending the Ipswich Dinner the night before! A HUGE thank you goes to Cameron Lyle OI who helped organise participation. Thank you to everyone who made the event a success!

OI Golf Day a Success! July 2022

As Alastair Merrick (OI 1962 – 71) contemplated his tee shot on the opening hole at Ipswich Golf Club, he recalled the last time he had played the Purdis Heath course. “It must have been over 50 years ago. It’s amazing to be back.” Alastair was one of 20 former pupils and staff taking part in the Old Ipswichian Golf Society’s first event for three years.

For Alastair, who moved to America soon after starting his career back in the 70s, it was lucky coincidence that enabled him to take part in the golf. “I had a holiday booked to England and when I saw on the Old Ipswichian website that this golf event was happening when I was going to be in Suffolk visiting family I couldn’t not come along!,” he said. After his round he added: “What a fabulous course, and I even remembered many of the holes! It’s been a great day.”

The event was won by Pete Law with a cracking score of 42 points. Pete (OI 1970 – 77) thanked organiser Steve Runnacles (OI 1963 - 74) for putting the event together. Steve in turn thanked the OI Club for funding both the golf and food after the event.

EAL Cross Country - Round 3 (Ipswich)

In the third race of four as part of the East Anglian League, Ipswich School hosted over 40 runners in the Fynn Valley from Gresham’s, Norwich and RHS, in addition to 9 OIs who raced against our senior boys; given the home fixture, it was fantastic to field our largest team of the series, with 22 runners from years 7 to 12.

In the Junior boys race over 3.3 km, a large team of boys ran superbly, coming second to Norwich by just one point. In the Girls’ race, again over 3.3km, the team dominated, with Darcy Gladwell coming first despite competing in a biathlon in the morning - the team were outright winners against much older competition.

In the inter boys race over approx 5.5 km, the team faced tough competition but secured their first win of the series thanks to the depth of talent building in the inter boys team, narrowly beating RHS to take first place in the team competition.

In the senior boys’ race over 8 km, Ollie Hitchcock dominated both the senior boys and the OIs, running a superb race in just over 27 minutes and helping the team to secure second place, again only narrowly beaten by Norwich School.

Finally in the OI versus the School race, the OIs won with a suberb run from Richard Elston (OI 2004-11) who came first in 28 minutes, followed by Thomas Hancock (OI 1981-88) running in 31 minutes. It was fantastic to see so many OIs attend the OI vs School Cross Country race on Saturday.

Congratulations to the OI team, who finished in first place, with Alistair Dick (OI 1974-81) accepting the trophy on behalf of the team. Another congratulationsto Richard Elston (OI 2004-11) who was the first OI to cross the finishing line (8km) with a superb run of 28 minutes.

OI v School Cricket 19th June 2022

It was great to see so many people attend the OI vs School Cricket. A huge congratulations to Ray East, who was presented with a plaque in recognition of his contribution and dedication to cricket at Ipswich School.

William (Bill) Izzard (OI 1968 – 78)

Fives Graves Cup 9-10th July 2022

The 9th and 10th July saw the glorious, long-awaited, return of the OIs' Ipswich Fives Tournament, last seen in January 2020.

Holding the tournament in July rather than January meant that there were a couple of subtle differences - at least 20 degrees on the thermometer for a start. That and the beer from guest brewer Peter Scholey in bottles in the fridge rather than in barrel. There were fewer School pupils than usual, too, with many families heading off on holiday as soon as term ended, no doubt trying to avoid the blistering temperatures of Ipswich in July.

Eleven pairs made the starting line having been put together by the seeding committee’s assessment of each player’s ability, stamina, likelihood of injury and facility for seeing the ball on Sunday morning. They were split into three groups with a court each. Inevitably they all proceeded at wildly different speeds with the Gareth Hoskins / Will Carron v Peter Boughton / Oscar Taylor match causing something of a backlog early on in Group A. All resolved itself, however, and there was even time to get the quarter-finals in on the Saturday afternoon. It was hard work in the hot conditions and Hoskins & Carron and Isaac Weaver & John Levick (who were unavailable on Sunday anyway) never made it on to court, giving their opponents a walkover to the Sunday semis. Mark Graves & School pupil Henry Gardner looked impressive in seeing off the tricky pairing of UK Champion Seb Cooley & Jana Scholey, while the closest match came between Steve Burnell & Pete Forrest and Tom Hoskins & Charlotta

Cooley. Steve & Pete got off to a strong start before finding themselves pegged back to 10-10 in an exciting first game. It went all the way to 13-13 before Burnell & Forrest finally closed it out, a crucial point as it turned out, as they then raced away with the second game to complete the semi-final line-up.

The Saturday night dinner was a slightly smaller affair than usual, but certainly no worse for that and the lower number allowed it to be held in the pavilion, which was a nice bonus. The food for this year's dinner, as has become the norm, was superb. Many thanks to Justin and the School catering team for doing us proud once again.

There was a minor wobble on Sunday morning with the realisation that the Greyhound was no longer opening early to do breakfast, so with the local Spoons standing in as an emergency venue (needs must), play resumed on day two at the usual leisurely pace. Alex Yusaf - back on court for the first time in a while - & partner Elliot Caldwell got off to a great start against Burnell & Forrest, taking the first game to 8, but experience again told as Steve & Pete bided their time before taking control of the match in the second and third games. Their final opponents were hard to predict: Simon Cass & James Gray had looked impressively untroubled during the course of Saturday's play, but Mark Graves was on a mission, aiming to break the curse of having your name on the cup, which he last won in 1986. With partner Henry Gardner offering some excellent support, they looked poised to take the match into a deciding game,

having lost the first 12-9. James & Simon had other ideas, however, and came from behind to take the second game 14-11 and with it the match, setting up a rare all OI final. Even rarer in that all four players sported beards.

Once the players had got their heads round playing a best of five game final, they quickly started to produce some Fives to match the occasion. James Gray's dynamism and power were more than making up for the occasional wild shot out of court and were proving a good blend with the courtcraft and "delicate-touch-fora-big-man" of Simon Cass. The first game was a mini classic, finally going James & Simon's way 15-14 and when they took the second 15-11 it looked like the match was theirs for the taking. Steve & Pete had other ideas, though, winning the third to 6 and beginning to build up a head of steam; steam that they then sadly ran out of in the fourth, with Simon & James retaking control of the match and closing it out to 8.

Poor old Mark Graves had to present the Graves Cup again instead of winning it, and the day was completed with a win in the Anthony Stubbs Memorial Plate competition for a revitalised Gareth Hoskins & Will Carron, who beat nearest rivals Tom Hoskins & Charlotta Cooley, twice, (once in their group and again in the final) to carry the day.

Thanks to the School for hosting the tournament, to the OI Club and Peter Scholey for their invaluable sponsorship, John Caudle for his important work setting up the dinner, as mentioned to our fabulous School caterers,

Next instalment, January 2023. If you missed this one, get in early and put your name down for then by contacting pvb@ipswich.school and remember, the worse you are, the better the partner you get.

Peter Boughton (OI 1958 – 69)

Development Office

Thank you

It is never dull in the Development Office, not only do we get to work closely with our fantastic Old Ipswichian and parent community but we also work to improve the lives of young people who, by joining Ipswich School, can have access to an education which encourages confidence, passion for learning and connections which last a lifetime.

We started this academic year excited for the plans ahead, in particular the Giving Day which was our first ever foray into this type of mass fundraising event.

This year we have watched on as the pupils who receive financial support progressed, thrived and enjoyed their school life. We are so proud of them and that they are making the most of the opportunities before them.

We would really like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who got involved this year with supporting the next

Phoenix Fund updateeven more support needed

We are witnessing a desperate cost of living crisis unfold before us. As if the pandemic wasn’t enough, now we must cope with the rising cost of fuel, food and goods. It will be a difficult time for many, and some families will need support to stay at the school. As a school, we fundraise for the Phoenix Fund which is designed to step in to help whilst a family gets back on their feet.

Keeping a child’s education stable is crucial but it is also important to encourage and maintain a diverse community at Ipswich. Every year we use this fund to help families who have a change of circumstance whether through job loss, illness or even the death of a parent.

generation of Old Ipswichians. An Ipswich School education offers an excellent start for life, we pride ourselves in offering cocurricular opportunities which are designed to encourage and support a true love of learning. We believe that this nurturing educational experience is life changing and the community our pupils join whilst at, but also after school, is truly unique.

It is thanks to the generous donations of many that we have been able to help a great deal of families stay at the school. We need to do more to bolster this fund to protect children’s education and would be delighted if you feel you are able to help us do this.

Please contact Nikki Brown, Development Director to find out more to support the fund: nlb@ipswich.school 01473 298961

First Ever Giving Day Raises £109,000!

When we first started to think about holding a Giving Day back in 2020, we could not have foreseen the unbelievable response from our school community when we took the plunge in 2022. We have been overwhelmed by the kindness shown both to the school and those we have welcomed to the school last September.

The day was held for 36 hours from Wednesday 29thThursday 30th June and raised more than £109,000! With 332 donors involved, there were gifts and messages of support from all over the world including the USA, China, UAE, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Norway and Sweden which really goes to show the breadth of our Ipswich School community.

The fundraising event aimed to maximise awareness, engagement, and donations, with the whole school community getting behind our aim to support Ukrainian pupils who joined the school this academic year.

There was a brilliant buzz on site over the two days, which kicked off with pupils from across the Senior School combining to run 1399 laps of the school field – chosen as this was the earliest recorded date that Ipswich School was in existence.

A baking competition for the best looking cake and best tasting cake – with an Ipswich School theme saw plenty of entries, which were then cut up and sold, along with doughnuts and other delicious goodies in a busy cake sale at break. Teams of teachers took part in a competitive Tug O’ War which saw the “DT Destroyers” come first; and a pre-loved clothes sale organised by some Year 12 students and Mrs Ward raised an amazing £557 towards the total.

This phenomenal help will impact not only those we have welcomed from the Ukraine but the school community as a whole. We want to help more pupils, whether they need 100% support to start at Ipswich School or if existing pupils experience a change to their own family circumstances which threatens their place at the school. We can help support through both the bursary fund and the phoenix hardship fund.

It is a wonderful thing to bring hope and stability to people in the darkest of times and we are delighted that you are helping us. Thank you.

Nikki Brown Development Director

Impact 2022Thank you for helping us change lives

It is that time of year when we look back at the impact of gifts and support to the school and what this means for the future of Ipswich School. Do take a look at your copy which is included with the delivery of this publication.

“Sixth Form at Ipswich School was the leap-pad into my life. But, I’ll start back to front…”

I’m back working in Ipswich, 24 years later, running a charity, and OIs pop up all of the time to help us: volunteering, corporate sponsorship, and grant-giving. We’re called Dora Brown. We work with families, referred by social workers, who live in the worst home conditions; completely broken down, not even enough beds for the children.

Poverty, mental health, abuse, illness, so many factors squish to form catalysts, then the overwhelm creates a monster of zero self care, furniture and hygiene poverty. The homes are grim as sin.

So, with a big crew of sturdy girl volunteers we transform them: clearance, deep cleaning, organising, and provision. We collect donated furniture and cosy homemaking bits, we work with a carpeting partner and we turn these homes into sanctuaries that nurture family wellbeing once more.

How I ended up in the third sector, let alone social care, is nuts. Post Ipswich, I went via London Contemporary Dance School, University of Bristol and Royal College of Art, into the significantly more glamorous and internationally jet-setting world of contemporary art exhibitions and sales. But now I’m here, happy as a pig in muck (a married mother of three), in the fetid depths of other people’s underbeds, patting gagging volunteers’ backs when we uncover something really gruesome and troubleshooting impossible-to-reassemble IKEA flatpack. I’m underpinning, resourcing and growing this “ it’s-desperatelyneeded-but-why-are-we-doing-this?” idea, to expand beyond Ipswich and surrounds.

Photo credit: Julia Bostock

If I had to name the crux of what Ipswich School gave me: confidence.

My two brothers and I were enabled to go to the school with means tested bursaries, we couldn’t have otherwise. The pastoral support we received, the nurture and care, owing to our challenging home situation was simply what we needed to strive and thrive. Robert has a post-military career working for the Education Development Trust and Jeremy’s a post doctorate maths professor researching vaccines.

My fondest memories? Mr Cavendish’s early modern history lessons were the highlight; his outrageous dramatic flair bringing it all to life, but mainly for the stories; he enthralled us and made us avid learners. Cromwellian rule forever etched in my subconscious.

What was missing? I had chicken pox the lesson that they taught grammar, but we can blame 80s pedagogy and Amberfield School for that. And anyway, Mr Welbourne was far more interested in us identifying river terraces in the field or ensuring that we understood how Ox bow lakes were formedhelicoidal flow.

It really is all still in there. Which speaks of a happy school kid who wanted to learn. No mean feat, and one I’m grateful to Ipswich for.

Thank you.

Rebecca

Rebecca May Marston

OI (1996 – 98) dorabrown.com or rebecca@dorabrown.com for more info

If you are interested in supporting the provision of bursaries at Ipswich School please get in touch with Nikki Brown, Development Director, Ipswich School. nlb@ipswich.school • 01473 298961

Sports cameras

We are thrilled that donations to the school that have been earmarked for sport have been put to good use this year. Mr Edmondson, Director of Sport has confirmed that the installation of camera/video technology is in progress at three Ipswich School sport venues.

The Cricket Gallery was refurbished in 2022 and has further strengthened the schools partnership with Hudl Sports Analysis Systems with two cameras installed in the newly refurbished venue. These 4k capture technologies feed directly into the new analysis systems in the room off the gallery where coaches and pupils can work together to perfect their skills and technique. This is of huge benefit in a highly technical sport where small improvements mean big gains on the field.

Both Rushmere and Notcutts are in the process of having Spiideo automated camera technology installed on the 1st team pitches. Spiideo is partnering with Ipswich School to deliver a state of the art video capture system at our Rugby and Hockey venues which will further enhance our video analysis capabilities. This, on the back of our industry leading partnership with Hudl will allow us to deliver the highest standards of game and data analytics to pupils across

The Friends of Ipswich School offer Great Support this Year!

The Year 7 picnic was as popular as ever. The Annual Quiz was a sellout and hotly contested. The academic year came to a close with The Summer Ball in the Grand Marquee on the school field. Guests from across the school community were treated to a performance from the Serious Hat Band led by Ed Dewson (OI 1977-87) and a surprise performance on bass from the Headmaster.

The charity partner for this year’s ball was the School’s Founding Futures Bursary Fund.

Children from across the school have been able to benefit this year from FOIS funding for table tennis tables, basketball nets, prep outdoor classroom clothing and their house t-shirts. Thanks you FOIS!

multiple teams and age groups as well as introduce the ability to live stream fixtures from the 2 venues.

The full cost of this sports development is £21,000 which has been gifted to the school to be spent in the area of Sport. Thank you!

Ben Edmondson Director of Sport

FOIS second hand uniform and kit shop opened

The FOIS shop opened its doors in May. During these times when sustainability is so important, and the economic outlook uncertain, it is good to be able to offer the opportunity for families to recycle uniforms and sports kits. FOIS volunteers have been extraordinarily generous in giving their time to set up the shop and thanks to all at the school, including the estates team.

News from the school archive

We have a part-time school historian, Caleb Howgego, who is undertaking a comprehensive inventory of the items in the archive. So far he and volunteer Mark Standen (OI 1979-85) have unearthed photos from across the generations, a letter from Admiral Nelson and prints from artist Eduardo Paolozzi.

The school historian is able to help enrich our knowledge of Ipswich School, its history and the history of those that attended here.

If you would like to research any part of the school’s history do get in touch cth@ipswich.school.

Contact Us:

nlb@ipswich.school

01473 298961

lyc@ipswich.school

01473 408324

tmh@ipswich.school 01473 408276

cth@ipswich.school

01473

Tina Harvey Development Administrator

Leanne Castle Events and Alumni Relations Manager

Nikki Brown Development Director

Caleb Howgego School Historian

408276

OI Mark Standen

300 miles through Northern France and Belgium raising funds for the bursary fund which supports children’s education at Ipswich School including five Ukrainian pupils we welcomed to the School in September 2022.

(OI 1928 - 38)

(OI 1926 - 28)

Kenneth Orger

(OI 1928 - 33)

Venice to Rome Ride 2019

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held via Zoom at 6.30pm on Saturday 19th December 2021

In attendance:

Iain Chesterman (Chairman), William Coe (Secretary), Steve Runnacles (Treasurer), Nicholas Weaver (Headmaster) and those in attendance: Nick Allen, Leigh Belcham, Nikki Brown, John Ward, Sally Webber, John Skeates, Keith Nelson, Nicola Notcutt, Lewis Tyler, Cam Lyle, Jess Pengelly, Andrew Whitehead, John Felgate, Graham Papenfus, Richard Staines, Charlie Coe, Richard Wilson and Sophie Coe.

1.0 Apologies for absence:

There were no apologies for absence received.

2.0 Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting:

It was noted that the year date at the top of the minutes stated 2019 and not 2020. Apart from this correction the minutes of the last meeting were agreed as a correct record. Proposed by Sally Webber and Seconded by Steve Runnacles.

Matters Arising

There were no matters arising from the minutes.

3.0 Chairman’s report

Due to a technical difficulty with the slide show that was to cover most aspects of the year, the chairman outlined the limited program due to the effects of covid at the start and the end of 2021. He thanked the development office team of Nikki and Jess for their work during this period. Sally Webber also thanked the work of Carrie Baker who had left during the year. The Chairman also thanked Tim Kiddell for his two-year stint and the excellent work for the Presidents music gala with the assistance of Francis Goodhand.

4.0 Treasurer’s report

Steve Runnacles stated that the accounts had already been circulated. The surplus for 2021 was £17,287 compared to £16,292 in 2020. This was despite a slight fall in subscriptions but this was offset by lower expenditure on events and reunions due to Covid. Since the financial year end there had been a few reunions in the Autumn and it was noted that the costs of holding such events had risen over almost a two-year lapse. The subscription income in Autumn had also risen to in excess of £32k due to the Schools’ good numbers and the Treasurer would be doing a review of expected costs in the near future. The club sat on reserves of £48,322 at 31/7/2021.

John Skeates noted that, given the level of reserves and the issues this year with cancelled events, whether there could be a substantial subsidy towards the 2022 Ipswich dinner of circa £5k. Steve Runnacles noted that this idea would be taken to the Committee and also could be part of his expense review.

Leigh Belcham asked whether more funds could be directed to the digitisation of the archives. Steve Runnacles noted that work had already been done and money was put aside to help finance this project. The firm that provided this service for the club had periodic “offers” so enabling the work to be done at a discount and at the next

offer period another quantity of archives would be done. Nikki Brown noted that the club were missing some 1990’s journals and would welcome any contribution to fill this gap. Leigh Belcham mentioned that there must be PDF’s of more recent issues that could be uploaded. Proposed by John Skeates and seconded by Leigh Belcham, the Annual Accounts and Treasurer’s Report for the year ended 31st July 2021 were received and approved.

5.0 Election of President for 2021

Proposed by the Committee that Joanna Carrick be President.

Proposed by Iain Chesterman and seconded by Keith Nelson, this was approved by the AGM.

6.0 Election of Vice President for 2021

Proposed by Committee that Sir Neil Garnham QC be Vice-President. Proposed by Iain Chesterman and seconded by John Ward, this was approved by the AGM.

7.0 Appointment of Officers

Proposed by Iain Chesterman that Nick Allen be vice-chairman of the club – seconded by Steve Runnacles.

Proposed by Iain Chesterman that Sally Webber be secretary of the club – seconded by Steve Runnacles.

Proposed by Iain Chesterman and seconded by John Ward that Steve Runnacles was elected as Treasurer.

8.0 Election of New Committee Members

Proposed by Iain Chesterman and seconded by Steve Runnacles that Tim Passmore and Caitlin Houston were elected as Committee members for the three years 2022 to 2024. These were approved by the AGM.

9.0 AOB

Richard Wilson who sits on the foundation committee of the school thanked the club for all its support and the support of individual OI’s in terms of legacies and gifts that made such a difference to the School. 40 pupils had been supported financially due to the financial challenges of parents, brought about by covid and this support was crucial at this time. He noted that there was a Giving Day scheduled for 29/30 June 2022.

Iain Chesterman thanked Clare Lock for the hard work done of the OI journal that should be landing on the doorsteps in the next few days.

Iain Chesterman thanked William Coe for his work as secretary and on the committee before his current role and a small gift was presented to him. William Coe thanked the club and wished them well for the future.

The slide show was then shown.

John Felgate thanked and commended the headmaster for all his efforts in the growing reputation and strength of the School.

Iain Chesterman added his thanks on behalf of the club and the role in encouraging younger OI’s to get involved in the club - as noted by more young OI committee members.

There being no other business the meeting closed at 7.16pm

Club Accounts

Income & expenditure account for the year end 31st July 2022

Balance sheet as at 31st July 2022

Top ten independent school in East Anglia

Page 73

Page 81

Page 82

Page 15

Page 57

Page 71

Page 20

Page 37

Page 82

Page 11

Page 78