OElink 2015

THE OLD EDWARDIANS’ ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE 2015-2016

Taking the plunge ROBERT COLES

Life after KES

In this issue…

FRANCIS RING

President’s welcome

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News

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PAUL HIGGS

Chairman’s letter

DAN BATCHELDOR

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Finding new frontiers

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HATTY HUBBARD AND LIZZIE TILLEY

AMY LOBL

From Quito to Lima

News from Nairobi

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BRIAN GEORGE

A wartime education

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I believed extracurricular activities would enable pupils not only to discover life-long

ALEX RUTHERFORD

interests, but also to enrich

From the Middle East to the East Coast of America

their personalities.”

JOHN WROUGHTON

Needless to say,

Do you remember?

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unrecognisable from the Syria of 2008. The time

MARGARET LEDBURY

I spent living in the Old City of Damascus left

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MARTIN BODEN

Headmaster’s view

ROBERT COLES

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Taking the plunge

“ Generations have trod, have trod, have trod…”

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OE news

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Bath Old Edwardians RFC and Gap year experience 32

GIRI KESAVAN

Journey to the roof of Africa

Old Edwardians and the Great War

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the Syria of today is

me a changed person.”

GARETH DAVIES

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In memoriam

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Events calendar 2015-2016

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President’s welcome Francis Ring 1947-1952

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very warm welcome to this year’s OElink magazine!

If you have just left KES or recently renewed your OE connection, this might be the first issue you have seen. If so, this is a great opportunity to enjoy catching up on news about the School and the many and varied contributions from OEs of all ages, about their careers and the activities and adventures that they are involved in around the world.

This year’s big news story from the School is the opening of the fantastic new building that has replaced the old Willett Hall.”

Built over three levels, the wonderful new Wessex Building incorporates the new Porter Library on the ground floor, the new Willett Dining Hall on the middle floor and a third multi-purpose top floor to be used for meetings, lectures, parties and concerts. All three levels have stunning views towards Lansdown and Bathampton, with outside terraces. The new building was formally opened by The Earl of Wessex on 12 May, and the OEs were very fortunate

to have first use, for the Summer Reunion in June and the grand Gala Reunion in July, which Paul Higgs writes about in his Chairman’s letter.

The Summer Reunion on 6 June welcomed over 50 guests from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s and our afterlunch speaker was Paul Ragbourne, who left KES in 1953 to begin work in the motor industry. Paul talked about his extensive career, starting with his apprenticeship with the Austin Motor Company (later the Rover group) and the various roles he held in product engineering, including vehicle safety, and management of vehicle proving and development departments. His work encompassed test programmes at many sites around Europe and Scandinavia before moving on to the management of small car design projects and, later, assisting with the re-introduction of the MG brand with the MGF sports car.

Paul was finally involved with the initial project definition of BMW’s Cooper S and Countryman. He had clearly derived great enjoyment from a career in which he played a real part in producing worldclass vehicles.

We have another active programme of events planned for the coming year and my thanks go to Claire Davies and our events committee who will be organising

Above: Paul Ragbourne and Geoff Hughes at the Summer Reunion

these over the coming months. Dates for your diary include the London Dinner being held at L’Escargot Restaurant on 30 January and a lunchtime reunion on 21 May at Balliol College, Oxford. Keep in touch with the latest information by visiting our new web pages at www.kesbath.com/oe.

Our OE community is thriving and it would be wonderful to meet you at one of these events. In the meantime don’t forget to update us with any changes to your contact details and please do send your news, photos and article suggestions to development@kesbath.com so we can include them in our next edition.

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CONTACT DETAILS: Claire Davies Email: development@kesbath.com Tel: 01225 820357 Post: Development and OEs Office, King Edward’s School, North Road, Bath BA2 6HU Join the Old Edwardians’, Bath group WEBSITE www.kesbath.com/oe

Gap year students at KES In recent years, former pupils have taken up exciting opportunities to gain beneficial experience and learn new skills by working at the School during their gap years.

2014 leavers, Cliona McKenna and Katie Kohn, both made a seamless transition from pupil to staff member when they joined the Sports and Drama Departments for two terms during the 2014-15 academic year.

CONTACT THE DEVELOPMENT AND OEs OFFICE TO: • Arrange a visit to the School • Book tickets for OE events • Request log-in details for OEs Online • Offer careers help to the School • Contribute news for the OE website and the OElink • Find help in organising a reunion • Find help in tracing old classmates • Purchase merchandise • Update your contact details • Make a donation to the Annual Bursary Fund • Pledge a legacy to the School and join the Blake Odgers Society CURRENT EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: PRESIDENT Professor Francis Ring 1947-1952 CHAIRMAN Paul Higgs 1990-2000 ACTING TREASURER Geoff Staley, former staff GOVERNORS’ REPRESENTATIVE John Isherwood 1966-1973 OE/STAFF LINK Mike Pell, current staff (oesmrp@kesbath.com) SECRETARY Claire Davies, current staff For a full list of current members, visit www.kesbath.com/oe New committee members are always welcome! Contact: development@kesbath.com

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Cliona, who played first team netball and hockey at KES, as well as hockey for Bath Buccs, joined the Sports Department, helping to coach both netball and hockey.

She fully immersed herself in all aspects of the ‘gap’ role, which included responsibility for the Year 8 Girls’ A and C teams and for pupils in Years 3-6 at the Junior School. This involved leading games lessons, running fixtures and accompanying the Junior School on tour.

Cliona enjoyed working with the different age groups and also learning to adapt her coaching style to suit varying levels of sporting ability. The experience taught her much about the challenges and rewards inherent in coaching, managing people and a great appreciation for the high standards of teaching she received at KES! After travelling overseas, Cliona will be starting a Biology degree course at Bristol University.

Katie, who participated in drama productions throughout her time at KES and secured a place at the National Youth Theatre last year, will also be travelling abroad before going to study Drama at Queen Mary, University of London. She worked as a classroom assistant in the Drama Department, supporting teaching and group work for Years 7 to 13. She was Assistant Director for the School’s production of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, co-directed the lower school’s production of Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox, as well as running the Lower School Drama Club and organising activities for Year 6 at the Junior School.

She says the opportunity to learn about teaching and to lead workshops has been invaluable, enabling her to develop her understanding and respect for how directors work, whilst growing in personal confidence.

Katie hopes to pursue a career in either acting, directing or writing – watch this space!

Recognising the past: the cohort of ‘65 When 60 little boys in caps and short trousers arrived at North Road in 1965, they pretty soon worked out who was who. Friendships (and the odd enmity) blossomed, and sometimes faded, with the passing terms. Then they were scattered to the four winds, never to meet again.

Except that on a bright spring day in April 2015, 50 years on from those first encounters, nine of the survivors made it to the George at Bathampton for lunch. A surreal situation, knowing everyone but recognising none, it was amusing to witness a bunch of middle-aged blokes surreptitiously casing the joint, looking for other middleaged blokes whilst desperately trying not to appear eccentric, deviant or plain potty.

Fortunately, a couple of masters from that era had gallantly agreed to join the throng and, since John Wroughton and Brian Watson look pretty much the same now as they did

Left to right, back row: Nic Tucker, Pete Simmonds, David Hitchiner, Peter Johnson, Hugh Redston, Robin Ball, Richard Clarke; front row: Brian Watson, John Wroughton, Mike Rees, David Medlock

then, we were able to find them first and then each other. John and Brian were kind enough to forgive us our sins of youth, and much conversation and conviviality followed.�

A special thank you to David Hitchiner who, with help from the Development Office, managed to track down about half of the 1965 cohort and created a database we hope can be used again in the future.

Peter Johnson

Old Edwardians and careers advice Many thanks to all the OEs who have contributed careers advice to pupils at the School over the last year, including Jonathan Black (1976) who, along with the following OEs, spoke to Year 12 pupils at the annual Careers Afternoon in June: Left to right: Neil Tomkins 1986 Publishing, Tom Boyce 1997 Law, Dr Alex Starkie 2002 Forensic Anthropology, Holly Gwazdacz 2001 Architecture, Tom Nicholas 2004 Small Businesses, Ed Hatherall 2008 Pharmaceutical Industry, Dr David Medhurst 2008 Medicine, Giri Kesavan 2010 Investment Banking and Headmaster, Martin Boden.

If you would like to speak at future events, please contact Claire Davies at: development@kesbath.com

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Head of Biology finishes Britain’s most extreme race in the top six

The ability to undertake an adventure like this in today’s risk-averse times, and to be able to share the community and sense of shared purpose with the other competitors, made undertaking this event particularly rewarding.”

Lest we forget

The harsh January weather of the Pennines is the backdrop for the UK’s Montane Spine Race, a 268-mile challenge, from Edale to Kirk Yetholm, over 11,759 metres of ascent, in which competitors endure seven days of running, walking and hill climbing.

Race organisers say the terrain is challenging, the weather unpredictable and that sleep is a luxury! Many of those who start out are unable to complete the race so for Tim Laney, being placed in the top six, after completing his race of 93.5 hours, was an amazing achievement.

Along with competing in what has to be one of the toughest landscapes in Britain, Tim raised over £3,500 to support the School’s charity, Children’s Hospice South West.

With the passing of the centenary of the beginning of World War One, and the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings, the act of remembrance took on additional significance and was marked with due reflection and respect throughout the School.”

The Headmaster, Martin Boden, led the Senior School Remembrance assembly, recalling the 560 Old Edwardians and staff who fought in the Great War, and reading out the names of the 74 men from the School who were killed in action or died of their wounds.

The School’s Combined Cadet Force took its place in front of the Bath Memorial the preceding Sunday. The CCF contingent has grown in recent years and, along with members of Beechen Cliff School, was the largest participator in the parade, with 96 officers and cadets taking part.

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Chairman’s letter

OEs at the Gala Reunion

Paul Higgs 1990-2000

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elcome back to another super edition of the OElink. If you have read the editions of recent years you will have noticed a gradual increase in the focus that I have placed on bursary fundraising in my ‘Chairman’s letter’. There is a good chance that this will be the last OElink where I will be Chairman and so I have decided that this letter should be the culmination of this focus.

Before I do this, however, I must thank all of the committee for their work this year, in particular Claire Davies who masterminded our excellent Gala Reunion in the new Wessex Building at KES in July. This event was brilliant, with an excellent atmosphere, perfect weather and a great chance to show off the efforts that the School is putting into maintaining its traditional high standards.

Similarly, I must thank Mike Pell, our staff liaison officer, who continues to provide excellent support and insight into how we should focus our events and support younger OEs. The Old Edwardians’ Association was established in 1906 to maintain links between OEs and the School and to develop a network to provide advice, career assistance and social events for OEs, whilst also fostering mutually supportive links with the School. Since 1906, OEs have supported the School in countless ways, including financial help, with both the Association and individual OEs donating large sums over the years.

Over the last five years, the OE committee has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the School with bursary fundraising and in 2011 we launched the Annual Bursary Fund. This OE initiative aimed to raise £12,000 annually to provide a fully-funded place at KES for one child per year. Our longer-term aim is to provide funding for one child in every year of the Senior

School, that is, seven children per year.

Sadly, although we have certainly seen an increase in the one-off donations and regular financial commitments, we are a long way from achieving this target.

KES provides an outstanding level of education, not only in academic subjects but also through extra-curricular activities, sports and the development of social skills. As I sit here writing this letter, trying to think through the fog of sleepless nights (our second child is only four weeks old and our toddler is regressing rapidly), I find myself hoping that I can give my children the same opportunities that my parents gave me.

I will hopefully be able to make my own choices about my children’s education, but what about those parents who are not so fortunate? I am proud of the School and the role it continues to play in our local society and I feel strongly that less affluent families should also have access to this amazing community.

In my Gala Reunion address in July, I pledged to give £10 per month to the School’s Bursary Fund. Including gift aid this will amount to £150 per year which will go towards providing another child with a KES education. We are currently in contact with over 3,500 OEs. If 100

OEs would pledge the same as me, together we could ensure the education of one child (or part-funding for more than one). If every OE gave just £20 per year we would reach our target of seven fully-funded children per year.

I have made myself part of this legacy; please join me and help support wider access to KES.” How much will you pledge today?

Please get in touch with the School’s Development Director, Karen Teague, today at development@kesbath.com, and become part of the story.

Finally, it just remains for me to thank all of the OE community for your continued support of our aims and objectives. Many of you contribute your time to the School and this is just as vital and important as financial donations.

Please continue to help us support the School in the best way that you are able and don’t forget to keep us updated with your life stories.

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The path that has led to Alex Rutherford (Adams) 1991-2000

working at the United Nations in New York

has been quite convoluted and certainly unplanned, but looking back now to his years at KES, he can see how the seeds were sown.

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hen the time came to choose my A Level subjects, I was torn between science, which satisfied my stubborn insistence to understand how things worked, and languages, whose patterns and irregular flourishes also intrigued me. While this sounds very lofty, I should concede that the former manifested itself during my childhood as broken mechanical and electrical items (also known as ‘experiments’) around the house and the latter never seemed quite to materialise into good grades.

I began my A Level studies determined to wrap my head around the mysteries of the universe: black holes, QUASARs and fundamental particles were the order of the day. This was in no small part thanks to my English teacher, Mrs Formela-Osborne, who had indulged me reading Carl Sagan’s Cosmos when I should have been reading John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. My final two years at KES, struggling through Physics, Chemistry and Maths, put paid to any notion that I was a gifted scientist. On the contrary, I bumped along the bottom for quite a while. Aside from the distant promise of eventually understanding the secrets of the universe, the few things that sustained me included the standard set by my

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very able classmates and the patience of my teachers. Each time I arrived at Geoff Staley’s lunchtime Maths clinic, my panicked questions were calmly diffused with a wry smile and a concise and crystal-clear explanation of differential equations or trigonometric identities.

Little by little, hard work paid off and I found myself signed up for four years of Physics at Warwick University. Once I accepted that the rest of the country wasn’t made up of Georgian crescents and listed buildings of cream-coloured stone, I was further disheartened to find that more hard work lay ahead of me.

However, I did have the opportunity to sample computer programming for the first time, which was not the mainstream activity that it is today. From then on, science made much more sense to me.

Long calculations would run overnight, leaving me to have a drink in the student bar, feeling quite smug while the processors did the work. My dream of revolutionising, or even understanding, cosmology faded and my long affair with computer screens of scrolling numbers began.

Drawn equally by the lure of the capital and using computers to make awe-inspiring graphs for a living, I began a PhD at University College London.

My task was simulation of nanosecond scale melting of millions of iron atoms in the wall of a fusion reactor. When the frustration of debugging my simulations on super-computing clusters

overwhelmed me, I would slip away to take classes in Spanish and Arabic to wake up the neglected side of my brain.

Three years later I had a completed thesis, a rescinded job offer in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse, no intention of doing any more scientific research and a desire to go as far away as possible from London.

And so in 2008, in frustration and youthful bravado, I boarded a one-way flight to Syria with a backpack and a vague assurance, delivered in broken English, of a place on an Arabic course at Damascus University.”

Needless to say, the Syria of today is unrecognisable from the Syria of 2008.

The time I spent living in the Old City of Damascus left me a changed person.

Syria and its people and customs, at turns so refreshing and exasperating, humbled me, imbued me with a patience I couldn’t have otherwise imagined and taught me so much – not least that being unable to buy food on account of a language barrier is a great incentive to quickly pick up a dialect.

Far left: Alex in Bosra, Syria Left: Palmyra Below: Meeting the General Secretary of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon

At the language school I rubbed shoulders with aspiring diplomats, development workers, journalists, Arabic scholars and Western-raised Arabs looking to discover their heritage (one of whom I later married one balmy summer evening in Damascus). The promise and potential of a country opening up were intoxicating and I planned to make my future there – thinking I would never tire of drinking sweet black tea, listening to the call to prayer and reading about obscure Arabic grammar.

However, I found myself looking for something new and so we uprooted again, this time to the USA so that I could pursue post-doctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I had the great opportunity there to tap into Complex Systems, an emerging framework to translate the abstract concepts and methods taught in dusty Physics lecture halls to new, exciting inter-disciplinary societal problems. By replacing atoms for people, suddenly science seemed relevant to the different parts of the world I had been lucky enough to see and experience.

Within the communities of MIT, Harvard and others was the beginning of the ‘Big Data’ revolution: using huge computing power and vast streams of data to predict and explain problems as diverse as traffic flows, healthcare and language translation. This was enough to reawaken my interest in scientific research.

As endearing as New England is, we were drawn back to the Middle East and in 2010 I began a job with the Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi, a new research institute founded in collaboration with MIT. My research focus shifted to networks and social media, in particular the balloon challenge undertaken by the US government research agency,

DARPA in 2009 on the 40th anniversary of the creation of the internet. This challenge sought to investigate how massive global connectivity could be used to solve information-gathering tasks under extreme time pressure. To do this, ten red weather balloons were placed at undisclosed locations across the US and teams invited to use the internet to locate them in the shortest time possible. This task was described as ‘impossible by conventional means’, yet a team of my collaborators from MIT were able to locate and verify all the balloons in 12 hours. Using large-scale computer modelling, I and my collaborators were able to demonstrate that such a feat was not a fluke and that an unseen army of connected individuals, communicating through platforms such as Facebook, Twitter et al, can successfully undertake such remarkable ‘time-critical social mobilisations’.

Traditionally, analysis of social networks and viral cascades had been the preserve of marketing and advertising teams. I felt (and continue to feel) strongly that such insight could and should be leveraged for a more worthy purpose. So I was delighted to learn that the appetite for the insights of Big Data had spread as far as the Office of the Secretary General of the United Nations, leading to the establishment of the UN Global Pulse initiative. I was even more delighted to be offered a position as a Data Scientist there in 2013.

Once again we put our lives into suitcases and landed in a city that would be our new home. As excited as I was about the opportunity to work for the UN, I was apprehensive about being a consummate UN outsider. I was told to dress smartly on my first day, which turned out to be wise advice as I spent

the first day of the General Assembly bumping into heads of state who had descended on Midtown Manhattan; and thus my initiation was complete.

The work of Global Pulse applies the insights of Big Data to guide development and humanitarian action.

My day-to-day work might include estimating food security in African countries through patterns in mobile phone credit purchases, attending conferences in Silicon Valley to keep up with state-of-the-art technology or advising the Syria crisis response team on information management.

If I were to attempt to massage this serendipity into a few pieces of advice, they would be: doggedly pursue your interests, learn all you can from your peers and don’t be disheartened if you are not top of the class. Oh, and always dress smartly on the first day of a new job, as you never know who you will meet.”

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Journey to the roof of Africa Giri Kesavan 2000-2010 shares his quest to reach the summit of the highest free-standing mountain in the world.

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hristmas is usually a time spent with friends and family, opening presents and watching seemingly endless TV specials in warm homes. Of course, in my last year at KES, it was more about A Level exam revision! Not exactly a time to brave the outdoors. The festive season of 2014 was very different – we were over 4,500 miles away, braving -15°C windchill in our quest to reach the summit of the highest free-standing mountain in the world. This is the story of our amazing Kilimanjaro adventure.

It all started with a group of three of us, all graduates of Imperial College London, meeting on a cold January morning in 2014 to plan the adventure of a lifetime. We wanted to embark on a challenge and Kilimanjaro was an irresistible opportunity to do something truly special. Throughout our college years, we had built up a strong

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partnership with a charity in Kenya called the MASH Foundation Trust. A microfinance and life-skills charity, the MASH Foundation works with schools and local communities in the suburbs of Nairobi, offering them start-up capital and advice on setting up self-sustaining small businesses. The mandate of the charity is economic empowerment, enabling individuals and families to improve their standard of living, education and sanitation. Having been to Kenya to witness MASH projects first-hand, the three of us knew that we wanted to forge a lasting link with the charity and help them to achieve their objectives.

Enter Kilimanjaro. A truly magical mountain, it stands on the border of Kenya and Tanzania, encompassing varied climatic zones from tropical rainforests to harsh alpine deserts.

The summit, Uhuru Peak, stands at

a staggering 5,895m above sea level.

Our expedition raised over $2,300 which enabled the MASH Foundation Trust to build a bespoke life-skills training centre in Nairobi, including a ‘one-stop shop’ for knowledge, learning and development. It all began on Boxing Day 2014…

After an arduous two-day journey to Tanzania that took in all forms of transportation, we were finally at the base of Kilimanjaro in a small village called Machame, the starting point for our trek. Our route would take us through several climatic zones, starting

Left: Landscape during dawn ascent Below left: Setting out from basecamp Below: At the summit

We could see the whole crater out in front of us with huge melting glaciers surrounding the rim, a barren landscape of ash and rock.”

In those first few days we enjoyed the spectacular scenery of lush rainforests as we became acclimatised to high-altitude conditions.”

in the rainforest, moving into heathland, then heading into an arid alpine desert before entering the ice-fields en route to the summit. We trekked around 13km a day in harsh high-altitude conditions, with temperatures varying between +28°C and -15°C. It was akin to walking from the equator to the North Pole, all within a week. For just three of us, we had a staggering ten porters, two guides and a cook. In those first few days we enjoyed the spectacular scenery of lush rainforests as we became acclimatised to high-altitude conditions. From scrambling over sheer rock cliffs to walking in ‘sideways’ rainstorms, it was certainly an unforgettable experience!

At the start of our adventure, we knew that we wanted to make this trip even more special by attempting to summit the mountain at sunrise on New Year’s Day. Our target was to stand at the ‘Roof of Africa’ and watch the sunrise

over the plains of Tanzania – the perfect start to 2015. This all sounded very romantic when we were trip planning; however, doubts certainly crept in on 31 December 2014, the summit night.

Having trekked for about nine hours during the day, we barely had time to eat before trying to get as much sleep as possible in preparation for the most mentally and physically challenging night of our lives.

11.00pm on New Year’s Eve. As we awoke from a few hours of restless sleep, we were barely aware that it was coming close to New Year’s Day. All we could think about were the looming eight hours of trekking to the crater rim and then on to Uhuru peak. At this height, oxygen is barely 50% of its normal value at sea-level, and it takes around three breaths just to walk forward one step.

Our summit attempt started at midnight, just on the stroke of New Year’s Day 2015. We set off under a starfilled sky with the Milky Way in full view.

All we focused on were the footsteps of the person in front. Nothing else mattered. Breathe. Take a step forward.

Breathe. This would become our mantra for the next eight hours.

After what seemed an eternity, we saw the first slivers of sunlight of New Year’s Day, just as we approached the Kibo crater rim. The sight was simply breathtaking.

In the distance, we finally saw our goal: a small wooden marker to signify the end of our journey. A year of preparation, months of training and six days of hard trekking were about to be rewarded. On paper it certainly sounds strange that the culmination of our toils was to touch a small wooden marker 4,500 miles away from the comforts of home. However, out on the mountain that day, it was a moment of sheer elation. We eventually reached the summit at 8:02am on 1 January 2015, reaching the highest point in Africa.

Scaling Kilimanjaro was a true test of teamwork and leadership. It would not have been possible without our 53 sponsors, who carefully followed our progress on GPS; our exceptionally fit and experienced mountain crew; and, of course, my two travelling companions, who provided the motivation and mutual encouragement to reach the summit.

Kilimanjaro was a magical adventure and the three of us are already planning our next mountain to climb.

From KES Bath to the roof of Africa.

That’s an interesting story indeed.

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2,000 kilometres in the saddle from Quito to Lima was an adventure that put Hatty Hubbard 1999-2010 and Lizzie Tilley 1999-2010 and friends to the test.

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ast summer we were making final preparations – frantically googling kit lists, ordering random spare bike parts online and practising strapping overflow items to the back of our bikes. The plan was for the team to assemble in Quito, where Hatty was undertaking her medical elective. The bikes, panniers, tents and Yahtzee dice were flown over at various times through the summer due to the team’s wide distribution across the world. Lizzie flew in from Canada and promptly fell ill with altitude sickness; Nick half-heartedly cycled from Bogota, catching a dubious bus over the border; while James and Hatty (now long-term Quito residents) spent stressful afternoons trying to reassemble what was left of the bikes after they had been through baggage control. The route was simple – ‘head south’ – and so, on

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Monday 25 August 2014, we set off on our 2,000km journey.

We spent our first night in Silante which, despite appearing on the map as a town, was in fact just a smallholding by the side of the Pan America highway.

Our silent host seemed a bit put out by our arrival but allowed us to camp on his abandoned basketball court, which we shared with his lone calf. Other tourist attractions included a broken sprinkler and a single chicken on a piece of string. As we lay awake listening to the sound of screeching brakes, and lorries hurtling past our tent, the mood was apprehensive as to what we had embarked upon.

As we proceeded down through Ecuador, our routine became more slick and we successfully navigated our way through Luz de America, the truck-stop hub of South America; splashed

around in an Olympic swimming pool in Quevedo; were mauled by mosquitoes in the national park; were prayed for in Babahoyo by a group of Christian missionaries; and devoured three family-size pizzas at Mary’s Pizzeria in Huaquillas on the border. The week had gone well despite the first (and only) crash of the trip, the result of a novice peloton formation combined with a clash between a heavily laden back wheel and a light and agile front one.

Hatty barely felt the impact, while poor Lizzie disappeared sideways into the bushes, catapulting panniers left, right and centre.

As we crossed the border into North Peru the change in landscape was almost instantaneous, from tropical green to harsh desert and long, lonely roads, but this was made up for as we cycled the coastal road alongside the spray of humpback whales.”

down through Ecuador our routine became more slick and we successfully navigated our way through Luz de America, the truck-stop hub of South America.”

Above: Ecuador Left: The team on day one

We took a rest day in Mancora and spent the afternoon swimming with turtles. It soon became apparent that the sols we had paid towards ‘turtle conservation’ were actually spent on crab sticks which two local women threw into the water around us to ensure the already coffeetable-sized, engorged turtles stayed uncomfortably close.

Having been warned of the dangers of thieves were we to cycle the next leg of our journey, we took a night bus to Cajamarca. The nightmare saga that unfolded on the bus could fill an article by itself, so suffice to say, we were all glad to be back on two wheels.

Hatty’s birthday began with an early start and a beautiful sunny descent to a mid-morning breakfast. The day then turned into a scorching, unrelenting ascent, punctuated by road works, bike dramas and bulls. However, as we reached the edge of Cajabamba we were rewarded with fantastic views of a breath-taking sunset, and even made it to a hotel in time for cake and champagne.

OE PROFILE

As we proceeded

After some awesome winding mountain roads and a night camping on the shore of the beautiful Lake Sausacocha, we were reminded that what freewheels down must always pedal back up – and so began our two-day ascent to the mining town of Quiruvilca, which rests at an altitude of 4,008m.

Two days’ climb allowed us an amazing afternoon descending all the way back to sea level. Now a well-rehearsed peloton, we streaked down the mountain, overtaking lorries and fighting off packs of dogs with the rocks we had learned to keep tucked into our pockets. After an epic few days we decided to treat ourselves to a slap-up Italian meal, which promptly saw Lizzie come down with terrible food poisoning. (If you’re noticing a theme, yes, Lizzie pulled a lot of short straws during the trip.)

The final days of the trip were spent on dirt roads and then in the incredible Canyon del Pato where the road is carved into the canyon’s side. It sometimes disappeared into tunnels in the darkness of the cliff face, which we nervously navigated with just our head torches.

Arriving in Lima after a month of cycling, we were left exhausted, saddle sore and with the infinitely harder task of sourcing bike boxes for our flight home.

On a final note, we would like to say a big thank you to everyone who supported us on this trip and helped us raise over £1,000 for Pace4Life. Special thanks goes to John’s Bikes in Bath, who endured months of unannounced visits, patiently equipped us with the skills to perform vital bike maintenance, such as changing a flat tyre – a skill Hatty has yet to master. Our journey through the Andes gave us many things: an extended cycling-related Spanish vocabulary, an acute fear of stray dogs and enough memories to last a lifetime.

Left to right: Lizzie and Hatty

Hatty Hubbard 1999-2010 FAVOURITE SCHOOL MEMORY Captaining the first netball team to third place in the National Schools Competition in my final year.

UNIVERSITY/CAREER University of Southampton since 2011: Medicine University of Bristol 2014-2015: Global Health iBSC (Hons) I am currently in my fourth year studying Medicine, after taking a year out intercalating in Global Health at Bristol, and intend to pursue a career in paediatrics and pre-hospital medicine.

CONTACT hubbardharriet@gmail.com

Lizzie Tilley 1999-2010 FAVOURITE SCHOOL MEMORY Acting in Edward Scissorhands on its closing night – also my 18th Birthday – and the Theatre Royal singing Happy Birthday after the performance!

UNIVERSITY/CAREER University of East Anglia: English Literature BA Now working for the Office for Fair Access CONTACT tilleylizzie@hotmail.com

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Do you remember?

Former Headmaster 1982-1993, Dr John Wroughton invites OEs from his many years at KES to remember the fun and excitement as extra-curricular activities were first introduced to the School.

I entered teaching in 1959 with the strong belief that education meant far more than just classroom teaching. Although I was passionate about sharing my love of History, I was equally keen to develop a whole range of extra-curricular activities. This, I believed, would enable pupils not only to discover life-long interests, but also to enrich their personalities. Do you, therefore, remember…”

1969 ALEXANDER POPHAM’S BATH REGIMENT In 1969, I was approached by the Sealed Knot (the Civil War reenactment society) to establish a parliamentarian regiment in Bath.

I gladly agreed and set up Popham’s Bath Regiment, consisting of 45 or so sturdy sixth formers (historians and rugby players) plus a number of parents who, as ‘camp followers’, formed our catering unit. Authentic uniforms were made, pikes and halberds manufactured and a regimental standard created.

We fought battles at Warwick Castle, Ludlow Castle, Marston Moor, Brentford and Cheriton. A highlight was the annual regimental banquet with a menu based on authentic 17th century recipes.

1967 THE SKI CLUB Shortly after our arrival at KES, Mike Allen and I started planning the School’s first-ever ski trip. It was Easter 1967 when we departed by rail to Newcastle before boarding a Fred Olsen ferry to cross a stormy North Sea to Bergen in Norway. Then onward by rail and bus to the delightful mountain village of Vinje.

The cost – £37 10s for 12 days!

We returned there many times before eventually switching to resorts in Austria, Italy, France and Switzerland. After Mike left, I was joined at various times by Ken Saunders (on left in the photo), Sam Williams and finally Mel Cunliffe, who took over from me fully in 1982. In those days, most boys had never previously skied, so the Ski Club was very popular. Our largest party totalled 99 (including ten staff).

What an adventure it was then!

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Above: Outside the hotel in Vinje Left: Les Crozets, Switzerland Left to right: Simon Powell, John Dawson, Mark Collins and Tsz-ho Wong

1983 ACTIVITIES WEEK To fill the void left in July after the end-ofterm exams, and with keen support from many staff, I launched the first-ever Activities Week in 1983, enabling all boys to take part in a whole range of adventurous activities.

The idea soon became a permanent feature on the calendar (and was quickly copied by one or two other local schools!).

I regularly joined up with Mel Cunliffe, Paul Murphy and others in organising a Second Form camp near Crickhowell in mid-Wales for a blend of camping, rockclimbing, canoeing and pony-trekking.

What a memorable week it proved to be! Other forms went away on various activities at home and abroad – thanks to the efforts of many staff.

1992 THE CANADA RUGBY TOUR

My raft about to be launched amid swirling waters. I am putting on a very brave face (far left, with goggles) although I took care to be surrounded by carefully-selected life savers. County swimmer, David Kershaw is seated in front of me alongside John Palmer (whose task it was to deal with any crocodiles). I survived!”

A year before I retired, I was pleased to help Derek Kemp, Andy Robinson and John Palmer organise the School’s first-ever overseas sports tour, when we took the 1st XV rugby team to the Canadian Rockies. It was to prove a huge success, with remarkable coaching provided by our two England internationals.

We remained unbeaten in five matches against Edmonton (twice), Red Deer, Calgary and Manitoba.

Apart from the rugby we saw a lot of that beautiful country with visits to the Athabasca Glacier, the great Water Park in Edmonton and the Maligne River, along which we cascaded in water rafts! The boys stayed with local families – all part of the rich experience.

I was delighted that overseas tours like this soon became a regular feature in the School calendar.

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Below left: The Headmaster with The Earl of Wessex unveiling the plaque for the Wessex Building

A

year in the life of King Edward’s School seems to pass very quickly these days, a reflection, perhaps, of the amount that we manage to fit in over 12 months. The pupils and staff are certainly as busy as ever; even the long summer holiday is packed full of school activities, and we start a new academic year with tales of trips to Kenya, performances at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, CCF camps and the Spanish Exchange visit still fresh in our ears.

The public examination results were again excellent; indeed, the 67% A*/A grades at A Level were our best ever, and once more placed King Edward’s amongst the top 50 independent schools in the country, according to at least one national newspaper. The 44% A* rate at GCSE was also very pleasing, but what is perhaps most impressive is how our boys and girls manage to combine ever more sparkling academic rigour with a wonderful – and often equally successful – commitment to the broader life of the School; the range of endeavours on the sports field, on stage, in the concert hall, studio, debating chamber or the wild outdoors is truly astonishing and continues to reflect the best of our pupils, as their character – as well as their talent – so often shines through.

A quick glance at our new look website will give just a flavour of everything that is going on!

Under the most recent inspection framework, a visit from ISI happens only once every six years or so; this year it was our turn again, and a team of 12 inspectors duly arrived at short notice in the last full week of the long Autumn Term. Despite the timing not being the best, everyone rose to the occasion and the inspection team left with rightly very strong impressions of the School, judging us to be “excellent” (the highest grade) in every category. The report is, of course, available to view on the website, but in case you don’t manage to read the full document, please allow me to reprint my favourite sentence from it: “The success of the School lies in the strength of the ethos which permeates it from the Early Years to the Sixth Form”.

It is perhaps precisely because there is nothing inherently measurable about the “ethos” of an organisation that this is the finding of the inspection team of which I am most proud.

Perhaps the highlight of the past 12 months has been the completion of the new Wessex Building. Replacing the old Willett Hall, it is a dramatically impressive three-storey construction which blends a new library, dining hall and top floor multi-purpose space (with wonderful views over the city) in a single building which has very quickly become the hub and heartbeat of the School.

I was delighted that the very first social functions in our new facility saw the return to the School of well over 100 Old Edwardians and partners, with the annual ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s Summer Reunion and a very enjoyable Gala Reunion being held there. Even The Earl of Wessex, who had earlier opened the new building to considerable fanfare, was very impressed by its design and feel, and it was lovely to see so many of you make the effort to be with us on these special occasions. It goes without

saying that you are always welcome to pop in to school and have a look around for yourselves; I would love to show you what we’ve done with the old place and to share with you some of our exciting plans for the future.

As ever, OEs have played a big part in the life of the School over the past 12 months; thank you for all your help and support in raising funds, especially for our growing bursary programme, and in offering careers advice, guidance and work placements for our pupils, amongst other things.

The strength and depth of our alumni community is one of the School’s greatest assets, and your loyalty and support are much appreciated.”

Returning to the theme of the passage of time, it feels a little strange to think that I have now been at King Edward’s for ten years, enjoying the last seven of those as Headmaster. How quickly a decade goes! In that time it has been lovely to see so many of you move on from King Edward’s to achieve wonderful things at university and beyond and to hear tales of happiness and success in all aspects of your lives. That the contributions to this year’s OElink magazine span nearly 70 years in respect of their school experiences speaks volumes about the strength of the Association. Do keep the stories coming in; it is always a pleasure to hear from you.

Martin Boden

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the

plunge

“8 September 1952 is engraved on my heart as it is the date I left the bosom of my family and joined the Royal Navy as an artificer, casting myself to the vagaries of the cruel world.” Little did Robert Coles 1947-1952 realise how far from home this path would take him.

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I

left KES in July 1952, having completed my O Levels with the feeling that my results were likely to be poor. In fact, just after I had signed up for 12 years in the Navy, I got my results and found they would easily have got me into the Sixth Form and thence, probably, to university… hey ho.

As it turned out, the five-year apprenticeship as an artificer was absolutely superb and my education at KES proved to be a good bedrock for my naval career. I spent the first four years at HMS Fisgard in Plymouth and HMS Caledonia in Rosyth. Here we were taught all forms of hand skill, from basic fitting to coppersmithing, welding and sheet metal work. School work was not forgotten either and continued to Higher National Certificate level. Once we had completed the first two years, we had to select a branch of engineering to specialise in and I chose ordnance engineering as it offered a chance to enter the world of computing, albeit a world in its infancy.

In August 1956, having passed Admiralty Finals, we were sent to sea to complete our apprenticeship in a marine environment and to work with proper roughy-toughy sailors. My ship was HMS Orwell, a mine-laying destroyer, and I spent a very happy year at sea, with a boss who was an absolute joy to work for and who taught me ‘the ways of the sea’. I was, after all, still quite green!

Successful completion of sea time meant promotion to Petty Officer and then it was back to Gunnery School for further courses to enable promotion to

During this period, I was fortunate to complete circumnavigation of the globe, visiting numerous countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, America and Japan.”

My last naval stint was back on board HMS Tiger and when I left the Navy in 1976 as a Chief Control Electrical Artificer, I had completed 24 years of service.

Adjusting to civilian life took some getting used to and, after working as a Test Engineer for Sperry Gyroscope, I was offered a job with the MOD as a Technology Officer, working at the Armament Depot in Plymouth testing

Above: Junior Rugby XV 1950.

Robert: middle row, fifth in from left

OE PROFILE

Chief Petty Officer. For a short period I also covered for a sick chum on board aircraft carrier HMS Eagle. A highlight was being chosen to escort HRH Prince Charles during a visit by the Queen. Not long after that I married Delys, my wife of 55 years. (Well-travelled matelot that I was, I married the girl next door.)

More courses were completed and promotion achieved so it was back to sea to put my new-found knowledge into practice. I spent two enjoyable years aboard HMS Camperdown, a battle-class destroyer where I had charge of my own section. Highlights included my team winning the Fleet Gunnery Trophy and one year in the Mediterranean with good runs ashore to cities such as Barcelona, Rome and Naples.

This was followed by a period of shore time with the Fleet Maintenance Unit, working on all forms of antisubmarine equipment and also enjoying some decent domestic time with my wife. After 18 months, I was drafted to cruiser HMS Tiger where I became Senior Maintainer on the six-inch guns – electrical engineering at the sharp end. During this time, I opted to sign on for a further ten years in the Navy to qualify for my pension. Added to this, the incentive of a signing on bonus meant Delys and I could put down a deposit for our own house in Plymouth.

Then came 30 months on destroyer HMS Caprice, which was attached to the Far East Fleet.

Top left: Robert in September 1952, soon after he joined the Royal Navy

missiles and torpedoes, some of which were supplied to the Fleet during the Falklands Crisis. I subsequently moved on to work at the Naval Gunnery School as a civilian instructor, teaching both Royal Navy and foreign navies recording procedures during live firings and how to analyse those records on completion, before retiring at the tender age of 60.

I would like to thank KES for developing my interest in rugby and hockey, which enabled me to play for several service teams at representative level. Golf also proved to be a fine social sport during my Navy years and I enjoyed numerous friendly games during ship’s visits around the world, making many friends. In summary, service life was good, and I attribute it all to the good education and encouragement I received at KES, especially from Mr Currie, Mr Brewer and dear old HMP himself, who gave me so much support in helping me to pass the Artificer entrance exam.

Thank you, School.

Robert (Bob) Coles 1947-1952 FAVOURITE SCHOOL MEMORY Taking part in school plays such as Julius Caeser and playing Stephano (the drunken butler) in The Tempest.

PERSONAL OE family connections: • Son of Stanley Coles 1917-1921 whom I followed into engineering • Uncle to Linzey Allinson (née Coles) 1990-1992 CONTACT robert.coles4@btopenworld.com

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Aside from attempting to answer the scientific questions like “Are we alone?”, we are now beginning to understand the impact of outbursts from our own Sun, and how collisions with comets and asteroids would affect life on Earth.”

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Dan Batcheldor 1986-1997 recounts his discovery of a career that is out of this world.

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n my last few years at KES I really had no firm idea about what I wanted to do as a career. I had been having a lot of fun in the CCF and with the 6th Battalion Light Infantry TA Company on the Upper Bristol Road, and had a successful interview for Sandhurst sponsorship from the now reamalgamated Royal Gloucester Berkshire Wiltshire regiment. A military career was there for the taking.

It was a great surprise, therefore, when my responses to a careers advice questionnaire yielded the conclusion that my ideal career was ‘astronomer’.

Looking back now, it all seems quite obvious, of course.”

I deferred the military option, dutifully applied to the few universities in the country that offered bachelor degrees in Pure Astronomy, and ended up at the University of Hertfordshire.

What came as a bigger surprise, after what can be politely described as a mediocre academic performance at KES, was that I repeatedly finished top of the class. This success played a role in my being selected for a one-year internship at the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING) on the Canary Islands in 1999-2000. I graduated in 2001 with the prescribed Astronomy degree and quickly decided to take an offer of a PhD position, also at the University of Hertfordshire. My thesis

explored the empirical connections between supermassive black holes and the properties of their host galaxies, which makes for some delightfully repetitive dinner conversations. In 2003 I followed my PhD supervisor to the United States, after he took a job as the Head of Physics at Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York, and I managed to successfully defend my PhD by the end of 2004.

Once you finish a PhD in the US, as a non-immigrant you essentially have two outcomes. You either find a postdoctoral research position or leave the country when your visa expires. I was lucky enough to land a short postdoctoral position and then began seeking government funds to help support my research. After a few desperate months, I struck research gold with NASA funding, through the Space Telescope Science Institute, to carry out several programmes using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

HST is a legend of modern-day astronomy and getting to use it then, and several times since, has been an absolute privilege and entirely thrilling.

However, it is a telescope that was conceived over 50 years ago, designed and built over 35 years ago, and has now been operating in space for over 25 years. It has achieved unrivalled success in uncovering our cosmic origins, but it is now approaching the end of its life and we are looking toward the next generation of space telescope that will, no doubt, revolutionise our understanding of the Universe.

After spending nearly six years living off various research grants, in 2009 I was hired as an Assistant Professor of Physics

Left: Artist rendition of the Hubble Space Telescope ©European Space Agency Above: 32” telescope at Florida Tech ©Malcolm Denemark, Florida Today

and Space Sciences at Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech). Since then I have, like my PhD supervisor before me, risen to become a department head.

In addition to the normal faculty role of teaching and research, I am the chief academic officer of the Department of Physics and Space Sciences. Our department is responsible for teaching introductory physics to all the science and engineering students at Florida Tech, and also for successfully guiding to graduation undergraduates who are aiming for careers in physics and space science. One way we do this is by conducting research at the cutting edge of physics and space science. This also allows the department to support a large graduate programme for MSc and PhD-level students.

Being just a 40-minute drive south of the Kennedy Space Centre, and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida Tech is well integrated with both NASA and the private space industry.

There are launches to the International Space Station, and other orbits, more than once a month. Therefore, much of our research directly involves space,

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Left: The International Space Station as seen from Space Shuttle Atlantis ©NASA Below: Preliminary design of the SpectraCAM

and space hardware, driven by the latest scientific investigations. One easy-toappreciate example is the attempts to get the first image of an Earth-like planet around another star. While the science involved is very different from my PhD topic, one of the advantages of having a faculty position is that trying entirely new research areas is possible. However, the imaging of an Earth-like planet is still waiting for some enabling technologies to be developed. Consequently, this research principally involves the design and testing of new instrumentation.

What’s more, this instrumentation must be capable of operating in the space environment.

Since the retirement of the space shuttle fleet, private companies are now being contracted by NASA to resupply the space station. Currently this is just with crew provisions and new experiments, but soon these companies will be carrying the crews themselves. One of the consequences of the privatisation of the space industry is that the costs of going to space are coming down. For example, NanoRacks (a company in Houston, Texas) will provide all the services needed for you to place a 1kg 8-inch cubed box on the International Space Station for $30,000. For $45,000 they’ll even get it back for you (as long as you are working for an educational institution).

An interesting result of all this is that, to test whether something works in space, it is now cheaper to actually put it in

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space than to try to replicate the space environment on the ground.

Currently, with the aid of yet more NASA funding, I am leading a team of scientists and engineers to build a test camera that will be launched to the International Space Station towards the end of 2015 or early 2016.

This camera, called a SpectraCAM, contains some interesting technology that may provide us with the ability to take that first picture of an Earthlike planet around another star. The SpectraCAM will be tested in the vacuum and radiation environment of space for 90 days before being returned to Earth for further testing. Should these tests go well, this type of camera could be flown on the next generation of space telescope.

A common criticism of space science research concerns the cost:benefit ratio. What do we get for spending all this money? Aside from attempting to answer the scientific questions like “Are we alone?”, we are now beginning to understand the impact of outbursts from our own Sun, and how collisions with comets and asteroids would affect life on Earth.

In reality, the amount of money spent on space is insignificant when compared to other spending. For example, the cost of the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope will be comparable to the cost of maintaining HMS Queen Elizabeth. Both of these instruments will be responsible for producing some

game-changing spin-off technologies, no doubt. However, also to be considered are the roles each instrument will play in helping to preserve our future.

There are valid arguments for both, but what should be clear is that our investment in space, and space technology, drives the imagination of the young people who are our future, and encourages them to take on the careers in science and technology that we so desperately need in order to face the challenges we have ahead.”

Nairobi has been a fantastic city to get to know. With a population of over 3.1 million packed into an area of 269 square miles, it is one of the fastest-growing capitals in Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of technology, hospitality and medical care.�

Amy Lobl 2007-2009 shares her experiences of working in international development and the buzz of living in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

I

n January 2015 I travelled to Nairobi, Kenya, after receiving an offer from the Department for International Development (DFID) to become a Team Leader with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). I was responsible for managing 15 volunteers (seven UK nationals and eight Kenyan nationals) on entrepreneurial placements within the city. Their placements involved marketing and project management and ranged from sustainable coconut products made on the coast in Mombasa to developing hydroponic agricultural solutions in the rural area of Wangige outside the capital. My role was to guide and manage the volunteers and their development on these projects whilst integrating them into Nairobian city life and the amazingly friendly and buzzing Kenyan culture.

During their placement each volunteer stays with a host family, to immerse them in Kenyan culture. For my first month in Nairobi I stayed with a Kenyan family in the middle class neighbourhood of Kilimani. As well as my new host parents there were four sisters ranging from 22 to six years old. The family welcomed me with open arms, showing me how to make classic Kenyan food such as ugali (maize flour pap) and chapatis (thick tortilla-like wraps). My time with them helped me learn more about the culture of the country, particularly the importance of family, going to church, the roles of men and women in Kenyan society and the strong feeling of community. The family was fundamental to my time in Nairobi, and helped shape my view of the country and its cultural nuances.

Nairobi has been a fantastic city to get to know. With a population of over 3.1 million packed into an area of 269 square miles, it is one of the fastest-growing capitals in Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of technology, hospitality

and medical care. The city is attracting the attention of world leaders, many of whom have visited the capital to bear witness to the growth and expansion of Kenya.

During my time here the city has seen visits from US Secretary of State John Kerry, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and, most recently, President Barack Obama. His visit to his father’s homeland, to speak at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit: GES 2015, has helped put Kenya back on the map in a positive way in the wake of attacks at Westgate Mall in 2014 and Garissa in April this year. Although the country still has issues to face including corruption, crime, HIV/AIDs and access to education, it has come on in leaps and bounds in the last ten years and I believe will continue to do so towards 2020. For me, the Kenyan capital feels safe, albeit with heightened security at malls and the odd police checkpoint on the highways, and still moves along with amazing grace, open arms and smiling faces.

Anyone thinking of pursuing a career in development or another sector in the East African hotspot should embrace any opportunity to discover one of the most hospitable and exciting countries developing in the 21st century. After the completion of my time with VSO I will be staying on in my beloved Kenya, having secured a new job as a Development Executive Officer with Canadian charity, Volunteers without Borders.

If you have any questions about charity work, living abroad or about Kenya or Nairobi, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me at: amylobl@hotmail.com.

Above: The volunteers working at an Active Citizenship Day in Nairobi, learning about young entrepreneurial businesses in the area

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Brian George 1940-1943 on his time at King Edward’s and surviving a serious accident during the Second World War.

A wartime education I

came to Bath just before Christmas 1939 with my mother and brother, John, my father having already arrived with the Admiralty staff. My father had been billeted with Mr Langley (who taught Physics and Chemistry at the School) and his wife, in Beckford Road near Sydney Gardens. I remember there was little road traffic in those days, but a noisy feature were the coachloads of workers travelling daily from Bristol to the cavernous stores under Box Hill.

When we arrived, I was immediately invited to join the KES chaps who were going to help the Post Office sort the incoming mail. I started at King Edward’s in January and found Elmer Hyam and his younger brother Warren already there. We had all been pupils together at Whitgift Middle School (now called Trinity School) in Croydon. I found the KES staff very friendly and was placed in the Fifth Form under the excellent H M Porter.

I joined the Sixth Form in September 1940 and immediately took the opportunity of joining the Junior Officers’ Training Corps under the inspired leadership of J C McKee. I, with many others, had already helped him in erecting steel cable posts across Charmy Down, to deter airborne landing by the Germans. There were only six of us in the Sixth Form and we occupied the

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small front room on the uphill side of the School’s front door.

At 15 I found differential calculus a difficult concept to master and did not take easily to the sixth form curriculum.

However, I joined the cadet company and by the summer of 1941 I was best shot on the open range at Box. Soon the Colerne airfield was being built, the enormous American earth scrapers rapidly changing the landscape, and I often did the six-mile journey there on my bicycle. Before the war a family friend working in Temple Press had sent me a weekly copy of The Aeroplane; I had developed a talent for instantly recognising aircraft and could identify about 200 different military planes.

I was not very good at school games.

I played regularly in the rugby fifteen, but this was due to my age and the small school size rather than my ability; I marvelled at the skill of Peter Sheppard playing at full back. Cricket bored me stiff so I would spend a games afternoon on my bicycle, exploring the surrounding area. Next day the games master, Syd Brewer, would ask me where I had been; I would detail a journey of some 20 to 30 miles and he would accept my explanation. In the summer holidays of 1941 and 1942 I cycled the 65 miles to my grandmother’s home north of Winchester near RAF Worthy Down

airfield. All this probably gave me the strong heart to survive a bad accident later on in the Army.

My second year in the Sixth Form saw the air raid on Bath in May 1942.

Fortunately we were sufficiently away from the centre in Beckford Road but the nearby Snow Hill area suffered terribly. Afterwards Bathwick Street by the fire station was crowded with fire engines from all parts of southern England as their crews rested. In July came the examinations, but I did not do well. However, I was best shot overall in the Corps and I gained a place with about 80 others for two weeks’ training at the Scottish Command Weapon Training Centre at Morningside, Edinburgh. This was a fascinating course in small arms instruction and at the end I was selected to lead a section in the battle drill with live ammunitions.

I played regularly in the rugby fifteen, but this was due to my age and the small school size rather than my ability.”

1st XV 1942-43

By September 1942, all the older KES pupils were being persuaded by the Army, Navy and Air Force to join up as possible officers, to avoid them being sent to university for six months before joining the forces for elementary training.”

At that time I had a wish to become a gunner officer so I joined the Territorial Army to gain acceptance on the gunner course. Despite some saying I should have stayed at school to retake my

Higher School examination, in April 1943 I left for Edinburgh for the two 12-week terms at the university. Eighty of us did maths and science at Higher School level and I eventually came top of the class in surveying, a useful skill for a gunner.

In October 1943 I began what would be four years at home and overseas in the gunners. Six months on, I was sent to Lord Rowallan’s Highland Fieldcraft Centre at Poolewe in the north west of Scotland. Here I made a mistake on an assault course and finished up pulling out 16 inches of bayonet which had passed through my stomach and out of my back.

My miraculous survival was down to the regimental medical officer having a blood transfusion apparatus and the Surgeon Commander in the nearby naval hospital in the Gairloch Hotel being

very experienced, having just returned from two years in Malta. He said I must have had a very strong heart to survive the shock. So Mr Brewer’s forbearance probably made all the difference to my survival.

A year later I was fit enough to go to the Officer Cadet Training Unit and within two years I was commissioned and spent 18 months in Northern Greece, Egypt and Palestine, completing my service as Survey Officer in the 1st Regiment RHA. After the war, I built on my time at KES by going on to study Civil Engineering at Birmingham University, which led to a career in civil engineering and bridge building in Devon.

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Old Edwardians and the Great War Five hundred and sixty OEs and staff fought in the Great War and 74 of them were killed in action or died of their wounds. This second instalment in a five-part series by Gareth Davies 1972-1983 provides an insight into some of those OEs and the actions they took part in during the second year of the Great War.

Every single officer was killed or wounded that day.

Wilfred Darke was one of those injured; for his actions he was awarded the Military Cross.”

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July 1915 – June 1916 By mid-1915, 233 OEs were at war: 12 were sailors, 21 were with colonial forces and the remainder were British soldiers.

Connections with local regiments were strong: ten were North Somerset Yeomen, 29 were in the Somerset Light Infantry, 16 in the Gloucestershire Regiment, six in the Wessex Company Royal Engineers, four in the Wiltshire Regiment and one was a Wiltshire Yeoman. In 1915 war spread beyond France and Belgium and by the summer of 1916 OEs were serving in Gallipoli, Salonika, Mesopotamia, India, and one OE was at sea as part of the North American and West Indies Station. In the first year three OEs were killed.

In the next ten months 13 OEs were killed.

Left: Helles Memorial Right: Anzac Cove, Gallipoli peninsula

Gallipoli When OE brothers Arthur and Maurice Fortescue joined the Navy in 1915, it is unlikely that either imagined they would end the year in trenches on the rocky Gallipoli peninsula. Arthur was a sailor who ended up in Hawke Battalion in the Royal Naval Division. His brother Maurice served with the Royal Marines Medical Unit, also part of the RN Division. Neither of the Fortescues nor any other OEs were part of the initial landings on 25 April 1915 but it wasn’t long before OEs arrived on the peninsula.

At KES from 1902 to 1910, Capt Wilfred Frederick Darke of the 7th Gloucesters landed with his battalion in July 1915. On 8 August the battalion was fixed on the south-western slopes of the high point Chunuk Bair. Every single officer was killed or wounded that day.

Wilfred Darke was one of those injured; for his actions he was awarded the Military Cross.

Russell Hafrenydd Jones left KES in 1912. He enlisted in the Queen’s Westminster Rifles and was later commissioned into the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and posted to the 1st/7th Battalion. The battalion landed at dawn on 9 August and almost immediately came under fire; they had not set foot on land since 15 July. In the evening the battalion lay under the west slopes of Lala Baba and was warned they would attack the next morning. Orders were issued in a great hurry and the brigade moved off without commanders having time to brief their subordinates. As they were led over the Salt Lake in daylight, the Turks started shelling.

To their surprise they also came under rifle fire as soon as they deployed on the east side of the lake. Heavy casualties were incurred all day. Orders were received for a 5pm advance and attempts were made to replenish the water supplies but some of the wells marked on the maps did not exist and others were covered by Turkish snipers who seemed to shoot from every direction. The casualties of the 1st/7th RWF were very heavy, around 200, including 16 officers, nine of whom were killed. 2Lt Jones’ body was never found and he is commemorated on the Helles Memorial.

Leonard Hiscock also left KES in 1912.

He returned from Canada to fight for the Old Country, was commissioned into the Worcestershire Regiment and posted to the 9th Battalion. The battalion went into the trenches on the night of 14 July and for the next two weeks either held the trenches

or rested in reserve before withdrawing on 29 July to prepare for the decisive attack at Sari Bair the following week. They landed at Anzac on 5 August and were involved in very heavy fighting between 7 and 10 August. The Battalion War Diary records their action on 10 August 1915: “Just before dawn, the TURKS attacked all along our line… They also employed big spherical bombs of unusual size which they rolled down the slopes in amongst our men, causing heavy casualties… By 07:00, Lt Col Nunn, Maj Crofton, Maj Boyd-Moss, Capt Rolph, 2nd Lts Lancaster and E L Hiscock had been killed.”

2Lt Leonard Hiscock was 19; he is buried in The Farm Cemetery.

Alan Cuthbert Calvert, son of the School’s surveyor, worked at the office of William Griffiths, architect, of Llanelli prior to the war, and enlisted there into the Royal Engineers.

Sapper Calvert was posted to the 1/1st Welsh Field Company and he arrived in Gallipoli on 31 July 1915. He was killed by a Turkish sniper during the Defence of Helles on 8 September 1915, aged 25, and is buried at Green Hill Cemetery.

Getting back to our naval brothers, Arthur Fortescue landed on 16 November 1915, two months before the Allied troops evacuated in early January 1916. Arthur was later commissioned into the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers before transferring to the Indian Army Supply & Transport Corps, ending the war in India. His brother Maurice also survived the war.

Loos

The Battle of Loos in September 1915 was particularly costly for OEs: five were killed in just two days. Compared with the smallscale British efforts of spring 1915, this attack of six divisions was referred to as ‘The Big Push’. Haig’s plan was to attack between Loos and the La Bassée Canal. The battle saw the first use of poison gas by the British, use that backfired as the gas drifted back over British lines. The first day’s fighting succeeded in breaking through the enemy positions but

the reserves, two New Army divisions, were untested in battle and unable to exploit the successes.

The 10th Gloucesters, a New Army battalion, formed in 1914 and landed in France on 9 August 1915. Following an artillery and gas bombardment on 25 September 1915, the battalion advanced at 6.30am into no man’s land. German machine gunners were waiting.

“Whole lines crumpled to the ground as machineguns traversed left and right, here and there leaving a man to advance alone…”.1 As the few survivors emerged through the gas and smoke they found the German wire largely intact. As Lt Symons and his few remaining men got into the German front line he was instantly cut down by a machine-gun, which then “scythed down at close range, the men following, leaving them to hang in the wire’s steely embrace.” 2 The Battalion’s War Diary reports that: “The officers fell, as the position of their bodies showed, leading their men, and 16 out of 21 officers were lost.” Lt Clement Aubrey Symons was the Headmaster’s son and A E Housman’s nephew. He was 22 when he died. He has no known grave and is remembered on the Loos Memorial.

Another New Army battalion was the 8th Somerset Light Infantry. Raised in October 1914, they spent ten months in training before landing in France on 10 September 1915.

On 25 September the battalion marched to Vermelles and deployed around 7pm; they had marched 60 miles in a week. That night the 2IC Battalion took two companies forward towards the Lens-Hulloch road, which they reached at 3.30am on 26 September. In the advance they lost two men, one of whom was OE Pte Herbert Cutcheon Saxty, who was only 17 years old. His body was never recovered and he is remembered on the Loos Memorial.

By the afternoon of 26 September the situation was extremely critical. The 21st Division – composed of inexperienced men who had been called upon to march long distances before being thrown into their first fight and had spent considerable time without rations or fresh water – was driven back by fierce opposition. Another OE from the 8th Somerset Light Infantry was killed that day: LCpl Albert Edward Brain, who was 19. His body was never recovered; he is remembered on the Loos Memorial.

Two further OEs were killed at Loos.

T/Capt Vernon William Newman, 30, West Yorkshire Regiment attached to 1st Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and Pte Robert Edwin Vaughan, 20, the London Irish Rifles, were killed on 25 September 1915. Neither of their bodies was recovered; they are both remembered on the Loos Memorial.

Following an artillery and gas bombardment on 25 September 1915 the battalion advanced at 6.30am into no man’s land.”

Top: Lt C A Symons Bottom: 2Lt L Hiscock

1

Christian – In the N Shadow of Lone Tree

2

Ibid

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Old Edwardians and the Great War… France and Flanders

Harding’s body was never recovered and he is commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres.”

Henry Jones volunteered for service in Canada and arrived in the UK in October 1914.

His battalion, the 3rd Canadian Infantry Battalion, landed in France in 1915. The War Diary records the events of 16 November 1915: “Heavily shelled by a 5.9” on a train, using A.P. shells.

Lt. H.C. Jones and 7 O.R. wounded.”

Lt Henry Jones was admitted to No 1 British Red Cross Society Hospital at Le Touquet and then evacuated to the UK for further treatment at a private nursing home in London. He died in London on 31 December 2015 and is buried in Christ Church, Bradford-on-Avon.

The first casualty of 1916 was North Somerset Yeoman, Tpr Richard Harris. The regiment had gone into the front line in the area of the Hohenzollern Redoubt on 11 January, where they stayed until 28 January; they were just 1km north of the position they had held during the Battle of Loos the previous September. Tpr Harris died on 30 January as a result of injuries received while in the front line. He is buried in Béthune.

John Harding served with the 29th Vancouver Battalion, Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regiment), also known as Tobin’s Tigers. He died on 19 April 1916 during the Battle of St Eloi Craters. Harding’s body was never recovered and he is commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres.

Mesopotamia 2Lt George Dumillo Fyson, of the 7th Battalion the Gloucestershire Regiment, died in Mesopotamia on 20 April 1916 and is commemorated on the Basra Memorial. He had served in Gallipoli with Wilfred Darke MC. George Fyson’s brother Geoffrey, himself a soldier in the Great War, wrote a poem dedicated to him in Here Comes She Home, published after the Second World War by the family printing firm, Fyson and Co Ltd. Another OE also died that year in Mesopotamia, Pte Montague George Teck Durston, 1st/4th Battalion the Devonshire Regiment, on 23 May 1916, and is buried in Basra War Cemetery.

In Memoriam G.D.F. Nor prayer, nor love, nor all our tears of blood shall bring you back. Thro’ the infinite road of the eternal ether there has flowed no sweet, supernal vision.

Ours the loss; and yours the winged glory, when the Cross led to the Crown.

Yours were the clear young eyes, so true, so tender, that no sacrifice prophetic could bedim them. No least sign of faltering clogged your footsteps as the goal drew nearer. Clear to the untarnish’d soul the call came softly – as the pipes of Pan when Spring is burgeoning.

He who was more than Man had also seen that vision, heard that Call.

You followed in his footsteps – that was all.

CAREER A former Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Tank Regiment, Gareth has recently left the Army. As well as working as a defence consultant specialising in command, training systems and simulation, leading battlefield tours to France and Flanders, Italy and Palestine, he will be spending the next few years researching and writing a book on tanks in 1917.

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PERSONAL “There is an element of irony in my interest in Military History as I am one of two OEs in my year who did not do History O Level!”

CONTACT ghdavies99@gmail.com

OE PROFILE

Gareth Davies 1972-1983

enerations have trod, G have trod, have trod…”

M

Above: Dick Ledbury on far left Below right: Mark, Margaret, Anna and Michael Bottom right: Anna’s children, Isobel and Tobias

argaret Ledbury’s family have had a long association with King Edward’s which began when her father-in-law, Dick Ledbury, joined as a pupil in the early years of the 20th century. He was followed by his son, Robin (Margaret’s husband), in 1942 and in turn by his grandsons, Michael and Mark, in 1972 and 1974.

After leaving KES, Dick worked as a journalist but his support of the School continued and, in 1964, he became the first Chairman of the ‘Friends of King Edward’s School’. Ten years later, in 1974, the Communion table in the chapel area of the newly-opened Willett Hall was donated in his memory.

Meanwhile, Dick’s wife, Jean, was also a key part of life at KES. In 1945 she was appointed as the School’s first secretary to support Headmaster H M Porter with the extra administration brought about as KES underwent rapid expansion. As well as secretarial duties, she managed the accounts and arrangements for school meals, ordered all the text books and organised for prize editions to be embossed in gold. Dick and Jean also provided lodgings for H M Porter, who was considered to be part of the family and affectionately known by Margaret’s sons as ‘Uncle Maurice’.

Margaret’s late husband, Robin, who trained to become a solicitor after leaving KES, played rugby for the OEs. After he and Margaret were married in 1964, he became a referee – a much safer position in Dick Ledbury’s opinion! Their two sons, Michael and Mark, joined the Prep School in Broad Street under the headship of William Paterson and Margaret remembers how Michael, as youngest boy in the School, was given the honour of carrying the Charter at Founder’s Day. He was, however, disappointingly tall for his age and Margaret recalls that the following year, the qualification for carrying the Charter was changed to the smallest boy in the School! Both boys continued to the Senior School, where they became enthusiastic members of the orchestra, choir and chess club.

Margaret herself was also an active member of the KES community, not only as a parent on the PTA committee, but also

Title taken from God’s Grandeur by Gerard Manley Hopkins

as an English teacher. Her appointment came about following a chance conversation with Headmaster Brian Holbeche in which he expressed his concern about the difficulties of finding a temporary short-term appointment to coach pupils in time for a resit of their English Comprehension paper. Margaret says: “I thought this would suit me and, having reassured him that I was up to teaching boys after eight years of teaching in a co-ed grammar school, I started straight away!” Happily, the vast majority of boys passed their resits and, at Brian Holbeche’s request, Margaret continued to teach part-time for another seven years.

She greatly enjoyed teaching at KES and her many memories include the ‘inspirational’ Bill Currie, who was her head of department, and the concern shown by Brian Holbeche and all his staff for the welfare of each pupil.”

Today, over one hundred years since it began, the Ledbury family link with the School is still going strong and the fourth generation are represented by Margaret’s grandchildren, Isobel and Tobias Raynes – a fact that would have delighted their great grandfather, Dick Ledbury!

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Scott Simpson 1997 Is National Performance Coach for Welsh Athletics and led the team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

© Welsh Athletics

To contribute news for the next issue, please contact the Development Office (see contact details on page 4).

Dan Wright 1997

Chris Rapley 1965 His play ‘2071’ about climate change, written with playwright

Geoff Bence 1940 Geoff celebrated his 90th birthday in November 2014 at a party with family and friends. During WW2 Geoff served in the Special Operations Executive’s forces in the Far East.

Duncan Macmillan and directed by Katie Mitchell, was sold out at the Royal Court Theatre, London and rated number four in ‘Guardian’ journalist Michael Billington’s top ten for 2014.”

In addition to two runs in London, Chris also performed the play at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg and the Bozar Theatre in Brussels. The play is now available as a book: 2071 – The World We’ll Leave Our Grandchildren published by John Murray.

After leaving his teaching post at KES last year, Dan worked for the children’s charity, Plan International, and was deployed to Liberia as part of the Ebola emergency response.

His work centred on youth engagement and setting up a feedback mechanism for the charity to provide a youth voice on the international

Tim Dunn 1981 Directed and produced The People’s Portrait for BBC One, a documentary about Falklands veteran, Simon Weston. He also wrote and directed The Armada: 12 Days to Save England, which was screened on BBC Two.

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community’s response to the Ebola outbreak.”

He is now working for a social integration charity called ‘The Challenge’ in central London.

His focus is a project called ‘Step Forward’, a London-based programme for school leavers.

Jiten Doshi 2000 Ran this year’s London Marathon and raised over £2,500 towards a new cancer centre at Bath’s Royal United Hospital.

John Watson and Ed Holden 2001 Took part in a fundraising challenge this year in which they travelled the length of India in a rickshaw to raise funds to combat Motor Neurone Disease.

Gus Morison 2002 Set up HedgeBrunch in 2013, which runs network events for the hedge fund and alternative investment world, bringing together investment professionals, fund investors and friends through exclusive events and digital channels: www.hedgebrunch.com.

Sam Masters 2003 After studying Mechanical Engineering at Southampton University and then taking a Masters in Management Science, he is now married and living in Abu Dhabi where he works as a Project Engineer for Emirates Steel.

Graham Moles 2003 Congratulations to Graham and his fiancée, Nikki, on the birth of their first child, Benjamin Peter, on 12 June 2015, weighing 81bs 4oz.

Below: John Watson centre, Ed Holden on right.

Philippa May 2008 Has recently graduated with an FdA (1:1 Distinction) in Fashion and Textile Design at Bath Spa University and has set up her own fashion design brand, MAYD. She is currently specialising in women’s and men’s performance sportswear design: www.maydstudio.com

Phin Adams 2009 Won the bronze award for the category of Speech Radio Personality of the Year at the national Radio Academy Awards in 2014 for his weekly show, Phin’s Barmy Brunch broadcast by Cambridge University’s CAM FM. The show was also shortlisted as Best Student Comedy at the New York International Radio Awards. Phin graduated with a degree in Theology from Cambridge University in 2014.

James Plumstead 2011 Has graduated with a first class Masters in Natural Sciences from Durham University.

Toby ReynoldsCotterill 2013 (Year 11 leaver)

Was selected for the U18s England Hockey team for the 2015 season.”

James Palmer 2011 Is a degree student at Oxford Brookes School of Architecture and in 2014 received a prize for excellence from the Royal Institute of British Architects.

The Leslie Jones Memorial prize is awarded for the most progress in built construction and the judges were impressed with James’s ideas and designs for an academic music centre in a neglected area of Porto, Portugal.

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Gap year experience Amelia Crowther 2007-2014 spent three months in Malawi as part of her gap year.

For the first two months I was on a placement in Monkey Bay, a very rural area. Here I spent my mornings teaching nursery school children, aged between two and five, about animals, shapes, colours and numbers. Then in the afternoon I went to two different schools and taught and played netball with a group of about 15 girls. They were so enthusiastic to learn: in all the drills I taught them they really listened

and were determined to improve on their existing skills. As you can probably imagine, it wasn’t like playing in the sports hall at KES! We used a field next to their schools and the netball posts were sticks in the ground with a wire ring at the top.

In my last month I moved to a city in the south of Malawi, Blantyre, where I volunteered at Open Arms Orphanage.

It looks after 28 abandoned, poorly and orphaned children, most of whom are below one and a half years old. I spent all day with the babies, feeding them porridge, playing outside with them and giving the little ones milk. They have five foster homes around the city for older children and every Saturday I went to Richmond House to see the eight girls living there and play netball with them at their school. The facilities there were better: we played in the

school courtyard and they had proper basketball nets. The girls were really good at netball and knew the majority of the rules, although there was a lot of footwork and contact as they are all really feisty!

I had the most amazing time in Malawi and it has changed my outlook on life.”

For me, being able to play sport with the children was fun but for them, most importantly, it gives them a release from school and their life at home, as well as the opportunity to just have fun with their friends in a safe environment.

I would urge other people at school, if they are taking a gap year, to include a volunteering element, be it teaching English or sport or helping with an environmental project. I got a lot out of it, and I’m now looking forward to my adventure through South and Central America. The people in Malawi are all so friendly and it is a beautiful country, so it is no surprise that it is called ‘the warm heart of Africa’. I’ll definitely be going back!

Bath Old Edwardians RFC At Bath Old Edwardians RFC we are known for our social brand of rugby and for causing the odd Cup upset against the city’s larger clubs. We are an interesting mix of OEs, university students and local professionals, who are attracted by the balance of competitive rugby and a welcoming social scene.

Last season’s major highlight was our tour to Dublin. Our 26-strong squad enjoyed a convivial day of culture and

32

sampling the local produce before playing a youthful UCD team the following morning. The game was very close for the first 60 minutes until the previous day’s enthusiasm got the better of us. They were brilliant hosts and we have already arranged for them to visit us this season.

Looking forward to this season, we are excited to announce our new club captain, 2013 leaver, Kit Chapman.

Kit has been a stand-out player the last couple of seasons and has shown himself to be a natural leader on the pitch.

We are always keen to welcome new players, even if it has been a while since you played. Feel free to get in touch through our Facebook page or drop us an email at bathoe_rugby@hotmail.co.uk or contact Mark Thompson (Team Secretary) on 07780 616472.

In memoriam Bruce Blagden

John Dennis George

Passed away on 26 June 2014, aged 42

Passed away on 13 May 2014, aged 84

At KES 1984-1990

Roger Noel Cobb At KES 1938-1943

Passed away after a long illness on 1 May 2015, aged 85

Ian Maurice Crudgington At KES 1934-1937

Passed away June 2015, aged 89

Jared Ian Dixon At KES 1945-1950

Passed away December 2014, aged 81 Ian was very proud of being an old boy of KES and very much enjoyed attending reunions and catching up with old friends. It was while in the School Cadet Force that he discovered shooting, which became his passion in life. In his early 20s he also took up archery, which took over his life for many years. In fact it was on the archery field that he met his wife, Brenda, a nurse, in 1962. He became an international archer and in 1967 he achieved second place in the World Championships. When the children came along, archery slipped into the background and he went back to his first love, pistol and rifle shooting, gaining a place on the British Team in a match against the Nordic nations. His son, Howard, was coached by him and won a place on the same team in 1992, which made Ian very proud. Ian spent his career in banking, based in Bournemouth. He is survived by his wife, two children and two grandchildren.

At KES 1940-1948

John joined the Junior School in January 1940, when his family moved from Croydon to join his father who was working for the Admiralty. He left school in the summer of 1948 and, after a year at Christ’s College Cambridge, he was called up for national service and commissioned into the Royal Artillery.

He followed national service in the Territorial Army and retired in the rank of Captain. After finishing national service, he joined the Admiralty’s Royal Naval Scientific Service, which was then based back in London. His work for the Admiralty involved research into structural and underwater acoustics and on retirement he continued to work as a consultant. He married Paddy in 1957 and is survived by a son and a daughter.

Brian George

Simon Charles Gilligan At KES 1972-1977

Passed away on 8 April 2015, aged 55, after a two-year struggle with cancer Simon was born in Pittsburgh, USA and joined King Edward’s when the family finally settled in Bath.

While at KES he became involved in competitive swimming, having a fine natural backstroke, and competed at

Simon Gilligan From KES he went to Southampton University where he read French and then on into working life in engineering and technology. In 2005 he was granted a patent in his name for the innovative design of a fibre-optic connector. He continued to use French in his working life, latterly when he ran the UK subsidiary of a French technology and engineering company, designing and manufacturing autonomous underwater robotic equipment. Simon is survived by his two children, Lucy and George, and younger brothers, Jonathan and Philip.

Trevor Elsom Rhymes

Bryan Horstmann At KES 1935-1944

Passed away on 30 November 2014, aged 88

local, county and national level, achieving many successes.”

John Coe

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Timothy Oliver Sylvester

Timothy Oliver Sylvester At KES 1954-1965

Passed away on 6 August, after being diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in July 2015 Tim was born in Bath to Oliver and Jane Sylvester on 11 September 1946. In 1954, he joined King Edward’s Junior School at 20 Belmont, under the headmastership of Mr Strickland and with the inestimable Miss Gardner in charge of the first year.

He progressed to ‘Big School’ in 1957, under the headmasterships of Mr Porter and subsequently Mr Holbeche.

Having been a choirboy at Bath Abbey, Tim developed a passion for music, especially the piano, where he excelled.

He was involved in numerous musical productions and performances at school and probably contributed more than any other pupil at the time towards the improvement of music at KES. In the 1960s music was not really on the school agenda, but it began to flourish under Tim’s gentle support; he was instrumental in the formation of the first school orchestra in his final year and continued his support after the appointment of Ian Phipps in 1968.

Tim was also an enthusiastic member of the CCF, rising to the rank of Junior Under Officer.

Tim left KES in 1965 at the end of the third year sixth, to study Music at Sheffield University. During his first year he contracted Dejerine Settas Multineuritis, which was regarded as

34

very unusual at the age of 20. This meant the end of his musical career, which was a very bitter blow. As a consequence he switched courses to study History and English, graduating with a 2.1 degree in 1968. Following several operations, the use of his left arm and hand was partially restored, but Tim was told he would be confined to a wheelchair by the time he was 40. He decided, therefore, to pursue a career as a chartered accountant because he could do this sitting down!

He was articled to R W Rossitor and Co in Bristol and, on qualifying in 1974, he left to set up his own firm with an initial office in Bath followed by offices in Malaysia and Ireland.

Tim was an active member of the Old Edwardians and Honorary Treasurer for 20 years until 1997.

Tim’s close friends remember his great humour and his many varied interests from, of course, music to badminton, sailing and the occasional pint, but above all they recall his caring nature. His many business colleagues remember his sharp mind, absolute integrity, sound judgement and constant enthusiasm for new and exciting projects. Tim, we all bid you our fondest farewell.”

Tim is survived by his sister Hilary to whom we send our sincere condolences.

Tim Miles, Peter Boyce, Guy Norris, Dudley Thomas With thanks also to Hilary Sylvester and Michael Kenwood

FORMER STAFF Phil Brownrigg At KES 1986-2002

Passed away December 2014, after suffering from Parkinson’s Disease Phil arrived at King Edward’s in 1986 to set up the new subject of Craft, Design and Technology. He was able to shape both his own department and his working surroundings, for some of the buildings were as new as his subject. CDT grew in popularity and soon extended to GCSE and A Level, attracting at sixth form level both home-grown and outside candidates and resulting in the department expanding to employ a second full-time teacher. He explored external links for the subject and encouraged his senior pupils to enter prestigious national competitions with some success. It was a tribute to his subject expertise and leadership that CDT’s first technician also decided to become a teacher, and studied for his PGCE whilst working at King Edward’s.

Phil was always much more than a skilled classroom teacher. He was also an enthusiastic hockey player and played for a local club, in addition to coaching the U14 side for many years. He was an enthusiastic climber, walker and watersports fanatic and enjoyed taking pupils to the Lake District on Activities Week. He was also a fine cook and is remembered for his culinary prowess both on school trips and at the many staff barbecues he regularly organised.

Another area of school life that owes much to Phil is the CCF and he possibly enjoyed his role here above all the many others he played. He almost singlehandedly kept the organisation afloat after the retirement of several key staff, maintained membership and left it in good heart for Andrew Trim to take over. He left King Edward’s to return to his beloved north, and to change career direction by setting up his own business.

Taken from the valedictory by Carole and Roger Rowe, The Edwardian 2003

Joan Gilligan

King Edward’s could not have recruited better: a seasoned teacher with a love of French and France and a delight in ‘imparting knowledge and wisdom and helping to shape young and unscripted lives’.”

Joan Gilligan

At KES 1972-1987 Died peacefully in hospital on 25 May 2015, having lost her eldest son the month before They say “de mortuis nil nisi bonum” (say nothing of the dead, unless it is good). How many of us flawed humans will be sainted after our death? Of Joan Gilligan, there never was anything but superlatives for who she was and what she did.

In the year of inequality 1972, Oxbridge males were first on the shortlist for the French post, but Joan brought three boys (Simon, Jonathan and Philip) to swell the School and they too proved to be forces of nature, in rugby, swimming and studying. Joan herself had been born in London and, aged 10, dodged the Blitz bombs until evacuated westwards.

Encouraged by a libertarian father, who fostered her curiosity and intellect so that she could claim her place in a world dominated by men, she went to King’s College, University of London and majored in French with first class honours. There she met the fiercely nice Bill, her life’s love.

Bill was an aeronautical engineer, first employed by Rolls Royce in Derby, where Joan began her teaching. Years in the USA, Loughborough and Belfast followed and in 1972, Bill got a job at Filton, but Joan had fallen in love with Bath, where they settled in The Tyning in Widcombe with that ever-changing view towards the sunset down the Avon valley.

It was always courageous then for a woman to try to teach French to boys, but Joan had height, voice, energy, inspiration and that quality of spirit that even the tongue-tied or resistant can perceive: deep knowledge, a caring nature and a sense of fairness and fun.

When girls were admitted to the Sixth Form (in 1986), Joan was the natural choice as Senior Sixth-Form Tutor and the success of that mixing of genders was largely due to her. She was always breezy and welcoming, a life-enhancer, which meant that girls and boys would seek the understanding and help of ‘Auntie Joan’ in bad times. She chose the curtains and the pictures (Impressionist) for the Sixth Form Centre, introduced formal balls to the pupils and cajoled colleagues and their wives into coating their own kitchens with duck and goose grease so that the sixth formers could “eat well”, as she said, and “have some blotting-paper” to soak up the drinks.

She introduced a ‘Bedsit Cookery’ course for leavers so that they would not starve in their lodgings, and, for her colleagues, she transformed the rather exhausted May Ball formula and ensured that future staff celebrations would not feature Mother’s Pride sandwiches and lukewarm tea, but would be a gourmet feast silverly served. Even after she retired, she and Bill were persuaded to run the Appeal which gave the School the Porter Library and the Rutherford Sports Hall.

There seemed to be no remote corner, no tiny vineyard with only local hopes, where the pair had not been or quaffed first.

Bill died suddenly in 1999, but Joan, though she grieved within for the rest of her days, got back in the saddle and continued to travel – to Australia, Greece, Provence – and to entertain her wide circle of friends.

Her loves were family, friends, France, the theatre, art, literature and good food and wine. She had a strong sense of duty, always put others first, passionately believed that everyone has the capacity to love, to do good and to make a better world. She was unflagging, intelligent, perceptive, wise, deep and full of interest in everything right up until the end. She had powerful emotions held in check by a strong mind and she never burdened others with any private distress. She was also enormous fun and she could light up a room.

Personally I remember and honour Joan for her vivacity, her untiring activity, her friendship, her cultivation, her cuisine, her deep human well-springs; it is unbelievable that such a great force can be extinguished, but, as she would often say, “C’est la condition humaine, dear”.

Frank Thorn With thanks to Jonathan and Philip Gilligan, John Wroughton, Carole Rowe and others

That divine energy that the Gilligans possessed meant that retirement was active, with visits to the by now expatriate sons and their families and travel, especially to her beloved France.

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To ensure you receive the latest events information, please update us with any email address changes at development@kesbath.com

< Walking Weekend

<

YOUNG OEs

•

ALL AGES

>

60+ YEARS

S

SCHOOL

• OE Lunchtime Reunion

13-15 November 2015

21 May 2016 Drinks from 12 noon

A reunion in a wild UK-based location (tbc) for all OEs who were involved with KES outdoor pursuits and Ten Tors

Balliol College, Oxford

£50 to include full board

Cash bar and wine available to purchase on the day

Tickets £55 (includes drinks reception, threecourse lunch and coffee)

Contact: sam.lascelles@gmail.com

Please book by 21 March 2016

• The London Dinner

30 January 2016 Drinks from 7pm L’Escargot Restaurant London’s oldest and most glamorous French restaurant

S Wroughton Lecture 13 November 2015 7pm

With historian, Michael Wood Wroughton Theatre, Senior School Tickets £8.50/£4.50 for pupils

• Old Edwardians’ Annual General Meeting 16 November 2015 7pm Winter Pavilion, Bathampton

Tickets £65 (includes champagne on arrival and three-course meal; after-party in members’ area) Tickets are limited – please book by 30 November 2015

• Sports Reunion Spring 2016

Celebrating 30 years of co-ed sport and tours at King Edward’s School More information available soon Please register interest at development@kesbath.com

S KES Gala Concert 15 March 2016 7pm

Assembly Rooms, Bath

> Summer Reunion

11 June 2016 11am-4pm

For leavers from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s The Wessex Building, Senior School

S Careers Afternoon June 2016

The Wessex Building, Senior School More information available soon

S Senior School Carol Service 9 December 2015 7.30pm Bath Abbey To reserve seating and book refreshment tickets, contact: headmaster@kesbath.com

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Please register interest at development@kesbath.com

S Founder’s Day Service 6 July 2016 11am

Bath Abbey To reserve seating contact: headmaster@kesbath.com