OElink 2018

THE OE NETWORK MAGAZINE 2018-2019

ED MOORE

In this issue…

KAREN TEAGUE

Inspiring minds and investing in the future

22

JONATHAN WYATT

FRANCIS RING

President’s welcome

3

News

4

Have wig can travel!

24

JONATHAN GREEN

Fighting Fantasy Fest

6

SAM LASCELLES

Chairman’s letter

7 MARK DURMAN

Experiences of a 'Fifty-Sevener'

EMMA SIMONS

From Bath to the minefield ED MOORE

Life in the fast lane

14

GARETH DAVIES

MARTIN BODEN

Headmaster’s view

26

16

Old Edwardians and the Great War

28

DR JOHN WROUGHTON CORDELIA LINACRE

A special anniversary

article I want to finish by

My Kenyan journey…

A WellBoring story

paying tribute not only to the fallen but also to those who

I deeply connected

fought and survived."

with amazing children

ALEX RUTHERFORD

and adults who blew me

Promoting empathy with data-driven fashion 31

away with their drive and intellect, as well

PAUL SMITH

as their many heart-

"From Russia with love" 32

breaking stories."

8 GEORGE DE FOSSARD

A career in clockmaking 10

In this fifth and final

18

CLEM FAUX BARNEY GRENFELL

The Psalms Project

33

Magnify your message

OE news

34

20

In memoriam

37

Events 2018-2019

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Francis Ring 1947-1952

Staff c. 1950

Back row left to right: W T Currie, F Stubbins, H C P Burden, G R Dawson, J I Peatfield, D N Mackay, L G W Jones Front row left to right: J C McKee, W Lewis, Mrs J Ledbury, H M Porter, Miss M Gardener, W E Willett, S A Brewer

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ooking back to the 1940s when I was at the KES Prep School in Belmont, I had no idea then that the building we occupied had previously been the residence of a former Headmaster, Mr Symons, who retired in 1921. This and many other facts are described so clearly in John Wroughton’s great work, King Edward’s School at Bath, 1552-1982. Of course, during our school years, we pupils were oblivious to the struggles and politics that the staff and governors had to contend with, such as the criticisms from the education inspectors, as early as 1920, of the Broad Street building, any hope then of relocating the School being no more than a pipe dream.

Although some 70 years have passed, my memories of Broad Street are still vivid. Who could forget those long wooden benches in ‘big school’ where four classrooms had once been located?

(How on earth did that work?) Then the hundreds of initials and small graffiti disguised by so much ink staining, not to mention the occasional splinter creating

another type of memory! I remember well my first year at Broad Street, when the First Form was in the attic and Mr Ewart Willett was our kindly form master. Science sessions in the lab with Colonel McKee (Maggie) were lively, sometimes hilarious, and my favourite subject. Yes, I gained just one prize at school, which was for Chemistry. I also enjoyed French lessons with Mr Brewer, and was inspired to cycle to Paris with a classmate, Tony Swain, before passing the O Level exam in oral French with flying colours!

Most memorable were the staff changes that took place just after the end of the war in 1945-6. In the Fourth Form, we were introduced to a new English teacher, Bill Currie, something of a hero, having come from the Glider Pilot Regiment. His first day with us was marked by those eternal words: “My name is Currie, and I’m hot stuff.” He quickly became the one who brought English to life for me; he was truly a highly successful teacher. After leaving the School, Bill compiled some great

memories and anecdotes, most of which are humorous. Hot Stuff, published in 1988, is full of gems from the past. On the back cover, he wrote these words…

Next to myne owne Shippe I do most love that olde Shippe Inne in Exeter SIR FRANCIS DRAKE Next to myne owne Schoole I do most love that olde Schoole in Broad Street, Bath COLONEL BILL CURRIE Of course, in the 21st century King Edward’s School has changed beyond measure, and for the better, being in a wonderful location at North Road.

There are incredible opportunities for today’s pupils for learning, adventure and self-discovery. In the words of the School song that we had to sing at regular intervals: “Long live the good old School … Long live the name of Edward, our Founder and our King.”

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The future of food CONTACT DETAILS:

Tom (right) and Richard at the Summer Reunion

Claire Davies Email: development@kesbath.com Tel: 01225 820357 Post: Development Office, King Edward’s School, North Road, Bath BA2 6HU

Old Edwardians, King Edward’s School, Bath Join the Old Edwardians, Bath group @KESBathOEs www.kesbath.com/oe TO FOLLOW SCHOOL NEWS: @KESBath CONTACT THE DEVELOPMENT 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 and articles for the OElink and OE e-newsletter • Purchase merchandise • Update your contact details • Make a donation to the Bursary Fund • Pledge a legacy to the School and join the Blake Odgers Society CURRENT EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: PRESIDENT Professor Francis Ring 1947-1952 CHAIRMAN Sam Lascelles 1993-2000 TREASURER Geoff Staley, former staff OE/STAFF LIAISON 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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Tom Bowles 1992-2003 who runs the multi-awardwinning Hartley Farm Shop and Kitchen in Winsley, visited KES in June to speak to OEs gathered at this year’s Summer Reunion.

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n his very well-received talk, ‘The Future of Food’, Tom spoke about Hartley Farm and creating a destination that places farming and community at its heart. He discussed his passion for local food provenance, along with the challenges his industry faces in engaging people with nutrition and inspiring them in the kitchen!

A fifth-generation farmer, Tom joined his father, OE Richard Bowles (1968-1973), in 2007 to help run the family farm after studying Economics at Cardiff University. The farm needed to diversify due to the environmental and economic challenges it was facing, which led to Tom opening his enterprise in 2008, using their cereal and livestock produce. Fast forward to 2018 and the farm is thriving; it has grown its Angus beef herd and Tom has expanded the business to include another Farm Shop and Kitchen at Neston. As well as offering a fair and sustainable market for other local

farmers, Hartley Farm is home to a community of young and vibrant ‘artisan’ food businesses that cover the range, from growing fruit and vegetables to baking organic bread and brewing beer.

More information at: www.hartley-farm.co.uk

It was a great honour to have been asked back to KES to share the story of our family business and the plans we have. I am always amazed by how much has changed each time I go back, and this time was no exception, the School is looking better than ever.”

Musical tradition returns to the CCF CCF cadets are the proud recipients of a new set of contingent drums after generous support by KES Parents enabled the purchase of four new drums.

The School’s CCF is numbered among the oldest contingents in the country, and this year members of KES Parents were fascinated to hear about the unexpected musical history of the CCF. Upon learning of the enthusiasm of today’s cadets for trying out drumming thanks to a short-term loan of a corps of drums from a Devon contingent, KES Parents elected to equip the School’s CCF with

Honours boards for Armed Forces personnel

its own set of drums, thereby reinstating a long-lost musical tradition.

First established in 1900, the School’s cadet corps is today an Army-only section, with affiliation to the King’s Royal Hussars. Open to both boys and girls from Year 9 onwards, and welcoming pupils from other local schools, including Beechen Cliff, the School’s CCF has the broad function of developing valuable life skills such as leadership, responsibility, self-reliance, resourcefulness, endurance and perseverance.

The new drums, consisting of three side drums and a base drum, are decorated with a livery based on the original KES contingent design. With training in progress, the cadets hope to be ready to showcase the new drums at Bath’s Remembrance Day Parade in November.

The CCF SSI, Philip Jones, is planning a series of honours boards and a database to record all OEs who have joined the Armed Forces.

He is keen to hear from OEs who are currently serving or who have retired, and to receive information about those who are deceased. Please could OEs contact him at CCF@kesbath. com with their name, regimental or service number, the service they were in and the date they were commissioned and date left (if appropriate).

The closing date for sending this information is 7 December 2018.

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Fighting Fantasy Fest The author, editor and games designer, Jonathan Green 1980-1990 reports on the event he organised to celebrate 35 years of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and how reading the first book back in 1982 changed his life!

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© Richard Fox

n Saturday 2 September 2017, around 300 fans, creators and traders gathered at the University of West London, in Ealing, for Fighting Fantasy Fest 2, the culmination of a series of events that marked 35 years of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks.

This was the second such event I’ve organised, having been involved with the Fighting Fantasy range since the beginning, first as a reader, then as a writer, and now as the series’ official historian and brand manager.

It would not be an overstatement to say that the publication of the first Fighting Fantasy gamebook, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, changed my life. As a direct result of reading that book when it first came out in 1982, this year I am celebrating a quarter of a century as a published author. (When Spellbreaker was released in 1993, I actually visited King Edward’s Junior School as a guest author, as well as former pupil, for the first time.)

His voice has featured in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Doctor Who. Toby Longworth

Charlie Higson and Ian Livingstone

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fact that another KES alumnus attended the event.

I didn’t know Toby Longworth at school, but I now know him, as do many others, as a highly respected voiceover artist.

The newest author on the series is Charlie Higson – he of The Fast Show and Young Bond fame – and the fact that he would be penning a book for the series was announced at Fighting Fantasy Fest 2. That book, The Gates of Death, is now out, but I was fortunate enough to work on it with Charlie in my role as consultant editor, which was nice.

But Fighting Fantasy Fest 2 was special for many reasons, including an appearance by former cover artist and illustrator Iain McCaig – who, after illustrating books like City of Thieves and Deathtrap Dungeon, went on to design Darth Maul for George Lucas – and the

And now he is the voice of Zagor, the eponymous Warlock of Firetop Mountain, in The Hero’s Quest audio drama from FoxYason Productions, which went on sale for the first time at Fighting Fantasy Fest 2 as well.

The one downside was that I was so busy running the event, I didn’t actually get to speak to Toby myself. But plans are already afoot for Fighting Fantasy Fest 3, so maybe I’ll meet him next time!

To find out more about my current projects visit www.jonathangreenauthor.com and follow me on Twitter @jonathangreen

2008 leavers at the Anniversary Reunion

Chairman’s letter Sam Lascelles 1993-2000

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s with a well-executed rugby pass or teapot passed at a vicarage tea party, Paul Higgs has smoothly handed on the reigns of chairmanship to me. Paul’s nine-year stint as Chair has unsurprisingly been most successful. He was particularly instrumental in positioning the OEs as a source of support for the School’s Bursary Fund. Well done and thank you, Higgsy!

Paul passes on the OEs in good health.

Our small but reliable committee enjoy meeting three times a year at the School.

We have good engagement with the School leadership and are well supported by the Development Office.

Financially our main effort is to promote the School’s Bursary Fund. In recent years many OEs have generously supported the Fund, which provides means-tested assistance to those bright children who would truly benefit from all that a KES education can provide, but who otherwise could not afford it.

This year we launched a new initiative with the twin aims of helping to support pupils at KES whilst also raising the profile of the OEs amongst the School population by funding an OE Activity Award.

Each year we will invite pupils involved in the School’s clubs and societies to submit applications for financial support to fund an event or initiative. This year, we are supporting a speaker at the Youth Climate Summit, organised by the Environmental Action Group; and for the School’s Aloud Gender Equality Society, we are providing an information pack relating to International Women’s Day and Equality Awareness Week. Requests to fund post-exam parties or spurious ‘field’ trips to Amsterdam were either filtered by the School or today’s pupils are a principled and motivated bunch (the latter, I am sure!).

The value we can bring to the School is obviously far more than financial and I am particularly keen that under my chairmanship we get better at leveraging the OE network into the School community. The breadth of things we do both professionally and socially is of immense value and interest to current pupils and staff. How we best do this needs to be considered, but enhancing our contribution to careers advice will certainly be an area. And this should by no means be a one-way transaction. I would imagine many of us would benefit from supporting the School, both in terms of the warm glow of giving something back and also as a source of bright young things as potential future colleagues who can offer a fresh perspective.

One matter I am seeking clarity on is that of our social events. One of our guiding principles is “fostering an ongoing sense of community and heritage across the generations”. Aside from all the good stuff mentioned above, I want to make sure that our work is about relationships, meeting up with old friends, making new acquaintances and generally having fun!

How we do this best is a question the committee is keen to understand. Many

of us have enjoyed black-tie dinners at prestigious locations in the metropolis, in addition to more informal events in clubs and gastropubs. In more recent years, the traditional dinners held in Oxford or Cambridge have been relaunched as more informal lunchtime gatherings held in Oxford, as the more centrally accessible location. We have also seen great success with themed OE events such as Rugby Reunion Dinners, the new Anniversary Reunion and the very popular Summer Reunion for the 1940s-1970s.

I would like to understand what you are looking for from your alumni association in terms of social events, particularly for future events held in London. The committee is keen to have a varied and exciting social calendar and is happy to organise events. What we need to know, however, is what sort of events would be attractive to you and therefore be well supported. On this note, please look out for a short survey to gauge your views, which will be in your email inbox in the autumn. In the meantime, do email any thoughts to: development@kesbath.com

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My Kenyan journey…

A WellBoring story Cordelia pumping her first WellBoring well in Kisumu County, Kenya

Cordelia Linacre 2009-2011 describes her involvement with the water charity, WellBoring and how they are working to secure vital clean water supplies to communities in Kenya.

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M

y connections with Kenya multiplied as I arrived in King Edward’s School Sixth Form. Firstly, I was surrounded by other sixth formers who, through KES, were preparing to go to Kenya to support a Kenyan school.

Secondly, my sister Charlotte, who had been at KES ten years before (19992001), went to Kenya at this time to set up an Art class with supplies donated through her former Art teacher, Mr Pell.

Finally, my father, Nigel Linacre, had seen, while working in Kenya, the massive challenge for schools not having clean water, and decided with two engineers to try to fix this problem, starting with one school.

I was seeing people around me make a difference in Kenya and wondering: how could someone like me help?

The WellBoring committee

I learnt that most Kenyan rural schools lack access to clean water, but two rainy seasons a year mean there is often plenty of water underground if you can drill a borehole to reach it.

During Easter 2011, while I was revising for A Levels, my father co-founded the charity WellBoring. By the time I got my A Level results in August 2011, the first WellBoring well was complete.

While studying at the University of Leeds I started to direct much of my free time to fundraising through the RAG (Raise and Give) society. I ran events, cycled the width of the country and joined the committee of the 1,000-person society.

Through studying Development Economics I began to understand the in helping nations develop.”

In 2015 WellBoring made two massive steps forward, firstly discovering an area with a comparatively shallow water grid, and secondly discovering a great local drilling team, meaning cheaper wells could be drilled in an area of great need.

Each well became incredibly efficient, costing just £4,000 for a well that on average serves 1,000 people for 10+ years: £4 per person. The efficiency in Kenya combined with being volunteer-led in the UK means the wells are half the price of those of most water charities.

As I graduated from University I really got the power of the WellBoring model, and started to funnel my fundraising passion and experience into WellBoring.

In 2017 I made my first visit to Kenya on the pilot ‘WellBoring Week’, an

It was the most powerful week of my life.

I deeply connected with amazing children and adults who blew me away with their drive and intellect, as well as their many heart-breaking stories.

I was shaken by the scale of challenges that children had somehow overcome, challenges that I couldn’t comprehend ever having to worry about. Initially I felt frozen by the scale of the issues, until I visited the first WellBoring well, where I saw a simple solution that fixed so many basic problems.

Schools with our WellBoring wells are healthier – non-attendance drops from 25% per day to 5% per day. Schools thrive in more ways: enrolment increases as going to school is worth it if you can bring water home to your family; schools’ results improve as children aren’t dehydrated or having to fetch contaminated water from a far-away river; and some schools have used the water to grow food for the children’s lunches.

It was amazing to talk to school leaders about the transformations they see when they get water.”

It was also amazing to connect, run and sing with hundreds of curious children whose excitement was contagious.

Visiting the schools WellBoring hoped to help in future, but which didn’t yet have a well, was more difficult. Hearing of their struggle without clean water was challenging. Hardest of all was connecting

If you want to be a part of the second 50 wells, you can donate or become a member at: www.wellboring.org To talk about other ways to support or volunteer, do contact me at: cordelia@wellboring.org

Cordelia Linacre 2009-2011 FAVOURITE SCHOOL MEMORY Being in the Edward Scissorhands school play!

OE PROFILE

crucial role that charities play

experience being created for those who have funded a well by raising £4,000.

with hundreds of excitable young children, knowing that around 20% of the children at these schools were unable to attend due to water-borne diseases.

I left Kenya with a determination to scale up WellBoring to help as many of those schools as possible. I realised that WellBoring had massive momentum and possibility, but not the funding or the manpower to maximise this. The volunteer-led model helps WellBoring keep its costs way down – so I helped expand the volunteer base from three founders to a committee of 12, most of whom do this alongside full-time jobs.

Our committee (pictured) now includes three KES alumni: Henry Brown (2011) on social media, Charlotte Linacre (2001) on PR, and myself as Committee Coordinator. Over the past year the charity has grown 80%, hitting the epic milestone of completing 50 wells! As we celebrate this achievement, we also look forward to the next 50 wells. The first 100 wells will change some 100,000 lives, addressing 1% of Kenya’s water problem.

UNIVERSITY University of Leeds: Economics and Management (International) BSc OCCUPATION Senior Brand Manager, Mars Chocolate LOCATION London EMAIL cordelia@wellboring.org

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I

left KES at the age of 16 with a set of fairly unimpressive GCSEs, at least by today’s standards. I can’t blame the School – the truth is, I just wasn’t very well suited to academia at that point in my life. Both sides of my family have a long tradition in practical engineering and I knew early on that I also wanted to be creative and work with my hands. Rather than continuing to A Level, I decided to start my career early and joined a large local engineering firm as a mechanical engineering apprentice.

My apprenticeship was hands-on, the first year being spent in the apprentice training workshops, where many of the machines and techniques being used were familiar to me.

Ever since I was old enough to see over a bench or reach the controls of a lathe, I had been helping myself to the tools and facilities in my dad’s workshop at home."

A career in clockmaking George de Fossard 1984-1993 explains how he has pursued his talents and interests to forge an innovative career in clockmaking. His latest creation is attracting international attention as the first super-complex mechanical clock which can be set for longitude and latitude, allowing it to tell the time virtually anywhere in the world.

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He was a clockmaker, as I am today, and I have no doubt that his patience and guidance in those early days have significantly benefited my engineering career.

My five-year apprenticeship involved day-release study at college, where I qualified to HND level in Mechanical Engineering, with the remainder of my time spent in all the different company departments. This took me from the machine shop through to the assembly line, the drawing office and finally to the research and development workshops.

It was here that I found the intellectual and practical challenge of designing, prototyping and developing engineering components and assemblies ready for manufacture – a very exciting and rewarding process. I had free rein in the workshops and use of their design facilities and enjoyed (almost) every minute of it.

By this time, though, most of my friends had either been to university or were about to go and I began to feel I might be missing out on a fantastic experience (and education) and so, in 1998, I started a degree course at the University of Nottingham in Mechanical Design, Materials and Manufacture. I qualified three years later with a respectable BEng

© Images by Tony McNicol

(Hons) degree, surprising even myself with my increased academic abilities.

I then started work at a nuclear power station, latterly in computer-aided design. However, working in engineering when you have a degree means that most of your work will be office-based.

It didn’t take me long to realise that this was not for me. Although the work was enjoyable, I missed being in the workshop: a career U turn was required!

I decided to return to college to study the conservation and restoration of antique clocks and in 2003 began a specialised course at West Dean in rural Sussex. Based in the workshop, with the emphasis on hands-on learning, the course is accredited by the University of Sussex and the British Horological Institute. It was also whilst studying here that I met my wife, Cornelia, who was taking a course in the conservation and restoration of antique furniture.

After graduating in 2005, I moved back to Bath and set up business in Walcot Street, aided greatly by a loan from the Prince’s Trust. The timely retirement of my father also helped enormously with the establishment of a customer base!

Alongside antique clock restoration, which provided me with a steady income, I also designed and made a small number of new clock movements to commission.

I enjoyed this work the most as it drew on all aspects of my engineering training and interests and challenged me on both a technical and intellectual level."

Cornelia and I now run de Fossard Clocks and are based in new workshops in Frome. We specialise in the design and manufacture of bespoke timepieces, with Cornelia making the cases and I the movements. I also give regular talks to various British Horological Institute branches and it was following one of these talks, in which I presented a miniature longcase clock that we had made, that I secured private funding for our most recent work, the Solar Time Clock.

The Solar Time Clock has been a major undertaking and contains the most complex movement I have designed and made so far. The clock comprises over 750 handmade parts and is unique in terms of mechanical timekeeping for the information it displays. In addition to showing Greenwich Mean Time

and local time (should the two differ), the clock can also be set to any given longitude and latitude to display the times of sunrise, sunset, day length, local solar noon and local solar time (sundial time) for the location defined, the date and the power reserve of the clock. It also displays the phase of the moon and for this I resurrected a complex and unusual compound worm mechanism first designed by the 18th century English clockmaker, Thomas Mudge, and combined it with my own mechanical invention. The clock is set into a case made of ebonised pear wood and brushed stainless steel metalwork, which was designed and made by Cornelia.

From start to finish, it took us over three and a half years of full-time work to complete the Solar Time Clock, so it really has been a labour of love.

It was launched last autumn at The Clockworks in London and we have been overwhelmed by the amount of attention it has received both in the UK and internationally. It has since been exhibited at Salon QP, the annual watch and clock exposition held in the Saatchi Gallery, and it has been part of the Time and Space Exhibition of QP Magazine, with plans for it to be exhibited at the London Science Museum in the future.

Closer to home, we were delighted to be chosen as the 2018 winners of the Creative Category at the Bath Life Awards this year, which was a great honour and so gratifying after all the work we put into producing the clock and into running and building up the business.

To find out more, visit: www.defossard.co.uk

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Mark Durman 1947-1957 looks back to his teenage years at KES and how National Service led to exciting careers in the Army and at a global security company. Both careers brought experiences and adventures in many different countries, which now inspire him as the author of fictional thrillers.

KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL 1st XV, 1954

I

left KES Bath in July 1957. My subject marks were ok but never brilliant, usually ending each year somewhere in the middle of the class. My reports were full of “Should work harder!” – comments which were fully justified. Our teachers did an excellent job and I should have applied myself more. I was more interested in outdoor activities, and making the 1st XI cricket and 1st XV rugby teams.

Running was my real passion and my KES 880-yards and one-mile records (before the metric system) stood for several years.

Despite my lack of academic application, I still clung to some misguided idea that the ‘only’ university worth attending was Cambridge,

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KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL 1st X1, 1956

hoping that my A Level results would get me a place there. It was not to be, as my grades were not good enough.

In my 17-year-old naivety, I didn’t feel inclined to apply to another university.

Headmaster Mr Porter told me I might still get to Cambridge but only if I studied for a further year and retook all subjects.

However, I was completely broke (my father was an impoverished artist) and I was restless to move on with my life.

Soon after I had started in a full-time job, I received an envelope with the formal ‘On Her Majesty’s Service’ official heading.

At first, I thought it was a summons about a reckless accident I’d recently had on my Lambretta, but no – the letter informed me that I was required to serve two years’ National Military Service.

National Service was to end in three years’ time (1961-2) and there were many ways to get a deferment, for example, by taking an apprenticeship or reapplying to other universities. By the end of such a deferment, National Service would have been phased out.

Many of my friends strongly advised me to reapply to university. I knew that most of them saw National Service as a waste of time compared with bettering themselves by studying at university. But I had my doubts. I had enjoyed my time in our school CCF and was intrigued to

I’ve been so lucky to have lived in so many different countries and to have experienced varying cultures, customs and languages.” experience something of real Army life.

Also, to be really honest, I didn’t fancy studying full-time anymore.

After a medical, I underwent 12 weeks' infantry recruit basic training in Devizes, Wiltshire. Most of my fellow recruits came from Portsmouth, rough guys quite different from my KES classmates.

Barrack room gangs soon formed.

Early on, I was cornered by one of the gang leaders and I feared he was spoiling for a fight.

But not so. In some embarrassment, he asked me to read him a letter from his girlfriend and I realised then that he was nearly illiterate. I agreed to read it for him and also to reply back to his girlfriend with total discretion. From then on, I acted as his secret scribe – but at a price. My terms were for him to keep his mates off my back and, as a bonus, to ensure my boots were polished every day. I had learnt a lesson in life.

Nothing is for nothing!

After officer training school in Mons, Aldershot, I was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Hampshire Regiment. I volunteered for secondment to the Nigerian Army and, soon after joining my battalion, we were sent to the Cameroons to counter a rising communist-inspired insurrection there.

It was the first time I faced bullets flying in combat. Our operations there served me and my soldiers well as, later, we were sent to the Congo as part of the United Nations force. It was called a ‘peace-keeping’ operation but we experienced far more war than peace.

With Nigerian Army soldiers, 1960

It was an exhilarating time with enough incidents to fill a book. In summary, National Service enriched my life. Later, I gained a degree via the excellent Open University to give myself some academic respectability!”

After National Service, I found I couldn’t settle back into civilian life, so I rejoined the Army, this time as a regular officer in the Intelligence Corps.

I served in operations including those in Borneo, Aden, Oman and of course Northern Ireland. I later had staff jobs at NATO headquarters in Brussels and the Netherlands. I left with the rank of

brigadier after a fulfilling military career.

I spent the last seven years of my full-time working life as the security and operations director for the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region for Brinks, the US-based global security company. One of the main tasks that my team and I had to tackle was to resolve many of the crimes against our company and our clients, such as multimillion-dollar robberies carried out by international criminal gangs. We weren’t always successful but our overall success rate was pretty good!

Now, as an author of fictional thrillers, I’m able to draw on the rich adventures I was so lucky to have experienced in both the military and in business.

King Edward’s School gave me a wonderful start to my life and, after so many years, I’m delighted that the OElink has reconnected me to those school memories.

Mark’s books are published by Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers Ltd. Visit his author website at www.mark-durman.pegasuspublishers.com.

His 2017 trilogy titles are: The Warehouse, Cash in Transit and Verification.

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Ed Moore 1983-1989 on his memorable years at KES and his gratitude for the strong foundation that the School gave him which paved the way for his successful career in the motorsport industry.

I

joined KES as the rather shy son of a farmer, having been at a local village primary school where my grandmother had previously been Headmistress. Farming was a struggle financially and I was fortunate to be awarded a government-assisted place, which was a fantastic scheme to help children from less affluent backgrounds.

My childhood on the farm, which often saw me moving large sacks of potatoes and chasing livestock, meant that when I arrived at KES the legendary Lang Jones sized me up as the ideal hooker for my year’s rugby team.

Thanks to the coaching prowess of Bath and England rugby star and KES

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master, John Palmer, combined with the skills of my talented contemporaries, we became the dominant team in the Bath Schools area. Amazingly for U14s and U15s, we scored 755 points, only conceded 38 and remained unbeaten over two years.

Our team was full of talented individuals, but most of all we played for each other and our close friendships endure to this day.

I still regularly meet up with my fellow front rowers (Sam Barber and Steve

Norman) and our energetic flanker, Matt Myers was best man at my wedding.

The big conflict I had during my formative years was my growing obsession with motorsport. Although my father comes from a proud 600year farming heritage, he is also a gifted engineer and in his spare time he designed and built cars from scratch that he raced himself. Having spent much of my youth shadowing him in the workshop and at racetracks, I knew I wanted to race too. Against my mother’s wishes, I used my savings from working on the farm combined with those from various other activities, including running a burger van and supplying eggs to local shops, to join the magical world of kart racing. Once I’d experienced the thrill of racing, this became my main sporting focus, albeit much to the frustration of Headmaster, John Wroughton.

I still loved my rugby, but it became increasingly difficult to balance both sports, particularly with the requirement to get beefier for rugby, and yet needing

to be svelte and lean for motorsport.

Once I started to win regularly in kart races, it signalled the demise of Lang Jones’ aim that I would take over the role of hooker from Graham Dawe at Bath and ultimately play for England (incidentally I never shared Lang’s confidence in my abilities).

I must admit that being chosen from over four decades of pupils as the hooker in Lang’s all-time 1st XV was a huge honour and is my favourite sporting achievement."

Champion and two times National Champion in the frenetic and hard world of Formula Ford racing. My highlight would be winning a Formula Ford race from plumb last on the grid at Castle Combe after breaking down in qualifying and overtaking some of the rising young stars of the time. Autosport magazine said: “It was a day when he could walk on water.” More difficult were the crashes, including a first lap accident in 1998 at Donington Park in the Formula Palmer Audi championship. I was stationary at the side of the road and a rather enthusiastic Brazilian driver lost control and landed at speed on top of my head!

These experiences led me to coaching other drivers and I also worked all over the world for manufacturers on product launches and press events. When it was clear I could not keep progressing as a driver myself, I decided to use my versatile skill set, combined with the entrepreneurial spirit embedded in me, to set up my own business: Motorsport Events Ltd.

important lessons I learnt at KES was that whatever you choose to do in life, you must always give it your best, be dedicated and never give up, I left KES with the sole ambition of making it in motor racing, but without the financial resources needed. I worked extremely hard to raise the funding, including support from the Prince’s Trust, to compete successfully at a high level in professional karting. I ended up working and racing for Langcourt Engineering, one of the UK's largest dealers in karting equipment. This helped to develop my business skills and gave me a lot of responsibility at a young age.

My focus then shifted to car racing, and by age 21, with the help of a ‘second-car loan’ from Abbey National, I made the move. By winning consistently, taking calculated financial risks and living on my wits, I managed to keep racing.

I have had a great career as a driver and, whilst I didn’t make it to the top echelons of the sport, I consider myself very fortunate to have won countless races and been an eight times Regional

and these are the principles I have always lived by."

When I created our company, I had precisely zero in the bank and it was only through my energy, enthusiasm, ideas and the incredible support of my wife, Natasha that it has become one of the UK’s busiest track day organisers.

In addition to events, we provide training services for Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd and have a large portfolio of specialist products that we supply into the motorsport industry. I am particularly proud of creating a new motorsport crash helmet range called Hedtec, which sells worldwide and has even been worn

by Prince Harry. I have also worked behind the scenes as a pro driver for the programme, Top Gear and have coached actors, including the two most recent James Bond actors, who were both very charming and enthusiastic drivers.

Below: Coaching the actor, Hugh Grant, 2002

I feel very lucky to have attended KES. The spirit of adventure, dedication, resilience and sense of fair play are all attributes which were nurtured there.

Although the road I have travelled has not been the most conventional one, I am eternally thankful for the fantastic grounding that my school days gave me.

Ed Moore 1983-1989 FAVOURITE SCHOOL MEMORIES My first ski trip to Innsbruck in Austria. The skiing was brilliant, but, being a fussy eater, I lived mostly on Milka chocolate and Cambozola cheese for a week!

Charging around the meadow in CCF kit, letting off smoke bombs and firing blanks from a Lee Enfield .303 calibre World War Two rifle!

OE PROFILE

One of the most

Below left: Being awarded the 'most promising player' award by Lang Jones, 1984

OCCUPATION Managing Director of Motorsport Events Ltd and racing driver coach LOCATION Bradford-on-Avon FAMILY Married to Natasha, with two sons (10 and 7) who are both keen rugby players, with the elder also having been scouted to be part of the Advanced Academy for Chelsea Football Club.

WEBSITE www.motorsport-events.com

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Martin Boden

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decade as Headmaster of King Edward’s seems to have passed by in the blink of an eye, and I feel very privileged to be leading the School during such an exciting period in its long and illustrious history.

GCSE Drama

This term sees the arrival of our new Drama Centre, a wonderful twostorey building on the footprint of what many of you will remember as ‘R11’."

(Some will also recall it as the ‘potting shed’!) With four new teaching spaces, including a fantastic state-of-the-art drama studio and a dedicated LAMDA room, it will undoubtedly enrich this important and thriving aspect of school

life. Once the new facility is built, the old drama studio at the top of the site will make way for a significant extension to the Holbeche Sixth Form Centre, along with six new classrooms and a number of offices designed to enhance teaching and learning within the School.

Following that, it is our aim to replace the former Porter Library (now the Geography teaching block) with a

Sixth Form and classroom extension

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fantastic new Music School and several further classrooms. As I said, these are exciting times…

The past academic year has been another very busy and successful one.

The School’s creative voice has remained powerful and vibrant, with a scintillating sixth partnership concert with Bath Philharmonia, a fabulous fifth poetry and short story anthology, a dazzling photography exhibition, a wonderfully successful trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and our wholly original, entirely home-grown and brilliantly entertaining Pop! The Musical amongst the many memorable highlights.

The sporting year was measured as much by a fantastic level of participation amongst the pupils as it was by outright victories, although there was also much success to celebrate, including the U19 netballers winning their third consecutive county championship title. With nearly 100 pupils taking part in the Bronze and Silver expeditions and a ground-breaking Gold challenge in the Pyrenees, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award has also gone from strength to strength.

A glowing biennial inspection report was undoubtedly a highlight of the CCF year, whilst the broader vitality of the extra-curricular life of the School was evidenced by the fact that last year over 100 different clubs and societies were available to the pupils.

As always, there were also some fantastic trips on offer, with China and Tanzania standing out as some of the more exotic destinations.

A Level results

In a year of playing hard, the pupils didn’t forget to work hard as well, and their efforts were rewarded with another superb set of exam results, including a record-breaking 28% A* grades at A Level and a record-equalling return of 55% top grades at GCSE, with A*s now being joined by 9s and 8s as the new numerical scale starts to replace the letters of old.

It has also been a delight this past year to welcome so many OEs back to school.

The Rugby Reunion Dinner in memory of Lang Jones, a fantastically well-attended Summer Reunion and the increasingly popular Anniversary Reunion here at North Road all proved hugely enjoyable and confirmed the strength of friendship and camaraderie in the OE community and the enduring sense of attachment to the School felt by so many. As I often say, some of the buildings may have changed

China trip

over the years, but the spirit remains the same!

I am very grateful for the continuing support that you give to the School, in particular through the Bursary Fund and the wealth of university and careers advice offered, all of which help current and future generations of pupils to benefit from the superb quality of education that has always been at the heart of the King Edward’s experience. The new OE Activity Award, helping to enrich the extra-curricular life of the School, is another example of how our alumni reach out to the pupils of today, and it is very much appreciated by all of us here.

I am sure that you will enjoy reading another fantastic edition of the OElink magazine.

It is always an absolute pleasure for me to hear your news and to find out about the many ways in which OEs make such impressive contributions to the world once they leave their school days behind."

Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I wish you and your families well and look forward, hopefully, to catching up in person in the not-toodistant future.

Anniversary Reunion

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A special anniversary Former Headmaster, Dr John Wroughton reflects on the School’s connections with a centuries-old battle fought on Lansdown Hill.

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Image by permission of Littlecote House

© Bath Chronicle

s all my former History pupils will realise, the third of July 2018 marked a very special occasion – namely, the 375th anniversary of the Battle of Lansdown. What even they do not realise, however, is that, at that point in history (1643), both the Battle and the local Civil War entered into the very bloodstream of our School.

Colonel Alexander Popham

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There were several reasons for this: First, when royalist troops took control of the city in 1643, the children who were then at the School were scarred for life – including Thomas Rosewell. In an account written later by his sons, we learn that he was doing really well at school “…till the Civil Wars began to rage: And then (with the) King’s Army taking that garrison, their school was broke up, and the youth were scattered”.

Many other pupils got caught up in the conflict, including Henry Byam, who later became a chaplain to Charles II in exile; and Humfrey Chambers, who maintained a horse and a rider in Parliament’s army.”

The entire Chapman family, the members of which almost certainly went to KES and became members of the City Council, was divided down the middle.

Their ancestors today still bear those scars caused when families and friends are bitterly split asunder. Also remember that, shortly before the Battle, the whole of Parliament’s army, which had been encamped on Claverton Down, came pouring down the slopes on which the School now stands as they scurried back into the city. Their footprints are firmly embedded in our soil.

Second, many distant relatives of the pupils in the School today would have

Do not think, however, that this inner feeling is in danger of dying with age. Six years ago, our Junior School asked me if I would speak to the 40 or so eight-yearolds in Year 4 about Civil War battles, methods of fighting and armour. I took with me my Civil War artefacts, including original helmet, breastplate, cannonball and musket bullets. They eagerly tried on the armour! The following week, we took them up to the battlefield where, after a short tour around the site (which is much as it was at the time of the Battle), we staged a re-enactment in the very woods that were used as cover by the attacking royalists. I was truly amazed by their sheer excitement and the warlike cries that blighted the air. And it has to be said that the girls proved to be even more warlike than the boys! This adventure has now gone on for six years. So yes, the Battle is still very much alive in our bloodstream!

Popham's Bath Regiment, 1970

joined the Bath Regiment of volunteers, which met on Sundays after church to practise using their weapons. When the Civil War started, this regiment fought for Parliament under the command of Alexander Popham and was involved at Lansdown.

Small wonder then that at KES in 1969, when we formed Popham’s Bath Regiment to fight in the Sealed Knot’s re-enactments of Civil War battles, I was inundated with requests to join.”

Some 45-50 Sixth Form historians and members of the rugby team (very useful in hand-to-hand fighting!) joined up. We campaigned all over the country and eventually staged a colourful demonstration at the School’s Summer Fair. Indeed, we paraded on the very slopes which bear those footprints.

When, in 1993, the city celebrated the 350th anniversary of the Battle, large numbers of pupils and former pupils flocked up to the site to witness a re-enactment of the Battle by the Sealed Knot. Some days later our Senior Prefects willingly dressed up in period costume to wait at a ‘Civil War Banquet’, held in the panelled Hall of Abbey Church House. This was in fact an original 17th century building – an ideal setting for our feast of authentic food.

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Narrative is our culture’s currency; those who tell the best stories win.”

Bobette Buster, story guru

Barney Grenfell 1987-1992 shares how he has channelled his passion for storytelling and performance into setting up a company which coaches individuals and businesses so they can maximise the effectiveness of their presentations and communications.

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’m standing in the wings at Bristol’s Colston Hall, watching one of the speakers at TEDx Bristol nervously take to the stage. TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics – from science to business to global issues – in more than 100 languages. TED talks are a huge global brand, with the TED YouTube channel featuring some of the most watched videos on the internet, as well as live audiences of up to 5,000 people.

Given all this, it’s not surprising that the speaker is a little nervous. For me, there is a different kind of pressure as I have coached that speaker. Having worked with her to develop her narrative, I will now see it come to life on stage, performed with energy and confidence…

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I’ve always loved stories and performance, and my time at KES played an important role in the development of this passion.”

I have a memory of standing on a table in John Chambers’ English class singing an opera, possibly about breakfast. This was one of many forays into anarchic comedy performance attempted by me and Richard ‘Dick’ Chapman during those lessons. I’m not exactly sure what we were learning, but I enjoyed it immensely and those lessons no doubt helped to crystallise in me a love of performance, so much so that I decided to leave KES

after just five years to join a sixth form college, so that I could study A Levels in Theatre Studies and Communication Studies, options not then available at the School.

After A Levels, I went to the University of London. However, my degrees, in Philosophy and Philosophy of Science, had nothing to do with performance.

I had, I think, rather given up on my earlier dreams of treading the boards, perhaps seeing them as being a bit unrealistic. Yet that desire to perform in some way wouldn’t go away, so when I saw a job advert to work at the Science Museum in London, talking to visitors and doing science shows, I jumped on it! Before I knew it, I was performing science shows all around the country to audiences of hundreds of people.

During this time, I received some high-level presentation skills training and had the opportunity to present across Europe.”

After nearly ten years in London I was craving to return to the West Country, where my family was still based. The perfect opportunity came up at the At-Bristol Science Centre (now called We The Curious). During my time there I took a step back from performance and became more involved with devising and training, I discovered a new kind of pleasure in helping other people to perform confidently and with passion.

Hodos Consultancy Co grew out of a conversation with my close friend and business partner, Samuel. It was 2014, and I had moved on from We The Curious and was freelancing and being a full-time dad to my then threeyear-old son. Sam said: “I have an idea for a business – helping people develop their stories, and teaching them how to present them in a really engaging way.”

This ticked all my boxes in terms of helping people to find their unique voice.

As much as possible we encourage our clients to come up with the original material themselves. Copy-writing can be useful if a client is very pushed for time, but empowering a client to tell their story in their own words makes it that much more powerful when they get up on stage in front of their audience!

TEDx is wonderful for us, and a great niche we’ve carved out for ourselves, but increasingly we are hearing from people, in business and third sector organisations, who are looking to raise the bar with their presentations, and who recognise that even in the board room or during a sales pitch, people value authenticity and emotion.

part of so many people’s jobs, yet they get no training in it.”

The TEDx format of presentation is very effective for people from all walks of life and we’ve worked with clients ranging from Rolls Royce to Orange.

It’s interesting to reflect on the journey I’ve taken to get to where I am now. Even though it was only five years of my life, my time at King Edward’s was deeply formative, and that passion for making and performing stories that I discovered in KES English classes is something that I’m now able to use in my job and pass on to others.

Our top five tips for great presentations: 1. Storytell your data: A good story is the difference between a good presentation and an amazing presentation.

2. Give context: It is your personal history that gives you the authority to talk about your subject. Other people might know about your subject but no-one except you has your unique perspective on it.

3. Purpose: Knowing what you want to achieve with your talk will start to give it shape and focus.

4. Be authentically you: There are presentation coaches who tell you to be like this or that; we say…

Be yourself!

5. PRACTISE!: All your hard work and preparation can still come to nothing if you don’t do this.

Barney Grenfell 1987-1992 FAVOURITE SCHOOL MEMORY Going on the DofE overnight camping trip

OE PROFILE

At Hodos we use a unique narrative development process to help our clients move from the point of their initial idea to a finished script in a relatively short space of time.

Presenting is such a crucial

UNIVERSITY University of London: Philosophy BA, History and Philosophy of Science MSc LOCATION Bristol OCCUPATION Presentation and impact coach EMAIL barney@hodosconsultancyco.com WEBSITE www.hodosconsultancyco.com

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Pop! The Musical

Inspiring minds and investing in the future The School’s Development Director, Karen Teague, highlights the exciting new phase of investment taking place at the School. These new developments form the next stage in a transformational change in facilities to provide an inspiring environment within which pupils can explore and enjoy the creative, academic, sporting and all-round opportunities at KES.

Many of you who have returned to KES in recent years for reunions have remarked on the new facilities here, particularly the Wessex Building encompassing the Willett Dining Hall, library and top floor with grand piano for music performances and co-curricular clubs.

Expanding creative possibilities The blueprint for our next phase of development is ambitious, echoing the School’s aspirations for its pupils. Work is already underway on a professionallyequipped Drama Centre to accommodate this flourishing department and bring teaching and rehearsal spaces under one roof. The addition of a lighting rig with control desk, full sound system, recording equipment and wide-throw projector will further strengthen the technical and highly creative approach to Drama at KES.

Drama is the exploration of our lives and the world around us and provides pupils with an opportunity to work collaboratively and creatively, A Level Drama

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be they performing on stage or taking a role behind the scenes."

Creating space for teaching and learning As one of our recent pupils remarked, the Sixth Form acts much more as a transition into university and the outside world. Our plans to extend and enhance the Holbeche Centre, which is home to pupils during their Sixth Form years, focuses on creating an environment for young adults and providing a backdrop to a more independent style of learning, which will prepare them for their future study in Higher Education.

Alongside the enhanced Sixth Form Centre, will be a new teaching building, which will provide significant extra space, housing a whole department and offering an inspiring setting for pupils’ learning.

The new Holbeche Centre will provide an environment suitable for pupils as they approach adulthood and grow in confidence as independent and articulate thinkers."

Maximising outdoor space for sport and recreation The final stage of this next phase of our development plan is to create additional all-weather locations for sport and recreation on the North Road site and at the Pre-Prep.

Part of our ethos at KES is to encourage pupils to enjoy the benefits of being outdoors and to instill healthy habits which will extend beyond school into adulthood.

Over the last two years at KES, we have invested in a high-quality all-weather pitch and at Bathampton, provided four high-specification cricket lanes, akin to those in use at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

We will be supplementing this with an additional surface for Junior School sports training and recreation; re-surfacing the netball courts; and providing an all-weather pitch at the Pre-Prep where pupils often take their first steps in sport.

Whilst we are committed to these facilities in our plan, we have been grateful for the support of many parents, whose donations have meant that we can implement these developments sooner.

If you are able, and would like to donate to support these projects and so shape the future of King Edward’s School, you can make a gift on line at: www.kesbath.com/future, or by completing the enclosed donation form.

Thank you for your consideration.

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Jonathan Wyatt 1962-1967 remembers his legal training and career as a barrister.

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fter gaining a Law degree from the University of London, I joined Gray’s Inn and was called to the Bar in Trinity Term 1973, having not long before received my LLB from the Queen Mother in a graduation ceremony held at the Royal Albert Hall.

Pupillage followed my call and so began a very exciting time in my life.

The first six months included time spent at the Old Bailey, listening to one of the leading freedom of speech cases of the day – the ‘Oz Trial’ – before taking on small cases of my own.”

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My lucky break was to be recruited to do a working pupillage at the then Solicitor General’s Chambers, 2 Dr Johnson’s Buildings. I had been prominent in the Gray’s Inn Debating Society and Clarissa Dickson-Wright, later to be a television personality, headhunted me for her chambers. I soon found myself busy in all the magistrates’ courts of South London. Pupillage was generally self-funded, but I gained some awards from Gray’s Inn and soon got on my feet. Unusually for a pupil, I bought a car, a second-hand Triumph Herald Convertible – I really thought I was cutting a dash in the legal world.

Not long after, however, Clarissa advised me that the Government was likely to change and that they stood to lose the Solicitor General’s work so no pupils would be recruited as tenants.

Reviewing my plans, I took further pupillage in a Western Circuit set and

then a tenancy in Bristol. Now based in the West Country, I could combine my legal work with my other love, surfing. For many years, I wandered Devon, Cornwall, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire – have wig can travel!

My training and expertise was such that I loved nothing more than a sturdy court battle where I hoped that justice would be done and that I would win the case for my solicitor’s client.

My practice was both civil and criminal.

All I needed was a case that had an issue to be fought.

In my time, I dealt with criminal cases that involved death and civil cases that sometimes involved large amounts of local authority money. As a barrister you become used to analysing factual matters, applying the law and making decisions, often at speed. This was always the challenge that I had sought in undertaking this career.

Towards the age of 30, a colleague of mine, knowing my interest in the sea, encouraged me to join the Royal Navy Reserve. I then became a Probationary Acting Sub Lieutenant and spent 13 years in Dark Blue, ending up a Lieutenant Commander in Special Branch, Intelligence. I served in small ships, headquarters and HMS Ark Royal.

The best result of my service time was marrying Second Officer Diana Day WRNS, whom I met at the Defence Intelligence Centre.

After 28 years as an advocate, I decided to specialise in arbitration.

I had always had an interest in it and was qualified as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb). In 2003, I took the Institute’s Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration at Keble College, Oxford, and thereafter only worked in this field. As much of the work was computer-driven, I could spend the months of January and February overseas, particularly in the Hawaiian Islands. I also became involved in the Western Counties branch of the CIArb, first as the Secretary and later as Chairman, before retiring from active practice in 2015.

Reflecting on my lifetime of work, I remember with grateful thanks my education at King Edward’s, which set me on the path."

It was Brian Holbeche who recommended that I study Law, R Ben Jones and John Wroughton who enthused me with an interest in history and getting the facts right, and Michael Allen and Brian Holbeche who stimulated my love of the English language. My thanks also go to Mike Hunt who appointed me House Captain and Trevor Rhymes who superintended the lifesaving and swimming and who, above all, encouraged my love of drama and acting, albeit in court rather than in the theatre!

Thank you, King Edward’s, for a great start.

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Landmine clearance itself is a very slow and painstaking process, and HALO are carrying it out in countries with less robust political and social systems in place."

Emma Simons 2001-2008 explains how her gap year experiences changed the course of her life and led to her working for the HALO Trust, a charity which ensures that landmines and other explosive remnants of war are safely removed so that families and communities can return to their land.

I With the Colombian Minister for Post-Conflict

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was a bit of an all-rounder at school and took quite an eclectic mix of subjects for my A Levels: English Literature, Spanish, Physics and Fine Art. I had no clear idea about what I wanted to do after school, but I finally settled on studying Philosophy at UCL. It seemed like a subject that presented an interesting mix of logic and creativity that would keep the door firmly ajar for the future.

The only thing I was convinced of was that I wanted to take a gap year.

Since travelling to South Africa on a school sports tour, I knew I wanted to go back and volunteer. I decided to go to Brazil and Argentina, South Africa and Australia. Alongside school work I was doing as many waitressing shifts as I could. I also qualified for a Gap

Year Scholarship to help me pursue my volunteering plans and took on three jobs as soon as exams were over. I met my target and in September I jetted off to São Paulo.

I loved returning to South Africa, volunteering in the shanty towns around Cape Town and travelling along the Wild Coast and through Lesotho. However, it was Brazil that had the biggest impact on me.

I fell in love with the vibrancy and variety of the culture, the music, the artwork, the nature, the food, the cities and, most of all, the people."

I had naively assumed that my shaky A Level Spanish would get me through three months volunteering in Brazil.

After all, Portuguese and Spanish are basically the same, right?

Wrong! It only took me the car journey from the airport to realise the error of my assumption. I set myself to reading the newspaper every day and paid close attention when my friends were speaking Portuguese. The kids in the favela project where I was volunteering were relentless, and I had no choice but to try to understand and communicate. By the

end of my time in Brazil, my Portuguese was passable and my plans were changing.

Returning to the UK in the summer of 2009, I cancelled my place at UCL and decided to study Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies at Manchester.

I can happily say that it was one of the best decisions I have ever made and it definitely changed the course of my life.

River crossing, Cambodia

After graduating, I was keen to work in the third sector and started looking for paid work in NGOs or non-profit organisations.

It was far more competitive than I had ever imagined and it was demoralising receiving rejection after rejection, or often no acknowledgment at all.

When I was called to interview for the HALO Trust (Hazardous Area Life-Support Organisation), I did as much research as I could but I still didn’t understand the reality of working in a conflict or post-conflict environment and what is actually required to find and destroy landmines. It was noted that I spoke both Spanish and Portuguese, but my first posting was to Sri Lanka.

In my position as Programme Support Officer for the HALO Sri Lanka programme, I managed a number of concurrent contracts for international donors such as the governments of Japan, USA, UK and Norway. I designed and carried out detailed pre- and postintervention studies to assess the impact of landmine clearance on vulnerable communities in Northern Sri Lanka.

I then moved across to what is known as the operations side of HALO’s activities. In my last role, as Operations Manager in Colombia, I was responsible for the planning and deployment of demining and survey teams across five different locations across the country.

Through the managers of the five locations, I controlled the administrative and operational requirements of our mine clearance projects. I was directly responsible for all departments in these locations – operations (mine clearance and survey), finance, administration, medical, fleet, construction, liaison and the 400 people spread across these disciplines. It was essential that I remained informed of the social, political and economic situation which, in Colombia, is particularly volatile given the ongoing peace process after such a

protracted and damaging civil war.

The demands of my roles in Afghanistan, Mozambique, Cambodia and Ukraine were similar, although in each case I had to adapt to the local context, be it security, density of landmines or social customs. The most important skill I had to hone (and to some extent learn) was patience. In the UK we are used to immediate feedback and instant gratification and the systems and processes are, for the most part, efficient. Landmine clearance itself is a very slow and painstaking process, and HALO are carrying it out in countries with less robust political and social systems in place. Impatience can result in damaging relations with governments or stakeholders, poor decision-making or, at worst, a fatal accident. As a result, it is essential to consider and plan for all eventualities, making sure that there are contingencies in place in case of accidents, incidents or delays.

The challenges involved in my work were many and varied, but the rewards were specific. I saw families return to their land to begin rebuilding their houses mere hours after landmines were removed. We had farmers waiting with ploughs to be able to start cultivating crops where landmines had once been sown. The gratification of returning to a once-barren minefield and seeing a thriving community was immeasurable.

The sheer variety was what made the job interesting and it meant that I was constantly learning. I faced down a strike

of more than 400 staff and evacuated snake-bite victims down eight hours of rocky mountain trail.

One day I would be liaising with the commander of guerrilla forces in the jungle and the following day planning a visit for ambassadors or dignitaries."

It was those challenges that, at the time, might have seemed insurmountable but, after the stress had passed, made the job most fun. (They also make great anecdotes at parties.)

It is always grounding to return home to the West Country and earlier this year I revisited KES and enjoyed talking with former teachers, such as Mrs Bougeard, whose exacting standards, infinite patience and dry sense of humour encouraged my study of Spanish! From this autumn, I am looking forward to a short career break in which I will be studying for a Masters in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies at LSE in London to consolidate the experience I have gained in the field. I then plan to work abroad again, likely co-ordinating emergency relief in response to crises, whether natural disasters or conflict.

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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 final instalment in a five-part series by Gareth Davies 1972-1983 provides a brief insight into some of the actions they took part in during the final 16 months of the Great War.

This final article covers the largest period of the Great War, August 1917-November 1918, a time during which battles such as the Third Ypres (aka Passchendaele), Cambrai, the German Spring Offensive, Amiens, and the Last 100 Days took place. As I said last year, I have again tried to find a common narrative here, but the focus again is that these were OEs who died for King and Country.

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Third Battle of Ypres The summer of 1917 is best remembered for the mud and blood of what has become known as the Battle of Passchendaele. Nine British Divisions, over 100,000 men, advanced on 31 July 1917. The battle wore on for three months and the British gained valuable ground but the breakthrough they sought eluded them. Eleven OEs died in the battles between August and October 1917 but just four of them have marked graves. These were Capt Geoffrey Haydon of the South Wales Borderers, 2Lt Reginald Hatcher of the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, Pte Reginald Carr who served in the 9th Devonshires, and LCpl Denis Church of the London Rifle Brigade.

His officer wrote of him: “He was an excellent and reliable fellow, and I am very sorry to lose him.” Many of those killed in Flanders during the summer and autumn of 1917 have no known grave and so they are commemorated on the Menin Gate or the Tyne Cot Memorial, including OEs 2Lt William Worsley of the 4th Bn Somerset LI, LCpl George Tall from the 26th Bn the Royal Fusiliers (known as the Bankers’ Bn), Pte George Marchant and Pte Edward Batley who were both in the 7th Bn Somerset LI, Spr Frederick Blackmore, Royal Engineers, Gnr Arthur Erwood of the Machine Gun Corps, and 2Lt Herbert Isaacs who, because he had been in New Zealand at the outbreak of the war, served in the Auckland Regiment. He had served in Gallipoli in 1915.

Pte Douglas Meehan, Arras Memorial

Despite it being little known, particularly in comparison to the Somme and Passchendaele, the first month of the German Offensive was deadlier While the main focus was in Flanders, life in the trenches in France was still dangerous. Sgt Frederick Neale-Batten, a member of 3rd Special Company RE – the organisation responsible for operating the British Army’s offensive gas warfare capability – was killed near Arras in October 1917. And despite Third Ypres finishing in November 1917, the deaths continued. OE Lt Thomas Street from the 10th Bn Gloucestershire Regiment died in January 1918 just north of Ypres.

Palestine While the battles in Flanders were coming to an end, the British were having some successes in the Middle East. After capturing Beersheba on 31 October 1917 and Gaza City a few days later, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force advanced north against a retreating yet still determined Ottoman enemy.

Jerusalem fell on 9 December 1917, an early Christmas present for Lloyd George perhaps. But the Turks kept fighting and 2Lt Baylis Silcox, attached to the 7th Bn Dublin Fusiliers, was killed on 29 December 1917 by a shell that also killed two other officers. The War Diary describes this event as “a very heavy loss to the Battalion”. He is buried on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem.

German Spring Offensive A combination of factors, including shortages of food at home and the imminent arrival of the American Expeditionary Force, led the Germans to gamble on one final assault against the Allies in the Spring of 1918. The first advance was launched on 21 March 1918 on the Somme. Within five days the BEF had lost all the ground it had taken in July-November 1916 and was still

being pushed back. Two weeks later the Germans attacked south of Ypres and this was followed by offensives to the south, in the predominantly French-held sectors, in May-July. Despite it being little known, particularly in comparison to the Somme and Passchendaele, the first month of the German Offensive was deadlier than the first month of the Somme in 1916.

Ten OEs died during these German attacks and six of them have named individual graves. Capt Tom Jones of the newly formed RAF was killed along with his observer while on an Artillery Observation Patrol. They were shot down by the German fighter ace Lieutenant Joseph Jacobs of Jasta 7. 2Lt John Richards of the 1st Bn Devonshire Regiment and Lt Edward Ash who served in the 11th Bn Lancashire died in April. Cpl Cecil Walker from the 8th Bn Gloucestershire Regiment died in June, LCpl Alfred Stevens who served in the 31st Bn Machine Gun Corps was killed in July and Pte Norman Whatley of the Liverpool Scottish died in August 1918.

Many of the men who died have no known grave. Commemorated on the Arras Memorial are OEs Capt Harry Simpkin of the 13th Bn Yorkshire Regiment, younger brother to Arthur, Pte Douglas Meehan from the 10th Bn Queen’s Regiment, and Cpl Archibald Winkworth who served in the London Rifle Brigade. All three died in March 1918. Also killed in March but commemorated further south, on the Pozières Memorial, is Pte Reginald Clark of the 11th Bn Royal Fusiliers.

There is one final casualty of the German Spring Offensive who is buried not in France nor Flanders but in Germany.

LCpl Selwyn Pike, originally a North Somerset Yeoman but by 1918 serving

than the first month of the Somme in 1916.”

in the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons, was captured on 25 March 1918 and taken to a POW camp in Germany. He died in July 1918 and is buried in Berlin.

The Last 100 Days The German Offensive ran out of steam in July 1918. On 4 August the Allies seized the initiative and on 8 August 1918 they launched the Battle of Amiens, the opening action in what, despite being 96 days long, became popularly known as the Last 100 Days. Eight OEs died in this final push. 2Lt Geoffrey Andrews of the Royal Garrison Artillery arrived on the Western Front in February 1918. He was wounded on 16 September 1918 during the British advance on the Somme, on ground that had been hard fought for two years earlier, and he died later that day. The other OEs to lose their lives in these final months of the war were Pte

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Old Edwardians and the Great War…

Capt, Arthur Simpkin, Arras Memorial

I want to finish by paying tribute not only to the fallen but also to those who fought and survived, who after the war on the whole quietly got on with their lives.”

UK Although the Armistice came into place on the Western Front on 11 November, the death toll continued after that date; those men who were still serving and died in as late as 1921 are still considered to be victims of the Great War. The two OEs who died after the Armistice are both buried in the City. They are Sgt John Carthew of the Royal Army Service

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Corps who died on 25 November 1918 and is buried in St James’ Cemetery and Capt William Blundell of the 12th Bn Bedfordshire Regiment who died on 13 December 1918 and is buried in Locksbrook.

With the exception of a few individuals, my focus over the past four years has been on the OEs who died, but in this fifth and final article I want to finish by paying tribute not only to the fallen but also to those who fought and survived, who after the war on the whole quietly got on with their lives. The death toll for KES was just over 13% which is in line with the overall death rate for the BEF. Researching those who died is much easier than researching those who came home and so the 87%, the 486 OEs who served, survived, returned to their families, and in most cases simply got on with their lives have been largely overlooked. Their names are captured on a scroll kept at KES and one day I hope to tell some of their stories.

Gareth Davies 1972-1983 CAREER A former Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Tank Regiment, Gareth left the Army in 2015. He is now a battlefield guide, writer and a student of twentieth century warfare.

His areas of expertise are the development of tactics and technology in the period 1916-1918, Allenby’s campaign in Palestine in 1917-1918 and tank warfare in both the First and Second World Wars. His first book, on tanks in 1917, will be published in 2018.

CONTACT ghdavies99@gmail.com

OE PROFILE

Gerald Studley of the 12th Bn Somerset LI, Capt Arthur Simpkin of the 8th Bn Yorkshire Regiment, brother of Harry who was killed in March, Lt George Annaheim from the 1st Bn Royal Munster Fusiliers, Sgt Ronald Hext RAF who was killed while flying in a DH9, LCpl Thomas Batten of the 6th Bn Dorsetshire Regiment, LCpl Gilbert Dare from the 8th Bn Royal Berkshire Regiment and Pte Richard Cook who served in the 2nd Bn London Regiment. Just over two weeks later the Armistice would be in place and for most the war was over.

Promoting empathy with data-driven fashion

Alex Rutherford 1993-2000 reveals why he recently took the unusual step of starting a company after a lifetime of avoiding Business Studies classes.

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ost people would guess that my first business venture, as someone with a training in Physics and Computer Science, would be a high-tech undertaking, not out of place in Silicon Valley. It may come as a surprise, then, that Data Apparel is in fact a social enterprise that combines ethical fashion with graphic design. This might beg the question of why would I choose to do that?

One of the many unwritten lessons I had to learn in becoming a scientist is the frequent need to compress lots of work and complex ideas into a killer graphic to appear in a presentation, webpage or report. These are single images that can take days or weeks to get right. The adage that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ continued to ring true while I was working as a data scientist with the United Nations, an environment laden with meetings, reports and presentations. In a world of increasing stimulation and distraction, visual representations draw your audience in to hear your story. So, if you really want people to take notice of your work as a scientist, you have to get pretty good at visualisation.

I also recognised that there are lots of socially-conscious people who recognise

that they are lucky to be relatively healthy, safe and educated, but don’t know the best way to use that privilege to advocate for those less fortunate.

People are complex and

increased? All our products ship with stylish inserts explaining the data behind the design, so when your friend asks you about the design on your chest you can have an informed conversation about the advances in maternal health and immunisation rates.

Positive social change can begin in unexpected places and with an act as ostensibly trivial as wearing an eyecatching T-shirt!

trying to get them to engage with complex issues such as international development can be challenging, even when they are charitably minded. Indeed, big organisations like Oxfam or UNICEF make great efforts and innovate tirelessly to do so.”

I saw a gap for data visualisation to bridge the ethical, global citizen and the sometimes-challenging topics they would like to engage with. Wearing Data Apparel clothing not only comes with the peace of mind of strict ethical sourcing and a donation to charity, but in a small way also empowers the wearer to start a conversation. Our life expectancy design shows a positive message of people living longer, healthier lives over time, but why has life expectancy

Alex Rutherford

dataapparel.co.uk Use the code KES2018 for a 20% discount

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Paul Smith 1977-1988 reports on how his company ran an event at the Kremlin in Moscow.

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uring my very happy KES days, I tended to be ‘social secretary’ and was always organising parties at various nightclubs around Bath for friends from KES and other local schools. On the back of four such parties in 1987 and 1988, I made enough profit to buy myself a car and after leaving KES I spent a month on holiday in the South of France. I then went off to study hotel management in Switzerland and worked in some beautiful hotels around Europe.

In 1998, I founded an event management company in London.

We’ve had huge amounts of good fortune, plus some big dents along the road, but it’s always been an adventure.

We’ve been lucky enough to have run several hundred events in over 30 countries, and one of the most memorable took place in May this year – an event at the Kremlin in Moscow."

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Paul with one of the opera singers Having been introduced to a wellknown Russian oligarch, the relationship flourished and we have run several high-profile events in London, including a black-tie dinner for 200 people at the Dorchester Hotel in 2017, where the entertainment included Lionel Richie, Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams.

On the strength of this event, our Russian client insisted we run a party for him at the Kremlin!

Given the client profile and guest list, it was going to be no ordinary party and the event had to be faultless. We worked in close liaison with the Kremlin staff, who were brilliant. Having run events in pretty much all corners of the globe, the scale of this event, which included engaging opera singers to perform, tested us like no other.

Upon our arrival in Moscow, our client’s office looked after us very well and we were whisked around the city in a fleet of blacked-out cars for our various meetings. The dinner, which included the finest champagne and caviar, was held in the Kremlin Ballroom and to see our opera singers perform to 500 people in this spectacular setting was quite something.

The highlight of the evening for me was when our client thanked me with a crunching handshake (he worked on oil rigs) and a big slap on the back.

The next day we all flew home, still pinching ourselves at what we had seen and done and, yes, I did get to taste the caviar – it was worth every penny!

www.touchassociates.com

The Psalms Project

Clem Faux 2007-2014 introduces the new contemporary folk album he has co-written with his father, the composer Steven Faux.

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he contemporary folk album You Are is based on the fourth book of Psalms (90-106). It forms part of The Psalms Project, a music series created by my father, who invited me to co-write Volume IV with him after I graduated in 2017.

At the heart of the Bible sit 150 songs, encompassing the full spectrum of human experience. Whether rejoicing in the wonder of creation or lamenting the pain of broken relationships, the psalmist strives always to understand the world through the lens of God’s eternality and lavish love.

The overarching theme of Book IV is how the eternal creator relates lovingly to his people, who are but ‘dust’. Our hope for the album is that, through hearing the Psalms presented in an engaging and enjoyable way, many people can encounter this kind creator.

When Dad and I began the nine-month composition process, we realised that we inhabit quite different musical worlds.

Dad writes film and television scores, is classically trained as a violinist and loves Irish folk. I am a jazzer with a passion for choral music, and have absorbed pop idioms into my musical language by osmosis. To help us produce a coherent album, we literally drew a Venn diagram containing the musical genres in which we would be happy to compose, and discovered folk (or at least ‘folk fusion’) at the intersection!

From then onwards it was a case of translating the Psalms (Dad’s job, not mine!) and writing the songs. We wrote some tracks together and others were composed separately. Most common was for one of us to come up with a basic musical framework for a song on our own, after which it became ‘shared property’ into which we would have more or less equal input. Sometimes we would use the text as the starting point, and other times we’d write the tune before tweaking it to fit the particular Psalm.

Working in collaboration is always a lesson in compromise, but fortunately we discovered that we complement each other well. Whereas I’m not much use at writing tunes, Dad is brilliant; on other occasions, I would revisit a piece and cut out entire sections or re-order a song completely – precisely what Dad needed to sort the wood from the trees. Needless to say, the album would not have been realised without Dad’s production experience.

The album features top musicians from Paris and the West End (including one of the Swingle Sisters!). It was launched in Bath in April 2018 to great success, followed by a mini-tour of Winchester, Bristol, London and Oxford, plus a number of folk festivals to boot. If you think of a potential venue for a live performance, do get in touch, and we hope you enjoy the album!

It is available for purchase, download, and streaming on iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and at www.stevenfaux.com

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To contribute news for the next issue, please contact the Development Office: development@kesbath.com

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1976 Reunion

OEs from 1976 reunited at this year’s Summer Reunion event at KES in June to celebrate their 60th birthdays, with a further reunion held in the evening at Woods Restaurant in Bath.

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1986 Reunion

“To celebrate turning 50, leavers from 1986 got together this year to mark the occasion with two reunions. The first, held in February, was nearly defeated by snow, but saw 30 or so of us meet in Bath to compare bald spots and waistlines. We came from far and wide – with Alex Key coming the furthest, flying in from Hong Kong – for a trip around many of the old pubs and a meal at Woods. A handful even managed to see the night out at Moles, where one of our number, Ian Sawyer, is a regular club DJ.

It was amazing how easy it was to recognise and remember faces after so long and how fantastic it was to catch up after 32 years."

Richard Reeve 1967 Has written The sexual imperative in the novels of Sir Henry Rider Haggard. The book combines literary criticism with biography and is published by Anthem Press.

Tham Luang cave

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Group found 2.5 miles from the mouth of the cave after nine days of searches

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Rob Harper 1971

Was one of the first three British caving experts called to Thailand in June to oversee the operation to locate the 12 boys and their football coach who went missing in the Tham Luang cave.

Rob, who has decades of experience exploring and surveying caves around the world, has specific knowledge of the Thai cave complex and helped with logistics on the ground to help fellow British cave divers, Rick Stanton and John Volanthen find the trapped group.

A veterinary surgeon, Rob’s long-standing fascination with caving began in 1968 when he joined the KES Caving Club.

A wide collection of professional experience was gathered: doctors, TV producers and scriptwriters, policemen, former army officers, those in recruitment, owning their own businesses, journalists, publishers, solicitors, university lecturers, marketing and company directors, architects, musicians – a complete array. Old stories were swapped and there was much fond reminiscing about everyone’s time at North Road and, for some, the Junior School, plus former teachers and those no longer with us. Several managed to see North Road and commented on how much has changed, but equally how much is still very much the same.

Many of us met again in London in June, along with some new faces, on one of the hottest days of the year.

We’ve made plans for further gettogethers which include a trip to see Bath Rugby play at Twickenham and a three-day charity cycle ride to France.

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3 It has been an extraordinarily rewarding experience for everyone and it’s so nice to be back in touch. Huge thanks to Justin Birch for the inspirational idea and organisation and we look forward to celebrating our next landmark birthdays together.”

IAN PIKE

Richard Brown 1989 Brigadier Richard Brown is now the Chief Engineer in the UK-led, NATOassigned Allied Rapid Reaction Corps based in Innsworth, Gloucestershire.

This headquarters has previously run all military land operations in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan and is a highreadiness headquarters ready to deploy on NATO missions. Its military engineers help the Army to live, move and fight, while preventing the enemy doing the same, by conducting demolitions and bomb disposal, and by building bridges, minefields, road and camps.

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Seb Valentine 2000

Is a Detective Constable with Surrey Police and the Musical Director of the Blue Light Symphony Orchestra, which he formed in 2016. The orchestra, which promotes mental wellbeing through music and support, brings together musicians from the UK’s emergency services. In December 2017, they performed on the ITV show. A Night for the Emergency Services and are recording a charity single next year at Abbey Road Studios. They are in the process of forming a charity and are looking for trustees. If any OEs would like to offer their help, please could they email: enquiries@bluelightsymphony.org

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Nick Martin 1992 Is working as a GP in Australia and spent most of 2017 working as the Senior Medical Officer on the island of Nauru, Australia’s offshore detention centre for asylum seekers. He has since spoken out about the suffering of those asylum seekers, an issue which has been covered

by Buzzfeed and ABC. Read more at: www.meanjin.com/au/essays/the-naurudiaries/

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Tim Caines 2001

Married Karen Stevens on 24 November 2017. With the groom above are: Jackson Toms-Limb (2001), Fraser ThompsonNoble (2001) and brother, Jonathan Caines (1997).

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James Luetchford 2003

Skis internationally as a visually impaired ski racer and is training with British Parasnowsport’s development team. He won the British Championships in 2017 and qualified this year for the Europa Cup races. His aim is to represent GB at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing and hopefully to bring back a medal.

To find out more about James’ story and to support his fundraising efforts, please visit: www.makeachamp.com/ jamesluetchford

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Tristan Le Lohé 2006

Was honoured to take part in the ‘RAF 100’ anniversary celebrations on 10 July.

He flew as part of the Typhoon section, in which 22 Typhoon jets flew in a ‘100’ formation over Buckingham Palace.

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Victoria Jones 2006

Married Tim Whitney on 2 September 2017 in the historic Hartham Chapel, near Corsham, with celebrations afterwards at Church Farm in Hartham. Five of the bridesmaids were OEs and another 15 guests came from the 1999-2006 cohort.

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2017 Team spirit

2017 leavers returned to their old stomping ground at Bathampton on 22 March to play a football match against the current Year 12 and Year 13 team. It was an end-to-end game, but the young guns came through 5-2 in the end.

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There were some cracking goals and a chance to socialise in the Winter Pavilion afterwards!"

John George Bishop At KES 1946-1953

Passed away peacefully on 25 November 2017, aged 79 A keen mathematician and rugby player, John gained a scholarship to King Edward’s in 1946 and enjoyed his school days very much. After leaving the School, he went to work on his parents’ farm at Toghill. He was an active member of Bath Young Farmers and competed in the World Ploughing Competition in Oxford in 1956.

John married June Distin in 1960 and they farmed on the Beaufort Estate at Bushes Farm, Horton for 45 years before retiring to Oare in Exmoor. Sadly, John became ill in February 2013 and they moved back to the Bath area to be closer to family. John leaves his loving wife, June and two daughters, Jane and Angela and four grandchildren who live in London and Singapore.

He was always a true Old Edwardian and proud of his school.”

He continued to support Bath Rugby, but overall, he was a passionate farmer and loving husband, Dad and Grampy.

Jane Jervis

Elizabeth 'Beth' Brown At KES 1986-1993

Passed away on 28 February 2018, aged 63 It was with great sadness that we heard that Beth Brown had lost her battle for life. She was in collision with another car two days before Christmas, and was taken with very serious injuries to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where, after making some progress, she contracted an infection which failed to respond to treatment.

After reading Mathematics at Bristol University, Beth taught at Hayesfield and Writhlington Schools before joining KES in 1984. She was a very good, hard-

working member of the Mathematics Department, who taught successfully at all levels and had particular responsibility for Lower School Maths. Those who were taught by her will know that she always had their interests at heart and they will have benefited from her expert guidance. She was an excellent, caring tutor, and coordinated Activities Week for several years.

Beth had a real sense of fun and an infectious laugh, so the Common Room was the poorer, if somewhat quieter, for her departure.”

Despite Beth’s successful time in education, she had long felt the call to ministry, so it was no real shock when she decided to change course. She was ordained deacon in 1995 and priest in 1996 in the very early days of women priests in the Church of England, so she really was a pioneering spirit. After serving as a curate in Taunton, she had several posts in the Bath/Swindon area before retiring from full-time ministry in 2015. She took a part-time post as associate priest, based in Bishops Cannings near Devizes. Here she rapidly became a very well-known and loved character, not least at the local primary school where she was a governor. The moving and heartfelt tributes at the packed funeral were testament to her impact on the community, who had clearly taken her to their hearts.

Those who knew Beth will have very fond memories of her.

Geoff Staley

John 'Bruce' Farrer At KES 1946-1955

Passed away 1 August 2018, aged 80 Bruce joined King Edward’s in 1946 at the age of eight and left in the summer of 1955. It was here that he developed, amongst other things, his love of sport, which continued throughout his life. He played for the 1st XV Rugby (Colours

Bruce Farrer 1954), 1st XI Hockey and 1st XI Cricket (Colours 1955) whilst also holding the position of School Boxing Captain 19531955 and House Games Captain (Osric).

After school, Bruce became a Chartered Electrical Engineer and was a member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers and the British Institution of Management.

He worked extensively in East and West Africa as well as the Middle East, retiring as Managing Director of Swaziland Electricity Board in 2001. He was made a Freeman of the City of London in 1991.

In sport, Bruce was an active member of the Old Edwardians and then went on to play rugby and cricket for Bath.

A highlight was a charity cricket match played at Bath CC in 1964 where he bowled Sir Garfield Sobers (West Indies) and ran out Richie Benaud (Australia)!

Bruce also played cricket for Impala CC, Kenya Kongonis, Uganda Kobs, Chard CC and Dowlish Wake CC. Aside from sport, Bruce also enjoyed singing, becoming Chairman of the Riyadh Choral Society in 1982 whilst working in Saudi Arabia. He then joined Chard Light Operatic Society on his return to the UK and was a founder member of Heritage Theatre, which retold key historical events in song and verse.

Bruce was an excellent raconteur, with a story for every occasion. He had the temperament and humour to mix well with anyone he met, essential as he travelled and worked around the world in a career he loved. He was always very proud of his King Edward’s connection and, latterly, greatly enjoyed the reunions at the School. A fellow Old Edwardian recently recalled how he and Bruce would occasionally meet up and always ended up singing the School song!

Bruce will be greatly missed.

Nicky Courtier

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Alistair Hillier

Alistair Hillier At KES 1984-1995

Passed away 31 March 2018, aged 40 Alistair Hillier – also known as Ali, H, Hills and, of course, Hillier – was a pupil at both Broad St and North Road in the 1980s-90s and left after completing his A Levels in 1995 to read Social and Economic History at the University of Exeter. Throughout his school years Alistair was a dedicated rugby player, touring Canada on the 1995 tour and eventually playing a couple of games for the Bath 2nd XV at hooker whilst at Exeter. In addition, he took part in Dr Thorn’s ‘rambling trips’, played clarinet in the wind band and achieved the rank of SNCO in the School’s CCF. Post-university and following a ski season in the French Alps running a chalet, he ‘found himself’ sufficiently to realise that a job was required and so moved to London to seek his fortune, or rather pay his rent whilst working out what work suited him best. After various iterations he took the bold move of embarking on a self-funded Law Conversion course, which he successfully completed.

Ultimately, by good fortune and strength of character, he secured a position in the legal department of ITV in London and never looked back. He was, in part, responsible for bringing such shows as The Only Way is Essex to the unsuspecting British public before moving on to ITV Sport where he could indulge his passion for rugby and Liverpool Football Club whilst holding down a day job looking after their sporting media rights.

During his time in London, Alistair met and ultimately married Melissa and they had two children who were a source of great joy to him. Realising that the London district of Walthamstow did not allow his family to enjoy the open space that he had enjoyed in his formative

years, they moved to Chippenham, Wiltshire in 2015. The successful transition allowed them to enjoy the benefits of Wiltshire whilst Alistair maintained his legal career in London with ITV, with a view to seeking a position nearer to his family.

Sadly, this plan had almost come to fruition when he was diagnosed with a terminal illness shortly before his 40th birthday in September 2017. After the initial shock, and to his credit, Alistair remained in good spirits until the end of his life on 31 March 2018, when he passed away peacefully surrounded by his family. It was both a testament to the regard that Alistair was held in and a comfort to his family that 200 people attended his funeral, including a good number of friends from his school years.

It was an untimely but fitting end to a life well lived.

Ed Hillier

Peter Arthur Hiscocks At KES 1952-1958

Passed away 18 February 2018, aged 75, six days after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer

Trevor Rhymes

At KES 1936-1945 (as a pupil) and 1959-1991 (as a member of staff) Passed away 1 January 2018, aged 90

Trevor Rhymes was a larger-than-life character, and King Edward’s School flowed strongly in his blood as, in coming to the School, he was following in the footsteps of both his grandfather and his father, and was later joined by brother, Rupert. Having entered the Prep School in 1936, he finally left the Senior School in 1945 to undertake National Service as a captain in the Indian Army. Then, after training as a teacher, he served his apprenticeship in two local primary schools, before returning to the Trevor Rhymes

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Junior School in 1959, where he stayed until his retirement in 1991. So that’s it then, his career in a nutshell. But wait, there’s far more to Trevor than that, for he was no mere time-server.

Quite apart from his teaching, he threw himself wholeheartedly into the life of both the Junior and Senior Schools, helping to run the Cadet Force, coaching swimming and producing plays (including both Julius Caesar and Hamlet).

Furthermore, he masterminded the great ‘Farewell to Broad Street Pageant’ in 1990, with its colourful procession from Broad Street to the School’s new building in North Road.

So how did the boys view him? Here are some of their reflections his family have received: “He always lived life to the full,” wrote one; “He had great verve and knowledge of the intricacies of drama – it was a pleasure to gain from him a love of the stage and acting”. Even at lunchtime his drama teaching continued.

One pupil observed that, “He would read out the lunch menu with exquisite diction, managing to imply that we were to feast like kings”. Nor did he forget his back-stage crew, who were always invited to a sumptuous feast provided by Trevor and his wife, Ros, at post-production dinners. According to one wide-eyed pupil: “There I first encountered Pear Helène, I blame them for introducing me to Beaujolais and beginning a life-long love of the grape.” And how did the boys assess him in the classroom?

“A truly inspirational teacher,” wrote one. “He was always immaculately attired – and had an eyesight that missed nothing.

He had the most warm, rich voice, every word clearly enunciated – he taught me to speak correctly.”

Another pupil thought him “very dapper with his natty silk handkerchief and bright red cravat”.

Jack will always be remembered for his kind nature, beneath the bravado of an extroverted and confident exterior."

And what about Trevor at camp with the CCF? “He was a hoot,” wrote one.

So, in the deep snow of Norway, the cadets stood waiting expectantly as Trevor (who was not his best on skis) descended a steep slope. They then greeted his inevitable fall at the end of the run with roars of laughter. And Ian Phipps tells how Trevor once drove an army Landrover down to an army base in Devon for the annual camp. He badly misjudged the timing of the security bar on the gate. He inched forward cautiously, but the bar crashed down between the vehicle and the trailer, causing them to be stuck there for an eternity. He took all this in good part.

And what about his swimming coaching?

A number of his pupils were immensely successful in the county championships and beyond, and remain eternally grateful. Trevor, too, distinguished himself by becoming National President of the Amateur Swimming Association – and actually took the national team to the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. What an honour! I know all this personally, because I was also there but as a spectator. We finally met on the staircase of the Kremlin, having been kept apart by tight security. I was on an official tour when suddenly I heard THE VOICE – and there was Trevor in another group.

After retirement, Trevor, Ros and I became great friends, meeting regularly for meals or visits to their house in Provence. Happy memories – and this is just a small sample. There is so much more to say but…

Thank you, Trevor, for being such an inspirational teacher, a loyal member of the KES community and a good friend.”

John Wroughton

Rex Charles Willcox At KES 1936-1940

Passed away 13 June 2018, aged 92

John 'Jack' Michael Wray-McCann At KES 2009-2013

Passed away peacefully in his sleep on 30 April 2018, aged 23. His cause of death is not yet known.

Jack was born in Australia and was very proud of this fact throughout his life, particularly during the Ashes! He moved to New Zealand at six weeks old and at 12 weeks to Bradford-on-Avon until the age of three. He then settled in London and went to Hill House School for his primary years.

His Senior School and Sixth Form days were spent at KES, which he often used to recall with great fondness and happiness. He had a particular love of Geography and Politics, always engaged with both. Whether it was talking about climate change or the UK parliament, you could be certain Jack would have a standpoint which he would defend with a passion. Alongside this, he actively enjoyed playing rugby – which was a great release for him – particularly when he became Captain of the KES 2nd XV in Year 13.

Socially, he had a reputation as a party animal and no party was complete without Jack either begging for an invite or being there in person! It was during this time that he met his long-standing girlfriend, Erin Burrows.

Jack’s approach to school uniform was always individual. If he came in with any ‘school uniform’, it was a good day. KES is a school where everyone conformed to the uniform – apart from Jack, of course.

He would often stroll in late, wearing a hoody, casual shirt, (unbelievably) a tie (halfway down his chest), desert boots and trousers (often past his ankles as he never believed in belts). His first car was a yellow Fiat Cinquecento – lovingly known as the ‘Inbetweeners Car’ – which ended up in a ditch and had to be written off, going viral on the internet as it was so perfectly ditched and the car so comical.

He went on to Cardiff University to study Economics and Politics. However, he dropped this after a year as, during his second term, he had become a 999 call handler and it was this

Jack Wray-McCann experience that led to him deciding to pursue a degree in Paramedical Science at Anglia Ruskin University. During his time there he enjoyed his course to the maximum, partying as ever and enjoying the prospect of working to help those around him. It was also at that time that Erin gave birth to their beautiful baby boy, James (Jamie) Russell Wray-McCann.

Jamie was an instrumental part of Jack’s life and he loved him to pieces, always wanting what was best for him.

After graduating from Anglia Ruskin, Jack moved to London to start life as a paramedic. He really felt the highs and lows of the life of a paramedic, but was always driven to succeed and work as hard as possible to get the best experience. Jack would speak fondly of his colleagues but, as was his nature, he would sometimes want to change certain ideologies within the departments in which he worked.

Jack will always be remembered for his kind nature, beneath the bravado of an extroverted and confident exterior. He was a Marmite character – you either loved him or loved to hate him. This was perhaps due to the extreme confidence he displayed and to his constant urge to drive others also to stretch themselves beyond their boundaries, for better or worse. It was this desire that fuelled the intriguing character that he was.

These qualities, alongside a variety of others, captured the man that we now remember and love.

Conor Thomas

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YOUNG OEs

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ALL AGES

S Wroughton Lecture 18 October 2018 7pm

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55+ YEARS

S

SCHOOL

S Senior School 12 December 2018 7.30pm

Wroughton Theatre, Senior School

Contact: development@kesbath.com

• Old Edwardians’ Annual General Meeting

7 November 2018 6.30pm The Wessex Building, Senior School

< Walking Weekend and Ten Tors Reunion

23-25 November 2018

Bath Abbey

S KES Gala Concert 19 March 2019 7pm

The Guildhall, Bath

< Anniversary Reunion 11 May 2019 11am-3pm For leavers from 1989, 1999 and 2009 Partners and children also welcome The Wessex Building, Senior School More details to follow

Based in Countisbury, Exmoor £50pp To book, contact: sam.lascelles@gmail.com

8 December 2018

Carol Service

With Professor Sir Christopher Frayling

Tickets £8.50/£4.50 for pupils Contact: boxoffice@kesbath.com

Sports Reunion Dinner

> Summer Reunion

8 June 2019 10am-3pm

For leavers from the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s Partners welcome

Meet up with former team mates, tour group friends, plus current and former staff to reminisce and celebrate KES sport!

Following on from the very successful Rugby Reunion Dinner held at KES last December, the OEs are introducing a new biennial Sports Reunion Dinner, with the first event being held at 7pm on Saturday 8 December 2018 in the School’s Wessex Building.

This special event, which is timed to coincide with two end-of-season matches being played at home, invites OEs from across the sporting spectrum back to KES for a wonderful evening to celebrate KES sport and the close bonds of friendship and supportive team spirit fostered through training and competition.

The bar will be open and there will be a plentiful and warming winter menu to enjoy. The evening will include a display of photos and memorabilia and a panel Q&A session to which guests will be invited to contribute questions.

The Wessex Building, Senior School More details to follow

• Sports Reunion Dinner 8 December 2018 7pm The Wessex Building, Senior School Partners welcome Tickets £40pp (or £25pp for OEs who are currently students) Includes drink on arrival and hearty three-course meal and coffee. Cash bar.

Tables of six Contact: development@kesbath.com

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S Founder’s Day Service 10 July 2019 11am

Bath Abbey Contact: development@kesbath.com

Earlier in the day, OEs are also invited for refreshments and to join the wider KES community in supporting the 1st Hockey and Rugby sides, who will be playing their final matches of the season against Prior Park on home turf. Rugby kick off and Hockey start times to be confirmed.

BOOKING INFORMATION See events listing for full details Tickets issued on a first come/first served basis