KGS Friends Newsletter Autumn 2019

AUTUMN 2019 - ISSUE 28

INCORPORATING THE OLD KINGSTONIAN ASSOCIATION

KEEPING TIME...

...CAN YOU SPOT THE DIFFERENCE?

Events

BOATHOUSE FAMILY DAY KGS launched the new rowing season with a family day at the Sherriff Boathouse in September, including naming new boats and alumni vs student races.

Nine racing boats and two coaching launches were named. We were pleased to welcome several alumni back, including Sean Boret (OK 1989) who named the new Gerry Boret after his father, and his children tried out the boat named after their grandfather. Paul Stuart-Bennett returned to the boathouse for the first time since leaving KGS in 1970!

REMEMBERING ROB ALLEN The Boathouse Family Day also welcomed Richard Allen (OK 1967) and his wife Jane, parents of the late Rob Allen (OK 2001) who sadly passed away suddenly last year at the age of just 35.

Rob will be remembered to many alumni as a keen rower at KGS, who went on with his crew to win gold at the 2000 National Schools Regatta and to race for the Great Britain Junior team. He later returned to the School as a volunteer rowing coach, passing on his knowledge to many students.

In memory of their son, Richard and Jane, together with some of Rob’s friends have founded the Robert Allen Life Promotion and Healthy Hearts Trust (RALPHH, Registered Charity No: 1184900).

The charity aims to extend national access to defibrillation equipment at sporting locations (particularly rowing), promote financial support for electro cardiac testing among young people, and provide advice for rowers planning to withdraw from the sport.

Anyone interested in supporting the charity with a donation or volunteering their time can contact Richard Allen at richardallen52@btinternet.com.

The trustees would be especially pleased to hear from anyone with professional auditing skills and qualifications who might be able to volunteer a small amount of time to help with the charity’s accounts.

A formal launch event for the charity is planned for later this year at Sir William Perkins School, and Richard is also in contact with other groups and schools throughout the UK.

We were also delighted to welcome guests of all ages from the past and present KGS rowing community to our annual reception at Henley Royal Regatta in July

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DAN KENN MATCH

Events

The KGS Hockey Festival in September saw the School 1st XI take on a star-studded alumni team, containing international and premier league hockey players, in the annual Dan Kenn Memorial Match.

Given the quality at the old boys disposal, it is unsurprising that the alumni team won 5-2, however the School side demonstrated some impressive deep defending to keep the scoreline respectable.

It was great to see a range of alumni, from 2007 leavers to some who have just collected their A level results, still enjoying their hockey and playing to a high standard.

The Dan Kenn Trophy - named after a 2007 KGS first team player who would have enjoyed the gritty and determined nature of the School team’s defending - was appropriately awarded to fellow 2007 alumnus, Paul Angel.

We are sure that the Fifth and Lower Sixth Formers will be looking for revenge next year, whereas the current Upper Sixth will hopefully be switching sides to make sure the trophy stays in alumni hands.

Mr T Beaumont Head of Boys Hockey

Paul Angel (OK 2007) receives the Dan Kenn Trophy from Dan’s father

STURGEON CRICKET The annual Sturgeon Cricket day started and ended with beautiful hazy sunshine as many KGS old boys returned to Ditton Field to take on the School in two fixtures.

In the 1st XI match the old boys got off to a blistering start, scoring 10 an over for the first 10 overs, before Ronan Harvey Kelly fell for 56.

The school boys clawed it back with three wickets a piece for Danny Sullivan and Max Dawson. The old boys ended up on 166 from their 20 overs and were confident of securing victory.

In reply the school boys were patient and measured as Ben Mallinson and Jamie Hughes picked off everything the old boys threw at them. Ben departed for 32 and Jamie for 55, leaving a tense finale. Needing 11 off the last overs the School could only manage five runs, giving another victory to the old boys.

On the 2nd XI pitch the school boys and girls were flying throughout the whole 20 overs. Alex Watkins and Oli Dawson set the tempo with 66 for the first wicket and this helped the School reach 177.

In response the old boys had periods of brilliance and also moments of comedy as they led with the rate the whole way through the innings.

Will Pengilly was on a hat trick at one point but this wasn’t enough as Mr Bartram hit the winning runs for the old boys with two overs remaining.

A great day celebrating the best of KGS cricket!

Mr D Reed Head of Cricket

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L to R: Sophie Dunster (OK 2010), Sophia Christie (OK 2005) and Molly Hanson (OK 2010) model Gung Ho fashion.

GUNG HO’S FASHION REVOLUTION Sophie Dunster (OK 2010), founder of sustainable fashion brand Gung Ho Design, showcased her Plastic Oceans collection in the KGS Baxter Gallery earlier this year against the backdrop of a student art project crafted from plastic bottles.

Gung Ho’s designs are ethically made from sustainable materials with themes that highlight environmental issues. KGS students collected over 1,000 plastic bottles as part of the display to give a snapshot of the huge amounts of single-use plastic entering the oceans each week.

For every purchase made from the collection, Gung Ho donated a percentage to Surfers Against Sewage, a charity which KGS also supports through the ‘Plastic Free Schools’ initiative.

Each year Gung Ho chooses an issue that needs attention. The current collection, Food For Thought, uses colourful ingredient designs to focus on the impact that food has on the environment.

Find out more about Sophie’s work and explore her online store at www.gung-ho-design.com

QUEEN’S HONOURS Congratulations to Dr Na’eem Ahmed (OK 2003) who has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for his outstanding contribution to volunteering and healthcare in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Na’eem is a Consultant Radiologist and the founder of Selfless, a charity and volunteering network committed to solving the most pressing global heath challenges through social and technological innovation.

He has worked for more than a decade in volunteering related projects - an interest that began by organising a local football club and then progressed to supporting young people to find meaningful volunteering opportunities; from planting trees to providing arts and craft sessions at nursing homes.

Na’eem has worked on projects engaging students in public health promotion opportunities, establishing a diverse network of student health ambassadors to carry out health education projects to reach underserved communities in London. Working with like-minded colleagues, he also spearheaded the award-winning international healthcare-volunteering programme, Elective Aid. Na’eem has served in advisory roles to the Mayor of London’s Team, at the Department for International Development (DFID) and as a Trustee at Macmillan Cancer Support. He was also named as a ‘Point of Light’ by former Prime Minister David Cameron.

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“This award came as a great surprise and I am honoured to receive it on behalf of all the inspiring people that have helped make the projects that I have been involved with a success. Volunteers are an essential thread within society, one that is too often under-appreciated until there is a time of need. I feel privileged to have been able to witness first-hand the life-changing impact volunteering can have on a local, national and international level.”

News

MID FIFTIES CLUB This long-standing reunion lunch is held every year on what we call Maundy Wednesday, which is of course the day before Maundy Thursday.

It was founded and is still currently organised by Roger Pincham (OK 1954) as a reunion lunch for those who left KGS in the mid 1950s - and members were in fact in their mid 50s on the first occasion.

So for approximately 30 years this reunion has taken place and is currently held at the Founders’ Hall in the City of London, near to the Church of St Bartholomew the Great. As may be expected, attendance has slowly dwindled over the years, but we still managed to obtain a gathering of nearly 25 OKs this year.

The Reunion brings back to the bosom of the old Kingstonian those who live as far away as Manchester, Leicester, Swindon, and even Washington USA. Without doubt the bond of OKs is very strong, even after most of us entered the School’s portals over 70 years ago.

The timing of future reunions will not change, and any OK who left in the Fifties is most welcome to join the group - just contact John Snelling on 07860 375517.

John Snelling, OK 1952

Pictured below: Upper Fifth Form, who entered KGS in 1947, and Mid Fifties Club members today with current KGS Head Master, Stephen Lehec.

THREE OLD MEN ON BIKES ONE TERM ON REUNION Three alumni friends in their sixties set off from the London Eye in September to cycle 2,500 miles to Istanbul in aid of coronary charity, Beat SCAD. Chris Dowdeswell (OK 1969), Paul Sorensen (OK 1969) and Clive Rockell (OK 1970) have raised over £4,000 for the month-long Eye2i challenge, cycling through ten different countries.

The ride was inspired by Clive's wife Karen, who suffered a coronary tear in 2010. Karen thankfully made a full recovery and has herself since led a fundraising campaign raising over £150,000 to fund cardiac research.

We wish them good luck and safe travels! You can support the team at www.justgiving.com/clive-rockell

Calling the Class of 2019! It’s been a whole term and your lives have changed completely and irrevocably.

Haven’t they? So it’s time to get together at our One Term On Reunions for 2019 leavers and their parents, from 7.30pm on Wednesday 18 December.

Join us on Kingston Riverside for a couple of drinks and some food, courtesy of KGS Friends, and catch up after your first term away from KGS. The party for students takes place at The Bishop, with the parents gathering just along the quayside at Henry’s Bar. These events are free to attend but please book online in advance to assist with catering numbers: Students: www.trybooking.co.uk/MVQ Parents: www.trybooking.co.uk/MVR 5

KGS BURSARY FUND: RAY AND SUE MAYES The KGS Bursary Fund is to receive a significant boost, thanks to a generous donation from Ray and Sue Mayes.

Ray attended KGS from 1957 to 1964 on a full scholarship, without which his parents would not have been able to afford the first-class education he subsequently received.

He had an enjoyable time, but remembers it was very different in those days. The current ‘cage’ was merely a red cinder surface, the tuck shop sold Wagon Wheels, sausages and baked beans provided a barely-edible lunch, and the highlight of Latin was the weekly ‘hairy mammoth’ test of knowledge!

The highlight of Ray’s sporting achievements was scoring 101 against Rutlish School for the Under 16 cricket team in 1960 and subsequently receiving his bat from Headmaster, Percy Rundle, which he is now kindly donating to the School archive. Ray went on to become 2nd XI Captain.

BRONZE FOR CAMERON Congratulations to Cameron Spurling (OK 2018) and the Great Britain eight on their bronze medal at the European Rowing U23 Championships in Greece in September.

Pipped by a hair’s breadth for silver by Ukraine after a real battle, with Romania taking gold.

Ray graduated from Exeter University with a BA Honours Degree in Economics. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1970 he joined the City firm of Buzzacott, becoming a partner at the age of 28. He specialised in corporate and charity accounting until his retirement in 2000.

Ray and his wife Sue (a Chartered Physiotherapist) lived for many years in Thames Ditton - only a few houses away from the current KGS Head Master.

They now live in a renovated cottage in the New Forest, where they are kept busy supporting local charities and care driving for the elderly.

Ray is a Southampton FC season ticket holder, plays golf and has a passionate interest in local history of the New Forest, Lymington and the Solent coast.

He writes a local history column and has issued two town trails of Lymington.

So fortunate with a happy life, Ray and Sue feel that it is right to give something back to enable other qualified pupils to receive a first-class education without regard for an ability to pay. Ray was coincidentally at KGS at the same time as John Bridgen (OK 1964) and was inspired to support the Bursary Fund on learning of the establishment of the John and Leslie Bridgen Endowment Fund.

We are enormously grateful to Ray and Sue for their generous support in giving gifted children the life-changing opportunities that an education at KGS can offer. If you are interested in supporting the Bursary Fund please contact the Development Office on 020 8939 8803 or foundation@kgs.org.uk Editor’s note: Ray Mayes is R J Mayes (The Kingstonian September 1964 Vol XIII No.5; Valete page 261). Not to be confused with R G Mayes (1962) or R W Mayes (1965).

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KGS GOLF SOCIETY Ten KGS Golf Society members enjoyed the splendid Royal Wimbledon course, once again amongst the Top 20 courses in Surrey, at the September match against KCS Wimbledon.

A match play format didn’t work in our favour, and when Gordon House (OK 1968) ran across at the seventh to say their opponents were playing like single figure handicappers, we knew we were in trouble!

Our valiant efforts were not sufficient to lift the KCS/KGS Trophy, which was awarded by our captain to KCS Wimbledon. But despite the defeat, a truly excellent day of golf on a superb course partly compensated. Our thanks to John Elvidge (OK 1964), once again, for the very efficient organisation of the event.

Our next outing is the team event at Betchworth Park on 21 October, followed by the rescheduled Captain’s Day on 13 November at The Drift, East Horsley.

All are welcome. If you are interested in joining us please contact Richard Wickerson: richardwickerson@hotmail.com Geoff Schmitt, OK 1966

PRO RUGBY CAREER

News

Congratulations to Hannah Al-Khaldi (OK 2005) on her recent signing for Worcester Warriors Women, one of only ten clubs nationally that compete at the highest level of English elite women’s rugby - the Tyrrells Premier 15s.

Hannah, who also has caps internationally for Lebanon as well as Surrey County and South East England, is now part of the first professional women’s team to pay its players and she is focusing on rugby full time.

Hannah has been playing rugby for over 15 years and credits her time at KGS for inspiring her move to the sport. “When I went to university I took up rugby, as there wasn’t a rowing team and I felt a bit lost without a team sport. Had it not been for KGS instilling an interest in sport and aspirations to achieve at a high level, I doubt I would have gone down this path.”

Sport has played a huge part in Hannah’s life, as she is also the founder of HYPE Fitness - a successful boutique fitness studio in Sutton. We wish Hannah the very best of luck for the upcoming rugby season!

GB HOCKEY DUO Jack Waller (OK 2015) and Zach Wallace (OK 2018) represented Great Britain in the Men’s FIH Pro League, an international field hockey competition for men and women organised by the International Hockey Federation.

The FIH Pro League is a new hockey competition with 128 matches involving the top hockey nations of the world. GB men came 4th in the competition earlier this year, guaranteeing them a place in the Olympic qualifiers this autumn.

Jack (26 caps) and Zach (25 caps) are two of the youngest members of the squad and played in every match in their competition, with Zach winning ‘Man of the Match’ in their final game against the Netherlands in June. Congratulations to them both - we are very proud of their achievements and wish them well in this tough competition and for the future. www.fihproleague.com - support them if you can!

KEREM HASAN Congratulations to Kerem Hasan (OK 2008) on his appointment as Chief Conductor of the Tiroler Symphonieorchester Innsbruck.

Kerem was a finalist in the 2016 Donatella Flick Competition, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. Shortly thereafter, he was awarded the position of Associate Conductor at Welsh National Opera and went on to lay the foundation stone for a promising international conducting career by winning the 2017 Nestlé and Salzburg Young Conductors Award.

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Archive Spot the difference!

KEEPING TIME AT KGS School Archivist, Joanne Halford, was pleased to welcome former teacher, Andrew Stribley, back to KGS earlier this year, along with various treasures he has donated to the archive, including the old School bell!

Andrew was Head of Lower School for 18 years and taught Religious Studies from 1982 to 2008, but was also involved in many other aspects of KGS life including rowing, CCF, music and drama.

Andrew’s kind donation prompted me to do some research into the life of the KGS bell. The first reference I have found is from 1885:

“The Rev Professor Mayor very kindly gave the School a turret bell, which has been hung in the old belfry of St Mary Magdelene’s Chapel. Its summons at 9am, 11.20am (after the break) and 2pm has much improved our punctuality.”

The Annual Register 1885-86 Sometime soon after, a bell was hung in a purpose-built belfry on the crest of the roof of the newly built London Road Building. Can you spot the difference in the photos above?

A bell was still in place in the belfry in 1926, when the Meteorological Society requested a wind vane for the top of the bell tower. Sadly however, on 9th June 1950, the instruction was given to “take down belfry and bell” (School Order Book 1949-50).

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Some years later the turret showed signs of collapsing from old age, and the bell was removed to, and rung from, its present position. Later still, with the outbreak of war, when all public bells were silenced, it too ceased to sound, and with the electric system “The bell that can now be seen hanging now in operation it will probably remain silent.” from the frame over the kitchen windows was formerly housed in a The Kingstonian turret situated on the crest of the roof October 1950 of the old block. From the turret, a rope Stribley rescued the bell descended through a pipe to the room Andrew when it was removed from its that is now the masters’ dining room. position above the Quad, sometime in the 1980s. He has kept it safely If I remember correctly, this bell was in his garage since then. My task rung for the first time each morning now is to have the bell dated to at 9am and its clear, penetrating tones ascertain whether it is the same one could be heard at some distance from presented to the School in 1885. the school - quite easily at Kingston KGS still has the electric master railway station. It must have quickened clock, which powered a set of the minds and hastened the feet of secondary clocks throughout many who were in danger of ‘creeping the School. It has recently been professionally restored and is soon like a snail unwillingly to school’. to be rehung.

One of the boys who lived in that room Joanne Halford - the School Certificate form of about School Archivist nine boys in 1919 - was responsible for tolling the bell at routine times.

I cannot recall his ever being late in signalling the end of lessons.

Information surrounding this decision and the various incarnations of the bell at KGS can be found in the following account

by Mr J W Saunders, who was a teacher of English at KGS from 1919 - 1954, serving under three headmasters:

The KGS bell through the ages...

You have heard of the railwaymen’s Bell And also of Morrison Bell, But still there’s another whose voice we can’t smother Have you heard the Grammar School bell?

The Kingstonian 1908

Former teacher, Andrew Stribley, rescued the KGS bell in the 1980s and has now kindly donated it to the School archive.

The Kingston man who can afford the luxury of an hour or two extra in bed in the morning, when he wants to know the time has not much need to consult his watch. There are sundry noises which tell the hour as correctly as the watchman of old, although they do not, like that obsolete official, inform one as to the state of the weather.

Hooters apprise workmen that the breakfast half hour has expired, and school bells remind the lagging scholar that he must hurry up. And these sounds to the general public answer the purpose of an accurate clock.

There is at least one scholastic establishment in Kingston, the office of whose bell is by no means a sinecure, for it rings intermittently more or less all day long. As a consequence, the mind of the uninitiated hearer is in a state of wonder as to what this chronic tintinnabulation implies.

Tinkle, tinkle, noisy bell, How I wonder what you tell!

Up above the school so high, Like an egg-cup in a pie.

Surrey Comet 1908

Farewell to Joanne Halford Joanne has been our School Archivist for the last six years, during which time she has shared many wonderful and interesting stories of KGS through the ages. Sadly, this will be Joanne’s final archive feature as she has now moved on to a new role. We are very sorry to see Joanne go, but wish her well for the future!

You can still contact us with any interesting tales or items relating to KGS history - please email friends@kgs.org.uk 9

Archive

REMEMBERING A ROYAL OCCASION Nicholas Prosser (OK 1965) has been in touch to recall the Queen’s visit to KGS in 1961, marking the 400th Anniversary of the granting of the School’s charter by Queen Elizabeth I. Nicholas has written the following verse to remember the event, which we have matched with photos of the day from the School archive.

A Royal Visit: March 24th 1961

by Nicholas Prosser

Though a March day, it was sunny and hot with a temperature to compete for a date in late May. The memory is still vivid as were the red and grey blazers we wore on that such long ago day.

With my second year friends plus boys old and young in the space called the cage, I stood front row, aged thirteen.

Our Grammar School and the whole town waited to see the one we knew so well yet had never seen.

Reigned for forty-five years, her namesake and ancestor had named and opened our school.

It was her Queen’s company that performed plays by that celebrated writer who created that FOOL. My father, at the palace gates watched her car depart, not a day even for him to miss.

She arrived, dressed in red coat with black collar, flanked by head boys Geoff and Chris.

Dressed in their black gowns, they peered down at her mere five feet two, both of them six feet plus.

Instead of teachers and headmaster, she wanted them to escort her, she’d requested no fuss.

Armed with 303 rifles, our combined cadet force gave their salute, their boots shone like mirrors the brass on their belts glistened like gold.

This 400 years celebration we would relate to our children and grand-children, a one off story to be told.

Her Majesty visited the Guildhall too to see the commemoration stone from Aethelstan’s coronation here in the year 925.

Since these occasions and because of its history, the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames has continued to thrive.

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INVESTIGATING KGS HISTORY

Obituaries

Earlier this year the KGS Senior History Society visited Kingston History Centre at the Guildhall to research early records of the School.

The visit was arranged following the recent discovery of a number of historical coins bequeathed to KGS by literary alumnus, R C Sherriff. Prior to the visit, the students examined the interesting coins, which date back to 1658, alongside the catalogue of early documents relating to the School. They then developed enquiries around what the KGS documents might tell them about the coins and what was going on in school at that time.

They carefully examined archival files which documented the resignation of Schoolmaster Edward Hooker in 1663 and the appointment of his successor, Charles Parkehurst.

Other interesting findings included the discovery of rent raised by the School from an orchard at the Bittoms (now a car park!) and that students had to attend lessons every day except Sundays, Holy Days and Saints Days, as stated in the Statutes and Ordinances dating from 1670. We were also lucky to view the original Charter signed by Elizabeth I in 1561 which established the ‘free Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth’.

This research trip was the first stage of an ongoing Senior History Society project into R C Sherriff’s coins. It was great to see this keen group of historians engaging with the early history of the School and it is hoped this trip will be established as an annual event for future students.

TERRY CHARMAN (OK 1969) We are sorry to report the death in February 2019 of Terry Charman, historian and KGS old boy, following a long illness.

Terry had very fond memories of his time at KGS, where he developed his passion for modern history. Indeed, while on a school trip to Heidelberg, Terry famously secured an interview with Albert Speer, having found the telephone number of the former Nazi armaments minister in the local directory!

After leaving the School, Terry studied modern history and politics at Reading University and then embarked on an unlikely career in banking. However, the pull of history proved too much and in 1974 he joined the Imperial War Museum, where his career would span over 40 years.

Terry had the most extraordinary depth and breadth of knowledge and was very much loved and respected by his colleagues at IWM. A writer, lecturer and storyteller of singular ability, he pioneered an entirely fresh, personal approach to IWM exhibition-making, where the voices of the past came alive in the Holocaust Exhibition, Imperial War Museum North and the Churchill Museum. This is his supreme legacy to the Museum.

He is author of The German Home Front 1939-45 and Outbreak: The World Goes to War. He has also acted as an adviser on films, TV and radio documentaries and programmes, such as Foyle’s War, Schindler’s List and the theatre and film productions of War Horse.

Terry lived well. He loved good food, good drink, good company. He was, like Winston Churchill, ‘easily satisfied with the best of everything’. Those who knew him will cherish memories of Terry’s fund of stories (many of them scurrilous!) his kindness, his extraordinary generosity and his wonderful sense of fun.

Julian King (OK 1971) James Taylor (Imperial War Museum)

We are also very sorry to report the deaths of the following alumni: Alastair Crompton (OK 1957) Issi Palmer (OK 2014) David Puttock (OK 1949) Spencer Spencer-Skeen (OK 1950) Ivor Vials (OK 1953) 11

The best of British theatre on screen at KGS

Wed 13 Nov

Tue 3 Dec

Thu 16 Jan

Book tickets online at michaelfrayntheatre.com